As soon as Yu Xuanxuan shut his mouth, Yu Ruicheng sat down on the sofa farthest from everyone else. His expression was cold, but his bright red ears gave him away. If they hadn't still been filming the show, he would definitely have shut himself in his room and refused to step outside for three days.
Sun Siyuan caught sight of Su Huaiming out of the corner of his eye. He sprang to his feet on reflex and hurried over, asking with concern, "Are you feeling any better now?"
"There's nothing wrong with me at all." Su Huaiming raised his arm and showed Sun Siyuan his biceps, proving that he was perfectly healthy.
Sun Siyuan looked at Su Huaiming's excessively pale skin and slender arms, then gave him a complicated look. In his eyes, Su Huaiming had acquired the label "frail as a gust of wind."
Sun Siyuan followed Su Huaiming everywhere, afraid he might suddenly faint.
After Su Huaiming sat down on the sofa, he took the initiative to run to the kitchen and pour him a cup of hot water.
"Drinking hot water is good for you," Sun Siyuan said awkwardly.
Su Huaiming held the cup of hot water in his hands. The steam gave his nails a hint of pink, making him look much healthier.
Only then did Sun Siyuan return to his seat, reassured.
Ji Mingzhe and Yu Ruicheng had watched the two interact. Both were a little surprised, but neither pressed for details.
Seeing that everyone was present, the show's director said from behind the cameras, "Welcome to the beautiful little city of Dongjiang! You'll be spending a wonderful week here!"
"We've prepared a game for the children to earn starting funds. The amount will depend on how well you complete the task, so do your best, everyone!"
Yu Xuanxuan raised his fist. "I'll definitely do my best!"
The director continued, "There are four small rooms on the first floor. Each of you children needs to go into a room alone and complete the task by yourself. You can only come out after fifteen minutes."
Yu Xuanxuan spotted another problem. "There are only three of us, so why did you prepare four rooms?"
The director said, "One of them is for Sun Siyuan."
Sun Siyuan bristled on the spot.
The kids are doing a task, so why drag me into it?!
Are they implying I'm still wet behind the ears?!
Sun Siyuan immediately stood up in anger. He was just about to argue loudly with the director when he suddenly remembered something.
Su Huaiming is so frail. What if I'm too loud, scare him, and he uses it to extort me?!
Sun Siyuan turned to glance at Su Huaiming, then sat down in frustration.
The director had braced himself for a storm, so he was quite surprised that Sun Siyuan actually swallowed his anger.
Ji Youyou was the youngest and rather shy around strangers. She didn't dare go into a room alone to complete the task, but Ji Mingzhe coaxed her gently for a while. Reassured by her father, Ji Youyou was willing to try for the first time.
The three children and Sun Siyuan each entered one of the four small rooms the production team had prepared.
The three adults didn't have to wait idly outside. They could watch live footage from all four rooms, though no one watched Sun Siyuan.
Sun Siyuan entered his room and saw a small table, a camera set up in one corner, and several sheets of A4 paper in the middle of the table.
The director's voice came over the intercom. "Please draw portraits of one another, all four of you children. You only have fifteen minutes, so keep an eye on the time."
Sun Siyuan: "..."
The director seemed to notice Sun Siyuan's sour expression on the monitor and hurriedly added, "And Sun Siyuan."
Sun Siyuan: "..." He might as well not have said that.
The task was clearly meant to entertain the children, but he was a team of one, with no child to complete it, so he had to do it himself.
Treated like a child, Sun Siyuan unceremoniously rolled his eyes at the camera, plopped down in the chair, and picked up a pen to draw whatever came to mind.
Once Ji Youyou and Yu Xuanxuan understood the director's instructions, they also picked up their pens and began drawing earnestly, using different colors.
Fu Xiaoxiao, however, put his whole face right in front of the camera, poking and prodding it as he fiddled with the machine nonstop.
They had only fifteen minutes to draw, and the director didn't remind them of the time again before it was up. Fu Xiaoxiao spent the entire fifteen minutes playing with the camera without drawing a single stroke.
When time was up, the three children and Sun Siyuan came out with their drawings.
The other three adults were the judges. If they all agreed a drawing passed, the artist would receive starting funds.
Sun Siyuan went first.
He hadn't taken his drawing seriously. Ji Youyou was a little girl, so he drew her with a braid. For the other two boys, he scribbled a few circles; their noses and eyes were barely recognizable. The style was quite abstract.
Su Huaiming and the other two adults all gave Sun Siyuan a passing grade to spare his feelings.
Ji Youyou went second, placing her drawing in front of Su Huaiming and the others a little shyly.
Ji Youyou had drawn carefully and used different colors. For a child, it was quite good.
Su Huaiming was generous with his praise. "Youyou, your drawing is so pretty. Could you give it to me?"
Ji Youyou's eyes immediately lit up, but she first glanced at her father. Only after Ji Mingzhe nodded did she press her lips together and hand the drawing to Su Huaiming.
Then she ran back to her father, wrapped her arms around Ji Mingzhe's arm, and smiled sweetly at Su Huaiming.
