The director’s eyes burned with genuine longing.
Any one of those fishing rods, if he took it out to show his fishing buddies, would cause a frenzy.
Yet now, someone was laying them out before him one by one.
He couldn’t help it. He really couldn’t help it!
The director grabbed the stagehand’s arm, trying his best to restrain himself.
“Hey, hey, hey… stop grabbing me! My arm hurts like hell!”
The stagehand shrugged his hand off in disgust.
Yu Jiaojiao looked at them again. “This counts as my sponsorship too…”
“Great sponsorship! …Oh no, I mean, are you really planning to sponsor all these fishing rods?” The director caught himself mid-sentence and forced a change of topic.
Yu Jiaojiao: “Is there a problem?”
The auxiliary camera turned toward the director.
No problem at all!! The director screamed inside.
But mindful of his image as a fair and impartial director, he reluctantly said, “The task doesn’t require this many fishing rods…”
A light bulb went off in Yu Jiaojiao’s head. “Then I’ll give the rest to you?”
5555~ You really understand me!! The director was so moved he was crying on the inside.
But accepting so many items felt like taking a bribe. The director gritted his teeth and refused. “According to the rules, I can’t accept them.”
Liar. They took the necklace earlier just fine! Yu Jiaojiao pursed her lips.
After a moment’s thought, she tentatively asked, “Then what if I give them to the whole production team?”
The director looked around. Everyone else was nodding frantically.
“The two most expensive ones can’t be accepted,” the director held his ground.
“OK,” Yu Jiaojiao waved a hand dismissively.,
The delivery team withdrew the Swan Lake King and the Rollsdaner commemorative rod—each worth over a million—and she casually picked one from the remaining rods for herself. The rest were set down next to the director and his crew.
The director glanced over again and again, feeling as though his soul had already floated out of his body and onto those fishing rods.
The stagehand beside him said disdainfully, “Enough, I know what you’re like. Go look if you want. I’ll cover for you for now.”
“It’s all yours then! I’ll just take a quick look~” The director drifted over to his beloved fishing rods, utterly entranced.
After receiving her fishing rod, Yu Jiaojiao started fiddling with the fishing line. Unfortunately, she had no clue about this sort of thing. Fortunately, aside from the director, the production team had a professional on hand to help them spool the line and teach them.
After being shown how to set up the fishing gear and bait the area, Yu Jiaojiao eagerly sat down on the fishing chair, while Wen Qiang, sitting beside her, put the bait on the hook for her.
She tossed the baited line into the water with a plop, and the float bobbed to the surface.
The director, who hadn’t been able to resist coming over to watch, clicked his tongue. “The baiting spot is over there. You’re casting the hook over here—how do you expect to catch any fish?”
No sooner had he spoken than Yu Jiaojiao felt the tug the instructor had described. She quickly lifted the rod, and a small carp, a few inches long, leaped out of the water.
“Wow!! I caught a fish!!” Yu Jiaojiao grabbed the line and jumped up from the fishing chair in excitement.
The little carp dangling from the hook flicked its tail in the air, sending a few drops of water flying.
Even the instructor was impressed, let alone the director, who had been proven wrong in just three seconds.
“What kind of dumb luck is that?”
Who catches a fish that fast?
Wen Qiang was just as happy. Under the instructor’s guidance, she removed the little carp and placed it into the nearby fish basket.
The two pressed on. Wen Qiang baited the hook, and Yu Jiaojiao cast the line.
“Wrong spot again!” the director sighed once more.
He shook his head and stood by with his arms crossed.
Less than half a minute later, the float bobbed. Yu Jiaojiao yanked the rod up sharply, and another small fish was caught.
The director: “…”
Impossible! Absolutely impossible!!
Yu Jiaojiao shot him a smug smile, then handed the fish over to Wen Qiang to remove.
Having caught two fish in quick succession, Yu Jiaojiao and Wen Qiang’s confidence soared. They worked together again and cast the bait.
This time, the cast landed right in the baited area. The director had nothing to criticize there, so he started on something else. “You think the other three tasks aren’t as hard as this? You just had to pick fishing. You think fishing is that easy? It was just beginner’s luck earlier. Let’s see if you can hold out.”
“You might go from first place straight to last.”
Yu Jiaojiao puffed out her cheeks at him, turned her head away in a huff, and fumed silently.
The very next second, the float moved again. Yu Jiaojiao quickly lifted the rod.
When she saw what emerged from the water, her eyes lit up. “There are two!!”
This time, the director was genuinely shocked. He stood frozen like a stone statue as Yu Jiaojiao handed over the two small fish, each hooked on a separate hook, to Wen Qiang.
“…”
He refused to believe it!! With his decades of fishing experience starting from when he was a teenager, there was no way he would keep getting shown up by this young girl!!
