Chapter 434 Knockout Round
Shen Li naturally noticed Ning Xi's small actions, cast a threatening look, "Don't laugh!"
Before Ning Xi could speak, Ye Fan shook his head and sighed, looked down at his own right hand, muttered to himself: "Insubordination . Seems like the forehead flick just now was still too light."
Shen Li: "…"
Her first reaction was to cover her forehead with both hands. The place Ye Fan flicked just now still faintly ached.
Half of the tears were due to grievance, half because it really hurt.
So after hearing Ye Fan's words, Shen Li couldn't help but move aside, her face vigilant, "…Brother Ye, you can't be like this."
Ye Fan glared at Shen Li, instructed: "Then you be a bit more polite to Xiao Xi in the future. Threatening her in front of me, who else should I flick if not you?!"
With that said, gave Shen Li another flick on the forehead. The action was so fast, fundamentally giving Shen Li no chance to dodge.
"Hiss——"
Shen Li's fine brows knitted into a ball, stomping her foot from the pain, "Brother Ye, didn't you say I'm your younger sister? Is this how you treat your younger sister?"
No way around it, she could only bring out this identity of a younger sister.
Ye Fan held Ning Xi's jade hand, slowly raised it, "You are my younger sister, Xiao Xi is my girlfriend; of course I have to protect her, is there a problem?"
Shen Li was speechless, angrily turned her head away, rubbing her forehead, from time to time sucking in cold air.
It wasn't that Shen Li was deliberately pretending to be pitiful. The force Ye Fan used was indeed great. The purpose was naturally to make her learn her lesson.
Regarding Ye Fan's protection, Ning Xi felt as if she had eaten honey in her heart. Her little finger gently slid in Ye Fan's palm, pleaded inaudibly low: "Gege, just don't bully Xiao Li anymore."
"What?"
Ye Fan raised an eyebrow, replied in an equally low voice: "Do you also want a forehead flick?"
Ning Xi's small face stiffened. Instinctively, she shrank her neck, her head shaking like a rattle-drum . Obediently, she closed her mouth.
The girl's such adorable reaction made boundless amusement surge deep in Ye Fan's eyes. He lowered his head and gently blew a breath beside her ear, "Scaring you. Even if you were willing, I wouldn't bear to."
The warm breath on her neck made the temperature on Ning Xi's face rise rapidly. This wasn't the first time the two had done such an intimate posture, but the key was, there were so many people here. With a face full of shyness, she lowered her delicate head, murmured: "Gege, there are people…"
The corners of Ye Fan's mouth gradually lifted. He didn't tease her further, his large hand quietly wrapped around behind the girl and landed on her slender waist.
Feeling Ye Fan's action, Ning Xi lowered her head even further, yet surprisingly didn't refuse.
Nearing two o'clock in the afternoon.
The three guest judges, as well as host He Dong, ascended the stage. Accompanied by the camera crew starting up, the first stage of the elimination round officially began.
"Welcome to the first stage elimination round of Brain Ladder."
He Dong held a hand card and announced loudly: "The rules are very simple. The program team has prepared three events. The one hundred contestants on site can freely choose, then will be randomly divided into groups of two. Winners advance, losers are eliminated."
"If a contestant is left out, they will be grouped with another left-out contestant, then decided randomly by the computer. Everything depends on luck, absolutely fair and just."
After announcing the rules, three events appeared on the large screen.
"Memory Jigsaw"
"Colorful Dazzle"
"Maze Mayhem"
Only the event names, no event descriptions. Everything depended on the contestants' intuition.
"Everyone has five minutes to choose. Please write down your chosen event on the answer card. Later, staff will collect them uniformly. Timing begins."
As He Dong's voice fell, the contestants started discussing in low voices, head to head.
"Feels like the first and third events can still reveal something. The second event is a bit hard to understand, what is Colorful Dazzle?"
"Don't know, why care so much? I think the first one is the easiest."
"Maze is also okay, but, don't you guys think the most important thing in this elimination round is who you become opponents with?"
"Seems like that's the logic…"
…
The three people sitting in the corner, after hearing the rules, whether Ning Xi or Shen Li, immediately looked at Ye Fan.
Feeling the gazes of the two girls, Ye Fan's eyelids twitched, "Why are you both looking at me? You two just pick any of the three events, leave the remaining one for me. As long as you choose different events, you won't run into each other."
Ning Xi spoke: "Xiao Li, you choose first."
Shen Li was somewhat unconvinced. In her view, only the weak would choose first. Choosing before Ye Fan was fine, but she absolutely couldn't choose before Ning Xi. Wouldn't that be tacitly admitting she was inferior to Ning Xi?
"You choose first."
Ning Xi tilted her head up and blinked at Ye Fan, her eyes showing inquiry.
Ye Fan nodded slightly, "Xiao Xi, you choose first."
"Mm."
Ning Xi didn't have that many thoughts. Looking at the three event names on the large screen, she analyzed methodically : "The first event is a jigsaw puzzle, the second event should be related to colors, the third event is a maze. I choose the second one."
"Choose the second one?"
Hearing Ning Xi's choice, Shen Li was very surprised. From the event names, choosing the first event and the third event was best. The second event had too much unknown. Ning Xi couldn't possibly not know this, yet she just chose the second event.
"Can do."
Ye Fan nodded, turned his head towards Shen Li and asked: "Xiao Li, your memory should be alright. The first event for you, I'll choose the third one."
In a few words, the events were distributed, completely giving Shen Li no chance to refuse.
Shen Li's small mouth slightly parted, struggled for a long time before slowly speaking, "Brother Ye, you and Ning Xi were able to get full marks in the college entrance exam, your memory must also be very good. The first event is the most suitable for you two. Even to avoid meeting, Ning Xi can also choose the first one."
(The text seems to repeat Ning Xi's analysis and Ye Fan's decision for event selection. I will translate the repeated section as it appears in the provided text.)
"Mm."
Ning Xi didn't have that many thoughts. Looking at the three event names on the large screen, she analyzed methodically: "The first event is a jigsaw puzzle, the second event should be related to colors, the third event is a maze. I choose the second one."
"Choose the second one?"
Hearing Ning Xi's choice, Shen Li was very surprised. From the event names, choosing the first event and the third event was best. The second event had too much unknown. Ning Xi couldn't possibly not know this, yet she just chose the second event.
"Can do."
Ye Fan nodded, turned his head towards Shen Li and asked: "Xiao Li, your memory should be alright. The first event for you, I'll choose the third one."
In a few words, the events were distributed, completely giving Shen Li no chance to refuse.
Shen Li's small mouth slightly parted, struggled for a long time before slowly speaking, "Brother Ye, you and Ning Xi were able to get full marks in the college entrance exam, your memory must also be very good. The first event is the most suitable for you two. Even to avoid meeting, Ning Xi can also choose the first one."