At the same time Ning Wei’s indoor group began their task of cooking, Yan Yixuan’s side faced their own task as well.

Outdoor Task 3, Hunting―

The outdoor task group was gathered by the city wall, near a fenced plot of land. Within the boundaries of the fence were thick, waist-high bushes and boulders both large and small.

After a short wait, the organizers brought out the star of this task—a small brown monkey. The contestants looked at its overly gaudy appearance with blank faces, not knowing what to think.

The man holding the monkey stroked its well-groomed fur and smiled softly. “This little one is my pet, Xiao-Luan. He has a lively personality and likes bright colors, loud sounds, and moving things.”

The contestants wryly thought that a monkey named ‘chaos’ wasn’t exactly a good sign when their task was related to catching said monkey.

Perched on its owner’s folded arm, Xiao-Luan the monkey looked spry and healthy, with shining fur and round, lively eyes that gleamed with intent curiosity. It wore a sleeveless yellow jacket that ended right above its tail. A belt with blue, green, red, and orange designs was wound around its waist while gold tassels hung from the belt as if to form a fluffy little skirt. An inconspicuous green bead hung from the middle of the belt, almost buried under the layers of bright tassels. A large silver bell was tied to the end of Xiao-Luan’s tail, letting out muted tinkles whenever the monkey twitched.

Once everyone had finished studying the monkey, the red-robed announcer finally began, “We will release Xiao-Luan into that fenced field by the wall. The contestants’ task is to catch him and obtain this green bead tied to his belt.” His tone turned cautionary, “Only the person who manages to get the bead will win this round. So even if you catch the monkey, it will be pointless if you let someone else snatch the bead. Be careful and trust no one.

“Since Xiao-Luan’s favorite game is hide-and-seek and he is very experienced at evading attempts to capture him, we have tied the bell to his tail to make the competition fairer. The judges will be at the side calculating points according to each person’s skill and how close you come to catching him.

“With that, I wish you all the best! You have one hour to finish this task!”

Hearing the details of this round, Qiu Qingyue grew more confident than ever. Things like these were what she was best at!

Meanwhile, Yan Yixuan frowned. He might have good reflexes, but he doubted he could be faster or more perceptive than a sprightly monkey. He also didn’t have enough stamina to run around and hope he’d stumble into the monkey. Not to mention that his arm also hurt. This was not looking optimistic for him.

Qiu Qingyue passed by and halted long enough to pat his arm with a grin. “Little Duke, you should just give up and withdraw before you sprain yourself or something. Your arm still shouldn’t have recovered after catching fishes in the previous task, should it?”

Yan Yixuan met her gaze coolly. “I see that Lieutenant General Qiu has been keeping an eye on me. But I assure you that your concern is misplaced. I promised to win, so I will. There is nothing more to it.”

Seeing his stubbornness, Qiu Qingyue chuckled almost fondly. “I’ll wait to see what else you have up your sleeve then.” With that, she strolled away.

Yan Yixuan watched her go, his mind whirling on the inside. He couldn’t botch this.

The third task started with Xiao-Luan being released into the enclosed field. After counting to ten, the contestants were allowed to rush into the field to chase after the monkey.

Yan Yixuan decided to preserve his stamina and walked in slowly. The area by the entrance was already deserted by the time he arrived. He unhurriedly looked around and saw a large and smooth boulder with several smaller rocks leaning on it that could be used as steps. Yan Yixuan carefully yet nimbly climbed up to stand on the topmost boulder and surveyed the field while massaging his aching arm.

Ignoring the busy and noisy participants scuttling around the area, Yan Yixuan searched for Xiao-Luan’s bright yellow coat while his ears were primed to hear the tinkle of the bell tied to its tail.

After a few minutes of patient observation, Yan Yixuan finally heard a vague metallic sound and whipped his head in that direction. In an unobtrusive and shadowed corner, he spotted something small moving behind a boulder that stood against the city’s boundary wall. Since Xiao-Luan was swathed in shadows, the brightness of its coat was diminished.

Unwilling to let this opportunity pass, Yan Yixuan ignored the discomfort in his arm and quickly climbed down the boulder he had been perched on. Trying to be as stealthy as possible, he snuck towards where he spotted the monkey. He found some thick bushes to hide nearby and studied Xiao-Luan’s situation.

A boulder that had once stood with its flat surface against the boundary wall seemed to have started leaning away from it over the years. In that small crevice between the boulder and the wall face stood the monkey on its hind legs, speculatively pawing the wall.

