Huge raindrops continued to fall heavily, pattering down relentlessly. Jiang Zhiwu and Li Lele were huddled together under the eaves, patting the water droplets off their clothes.
“It was just fine a moment ago, how did it start raining so suddenly…” Li Lele had only spoken half the sentence when a dark figure shot out from the rain like an arrow, rushing straight towards them with a gust of wind.
She let out a startled cry and instinctively shrank back behind Jiang Zhiwu, nearly dropping her phone in fright.
Jiang Zhiwu was also slightly taken aback by the sudden movement. She looked up and saw who it was, raising an eyebrow in surprise. “Yanzhou?”
Only then did Jiang Yanzhou belatedly realize how impatient he must have looked. He quickly schooled his features and slammed on the brakes, stopping abruptly in front of them.
But the comments weren’t buying his cool act anymore:
[Hahahaha try acting cool now!]
[Feels like if he was half a second late he would’ve crashed into the wall.]
[Gives me major vibes of a dog waiting for its owner to get off work hhh, top stars can actually be pretty cute sometimes.]
Jiang Zhiwu couldn’t help but smile at his appearance. She reached out and ruffled his hair affectionately.
Jiang Yanzhou maintained his fierce expression, turning his head slightly to the side but letting her hand mess up his hair without moving away.
***
After returning to the villa, the guests went back to their respective rooms to shower and change.
Jiang Yanzhou took a hanger, carefully picked up Jiang Zhiwu’s clothes that were placed by the door, straightened the collar until it was perfectly smooth, and even smoothed out every wrinkle on the cuffs before hanging it gently back on the rack.
Then, he picked up his own clothes, shook them out casually, crumpled them into a messy ball with a few movements, and tossed them into the corner of his suitcase.
The comments couldn’t help but complain:
[Sister’s clothes: treated with utmost care; His own clothes: just wad them up and stuff them anywhere.]
[Hahaha so sister’s clothes can’t have a single crease but his own can be treated like garbage?]
When Jiang Zhiwu came out of the bathroom, she saw Jiang Yanzhou from the opposite room kicking his suitcase shut.
She walked straight to the table, took out a bulging cloth bag from her bag, and poured the contents out with a clatter.
The crisp sound of coins and banknotes rolling onto the table was especially clear in the quiet room. Jiang Yanzhou looked over, and his eyes suddenly widened.
The table was covered with colorful bills, and numerous heavy coins glinted under the light. Piled together, it was a surprisingly large amount.
It was even more than what he had earned after singing and playing guitar all day.
“How did you get so much money?” Jiang Yanzhou couldn’t help asking.
Li Lele was drying her hair in the hallway. Hearing this, she smiled and chimed in, “This is all thanks to Sister Jiang! She used the money we earned yesterday to find that old man who sells straw weavings. She asked him to make small souvenirs modeled after the local clock tower and the ancient bridge.”
Jiang Zhiwu didn’t stop counting the money, not even looking up as she added, “Those little things are exquisitely made and have local characteristics. The tourists loved them, and we sold almost everything in just one morning. This is what’s left after splitting with Lele.”
The audience in the livestream were stunned.
Everyone knew how much money the guests had earned yesterday; they thought it was only enough for daily expenses. No one expected Jiang Zhiwu to turn such a small capital into such a huge profit.
[Oh my god! My sister’s business mind is absolutely brilliant!]
[Others are still working hard part-time jobs, while Jiang Zhiwu has already started her own business.]
[Is this the legendary concept of making money work for you? I’m taking notes!]
[Sister Jiang is not only beautiful but also super smart! The top star is so lucky to have her!]
After Jiang Zhiwu finished counting, the siblings pooled their money together and ordered a lavish meal from the production team.
***
Compared to the warm and harmonious atmosphere between the Jiang siblings, the mood between Shen Yu and Wen Jing was much more tense.
Because Shen Yu didn’t take his work seriously, the restaurant owner deducted part of his wages. With only the little money Wen Jing earned from her part-time job, they couldn’t afford to order anything good.
Shen Yu had deliberately turned off the camera. He poked at a piece of tofu angrily with his chopsticks. “What kind of garbage food is this? None of this is even edible.”
Wen Jing sat across from him, head lowered. A bandage was wrapped around her left wrist, and traces of seeped blood could be faintly seen.
She had been scratched by a cat that suddenly ran out while helping the owner take care of pets in the afternoon. She was holding a cotton swab dipped in iodine, carefully applying it around the wound, her movements gentle, seemingly ignoring his complaints.
“I’m talking to you, did you hear me?” Seeing that she wasn’t paying attention, Shen Yu grew even angrier. “I think you didn’t really want to help me at all, you were just slacking off on purpose, didn’t you?”
His gaze swept over the bandage on her wrist, completely ignoring the shocking sight of blood. His eyes were filled only with dissatisfaction towards the food and blame towards Wen Jing.
Wen Jing’s hand paused. Her fingertips turned slightly white, but she still didn’t look up. She simply changed to a new cotton swab and continued applying the medicine in silence.
This only made Shen Yu more displeased, and he continued ranting and throwing a tantrum.
***
At the end of the villa’s corridor, Huang Zhihe held two wrapped hamburgers and walked briskly to Jiang Ting’s door.
