TL: Hua
Upon hearing this punishment, Fu Anqi, who was about to hide the small pig plushie she brought, felt her hand tremble. She immediately and quickly withdrew her ‘little paw.’
[Hahahaha Daughter, what were you trying to hide just now?]
[I totally saw you try to hide the little pig plushie]
[Hahahaha the production team is ruthless; look how scared our daughter is]
When traveling abroad without a dedicated organizer, food and accommodation are already a big problem. Moreover, the six guests were currently in a luxurious villa. If they were kicked out for breaking the rules and had to find new lodgings, it wouldn’t be easy to find such a comfortable and peaceful place again.
Thus, under the threat of the production team’s penalty, everyone obediently took out their belongings.
The items the six guests brought were generally similar.
However, because of differences in personality and what each person prioritized, in addition to basic daily necessities, they each brought some other small items.
Fu Anqi, as a girl group member, brought many beautiful hairbands and hair accessories.
She explained that she normally loves styling hair. Sometimes when the makeup artist is busy, she helps style the hair of her group members.
Fans watching Anqi’s live stream immediately gave her heaps of praise.
[Aahhh my daughter is so clever and skillful]
[My daughter’s hair accessories are so pretty, I’m tempted. I want my daughter to style my hair too]
[Their group bond is so good, the friendship between beautiful women is the best to ship]
After Fu Anqi finished, it was Ye An’s turn.
His suitcase contained mostly common items, but a single silk scarf was quite special.
Ye An looked at the camera, a little embarrassed. “I know this sounds silly, but this scarf has been with me since I was born. So, every night, I have to place it by my bedside, or else I feel insecure.”
Ye An is a quiet person, representing the ‘obedient younger brother’ of the new generation of actors. Hearing this endearing reason, the fans in the comment section immediately felt their maternal instincts kick in.
Gao Zitai, being guileless, was thoroughly shocked after hearing Ye An’s reason and even retorted, “What if you forget to bring it?”
Ye An shook his head. “I probably won’t be able to sleep. I’ve never tried.”
Gao Zitai’s eyes widened. “So, you’ve taken it with you everywhere you’ve gone for over twenty years?!”
Ye An nodded obediently, looking as if it were the most natural thing. “Yes, of course I take it with me.”
[Hahahahahahaha why is the dialogue between these two so funny]
[Son, shut up, stop asking questions!!]
[Son, you really look like you’ve never seen the world, hahaha. I have a friend like this too, they had a comfort blanket since childhood and couldn’t sleep without it]
[Hahahaha, I feel so bad for Ye An, running into Gao Zitai the walking ‘Why’ machine]
The next person to display their things was Gao Zitai.
He didn’t have as many stories or little habits as the previous two. He simply opened a large suitcase and revealed it was packed full of snacks.
Seeing so many snacks, even Ye An was stunned. “Do you need to eat this much?”
“Yes!! I brought two days’ worth for all six of us.”
After Gao Zitai stated this in all seriousness, he quickly grabbed a bag of chips and ripped it open. “Want some?”
No sooner had he spoken, and before the chips reached Ye An, the director stopped him.
“Please do not eat snacks on camera. This is the display segment.”
With the snack at his mouth but unable to eat it, Gao Zitai took a deep, wronged breath. After much dragging of his feet, he put the chips back with a look of despair.
The comments erupted in another round of laughter, and then it was Lin Yanran’s turn to display his items.
Compared to the other guests, who had practically moved house with five, six, seven, or eight suitcases, he had far fewer items—just one suitcase.
However, Lin Yanran didn’t rush to open it but first asked the production team, “Will our things be confiscated after the display?”
Having witnessed how much those reality show directors, especially his longtime friend Song Yingming, loved setting traps for guests, Lin Yanran couldn’t help but be on high alert.
When the production team proposed this, he thought of this point.
The guests who had foolishly displayed their items according to the production team’s request only realized the potential pitfall after Lin Yanran’s reminder.
Fu Anqi immediately hugged her hair accessories, and Ye An quickly protected his silk scarf.
Gao Zitai, fully on guard, blocked his snacks and asked the production team, “Wow, you guys aren’t going to be so sneaky as to confiscate everything, are you?”
The director, sitting right in front of the camera in a stance identical to Song Yingming’s, struggled to suppress his expression after Lin Yanran exposed his scheme. He smiled and lied, “Of course not. This is just a display segment.”
Lin Yanran clearly didn’t believe his nonsense. “Are you sure?”
The director was surprised by Lin Yanran’s sharp intuition. He paused for a second, then narrowed his eyes in a smile. “Sure. I promise, we absolutely will not take anything after you finish displaying.”
Lin Yanran felt there was something slightly off about that sentence, but since the director had given his assurance in front of so many people, he tentatively lowered his guard and unzipped his suitcase.
