Chapter 247
At nine o’clock in the morning, a loud broadcast voice echoed over the entire LoveTown set.
This was a new addition for the season, meant to wake up the cast when there was a morning shoot and the guests were still sleeping in.
The only issue was… the music they chose…
…was a little too bizarre.
“Every time I want to act tough, but when I see you I just surrender~”
“Those tempting eyelashes, honey-sweet lips, I’m a sexy little wild cat, meow~”
In the kitchen, Liu Woxing was sipping coffee when his hand shook uncontrollably, spilling it everywhere.
At the convenience store, where he was redeeming free eggs from the [Homeless Sponsorship Program], Xiao Jingxi frowned.
This was supposed to be music?
Meanwhile, during his morning run, Shen Moqing removed one earbud, chuckled when he heard the broadcast, then simply pulled out the other earbud and kept running.
Xie Mi was jolted awake by the noise, her messy bedhead sticking up like a bird’s nest.
The earsplitting, unbearable singing voice booming through the speakers made a question mark slowly appear on her face.
“?”
That broken-gong, shout-rapping kind of voice…
Why did it sound so much like her own?
[Who would dare set this as their alarm ringtone?]
[We’ve heard the good, now where are the bad parts?]
[Did they edit together every single clip of Old Xie singing on the show? Fine then, looks like Old Xie is dropping an album.]
[If you hadn’t told me it was Sister Xie, I’d have thought someone was chanting spells.]
[Such a unique voice—not like a man, not like a woman… honestly not even like a human.]
[And so what?]
“Dear guests! Please get up and wash up quickly. We will gather in the living room in ten minutes for a very important mission!”
Director Niu and the assistant director were already waiting in the living room, microphones strapped on, greeting everyone cheerfully.
As she came downstairs, Xie Mi headed straight for the front door, but not before giving Director Niu the middle finger on her way past.
Director Niu immediately understood, smiling brightly, “Teacher Xie, don’t be like that. We only used your singing as the wake-up call because we admire your music.”
Xie Mi raised her other hand too—double middle fingers.
[Why did Old Xie flip them off? Because she’s kind.]
[Did Director Niu just say thank you?]
Xie Mi bolted straight to the mission shop.
Even though she was now the richest person in town, no one ever complained about having too much money. If there were tasks that could earn cash, of course she’d do them.
But when she saw that more than half the task board was already empty, she realized just how competitive everyone else was.
The board refreshed ten new tasks every morning, and each person could only take one. Now there were only three left, which meant everyone else had already grabbed theirs?!
The task shop opened at 5 a.m. It was only 9 a.m. now.
How early had they gotten up?
Looking at the three remaining 500-yuan tasks, Xie Mi reluctantly pulled one down and stuffed it in her pocket.
[All the good-paying tasks are gone, these people are really intense.]
[Wait, the livestream only started at eight. I only saw Sister Liu and Qiu Chengye take tasks. Does that mean the others came before the livestream even started?]
[They must be terrified of being broke, hahaha.]
[We all saw the public tasks last night. What I really want to know are those three hidden ones—who took them?]
[Feels like today’s going to be another day of scheming.]
At 9:10, everyone gathered promptly in the living room.
Shen Moqing glanced at Xie Mi, who was still in her pajamas. Smiling, he smoothed down her bed-tousled hair.
“Went to grab a task right after waking up?”
Xie Mi gave a weary hum. “I was planning to sleep early last night, but somehow I ended up awake until 4 a.m. Sometimes I really feel like kneeling down and begging myself to stop playing on my phone… but then I realize I can play even while kneeling.”
Shen Moqing couldn’t help but laugh.
“In that case, I could offer a phone safekeeping service.”
“I’m afraid I’ll relapse into internet addiction at midnight and knock on your door.”
“Oh? That would be a blessing for me.”
“?”
Finally, Director Niu took center stage.
“Good morning, everyone. Today is the day we film the promotional video!”
