Chapter 72
Zou Shu knew his behavior was suspicious. After thinking for a moment, he secretly slipped two packs of cigarettes he had taken from Zou Lin into the security guard's pocket.
"Listen to me, I'm Leng Zhi's good friend, but I can't get in touch with him right now. You don't need to ask me for his contact information. If Leng Zhi comes to the group's building next time, please pass on a message for me, saying that Zou Shu has been here. If he asks, just give him my contact information."
Zou Shu tried hard to come up with a compromise—as long as Leng Zhi heard his name, he would definitely understand what he meant.
The security guard touched his nose and didn't refuse: "Sure, I'll let you know next time he comes."
This was the only method Zou Shu could think of at the moment. Although he didn't have much hope, he left his contact information and left in order not to arouse the suspicion of the security guards.
What he didn't know was that Leng Zhi had never been to the group's building.
The security guard was absolutely ecstatic.
Ha! Someone's actually impersonating Mr. Leng's friend. Who would believe that? These days, good friends don't have each other's contact information, do they?
Zou Shu was in a good mood. After all, as long as he opened his phone, he could enjoy a 360° view of Leng Ge being tormented by a group of kids, which was a unique experience.
Leng Zhi put his phone back in his pocket.
Out of sight, out of mind; this kind of work should be put off as long as possible.
"Now let's award the stars for this round of the game."
At Li Chi's command, the staff presented the children with brand-new star badges.
The giraffe enclosure incident was quickly edited by fans and went viral on forums and video websites: #Jiang'sGroupZooShareholder# #LengZhiScolepsyTheWeirdOldDeng#
Because it involved the Jiang Group, it was included in Jiang Yijing's official documents as part of public opinion.
Jiang Yijing stared at the link in the file, lost in memories.
The investment in this zoo was a project left by his father. In fact, he didn't own many shares. The main purpose was to support the development of the zoo. When the S City Zoo was struggling more than ten years ago, this money was a lifesaver.
In recent years, with the development of the internet, the zoo's operations have gotten on track and it has even gained a group of fans, which has allowed the project to turn a profit.
Following the wishes of their fathers, the Jiang Group donated all of its dividends back to the industrial park for their own use.
This past event was unearthed by the media, who wrote a touching press release praising the people's entrepreneur—which is indeed worthy of praise—and brought another wave of attention to the zoo.
But why did these old stories suddenly resurface and become trending topics?
Jiang Yijing clicked on it out of curiosity.
[Related tag: #LengZhiSlamsTheWeirdOldDen#]
Jiang Yijing: ?
What has his dear expert staff done this time?
If you click in again, you can see Leng Zhi's output.
In the video, Leng Zhi, unlike his usual gentle and reserved self, spoke clearly and logically, leaving the unreasonable old man speechless. Finally, seemingly realizing his image was a bit too unrestrained, he added to the children, "Don't imitate this."
Full of life and vitality, somewhat unfamiliar, yet seemingly corresponding to the subtle feelings that Leng Zhi had recently conveyed to him.
Scroll down to see related tags for big data:
Except for Youyou from the blue group, all the kids got two badges, and Jiang Mingzhe even got Leng Zhi's, for a total of four badges.
Now Jiang Mingzhe can't even put any more badges on his shoulders.
The last room had a huge screen at the entrance, on which was inscribed a mournful poem. Unfortunately, the children couldn't read, so they could only see the flickering red candlelight behind the screen.
Old Qi revealed the answer: "They can eat 60 kilograms, which is equivalent to the weight of three children."
XiXi's eyes widened: "Oh my god, they're not going to eat us, are they?!"
"No, giraffes are herbivores!" Jiang Mingzhe answered quickly.
Old Qi couldn't help but glance at the late child, and his opinion of him changed slightly—at least he wasn't someone who had absolutely no interest in animals.
That's because the parents are not taking action, which is why they bring their children to be late.
Leng Zhi inexplicably sensed that an invisible wall had appeared between him and Lao Qi in the air.
Lao Qi added, "However, giraffes have a relatively rich diet. In addition to leaves, we also prepare special fruit and vegetable platters and regularly enrich the menu."
The babies perked up: "Can I feed them carrots?"
