Top Dupe CH 061 Pinnacle Sports Part 1

"Quickly! He Mu, what are you dawdling for!" Mick had figured out from Jiang Muxing how they were distinguishing between real and fake stepping stones. "The second one on the right! Then the first one to the left! Hurry up!"

Liu Songtao didn’t want to lose either, especially since he had been working hard. He shouted loudly, "He Mu! Move it!"

Only then did He Mu snap out of it and quickly completed the level according to Mick’s instructions.

The awkward feeling of thinking he could manage with ease but ended up bundling it lingered in his mind.

At this point, Luo Yu had already reached the center of the frog path.

Mick and Liu Songtao were reminding He Mu.

"Don't rush—take it steady—"

"Otherwise, if you get stuck with the frogs, it will waste even more time!"

He Mu had to suppress the urge to kick away all the frogs and cautiously moved forward step by step.

What he didn’t expect was that when Luo Yu was two or three meters away from finishing the frog path, he stopped.

His position was excellent, surrounded by frogs but still able to place both feet on the ground. He bent his knees and put his arms back, preparing to exert force.

He Mu looked at him anxiously. What was Luo Yu planning to do? What did he want to do?

The director in front of the monitor held his breath and squinted.

The surrounding staff stretched their necks, "Is Luo Yu going to jump directly over?"

"That’s too far, right? If he doesn’t land steadily, he’ll end up in the frogs!"

But Luo Yu seemed to ignore those comments, completely indifferent to other people's opinions. With a swing of his arms, he jumped from the spot, and his long legs propelled him directly to the other side.

"Oh, oh, oh—amazing—" Jiang Muxing had already forgotten about his physical exhaustion and was jumping up and clapping.

Li Shengyu couldn’t help but exclaim, "This guy… his skills are overwhelming! It feels like this game segment was designed just for him!"

He Mu was even more anxious and wanted to imitate Luo Yu, but worried he wouldn’t make the jump. When he was about a meter and a half away, he stretched out his leg to cross, but he wasn’t steady when landing and took a step back. Mick and Liu Songtao were so nervous that one closed his eyes, and the other covered his face.

He Mu’s heart was pounding. He looked back—luckily, there were no frogs where he had stepped back.

Meanwhile, Luo Yu had already lifted Deer onto his back.

"Take it easy, buddy, don’t hurt your back!" Deer felt that Luo Yu was too intense, making him tremble with fear.

Luo Yu turned around and shook Deer up with force. Deer instantly felt the tension in Luo Yu’s back muscles before the power was released. His arms clutched Deer’s lower legs, lifting him high, almost onto his shoulders.

In contrast, Deer nearly lost his balance and grabbed Luo Yu’s shoulders.

"Sorry, bro…" Deer knew his grip was strong, and Luo Yu’s shoulders must have been sore.

"I’m fine, hurry and pick the apples!"

Deer knew not to waste time, so he immediately bit into an apple.

The height was perfect. With a slight adjustment by Luo Yu, Deer could easily pick another apple.

At this moment, He Mu was letting Dingdang climb onto his shoulders and realized Dingdang was heavier than he had expected. He blurted, "Did you eat a weight?"

After speaking, He Mu realized he had misspoken. But he knew Director Xu should have enough sense not to include this line in the show.

"I... I gained muscle from dancing recently... Sorry, it's a bit heavy!" Dingdang’s face turned red instantly.

"That’s okay…"

At this point, to save face, He Mu gritted his teeth and persisted until the end.

But when Dingdang bit into the second apple, Luo Yu had already completed five apples with Deer.

He Mu suddenly regretted the last two months of too many variety show appearances, which made his fitness and dance practice slack, and his footing wasn’t very steady.

He glanced at Luo Yu, who was carrying the heavy Deer and still managed to move steadily?

He Mu didn’t know that Luo Yu had studied martial arts as a child, specifically training his lower body balance, and had frequently visited the gym and swimming pool in recent days.

As time grew tighter, He Mu became more anxious. Their team was still three apples behind the opponents and had entered the final ten-second countdown.

"Faster! Over there! Over there!" He Mu kept urging Dingdang, while the apples swayed with even the slightest touch, making it harder to bite the later ones.