“To fully showcase the romance of our program, today we’ll be shooting not only a group promo, but also one-on-one couple promos!”
“There are two ways to determine the couple groupings.”
“First, you can compete for them yourselves through games.”
“Second, through Weibo voting. We’ve compiled all the possible CP pairings from the show, and fans will vote in real time. By 6 p.m., the top three CPs will each get an extra couple promo shoot.”
“As soon as I announced this rule, the Weibo poll went live. Viewers in the livestream, you can go vote on our official account right now.”
[Yay! I’m going to rally my whole extended family to vote for Xie x Shen Donkey!]
[I just checked the list—wow, the staff really know what they’re doing. They even included Xie x Liu and Xia x Bing x Xie x Jiang, hahaha.]
[Wait, I see a father-son CP on there? Is that even allowed to ship?]
[Why not? They can just shoot a family photo.]
[Where’s my Tomahawk Steak CP? Who says the director himself can’t shoot a couple promo?]
[Come on, surely people want to see Xiao x Rong CP filming a couple shoot right after their fallout. Chaos lovers are already rubbing their hands.]
[LOL, Xiao x Rong: Making money is harder than eating crap.]
As soon as the poll launched, countless fans flooded in, skyrocketing the votes.
Everyone assumed the CPs with real storylines would dominate. But the production team underestimated the sheer size of the chaos-loving fanbase.
Apart from the obvious #1 spot held by Xie x Shen Donkey, the surprise #2 went to none other than… the father-son CP.
Most people explained their votes like this: they wanted to see Xie Mi and Qiu Chengye in matching parent-child outfits shooting a family photo.
The production staff were drenched in sweat.
While Weibo voting was heating up, the cast shifted to the wide-open beach to play the day’s pairing game.
“Couple Edition of Red Light, Green Light!”
“The rules are the same: the assistant director, blindfolded, stands at the front and calls the commands.”
“When he shouts ‘Red Light!’ and turns around, everyone has to freeze. If you move, back to the start.”
“But this time, you’re split into male and female lines on either side behind him. When he calls, you have to run toward the opposite line of the opposite sex.”
“In other words—a mutual dash.”
“When two people meet in the middle and successfully hold hands, they become a pair.”
“Repeat until four pairs are formed, then the game ends.”
[Couple Red Light, Green Light? Now that sounds fun.]
[The twist is you run toward the opposite gender line, not the blindfolded caller. If the person you run toward doesn’t run toward you… awkward.]
[No joke, I really think that’s going to happen.]
On the beach, the eight cast members stood in two rows: men on one side, women on the other.
The assistant director blindfolded himself at the front, giving an OK sign.
Director Niu’s whistle blew: “Game start!”
The moment he spoke, both sides took off running.
“Red Light!” the assistant director shouted quickly, whipping his head around.
The eight froze mid-stride. One wobbled, slipped, and collapsed flat on the spot.
Assistant Director: “?”
Assistant Director: “Qiu Chengye, out.”
Flat on the sand, Qiu Chengye closed his eyes in peaceful resignation, refusing to face the humiliation.
[? Kitty Bro what are you doing]
[I don’t get it. He started running so fast, then why did he suddenly spin around and collapse?]
[LOL, check Sister Liu’s cam—she immediately bolted in the opposite direction. But Qiu Chengye ran toward her. When he saw her running away, he panicked and tried to change direction, but turned too sharply and wiped out.]
[Classic Kitty Bro—forever dramatic, forever young.]
First round and already caught, Qiu Chengye had to return to the start. A drone hovered above, filming everyone’s movements from a bird’s-eye view.
[Xie x Shen Donkey shippers are screaming again! They’re diagonally across, but right from the start they both ran straight toward each other.]
[Xiao Jingxi also ran toward Sister Xie—he’s closer than Shen, ahhh Sister Xie run faster!]
[Wait, what’s with Yu Jinzhe’s direction? Is he… running toward Xu Shuangrong?]
