A True Masterpiece

It was still the most expensive set meal at the hotel.

Zhu Chuanjia pressed a hand to his chest and consoled himself. "It's fine. Xiao Ran spent another hundred dollars on food. We still have a chance."

Xie Ran glanced up at him. "The hotel manager gave this to me."

Zhu Chuanjia let out a shriek as if someone had stepped on his tail. "Why would he give you such an expensive set meal?"

Xie Ran thought about it. "Maybe because I pay him two hundred dollars a day."

Everyone else: ???

So Xie Ran paid people more than they themselves earned?

Everyone's vision went dark, and they swayed on their feet.

Author's note: Xiao Ran: Thanks for asking.

Mark, righteously: I have no soul.

Everyone else: Earthquake pupils.

A True Masterpiece

Since Somewhere Else with You began airing several seasons ago, this was the first time they had encountered someone like Xie Ran, who could keep making money in the stock market while everyone else was doing tasks.

Especially since Xie Ran had picked the day's biggest-gaining stock for two consecutive days, making everyone suddenly realize that his decision to enter the stock market might not have been reckless after all. He really had the ability.

If he kept doing this every day, what the hell were the others supposed to compete with?

The other two groups of guests finally caught on and immediately lost all fighting spirit, wilting on the spot.

The production team was equally dumbfounded. After running this show for so many years, this was the first time they had discovered such a loophole. But on second thought, it was not really their fault. This kind of move required not only nerve but also skill. Other than Xie Ran, there was no second person in the entertainment industry capable of it.

Since they had not forbidden it from the start, changing the rules now would look targeted. The production team found themselves caught between a rock and a hard place.

This continued until the third day's tasks. The veteran group and the girl-group duo, who had been full of drive over the previous two days, were visibly listless now, practically ready to give up altogether.

By the end of the day, the production team panicked. The budget competition was the core of Somewhere Else with You, and what viewers loved most was watching celebrities use every possible trick to save money.

Xie Ran's move had not only killed all suspense outright, but also shattered the other guests' morale. If they did not take action, they would not be able to keep filming the show.

That evening, after the tasks were completed, the veteran group came in first and won a two-hundred-dollar prize. Xie Ran and Fang Huiwang's group came in second, winning one hundred.

The girl-group duo were young and had been affected the most. Their performance had collapsed today, leaving them in third place with only fifty dollars in prize money.

But the veteran group was not encouraged by this at all, because as soon as the stock market closed, Xie Ran made another three thousand two hundred dollars in profit, far surpassing the previous two days' earnings.

Zhu Chuanjia burst into tears, sprawled across the sofa like

a salted fish,

flopping around as he cried, "I've lost my dreams."

Jiang Wei, an old stock market hand, gazed at Xie Ran with deep emotion. "Brother Ran, once the show is over, point out a few stocks for me. From now on, you're my big brother."

The production team was covered in black lines. Was it appropriate for such a senior veteran to call a junior his big brother?

Sure enough, Xie Ran said, "That's not appropriate."

Production team: At least the junior knows his place.

Xie Ran continued, "Call me President Xie."

Production team: "...?"

Jiang Wei immediately went along with it. "All right, President Xie."

The girl-group duo followed suit. "President Xie, please take us under your wing too."

Great. Even the entertainment industry's basic seniority hierarchy had gone completely off the rails.

The production team finally could not sit still any longer. The chief director had no choice but to pull Xie Ran's group aside for a private discussion and ask Xie Ran not to keep making money through the stock market.

"...I'm sure you can understand this situation, right?" The director appealed to both emotion and reason, then looked at Xie Ran eagerly.

Snowball Satellite TV had always been dominant, especially with a flagship variety show like Somewhere Else with You. Countless celebrities would lower their standards just for a chance to appear on it, and they generally cooperated with the production team's requests whenever possible.

But Xie Ran was clearly not one of them.

Xie Ran maintained his usual CEO-like posture, one arm propped on the sofa armrest as he lightly supported the side of his face. He merely looked at the director with an indifferent expression and said nothing.

Yet that seemingly unconcerned attitude made the director involuntarily feel as though Xie Ran were looking down on him from above.

It was not the director's first negotiation, but it was the first time he had felt such an indescribable pressure.

Xie Ran had obviously displayed no forcefulness at all. He had not even spoken.

Time passed bit by bit, but Xie Ran remained silent, without the slightest change in expression.

Finally, just as the director's psychological defenses were about to collapse, Xie Ran suddenly said, "This violates the spirit of the contract."

The moment he spoke, the taut string in the director's heart finally loosened. The director hurriedly said, "I understand, I understand. As compensation, we can give you an additional three days of Snowball TV launch-screen ad placement."

Only after the words left his mouth did the director suddenly come to his senses. Why had he revealed his bottom line so quickly?!

Snowball TV was among the top video platforms in terms of traffic, and launch-screen advertisements were extremely valuable.

His original plan had been to reason with Xie Ran first, then, after persuading him, offer one day of launch-screen advertising as compensation. That would solve the problem while also earning Xie Ran's goodwill.

Three days of launch-screen ads had been the absolute bottom line, reserved for a last resort.

Who could have expected Xie Ran not to follow his line of thinking at all? With one moment of tension, one moment of release, and just a single sentence, he had made the director hand over his final offer.

Only then did Xie Ran unhurriedly sit upright, his expression still calm and unruffled. "Fine."

The director wanted to cry, but the words had already been spoken. There was no taking them back.

Fang Huiwang, who had sat beside them all this time without getting a word in, was ecstatic. Ever since discovering last night that Xie Ran could keep making money in the stock market, all his frustration and anger from the previous two days had vanished.

He realized that with Xie Ran's extraordinary profits, Ruiyan's resources were already within reach.

The only problem was that Xie Ran had been far too eye-catching these past few days, leaving Fang Huiwang looking somewhat miserable. Fortunately, he and his studio had prepared for this long ago. They could stage a comeback through the later tasks.