Yun Qingqing’s earnest exoneration of Meng Xian nearly killed the livestream viewers with laughter:
【“She was barely cyberbullied, while Teacher Meng lost an endorsement that never belonged to her!” How can Yun Qingqing talk like this? I can’t stop laughing.】
【Haha, the funniest part is she looks completely sincere while saying it.】
【Killing someone’s reputation, but in the funniest way possible.】
【Come to think of it, it’s a bit terrifying. The rumor about the stolen endorsement caused fans to scold Gu Mingyan offline, and Teacher Meng acted like nothing happened.】
【It’s like she’s using her fans as weapons. I used to think Meng Xian was gentle and kind, but now… hmm, she’s a bit scheming.】
…
Meng Xian watched the direction of the comments and realized that if she didn’t speak up, the goodwill she had painstakingly built with the general public would be lost.
Suppressing her resentment, she put on an apologetic yet sincere expression and said to Gu Mingyan: “I truly mishandled this. I failed to clarify the false online rumors in time, which caused my fans to misunderstand. I’m sorry, Mingyan.”
She lowered herself completely, though inwardly she felt frustrated.
This was only the first day of filming, and she had already apologized on camera twice!
The other guests exchanged glances but, since the show was still live, smoothed things over:
“Now that it’s cleared up, let’s go. The program bus is waiting for us.”
Gu Mingyan, always disdainful of Meng Xian, simply snorted—her pride didn’t want to waste energy arguing further.
Meanwhile, Yun Qingqing, who had successfully overturned the “female supporting character being humiliated” storyline, quietly took credit, sleeves covering her hands, thinking happily:
“Today, this ten-thousand-yuan paycheck is earned fair and square!”
Just as she was savoring her victory, a fair-skinned hand suddenly extended, fingers holding a necklace.
Yun Qingqing looked down and saw it was the vintage necklace from Gu Mingyan, valued at 800,000.
She looked up, astonished, meeting Gu Mingyan’s slightly awkward gaze.
“Here.” Gu Mingyan’s tone was stiff, but the words sounded unexpectedly pleasant. “I didn’t bring anything valuable for the show. This is for you to play with.”
Yun Qingqing: “!”
She frantically tapped her system in her mind: System, did you see that? THIS is the way a big sponsor should behave!
The system, seeing the plot twist, kept silent: 【…】
What else could it say? The only blame was that Gu Mingyan had given too much.
Yun Qingqing earnestly stuffed the necklace into her pocket while pretending to resist: “Oh my, Mingyan, I just said a few fair words…”
Gu Mingyan didn’t even look back: “Take it, stop nagging.”
“All righty.” Yun Qingqing happily zipped up her pocket.
Everyone boarded the program bus and, after a bumpy ride, finally arrived at their destination—
A grand, exotic luxury castle.
Getting off, everyone was awed by the towering spires and exquisite carvings.
Thanks to the investor Ye Jinyan’s special arrangements, Meng Xian would get more camera time and opportunities; the first day’s hosting was entrusted to her.
Meng Xian adjusted her mindset quickly, her face returning to its gentle, poised smile.
After all, filming had just begun—there would be plenty of chances to restore her image.
“Welcome everyone to the place where we’ll be living together for the next few days.” Meng Xian held the microphone, her voice soft. “To make things interesting, tonight’s room assignments will be decided by drawing lots.”
She picked up a delicate bamboo tube, containing several silk-wrapped lot sticks.
“The lots are divided into ‘best,’ ‘middle,’ and ‘worst,’ corresponding to different rooms. Good luck!”
Hearing this, the guests perked up, eager to participate.
After all, they’d be staying in these rooms for several days; who wouldn’t want the best room?
The draws began.
Ji Sihan and his partner Nan Xu went first, incredibly lucky—they drew the only “best” lot, winning the castle’s most luxurious master suite with the best view.
The two high-fived, ecstatic.
Next, Jiang Mingqian with his partner Yu Ran, and the Meng Xian–Ding Manni team drew their lots—both got middle-tier rooms on the castle’s mid-level, decent but not extraordinary.
Yun Qingqing checked her lot and found it glaringly marked with three words:
“Worst lot.”
Ding Manni, sharp-eyed, immediately mocked: “Ah, your luck is really bad—you’ll have to stay in the worst room.”
Meng Xian felt a quiet thrill inside, though her face was full of sympathy.
While handing out the keys, she spoke gently: “Qingqing, Mingyan, I’m really sorry for the inconvenience. The ‘worst lot’ rooms might be in the attic or the annex, so the conditions could be a bit rough—but it’s also a special experience, right?”
Yun Qingqing held her lot stick and didn’t move for a long while.
The system, noticing her frozen expression, felt a twinge of worry.
