Chapter 76

The buttock-bumping competition continued. Due to Zhang Chengyuan saving Li Zhen and touching the ground first, he was eliminated, causing Jin Jidong's team to lose a key player. The remaining members were no match for Jiang Hudong, who had been motivated by Zhang Chengyuan, and they were defeated one by one. In the end, Jiang Hudong's team won the right to ride the horse first. After winning, Jiang Hudong was extremely pleased and boasted to Jin Jidong about how brilliant his strategy of "using Li Zhen to defeat Zhang Chengyuan" was, which made Jin Jidong even more frustrated.

After a brief rest, the recording of the next game, "United Horse Riding," began. The four male members of Jin Jidong's team lined up with the oldest and most experienced member, Jin Zhangxun, as the horse's head, Zhang Chengyuan as the first horse, Jin Zhongguo as the second horse, and Jin Jidong as the horse's tail.

Jin Zhangxun, born in 1968, is a singer who debuted in 1991. He is a well-known charitable artist in South Korea, donating a large portion of his performance income to public welfare over the past decade. He has a very good reputation among the Korean public. Although he is kind-hearted, his personality is somewhat stubborn and impulsive, and his straightforwardness can easily offend people, making it difficult for others to approach him. He also has a fear of marriage, which is why he remains a bachelor. Additionally, he is seen by Japanese media as the top artist with strong anti-Japanese sentiments.

Regardless of whether Korean entertainment professionals agree with him or what they say or think in private, they all show him great respect and praise him on the surface. Zhang Chengyuan, after interacting with him for a while, felt that he was a man of principle and integrity. Such a person, compared to those who are sweet-talking and two-faced, is more worthy of his respect. Therefore, when Jin Zhangxun asked for his contact information after the show, Zhang Chengyuan did not hesitate to exchange private phone numbers with him.

As for Jin Zhongguo, the currently popular figure in the music industry, Zhang Chengyuan also had a very good impression of him. Despite his strong muscles, he is somewhat shy, respectful to seniors, and caring towards juniors, not just superficially but genuinely, which is why he has many friends, including Jiang Hudong, Liu Zaishi, and Zhang Chengyuan's good friend, Yun Eun-hye. Today, he was also very considerate of Zhang Chengyuan, worried that he might feel out of place in his first appearance on "X-MAN," and came to chat with him first.

The highly anticipated "United Horse Riding" game began but ended quickly and without suspense, leaving Jin Jidong's team feeling very frustrated. In the best-of-five match, Jin's team lost three consecutive rounds without even getting a chance to ride the horse. The first loss was due to Jin Jidong's small and thin body being unable to support the heavy weight of Jiang Hudong, almost collapsing instantly. The other two losses were due to Jin Zhangxun losing the "rock-paper-scissors" game to the new singer, Lee Seung-gi, twice.

It must be said that this new singer, Lee Seung-gi, who debuted in early June this year, is indeed very smart and quick-witted. He used his words to shake Jin Zhangxun's confidence twice in the game, easily winning. This made Jin Zhangxun both ashamed and angry. He was ashamed because his mistake caused the team to lose, and angry because he, being much older, was outsmarted by a young man. He blamed himself for being deceived by Lee Seung-gi's usually polite and humble demeanor. After the game, he angrily confronted Lee Seung-gi, criticizing his cunning and rudeness.

Of course, this was just a show for the effect of the program. In reality, he was probably secretly pleased and cheering for Lee Seung-gi's outstanding performance today.

Through this game, Zhang Chengyuan also deeply remembered this gentle, sunny, and somewhat mischievous young man, Lee Seung-gi.

Next was the "Of Course" game segment. Before it started, Liu Zaishi emphasized a young girl named "Li Zhiyan," calling her the "Queen of Of Course." This piqued Zhang Chengyuan's interest. He knew about dance kings, dance queens, and other titles, but he had never heard of a "Queen of Of Course."