[I’m dying at Sister Lai’s pose when frozen—it’s pure orangutan.]
[Trust my Sister Liu to stay elegant even in chaos.]
The assistant director squinted, scanning everyone sharply. Once sure, he turned back around.
“One—two—three—”
This time he dragged out the words, giving everyone more time.
The cast seized the chance, sprinting with all their might.
Lagging behind, Qiu Chengye suddenly “mutated,” eyes glowing green as he launched forward, no longer caring who his target was—just running like mad.
Xiao Jingxi kept one eye on Shen Moqing’s position, trying to intercept him while also running toward Xie Mi.
Lai Bingxuan, having nearly cramped when frozen midair, stumbled painfully forward again.
Realizing Xiao Jingxi’s intent, Xie Mi dove into a sliding tackle toward Shen Moqing’s direction.
Right then, the assistant director sped up his call— “Redlight!” His words blurred into one, catching everyone off guard.
Xie Mi was frozen mid-slide, her momentum carrying her several feet forward.
Lai Bingxuan lost her balance and faceplanted into the sand with a scream.
Qiu Chengye once again overshot, failing to brake and collapsing back down—his second “nap.”
Assistant Director scanned sternly. “Lai Bingxuan, out! Qiu Chengye, out! Back to start.”
As he turned to resume, Qiu Chengye suddenly sat up, indignant.
“Wait! Didn’t Xie Mi move too? Why isn’t she out?”
Assistant Director, stone-faced: “I didn’t see.”
Qiu Chengye: “??”
She slid forward a whole meter—how did you not see?!
[Give it up, Kitty Bro. The whole crew is in Xie-bro’s pocket.]
[The assistant director really mastered lying with a straight face, haha.]
Even Xie Mi herself was doubtful.
Could it be she actually braked in time, and the sliding forward was just her imagination?
But what happened next proved it wasn’t an illusion.
The assistant director’s strange calling style, plus all the sand clouds kicked up, meant many were caught moving—arms raised, shielding their faces, stumbling.
But through it all, Xie Mi remained untouched. Not once was her name called.
Even she got suspicious. To test him, she deliberately danced a little square-dance jig right in front of him.
Yet the assistant director shouted firmly, “I! Didn’t! See!”
“Get off the field!!!”
Director Niu couldn’t take it anymore, drop-kicking him off the court.
The assistant director flew ten meters and collapsed peacefully in the sand—still smiling.
I, the assistant director, will protect Teacher Xie to the death.
[No arguing this one. That’s the real Xie-bro treatment.]
[The entire crew has been compromised!]
Wiping sweat from his brow, Director Niu cursed inwardly.
He could never let the assistant director referee again. Too much of a liability.
“Replacing referee—game continues!”
Now stepping up himself, Director Niu swore to be strict and impartial.
But the moment he turned around—
“Pffft! Cough cough—bleh!”
He got a mouthful of sand.
Players were sliding, sprinting, even crawling on all fours like maniacs.
The dust storm hit him full in the face.
What kind of chaotic circus was this?!
After wiping his face, Director Niu finally saw clearly.
All eight were nearly at the middle, some just a touch away from each other.
The poses were ridiculous.
Xie Mi was the one on all fours, looking like some kind of bizarre creature.
Xiao Jingxi was sprinting full force, now gasping lightly from exertion. He had reached the closest spot, his outstretched hand hovering right above Xie Mi—if she were standing, he’d have grabbed her already.
Meanwhile, Shen Moqing was just a step away in front of her too, his hand within reach.
At the next call, if Xie Mi dodged Xiao Jingxi and clasped Shen Moqing’s hand, the two would pair successfully.
But…
Xie Mi glanced past Shen Moqing at Yu Jinzhe behind him, frowning slightly.
Yu Jinzhe’s hand was also outstretched.
But instead of reaching for any woman—
…it was aimed directly at Shen Moqing.
Could it be—