Old Qi hesitated for a moment: "I don't recommend that people do this. Many herbivores' stomachs are not suitable for eating large amounts of carrots. The keepers will provide them with food enrichment, so there is no need for tourists to provide them. Moreover, most of the carrots that tourists bring are not cut or have just been taken out of the refrigerator and have not been washed, which is not conducive to the longevity of giraffes."
Remembering Leng Zhi's arrogant demeanor before he went in, he pretended that there was a problem with the signal and that he couldn't hear the red team's request to pause.
Unlike official matches, in city tournaments, because the teams are of varying skill levels, the referee has complete control over the pause function. If the referee pretends to be dead for two minutes, LSG will lose those two minutes of jungle income.
However, less than ten seconds later, Meng Cheng started moving again.
Sun Wei glanced at the red team's monitor again, and Meng Cheng's screen was indeed still black... Wait, why is he looking at Leng Zhi's screen?
Sun Wei: ? ? ?
Is this even possible?
Leng Zhi's decision was correct.
The opposing marksman and support duo have entered the jungle, preparing to ambush Bloodthirsty Blade Fighter.
They weren't going to just hand over half of their jungle to someone else.
"Here it comes," he said softly.
The bushes where Leng Zhi was lying in wait illuminated the surrounding area, thus exposing the marksman and support duo to the vision of the LSG jungler and support duo.
Unaware that LSG's support had followed them, they walked forward nonchalantly.
Meng Cheng and Leng Zhi's years of tacit cooperation speak for themselves; their skills were unleashed at the same time.
The two control skills trapped the marksman and support pair like a net.
The ferocious output of the Bloodthirsty Blade Fighter followed immediately.
The children were convinced because what Lao Qi said made a lot of sense, and they didn't want to hurt the animals either.
The leaves need to be taken out of the warehouse and sent to the giraffe enclosure next door, and then the five little ones will start working.
The park provided them with strollers, but the branches were so long that they created a subtle sense of humor when placed next to the children's small figures.
The parents immediately stepped forward to help, carrying and lifting the branches to the giraffe's mouth.
Because of the giraffe's height, a two-story platform has been built here for tourists to view the scenery and for the giraffe to eat.
During the resurrection period, Zou Lin excitedly tapped the mouse: "I was killed by a pro player! Does this count as being given a live tutorial by a pro player?!"
Zou Shu: "..." How embarrassing.
He patiently waited until halfway through the game, then immediately shouted and squeezed next to Zou Lin: "It's my turn to play, you should learn from me."
Zou Lin obediently handed over the computer to him without saying anything more. Although this older brother had been quite arrogant lately, it had to be admitted that he had indeed climbed to the top of the national rankings for Gongsun Shangxiang in just three days.
Zou Shu was not exaggerating. Just three minutes later, on the kill leaderboard on the right side of the screen, [Gongsun Shangxiang 2] had already jumped to second place, just below Leng Zhi.
To give lower-ranked players a chance to turn the tide, players who kill higher-ranked players in the second half of the match will receive extra gold coins.
Zou Shu encountered a neutral creature that had just spawned.
This wild crane is very plump; killing it will yield a large amount of gold coins. Zou Lin immediately shouted from the side, "Hurry up and kill this one before anyone comes; it's very fat, I remember!"
Zou Shu did not move.
Just as Zou Lin said, no one has yet come to compete with him for this wild crane, so this is a time to seize every opportunity.
However, this also means that this could be a trap left by other players.
Gongsun Shangxiang activated her skill, firing a barrage of arrows into the nearby bushes.
This is a small detail: if this skill hits an enemy, although there will be no difference in special effects, the sound effects will be slightly different.
Most Gongsun Shangxiang players prefer to use another skill with higher damage to scout bushes, while Zou Shu's personal style is to use the Arrow Rain skill to refresh the interval faster.
Zou Lin complained, "Brother, there's no one in this grass, what are you afraid of? Just hurry up and kill this monster!"
Zou Shu ignored him. The rain of arrows quickly refreshed and struck again, this time targeting a small patch of grass behind the wild crane, barely big enough for one person.
"bite--"
That's the sound effect of being hit; someone's in the bushes!
The next second, dark green skill effects intertwined and shot towards the bushes. Zou Shu created a clever distance, within his attack range, but outside the attack range of a typical mage.
Soon, this silent battle came to an end. Sun Wei was drenched in sweat at this moment.
He didn't expect LSG to be able to achieve this level.
