Su Youqi felt that he really should have consulted an almanac or calculated his fortune before stepping out of his room today.
First Xu Yangjia left, and now You Sangxi showed up.
Weren’t the others supposed to be completely exhausted and unwilling to come out?
Knowing how this would turn out, he might as well have stayed in and let himself be sealed away by the bed right alongside Guan Hongyu.
“Why is Mr. You out here? Didn’t you just say you were too exhausted and didn’t want to leave your room?” Remembering that he was still recording a variety show, Su Youqi offered a perfunctory question to the other minor cast members before heading out.
Predictably, he had met with universal rejections from all of them.
For one thing, everyone was completely worn out; who possessed the energy to go out for a stroll?
For another, Su Youqi was merely a regular university student. Walking with him meant a literal, plain walk with zero benefits and zero screen time attached, and they had no desire to shortchange themselves.
Of course, when those who turned down Su Youqi’s invitation found out the next day that he had run into Xu Yangjia and spent a long time chatting animatedly with him, they would experience deep, biting regret.
“I rested in the dorm for a bit, but felt bored, so I came out for a stroll,” You Sangxi replied, his voice laced with strain. “You’ve got incredible energy. After a full day of exhausting work without a proper break, you’re still out here wandering around for hours. If it were me, I would’ve dropped from fatigue ages ago.”
Internally, You Sangxi was screaming curses as well. He had deliberately waited quite a while before coming out, assuming Su Youqi would have already returned to his room, only to find this freak still pacing around the back mountain.
Did he run on some kind of built-in robot battery that never needed recharging?
Having his peace interrupted back-to-back drained Su Youqi of any remaining social battery, prompting him to naturally steer the conversation to a close. “Actually, I was just about to head back myself. Too bad you arrived a little late, otherwise we could have walked together for a bit.”
Su Youqi squatted down to pluck a red spider lily and handed it toward You Sangxi. “These spider lilies are genuinely gorgeous, aren’t they?”
You Sangxi still didn’t dare touch the bloom, subtly taking two defensive steps backward while offering an awkward smile. “Sorry, I happen to be severely allergic to pollen.”
Su Youqi didn’t press the issue, as testing the waters was his only objective.
Pulling his hand back, Su Youqi withdrew the flower. “Pollen allergy, and yet you still came up to the back mountain?”
“It’s not that serious. As long as I don’t get into direct physical contact with them, it’s fine.” You Sangxi had completely exhausted his reservoir of patience, his tone carrying a sharp edge. “If you’re tired, you should head back and rest quickly. We’ve got high-intensity recording tasks scheduled for tomorrow.”
Su Youqi nodded. “Mhm, heading back right now.” With that, he turned around and started walking away.
You Sangxi let out a microscopic sigh of relief, though his gaze remained locked onto Su Youqi’s retreating back.
You Sangxi’s stare was far too intense; Su Youqi could feel it burning between his shoulder blades without even needing to turn around.
A sudden wave of mischief washed over him, prompting Su Youqi to spin around and jog back a few paces. “Oh right! I ran into a local villager earlier who warned me there might be wild boars roaming around here at night, advising me to head back early. You shouldn’t stay out here too long either. Just take a quick lap and return, otherwise running into a wild boar won’t be pretty!”
The smile froze entirely on You Sangxi’s face as he struggled to maintain his composure after finally managing to shoo Su Youqi away. He muttered flatly, “There are no wild boars around here! Did you run into a fake local or something?”
“Is that so? Maybe the villager was just messing with me, or perhaps I misheard.” Su Youqi put on a convincing look of sudden realization.
“Right, right. Don’t worry, it’s totally safe here. You don’t need to worry about me, just hurry back.” You Sangxi deployed the last tattered shreds of his patience to urge Su Youqi away.
Having thoroughly played out his prank, Su Youqi stopped stirring up trouble and finally waved goodbye.
