Feng Wang: 【How was your first day on the variety show?】
Seeing the message from Feng Wang, Qin Nian felt a surge of interest. Compared to Gu Huai and his group, Qin Nian naturally preferred chatting with Feng Wang.
Just as Qin Nian was about to recount the day’s events to Feng Wang, he hesitated.
Was he being a bit too eager?
Would Feng Wang really enjoy listening to him ramble on like they were having a casual chat? Feng Wang was so busy, dealing with countless matters every day, where every second was a valuable asset. What did Qin Nian even mean to Feng Wang?
Would Feng Wang find his silly words boring?
With that thought, Qin Nian deleted everything he had typed.
Instead, he typed a more reserved message: 【Is there something you need, Mr. Feng?】
On the other side of the screen, Feng Wang watched as the “typing” indicator flickered for quite a while. He could almost picture the young man on the other end, earnestly detailing his day.
Yet, after waiting for what felt like ages, all he received was the cold message: “Is there something you need, Mr. Feng?”
Fortunately, Feng Wang never hid his emotions from Qin Nian.
Feng Wang: 【I miss you.】
Just three short words.
Qin Nian’s face suddenly felt like it was on fire.
No, stay calm, maybe Mr. Feng was just being polite.
Qin Nian’s rational side tried to persuade him to stay composed. He slowly typed a few words, trying to appear responsible.
Qin Nian: 【Do you miss my piano playing?】
Feng Wang: 【I miss you.】
Qin Nian dropped his phone and covered his cheeks with both hands.
His body was naturally on the colder side, with his hands always icy, so he could feel his cheeks burning even more.
What should he reply?
Qin Nian just wanted to dive under the covers. If it weren’t for the surveillance cameras nearby, he might have jumped around in excitement.
He bit his lip and typed: I miss you too, Mr. Feng.
It felt so good to be missed by someone.
Qin Nian went downstairs. He hadn’t eaten much for dinner and wasn’t ready to sleep yet, so he felt hungry.
He had planned to wait until everyone finished eating before going downstairs to cook some porridge.
It was already past nine in the evening.
Only a couple of staff members remained in the living room, as most of the guests had returned to their rooms. Qin Nian headed straight to the kitchen.
He skillfully measured out some rice. Then, he turned and asked, “Have you all eaten dinner?”
Qin Nian had noticed that the staff seemed to be constantly filming, even during meals, without having a chance to eat themselves.
They followed the guests almost all the time, only getting a break when the guests returned to their rooms.
A younger staff member shook their head.
As a filming crew member, they generally avoided speaking during work hours.
Unless you were the director.
Qin Nian nodded. “I made extra rice. You can have some later.”
With that, he continued cooking the porridge as if no one else was there.
This mansion seemed to be a rented guesthouse, well-equipped with unopened supplies and a variety of cookware in the cabinets.
Qin Nian grabbed a small pressure cooker to make the porridge.
The advantage of a pressure cooker was its speed and the thick consistency of the porridge. The downside was having to wait for it to cool down before opening the lid.
Qin Nian wiped the pressure cooker with a cloth soaked in cold water until the pressure valve could be removed, then opened the lid.
Just as he was about to eat, footsteps approached from outside the kitchen.
It was Xi Liyan.
Without her makeup, Xi Liyan lacked the sharpness she had in the morning. Her long hair was down, and her features looked softer.
She seemed surprised to find someone in the kitchen, but her expression quickly returned to calm.
Qin Nian guessed she had come to the kitchen for the same reason he had. During dinner, he had noticed that Xi Liyan didn’t seem to enjoy Western food either and hadn’t eaten much.
Xi Liyan rummaged through the fridge, finding it empty.
Qin Nian served a bowl of porridge and said to Xi Liyan, “If you don’t mind, you can have some.”
Xi Liyan glanced at Qin Nian, then at the steaming porridge in the pot.
Finally, she nodded and thanked him.
The next morning.
The production team gathered everyone in the hall early in the morning.
Qin Nian checked his phone. It was only eight o’clock.
Last night, after finishing his late-night snack, Qin Nian brushed his teeth and went to bed, saying goodnight to Feng Wang before sleeping.
The director had said to gather at eight-thirty in the morning, have breakfast, and then head to the destination together.
After washing up, Qin Nian went downstairs. It wasn’t yet eight-thirty, but the other guests were already gathered in the living room, eager to make a good impression on the second day.
Qin Nian greeted the other guests and found a place to sit.
