She Said She Has Feelings For Someone - Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Gala Apple: “The Troublemakers”

As Lu Shuyu announced the remaining time, Xia Leshuang hurriedly picked up her pen. Her confusion hadn’t faded in the slightest, so she decided to treat a dead horse as if it were alive—drawing exactly what she saw.

Upon seeing the contents of the whiteboard, the three people beside her let out a sigh of relief. He Wenyin said, “There’s still hope.”

Zhong Wen had just removed her blindfold when her movements froze mid-air. On Xia Leshuang’s board were the words: “Watermelon + Big Laugh.”

Oh, and the number “2.”

She took a deep breath. “Are you sure?”

“Anyway, the meaning is definitely this…” Xia Leshuang felt a bit unsure, but she was certain there was no mistake in the transmission of the visual cues.

“Fine…” Zhong Wen picked up the pen and drew the corresponding patterns for “Watermelon” and “Laughing,” not forgetting to include the number 2.

“Jiang Fei, please remove your blindfold,” Lu Shuyu rang the bell.

Jiang Fei followed suit. Her confusion and shock were no less than those of the previous two, but as the final link in the chain, she had to come up with an answer. Her brow was furrowed as if facing a great enemy. Luo Han offered a hint: “The answer is a four-character idiom.”

“Watermelon… Laughing?” Jiang Fei said tentatively. “Two?”

“Wrong—” Lu Shuyu immediately rang the bell. “Two more chances.”

“Wait, wait—!” Jiang Fei took a deep breath. “Xi-xi-ha-ha (Giggling and Laughing)?”

“Whoa—!” The first three people stood up excitedly, erupting in cheers. “Fei-fei, you’re amazing!”

Zhong Wen had a sudden epiphany, while Xia Leshuang remained dazed. She couldn’t help but ask, “Why is it Xi-xi-ha-ha?”

“It’s a homophone pun. The Xi in Xigua (watermelon), and Haha for big laughter. The ‘2’ probably meant ‘times two,’ so it’s Xi-xi-ha-ha,” Zhong Wen explained.

Xia Leshuang was silent for a moment, then asked, unwilling to let it go: “That’s it?”

The others laughed. “Yeah, that’s it!”

“Gosh, thank goodness for Fei-fei.” As the final player who decided their fate, Jiang Fei breathed a sigh of relief. She looked at the other boards. “Actually, everyone’s transmission was quite accurate.”

“Almost,” Luo Han pointed to the shell on her board. “Luckily Jiahe recognized my Gala (clam)…”

He Wenyin couldn’t help but laugh. “Leshuang, could you tell what that was?”

Xia Leshuang shook her head, looking utterly defeated. “I truly didn’t understand it at all.”

Jiang Fei also shook her head. “To be honest, I probably wouldn’t have understood either. My family doesn’t eat clams.”

“I recognized it because of the smiley face Sister Han drew,” Tang Jiahe explained. “Wasn’t there a popular emoji-guessing game recently? I happened to see a clip of it.”

“Wow, Sister Han’s internet speed is pretty fast,” Zhong Wen remarked. “I didn’t know that one either.”

After the review, Jiang Fei went to draw a letter ball. She swirled her hand in the black box several times, picking one out as if she had carefully selected it.

“Ah!” She suddenly let out a scream, falling back as if she’d been electrocuted. Lu Shuyu and Song Yi both stood up in fright, but they weren’t fast enough to catch her.

“What happened?” Everyone stood up.

“It’s nothing…” Jiang Fei said weakly, holding her hand up. “It’s the letter G…”

“G?” Zhong Wen said subconsciously. “Gala (Clam)?”

“Pfft…” “What a coincidence…” “Fei-fei has some serious ‘luck’ on her…”

Xia Leshuang spoke up abruptly: “So, what else starts with G? Besides clams.”

The group fell into a momentary silence. Jiang Fei looked ready to cry. “My head is just full of clams…”

The staff members all burst into laughter. Lu Shuyu blinked and offered a “kind” reminder: “There is one: Gouqi (Goji berries).”

Immediately, the room split into two poles—the silent guest seats and the roaring production team.

Chi Shan stifled her laughter and coughed. “PD Lu is really something—” “There’s also Gegen (Kudzu root).”

The six guests couldn’t help but hide their faces. Jiang Fei stared at the letter ball in her hand, wishing she could disappear.

“Can we use fruits?” Xia Leshuang asked suddenly.

Song Yi stepped in to clean up the ruins left by the two “troublemakers.” “You can.”

Lu Shuyu froze.

“Gala-guo (Gala apple),” Xia Leshuang said.

The Gala apple is an imported variety. Many people present knew of it, but Lu Shuyu knew it best. Back when she was close with Xia Leshuang, Xia used to carry one with her every day. They were red, large, sweet and sour, and highly nutritious.

Lu Shuyu’s thinness back then was partly due to malnutrition. Xia Leshuang had recommended many nutritious foods to her, and the Gala apple was one of them.

Xia Leshuang said it to the camera as if she had just happened to think of it. Lu Shuyu suppressed the stirrings in her heart and smiled calmly. “Sure. If the shop doesn’t have them, there’s a supermarket next door. We’ll buy some.”

“Actually, there are plenty of fruits,” Tang Jiahe realized. “Various Gua (melons), Gan (citrus), Guo (fruit).”

“Leshuang’s Gala apple is just an apple. It doesn’t have to be that complicated.”

Those words fell into Lu Shuyu’s heart, unexpectedly creating a ripple. Before she could process it, she heard He Wenyin say, “There’s also Ganlan (cabbage); it’s a vegetable that can go in the pot.”

Due to the “troublemaking” behavior of Lu Shuyu and Chi Shan, Song Yi waved her hand and allowed the guests to decide the ingredients for this round themselves.

“Then it’s apple, cantaloupe, mandarin orange, and cabbage.”

Although Jiang Fei wanted to order clams and didn’t want the others to cater to her, she was unanimously overruled. “Hot pot flavors mix easily; it’s only right to be considerate of one another,” Luo Han said.

After two more rounds of drawing and guessing for letters, the guests secured some soy products and vegetable staples.

“No meat…” Jiang Fei’s face fell.

The three rounds had ended. Tang Jiahe raised her hand. “PD Lu, we request a bonus round!”

Lu Shuyu arched an eyebrow. “Let’s hear it.”

“If we win,” Tang Jiahe declared boldly, “give us the letter N!”

“N?” Zhong Wen was confused for a second before nodding vigorously. “Yes, yes! Give us N!”

With N for Niu (Beef), they would have everything they needed!

The guests looked tense, fearing Lu Shuyu would refuse. To their surprise, she agreed quite readily.

Tang Jiahe became even more nervous. “Why was PD Lu so agreeable?”

“You’ve specified the reward,” Lu Shuyu laughed, “so I set the game.”

Everyone held their breath, waiting for her next words.

“The simplest thing,” Lu Shuyu rolled up her sleeves. “Arm wrestling.”

“Me against all six of you. If you can beat me just once, you win.”