CH 29.1

Su Chengyang turned around and lowered her eyes silently.

As the tide receded, wet gravel was revealed.

Just like the gentle wind that brushed her face, it blew through her heart like a boulder for a moment, and disappeared in an instant.

Su Chengyang’s mood miraculously lightened.

Looking at the scattered shrimp in her plate, she attributed the reason for her excitement to being able to eat her favorite food immediately.

“Let’s introduce ourselves,” Tan Qi suddenly suggested.

From the recording of the program until now, they had never formally introduced themselves, except for looking at each other’s information before shooting.

With the first episode of the program airing, everyone’s relationship seemed to have become closer invisibly, and the thin stack of profiles seemed insincere.

Of course, for Tan Qi to say this was also a way of giving other guests a chance to let the audience get to know them better.

“Okay.”

“I agree!”

Han Songxue liked to join in the fun and immediately became enthusiastic.

Qin You looked up nervously at everyone. She was most afraid of introducing herself, unlike the others who had participated in various activities to some extent. After completing her first movie, she immediately returned to school to continue her studies.

She felt that Su Chengyang’s situation was similar to hers and subconsciously looked at Su Chengyang. Unfortunately, Su Chengyang was too busy eating and didn’t pay attention to their conversation when she unintentionally met Qin You’s gaze. Her eyes revealed a hint of confusion, indicating that she hadn’t been listening at all.

Tan Qi said, “Then let me go first. My name is Tan Qi, I am 29 years old, and I have participated in the filming of 27 film and television dramas.”

Han Songxue continued, “After spending some time with you all, I believe that I have left a somewhat deep impression on everyone. My name is Han Songxue. I was a member of a girl group before, but due to some unspeakable reasons…well, I scolded the boss and got fired. After returning to China, I acted in several TV dramas, all of which were criticized for their overly cliché plots.”

After Han Songxue finished speaking, everyone subconsciously shifted their gaze to Su Chengyang next to her.

Su Chengyang put down her greasy hands, swallowed the food in her mouth, licked her lips, and said, “My name is Su Chengyang, and I have acted in several… one TV drama.”

Su Chengyang almost revealed her previous work experience but fortunately she quickly realized it and stopped herself.

“Is that all?”

The crowd was still waiting for her to continue, but she directly picked up a large hairy crab and began to dissect it.

“Um…” Su Chengyang responded.

Han Songxue said, “Okay, okay, next one. Don’t keep this starving ghost waiting for food.”

Then Song Mingan said, “I am Song Mingan, from Zhangzhou, and I am still young and inexperienced…”

“Stop!” Han Songxue suddenly interrupted, “We got it. Next!”

Song Mingan was silenced.

“I’m Qi Fu, I’ve appeared in several police dramas, and my hobbies include fitness and buying little skirts.”

“Jiang Shanqi, I’ve appeared in three works, and I like to buy bags, necklaces, and watches.”

“Shen Fu, a music producer who has never acted in a drama.”

Shen Fu was still wearing a duckbill hat while eating, with pale skin and little expression on his face, looking like a recluse.

Curiously, Han Songxue asked, “Music producer? What songs have you written? I don’t think I’ve heard of you.”

Han Songxue speaks without thinking, but luckily Shen Fu wasn’t angry and explained, “Most of the songs I create are pure music, often used as background music for film and television dramas.”

Tan Qi asked, “What is your popular song?”

Shen Fu replied, “<Kirin>.”

Qi Fu was surprised to hear that and said, “<Kirin> is a song you wrote?”

“Um.”

Han Songxue was taken aback, “The bgm for <Flame Tree>?”

Qi Fu continued, “I participated in that drama, and after it was broadcast, the director, screenwriter, and male lead all received awards. The song <Kirin> was the male lead’s exclusive bgm, and you actually created it?”

Shen Fu responded nonchalantly, “Yes.”

Next, it was Qin You’s turn to introduce herself. She was the youngest among the guests present and several eyes were on her. Her hands were nervously intertwined, like a student suddenly called on to answer a question in class.

