Chapter 094: Kidnapping

Most children have far too much energy, and their curiosity can drive an adult to the brink of madness.

Song Wan was already on the verge of losing it.

She had only been joking—so how had she ended up in the position of having to soothe a child? And the worst part was that Gao Xiang was standing right beside her, watching her like a hawk, terrified that she might make the kid cry.

What made it even more infuriating was that she did not dare walk away from it.

If she upset the child and made him cry, then it would be her turn to cry.

Because of Jin Youqian, any little stir Song Wan made online now drew a swarm of curses. In the past it had all been mindless hate, and the passersby knew perfectly well what the situation was, so nobody took it seriously. But if she added even a sliver of something real at a time like this...

Even if that “something real” was not all that real, who among the gossips would care?

Song Wan was already so furious inwardly that she had beaten Director Yang flat on the ground in her imagination countless times: I told you to start filming! I told you to start filming! I told you to start filming!

Important things had to be said three times.

It was not that she disliked children. It was just that when she had work of her own, Song Wan did not want to spend too much energy on anything outside it.

Besides, for this final episode, the director had not even given them a rough outline.

Before filming began, Song Wan had truly been utterly lost.

Under such circumstances, she found everyone suspicious, wondering whether some other bizarre task might be lurking ahead.

Up to now, Rising Stars had only aired ten episodes, so its tricks had not come out very often. But in order to do a good job on this variety show, Song Wan had gone and watched every original reality program from Country H in full.

A full decade, nearly fifty seasons of shows, and the endless array of routines inside them left Song Wan dazzled and dizzy.

So when she discovered that the director had not even prepared that bare-bones sort of script about what games might appear today, it was hard not to think in the direction of the original version.

Still, whatever the case, this had nothing to do with the child.

Even with agitation churning in her heart, Song Wan showed none of it on her face. She kept patiently teasing the little boy.

-

The others were sitting in their places resting. At first they could still watch, calm and composed, as Song Wan got tangled up with the child and answered question after question, occasionally even wearing looks of gleeful schadenfreude.

But after waiting far too long, and seeing that they had already gone past the originally agreed filming time while the director still had not handed them a script, nor even said to begin shooting, not even Song Wan could sit still anymore. One after another, they sent their assistants and managers over to ask the director what was going on.

But the director was nowhere to be found.

Excuse me—what on earth was this? Had the director been kidnapped?

Zheng Fang grabbed Guo Feng by the arm and strode over in three quick steps to Song Wan’s side. “Song Wan, have you seen the director?”

Song Wan had been teasing the child when she looked up in confusion. “The director? Wasn’t he sitting over there—”

She turned her head, only to see that the chair Director Yang had been sitting in was empty. No one was there at all.

She sprang up in shock. “What happened?”

Zheng Fang looked grim. “The director must have driven us too hard, angered the fan of someone among us, and then gotten kidnapped.”

Song Wan and Guo Feng: “......”

Very good. Young man, I give your imagination a perfect score. No need to worry about arrogance.

But precisely because of Zheng Fang’s joke, Song Wan immediately restrained her expression and joined in with him. “That sounds pretty unreliable, but... I can’t help it, I actually find it kind of exciting? The moment I imagine Director Yang being kidnapped by fans, I just want to clap and celebrate. That’s wrong, of course...”

As she spoke, she began applauding in small, rapid bursts, a textbook case of saying one thing while doing another.

Guo Feng had been confused at first, but once Song Wan played along too, he immediately caught on.

The director disappearing had to be part of the show’s game.

He followed up at once. “If the director has disappeared, can we just wrap up and go home? My little princess has been pestering me about Daddy all day. I already promised her I’d go back early and keep her company.”

Song Wan stared at Guo Feng in astonishment, then could not help giving him a thumbs-up. “Brother Guo, you’re ruthless!”

As expected, the ginger only grew spicier with age.

After Song Wan and the other two had joked around for a while, she led the child over to Gao Xiang and said, “Sister Gao, the child’s parents still haven’t shown up after all this time, and the program over there has already started again. Could you help me watch him for now? Once his parents arrive, just hand him over to them.”

Gao Xiang naturally had no reason to refuse. She nodded and took the little boy along.

Only after settling the child did Song Wan return to Zheng Fang and the others. The three of them huddled together, seriously considering what direction today’s episode might take.

First, there would definitely be games involving clues to the final destination or the culprit;

Second, there might be an insider among them, and it was quite possible that this person would be the very celebrity favored by the culprit;

Finally, in the original variety show, the three elements the audience loved most were ripping name tags, pressure plates, and pursuit battles. But they had already played pressure plates and name-tag ripping enough in the first eleven episodes, while a pursuit battle had never happened once.

