Just by arriving a little late, the popular and new styles on major online platforms had already sold out.
The main issue was that this happened on an ordinary day, not during some event or product livestream, so the brand hadn’t anticipated it and therefore hadn’t prepared enough inventory.
After the products were urgently restocked, they became available for purchase again.
[About how I spent a thousand yuan after watching just a few minutes of the livestream]
[Now there’s a serious problem: I originally planned to buy the same color as Shen Xi’s, but! Is my baby the one wearing black or the one wearing blue? I really can’t tell them apart!!]
[I made sure to remember! The one who walked out of Shen Xi’s room after changing clothes was wearing blue!]
[Thank you, person above! May good people live long and happy lives!]
The production team had the guests change into sportswear to make it easier for the upcoming games.
The director first had each group send one person to draw lots.
The result of the draw was that Sang Ji’s group and Cheng Yuan’s group would be on one team, while the other two groups would be on the other team—
They would be playing beach volleyball.
The staff brought out a volleyball with a diameter of over one meter.
It was more like a balloon than a volleyball.
The rules were simple: the ball couldn’t touch the ground.
The first team to win three out of five games would receive a hundred yuan shopping voucher per group.
“So stingy, only a hundred,” Cheng Yu complained.
Cheng Yuan narrowed her eyes and gave him an emotionless smile. “Oh, if you mess up later and we don’t even get this hundred, you’ll go hungry tonight.”
Cheng Yu immediately became obedient and promised, “Sis, I’ll definitely do well.”
[Their sibling relationship is so good, even though the young master is always being teased by his sister, haha]
[What younger brother isn’t teased by his older sister?!]
[That makes sense. I’m going to go tease my annoying little brother right now!]
Since Sang Ji’s group had one extra person, the director asked them to decide which two would participate before starting.
Shen Xi’s slightly cold voice spoke up first. “I’ll do it.”
Before Shen Ci could say anything, he added, “I’m better at sports.”
Hearing this, Shen Ci didn’t argue directly with him. Instead, he said to Sang Ji, “Sister, I want to play with you too.”
His voice was similarly cool, but his tone was completely different.
[Wow, Shen Ci is so cute and obedient?]
[Wuwu, sister, I want to play with you too!]
[Choose him! Choose him for me!]
[Shen Xi: Do you have hearts? I was the one who asked first!]
Shen Xi let out a light snort.
Every time he couldn’t win an argument, he used that tone!
So Shen Xi stared at Sang Ji. “Sis, you choose.”
Sang Ji was quite experienced with this.
She extended one finger toward the two of them—
“Little rooster, whoever I point to, I’ll choose.”
Then she pointed at Shen Xi and said, “It’s you.”
Shen Xi: “…”
Shen Ci: “…”
Although the process was rather casual, Shen Xi was fairly satisfied with the result.
Seeing Shen Ci sitting alone, Sang Ji inexplicably felt he looked pitiful, so she added a few more words. “It should be over soon. Why don’t you sit and drink some watermelon juice first?”
Shen Ci’s lips curved almost imperceptibly. “Okay.”
Shen Xi was unimpressed by Sang Ji’s tone, as if she were coaxing a child.
Shen Ci wasn’t three years old!
He was twenty this year, twenty!
…
The game was simple. The two teams stood on opposite sides of the net, and all they had to do was catch the ball and make sure it didn’t touch the ground on their side.
Both Sang Ji and Cheng Yuan were relatively tall, around 1.7 meters.
With the addition of Shen Xi and Cheng Yu, both over 1.85 meters tall, their side had a clear advantage over the opposing team.
Soon, they won with a score of three to one.
Cheng Yuan and Cheng Yu’s dinner was secured.
On the other hand, Jiang Rui and Jiang Siwei’s situation wasn’t as favorable.
The mere thought of having to do chores like washing dishes later filled Jiang Rui with resentment.
She came here to break into the entertainment industry, not to do hard labor!
So she vented her frustration on Su Tang, the least famous person there: “What were you doing? If you had caught it just now, we wouldn’t have lost! You’re so clumsy, what were you even doing?”
