Yu Jiaojiao didn’t have to wait long. Just a few minutes later, four female artists arrived together, chatting and laughing among themselves. They either already knew each other or had just gotten acquainted.
The camera crew’s attention shifted as well, and the stagehand’s voice rang out again. “Alright, our other four guests have arrived. Please draw your number plates.”
Among the four female artists, one was a host specifically invited by the production team to liven up the atmosphere. Among the other three, one was a singer, and the rest were actors.
Wang Jiajia, the host, immediately let out an exclamation of pleasant surprise. “Wow!! Two fairies got here even before us!”
“Hello~ hello~” the others waved and greeted as well.
Catching sight of Yu Jiaojiao’s outfit, the four women showed varying degrees of admiration under the cameras—though what they truly thought in their hearts, only they themselves knew.
Led by Wang Jiajia, the four drew their number plates.
Wang Jiajia drew number five, singer Fei Xiang drew number four, and actors Peng Xiyuan and Wei Luting drew numbers three and seven.
After getting their number plates, the four enthusiastically gathered around and began their professional flattery.
“Wow, Jiaojiao, this dress of yours is absolutely stunning!”
“It’s mainly because you’re so beautiful—anything looks good on you~”
“Your skin is amazing!”
A few days earlier, they had all heard that Wang Jing’e had dropped all her other artists to focus solely on Yu Jiaojiao. Privately, most of them assumed that Yu Jiaojiao had found some kind of powerful backer.
Most artists who had achieved a certain level of fame were used to saying what people wanted to hear.
Faced with such a group, Yu Jiaojiao only found them noisy. Remembering what the system had said about her having no friends, she held back her impatience and got through the entire encounter with a seemingly polite smile.
Gu Mi chimed in with her flattery as well.
Most artists who have reached a certain level of fame are used to “speaking human to humans and ghost to ghosts”—adapting their words to suit the occasion. Facing this crowd, Yu Jiaojiao only found it noisy. Mindful of the system’s comment about her having no friends, she suppressed her impatience and faked her way through with a seemingly polite, static smile.
Gu Mi chimed in as well.
Fortunately, the arrival of the last two guests rescued her.
The remaining two actors were Sun Yu and the female lead, Wen Qiang.
To be honest, Yu Jiaojiao was somewhat curious about the female lead.
Having read the novel, she knew that Wen Qiang truly had no connections or background. Yet, relying on her acting talent and hard work, she had won over countless directors and audiences. For Yu Jiaojiao, who had effortlessly gained everything since childhood without any struggle, this represented a novel life experience.
Wen Qiang drew her number plate and walked over to the group, stopping right in front of Yu Jiaojiao.
The passage from the original novel that Yu Jiaojiao had selectively forgotten suddenly surfaced in her mind—“Wen Qiang, with her proud height of 175 cm, was once invited to walk in a brand’s fashion show, where she completely stole the spotlight.”
Standing before the 175 cm Wen Qiang, Yu Jiaojiao, who was a full ten centimeters shorter, had to tilt her head up to look at her.
The slight smile that had been curving Yu Jiaojiao’s lips instantly drooped, and her cheeks puffed up.
“Why is she so much taller than me?” she questioned the system through their mental link.
“Well, you see…” The system felt a bit guilty.
Those who had stayed in the livestream all this time just for the gossip finally heard something and began chattering excitedly.
【Who who who? Who’s that much taller than Yu Jiaojiao??】
【Has that actress appeared yet?!】
Meanwhile, Wen Qiang, standing face to face with Yu Jiaojiao, was also deeply stunned by her beauty.
As the female lead, her looks were naturally among the best. But she belonged to the bold and radiant type, while Yu Jiaojiao looked like a real-life SD doll. Wen Qiang was reminded of a doll she had fallen in love with at first sight in a shop window as a child but couldn’t afford.
Even the way Yu Jiaojiao was puffing up her cheeks for no apparent reason looked exactly like that doll.
Wen Qiang immediately felt a sense of fondness and took the initiative to greet her. “Hello, I’m Wen Qiang.”
Yu Jiaojiao pursed her lips and didn’t reply, inexplicably radiating a strange, sulky aura.
In the eyes of the others, this came across as Yu Jiaojiao disliking Wen Qiang.
But given Yu Jiaojiao’s well-known reputation as a drama queen, no one found it surprising.
The eight of them chatted among themselves for a while. After the camera crew had captured enough footage, the show finally moved on to the next step.
“Next up is the partner assignment. Number one and number two form a group, number three and number four form a group, number five and number six form a group, and number seven and number eight form a group.”
After hearing the stagehand’s instructions, everyone looked at their number plates and began searching for their partners.
“I’m with Sister Xiang!” Peng Xiyuan walked over to Fei Xiang.
“Jiajia, the two of us are together.” Sun Yu moved closer to Wang Jiajia.
“We’re a pair.” Wei Luting and Gu Mi exchanged a glance and naturally came together.
In the end, only Yu Jiaojiao and Wen Qiang were left, staring at each other.
“Eh? Host, how did you end up in the same group as the female lead?!” The system exclaimed in surprise. “This is completely different from the original plot!”