Huh? You really won with your eyes closed?
Even this couldn't stump these people. He had no choice but to obediently pause the game and announce the reason: "Please have the staff adjust the equipment. Some people's devices here have black screens."
Meng Cheng watched coldly as the staff brought over a new monitor, without saying a word.
He muttered a curse only after the staff member left.
"Stay calm and focus on the current match."
Just before the paused countdown was about to end, Leng Zhi said in a deep voice.
Meng Cheng composed himself: "Yes, Captain."
In the following match, LSG, holding their breath, launched a fierce attack and pushed forward quickly, bringing the victory to a climax with amazing momentum.
"Congratulations to LSG for another victory! They have now accumulated five wins, a record that only one other team has achieved so far, meaning they are the winners of the day!"
The passionate commentary elicited even louder cheers from the audience. One green-haired boy even stood on a chair, raised his hand high, and let out a cheering scream!
Jiang Yijing's gaze fell quietly on Leng Zhi.
Unlike his lazy demeanor on variety shows, he had never seen Leng Zhi with such a resolute look in his eyes. He was like a leopard hunting, lying in wait on the grassland, ready to leap high and bite his opponent's throat as soon as the time was right.
He recognized one of Leng Zhi's teammates behind him.
Meng Cheng is the parent of the child in the next class.
Just like that day at the amusement park, Leng Zhi and his teammates punched each other to celebrate their victory.
Next, Leng Zhi, as the team captain, walked onto the podium.
The spotlight cast a halo around him, he coughed softly, and then pulled the microphone into his hand.
"Thank you for supporting LSG. Our goal is to be number one in the world."
He didn't bow, but gave a nonchalant smile to the audience.
The audience was somewhat stunned.
"Damn, how can he just spout off about being number one in the world!"
"That's so arrogant... but I like it."
"They are indeed very strong. I wonder if they can make it to the playoffs."
The audience's discussions were buzzing around Jiang Yijing, but it was unclear whether he was even listening.
"Number one in the world." A soft, warm little arm pressed against him familiarly: "Look, brother!"
He reached into his trouser pocket and opened his palm as if presenting a treasure.
Inside was a Veronica flower in full bloom.
The blue-purple petals trembled slightly in the child's palm before being solemnly handed to Luo Hongshuo.
"We must win today!"
Luo Hongshuo's serious expression finally showed a slight change.
"……Thank you."
He just wants to end this mess in the league as soon as possible and get back to training.
The day of the competition arrived quickly, and everyone gathered at the competition venue.
The qualifying rounds don't have many in-person spectators, so the venues aren't very big, and they can't be filled to capacity in previous years. Most people choose to watch the online broadcast.
This year, the highly anticipated LSG team and the All-Star team were scheduled for the same day, and the venue was packed to capacity.
Leng Zhi glanced at the audience, slightly surprised.
The team manager was very efficient. After receiving Yu Fu's manuscript a few days ago, he quickly produced the official team logo and emblem, registered an official Weibo account, and changed the profile picture.
Even faster were the fans of Ryūji.
Today, LSG team's light sticks and banners have been lit up sporadically at the venue.
Of course, many more are printed with the words "Go Cold God!"
"Brother Leng, you're really something. These must all be your fans." Zou Shu patted the captain on the shoulder.
“It’s temporary. From now on, everyone will be a team fan.” Leng Zhi chuckled softly. “The audience will soon be just like it used to be.”
The Veronica flowers were given to each team member, as well as the manager who led the way—and when it was Zou Shu's turn, Jiang Mingzhe found that he had picked one less flower.
Jiang Mingzhe, a master of diplomacy, decided to appease the male guest who had been eliminated.
"Uncle, it's okay, you have Air Flower."
He raised his hands and drew a crooked flower in the air, giggling.
Zou Shu: "..." Why am I the uncle?
Zou Shu, who had been secretly busy taking care of his son, expressed his heartache.
Jiang Yijing chewed on those four words again, a strange feeling spreading through his limbs and bones.
The background music changed from tense to eerie and mournful, and even though the children didn't understand the cultural connotations behind the ghost bride, they still felt a strange fear.
To create a pleasant atmosphere, the room's air conditioning was set very low. Jiang Mingzhe rubbed his arms and slowed his pace.
There is also a video link below.
