Chapter 54
The summer music festival ended successfully, and the exhausted guests boarded the bus back to the hotel to rest.
But the wicked production team knocked on their doors at five o’clock the next morning.
Not only the guests, even the audience was caught off guard.
[First! First! Wait, don’t they usually start at 8 a.m.? Why is today’s broadcast at 5 a.m.?]
[Ahhhh the early birds have a show to watch!]
[Ahhhh the night owls also have a show to watch!!]
[I literally sprang up from bed like a carp flip, not joking!]
Excited viewers rushed into the live room, only to see everyone standing inside the hotel restaurant with resentful expressions.
Everyone had dark circles.
[Wow, so many pandas.]
“We only got back to the hotel at 10:30 last night. After removing makeup and washing up, it was almost midnight. And then we got woken up before 5. Are you people even human?”
Lai Bingxuan gnashed her teeth in anger.
Director Niu smiled with full self-righteousness. “That’s why I kindly reminded you yesterday that today’s schedule would be exhausting~”
“Alright, everyone! Now it’s breakfast time. Based on last night’s task results, only Xie Mi, Qiu Chengye, and Lai Bingxuan can have breakfast… Wait, where’s Teacher Xie?”
Halfway through his sentence, Director Niu realized one person was missing and immediately became alert.
Surely she wasn’t hiding somewhere, ready to stir up trouble again?
“Over here.” Shen Yanqing’s voice floated over.
Director Niu turned, and so did the camera.
They found Xie Mi had buried herself in the decorative flower bushes and fallen asleep.
[Every random shot of Sister Xie stuns me for five seconds.]
[Sleeping anywhere, what a beautiful mental state.]
[As expected of Old Xie.]
Shen Yanqing spoke leisurely, his voice tinged with laughter: “Teacher Xie only fell asleep at four a.m. Be understanding.”
Director Niu’s mouth twitched. He sighed at his own growth—he had now seen so much from her that he was no longer even surprised.
Wait!
“How do you know what time Teacher Xie went to sleep last night?”
Director Niu keenly caught the keyword, showing a meaningful smile. “Could it be that you two…”
“Yes. I live next door to Teacher Xie. I heard her raging at her video game until 4 a.m.”
“…”
[This dialogue is so unromantic.]
[My Old Xie really is cementing her persona: sucks at games but loves to play.]
[Now the whole world knows Old Xie is trash at games and even rage-quits!! Old Shen, are you happy now!!!]
[Xie Mi: Say that louder if you dare.]
The way they finally woke Xie Mi up was very simple.
Shen Yanqing only leaned to her ear and whispered the word “breakfast.”
Xie Mi shot up like a spring, headbutting Shen Yanqing’s chin, and without a word bolted toward the dining table.
Shen Yanqing: “…Thanks a lot.”
The noise startled half-asleep Qiu Chengye awake. He instantly turned wary eyes toward Xie Mi.
After last night’s incident, he was now completely PTSD about her.
Paranoid, every move she made seemed suspicious to him. He had to stay cautious—very cautious.
The waiter placed breakfast before the three of them.
Xie Mi eagerly picked up her chopsticks, but suddenly froze, staring at the food on her plate.
Beside her, Qiu Chengye immediately set down his chopsticks too, cautiously observing her from the corner of his eye.
Could this dish be…
Bang!
Lai Bingxuan, who had just taken a bite, suddenly fainted.
“Don’t eat! The food is poisoned!!” Qiu Chengye roared, flipping the entire table.
The table crashed over, plates and food scattering everywhere.
Everyone: “???”
What the hell was this guy on about?
Because no one knew why he suddenly freaked out, no one dared approach him.
Until Xie Mi flew in with a kick: “You bastard!!”
She hadn’t even decided whether to eat the bird’s nest or the sea cucumber first, and this idiot flipped the table!!
But instead of anger, Qiu Chengye revealed a triumphant smile. “Caught the poisoning attempt, huh? I’m telling you, I’m not that easy to fool anymore—”
At that moment, Lai Bingxuan, who had fainted from low blood sugar, woke up and looked at the overturned table.
“…? Where’s my breakfast?”
Qiu Chengye’s voice cut off: “…”
[Check this guy’s mental health, I’m not joking.]
[I was listening to the stream half-asleep and nearly had a heart attack when he screamed.]
[Didn’t I say early rising is bad for your health?]
[So dedicated, acting crazy at dawn.]
After breakfast, Director Niu announced the day’s schedule on the bus.
At 6 a.m., mudflat foraging. At 8 a.m., fishing at sea. At 11 a.m., arrive at another island for lunch.
“All the ingredients for lunch will depend on your foraging and fishing. Which means, if you slack off, there’ll be no lunch for you.”
As soon as he said this, people started to complain.
“We didn’t even get breakfast. Now we have to do high-intensity activities, and you’re saying we might not even have lunch? Isn’t that too much?” Xiao Jingxi frowned.
“Yes,” Director Niu admitted candidly.
Xiao Jingxi was dumbfounded. “Then why are you—”
“We’re just being too much. What, you gonna hit me~?”
“…”
Xiao Jingxi nearly slapped him right there.
Almost forgot—Director Niu was infamous in the industry as a devil director. After a few days of “gentle” adjustment, his true colors were finally showing.
[Don’t stop me, I’m going in to punch him.]
[Our Director Niu never forgets his roots. Every show he films, he gets cursed out. But he never changes, ha.]
[But you can’t deny—every program he shoots goes viral. If you’re making money, would you put up with being cursed out?]
[…Suddenly enlightened.]
The foraging spot was a tidal beach at dawn, the salty sea breeze carrying a chill.
“So beautiful.”
Unlike the drowsy others, Xu Shuangrong was energetic. “Seems we can catch the sunrise today. Waking up early is a kind of blessing, after all.”
The only reply she got was a few bitter chuckles.
They could keep that “blessing.”
“Everyone, cheer up.”
Xu Shuangrong turned to them with a gentle smile in her eyes. “At this hour, many people are already on their way to school or work. Some even have to get up at 3 or 4 a.m. for their jobs. They don’t complain—so what right do we have to complain?”
The camera angle was perfect at that moment: behind her, the vast ocean and the rising sun. Backlit, her smile looked like that of a tender goddess.
[My baby is too empathetic, I’m crying.]
[Mom, I saw an angel!]
[Exactly! Celebrities are so spoiled. Plenty of people work harder than you. And you get paid. Just film the show properly.]
[There’s a reason Shuangshuang is popular.]
Xu Shuangrong truly understood the art of speaking.
It sounded like encouragement, but in fact, it was picking a fight. People with low emotional intelligence wouldn’t even notice the subtle edge to her words.
But Xie Mi wasn’t about to indulge her.
“I can accept starting work at 5 a.m. every day. What I can’t accept is when the normal work hour is 8 a.m., but suddenly you want me to start at 5. Got it?”