In the original story, the supporting character Yu Jiaojiao was supposed to be at odds with the female lead the entire time. How could they still be opposed if they were put in the same group?
The netizens who hadn’t yet left the livestream immediately spotted the crucial point.
【Wait… Host? Female lead? Plot? Is this what I think it is?】
【Do you think there’s a possibility… that Yu Jiaojiao and the others can’t even see our comments?】
【Hmm… Does anyone else feel like this livestream is a bit weird?】
【Holy crap! I tried recording this livestream with another phone, and it’s just static snow!!】
【Could this be some new kind of publicity stunt?】
The last comment in the barrage helped everyone else calm down, and they decided to keep watching for now.
Yu Jiaojiao hadn’t expected to end up as Wen Qiang’s partner. She pouted even more and reluctantly made room for her.
Wen Qiang didn’t mind her attitude at all. For some reason, among all the guests, Yu Jiaojiao was the one she felt the most fond of.
“Next, the four groups will take on the first challenge. Your task is to find the scrolls we’ve hidden around the square. Each scroll will have one of four different modes of transportation written on it. You will use the mode of transportation you find to proceed to the next location.”
Wang Jiajia immediately caught onto the catch. “Let me ask—does this mode of transportation mean someone takes us there, or do we have to get there ourselves?”
“The budget is limited, so you’ll have to make your own way there,” the stagehand said cheerfully beside the cameraman.
Several of the female guests’ faces darkened instantly, which only made Yu Jiaojiao and Wen Qiang look more composed by comparison.
“Also, you have ten minutes to change your clothes,” the stagehand reminded them.
Change clothes?
Most of the female guests were sharp enough to read between the lines. From that one sentence, they could tell that the mode of transportation likely came with some trick—maybe even bicycles or something along those lines had been arranged.
After all, in order to showcase themselves better, seven out of the eight of them were wearing dresses—except for Wen Qiang and Fei Xiang.
Even Fei Xiang was dressed in a ladies’ suit that wasn’t easy to move around in.
“Quick, quick, quick!” Wang Jiajia was the first to move, grabbing her skirt and running straight back toward the dressing room they had just come from.
The others instinctively started running after her.
The only ones left standing there were Yu Jiaojiao, who was still processing what was happening, and Wen Qiang, who was already wearing a T-shirt and jeans.
In truth, Wang Jiajia’s lead had been deliberately arranged by the production team to stir up the atmosphere.
Watching the flustered expressions of the female guests on camera, the director nodded in satisfaction.
Perfect. The first gimmick was in the bag.
As for Yu Jiaojiao? Remembering the necklace she had donated, the director decided to let her do whatever came naturally.
Yu Jiaojiao stood there in a daze for a moment, not understanding why everyone else was in such a hurry. She turned to the only person left, Wen Qiang. “Didn’t they say we have ten minutes?”
“That’s right,” Wen Qiang replied, a little surprised that Yu Jiaojiao hadn’t been swept along by Wang Jiajia’s pace.
It only took one or two minutes to walk to the dressing room, three or four minutes to change clothes, and another one or two minutes to come back. Ten minutes was plenty of time. Yu Jiaojiao calculated this in her head as she calmly walked back.
By the time she returned to the dressing room with Sister Wang and the other two, Gu Mi had already changed and was about to head back to the square.
Seeing Yu Jiaojiao strolling back unhurriedly, Gu Mi paused in surprise.
Yu Jiaojiao nodded at her. Sister Wang had already instructed the stylist to pick out an outfit that would be easy to move around in.
After taking it, Yu Jiaojiao headed into the changing room with her assistant.
The system, still hovering nearby, tried to tempt her again. “Host, you’ve met all the guests now. Can you guess which one the actress is?”
Yu Jiaojiao wasn’t going to guess. After all, she wasn’t the one who would end up feeling anxious.
Sure enough, seeing that she wouldn’t play along, 101 couldn’t contain its restless excitement any longer. “Just make a guess! One guess! How about I give you a hint?”
“Not guessing,” Yu Jiaojiao replied coldly.
“555~[1]In Chinese internet slang, 555 (pronounced wǔ wǔ wǔ) represents crying or sobbing jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_2259713_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_2259713_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });” The system felt like crying but had no tears.
What it didn’t know was that in the livestream’s comment section, everyone was guessing with great enthusiasm.
【Is it Wei Luting?】
【I’ll bet a pack of spicy sticks on Wei Luting. She plays a vixen in that movie and reportedly has a lot of scenes with Chen Yizun. There’s a good chance she’s just playing herself!】
【Sun Yu’s chances are a bit slim. Mainly because she’s not that good-looking!】
Yu Jiaojiao returned to the square after changing her clothes. When she got there, she found that everyone else had already gathered. Wen Qiang, in particular, hadn’t even changed her outfit.
Yu Jiaojiao realized belatedly that the novel had mentioned this point. Aside from Wen Qiang, everyone else had been wearing clothes that were difficult to move in and had been swept along by Wang Jiajia’s pace. Only Wen Qiang had seen through the situation.
Hmm. Then for the upcoming tasks, couldn’t she just coast along behind Wen Qiang? Yu Jiaojiao’s frustration over their height difference immediately faded quite a bit.