The director grabbed a fishing chair, sat down properly beside her, and stared intently without blinking.
Over the next ten-plus minutes, Yu Jiaojiao pulled another four fish out of the lake.
The director began to question his own existence. He crossed one leg over the other, propped his face up with his hand, looking as serious as could be.
His posture was fully captured by the auxiliary camera next to him. A crowd of onlooking crew members were silently clutching their stomachs, laughing.
The stagehand, in particular, was grinning from ear to ear.
Just as Yu Jiaojiao pulled up another four fish, someone finally broke the equilibrium.
Wang Jiajia and Sun Yu had returned from the mountain path.
After walking such a long way and coming back empty-handed, the two of them were so exhausted they were on the verge of tears.
The stagehand quickly comforted them. “Sorry about that. Because Yu Jiaojiao mistakenly brought back all four little red flags, they’ve already picked one. You can choose one of the remaining three.”
Wang Jiajia caught her breath, glanced at Sun Yu, whose expression was a bit strained, and smiled at the camera. “No worries. I’ll go ahead and pick one.”
The director finally snapped out of it, smiling a bit slyly. He said to Yu Jiaojiao, “Heh heh, you really think fishing is that easy? Someone’s already back. Once they pick the rowing task, let’s see how you fish!”
No sooner had he spoken than the stagehand announced the task Wang Jiajia had drawn: “Your task for the two of you is to run three laps around the lake!”
The director’s sly smile froze on his face. “…”
“Hahahaha!” Yu Jiaojiao finally couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
The others found it hard to stifle their laughter as well.
The director stormed off in a huff.
After laughing, Yu Jiaojiao went back to fishing seriously.
101, however, was genuinely worried. “Sun Yu and the others are back. The rest will probably be here soon. Are you really not going to lose your lead, Host? Step it up a little!”
Yu Jiaojiao completely ignored it.
She discovered that fishing was actually quite fun. The only issue was that sometimes she reacted too slowly when lifting the rod, and the bait would get eaten early. By the time she pulled it up, the hook would already be empty.
But gradually, she started to get the hang of the timing.
Soon, she pulled up two more small fish.
She still needed six more fish to reach her goal. Just then, Wei Luting and Gu Mi returned.
The director, still apparently bitter about Yu Jiaojiao’s fishing luck, made a point of walking past her. “Well, well, two more are back.”
Yu Jiaojiao couldn’t have cared less about him. Wen Qiang, however, did glance over.
Then she looked at Yu Jiaojiao’s unfazed expression and slowly calmed down herself.
It was just a game. Winning or losing didn’t matter.
As if fate were on Yu Jiaojiao and Wen Qiang’s side, Wei Luting reached in, drew a task, and got weeding.
The crew members and Sister Wang’s group, who had been watching the spectacle, were already dying of laughter.
The director glared at the last remaining little red flag with a look of deep resentment and let out a heavy snort.
Right on cue, Yu Jiaojiao pulled up another pair of “twins.”
Wen Qiang cheerfully removed the fish while Yu Jiaojiao turned to the director, practically cackling. “Director, if you keep talking, I’ll finish the task in no time!”
The director, looking utterly offended, ignored her completely.
Yu Jiaojiao laughed so hard she nearly collapsed into Wen Qiang’s arms.
But remembering the rowing task still ahead, she stopped laughing and got back to fishing seriously.
Fei Xiang and Peng Xiyuan seemed to have exhausted too much of their energy pedaling the tricycle and lagged far behind the other three groups.
Wang Jiajia and Gu Mi, supporting each other, had already started their second lap around the lake. Wei Luting and Sun Yu had weeded a quarter of their designated area.
Yu Jiaojiao was just one fish away from completing her task when the last group finally arrived.
“Quick, quick, quick! You two have only one task left—rowing. Row to the other side of the lake and come back!” The director, seemingly unwilling to give up his last chance to disrupt Yu Jiaojiao, had the crew rush Fei Xiang and the other girl over to an area right next to Yu Jiaojiao.
But it was too late. Before they could get there, Yu Jiaojiao lifted her rod, and there on the hook hung the very last fish needed to complete her task.
“Finished!!” Yu Jiaojiao’s delighted voice came through the earpiece.
“Come on, let’s count~” Wen Qiang lifted the fish basket out of the lake for the staff to count.
“One, two, three…” The staff member began counting in front of the camera.
When they finished, the total was confirmed to be twenty fish.
Yu Jiaojiao stood up, stretched her limbs, and sauntered over to stand not far from the director, who had accompanied Fei Xiang and Peng Xiyuan. She planted her hands on her hips and kicked her legs out playfully, looking utterly insufferable.
The director shot her a sideways glare, then turned to the somewhat deflated Fei Xiang and Wei Luting. “It’s fine, it’s fine. Let her have her moment. She won’t always have this kind of luck. You two go row now. The rankings for the other two groups haven’t been decided yet.”