Liang Shiyu overheard and immediately defended Su Tang: “You can’t blame Xiao Tang for that. The ball was already too difficult to save by then.”
[Is Jiang Rui okay? Getting so worked up over a little game?]
[They just didn’t coordinate well themselves.]
[The ball had already hit the ground by the time it reached Su Tang!]
[She’s always snapping at people during her live-streams selling clothes too.]
[Being an influencer has really gone to her head.]
[She’s just a bully, isn’t she? Everyone else here is too important to offend, so she picks on Su Tang, a newcomer with no popularity.]
Although Jiang Siwei was also in a bad mood, having been in the entertainment industry for years, he knew exactly what to do and what not to say in front of the cameras.
He had brought Jiang Rui onto the show and didn’t want her to cause any negative publicity that might affect him.
So he stepped in to smooth things over: “It’s just a little game. Jiang Rui just got too into it and didn’t pay attention to her tone.”
He continued with a smile, “We lost. Director, tell us, is there some kind of punishment?”
He wanted to move on from the matter.
Sang Ji, who had walked over at some point, casually tossed the inflated volleyball a couple of times before standing next to Su Tang. She draped an arm over Su Tang’s shoulder, glanced at Jiang Rui indifferently, and said nonchalantly, “I thought what she said didn’t sound very nice. In that case, how about an apology?”
Jiang Rui was infuriated by her attitude and almost lost her temper again.
Jiang Siwei shot her a subtle warning look.
In the end, Jiang Rui reluctantly muttered, “Sorry.”
If she wanted to make it in the entertainment industry, she’d still have to rely on her cousin later.
Sang Ji wasn’t expecting a sincere apology anyway—after all, Jiang Rui would never admit she was wrong.
She turned to Su Tang and asked, “Is that acceptable to you?”
Su Tang blinked and replied in her flat tone, “Hmm… it’s okay, I guess.”
Jiang Rui glared at her furiously.
What kind of attitude was that? She was about to be driven mad by these two!
[Hahaha, I’m starting to think Su Tang is kind of fun.]
[She didn’t even react when Jiang Rui yelled at her earlier, but now she’s making Jiang Rui furious.]
Just then, Shen Xi said impatiently, “Can we wrap this up? If you can’t handle losing, don’t play.”
[I actually find Shen Xi’s arrogant attitude kind of cool!]
[He’s not wrong. If you can’t handle losing, why even join a variety show?]
The director quickly stepped in to announce the results.
You’re absolutely right, but please don’t add fuel to the fire!
Meanwhile, Liang Shiyu watched the interaction between Sang Ji and Su Tang, a shadow of displeasure flickering in her eyes.
First, she prevented Shen Xi from appearing on the show with her, and now she was meddling with Su Tang, her own partner. What was she really up to?
…
After this little incident, the director didn’t arrange any more competitions. They were free to do as they pleased.
Sang Ji and the others returned to the leisure area and noticed Shen Ci was no longer in his original spot, so they began scanning their surroundings.
Soon, she spotted him.
Shen Ci happened to be walking toward them as well.
When he reached Sang Ji, Shen Ci handed her a small colorful bucket.
It looked like one of those beach toys.
Probably belonged to a child nearby.
Sang Ji peered inside—it was filled with pretty seashells.
She happily accepted it: “They’re so beautiful.”
It felt like they were back in their childhood days, playing by the seaside.
Meanwhile, Shen Ci noticed Shen Xi staring at him. After a moment of silence, he picked out a seashell from the bucket and offered it to him: “Do you want it? This one’s for you.”
Shen Xi: “??”
What would he do with that? And he picked the ugliest one!
Seeing Sang Ji watching them, Shen Xi silently took it anyway.
But he really didn’t want this seashell!
[Shen Ci is such a smooth little brother! He’ll definitely be great at making his girlfriend happy in the future!]
[How do you know he’s good at making me happy?]
[Shen Xi: You gave me the ugliest one?]
[Shen Ci: These, and these, are all for my sister. My brother? Oh, since he seemed to want one so badly, I’ll give him one. Picks the ugliest one: Here you go.]
