Xie Chen Is a Vaulting Monkey?!

The night had seemed peaceful, but beneath the surface, storms were brewing.

In the blink of an eye, dawn broke, and the morning light spread everywhere.

Golden sunlight blanketed the barren village, captured by the cameras and streamed live, lending it a rustic beauty far removed from the bustle of the city.

Of course,

it might have been more enjoyable and immersive without the early-morning clanging of gongs and drums.

Director Li looked at Xie Chen, who was wielding a small hammer and going all out, and wished he could stuff cotton into his ears.

Finally, before even a minute had passed, he could no longer stand the noise and shouted, "Hey, hey, hey, hey, Xie Chen, stop!"

Xie Chen paused and turned around, blinking innocently in confusion. "What is it, Director Li? Didn't you tell me to wake everyone up?! If I don't complete the task, we don't get food, right?!"

Director Li's features twisted into a rapidly forming meme expression. "I just want to ask you one thing: is there no one left on the entire internet that you care about?!"

He was throwing his image away this completely—

forget becoming wildly popular; he'd never even find a partner!

"Hey, don't say that," Xie Chen said, curling his lips into a dazzling smile. "There really isn't!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he resumed swinging the little hammer and hammering away at the bronze gong.

Li Jingfei was the first to rush out from the first floor. "Who, who, who, who, who is it?! Interrupting my beauty sleep?!"

She wore cartoon pajamas, with her eye mask pushed up into her hair. Irritation was written all over her face, but when she saw that it was Xie Chen, her temper instantly flared. "Are you crazy?! What are you doing this early in the morning?"

"Breakfast, breakfast! Come downstairs for breakfast!" Xie Chen ignored her and continued yelling upstairs.

Li Jingfei was so furious she nearly lost it. "Who wants breakfast? Stop it right now!"

Shouting, she lunged to snatch Xie Chen's gong.

Taking advantage of his height and long legs, he circled the courtyard, while his little hammer never stopped.

By the time the other people who struggled to get up rushed downstairs, they were greeted by a ridiculous sight.

"What is Sister Jingfei doing?" Luo Mingyu was still somewhat dazed.

Li Sifan stared blankly. "Are you blind? She's trying to catch Xie Chen!"

"You're the blind one!" Luo Mingyu snapped back without missing a beat.

Wei Mingqi said urgently, "What are you standing around for? Go chase Xie Chen together! If we don't take that gong away, none of us will get any sleep!"

And so, if one wanted to understand just how irresistible a pillow could be, one only had to look at the scene in the guesthouse's front courtyard.

One person was leaping and darting around with a gong in hand, while several people chased relentlessly behind him. In an instant, the courtyard had become an acrobatic stage, a chaotic uproar of flying chickens and barking dogs.

Standing in front of the cameras, Director Li gritted his teeth and asked, "Who the hell gave that gong to Xie Chen?!"

Viewers who had just entered the livestream were shocked and bewildered, flooding the chat with comments.

[Did I enter the wrong stream? This is Transform, Freaks!, right? Are we sure this isn't an acrobatics or parkour show?! What are these maniacs doing?!]

[Hahahaha, I'll raise my hand and answer! I watched the whole thing. Xie Chen was the first one up and accepted the production team's task. They said that if he woke every guest up, breakfast would be rewarded with lamb soup and pita bread soaked in soup. For food, Xie Chen really risked his life—he went straight to the village chief's house to borrow the gong used to gather villagers!]

[Yes, yes, yes! Then he started hammering it like crazy. Hahaha, damn, with that ear-splitting clang-clang-clang, even a hibernating bear could be woken up by him!]

[I'm dying laughing! No wonder everyone is chasing Xie Chen down to beat him up! And they still can't catch him! Even surrounding him doesn't work! He's seriously way too agile!]

[This variety show has completely rewritten my impression of Xie Chen. I thought he was just a punching bag, a background prop silently enduring everything. But now? Holy shit, isn't he a vaulting monkey?!]

[The only one who would dare act so recklessly on this villain variety show is probably Xie Chen, right?! Look at Director Li's face—it's as black as coal. Hahahahaha, there are so few people who can make him suffer like this!]

Xie Jinran was awakened by the commotion outside and walked to the door with fury written all over his face, Xie Ran following behind him.

The two had barely stopped when they saw the other guests, their faces flushed from exhaustion, standing in place and gasping for breath.

Xie Jinran instantly understood what had happened and decided it was a good time to win people over. He lifted his chin and barked, "Xie Chen, can you stop fooling around?! Everyone was tired after yesterday and is resting. How can you disturb other people like this?"

Xie Chen glanced back, treating Xie Jinran like air as he casually counted heads. Then he walked over to Director Li, who had just lowered his hands from his ears.

"Everyone's here. Bring on the lamb soup!"

Director Li: "..." Can I curse now?!

The assistant gave him a look. "..." The cameras are rolling. You can't!

Once steaming bowls of lamb soup were set on the round table, Xie Chen began reciting his lines clearly and precisely. "Mornings in Bright Village begin with a bowl of lamb soup."

"Whether in winter or summer, nothing wakes the mind and soothes the stomach faster than a bowl of piping-hot lamb soup..."

[Yep, it's got that A Bite of Hua Nation flavor. Xie Chen really knows food!]

[No wonder Xie Chen went through all that trouble to wake everyone up. Just looking at the lamb soup makes me want some. I'm ordering takeout right now!]

"Since you were waking everyone up, couldn't you have used a gentler method? Beating gongs and drums like that is too disruptive, isn't it?" Xie Jinran had just sat down and learned that Xie Chen had been doing a task. He spared no effort in fanning the flames and stirring up the other guests' anger.

"Gentler?" Xie Chen lazily lifted his eyelids. After repeating the word, he turned to Wei Mingqi. "Was the way Xie Ran woke you up gentle?"

Remembering the basin of cold water that had been poured over him, Wei Mingqi immediately got angry. "Gentle my ass!"

Xie Ran looked somewhat awkward upon hearing that. He forced a guilty smile. "Sorry, Brother Mingqi. I was too young and immature. Can you stop being angry with me?"

"What do I have to be angry about? I poured water back on you anyway!" Wei Mingqi curled his lips, clearly unwilling to pay him any attention, and picked up his bowl to start drinking soup.

[What am I supposed to do? I love it when Xie Chen shuts people down! You think waking someone up isn't gentle enough, but pouring water on them is?!]

[I can see it now—The Xie Family is famously, classically double-standard!]

[You're unhappy that someone woke you up? Then get up by yourself if you've got the nerve!]

Seeing his younger brother being wronged, Xie Jinran was extremely displeased, but it was difficult for him to lash out. His relationship with the other guests was already tense, and if he continued making trouble, he would only be helping Xie Chen.

He pursed his lips, considering how to smooth things over for Xie Ran, when an exaggerated cry suddenly came from across the table.

"Holy shit, it's actually this good?!"

Luo Mingyu, who had been wearing a disgusted expression and refusing to take a bite, cried out in surprise.

Li Sifan shot him a glare. "Can you stop making such a fuss? You look like you've never seen the world!"

"Heh." Luo Mingyu took a bite of the pita bread soaked in soup and sneered as he chewed. "You've seen the world, have you? Then have you eaten this? Do you know what's in it?"

Li Sifan was stumped. He had only thought for half a second before someone answered first.

Xie Chen said, "It has sheep intestines, tripe, and lungs in it. Commonly known as mixed lamb offal."

Luo Mingyu: "..."

Li Sifan: "..."

The two exchanged a silent glance, then simultaneously went, "Bleurgh—"