Chapter Seventeen: Dividing the Houses

A few minutes later, the other four families also finished. Perhaps because Xiao Yao took the lead in discovering the original image on the bottom of the puzzle box, everyone realized that having the original picture made the puzzle significantly easier. At least the fathers were confidently directing their children, so the real competition came down to the kids’ hand speed.

The results were Zhao Rui in second place, Lin Qi San in third, Zhou Zhihao fourth, and the girls were still a bit slower than the boys in terms of speed. Thus, the only girl, Sun Tingting, ended up last.

“Dad...” Hearing she came in last, Sun Tingting immediately pouted and started crawling into her father Sun Zhihao’s arms, clearly about to cry.

“Sweetheart, don’t cry,” Sun Zhihao comforted his daughter right away. “It’s okay to lose this time. We’ll try harder next time.”

“But I don’t want to live in a broken house,” Sun Tingting whimpered, evidently having seen this show before.

“There’s no broken house,” Sun Zhihao soothed, gently stroking her hair.

“There is a broken house!” Zhou Zhihao shouted loudly, also familiar with the program.

At that moment, Chen Lei handed five photos of houses to Xiao Yao, saying, “Ba Yi picks first. Choose one and keep the photo. After you’re done, hand the rest to Shi Tou.”

Meanwhile, Wu Zhankui was grumbling to his subordinates, “Who prepared the puzzle props? Didn’t they think to change the box for the puzzle pieces? They actually used the box lid with the picture on it.”

This time, the production crew had indeed prepared a rather harsh, drafty broken house. It wasn't really suitable for a girl to live in. However, according to the original plan, this broken house shouldn’t have been assigned to the little girl. The initial house selection and intelligence challenge was designed for fathers and children to work together. Even if Zhou Lixing hadn’t suggested it, Chen Lei would have arranged for the fathers to assist.

Among the five, Sun Zhihao played multiple roles as director, screenwriter, producer, and actor, and he was also a university lecturer. In terms of intelligence and reaction speed, he was undoubtedly the best among them. The production team expected Zhou Lixing, who had a sports background and had endured many hardships, to be slightly less adept in this area but better adapted to tough conditions.

Even if something unexpected happened, the last place should have been the oldest, tough-looking Zhao Tao—not Sun Zhihao, who had been called a “mastermind” on another show. But no one expected that Xiao Yao would see through the trick again, turning an intelligence contest into a speed race—and the only family with a girl ended up last.

“What should we do? Should we ask the guests if they want to swap with Sun’s family?” an assistant whispered.

“Ask? How? If the house assignments don’t suit us and we ask them to switch, then this whole process becomes manipulated by us. What’s the point of this segment then?” Wu Zhankui shot the assistant a glare and sighed. “Now all we can do is hope one family shows goodwill, offers to swap, or picks the broken house early. But the chance is slim—if it were just adults, it might be easier to say, but since they have kids, who wouldn’t want their child to live comfortably?”

While the production team debated, the houses on site were basically all chosen. Except for House No. 5, the broken one, the other four had their own unique features but were similar in conditions.

When Xiao Yao received the house photos, except for Sun Tingting, who was still hiding in her father’s arms upset, the other kids immediately gathered around. Xiao Yao, being easygoing, picked a house he liked and handed the remaining four photos to Zhao Rui. After Zhou Zhihao finished picking and saw Sun Tingting hadn’t approached, he took the initiative to hand her the photo of the broken house, saying, “Look, it really is a broken house.”

“Wow!” Sun Tingting glanced at it, then burst into tears, throwing the photo to the ground and burying herself in her dad’s arms. Sun Zhihao quickly picked up the photo and kept comforting her. “Sweetheart, a broken house is still a house. Remember what mom told you before we came?”

“Zhou Zhihao, come here! Don’t say things that upset her,” Zhou Lixing scolded his son when he saw what had upset Sun Tingting. Zhou Zhihao immediately shut up and ran to his father.

For a moment, only Sun Tingting’s crying and Sun Zhihao’s comforting voice filled the area. Everyone else patiently waited as Sun Zhihao calmed his daughter.

Suddenly, Xiao Yao tapped Xiao Siqi and looked up at him. Xiao Siqi glanced at Xiao Yao’s gaze, panicked slightly, shook his head, but Xiao Yao nodded firmly. A strange pleading expression appeared on Xiao Siqi’s face, and after struggling a moment, he reluctantly nodded. Xiao Yao then walked over to Sun Zhihao and his daughter.

