A Father's Loving Care

Of course, now that they were full and satisfied, neither of them cared how they looked on camera. They only cared whether their sneaking food had been discovered.

The production team hadn't come knocking before bed, which meant they had safely made it through!

Compared to the people in the other rooms, who were so hungry they could only watch food streams or sleep to pass the time, Wen Shuang and Jiang Ning had come out ahead.

The standard room had two beds separated by an aisle. After the lights went out and they climbed into bed, Jiang Ning asked softly, "Did you clean everything up?"

Wen Shuang replied, "Mm."

Perfect. They slept dreamlessly through the night.

The next morning, a fine rain still fell without pause. The soft patter against the window was enough to lull anyone to sleep. Wen Shuang had mentally prepared himself while half-asleep before struggling upright in bed. Jiang Ning noticed, cracked open one eye with difficulty, and mumbled, "Where are you going?"

"Go back to sleep." As Wen Shuang got up, he patted Jiang Ning's shoulder. His just-awakened voice was low and deep, and Jiang Ning, still groggy, drifted right back to sleep.

Wen Shuang quietly washed up, got dressed, took a fresh raincoat from by the door, and headed out. Dawn had only just broken, and everyone else was still immersed in sleep. It seemed only he understood the importance of getting up early to survive. He was already hungry, and Wen Shuang knew he wouldn't last until filming ended tomorrow afternoon. He still had to stay alive and go back to pursue President Xuan! At the thought of Xuan Zhe, the taste of boneless chicken feet immediately spread through his mouth. For such a great favor, Wen Shuang thought, I'll extend the time I bring President Xuan meals by another month!

He hadn't woken Jiang Ning because Jiang Ning looked exhausted, and Wen Shuang couldn't bear to drag him out into the freezing weather. Besides, Zhu Lian had warned him before coming here that getting along well with Jiang Ning would bring him nothing but benefits. Jiang Ning's fans were known as the "nuclear bomb" of the industry. If they really blew up, he would end up like Chen Zong.

On the way to the back mountain, he ran into several directors walking toward him from afar, empty-handed.

Wen Shuang asked in confusion, "Directors, where did you go?"

The directors looked awful, like people who had refused to believe in fate and been brutally taught a lesson by life. "Nowhere. The morning air is nice, so we came out for a walk."

Wen Shuang said, "..." What refined tastes. They had come out for a walk in the rain?

After exchanging greetings, they went their separate ways. Seeing that Wen Shuang was taking the same old route they had, one director chuckled. "We checked it already. There's nothing there. Wen Shuang will be back in under half an hour with a miserable face."

That was impossible. A koi's luck could do whatever it wanted.

Of course, it wasn't entirely because of that. The production team had gone up the mountain too early. The mushrooms were still curled up among the wet grass, their caps not yet spread open. With the dim sky, they were easily overlooked. But Wen Shuang's grandfather had specifically taught him how to identify them when he was young and where they were easiest to pick. His basic knowledge alone put him far ahead of everyone else. When the cameraman saw Wen Shuang discover a whole cluster of mushrooms, he wanted nothing more than to rush down the mountain, drag the production team back up, and demand, "What are your eyes even for?!"

The rain stopped, and a streak of warm sunlight broke through the dark clouds, shining directly onto Wen Shuang amid the lush, rain-soaked greenery. The scene was remarkably beautiful, and the cameraman snapped away.

After finishing up, Wen Shuang straightened and surveyed the area. There was a path along the cliff to the right—not one that had been built, but one worn down by years of footsteps. No matter how remote a place was, where there were mountains and water, there were people. The elderly living hidden beyond the bustle of the world still existed. They rose with the sun and rested at sunset, guarding the mountains passed down by their ancestors and occasionally coming out to see the outside world.

There really was someone. A middle-aged man with his pants rolled up to his knees came down the mountain path carrying a shovel. Wen Shuang immediately approached him with his trademark smile. "Uncle, can I ask you something?"

"Filming a show?" the man asked cheerfully, as if he had known in advance. Looking at his simple, honest face, Wen Shuang suddenly realized—could this be one of the show's NPCs?

After talking with the man, Wen Shuang learned that there was a village three or four kilometers behind the villa. The villagers mainly made their living selling mountain goods during this rainy season. The production team had spoken to them beforehand: if celebrities or ordinary participants came by, they could provide food, but only in exchange for something of equal value.

Wen Shuang asked, "What can we trade?"

"Mushrooms, wild vegetables, and some rare fungi. Anything works." The man took a drag from his pipe. His friendly gaze held a hint of teasing, as though he didn't believe this slender, fair young man could find anything worthwhile. The treasures of the mountain were only known by those who lived in the mountains.

That was also why the production team had chosen this location. They wanted the guests to get close to nature, and for a group accustomed to city life, that naturally raised the difficulty level. At the same time, the scenery here was beautiful enough to treat the viewers' eyes.

"Mushrooms?" Wen Shuang asked. Before the man could nod, he lifted a whole pile from behind his back. "Will these do?"

The glowing ash from the pipe fell onto the damp soil and went out instantly.

Just like the production team's hopes.

"Attention! Attention! Guest Wen Shuang has become the first to unlock a program NPC and complete an equal-value trade. He has received half a bag of cornmeal, a small container of cooking oil, 500 grams of flour, and two tomatoes." The announcement suddenly blasted through the villa, making a whole group of people sit bolt upright from their near-death hunger.

What the hell?