Only when he was certain Su Youqi’s figure had completely vanished beyond his line of sight did You Sangxi hiss a string of angry curses under his breath. “These connected privileged kids are such a massive pain in the ass. Absolutely zero actual talent, but world-class at generating annoyance!”
You Sangxi made a silent vow to himself to find the right opportunity to teach Su Youqi a harsh lesson.
What You Sangxi didn’t realize was that Su Youqi, whom he assumed had already departed, was currently watching him from behind a thick tree trunk not far away, standing right next to the local villager.
Indeed, he had faked his departure, then capitalized on You Sangxi dropping his guard in the cover of night to quietly circle back and hide behind a large tree to observe him.
He watched the exact moment You Sangxi, who had just claimed to suffer from a severe pollen allergy, lowered his head to sniff the flowers one by one, bringing his face dangerously close to the petals while carefully ensuring his bare skin never actually brushed against the blooms.
At that point, Su Youqi needed no further confirmation: You Sangxi’s objective was clearly identical to his own.
“Heh, you rejected it when I offered it to you, yet you’re working this hard to hunt one down yourself.” Su Youqi toyed with the very stem of red spider lily that You Sangxi had refused moments earlier, offering a soft, mocking scoff. “Did you seriously think spider lilies grew like cabbages?”
Confirming his suspicions, Su Youqi officially took his leave from the back mountain.
Instead of returning straight to his room, however, he sought out a secluded, private nook, summoned Nan Ke, and shoved the red spider lily directly into the spirit’s face. “Big Boss, dinner is served! Freshly picked, dig in while it’s still fresh!”
Nan Ke stared blankly.
Though I am a living soul, that doesn’t mean I consume raw flora directly.
Living soul or not, the operational difference remained substantial.
“Ah, right. I forgot to brief you on the proper consumption method.” Seeing Nan Ke frozen in place with an unreadable, complex expression, Su Youqi realized he had failed to explain how souls absorbed energy, quickly offering a remedy. “Just stare at it and mentally repeat eat, eat, eat over and over.”
It operated much like inherited generational memories; human souls transformed into ghosts usually grasped the process instinctively. Since Su Youqi’s past interactions were exclusively with conventional ghosts, he hadn’t initially factored in that Nan Ke, existing as a living soul detached from his body, lacked those innate ghostly instincts.
Skeptical yet cooperative, Nan Ke followed instructions, fixing his gaze on the red spider lily in Su Youqi’s hand while chanting mentally, eat, eat, eat.
Why does this feel like joining some sketchy cult?
A strange sensation stirred within Nan Ke.
“Focus! Stop getting distracted!” Seeing a faint wisp of crimson vapor rise from the spider lily only to retract and begin fading away, Su Youqi urgently stepped in with a reminder.
Shedding those random stray thoughts, Nan Ke re-centered his focus entirely.
Just as he had repeated the mental chant for a solid while and started suspecting Su Youqi was just pulling his leg, thick streams of rich crimson vapor finally began billowing upward from the bright red flower, weaving thread by thread into Nan Ke’s spectral form.
As the crimson mist poured into him, Nan Ke distinctly felt a warm current washing through his body.
It marked the very first time Nan Ke experienced any physical sensation whatsoever since transforming into a detached living soul.
A flicker of genuine excitement ignited within him.
Su Youqi asked, “How does it feel, Big Boss? Do you sense a warm current?”
Nan Ke nodded.
Su Youqi smiled with satisfaction. “That’s how it’s supposed to be. A pure soul shouldn’t possess any physical sensations. As you consume more medicinal materials, your senses will gradually recover. Once your sensory integration matches that of a living human, you’ll be fully ready to return to your physical body and live a long, healthy life.”
Nan Ke murmured, “So that’s how it works.”
“We got lucky, too. That You Sangxi was hunting for this exact flower as well. If I had arrived even a step later, he would have snatched it away.”