So Wen Qiang noticed that Yu Jiaojiao, who had been treating her coldly just moments ago, suddenly smiled at her when she returned to her side, revealing a small dimple on her left cheek.
Wen Qiang’s heart melted at how adorable she was, and she couldn’t help but smile back.
Somehow, their relationship inexplicably improved.
“Now that everyone has changed, the task will start early. I’ll count to three, and you can begin your search. One, two, three!”
This time, everyone knew it was for real.
Although the production team hadn’t clearly explained the rules, anyone with a brain could figure out that finishing the task sooner would definitely be better.
The four groups exchanged glances, then each picked a direction and dashed off.
The square where they were filming wasn’t too large, with walls surrounding it. The scrolls were surely hidden somewhere on the surrounding trees or elsewhere.
Yu Jiaojiao knew the female lead had good luck, so she didn’t bother using her own brain at all—she just followed Wen Qiang.
Sure enough, Wen Qiang was the first to find a scroll. It was hanging on the second tree they checked.
After discovering it, Wen Qiang gave Yu Jiaojiao a delighted smile. “We found it!”
But soon, another problem arose. At her height of 175 cm, even jumping, she couldn’t reach the scroll.
Wen Qiang thought for a moment and looked at Yu Jiaojiao inquiringly. “Would it be okay if I lifted you up to grab it?”
“These trees might have insect residue or toxins on them. I can’t touch them,” Yu Jiaojiao replied instinctively. Her skin was sensitive, and any medication she used had to be specially supplied. Even a tiny amount cost tens of thousands of yuan at minimum—something Wen Qiang, given her current financial situation and her mother’s enormous medical bills, probably couldn’t afford.
“I see,” Wen Qiang said without overthinking it. “Then I’ll just climb up and get it myself.”
Yu Jiaojiao neither agreed nor disagreed.
This scene was faithfully recorded by the camera. But from an outsider’s perspective, Yu Jiaojiao came off as far too high-maintenance. If this footage were edited into the final show, it would almost certainly become a major point of criticism.
Neither of them was thinking that far ahead at the moment. Yu Jiaojiao had never once considered how others perceived her. Wen Qiang, on the other hand, instinctively regarded Yu Jiaojiao as delicate as a doll. Besides, she knew how to climb trees and didn’t see anything wrong with it.
So she used both hands and feet, scrambled up the tree in no time, and snatched the scroll.
Then she climbed back down and gave Yu Jiaojiao an excited smile.
Yu Jiaojiao reminded her, “Your clothes are dirty.”
Wen Qiang looked down and saw that her pants were indeed smudged with bits of tree bark. Unfazed, she simply brushed them off with her hand.
Seeing this, Yu Jiaojiao furrowed her brow. “How can you just brush it off with your bare hands? Who knows if there are insect eggs or something in that?”
“Huh?” Wen Qiang looked down at her own hands.
Yu Jiaojiao turned toward the camera. “We need some wet wipes.”
Sister Wang, who had been watching alongside the director, had already anticipated this moment. She quickly sent the young assistant running over to deliver them.
The others exchanged glances, sensing that something was slightly off.
Yu Jiaojiao, however, didn’t care about any of that. She made Wen Qiang use her preferred wet wipes—each costing dozens of yuan—to carefully wipe down both her hands and her pants.
Only when she was satisfied did the two of them finally huddle together and unroll the scroll.
But the very next second, Yu Jiaojiao’s cheeks puffed up again.
On the scroll were three stark characters — Bicycle.
“Ah!” Wen Qiang hadn’t expected their luck to be this bad either, and a hint of awkwardness appeared on her face.
When they saw the rickety, beat-up tandem bicycle that the production team rolled out for them, Yu Jiaojiao’s expression grew even worse.
“How are we supposed to sit on this?”
“I’m sorry, but the production team has to be careful with its budget. This is the only bicycle we can provide. According to the rules, the two of you need to ride this bicycle to the next location,” the stagehand announced through the speaker next to the director’s monitor.
Yu Jiaojiao’s expression had already soured considerably, but then she suddenly spotted a loophole. “You’re saying we just need to ride a bicycle to the next location, right?”
“Um… in principle, yes.” For some reason, the stagehand had a bad feeling about this.
And when Sister Wang started making phone calls nearby, that bad feeling reached its peak.
Then, after watching Yu Jiaojiao and Wen Qiang slack off for about ten minutes—until the other three groups had all found their scrolls one after another—they suddenly noticed that Yu Jiaojiao’s young assistant had somehow brought a team of people into the square, pushing large boxes, stopping right by the edge of the plaza.
Those people opened the boxes and pulled out an incredibly cool, dazzling bicycle.
The bicycle was clearly modified, with two seats, one in front and one in back, adorned with numerous sparkling embellishments that looked like diamonds.
But no one dared to assume they were real.
That is, until a sharp-eyed crew member who happened to know a thing or two about bicycles spotted something telling about it. His eyes went wide, and he whispered something to the person next to him.
“Holy crap! Two million?! No way!!” The person beside him couldn’t help but blurt out a curse in disbelief.
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