Xiao Yao squatted beside Sun Zhihao, who was hugging and comforting his daughter, took the photo from Sun Zhihao’s hand, and handed his own house photo to Sun Tingting with a smile. “Sweetheart, I’ll trade with you.”

Everyone froze, and Sun Tingting stopped crying, staring blankly at Xiao Yao, then turning to look at her father.

Sun Zhihao shook his head gently and whispered to his daughter, “You can’t accept.” Then he smiled at Xiao Yao. “Ba Yi, thank you, but losing is losing. A broken house is still livable. We shouldn’t just give in because you’re crying. That’s not good for you.”

Xiao Yao shook his head and said to Sun Zhihao, “Uncle Sun, it’s not just because she’s crying. Look at this house—it really isn’t suitable for a girl to live in. I’m a boy, so it’s only right I take care of a girl.”

Suddenly, Sun Tingting interrupted, “I can live in a broken house. Mom said even girls shouldn’t be too delicate.”

Xiao Yao smiled and said, “Really? This house isn’t just broken, it might have mice—maybe even frogs, centipedes, or snakes might get in.”

“Ah! I don’t want that!” The little girl screamed, clutching her dad tightly.

Sun Zhihao smiled wryly, holding his daughter and looking at Xiao Yao, “Why scare her like that?”

“All right,” Xiao Yao scratched his head sheepishly, “Maybe no centipedes or snakes. Safety’s guaranteed, at least, but mice and frogs might still be around. Uncle Sun, better to switch. You wouldn’t want Sweetheart to be scared, right?”

Sun Zhihao looked at his daughter hesitatingly, then his love for her won out. He glanced at Chen Lei and asked, “Village chief, can we swap?”

Chen Lei, following the executive director’s instructions and secretly hoping someone would switch with him, smiled and nodded, “As long as both parties agree, of course you can swap.”

“All right, then thank you, Ba Yi.” Sun Zhihao took the house photo from Xiao Yao and handed it to his daughter. “Sweetheart, thank Ba Yi.”

Sun Tingting lifted her head from her father’s arms and shyly said, “Thank you, Ba Yi.”

Sun Zhihao and his wife both graduated from Yanjing Film Academy’s acting department. To get into that school and major, their looks had to be quite refined. Their five-year-old daughter inherited their excellent genes and looked like a beautiful doll. Whether five or thirty, the preference for pretty little girls seemed much the same.

Looking at the little beauty with tears streaming, Xiao Yao teased her, “So how are you going to thank me?”

“Huh?” Sun Tingting was momentarily stunned, then with an innocent expression said, “How should I thank you?”

“Call me brother, just once,” Xiao Yao grinned.

Sun Tingting hesitated, biting her finger, then wrapped her arms around Xiao Yao’s neck, planted a kiss on his right cheek, let go, and sweetly said, “Thank you, Brother Ba Yi.”

Xiao Yao was caught off guard by the sudden kiss, blushed, and stammered, “Actually, I’m younger than you—I’m two months younger.”

Everyone around burst into laughter at Xiao Yao’s dumbfounded expression and words.

“Dad~” At that moment, Lin Qi San in the corner tugged at Lin Shaohua, sulking and looking at his father gloomily.

Lin Shaohua chuckled at his son. “What? Jealous? Who told you not to try to swap with Sweetheart?”

Zhao Tao chuckled and leaned toward Xiao Siqi, teasing quietly, “Your son’s something else. When he grows up, he’s going to cause trouble for many girls.”

Xiao Siqi, who was closest to Zhao Tao here, knew he was just joking and responded smugly, “Of course, don’t you see whose son he is?”

As a group of four boys and one girl, the lone girl naturally became the center of attention. Xiao Yao’s little act made Zhao Rui, Lin Qi San, and Zhou Zhihao a bit jealous and resentful—but only to varying degrees. After all, they were children, so the feelings passed quickly.

The house selection was finally over. Chen Lei then announced the next steps.

“Next, everyone take your luggage and follow me to the village ancestral hall. It’s nearly noon now. To welcome your arrival, the village elders prepared a natural lunch with grains and fruits they grew themselves. The meal will be waiting at the hall. After picking up your lunch, return to your houses to eat and rest. The afternoon task starts at two o’clock. Task cards will be given out then. Now, please follow me with your luggage.”

The lunch was decent—freshly steamed buns, mantou, corn, paired with cucumbers, tomatoes, and other colorful fruits. Each family picked some food, packed it, and returned to their rooms. The filming crews also split up to follow their assigned families for separate shooting.