The follow director simply pulled up the footage from today. "See for yourself."
Meng Xixi was close enough to overhear their conversation. Curious, she stood up and leaned over to look. "What did Brother Ran do today? Why can't it be posted on Weibo?"
The five-person work group had all been at the scenic area today, their schedules perfectly clear. Only Xie Ran had been acting alone, and they had no way to contact him without a phone, so no one actually knew what he had done all day.
At Meng Xixi's words, the other guests' eyes immediately lit up, their curiosity thoroughly piqued.
Xie Ran's schedule couldn't be posted on Weibo? Could it be that he hadn't actually been as happy as they had imagined?
A faint, guilty sort of anticipation rose in everyone's hearts. It was not that they wished him ill; they had simply been stung by Xie Ran's earnings earlier. As competitors, they could not help seeking a little psychological balance.
"Let us see too." Zhu Chuanjia joined in teasingly. "I was wondering why Xiao Ran came back so late. Did he go do something bad?"
With a senior taking the lead, the others all crowded around the camera, craning their necks to look.
Normally, this sort of thing was not allowed during filming. The footage was supposed to be kept appropriately confidential from the guests. Yet for some reason, the follow director not only did not stop them, but even voluntarily gave up his spot and eagerly said, "Go ahead, go ahead. But you can only watch a little."
And so, everyone successfully saw Xie Ran's itinerary for the day.
Then the guests once more fell into deathly silence.
The follow director had actually only shown them a few clips, but those clips were enough for them to roughly piece together Xie Ran's activities for the day.
From the footage, Xie Ran appeared to have gotten up early, leisurely eaten breakfast, and then gone for a swim in the hotel's indoor pool.
After exercising, Xie Ran had slowly made his way to the private beach to sunbathe.
Old West City's seascape was exceptionally beautiful. In the footage, the shimmering ocean stretched endlessly into the distance, merging with the blue sky. The crescent-shaped white beach was soft and clean, dotted with carefully maintained artificial greenery and enormous colorful beach umbrellas.
Under the shade of one of those umbrellas, Xie Ran lay on a lounge chair in sunglasses, relaxed and serene, seemingly already asleep. On the small round table beside him sat juice and delicate pastries.
Blue skies, a beach, a model-like young man—the entire scene was as perfect as a travel magazine spread.
Xie Ran had spent the whole morning in such leisure. At noon, he had eaten a lavish lunch at the hotel buffet.
In the afternoon, he finally changed into a somewhat formal shirt paired with a high-quality lightweight trench coat. It was not flashy, yet it naturally gave him an impossible-to-ignore presence.
Just when everyone thought he was finally going to start working, they saw him get into another taxi and calmly head to a famous local art museum in Old West City to see an exhibition by an emerging painter.
Everyone: "..."
On the way, the follow director finally could not help asking, "Xiao Ran, don't you need to check on your stocks?"
Xie Ran rested with his eyes closed. "No."
From then on, the director never said another word.
Only now did the five working stiffs belatedly understand why the director had been so eager to show them Xie Ran's itinerary.
He had clearly been brutally provoked by Xie Ran and was deliberately taking revenge on society!
They also finally understood why the director had said it was unsuitable for Weibo. The gap between Xie Ran's quality of life and theirs was so enormous that if it were posted, the other five people's fans would curse them to death.
"Don't watch anymore, don't watch anymore! Take it away!" Jiang Wei choked out as he returned to his seat.
Zhu Chuanjia clutched his chest as well. "I regret it now. I really regret it. Why did my curiosity have to be so strong?"
It was not that Xie Ran was less happy than they had imagined!
Xie Ran's happiness was beyond anything they could imagine!
Meng Xixi and Chen Xiaoxuan looked at each other, both exhausted and bedraggled, and desperately wanted to hug each other and cry.
After such a blow, no one had the mood to continue the meeting.
Their income had been utterly crushed by Xie Ran, and there was even less need to mention their schedules... Continuing the meeting now would only make themselves feel worse.
"Let's eat first." Jiang Wei painfully stepped up to take charge. "After dinner, we still have the next task."
But they had to pay for their own meals now, so Jiang Wei and Zhu Chuanjia only ordered the cheapest set meals at the hotel.
The girl group sisters were even more ruthless. They were less experienced and valued Ruiyan's advertising resources more. To save money, they directly bought instant noodles from the convenience store and asked the hotel for hot water to soak them.
In such a simple atmosphere, Xie Ran once again seemed utterly out of place.
He ordered the hotel's most expensive set meal, priced at one hundred dollars—half of everyone else's daily wages. The portion was not large, but it was exquisite, displaying an extraordinary price tag.
Everyone: TnT
Suddenly, the food in their hands no longer seemed appealing.
But the one suffering the most was Fang Huiwang.
He and Xie Ran were clearly in the same group, yet their meal standards formed a stark contrast. They looked nothing like the other two groups, whose styles were at least consistent.
And he was not even in a position to complain.
At that moment, Meng Xixi noticed it too. Without thinking much about it, she blurted out, "Honestly, just looking at what Brother Wang and Brother Ran are eating, you really can't tell you two are in the same group."
Fang Huiwang: "..."
Please just shut up!
After dinner, the program recording entered its final segment of the day—choosing rooms.
Starting today, the guests not only had to pay for their own rooms, but also had to gather at the task location on time every morning. The earliest arrivals would receive a certain cash reward, while late arrivals would have money deducted. The production team would not provide transportation either, and the guests had to cover their own travel expenses.
With that, choosing rooms in a way that maximized their benefits became a new subject in itself.
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