Zhang Chengyuan looked closely and saw that this young girl was small and delicate, with a beautiful appearance and a gentle demeanor, and a bit shy in her mannerisms. She was wearing a program-specific sportswear, looking like a high school student around seventeen or eighteen years old. It wasn't until after the program that he learned she was actually his age, just with a youthful appearance.

Seeing that this queen was just a delicate young girl, Zhang Chengyuan couldn't help but wonder how she earned this title. Was she specially "promoted" by the program's production team?

The game began, and Zhang Chengyuan's team sent out Jin Zhongguo first, while the opposing team sent out Lee Seung-gi. However, Jin Zhongguo was quickly KOed by Lee Seung-gi's comment, "The mosquito sound in the rest room must be your voice." Jin Zhongguo's voice is soft and delicate, quite unique among men. Although it adds to his romantic appeal when singing, he is not very satisfied with it, so it's no wonder he didn't want to admit that his voice sounded like a mosquito. Of course, he could have continued, but the effect of the program had already been achieved, so there was no need for him to force it. After all, he is not a competitive person.

Then Jin Zhangxun came out and was quickly defeated by Lee Seung-gi as well. He only lasted one more round than Jin Zhongguo, which was only because Liu Zaishi and Jin Jidong insisted he continue. Otherwise, he would have wanted to give up after the first round. It must be said that Lee Seung-gi's observational skills and eloquence are truly remarkable, always attacking the opponent's weak points.

The game continued, and perhaps to prevent Lee Seung-gi from dominating, he was asked to "rest," meaning he could only watch from the sidelines for the rest of the segment. This also involved the distribution of screen time for other guests. As a newcomer, Lee Seung-gi, though disappointed, had no complaints, as his performance today was already outstanding.

Next, it was the turn of the queen of this game, Li Zhiyan, to perform. Zhang Chengyuan, who had been looking forward to it, finally witnessed her "sharp-tongued" style. She described the comedian Shin Jeong-hwan, who has a strange appearance and hairstyle, as a chicken, the stout Jiang Hudong as a pig fighting for feed, and the male supporting actor in the popular drama "Lovers in Paris," Yun Young-jun, as being in love with a fly (the Korean word for "Paris" sounds similar to the word for "fly"). Her aggressive remarks were both sharp and humorous, creating many laughs. No wonder she gained a lot of popularity because of this game segment and became a regular guest on the show.

However, while gaining popularity, she also lost a lot. She lost her originally fresh and cute image and the good impressions of many artists. Many artists who were verbally attacked by her in the program, though they laughed and seemed to not mind during the recording, would feel uncomfortable and naturally keep their distance from her. Some people who were unaware of the situation or only heard about her sharp-tongued performance, including her blind fans, might think that her heart is as venomous as her words. Over time, her reputation would not be good.

Zhang Chengyuan thought that perhaps Li Zhiyan did not originally intend to behave this way. It might be that after she occasionally showed her talent for sharp-tongued remarks on the show, the "X-MAN" production team or her agency required her to maintain this image to attract public attention.

Thinking about this, Zhang Chengyuan felt a bit worried for her, concerned that at her young age, she would have to bear various criticisms and exclusion. He suddenly felt a bit of sympathy for Li Zhiyan.

After defeating three opponents, Li Zhiyan was also asked to rest, like Lee Seung-gi. Then, other guests, including Li Zhen, Yun Eun-hye, Jeon Hye-bin, and Zhang Chengyuan, took turns to display their "eloquence." However, the four of them were not very skilled at this and did not want to stand out too much, so they were either quickly KOed or defeated one opponent and then stopped. When they were defeated and had to leave the stage, they all put on a very frustrated and helpless expression for the effect of the program, but they were not really bothered by it.

In the end, Jiang Hudong's team won the game again. Then the PD announced a break, and the artists went to the dressing room to change into fashionable and beautiful clothes to prepare for the next segment, "Partner Heroes Ten Thousand Years."

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