Chapter 458: Chapter 458: The First Unfortunate One to be Overthrown
To emphasize the King’s special status, the production team specially arranged a royal set of three for Song Shiye.
A crown, a cloak, and a scepter, paired with his long black down jacket, made him look completely out of place.
Especially when Song Shiye swung the scepter and chanted "Balala Energy," everyone rolled their eyes and turned their faces away.
"The six remaining servants, please come over here to draw competition lots." The PD raised his right hand, signaling everyone to gather around him.
The six "servants" still had no idea what was coming but stepped forward one by one to draw lots from the PD’s hand.
Sang Ning drew a red lot with the word "Passenger" on its face.
Just as she finished reading the lot face, the PD started urging, "Servants who drew the same color lot, please automatically group yourselves; our competition is about to begin."
Lu Yujing raised her lot and loudly asked, "What’s with this Husky written on the lot? Are we supposed to be dogs or something?"
Sang Ning glanced up and noticed that Lu Yujing, like her, had drawn a red lot.
This damned fate...
"If we’re all dogs, why bother dividing us by breed?" Qin Feng raised his lot, seamlessly taking over the conversation, completely forgetting that he’d been ordered not to speak.
Sang Ning leaned in, got a clear look at Qin Feng’s lot, and couldn’t help but tease, "A Samoyed? We’re not seriously pulling together a Snow Sled Trio, are we?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Li Haidong’s furious voice rang out: "Why am I the Alaskan?"
Sang Ning pressed her lips together, trying to suppress her laughter but feeling it was rude. Especially as she saw the production team actually dragging in sled props, her smile began twitching uncontrollably from holding it back.
The PD then started explaining, "Our warm-up game is called Crazy Hammer. Now please divide into three groups according to the lot colors. Servants who drew Husky, Samoyed, and Alaskan will pull sleds on the ice, while servants who drew Passenger will wear snowmen on their heads, holding inflatable hammers on the sled. Each group’s task is to cooperate and knock down the snowmen atop the other groups’ Passengers. The group that wins will receive a small reward."
Sang Ning understood: this game is basically "you pull, I hammer." Though her poor "Raff" — no, now it should be "Dog Husband" — would bear the brunt of the work.
Sang Ning accidentally caught Lu Yujing’s gaze. The other was looking at her with a pitiful, resentful expression, immediately followed by a coquettish complaint: "Ningbao, my strength is so small. What if I end up dragging you down?"
Sang Ning was surprised. Lu Yujing actually started considering her feelings? Is the space-time distortion affecting people this strongly?
For a split second, Lu Yujing glanced at Sang Ning’s lot with visible disdain in her eyes, which then disappeared instantly.
Sang Ning blinked in slight confusion, not noticing Lu Yujing’s change in expression. After returning to her senses, she kindly replied, "It’s okay. It’s just a game — the point is to participate."
"No way!" Lu Yujing suddenly responded firmly, "We have to win! Otherwise..."
She didn’t even finish saying "You pull me instead" before the PD cut in: "Sang Ning’s got it right — it’s just a game, the aim is participation. I understand everyone’s desire to win, but safety comes first."
Lu Yujing’s eyes darted toward the steel frame at the sled’s base. A sly idea formed in her mind, and she once again looked at Sang Ning with renewed vigor: "Ningbao, don’t worry. Even though it’s a game, I’ll give it my all!"
Sang Ning found it odd; Lu Yujing’s sudden change in attitude was too drastic. Before she could delve deeper, Li Haidong grumbled loudly, "If you wanted to make us dogs, just write it plainly. Why make it sound like Snow Sled Trio? Isn’t this just outright mockery?"
"Well, we’re in Snow Village, aren’t we? It fits the theme." The PD responded awkwardly on the surface, but inside, he thought: This guy really has zero sense of comedy for variety shows.
The final groupings were: Sang Ning and Lu Yujing, Qin Feng and Wei Lan, Li Haidong and Jiang Xiaoti.
Li Haidong declared that he wouldn’t show any mercy even though Wei Lan was his wife. Everyone watching eagerly anticipated how this typically loving couple would battle it out in the arena.
The "Passengers" donned their specially-made snowmen hats, while the "Snow Sled Trio" strapped the sled ropes onto themselves.
Sang Ning tugged the strap under her chin to ensure the snowman atop her head wouldn’t easily come loose, then grabbed the inflatable hammer and climbed into the sled. She gave Lu Yujing an encouraging glance: "Thank you for your effort. If you really can’t pull, just give it your best shot — it’s okay if our group ends up last."
Lu Yujing clenched her fists in front of her chest to show determination: "Don’t worry! I practice dance, so my burst power and stamina are top-notch. You just need to hammer away at the others and leave everything else to me."
Lu Yujing’s victory hunger practically burned through her gaze. Sang Ning’s expression shifted to one of reluctant disbelief. Who was it that claimed to have "very little strength" earlier?
"Alright... then, if winning means that much to you, I won’t let you down. Trust me, whoever comes near us is getting hammered." Sang Ning promised confidently. She believed in pulling her weight and never dragging others down. With Lu Yujing clearly intent on winning, she vowed to cooperate fully.
The three sled groups took their positions as planned by the production team, forming an almost-perfect equilateral triangle connected by three points.
With the whistle blown by the PD, the three sled groups surged toward the red-marked spot at the center of the triangle — the battlefield for the game’s fierce showdown.
"Ah!!!" Lu Yujing’s so-called burst power and stamina weren’t an idle boast. She was the first to pull a sled forward after the whistle blew, that guttural yell of effort shocking Sang Ning to her core.
"You really don’t have to go this hard..." Sang Ning muttered in exasperation, though she raised her inflatable hammer high, ready to attack.
Not just Sang Ning, everyone was stunned by Lu Yujing’s gusto.
Not to be outdone, Qin Feng and Li Haidong—both members of the "Snow Sled Trio"—let out their own battle cries to pump themselves up, pulling their respective sleds laden with Passengers straight toward the red-marked spot.
Despite seeming laser-focused on pulling, Lu Yujing’s gaze secretly darted to the other sleds. She plotted how to hurl Sang Ning’s head into chaos.
That’s right—Lu Yujing wanted to wipe out Sang Ning right in full view of the cameras.
After all, this was a show. If something truly happened to Sang Ning, the viewers would only blame the production team for their unreasonable game setup.
Lu Yujing calculated she could sell her misery afterward, claiming severe psychological trauma due to the incident, and maybe even gain some public sympathy while slipping into obscurity.
But dreams are rich, and reality is harsh.
What Lu Yujing didn’t expect was that Sang Ning remained perfectly fine, while she herself was the first unlucky victim to be flipped over.