In the video, staff members sternly criticized the phenomenon of unfair refereeing, and then began playing a typical case captured this time—none other than Sun Wei.
Sun Wei's door was pushed open, and it was the WRC team manager.
The team manager had clearly run all the way here and was still a little out of breath.
“Sun Weiwei… what’s going on with you? Tell me the truth! I just received a call from the league saying you violated refereeing rules and they’ve revoked your refereeing license. They’ve also recommended that we revoke your official player status.”
He was holding his phone, which was playing a video that the league had just released.
"You've really gotten the club into big trouble this time!"
The video is monitor footage from LSG's final match in the qualifying rounds.
The fisheye lens allows you to see each contestant's screen and faithfully record everything that happens.
Meng Cheng's screen suddenly went black, and he requested a pause. The referee did not respond, so he could only watch Leng Zhi's small screen as he controlled his hero.
This difficult situation lasted for a full three minutes until he won the team fight, at which point Sun Weicai, watching on the monitor, finally called a halt to the game.
Sun Wei had never experienced such a long three minutes.
"No, no one has ever cared about this kind of thing before! Why today..." His voice trailed off.
The league's sudden emphasis on him made him lose his former arrogance.
The WRC team was in complete chaos, but netizens started celebrating.
After all, Meng Cheng's blind-hitting moves were just too cool!
He looked at Xiaoyu with starry eyes, mouthed something, and pointed into the room: "Brother Xiaoyu, you go in first!"
As the oldest and tallest kid here, Xiaoyu could only grit his teeth and slowly move forward under the expectant gazes of his four friends.
This is the final challenge. No one knows what kind of monster is hiding behind the screen. Xiaoyu clenched his little fists, his teeth chattering.
They call me Brother Xiaoyu! I need to stand up for myself!
Xiaoyu mustered her courage and slowly peeked out her big, round eyes from behind the screen.
There was no sudden fright as I had imagined, nor did any strangely dressed monster actors appear. Behind the screen was an ordinary, traditional-style room.
Judging from the furnishings, this was the residence of a bride in an old folktale he had heard. The abundance of red and the crackling red candles all testified to the homeowner's status.
Xiao Yu stretched out his whole body with some doubt. Seeing that there was nothing wrong, he waved to his friends who were peeking out behind him: "It seems like no one is here."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Mingzhe immediately rushed in front of Xiaoyu, patting everything around like a puppy, investigating the new place.
He boldly touched the food on the square table and even took a bite of a steamed bun.
"Ouch, ah!" He took a bite, but the inside was hard, making his teeth ache terribly.
He stubbornly squeezed the bun again, only to find that its soft texture was different from the fluffy buns he usually ate.
Youyou laughed out loud: "Idiot, this is fake!"
Jiang Mingzhe immediately put down the steamed bun, his mouth even more stubborn than a fake bun: "I...I know, I just wanted to take a bite, it's fun!"
"One, two, three... nineteen!"
Leng Zhi stuck Jiang Mingzhe's extra badges onto Zai Zai's little handkerchief. The little handkerchief, covered in stars, was stuffed into his pocket, with a corner of the stars peeking out sparkling in the sunlight.
Jiang Mingzhe has been the child with the most stars for two consecutive years; he practically floats when he walks.
Li Chi: "Now we will announce the best player from each group. To ensure fairness, the voting results will be based on real-time votes from viewers in the live stream—"
"First, let's announce the MVP of the Blue Team, which is our little Youyou!"
It wasn't hard to guess that Youyou was voted the best contestant. As a reality show about raising children, the children are the most popular. When no one in the blue group had an outstanding performance, Youyou naturally became the number one.
Youyou finally smiled – she almost became the only child who didn't receive a star!
"And the final vote result for our Red Team is Leng Zhi! As the only adult in the Red Team, Leng Zhi has borne a lot in this round, and it seems that the audience also sympathizes with him."
The design of the entire second secret room is progressive, with Xiaoxiao's diary prominently displayed, and the four wheels either easy to find or hidden in a combination lock box that can be unlocked in just one step.
Only the motor and the car body present a series of complex puzzles.
Both groups of guests have now entered the puzzle-solving phase of the car body, which is equivalent to reaching the final stage of the competition.
Jiang Mingzhe was the first to discover a rectangular combination lock box.
The combination lock has four different shaped and colored slots: red, blue, yellow, and purple, each corresponding to a different pattern.