The moment it opened, the comments section was filled with “Wow!”
All of Lin Yanran’s items were packed together neatly and orderly.
[I thought since he only had one suitcase, he didn’t bring much, but it’s packed this full?]
[Crucially, it’s also very neat and organized!]
[Wow, did he pack this himself?]
[Those of us who are spatially-challenged and manage to pack nothing much into several suitcases, yet still manage to mess up the packing, beg Yanran to release a luggage organization tutorial]
[Requesting tutorial +1]
While everyone was requesting a tutorial, those with sharp eyes had already spotted the items inside.
[Wait, what am I seeing?? Chicken stock packets??]
[And hot pot seasoning, fish seasoning!]
[Am I seeing Lao Gan Ma[mfn]A popular brand of chilli oil.[/mfn] on the side there??]
[Is he also carrying wolfberries and chrysanthemum tea on the far side???]
[Did he also bring heat patches?]
[Ah! And a first aid kit…]
[He brought an umbrella too]
[Hahaha is this his treasure chest? How does he have everything?]
Lin Yanran took these items out one by one and arranged them on the table.
Watching the empty table suddenly become covered with a variety of things, the production team and the guests were stunned!
“Why did you bring so many seasoning packets? And this Lao Gan Ma…”
Gao Zitai frowned, looking at the things Lin Yanran brought, not understanding.
He glanced at the Lao Gan Ma Lin Yanran brought, his face full of disdain.
A nobody is a nobody. The things he brings are so tacky.
Lin Yanran ignored the look of disdain on Gao Zitai’s face, meticulously putting the seasoning packets back where they belonged. Then he explained, “I’m afraid the production team will set traps and deduct our spending money.”
He held up the Lao Gan Ma in his hand. “If we’re really broke, this can be used as emergency relief.”
Fu Anqi found this very sensible. “Oh, right! Why didn’t I think of that before!”
Ye An and Cao Zhengpeng also immediately nodded. “Yanran, that’s such a thoughtful plan.”
Seeing everyone praise his idol’s rival, Gao Zitai grew even more unhappy.
How can such an insidious small-minded person be allowed to gloat!!
So, he waved his hand dismissively. “Don’t worry, they paid for everything when we filmed the pre-show segment. Relax, relax.”
He then took the Lao Gan Ma from Lin Yanran’s hand and threw it straight into his suitcase. “We definitely won’t need this.”
Seeing Gao Zitai throw his Lao Gan Ma into his suitcase, Lin Yanran didn’t argue with him.
He could actually feel Gao Zitai’s animosity towards him.
However, he just wanted to focus on participating in the show and didn’t want to cause trouble or generate unnecessary friction, so he didn’t say much and simply smiled, moving past this part of the display.
Sun Yuetong, who had been silent throughout, watched the scene unfold. She was somewhat displeased with Gao Zitai’s actions, but she didn’t say anything directly. Instead, her gaze fell upon the wolfberries Lin Yanran had brought.
She immediately stood up and took the box of wolfberries Lin Yanran had brought. “Lao Gan Ma is great… Hey, Yanran, you actually brought wolfberries! I lost my luggage, and all my supplements are gone. Can you share some of these with me, Xiaoran?”
Sun Yuetong was genuinely surprised and delighted.
She was also a person who paid attention to wellness and took many supplements daily.
She was already a bit upset that all her supplements were gone.
But finding this item with Lin Yanran, a young man in his twenties, made her very happy.
Lin Yanran nodded, directly telling Sun Yuetong to take them to use.
“Do you also pay attention to wellness usually?”
“I do follow some.”
“Oh, really? Me too.”
After saying that, Sun Yuetong initiated another chat with Lin Yanran.
Because Sun Yuetong was a “National Goddess,” she was constantly held in high regard by the production team and the few younger cast members.
Usually, the younger members would try to find various topics to get closer to her, but they were rarely successful, and she generally seemed quite reserved.
However, tonight, watching the stars twinkling in her eyes, everyone realized that when the goddess was on a topic she was interested in, her expression was actually quite cute.
After everyone’s luggage had been displayed, the production team informed them that they could go out to eat.
To be slow to eat is to have a problem with your thinking[mfn] 吃饭不积极，思想有问题。is a common Chinese saying meaning one should be eager for food.[/mfn].
Thus, all six people were excited and joyful, waiting for the production team to arrange a car to take them to the restaurant to dine.
However, the production team informed them that they had to decide on their own lunch today, and the production team would not arrange a car; they had to get there themselves.
Gao Zitai, knowing they were going abroad, had asked his assistant to download various apps on his phone beforehand.
So, upon hearing they had to order their own meal, he proactively raised his hand, saying he’d take care of it.