Yan Yixuan waited, calm and still. Now that he’d found Xiao-Luan, half the work was already done. He just had to figure out how to get his hands on it now.

But before the young man could ponder on it for long, he was interrupted.

Due to his status of staying at the top consistently, many people had come to recognize Yan Yixuan by now. Thus, soon after he hid here, two passing by men spotted him and decided to take the initiative to join him unasked. Then seeing that Yan Yixuan had found the monkey, they were both delighted.

Yan Yixuan hid his irritation as one of them, a man with a small mustache, slapped his back and proclaimed, “Good job spotting the animal, brother! We wouldn’t have been clever enough to find him so soon by ourselves!”

The second man wore a green colored outer robe that let him blend in all too well with the shrubbery. He nodded quickly in agreement with the first man. “Yes, yes, this is really convenient.”

Yan Yixuan ignored them. These two idiots probably thought to steal his effort in finding the monkey. After all, as frail as he was, he couldn’t possibly beat them when it came to catching it.

Behind the boulder, Xiao Luan patted the wall and hopped in place while trying to see if the wall’s texture was rough enough to let it climb it.

The man with the green coat squinted at it and asked, “Is it…trying to climb the border wall and escape out of the city?!”

The mustached man straightened in alarm. “Wait, if it escaped, would we have to wait for it to be caught before playing this round again? I’m already hungry! I can’t wait for lunch much longer!”

Yan Yixuan narrowed his eyes at Xiao-Luan. He didn’t have the energy for another do-over either.

As the two other men discussed the possibility of the monkey escaping in uneasy whispers, Yan Yixuan was thankful that they were at least keeping their voices hushed. Leaving them to panic in peace, he looked around and found a suitable pebble, then weighed it in his hand. Looking back at Xiao-Luan, Yan Yixuan shifted to find the right angle for a throw. He had to wait for more than five minutes before the monkey turned just right.

Pushing aside the dull throbbing in his joints, Yan Yixuan reared back his hand and sent the stone hurtling towards the monkey.

Rather than hitting Xiao-Luan itself, the stone hit the wall right in front of the monkey.

Startling, Xiao-Luan let out a frightened squeak and scampered over the boulder, leaped off, and dived back into the field.

The two other men had stopped their discussion to stare at Yan Yixuan. Realizing what happened, they clapped an unwilling Yan Yixuan on the shoulder one after another.

“Little brother, well done!” the man with the mustache praised.

“Yes, thank you for redirecting it back into the field,” the man with the green coat said even as his eyes greedily followed after the fleeing Xiao-Luan.

Putting away his own displeasure, Yan Yixuan waved their thanks away with a modest smile. “I might not be strong enough to go after the monkey, but I can at least help those of you who can.”

The two men gazed at him with gratitude. How generous this young man was! They were really not wrong to latch onto him! They must have been mistaken before when they felt that he was arrogant and unfriendly. Look, he was so considerate that he selflessly helped them even though they were his competitors!

After giving Yan Yixuan another hearty round of thanks, the two men finally left to hurriedly chase after Xiao-Luan. The faint chime of the bell grew further and further away as more people spotted the monkey and rushed after it.

Yan Yixuan watched them go and sneered. Did they really think he would be that good to people who wanted to take advantage of him? And why would he, a duke and the head of a prominent household, put away his pride and choose to desperately scramble after a monkey? He had his own cleaner way to obtain what he wanted.

Standing up, Yan Yixuan brushed away the dried leaves and dirt clinging to his clothes and hair, then leisurely strode towards the crevice between the boulder and wall where the monkey had been hiding before. He stuck his hand into the gap and groped around, not minding the dry debris gathered there. Once he found what he was looking for, Yan Yixuan withdrew his hand held up his findings. He lightly blew onto it to remove the coat of dust, then studied it to confirm that this little thing was indeed what he had aimed for―

The green bead, the only key to completing this task.

Just now, when Yan Yixuan had thrown that stone at the monkey, he hadn’t been aiming for the monkey itself, but the rope holding the bead. He had chosen a stone with an especially sharp edge for this reason. Of course, he knew that if he angled the stone well enough, he could also make the monkey escape into the field again, thus getting the two nuisances with him to go away.