Su Youqi mentally patted himself on the back for tonight’s outing. “Don’t be fooled by the fact that these mountains are carpeted with red spider lilies; this single blossom is the only one possessing genuine spiritual essence. Furthermore, the surrounding area won’t produce a second one for quite some time.”
Missing this particular flower would have forced them to hunt elsewhere.
And not every cluster of blooms generated this concentrated botanical essence.
All in all, their luck had been phenomenal.
They locked onto the correct spot on the first try and beat their competition to the punch.
Absolute perfection.
“Being backed by genuine blessings makes all the difference.” Su Youqi sighed, recalling how difficult and time-consuming past hunts for Two-Life Flowers had been.
Having accomplished his primary mission on day one, Su Youqi could finally kick back and enjoy the rest of the trip completely stress-free.
Neither Su Youqi nor Guan Hongyu had come here to grind for fame, allowing them to approach the show with complete ease and authenticity.
Perhaps weary of endless calculated personas, the A-list regular cast members developed a natural fondness for the pair’s genuine demeanor.
Naturally, it also helped that both young men possessed solid moral values, pleasant personalities, and knew how to balance personal enjoyment with clear boundaries that never burdened others.
Who wouldn’t adore young adults who were genuine yet knew when to yield?
While the seasoned veterans who had weathered the cutthroat storms of the entertainment industry viewed the boys favorably, the minor unknowns participating alongside them held a drastically different perspective.
They burned with intense jealousy.
They had exhausted themselves flattering the major stars, yet those veterans ended up favoring Su Youqi and Guan Hongyu’s unfiltered authenticity instead?
Are you kidding me right now?
They were all working in the entertainment industry; everyone knew that shooting a variety show meant putting on a likeable persona to pander to the audience. Don’t talk to them about raw, genuine personalities!
Envy makes monsters out of people.
The disgruntled minor influencers dared not direct their grievances toward the A-list veterans, so they channeled their accumulated frustration entirely onto Su Youqi and Guan Hongyu.
A secret huddle formed to brainstorm ways to teach the duo a lesson.
“We’re still filming a show, so don’t cross any lines or make it too obvious, otherwise getting caught on camera will look bad,” You Sangxi said, pretending to act out of consideration for the group. “Aren’t we heading out to complete outdoor tasks tomorrow? Why not subtly sabotage their assignment so they take much longer to finish?”
“You’re just too kind, Sangxi! Don’t forget how they publicly embarrassed you in the van on day one!” one participant protested, pushing the plan further. “Still, that’s a solid idea. Let’s just make sure they fail their task completely and get hit with penalties!”
“Agreed! I’m totally on board with that!”
“Me too. If they love being authentic so much, let’s send them to deal with real authenticity, let them go manage the chickens, ducks, pigs, and fish! Let’s see if those animals appreciate their genuine personalities!”
“Digging soil and farming sounds great too. I noticed the plot behind the yard is still empty, let’s make them finish planting the whole thing! Work them to exhaustion!”
The rest of the group chorused their enthusiastic agreement.
To boost viewership ratings and narrative drama, the production crew frequently assigned various challenges to the guest stars: success yielded rewards, while failure triggered penalties.
Rewards typically consisted of delicious food or opportunities to showcase individual talents.
Penalties usually required blending into the manual labor of the rural environment, tilling soil, planting crops, or feeding the livestock housed on the farm, essentially assigning them whichever chores had been neglected that day.
Regardless of how minor these influencers were, they were still officially debuted artists within the entertainment industry. While not necessarily accustomed to a life of luxury, none of them had ever performed heavy agricultural labor. In their eyes, farm chores represented the dirtiest, most exhausting, and most humiliating tasks imaginable.
Most importantly, executing this scheme successfully would allow them to exact revenge on Su Youqi and Guan Hongyu while maintaining plausible deniability, since the penalties would technically be handed down by the production crew.
Even if it failed to ruin them, increasing the difficulty of their tasks would at least provide a satisfying outlet for their spite.
Thus, the malicious proposal won unanimous approval from every single conspirator.