She stood up with a red face, unconsciously looking towards the row of staff hoping to see a familiar face to ease her nervousness. But then she remembered that her mother was on a business trip and couldn’t accompany her.

“Don’t be nervous.”

The others didn’t rush her and waited patiently.

Qin You’s gaze swept over the faces of the people, the more she tried not to be nervous, the more easily she got nervous.

It wasn’t until she noticed Su Chengyang looking up at her that her heart suddenly calmed down, perhaps because Su Chengyang was about her age, or perhaps because she had helped her twice before, facing Su Chengyang’s calm eyes, she felt at ease.

“I’m Qin You, seventeen and a half years old this year, just started college, and appeared in a movie called, called…”

It had been so many years since then, and Qin You had long forgotten the name of the movie. But now that she had already said this much, she blushed and stammered, unable to speak, and her emotions, which had just stabilized, became nervous again.

“<Twelve Springs.>”

Seeing Qin You look at her with a pleading look, Su Chengyang put down her food and whispered a reminder.

Qin You’s eyes lit up, “<Twelve Springs>!”

She didn’t know why she hoped Su Chengyang could save her in an emergency, but Su Chengyang had helped her several times, and she subconsciously hoped she could save her.

“Last one.”

Qin You looked at Su Chengyang gratefully, as if she had been pardoned, and then sat back in her seat.

Su Chengyang didn’t pay too much attention, she didn’t deliberately remember the movies Qin You had acted in, but this name was easy to remember, and it was Qin You’s only work, so once she had seen it, she couldn’t forget it.

Finally, a female guest came up. She was usually close to Tan Qi, and Su Chengyang didn’t have much contact with her.

“Hello everyone, my name is He Xu, Xu is the cotton in willow cotton1何絮 (hé xù), 絮 (xù) from 柳絮 (liǔ xù). I’ve appeared in many works, but I’m just a stunt double.”

After the self-introduction, everyone chatted as usual.

After a full meal, the program team arranged for everyone to return to the villa.

Sitting in the hall, Su Chengyang lazily leaned on the sofa. Perhaps it was a common human ailment, but once she was full, she wanted to sleep.

When she saw the assistant director holding a few cards in his hand, everyone’s alarm bells went off.

“Could it be another Room Number?”

“Don’t tell me this is actually Room Number One!”

“There are only a few houses by the beach. They won’t make the ninth guest stay on the sea, will they?”

Su Chengyang sat up alertly. Although she didn’t care about her living environment, she only brought a plug-in desk lamp with her this time. If she had to live on the sea, she would be in trouble.

The assistant director rolled his eyes and said, “Do you know how expensive it is to rent a villa? We don’t have the money to rent anywhere else.”

Everyone’s heart sank, and they replied, “Okay, that’s fine.”

“What’s that thing in your hand?”

The assistant director handed over the card in his hand and said, “Let’s play a post-dinner game together.”

Qi Fu stepped forward and looked at the card, “A picture of seafood?”

“That’s right. The seafood dinner you just had was borrowed from the local seafood market by the program team without paying for it.”

Everyone: “???”

“Can you say that again?”

“Isn’t your program team so poor that you have to borrow food without paying for it?”

“Why can’t we just not eat it? Is it necessary to borrow food without paying and lose face?”

The assistant director cleared his throat and said, “It’s not because we are that poor, but because we wanted to rent a villa and had limited budget. We also hoped that you could have a taste of pure natural seafood…”

“Where can we get natural seafood?”

“Do you believe it or not, I’ll vomit the food I just ate for you right now!”

“It’s a conspiracy, all of it! I knew the program team was suddenly so generous, turns out they had a trap waiting for us.”

“Anyway! Anyway, now you have to correctly identify all the ingredients you ate for lunch in the pictures, including…including…”

At this point, the assistant director’s face showed a hint of guilt.

Everyone was suspicious, “Including what?”

“Cough…seasonings.”

“??”

“Are you even speaking human language?”

Jiang Shanqi keenly grasped the key point and asked, “What if we can’t find them?”