Yan Yixuan carefully put his trophy into one of the secure pockets in his sleeve, then stretched. Ah, today was so tiring. He stepped into the gap between the boulder and wall and used it to hoist himself to the top in one go. Sitting down on the boulder with his legs crossed, Yan Yixuan made himself comfortable and drank a few sips of the concoction to tide off his exhaustion before putting his waterskin away. Then kneading and rubbing his painfully sore arm again, he let himself be entertained by the sight of so many grown adults chasing after a garishly dressed monkey all over the field. Yan Yixuan smiled, feeling some of his tiredness dissipate at the sight of others exerting themselves so hard.

In the end, as he expected, Qiu Qingyue was the one who caught Xiao-Luan.

Sighing, Yan Yixuan climbed down the boulder and began slowly walking out of the field towards where the others in the outdoor group were gathering.

Qiu Qingyue was briskly making for the announcer while clutching Xiao-Luan to her while the monkey gave out indignant squeaks. Even in this situation, she didn’t forget to look back and give Yan Yixuan a victorious grin brimming with smugness.

Yan Yixuan smiled back, eyes glittering with amusement.

Though his reaction puzzled her, Qiu Qingyue put it out of her mind as she reached the announcer. With due pride, she presented Xiao-Luan to him. “Here, I won.”

The announcer carefully accepted the monkey and said, “Indeed, it seems you did.”

Fascinated with the bright color of the announcer’s robe, Xiao-Luan quietened and began pawing his arm.

Qiu Qingyue and the other contestants waited, expecting to hear the declaration of the winner.

But as the announcer searched through the tassels hanging from Xiao-Luan’s belt for the bead, all he found was the cut rope that the bead had dangled from. Holding the fraying end of the rope up, he looked at Qiu Qingyue regretfully, “I’m afraid you do not win, Miss. The bead is missing.”

Hearing this, all those watching grew surprised and confused. If the bead wasn’t with the monkey, where could it have gone? It wouldn’t have dropped somewhere onto the field, would it?

Just then, Yan Yixuan finally reached the announcer and cavalierly fished out the bead from his sleeve before offering it to him. “Here it is. This is all I need to win, isn’t it?”

Everyone now gaped at Yan Yixuan. How did the physically weakest among them end up getting the bead?!

The announcer took the bead and carefully studied it, then beamed at Yan Yixuan. “Yes, this is it. Congratulations, you have won this task!”

Yan Yixuan returned his smile politely and nodded. “Thank you.”

Qiu Qingyue stared with stupefaction at the young man. No matter how she thought about it, it seemed illogical. “You… How did you get that? Did the monkey drop it by mistake?”

The bewildered conversations around them faded as the other contestants curiously pricked up their ears to listen as well.

Yan Yixuan shrugged and replied, “I just found an opportune moment to flick a sharp stone at the rope to make the bead drop. I then picked it up and watched everyone have fun playing with the monkey.”

Everyone, “…”

They had underestimated him and as a result, they were all played by this brat in the end!

The two men who had tried to take advantage of Yan Yixuan realized how they’d been tricked and looked at him with disbelief. So it turned out that they were deliberately misled by this young man! He must have been laughing to himself while they sincerely thanked him and chased after the monkey. All the while, the bead had laid so near!

Qiu Qingyue looked at Yan Yixuan with burning eyes. As expected of the general’s lover! He was indeed someone worthy of competing against!

As expected, when the results after this round were announced, Yan Yixuan and Ning Wei topped the ranking yet again. However, as the pair who scored the most second places after them, Qiu Qingyue and her partner weren’t far behind either.

After announcing the rankings, the red-robed man declared, “The first three rounds of the contest have thus come to a close. The participants may take a one hour break to have lunch and share the product of their cooking task with their partners and any family or friends. After lunch, the last two tasks of the contest where the couples will participate as teams will finally begin!”

↢∘●∘↣

Yan Yixuan and Ning Wei had lunch while accompanied by Yan Yiwen and Lin Meihui. They sat at the tables the organizers had arranged near the edges of the competition grounds and were enjoying Ning Wei’s cooking.

Knowing Yan Yixuan’s hatred for fish, Yan Yiwen and Ning Wei considerately finished all the dishes with it.

Meanwhile, Yan Yixuan ate the first meal his beloved cooked for him with obvious relish. His Ah-Wei-filters made sure that he would feel it was exceedingly delicious even if Ning Wei served him clay, much less food that was only slightly bland. Yan Yixuan thus unhesitatingly poured out praises about his lover’s cooking skills in between bites of food.

Ning Wei couldn’t help feeling bashful at such effusive praise. He knew that his skills in cooking were only mediocre, yet he also knew that his beloved’s praise was sincere despite that.