And although the original show differed from theirs in format, airing weekly, the final episode every year was always, without fail, a personal battle for the title of the strongest. Their show, however, was seasonal, with only one season a year, so the final episode of this season was also the final episode of the year. That meant this episode could very well be a solo battle with no teams at all.

Thinking along those lines, the probability that today’s main game would be a pursuit battle was extremely high. And there was a ninety-nine percent chance it would be a strongest-player showdown.

Song Wan simply told the other two what she thought, and they both agreed immediately.

“I think Song Wan makes a lot of sense,” Zheng Fang said, his brows twitching with barely contained amusement. “Otherwise the director couldn’t possibly disappear so pointlessly without leaving us even a single task. So today’s game might be connected to the director. The only question is whether he’s just serving as the setup for today’s game, or whether his disappearance will run through the entire episode.”

“I think it’s the latter,” Guo Feng said after serious thought, voting for that possibility.

Zheng Fang asked in confusion, “But did the director leave on his own, or was he really taken away like we guessed?”

“Could it really be a fan? Hahaha, if that’s true, it would be way too fun.”

Guo Feng did not catch the main point in Zheng Fang’s words at all; he just kept finding it hilarious.

Song Wan thought about it and suddenly felt that this guess was not impossible after all.

She turned toward the camera that had somehow been trailing behind them and said very seriously, “Remember, if we guess right, absolutely do not cut this part out. It’s only fun when there’s a comparison.”

The cameraman, dazzled by her beauty, nodded furiously while holding the camera.

The frame shook wildly.

Song Wan was satisfied, and only then did she turn back to continue discussing with the other two.

For some reason she could not quite put her finger on, Song Wan could not help glancing toward Gao Xiang’s side, her eyes a little strange.

After thinking it over, she added, “Don’t forget, if it really is like this, we may still need to find the culprit.”

This person might be nothing more than a prop—mentioned briefly, but not important.

But it was more likely, as Song Wan suspected, that the role was being played by one of them.

That person was a ticking bomb. They would have to stay on guard to avoid any accident.

Guo Feng and Zheng Fang looked much more serious now, both nodding in agreement as if they had already confirmed that this episode would unfold exactly like that.

-

The others searched everywhere. Then, seeing the three of them huddled together, looking at ease and not in the least anxious, they could not help coming over to ask what was going on.

At last the whole group gathered together, each of them staring hopefully.

But how could the other three possibly reveal what they knew so easily?

Guo Feng and Song Wan lowered their heads in unison and kept silent.

Zheng Fang, meanwhile, curled his lips into a half-smile. “Who knows? Maybe a task card will be brought to us in a moment.”

The moment he finished speaking, the special phone used for their program rang. Everyone hurriedly lowered their heads and took out their phones, checking the message they had just received.

Because the fan of one of you could not tolerate the director’s behavior, that person took the opportunity to kidnap him. If you want to find the director and continue filming, go to the XX Grand Mall immediately to search for clues.

Song Wan blinked and looked up at Zheng Fang. “Brother Zheng, that fan wouldn’t happen to be yours, would it?”

In the end, they had only just decided that there might be a culprit, yet this message sounded almost as though it had copied Zheng Fang’s joke from the very beginning.

To be honest, besides being funny, it was also a little frightening.

Song Wan and Guo Feng had both heard Zheng Fang’s earlier joke, and the moment they saw the text message, they turned and bolted away in perfect unison, running as fast as they could. Only after they were certain Zheng Fang could not possibly catch them did they stop.

The others stood where they were, looking so blank they might as well have been a bunch of idiots.

But Song Wan and Guo Feng had moved too quickly, and the shock on their faces did not look fake. So the others also hurriedly ran off, not caring where, only making sure to stay far away from Zheng Fang.

Zheng Fang had been inexplicably ostracized. “...What on earth happened?”

The hand holding his phone had stiffened completely, and the look he gave the others was pitiful indeed.

But at a time like this, no one was going to waste sympathy.

In the end, Zheng Fang could only point at everyone in frustration and threaten, “You’ll regret this!”

Song Wan hesitated, then turned to Guo Feng. “Brother Guo, maybe Brother Zheng really just guessed the show’s arrangement by coincidence?”

Guo Feng shook his head furiously, his face full of alarm. “Song Wan, don’t be foolish. Zheng Fang is obviously the one who kidnapped the director. Absolutely. There’s no way around it!”

Li Fan seemed to have guessed something and looked at them. “Can you tell me what’s going on?”

Song Wan and Guo Feng quickly stepped back.

Li Fan forced a bitter smile. “I don’t know anything, so how am I supposed to play the game like this? Besides, I can ally with you.”