[Their brotherly relationship is so weird—it’s like they’re both distant and close at the same time!]
[Shen Xi: Even though I’m annoyed, since my little brother gave it to me, I’ll reluctantly keep it.]
[Tsundere older brother and natural little brother! I’m shipping it!]
[Somehow, I feel like they actually get along pretty well.]
[It’s strange how I used to think he was so cold. He’s clearly a good kid.]
[Look at his face—it’s still the same expressionless face.]
[He’s never been on a show before! No one really knows what his true personality is like.]
[Maybe he’s just like this with family? Who knows how he is with others.]
Elsewhere.
To keep the live stream audience from dwelling on the earlier unpleasantness, Jiang Rui and Jiang Siwei started steering the conversation toward other topics to cover up what had happened.
They returned to the vacation house to change into stylish, beach-appropriate outfits for photos and began sharing tutorials on seaside photography.
They covered popular online topics like how boyfriends should take photos of their girlfriends and how couples can pose together.
Since many viewers in the live stream were women, some netizens were genuinely interested.
[I learned something new! I never knew about that angle.]
[Celebrities really are celebrities. Jiang Siwei strikes a pose like it’s a magazine cover, while my boyfriend’s attempts are just painful to look at.]
[Influencers really know their stuff when it comes to photos. I’m going to try this with my girlfriends later.]
[I feel like his poses are a bit cringey, though.]
[Some people just have oil in their eyes and see everything as cringey.]
[Jiang Rui should stick to her edited photos. The same pose looks way worse compared to the ones she usually posts.]
…
Meanwhile, Sang Ji and the others sat under a sun umbrella, sipping cold drinks and enjoying the view.
Shen Xi wandered along the shore, quietly searching for seashells.
He didn’t want that ugly one from Shen Ci.
He’d find his own—and they’d definitely be prettier than Shen Ci’s!
Su Tang was also crouched on the sand, seemingly drawing something.
After a while, she came over to Sang Ji and led her to where she’d been drawing.
Seeing this, Shen Ci followed along.
Shen Xi, who wasn’t far away, spotted them and headed over as well.
Liang Shiyu wasn’t in the mood to join them in such childish activities.
Seizing the opportunity, she struck up a conversation with Cheng Yuan instead.
…
On the sand was a portrait drawing.
With just a few strokes, a vivid portrait was sketched out.
It was clearly Sang Ji at a glance.
Sang Ji was somewhat surprised. “Is this me? It’s really well drawn.”
【Damn, Su Tang is practically a professional】
【These few strokes—you really can’t achieve this without years of practice】
【This level of skill is either from a top art academy prodigy or a professional artist】
【But isn’t she an entertainer?】
The audience was quite puzzled by this, with some feeling that Su Tang was far from ordinary.
Sang Ji could tell as well, and she suddenly remembered something.
Fu Ziyin had mentioned that Su Tang was one of the lead artists for “New World.”
What “New World” was most praised for was its gameplay and its art style.
Many of the character designs and scenes in the game were created by her.
Her mother was a specially appointed professor at an art academy, so all three siblings had learned painting from a young age.
It was just that she herself later focused on fashion design, so she didn’t become a professional painter like her mother.
At this moment, she couldn’t help but feel a bit closer to Su Tang.
A sweet and adorable younger sister seemed quite nice too.
Shen Xi and Shen Ci grew even more convinced that Su Tang was scheming, actually using this method to get closer to their sister.
It’s just drawing—they’ve learned it too, okay!
With that, they also started drawing in the sand.
【Hahaha, are the Top-tier Traffic Stars going to start drawing too?】
【Shen Xi and Shen Ci’s looks at Su Tang just now were not friendly at all!】
【The twins: No way, we have to draw for our sister too】
【I advise you not to embarrass yourselves! How could you possibly surpass Su Tang’s drawing?】
【Will your drawings even be presentable? Be careful not to draw something ugly and make your sister like you even less!】
【When it comes to winning their sister’s favor, they’re dead serious!】