At the side, Yan Yiwen smiled happily at seeing her brother being so lively even as she carefully helped her daughter eat.

As a pleased flush painted his face, Ning Wei asked, “Ah-Xuan, which of the food do you like the most? Tell me and I’ll make it for you more often.”

Yan Yixuan’s eyes gleamed as he perked up. Swallowing another mouthful, he wiped his mouth and answered, “I like the way you prepare egg yolks the most. It’s very delicious.”

“I’ll keep it in mind,” Ning Wei said with a smile. As he began thinking of all the ways he could cook egg yolks, he continued to eat his meal.

With a baleful gaze, Yan Yixuan saw another piece of fish enter his beloved’s mouth. He met the general’s gaze and remarked, “Ah-Wei, after eating, remember to wash your mouth properly or I won’t be able to kiss you when you still smell like fish.”

“Yes, I know,” Ning Wei acknowledged with amusement. But he nevertheless made a mental note to rinse his mouth thoroughly later.

Since both the indoor and outdoor tasks had taken place simultaneously, Yan Yixuan and Ning Wei only knew the contents and results of each round and not the details of what all their beloved had to go through. Yan Yiwen was happy to retell the events she witnessed from among the audience. She even made sure to add some innocent embellishments to make the couple appreciate each other more.

Ning Wei cleared his throat while feeling secretly happy at the admiring gazes Yan Yixuan threw him after learning how smoothly he’d performed his tasks to the point of earning the envy of actual housewives and househusbands.

When Yan Yiwen went on to recount Yan Yixuan’s side of the tasks and spoke of how Yan Yixuan tricked the others after easily obtaining the bead, Ning Wei laughed as unrestrained pride shone in his gaze.

Reaching out, he rubbed Yan Yixuan’s head while commending, “It’s good that you used your skills rather than getting lost in the flow and mindlessly chasing after the monkey like the others. As expected of my crafty little fox.”

Yan Yixuan squinted in pleasure as he blushed. He would never tire of hearing his beloved praising him.

Seeing the way this pair reacted to their lover’s appreciation, Yan Yiwen’s eyes gleamed brighter. These two were so adorable and sweet when it came to each other!

As Ning Wei picked up his chopsticks again, he commented playfully, “Ah-Xuan, I was almost expecting you to entice the monkey into falling into your clutches somehow. You seem like someone who’d be good with animals.”

Yan Yiwen added, “Plus, the monkey is also quite cute and fluffy. I couldn’t have resisted trying to pet it once or twice.”

Yan Yixuan looked unimpressed. “Monkeys are so…weak. The maximum they can do is scratch or sink their teeth into someone and hope the wound gets inflamed. It might not even be enough to kill a child, much less an adult. What’s cute about that?”

Ning Wei and Yan Yiwen, “…”

Why was there such a big discrepancy between what you and the rest of the world consider cute?!

As they chatted and joked, lunch passed and the meal came to an end.

Ning Wei noticed that Yan Yixuan was rotating his wrist absentmindedly as if to ease some discomfort. He asked concernedly, “Ah-Xuan? Is there something wrong with your hand?”

Realizing what he was doing, Yan Yixuan stopped. Then he tried to downplay it by smiling and saying, “It’s nothing much. My hand has been feeling a bit sore since the fishing task, that’s all. It’ll get better soon, don’t worry.”

But Ning Wei still worried. “Come here. Maybe massaging it will ease some of the soreness.”

Yan Yixuan eagerly went over to sit on his lover’s lap and thrust his hand at him.

Ning Wei was amused. But seeing how this was a gathering of couples and that many of them were immersed in their own little acts of affection, he didn’t feel as self-conscious about it as he usually would have. Winding an arm around Yan Yixuan, the general used the other hand to carefully begin kneading his beloved’s wrist.

As Ning Wei’s rough and warm fingers rubbed circles into his twanging wrist, Yan Yixuan felt the stabs of pain slowly easing into duller throbs as the tense muscles relaxed. The young man let out a contended hum in pleasure and let his body bonelessly melt into his lover’s.

At the side, the little Lin Meihui watched her uncles with interest. They looked so comfy together! She wordlessly turned an expectant gaze towards her mother.

Yan Yiwen suppressed her chuckles and lifted her daughter onto her lap before giving her a hug. Lin Meihui’s eyes formed small arcs as she snuggled comfortably into her mother’s embrace.

Lunch thus passed by peacefully, and soon, it was time for the last two rounds to commence.