Jiang Ning had been run ragged by endorsement work over the past few days, and this sleep had left every bone in his body relaxed. He stared blankly at the empty bed across from him, replaying the announcement three times before he understood. Then he suddenly believed a sentence he had once seen online: [It feels like you can win just by lying down if you follow Wen Shuang. This guy has some kind of mysterious magnetic field.]

Jiang Ning flopped back onto the bed. A moment later, he laughed out loud. He really had won while lying down.

One after another, the guests came out of their rooms, all starving. They planned to trade information with Wen Shuang, but there was no need. The production team wouldn't drive things to such extremes. The villagers had already come out, each carrying a basket filled with flour, vegetables, and the like. As long as the guests were willing to get their hands dirty and find what the villagers needed, they would naturally have food to eat.

After Chen Zong figured out the rules, he immediately packed up and left without even sparing Wu Tan beside him a glance. It seemed the two of them weren't getting along very well.

"Ugh, it's so muddy outside." Lin Nuan stood at the door, looking at the muddy road with disgust. Then she shifted her gaze to Wen Shuang. Her eyes were misty and shimmering, overflowing with a watery softness that made her look especially pitiful. Any normal man would have offered to help, but Wen Shuang didn't like women. His radar simply couldn't detect that kind of flirting. After meeting Lin Nuan's gaze for a moment, he blinked innocently and went inside.

Lin Nuan said, "..."

Wang Yuze, on the other hand, fell for it. He smiled at Lin Nuan. "Why don't you come with me?"

Lin Nuan forced out a smile. "Sure."

The sun was out by then, but when Wen Shuang had left, the dampness had been thick with the morning chill, and it had frozen him badly. The moment he came inside, Jiang Ning saw that his lips were pale and the hand holding the bag was completely bloodless.

"Look, we have breakfast." Wen Shuang smiled and shook the bag at Jiang Ning.

Jiang Ning took the things from him and pushed him toward the bathroom. "Forget about that. Hurry, hurry, go take a hot shower!"

Wen Shuang had only brought one set of clothes, and they were somewhat damp. When he came out wrapped in a bathrobe, his clothes still hadn't dried. Jiang Ning, who had never liked sharing these things with others, took out a fairly thick set of casual clothes from the walk-in closet. They still carried a faint laundry detergent scent. He handed them directly to Wen Shuang. "Put these on. Put them on."

Wen Shuang didn't stand on ceremony. "Thanks." After changing, he came back and called Jiang Ning downstairs to make food. Jiang Ning was hopeless in the kitchen—aside from frying eggs and cooking porridge, he couldn't do anything—so he simply watched Wen Shuang work.

Wen Shuang took out the mushrooms he had picked the night before and used the traded flour to make fried mushrooms. He made the cornmeal into palm-sized cakes and left the tomatoes untouched.

It was Jiang Ning's first time seeing fried mushrooms, and one bite was explosively delicious! He was completely won over by Wen Shuang. Leaning against Wen Shuang's shoulder, the two of them looked like childhood friends who had grown up together. They were not only close, but also pleasing to the eye standing together. Whenever Wen Shuang scooped up a spoonful, Jiang Ning grabbed one, blew on it, and popped it into his mouth.

"Be careful. Don't burn yourself," Wen Shuang reminded him.

Several directors were dumbfounded.

"This..." One assistant director couldn't hold back and muttered quietly, "Do we even need to hype up their CP? What if they stop pretending and make it real?"

The director shot him a murderous glare. "Don't talk nonsense!"

Zhu Lian looked expressionless. Take a photo for President Xuan and report their progress? Hilarious. She didn't dare.

Wen Shuang washed the wild vegetables clean and put them away as well. After he and Jiang Ning had eaten their fill, their spirits were restored, and he was once again a happy little quail.

"If you're tired, keep resting," Wen Shuang told Jiang Ning. "I'll go look around some more and see if I can trade for something better."

Jiang Ning said, "I've rested enough! Come on, let's go together!" He felt terribly guilty about getting a free meal and desperately wanted to find a heap of wild vegetables and mushrooms to hand over to Wen Shuang. Oh, no—two free meals. Come to think of it, where had last night's meal come from? Jiang Ning had been so focused on eating that he forgot to ask. He wanted to find out now, but when the camera moved closer, he promptly shut his mouth.

Over there, Chen Zong had also done fairly well and was trading food with the villagers. The moment he got a cucumber, he stuffed it into his mouth without a word.

The villagers were grinning from ear to ear. These mountain goods could normally sell for quite a lot of money, yet these celebrity artists had become cheap labor.

Peng Shanshan could still endure hardship, but Lin Nuan was completely done. Holding a parasol, she sat by the roadside and could only hope her ordinary participant would bring back something good. The weather wasn't hot, but she had rolled her pants up to her knees, exposing her fair calves. Her bare feet stepped onto the black mud, making them look even more delicate. It had to be said that her natural assets were quite impressive.

When she saw Jiang Ning and Wen Shuang, Lin Nuan's eyes lit up.

Wen Shuang spoke first. "It's cold. Don't leave your feet exposed like that." Before Lin Nuan could say anything, he added earnestly, "You'll get menstrual cramps."

The smile on Lin Nuan's face froze. She stared at Wen Shuang seriously. "Really?" Her menstrual cramps were indeed severe. She had always said she would go to the hospital, but her manager wouldn't allow it and kept her schedule packed to the brim.

"That's common knowledge." Wen Shuang bent down, picked up the shoes Lin Nuan had left on the small slope, and handed them to her. "Put them on."

Lin Nuan took them woodenly. But why? Wen Shuang looked so clear-eyed and gentle, yet somehow he made her feel a few traces of a father's loving care?!