He spent a long time choosing on the ordering app, saying, “Everyone has been traveling for so long. How about we have a rich meal at noon today to replenish our energy?”
Lin Yanran glanced at the director across the room, who wore a calculating expression. He had intended to suggest they play it safe and eat something simpler.
But seeing everyone else so enthusiastic, he held his tongue.
In a group travel show like this, blending in appropriately was very necessary.
Sun Yuetong had the same thought as Lin Yanran.
But she also saw the twinkling expectation in the eyes of the younger people, so she, too, held back from speaking.
Gao Zitai quickly found a highly rated restaurant on the app.
When the audience watching the live stream heard the name, someone immediately posted a bullet screen comment:
[Holy crap, I’ve been to that place, it’s super, super expensive!! The taste is actually just mediocre… not cost-effective]
[Not cost-effective? Then baby, you shouldn’t go!]
Baby, can you hear us?? Don’t go, don’t go!]
[Never mind him, if they go, they go. It’s the production team paying anyway. If it’s not good, they can switch to another one tonight.]
[That’s true. They’re traveling abroad, and there’s a language barrier. Just deal with it.]
After the restaurant was booked, the six people discussed heading out.
But the production team started stirring up trouble, making them draw lots to split into two groups and figure out how to get there on their own.
After all, the show needed various dramatic effects, so the guests didn’t object; instead, they quickly and cheerfully drew lots to group up.
Soon, Gao Zitai, Sun Yuetong, and Ye An were in one group.
Lin Yanran, Fu Anqi, and Cao Zhengpeng became the other group.
Before the two teams parted ways, Gao Zitai, whose phone was loaded with all sorts of flashy apps, waved at Lin Yanran’s group in a showy manner, “We’ll definitely wait for you when we get there.”
Gao Zitai then chuckled.
After all, he’d checked beforehand, and only his phone had the ride-hailing app installed.
The other team would have to hail a cab themselves, and since they didn’t speak French, he figured it would be very troublesome for them to get to the restaurant.
Gao Zitai was still feeling smug, but after walking a short distance, he checked his phone again and discovered it was dead because it was too cold!!!
[Hahahahahaha Zitai, you were so smug just now, I bet you didn’t expect your phone to let you down here!]
[I’m dying of laughter, what kind of epic failure is this?]
[Are you here to be the comedy relief, Zitai?]
Gao Zitai patted his phone back and forth many times, then held it to his chest and tried to warm it up as if it were a baby.
But the phone still didn’t react.
At this moment, Sun Yuetong took out her phone, looked at it, and said, “That’s why domestic phones are better; they’re not afraid of the cold, and they can still work with one bar of battery.”
Since his phone wouldn’t turn on, Gao Zitai had no choice but to try and hail a cab.
However, after finally stopping a car, Gao Zitai got in and said a simple “hello” in French, but then didn’t know what to say next.
He had learned some basic French before coming, but he hadn’t learned how to pronounce the restaurant’s name.
The three of them in the car gesticulated wildly and tried various descriptions, and eventually, Ye An relied on his memory to piece together and write down the restaurant’s name, allowing the driver to finally deliver the three of them successfully.
Although there were some unexpected delays on the way, the process was still relatively smooth.
So, when Gao Zitai arrived, he even turned to the accompanying PD and asked, “They shouldn’t have arrived yet, right?”
However, when he reached the designated location, he saw the other three people had already finished a round of cracking sunflower seeds!
Gao Zitai looked at Fu Anqi in disbelief, “Didn’t you say you hadn’t prepared anything?”
Fu Anqi nodded, “That’s right.”
Meeting Gao Zitai’s incredulous expression, she said lightly, “I haven’t prepared anything, but Yanran speaks French.”
[?????????]
[HOLY CRAP, Yanran speaks French???]
The audience who had only been watching Gao Zitai’s group, due to the information gap, had no idea what had happened.
So, after hearing Fu Anqi’s words, they quickly rushed to Lin Yanran’s live stream.
They found that the number of people in this live stream had soared by over 500,000, and the bullet screen comments were all flooding with [Yanran is awesome, his French is so fluent].
Wha-what happened…
H-how did a French speaker suddenly appear!
Gao Zitai was utterly speechless.
Sun Yuetong was also surprised for a moment when she heard this, but then she happily smiled, “Yanran speaks French? That’s wonderful! Our language is not understood here, so having you as a translator in the future is just great.”
Gao Zitai looked at his useless phone.
He suddenly felt his own elaborate preparations were absolutely ridiculous.
However, he was still a little upset, so he planned to ask Yanran why he didn’t disclose that he spoke French earlier and if he was intentionally trying to make a fool of him.
But just as he was about to speak, he suddenly remembered that Yanran had indeed seemed to open his mouth a few times to speak, but he had interrupted him every single time.