According to the original storyline, Gu Mingyan and her original partner Zhang Ying had also drawn the worst lot. Unable to endure the shabby room, Gu Mingyan had thrown a fit, blaming Zhang Ying’s luck, appearing capricious and unreasonable, and tanking her public image.
Seeing Yun Qingqing stunned, the system asked: 【Are you worried Gu Mingyan will throw a tantrum like in the original story?】
Yun Qingqing snapped back to reality and replied, puzzled: “Why would I worry about that? Gu Mingyan’s easy to get along with!”
System: 【……】
Probably the only person in the world who thinks that!
It couldn’t help but probe: 【Then why were you spacing out just now?】
Yun Qingqing, completely confident, said: “I was reflecting on myself! I actually thought a crummy room wasn’t worthy of me, with my eighty-thousand-yuan necklace and daily pay in the tens of thousands. Ugh, that’s not good—I shouldn’t get arrogant just because I have a little money.”
The system was completely speechless and went silent again.
It should’ve known by now: the host’s thought processes were not meant to be understood from a normal perspective.
Once the lots were revealed, the livestream comments immediately lit up.
All eyes focused on Gu Mingyan and Yun Qingqing, the “worst-lot” duo.
【I bet fifty cents that Gu Mingyan is about to throw a fit.】
【Feeling sorry for Yun Qingqing for a second—just unlucky, and she has to face the mad lady’s wrath.】
【Aw, I like Yun Qingqing, hope Gu Mingyan doesn’t make things hard for her.】
But, to everyone’s surprise, Gu Mingyan merely glanced at her lot and showed no sign of anger.
Her gaze was fixed entirely on Yun Qingqing’s worried expression.
Gu Mingyan figured Yun Qingqing must be feeling guilty—blaming herself for bad luck and causing them to get the worst room.
For some reason, looking at Yun Qingqing’s dejected profile, she couldn’t bring herself to be too harsh.
“Hey,” Gu Mingyan nudged Yun Qingqing with her arm. “Wait here, I’ll make a call.”
Meng Xian noticed, her face showing just the right amount of concern: “Mingyan, are you okay?”
Ding Manni, however, smiled and grabbed her arm: “Xianxian, let her go. She drew that kind of room, of course she’s unhappy—probably wants a place to cool off.”
Ding Manni had no rush to go upstairs to unpack, using the excuse to stay in the lobby just to watch Gu Mingyan’s “cool-off” performance.
Meng Xian naturally understood her intention. She secretly enjoyed seeing Gu Mingyan humbled, so she stayed put.
After about half an hour—long enough for Ding Manni to start losing patience—Gu Mingyan finally returned.
Her expression was calm, unreadable, as if she had already accepted the harsh reality.
She walked up to Yun Qingqing and casually took her hand: “Let’s go.”
“Huh? Oh.” Yun Qingqing was pulled along upstairs, dazed.
Seeing where they were headed, Ding Manni called out: “Hey, Mingyan, Qingqing, your rooms aren’t upstairs—they’re in the annex next door!”
Gu Mingyan lifted her chin: “I just want to stay upstairs. The show never said we had to stay in the assigned rooms.”
Meng Xian looked worried and softly reminded her: “But you don’t have the keys. You’re not planning to sleep in the hallway, are you?”
Yun Qingqing, confused by Gu Mingyan’s antics, whispered: “Yeah Mingyan, without keys, we can’t get into another room…”
Gu Mingyan was much more patient with Yun Qingqing.
She released Yun Qingqing’s hand and, with a flourish like a magic trick, flipped her wrist and pulled a large bunch of antique bronze keys from behind her back.
“Don’t worry. I bought the castle just now,” she said lazily, shaking the keys. “Now we can stay in whichever room we want.”
Yun Qingqing: “!!!”
Meng Xian and Ding Manni: “……”
The other guests: “???”
The livestream went wild:
【Whoa, that rich? Just casually bought the castle?】
【I knew Gu Mingyan was wealthy, but I didn’t expect THIS wealthy!!! This is a real castle, not a model!】
【I know a bit about real estate—this kind of well-preserved castle would cost hundreds of millions of dollars, and you’d need connections to buy it!】
【Hundreds of millions… just to switch rooms??? My imagination is broke.】
【Being rich means you can do whatever you want? No respect for show rules at all!】
【Look, if I had hundreds of millions, I’d do the same! Besides, the show never said we had to stay in assigned rooms anyway.】
…
Yun Qingqing was stunned by Gu Mingyan’s reckless spending.
She quickly asked the system: “System! Is this in the original book? Gu Mingyan just bought a castle like that?!”
The system was equally baffled: 【……This isn’t in the book. Technically, the castle belongs to Gu Mingyan’s half-brother. Their private relationship is apparently bad, so she wouldn’t normally ask him.】
Yun Qingqing blinked and decided not to overthink it.
Who cares? As long as following the rich lady means delicious perks, that’s enough!