Jiang Mingzhe shook the box and heard a banging sound coming from inside. He excitedly shouted to Leng Zhi, "Dad! I can't open this box! Do you have a hammer?"
The other children gathered around, and Xixi hugged the long box and shook it vigorously, agreeing with Jiang Mingzhe's suggestion: "Let's smash it open! The toy car's body is probably inside!"
Duoduo moved quickly, turning around to search the whole room for tools that could break open the box.
Leng Zhi grabbed Duo Duo's collar: "Don't listen to his nonsense."
While kids do enjoy driving cars, it doesn't mean they have excellent driving skills.
Over the next ten minutes, Leng Zhi witnessed countless breathtaking driving moments.
Duoduo couldn't distinguish between accelerating and reversing. With a push of her little hand, the toy car almost rushed towards the staff behind her.
Fortunately, for safety reasons, the car's speed was set very low, and Duoduo didn't hit anything. She was then given another lesson by the staff.
Jiang Mingzhe pressed the correct handle direction and then started frantically spinning the steering wheel!
Oh! Oh! Spinning at high speed! So much fun!
So his toy race car started spinning in place, knocking Xiao Yu, who was trying to drive forward normally, into a daze.
Xiaoyu said helplessly, "Jiang Mingzhe, stop turning around, we need to get to the finish line."
The next second, Xixi bumped into me from behind again: "Ah, I'm sorry..."
The show only arranged five S-curves, but by the time the blue team finally managed to put together their car, none of the kids had reached the finish line.
Even Xiaoyu, who was driving most attentively, was still stuck on the third bend.
After hearing the rules of the third round, the Blue Team immediately swarmed Youyou onto the last race car.
Shaoqi's heart was filled with hope.
She often takes her daughter, Youyou, to go-kart games, and she even has a custom-made children's car.
With just five S-curves, Yoyo should be able to handle it with ease.
Moreover, because the show's format did not take into account the situation where four or five children were drawn into the same group, Youyou only needed to reach the finish line to win for the whole team, which actually became a possibility for the Blue Team to make a comeback!
As expected, Youyou quickly familiarized herself with the simplified controls of the toy race car and then demonstrated her effortless and precise cornering skills to the audience.
He knew that these cubs wouldn't actually come up with any reliable solutions.
However, based on his experience, Jiang Mingzhe was right; the last piece of the toy car puzzle was hidden inside.
The props team leader, seeing the child vigorously shaking the prop box on the monitor, immediately clutched his heart and pretended to fall to the ground, begging Li Chi to quickly warn the children to stop their destructive behavior.
He was still one step behind; he should have secured all the combination lock boxes to the tabletop.
So Li Chi turned on the broadcast to the Red Team:
"Children, please do not use violence against the props. All the puzzles can be solved with a little brainpower!"
Leng Zhi flipped the briefcase over and pointed to the four colored blanks: "Now you need to find four small items with bases. The colors will correspond to these, and the shapes of the bases will also correspond. Understand?"
However, with four colors corresponding to different shapes, the children were completely confused.
Jiang Mingzhe read it aloud twice: "Red bird, blue circle, yellow cloud, purple rabbit ears!"
Then he raised his head, wanting to try reciting it once.
"Red...circles, and then...and then I forgot!"
He told Wang Ma, who was passing by the door at lunchtime, with a grin.
"You know what? This morning, someone claimed to be a friend of Mr. Leng Zhi. Isn't that funny?"
When Wang Ma heard the words "Leng Zhi," her heart skipped a beat.
She recalled that just two days ago, Secretary Li had arranged for her to watch Mr. Leng's variety show live stream and report on what she saw and any problems she encountered.
At the time, she advised Secretary Li to be careful that Leng Zhi might have other suitors because she saw that pervert who asked Leng Zhi to scold him a few more times.
Surprisingly, a suitor actually came knocking on my door!
She immediately asked, "What kind of young man is he? Is he good-looking?"
The security guard was stunned, recalling Zou Shu's appearance: "He's decent-looking? A handsome young man, but he's far inferior to our General Manager Jiang and Mr. Leng."
Wang Ma gasped in shock.
Good heavens, could it be that her unintentional words actually came true?
She quickly said goodbye to the security guard and immediately took out her phone to share the news with Secretary Li:
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com