Competitive Meng Feixuan

The production crew had already filmed enough material, so they simply let Xie Ran and the others continue while the restaurant staff began preparing to wrap up.

The senior group and the girl group sisters were like salted fish that had completely lost their dreams. They flopped down in the rest area, sighing one after another.

Jiang Wei waved his hands. "I surrender. This time, I really surrender."

Zhu Chuanjia, the tough guy, shed tears. "President Xie isn't even human! He's way too inhuman!"

Chen Xiaoxuan joined in with a whimper. "If I'd known, we should've eaten well and lived well from the start. What was the point of working so hard to save money?"

Meng Xixi turned her grief directly into appetite. "Tonight, we're ordering the most expensive set meal!"

The production crew: "..."

They really wanted to comfort them, but had absolutely no idea where to begin.

The director was still the experienced one. Seeing this, he came over to encourage them. "Don't give up so quickly. There are still two days left. Even if President Xie's revenue today..."

He paused and turned to ask a staff member, "How much was President Xie's revenue today again?"

The staff member said, "The private booking fee was two thousand dollars, and consumption was four thousand six hundred dollars, for a total of six thousand six hundred dollars."

The director fell silent for a moment, then stubbornly continued to the guests, "You can still hope that President Xie spends recklessly."

He even came up with a plan for them. "Isn't there a mall nearby? Find a way to bring him over there. I refuse to believe he won't buy anything!"

Zhu Chuanjia's mouth twitched as he looked at the director with an indescribable expression. "Director, forget it—"

"We can't forget it. The spirit of our show is to never give up until the very last moment..." Before the director could finish, Xie Ran suddenly walked over and called out to him. A white man stood beside him—it was one of Xia Xi's friends who had spent the evening talking with Xie Ran.

Xie Ran asked, "Director, do you and the producer have time now?"

The director glanced at him and the white man, then asked in confusion, "What is it?"

"This is Pete, a producer from Old West City Television Station," Xie Ran introduced. "He's very interested in our show and would like to discuss whether they can acquire it."

As he spoke, the man named Pete stepped forward, shook hands with the director, and handed him his business card. "Hello. Mr. Xie has given me a detailed introduction to your program. I'm personally very interested and hope we'll have an opportunity to cooperate."

Since they were filming a show here, Xia Xi had specifically invited her friend Pete, an executive at the television station, to come along.

At first, Pete had only intended to casually observe how a Huaxia team worked. Since the production crew was busy, he had not revealed his identity. He simply chatted with Xie Ran casually alongside Xia Xi.

He had assumed Xie Ran was just an ordinary Huaxia celebrity, perhaps with some artistic judgment. But Pete met plenty of major stars in his usual work and was not particularly interested.

Unexpectedly, Xie Ran's performance completely exceeded his expectations. This celebrity was actually extremely skilled at business operations. Over the course of a single meal, Xie Ran completely persuaded him.

After learning what had happened, the director was utterly stunned. He immediately had a staff member fetch the producer, then turned to look at the equally stunned salted-fish guests and solemnly said, "Forget it. You should just admit defeat to President Xie directly."

The salted fish: "..."

Fine, let heaven know that we surrender right now!

Author's note: President Xie was puzzled: ? It seemed I hadn't even made a move today.

The salted fish: President Xie, I don't want to work hard anymore.

Competitive Meng Feixuan

During the final two days of filming for "Somewhere Else with You," the entire show took on an unprecedented atmosphere of harmony and friendship.

The senior group and the girl group sisters had completely given up struggling. It wasn't that they hadn't tried hard enough—their opponent was simply too powerful.

The most outrageous part was that their opponent did not even seem to be trying very hard.

The salted fish hugged each other and wept.

Yet after giving up the competition, the guests found true happiness instead. No longer needing to worry about saving money, they ate and drank as they pleased, tackled tasks full of love and peace, and after the Chinese restaurant closed, went together to the nearby mall to shop and watch movies. They had truly turned the show into a travel program.

The production crew was speechless.

As everyone knew, although their show had always marketed itself as a travel program, its real hook was watching glamorous celebrities endure hardship and tear each other apart.

To that end, they had spared no expense on the grand prize every season, and this season they had even secured Ruiyan's resources.

Usually, the closer they got to the end, the fiercer the competition between guests became. Even teams with no hope of winning would continue to put on an unyielding front for the cameras, if only for their image in the viewers' eyes.

Never before had guests given up so early or so completely.

They had even happily spent all of their funding.

The production crew: The hands holding the cameras trembled slightly.

Even so, no one thought there was anything wrong with what the guests had done. After all, their opponent was President Xie.

How could surrendering to President Xie be called surrendering?

It was called knowing when to yield to the times!

Even the director, who had always loved stirring up trouble, gave up trying to pump the salted-fish guests full of motivational nonsense. Right now, he practically wanted to put Xie Ran on an altar.

Xie Ran had not only persuaded Pete to consider purchasing the rights to "Somewhere Else with You" with just a few words. When the production crew later encountered problems during specific negotiations with Old West City Television Station, Xie Ran also stepped in to resolve them. Moreover, he secured unexpectedly generous terms for the production crew, displaying astonishing skill in business negotiations.

On the final day, the Chinese food promotion task came to an end, and Xie Ran won the final victory without suspense. The production crew did not even need to calculate the final funds, because the other guests had already spent all their money.

When the production crew presented Xie Ran's group with the huge KT board printed with the prize details, Zhu Chuanjia was still providing accompaniment on his clappers from the side: "The wind blows the eggshell away~ Wealth scatters, and people find peace~"