After sharing a meal the previous night, the distance between the guests wasn’t as pronounced, and they occasionally chatted.
Seeing everyone present, the director invited them to have breakfast.
The guests entered the dining room and saw the food laid out on the table.
A large pot of porridge, a bag of steamed buns, and a few packets of pickled vegetables.
In the same dining room, at the same table, it was as if yesterday’s French feast had been a dream.
Yu Xiaoting’s tone was neutral, but her expression betrayed her distaste. “Uh, are we going to eat like this for the rest of the time?”
Qu Chun picked up a bun, took a bite, and said nonchalantly, “Eat while you can. We might not even have this later.”
Yu Xiaoting’s face fell at that, clearly unable to accept the idea.
Gu Huai also seemed displeased with the simple breakfast.
The director chuckled, “We can’t have a feast every day. There’s not enough budget for that.”
To Qin Nian, this meal was nothing unusual. He had eaten far worse before. At his adoptive mother’s place, hot water with cold rice was the norm. A pot of freshly cooked porridge was a rare treat.
From the introductions yesterday, Qin Nian understood that he and these celebrity heirs came from different worlds.
Everyone might have different reasons for being here, but Qin Nian had only one goal: to do what he needed to do, then take the money and leave.
So, once everyone was seated, Qin Nian served himself a bowl of porridge and took a bun.
The bun was still warm in his hand. Qin Nian split it in half, placed some pickled vegetables inside, and ate it with the porridge.
He ate slowly, unaware that his actions had caught the attention of those around him.
Watching him carefully place the pickled vegetables inside the bun, the red oil from the minced beans soaking into the bread, and imagining the sour and spicy taste of the beans, paired with the young man’s small bites of bun and sips of porridge, stirred a primal hunger in them.
Those who had initially turned their noses up at the meal quietly served themselves porridge, mimicking Qin Nian by placing the minced beans inside the bun. The sour and spicy beans were quite appetizing, and though the bun wasn’t very hot, the porridge was freshly cooked.
The hot porridge was surprisingly satisfying.
When Qin Nian looked up after finishing his meal, he found that everyone else had started eating breakfast too.
After quickly finishing breakfast, the seven guests, along with the filming crew, boarded a bus provided by the production team.
The bus was specially painted a bright yellow, resembling a flowing blob of honey in the sunlight.
The driver started the engine, and the bus slowly set off.
The atmosphere was fairly relaxed. Qu Chun and Huang Zixuan, being easygoing, kept the mood lively along the way.
The destination seemed far away, as the bus traveled for hours without reaching it.
Gradually, the laughter on the bus faded.
Sitting for so long, everyone began to feel weary.
With a gentle breeze blowing, the bus drove along the countryside roads. Qin Nian sat by the window, taking in the scenery as his thoughts drifted.
The bus’s destination was a remote place called Xiao Bei Island.
Though called an island, it was more of a small rural area. In the past, the island’s residents were self-sufficient, and traveling outside was inconvenient, requiring small boats or yachts.
Only in recent years, after the government built a bridge, did Xiao Bei Island connect with the outside world.
Because the island had been isolated, its environment was pristine. It was later discovered to be a beautiful place and became a minor tourist attraction.
Despite its fame, tourists mostly visited on weekends, leaving the island relatively quiet on weekdays.
With mostly older residents on the island, there was little interest in celebrities or the entertainment industry. So when the show’s bus stopped at the village entrance, it didn’t draw much attention.
The director didn’t let anyone off the bus. Instead, he took out a tablet, displaying a lottery simulation with bamboo sticks.
“We’ve prepared four houses for you, with one person needing to live alone. The houses vary in quality,” the director explained.
Huang Zixuan asked, “How good is the best, and how bad is the worst?”
The director replied, “The best is a country villa, and the worst is a rundown little house. But the advantage of the rundown house is that you get to live alone, without sharing your space.”
Yu Xiaoting rolled her eyes. “That’s not much of a perk. I’d rather share a villa than live in a rundown cabin.”
The other guests discussed and hoped not to draw the short straw for the rundown cabin. Given the production team’s penchant for drama, who knew how rundown it might be?
Among them, Gu Huai remained remarkably calm.
Even Qin Jiaxu was curious. “Ahuai, aren’t you worried?”
Gu Huai, unusually composed, said, “A house is a house, no matter where it is.”
The director shook the tablet. “Your luck will decide which house you get. Who wants to draw first?”