Yu Xuanxuan showed his drawing third, with an explanation. "Little sister Youyou is super cute, so I drew her with long hair and a pink dress. Xiao Xiao is really cool, so I drew him in black clothes. Brother Siyuan is so dazzling, so I drew him lots of stars!"
Hearing this, Sun Siyuan gave Yu Xuanxuan an approving look, thinking the child had a promising future.
Finally, it was Fu Xiaoxiao's turn. Fu Xiaoxiao hadn't drawn anything and had come out empty-handed, without feeling there was anything wrong with that.
He hadn't even brought a drawing, so the three adults couldn't let him pass even if they wanted to.
"Ji Mingzhe's family, Yu Ruicheng's family, and Sun Siyuan have each earned 66 yuan in starting funds. Su Huaiming's family has received no funds. Please keep trying."
Sun Siyuan had filmed a few variety shows before and knew the production team's tricks all too well. "For the next week, the production team won't give us a single cent besides this starting money, and they'll assign us all kinds of tasks. We'll have to pay for our own meals and transportation."
Ji Mingzhe frowned slightly. "But 66 yuan can't possibly cover our expenses for the next seven days."
Sun Siyuan spread his hands. "So the production team will set up all kinds of games for us to earn money ourselves. In any case, the next seven days definitely won't be easy."
The director, whose lines had been stolen: "..."
He coughed twice, trying to get the conversation back on track. "As Sun Siyuan said, you'll have to cover your own expenses for the next seven days."
The production team had anticipated their resistance and had arranged a lucky draw especially to appease them.
A staff member brought out a lottery box, and the director continued, "There are different slips in here for third, second, and first prizes. Most are third prizes, and the prize is your choice of one item from the fridge. We won't reveal the second and first prizes just yet."
Yu Ruicheng finally spoke for the first time. "Are you going to take everything out of the fridge?"
The director nodded. "That's right. We'll be emptying it later."
Sun Siyuan hadn't expected the director to be so ruthless and couldn't help frowning.
Yu Xuanxuan's eyes darted around. He raised his hand and asked, "Then can we go eat something now?"
The director said, "No."
Yu Xuanxuan let out a disappointed "oh" and dropped his head heavily, like a blade of grass wilted by the wind.
Fu Xiaoxiao was quick-witted. Seeing this, he copied Yu Xuanxuan and let out a heavy sigh.
Ji Youyou didn't know what her two older brothers were doing, but to stay in formation, she let out a long "ah" in her childish voice and lowered her head too.
The sound made the adults present laugh, and the director's heart softened. "You can go have a little something to eat now."
The three children immediately brightened and went to find food in the fridge together.
The four adults stayed behind to draw lots.
Ji Mingzhe was the oldest and the senior among everyone there, so naturally he went first.
It was already a concession for Sun Siyuan to give up the first spot, so the second had to be his.
Yu Ruicheng and Su Huaiming each drew a slip from the box, one after the other.
Sun Siyuan, Yu Ruicheng, and Ji Mingzhe all got third prize, while Su Huaiming's slip clearly read "first prize."
Seeing this, Sun Siyuan asked, "How many first prizes did you prepare?"
The director and production staff were all very surprised. "Just one."
Ji Mingzhe chuckled warmly. "Su Huaiming is so lucky. He drew the first prize right away."
[All hail the koi!]
[Quick, quick, let me soak up some of that good luck!]
[I'm changing my profile picture to Su Huaiming right now, then buying a lottery ticket tonight.]
[Is this for real? Could the director have rigged it?]
[Of course not. If it really were rigged, do you think Sun Siyuan would cooperate?]
[...He'd probably make a huge scene.]
Sun Siyuan and the other two went to get things from the fridge.
Ji Mingzhe chose bread so he could fill his stomach. Yu Ruicheng picked a packet of popping candy as Yu Xuanxuan wanted. Sun Siyuan didn't like anything he saw and completely wasted the opportunity, casually taking a bottle of ice water from the fridge.
After they returned, they waited for the production team to reveal Su Huaiming's first prize.
"And now I announce that Su Huaiming's first prize is..." After keeping them in suspense, the director finally said, "A silk quilt!"
Su Huaiming: "..."
Everyone: "..."
[Hahahaha, what use is a silk quilt? First prize is worse than third prize!]
[Su Huaiming: I don't want this first prize anymore!]
[Look at Su Huaiming's dazed little expression. Isn't he adorable?]
[Did the production team forget to prepare a prize and just grab something random at the last minute to make up for it?]
The director gave Su Huaiming no chance to complain. As soon as he made the announcement, he handed the prize straight to him.
Su Huaiming sighed and could only accept it.
The production staff worked quickly and emptied the fridge in a little over ten minutes. Looking at the empty fridge, Ji Mingzhe and the others decided to go shopping.
Su Huaiming's team, however, was in an awkward position. They didn't have a single cent and could only rely on the others for help.
They agreed to meet in the living room in fifteen minutes and go shopping at the supermarket together.
Su Huaiming was just about to carry the silk quilt upstairs when he heard someone call him.
Su Huaiming turned around and saw Sun Siyuan looking awkward. "What is it?" he asked.
Sun Siyuan's gaze fell on the silk quilt in Su Huaiming's hands. His prince syndrome flared up again, and he coughed and said, "Let me have that silk quilt."