She looked down at the food in her hands, curving her lips into a smile beforehand. Seemingly forgetting the basic courtesy, she reached out and pushed the door open directly without knocking.
With a soft click, the door opened wide.
Jiang Ting, who was in the middle of changing clothes, was interrupted by the sudden intrusion. He looked up instinctively, his eyebrows furrowing almost imperceptibly.
He quickly pulled on his shirt and looked at Huang Zhihe, waiting silently.
Huang Zhihe seemed completely oblivious to his momentary frown. She walked in with a smile and held out the hamburgers towards him. “Jiang Ting, I ordered these for you. Hurry up and eat them while they’re hot.”
In the livestream, her fans were immediately touched by her thoughtfulness:
[She must be worried that he’s hungry, that’s why she rushed over so quickly. So heartwarming.]
[Such a gentle tone, anyone would be moved. Jiang Ting is so happy.]
However, some viewers noticed the details and had different opinions:
[Wait a minute, why did she just walk in without knocking? That doesn’t seem right.]
[Exactly! No matter how close you are, knocking before entering someone’s room is basic manners, right?]
[Although it seems like she meant well, this action is actually quite inappropriate, especially since Jiang Ting was changing clothes!]
***
The next morning, the mission card appeared in the center of the dining room as scheduled. The production team had circled the key points in red marker: Complete the designated game to receive breakfast.
Li Lele stood on tiptoe to read the card and grinned. “Brother! We got the tongue twister challenge!”
As majors in broadcasting and hosting, reciting tongue twisters was child’s play for the siblings.
Shen Yu’s group drew the poetry challenge.
Hearing the word “poetry”, Shen Yu subtly nudged Wen Jing, signaling her to go up.
As a rich playboy who never took his studies seriously, not to mention reciting poems, he couldn’t even remember a few lines of the basic “Three Character Classic”. He definitely didn’t want to make a fool of himself later by not being able to answer.
His movement was small, but it hit exactly where Wen Jing had been scratched by the cat. She inhaled sharply in pain.
“Hurry up,” Shen Yu urged in a low voice.
Wen Jing frowned and stepped forward, looking at the card in her hand. “Complete the line: Walk to the end of the water.”
She lowered her eyes and thought for two seconds. “Sit and watch the clouds rise.” Then she smoothly answered, “In the vast desert, solitary smoke rises straight” with “Over the endless river, the setting sun rounds”, and “Picking chrysanthemums by the eastern fence” with “Suddenly I see the southern mountain”. These were all very basic lines.
Huang Zhihe’s group drew a mathematics challenge.
She was still feeling embarrassed about failing to solve the math problem yesterday. Holding the card, she felt a little nervous.
“Xiaoting, why don’t you do it?” She handed the card to him.
Jiang Ting flipped it over to look at the questions. They were all math problems at the third-grade elementary level. He picked up a pen and wrote down the answers swiftly, then handed it to the staff.
Huang Zhihe stood beside him, wiping sweat and handing him water, saying softly, “You must be tired.”
Unfortunately, some passersby viewers weren’t impressed, feeling that her actions were overly dramatic.
It was just solving a few simple math problems, was it really necessary to make such a big fuss wiping sweat and serving water?
Finally, it was Jiang Yanzhou’s turn. He drew a pink card lazily, but the moment he saw the content, his face darkened instantly.
Jiang Zhiwu was curious about his expression. “What did you get?”
Jiang Yanzhou stammered, throwing the card onto the table in frustration. “There’s cheating! Why is my challenge way harder than everyone else’s?!”
Li Lele sneakily peeked at it: “Please face the camera and perform a shy confession to the audience.”
The audience immediately cheered:
[Interesting! I never thought I’d live to see the day of watching a top star confess!]
[All I can say is—great job production team!]
[Hahahaha OMG, why is Jiang Yanzhou so unlucky?]
Jiang Zhiwu’s eyes curved with laughter. “Our Yanzhou can even handle holding concerts on huge screens, you’re not afraid of this, right?”
Encouraged by her words, Jiang Yanzhou suddenly felt that he couldn’t show weakness.
He stuffed the card into his pocket, lifted his chin and acted cool. “Small scene.”
He paced back and forth twice on the spot, seemingly gathering his emotions. Suddenly, he turned around to face the camera, slamming his left hand against the wall right above the lens, striking a perfect and standard ‘wall slam’ pose.
Before the audience could even praise him, his mouth suddenly stretched wide into a huge grin, his eyes bulging round. The gaze that should have been affectionate instead exuded a terrifying fierceness that seemed to say ‘If you don’t say yes, I’ll eat you alive’. He looked so aggressive that he seemed ready to swallow the camera whole.
Time seemed to stand still for three seconds.
[Hahahaha help! Is this a confession? This looks like cannibalism!]
[God opens a door for you, so He closes a window. Jiang Yanzhou probably put all his talent points into singing.]
[Can’t bear to look! What are you doing with that handsome face of yours?!]
[Suggestion: switch to acting in action movies, this aura is unmatched!]
Maintaining that grimacing posture, Jiang Yanzhou turned his head to ask Jiang Zhiwu for her opinion. “How was my acting?”
Jiang Zhiwu’s lips moved slightly.
Caught between protecting her brother’s self-esteem and telling the truth, she hesitated for a moment and carefully chose a word:
“Explosive.”
Jiang Yanzhou: “?”
What does that mean?