The assistant director said, “After the tide recedes in the evening, the program team will arrange for you to go clam digging. Only if you find all the ingredients and return them to the seafood market seller tomorrow morning, and sell the excess seafood to buy seasonings, will your task be considered complete. Otherwise, for the next two days, you will have to help sell seafood at the market.”

Su Chengyang fell silent for a moment and asked, “Did you really not give any money?”

“I didn’t give anything.” The assistant director said seriously.

Actually, he did give something, but it was for the sake of the show’s effect.

“Now, can I still spit it out?” Su Chengyang asked seriously.

She wasn’t joking, she was serious. She didn’t mind helping out at the seafood market, but she felt bad eating someone else’s food for free.

“You guys are terrible! If I knew earlier, I would have jumped off from here and starved to death, I would never eat a single bite of your food!” Han Songxue complained angrily.

“I only know what they look like when they’re cooked. How should I know what they look like when they’re alive?”

“What’s the difference between bamboo clams and king clams?”

“Don’t waste time, hurry up and choose, and give us back the other cards,” the assistant director urged.

“Ingredients…” Qi Fu stood by the sofa, the closest to the door.

He murmured to himself and then, when the staff weren’t paying attention, he bolted out from the door.

After all, he worked out regularly. By the time the staff realized and tried to stop him, he had taken a giant step and headed straight for the dining table by the beach.

“Qi Fu, the hope of the whole team rests on you!”

“Come on! Look for the ones with the most leftover!”

The assistant director remained calm and composed.

After a moment, Qi Fu walked in from the door.

The eight people eagerly looked at Qi Fu and asked, “How is it? What are they?”

Qi Fu helplessly replied, “The dining table has already been put away.”

Upon hearing this, everyone glared at the assistant director.

The assistant director remained unfazed and even urged, “Hurry up, you only have two minutes. After you decide, give the other cards back to me.”

“Let’s first pick out the crayfish and hairy crabs,” Tan Qi reminded them.

These two seafood items were what they ate the most.

But with over 20 seafood dishes on the table earlier, some they liked and some they didn’t, it was impossible to remember them all.

The assistant director timely said, “If there are more than three types of seafood that haven’t been returned to the sellers by tomorrow, all of you will have to stay and work at the seafood market. At night, you will also have to go fishing with the local fishermen.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he received another round of disdainful looks from the crowd.

Su Chengyang took the card and the assistant director announced the start of the timer.

“I’m not picky. I’ve tried every type of seafood,” Su Chengyang said calmly.

The tense atmosphere among the crowd eased slightly.

Su Chengyang quickly scanned the card and separated the seafood she had eaten and recognized from the ones she hadn’t.

Within two minutes, she had identified almost all the seafood on the table.

After the timer ended, Su Chengyang held up the card and asked the assistant director, “Are you sure that all the seafood on this card can be found by gathering at low tide?”

The assistant director grinned maliciously, “I already said that you can sell any extra seafood and use the money to buy seasoning. And if you can’t find certain types while gathering at low tide, you can just buy them with the money you make.”

This statement immediately provoked anger among the contestants.

“Damn it! What a bunch of cheaters!”

“There must be some seafood here that can’t be found by gathering at low tide.”

“Of course, how could things like hairy crabs and crayfish be found in the ocean? Those are freshwater creatures.”

Su Chengyang pondered for a moment. Although most of the seafood on the card came from the ocean, it would be difficult to gather them all during low tide.

Su Chengyang said, “No matter what type, we’ll pick as much as we can and sell them tomorrow. Then we’ll go buy more.”

“Agreed,” Han Songxue said.

“Okay,” Jiang Shanqi also nodded in agreement.

Su Chengyang’s proposed solution was indeed the most feasible.

Su Chengyang thought for a moment and said, “There should be a few freshwater lakes nearby. Let’s split up into two groups and go there tonight.”

Qi Fu said, “There may be fishermen out at sea at night. I’ll see if we can go out with them and bring back some things.”

Everyone had no objection. When it came to food-related matters, they trusted Su Chengyang.