The patrol officer separated the hearings of Zhao Sheng and Yang Haoshan. Yang Haoshan, panicked at the patrol officer’s intimidation, revealed her background. When the county magistrate heard Yang Haoshan say he was a man, he was dumbfounded. Yang Haoshan even told him, “For a day as husband and wife, there is a hundred days of grace…” Qi Shejiang mimicked the county magistrate: “His face turned green! He wanted to fight Yang Haoshan to the death!” The patrol officer, after clarifying the case, reported to his superior to resolve this matter. However, if the human adjudicates, how do the ghosts and gods judge? The patrol officer ordered a platform to be opened, personally wrote the Qing words, and appealed to the underworld—the two officials were sued: “Acting with mercy brings blessings to the people; acting with violence brings calamity to the people. Foolish King Yan causes confusion in the underworld, failing to match virtue to position; foolish county magistrate, the management of criminal justice and grain is chaotic, causing how many innocents to die unjustly—both should bear the responsibility. The Zhao family’s false accusation leading to someone’s death carries equal weight; Zhao Sheng is now without hope of the imperial examination.
Although Yang Haoshan is a victim, he nearly ruined the lady’s reputation from his own family and should be sent back to the underworld for retrial and to extend his life! This is indeed, good and evil are rewarded, and the consequences are unforgotten!” Qi Shejiang clapped the wooden clapper, and “The Mistaken Soul Returns” was concluded. There was a moment of silence in the venue before everyone began to applaud. The guests all pondered for a moment, feeling somewhat unsatisfied. Indeed, Qi Shejiang’s performance was still brilliant, but the conclusion of the story left them a bit lost; they were used to “heavy flavors,” and for this traditional ending based on cause and effect, it always felt lacking in impact. Qi Shejiang sensed that something was wrong and hurriedly asked, “Is there anything that wasn’t done well?” He had received great feedback when he told this story before, but now there was hesitation, leading him to suspect it might be a shift in aesthetics. If so, he welcomed opinions to facilitate changes. The female guest resting her head on her hand said, “There’s nothing wrong; I just prefer stories with more emotional elements…” Qi Shejiang didn’t quite understand, “What do you mean?” Zhang Yue said expressionlessly, “What she means is that a love triangle among you, Zhao Sheng, Yang Haoshan, and the county magistrate, full of love and hate, would be great.
” Qi Shejiang: “…………” A male guest actor next to him also hugged Qi Shejiang and said, “Why not add a few more plotlines to this story? In addition to their love triangle, there could also be the original county magistrate’s wife, Zhao Sheng’s fiancée, Yang Haoshan’s childhood sweetheart, and so on.” Qi Shejiang covered his face and said, “That would take until the year after next.” Everyone agreed, “Exactly, with such a story, you could shoot it into one hundred eighty episodes.” Qi Shejiang chuckled; even his longest solo segments are just a few dozen performances. … After finishing this third recording, they began airing the content from the second trip. Initially, during the first recording, Qi Shejiang and Zhang Yue had sung a duet, which the production team decided to cut. This time, perhaps because the effect was too good, their duet of “He Bi Xi Xiang” was not cut. This delighted the audience.
Haha, Zhang Yue, who ridicules Qi Shejiang every day, secretly learns to sing a song by Xia Yiwei—wait, it’s a song covered by Qi Shejiang, shared by Zhang Yue. Zhang Yue did something silly by learning to sing “He Bi Xi Xiang”—and he sang it exceptionally well. The two sworn enemies unexpectedly collaborated perfectly; many thought it was even more enjoyable than the original version. Zhang Yue’s fans were thrilled, [“Yue Ge, tell the truth, are you and Qi Shejiang really at odds in public but secretly have feelings for each other?”] [“What nonsense! If it was you, wouldn’t you have feelings? Just look at his figure and that face…”] [“What kind of wolfish words are those up there? Reporting it.”] Zhang Yue reposted, “…I was just momentarily careless and brainwashed!” Due to prior impressions being too strong, more people thought Zhang Yue saw himself as a joke, which was hilarious. There was also a small cult formed from this, lurking in various corners, quietly expressing: [“Fighting love-hate relationship, the CP feeling is off the charts, ship it!”]
Before long, it was time for the final recording. When Qi Shejiang arrived, the director pulled him aside and whispered a few words while he nodded in agreement.
Then the director announced that there was a new rule: partners could be swapped, allowing for new combinations. This put Zhang Yue in a tough spot. He thought, I’ve gotten used to my current partner and don’t want to change roommates! But he had to try hard, while not letting anyone see how much it mattered to him.
In the end, Zhang Yue won the championship and casually let his teammate choose their partner. Thus, their group remained unchanged. Zhang Yue felt quite easygoing as the group walked to their new accommodation, roaming around the yard for a moment. When they turned back to drop off their luggage, he found Xie Qing standing at the door, and inside was Qi Shejiang. Xie Qing: “Hahaha, then let’s share a room. I prefer sleeping in the south.
When Xie Qing turned around and saw Zhang Yue, he enthusiastically pointed out, “Old Zhang, you should sleep in that room; the bed there is bigger, it’s better for you.” Damn it. Zhang Yue walked away with a dark face. Qi Shejiang peeked out, sensing that Zhang Yue didn’t seem very happy. Indeed, they had shared a room previously, and everyone got along quite well, while Zhang Yue always had a bit of a temper. Zhang Yue was loudly organizing items in the room. Qi Shejiang boiled water and prepared a bowl of warm water. He found Zhang Yue still busy, but when he saw him, he turned his head away. Qi Shejiang approached, “Guo’er, you should drink some water before practicing.” Zhang Yue: “……Go to hell!!” Qi Shejiang laughed, “You have the potential to be a good comic.” Zhang Yue, upon hearing that, couldn’t get angry anymore. Qi Shejiang cracked jokes about Yang Guo and Xiao Longnv, which is merely about finding humor from family ethics or similar perspectives. Yet deep down, Zhang Yue felt a bit strange… He stood up and drank the water, “Alright already, even with this, I’m constantly taking hits from you. How can I still do crosstalk?”
It was really after knowing Qi Shejiang that he had watched quite a few crosstalk performances; otherwise, how could he casually say, “Go to hell.” At that moment, Xie Qing strolled over, “Comrade Old Zhang, don’t be so impatient when working, banging around, one might think there’s an earthquake. When you have time, go outside and feed the chickens…” Zhang Yue kicked him on the back of his leg and cursed, “Get lost, you surname Yin!” … As the recording approached its conclusion, everyone gathered for a farewell dinner to show their camaraderie. According to the director’s instructions, Qi Shejiang stood up and said, “Let me share another segment.” In a lively atmosphere, everyone assumed he was going to tell a joke to lighten the mood, and thus applauded in welcome. Qi Shejiang pulled out a wooden clapper and stood up to recite a fixed verse: “Infatuated with mistaken paths in this life, looking back at the brothel, regretting endlessly. Today with my pen, I craft the Dragon Spring Sword, ready to slay the ungrateful man amongst mortals!”