In one sentence, he attributed Yu Jiaojiao and Wen Qiang’s first-place finish entirely to luck.
It had to be said, the director really knew his stuff.
Yu Jiaojiao had just entered the entertainment industry and didn’t understand much. But Wen Qiang, Sister Wang, and the others vaguely sensed that the director was being deliberately provocative.
In truth, the director hadn’t wanted to accept Yu Jiaojiao’s gifts from the very beginning. He didn’t want others to think he was playing favorites during the show just because he had taken things from her.
But he had always been a good judge of people and knew that Yu Jiaojiao was not someone to be swayed.
From the way she generously gave away luxury items without a second thought, it was clear she had no shortage of money.
Even if he didn’t want to accept her gifts, that didn’t mean others on the production team didn’t. After all, accepting gifts in the entertainment industry was an open secret.
So he had accepted the first necklace.
But he hadn’t expected that Yu Jiaojiao would later bring out a bicycle worth over a million and fishing gear totaling several million yuan.
Only then did the director realize that Yu Jiaojiao probably saw this as small change.
To avoid encouraging bad habits within the production team, he declined the two most expensive fishing rods.
Of course, he still had a tiny bit of selfishness in accepting the rest of the gear.
Having received things from Yu Jiaojiao, he naturally felt obliged to give something back.
So the director played the fool in front of the cameras, trying to downplay Yu Jiaojiao’s “diva-like” tendencies, making her seem more genuine. He also “inadvertently” revealed that her choice of the fishing task was no easy feat. Although this wouldn’t completely shield her from negative reviews when the show aired, it would still help her win over a fair number of viewers.
Yu Jiaojiao had no idea how much thought the director had put into this, nor did she fully understand the show’s dynamics. She simply treated it like a game, so there was no trace of acting in her behavior.
This, too, made her appear pure and likable under the camera’s gaze.
Still, she genuinely thought the director had been trying to mess with her earlier, which sparked a bit of rebelliousness in her heart. She secretly waited for a chance to get him back later.
Unsurprisingly, Yu Jiaojiao and Wen Qiang won first place in this episode.
The other three groups were still competing. Wang Jiajia and Sun Yu had just finished their second lap and were walking toward them, leaning on each other and gasping for breath.
Seeing Yu Jiaojiao and Wen Qiang standing there at ease, they knew right away that there was no chance of taking first place.
They put on expressions as if they were about to cry and seemed ready to slack off right then and there.
The stagehand quickly urged them, “Don’t you want to take second place? Hurry, hurry, hurry! Just one more lap!”
“Ugh…” Wang Jiajia made a face like she was about to cry, dragging Sun Yu along as they trudged forward with difficulty.
Sun Yu, barely able to contain her fraying nerves, shot Yu Jiaojiao a complex, unreadable glance as she walked past.
That glance was captured by the auxiliary camera.
Watching from back in front of the monitors, the director rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Wei Luting and Gu Mi were weeding in an adjacent area. They had long since accepted that they wouldn’t get first place, but they soon realized that their task was a technical one—one that might just allow them to climb from third to second.
Wearing gloves, they crouched in the twenty-centimeter-tall grass. Shouting words of encouragement to each other, they frantically pulled out fistful after fistful of weeds like they were on some kind of stimulant. Under the camera’s gaze, it looked especially comical.
By the time Fei Xiang and Peng Xiyuan returned, they had only cleared a quarter of the area. But in less than ten minutes, they had already reached halfway!
As for Fei Xiang and Peng Xiyuan’s side, it was also quite unexpected.
Peng Xiyuan revealed that she had grown up by a lake and had been rowing since she was a child. The little boat provided by the production team was nothing to her.
She rolled up her sleeves, revealing toned muscles on her arms that left Fei Xiang stunned, praising her for having such “boyfriend power.”
With Fei Xiang’s cooperation, the two rowed together toward the other side of the lake.
The three teams had initially been far apart, but this final task ended up balancing things out.
Just as Wei Luting and Gu Mi were frantically weeding, and Peng Xiyuan was leading Fei Xiang back from the other side of the lake, they gradually began to overtake Wang Jiajia and Sun Yu—who remained completely unaware.
In the end, Wei Luting and Gu Mi announced they had finished weeding, securing second place.
Just a few minutes later, Peng Xiyuan and Fei Xiang successfully returned to the starting point, taking third place.
Several more minutes passed before Wang Jiajia finally appeared in the distance, dragging Sun Yu along.
Sun Yu looked visibly displeased. If not for Wang Jiajia dragging her along, she probably would have given up and quit right then and there.
The system, crouched beside Yu Jiaojiao, clicked its tongue. “Tsk tsk tsk~ To knowingly be a homewrecker and a mistress… she deserves last place!”