Dingdang was almost in tears with anxiety, worried that after the show airs, He Mu’s fans would criticize her harshly.

But the more anxious she was, the harder it was to bite.

Meanwhile, Luo Yu put down Deer with five seconds remaining. Knowing they were bound to win, there was no need to make Dingdang more nervous.

In the final moment, Dingdang finally managed to bite down the apple.

Even so, He Mu’s team lost by two apples.

When the director announced the results with a megaphone, Jiang Muxing was the first to cheer and ran towards Luo Yu, hugging his shoulders and jumping up and down.

"Oh, oh, oh! We won! We won! This is my first win since joining the show!"

Li Shengyu also came over to fist bump Luo Yu, "Not bad, bro! With your performance, I feel like Brother Deer could have had two more buns this morning and it would have made no difference!"

Hearing this, Deer couldn’t help but smile.

Next to them, He Mu’s head was buzzing. He didn’t expect the team with Jiang Muxing, the extra burden, would still win!

And Luo Yu was much faster in every segment than him! Getting more spotlight! Once the show airs, he would definitely be mocked by haters!

He could only have his agent contact the show’s team later to cut as many of Luo Yu’s scenes as possible… But how to cut them? He couldn’t just make Luo Yu disappear from the show, right?

While He Mu was considering how to communicate with the show’s team, the director suddenly called Luo Yu over.

"Director, what’s up?" Luo Yu asked.

"Actually, could you redo the part where you crossed the pool? We’d like to supplement a few shots; otherwise, it’s too fast. Of course… if doing it again doesn’t achieve the same effect, it’s okay. After all, no one can jump exactly the same twice," Xu Mu knew his request might be a bit excessive.

What if the second jump isn’t as impressive as the first?

To his surprise, Luo Yu agreed readily, "Didn’t capture it? It’s okay, I can jump again."

Xu Mu’s appreciation for Luo Yu increased even more. He liked guests who were capable, outstanding, and willing to cooperate.

"Alright, you rest for a few minutes while we prepare!"

"En."

Luo Yu nodded and walked towards Sister Cui and Gu Xiaowei.

Sister Cui covered him with a coat, and Gu Xiaowei poured a small cup of hot coffee from a thermos for him.

"Are you hungry?" Gu Xiaowei asked.

"Don’t mention it, I am a bit. I was so excited earlier, now that I’ve calmed down, my stomach feels empty."

"Then have an energy bar." Gu Xiaowei turned the backpack around, took out an energy bar, unwrapped it, and handed it to Luo Yu.

While Luo Yu took the towel from Sister Cui to wipe sweat, he lowered his head and bit into the energy bar that Gu Xiaowei was handing him.

The energy bar was a bit soft. Luo Yu had to tilt his head back to bite through it. Feeling the strength from the other, Gu Xiaowei's hand trembled slightly, and he adjusted his wrist, making it easier to break the bar.

Luo Yu lifted his head and swallowed half of the energy bar.

Sister Cui laughed, "Why do you eat an energy bar like you’re driving a car?" (TN: flirting/innuendo)

"It’s how Teacher Gu feeds it, like driving a car!"

After saying this, Luo Yu realized it might not be appropriate to joke with Gu Xiaowei, so he carefully glanced over and found he didn’t mind at all. He seriously unwrapped the packaging further and lifted it to Luo Yu’s mouth again without any discomfort.

Luo Yu bit off the rest of the energy bar. And as it left Gu Xiaowei’s fingers, it felt like something was being peeled away from his heart.

"What did Director Xu call you for?" Sister Cui asked.

"Oh, to retake the shot of crossing the pool. I might have been too fast and didn’t leave enough time for the cameraman," Luo Yu wiped the sugar residue from the corner of his mouth with a tissue.

“Just press a tissue on it when you wipe your sweat; otherwise, you'll wipe off your makeup,” Sister Cui advised.

“Huh? I’m not wearing makeup, just lightly shaped my eyebrows,” Luo Yu replied.

“I’m talking about your eyebrows; a bit of the arch has been wiped off.”

Sister Cui was thinking about calling the makeup artist from the crew to fix Luo Yu’s eyebrows when Gu Xiaowei unexpectedly took an eyebrow pencil out of the side pocket of his backpack.

“Come here, lower your head a bit, and I’ll fix it for you.”