Thinking about the stupid things he had done, Gao Zitai smacked his forehead in frustration.
The bullet comments timely read his mind:
[Gao Zitai is having an existential crisis]
[Gao Zitai: I thought I was the smart one, but I turned out to be the big idiot]
[Gao Zitai: If I had known Yanran’s French was so amazing, I wouldn’t have tried to show off]
Due to the time difference, although they had been flying for over ten hours, it was actually lunchtime.
While the taste of the meal Gao Zitai ordered wasn’t worth the price, it was barely acceptable.
They were all polite people. No one would say the meal was bad since he had taken the effort and expense to order it.
Sun Yuetong and Cao Zhengpeng also gave Gao Zitai face by praising him after they finished eating.
The production team, as Gao Zitai had said, helped him pay the bill.
Afterward, they thoughtfully arranged a car to take them back.
After enjoying a good lunch and returning to the villa, the group started discussing room assignments.
However, at that moment, the voice of the sinister director echoed through the room.
He said,
“Now we’ll begin distributing living expenses to the guests.”
A staff member then brought a stack of banknotes, seemingly intending to give money to the guests.
“Each person gets a basic fund of two hundred yuan as your living expenses for two days.”
Fu Anqi clapped her chest upon hearing this, “Two days? If we save, it should be enough.”
However, just as she finished speaking, the director immediately announced a piece of bad news.
“The living expenses include room and board.”
Lin Yanran, already sensing something was wrong, quickly asked the director, “What do you mean by room and board?”
The director showed a sly, narrowed-eyed smile similar to Song Yingming’s. “Of course, it includes the cost of staying in the villa tonight and… the cost of today’s lunch~”
Your mom!!
As if the guests weren’t upset enough, the director continued, “There are six of you in total, so the total fund is one thousand two hundred yuan. The cost of lunch today was one thousand four hundred and eighty-five yuan. Since you don’t have much money, we’ll give you a discount on the room fee. It’s fifty yuan per person per day, for a total of three hundred.”
“The room and board for today total one thousand seven hundred and eighty-five yuan. Deducting your basic fund of one thousand two hundred yuan, you now owe us five hundred and eighty-five yuan.”
After hearing the director’s accounting, all the guests looked aghast.
They had calculated and planned for everything, but they never expected the production team to dig a trap like this!!!
They all gazed longingly at the small amount of money in the staff member’s hand.
They hadn’t even touched their living allowance yet, and they were already heavily in debt!!!
Gao Zitai was the first to protest this rule. His spoiled young master temper flared, and he immediately said, “I’ll spit the lunch out for you! I’m not eating it! Give me back my living expenses!”
He then made a gesture as if to vomit.
Cao Zhengpeng, who had been relatively aloof, also spoke up, “If you had told me earlier, I would have eaten Lao Gan Ma that Yanran brought, and I wouldn’t have to pay.”
Hearing Cao Zhengpeng mention Lao Gan Ma, Fu Anqi finally remembered Yanran’s earlier reminder, “Oh right, Yanran said before that he brought seasonings and Lao Gan Ma because he was afraid you’d set a trap!”
Her face crumpled, and she wailed, “We should have listened to Yanran and not eaten that meal! It wasn’t even that good, and it was so expensive! We’d be better off eating Lao Gan Ma!”
In her distress, Fu Anqi let the truth slip out about the meal not being good in front of Gao Zitai.
The director listened to the guests’ various complaints, spread his hands helplessly, and then picked up his large megaphone again.
Lin Yanran saw the same style of megaphone as Song Yingming’s in Director Zhang’s hand and immediately felt an alarm blare in his mind.
He knew it, he just knew it.
How could a friend of Song Yingming’s not dig a trap for them!!!
He had been too careless!
“Now, please hand over everything in your luggage that is not a basic necessity! If you secretly keep one item, we will deduct an additional one hundred yuan.”
“WHAT?????????”
Upon hearing the latest rule announced, the guests were beyond just shocked.
They had to hand over their luggage, too??
That was outrageous!
Having been mentally prepared, Lin Yanran, the only one whose expression didn’t completely crumble, looked at the director and asked, “Didn’t you guarantee earlier that you wouldn’t take it?”
The director nodded innocently, “Yes, I did~ But I only guaranteed not to take it after the display; I never guaranteed not to take it after lunch.”
He then let his eyes, which were narrowed into a slit from smiling, sweep over every guest and said cordially, “Please, all guests, hurry up and hand over your belongings~”
Gao Zitai, filled with regret, looked blankly at Lin Yanran beside him.
He had thought Yanran was overthinking it before!
It turned out that he had already correctly guessed every trap the production team was planning to set!
The man was clearly a prophet; why didn’t he choose to believe him then!!!!
AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!
He was going crazy!!!