Upon hearing this, Luo Yu naturally extended his head forward.

“Wow, Teacher Gu can do makeup too! Impressive!” Luo Yu didn’t forget to flatter him.

“My makeup routine is quite minimal, so I don’t know much. What’s wrong with your eyebrows?” Gu Xiaowei said while gently touching the arch of Luo Yu’s eyebrows with his fingertips. Luo Yu’s eyebrow shape was quite good, but the arch had been damaged.

“It’s nothing much. I was just trimming my eyebrows out of boredom, and the blade of the eyebrow razor fell off, taking a small piece of my eyebrow with it. Hahaha…” Luo Yu thought he should thank the not-so-sharp blade for keeping some of his eyebrows.

“Next time, don’t trim them yourself. I’ll do it for you.”

Gu Xiaowei tilted his chin up, his gaze very focused. After filling in the arch of Luo Yu’s eyebrows, he used the pencil tip to blend it out, looking very professional.

Luo Yu’s gaze happened to meet Gu Xiaowei’s Adam’s apple. This simple feature, which he himself had, exuded a deadly allure.

No wonder fans jokingly called Gu Xiaowei the “Earthly Fantasy.”

The staff watching this scene were dumbfounded.

Some had heard what Gu Xiaowei said during the VCR recording and thought it was just for show. Seeing it in person, they realized—so this is how the senior brother who once carried Gu Xiaowei through the rain during his art exam is treated!

Liu Songtao, watching from afar, had seen so many big-name artists, most of whom looked down on people, including He Mu, who had recorded many shows with him and wasn’t even polite to him, his senior.

But look at Gu Xiaowei—how patient he was with his senior brother! His attitude was genuinely good, without any pretension.

The director also felt regretful. How wonderful it would be if the footage of Gu Xiaowei taking care of Luo Yu could be aired as a behind-the-scenes clip! Unfortunately, they definitely wouldn’t allow it.

Mick, observing Gu Xiaowei, reaffirmed that He Mu was blackening Luo Yu’s name. Was Luo Yu clinging to Gu Xiaowei? It was clear that Gu Xiaowei was taking care of Luo Yu without any airs. Luo Yu had never shown a submissive attitude in front of Gu Xiaowei but spoke as equals.

Jiang Muxing, enviously said, “So Teacher Gu is so gentle… I thought he was very aloof.”

Li Shengyu lightly patted Jiang Muxing’s shoulder and smiled, “People like Gu Xiaowei, once they recognize you, will include you in their care and protection. But getting his recognition isn’t easy.”

Jiang Muxing nodded, “Yes, I can imagine that. It also shows that Brother Luo is very outstanding, right?”

Li Shengyu awkwardly scratched the back of his head, “Yes, he’s very impressive.”

He Mu went over to his assistant, and was taking a sip of water just as his agent’s phone rang.

“Mr. Wang from Pinnacle Sports said he would come to see your shoot today. Our endorsement contract with Pinnacle Sports is about to expire, and Mr. Wang might bring up the endorsement fee. Make sure not to give any smart-aleck answers.”

He Mu looked around but didn’t see Mr. Wang, lowering his voice, “I understand. I’ll be polite to him.”

Compared to Pinnacle Sports, a domestic sports brand that claims to invest heavily in product quality and development, consumers still prefer imported brands. Most importantly, their endorsement fees are average. If not for the fact that the two global sports giants He Mu preferred had already chosen endorsers, and those endorsers were world champions, He Mu wouldn’t have humiliated himself by endorsing “Pinnacle Sports.”

During promotional shoots, he had to shout their slogan and enthusiastically say “Pinnacle Sports, Climb the Pinnacle,” which he found cringeworthy.

Moreover, every time he recorded an outdoor themed variety show, according to the endorsement contract, he had to wear Pinnacle Sports shoes.

The red-soled golden dragon style… really tacky, no one else could wear it with any sense of fashion except for him.

“Where’s Mr. Wang from Pinnacle Sports? Didn’t he come to see me? The first segment is already over. Where is he?”

The assistant’s face looked a bit off as he pointed to a direction where staff members were gathered, “Mr. Wang… Mr. Wang has gone over there…”

“Where?” He Mu looked in the direction pointed by the assistant.