A delicate, flawless face appeared in the livestream, still flushed with sleep. Unfortunately, her stream had so little traffic that no one saw it except the production staff watching the monitors backstage.
Chu Xiyue did not need popularity. If the contract had not required everyone to stream for six hours a day, she would have found a corner to hide in and watch the drama unfold.
She had gotten up rather late. Her phone had already been handed in, and when she glanced at the clock in the hall, it was already four in the afternoon.
In the first-floor hall, Li Fan'er sat in the dining room while Zhao Xizhou sat at the bar. It was as if a galaxy lay between them, and the atmosphere was cold and silent.
Wan Zhen and Xu Wenchong sat in the small garden outside, seemingly chatting about something amusing. Wan Zhen leaned against Xu Wenchong's shoulder, and pink bubbles seemed to fill the air around them.
He Jinyuan sat alone on the sofa reading, his head tilted upward at a fifteen-degree angle to present his most perfect profile to the audience.
Of course, he would have looked even cooler if he had not secretly changed his sitting posture every now and then.
Chu Xiyue slowly went downstairs, sat on the sofa opposite He Jinyuan, picked up a pear from the coffee table, and crunched into it, breaking the silence indoors.
Just then, the Director's voice came through the broadcast above their heads. "Hello, guests. I'm the show's chief director, and I have an announcement to make."
Chu Xiyue perked up her ears.
"There was a problem with the delivery of the production team's boxed meals. Tonight's dinner will be provided by the villagers of Big Well Village. However, before dinner, please form teams of two and help the villagers complete the assigned tasks."
Chu Xiyue was not surprised in the slightest. She had guessed as much when the production team confiscated their phones and would not let them order takeout.
"Now, I'll announce the teams..."
This was a couples' dating variety show, so naturally there was no reason to split up the original partners. Li Fan'er and Zhao Xizhou were placed in one team, Wan Zhen and Xu Wenchong in another, leaving Chu Xiyue and He Jinyuan as the final pair.
Their villa had been built at the edge of a village. A walk of several dozen meters inward brought them into the village.
The group headed into the village together. Perhaps because the road was uneven, Wan Zhen nearly tripped as she passed He Jinyuan, but he swiftly caught her.
"Thank you, Little He," Wan Zhen said with a soft smile.
"It was nothing. You're too polite, Sister Wan." He Jinyuan withdrew his hand and took half a step back, acting every bit the gentleman.
Chu Xiyue was close by, and her gaze fell on the two of them. If she had not known about their private relationship beforehand, she would not have paid them much attention.
Chu Xiyue blinked and asked the system, "I think I just saw Wan Zhen slip something to He Jinyuan. Did I see wrong?"
[No! The moment He Jinyuan caught Wan Zhen, she handed him a little note, asking him to meet her in the small woods nearby at night!]
Chu Xiyue felt that this adulterous pair was far too bold. "The cameras are still filming. Aren't they afraid of being discovered?"
The system shook its head. [You don't understand. What Wan Zhen wants is the thrill of having an affair right under everyone else's noses!]
Ellie's face appeared in Chu Xiyue's mind. "Since they're pursuing excitement, they might as well see it through to the end?"
Chapter 6 #A Tragedy Caused by a Goose#
He Jinyuan clutched the note in his hand, his heart pounding. Using the excuse of tying his shoelaces, he deliberately lagged behind and moved away from the cameras before unfolding the little note in his palm. It read: Meet in the small woods at the east end of the village at nine tonight~
He Jinyuan put away the note and casually returned to the group. His gaze met Wan Zhen's for an instant before he inconspicuously looked away.
Wan Zhen leaned against Xu Wenchong, looking gentle and obedient, while the corners of her lips curled slightly.
They thought their actions were well concealed, but Chu Xiyue, who had been observing from the side, saw everything.
The corner of Chu Xiyue's eye moved between He Jinyuan and Wan Zhen, occasionally glancing at Xu Wenchong. It was as if she could see a glittering green hat on top of his head.
Still, that scumbag who had fooled around with his mistress in his wife's hospital room and enraged her to death did not deserve sympathy. Getting cuckolded by his mistress was his just reward.
He and Wan Zhen had shamelessly flirted in his wife's hospital room for excitement. Now Wan Zhen was seeking excitement by carrying on with He Jinyuan right under his nose. This really was... karma!
Should she tip off Xu Wenchong and let him catch them in bed? It would definitely be lively if the three of them started fighting!
The thought crossed Chu Xiyue's mind, but she quickly dismissed it. A scumbag was not worth it!
The group soon arrived in the village. Their task was to help the villagers pick ripe plums in the mountains. Once they picked the required weight, they could mooch a meal at a villager's home.
The villagers' plum orchard was on the mountain at the east end of the village, around fifty or sixty meters above sea level. It took roughly ten minutes to climb the mountain steps from the foot of the mountain to the plum orchard halfway up.
Ten minutes of mountain paths was nothing to an ordinary person, but for He Jinyuan, who was injured in the rear, it was especially agonizing.
At some point, cold sweat had begun to form on He Jinyuan's forehead. But with the cameras filming, he could only endure the pain and grit his teeth as he kept up with the others.
The group split into three teams and each took bamboo baskets to their assigned areas. Chu Xiyue took a basket and walked a few steps forward, only to feel that it was strangely empty behind her. When she looked back, she found He Jinyuan standing where he was, brows furrowed and his face faintly tense.
The system secretly told Chu Xiyue, [He Jinyuan took too large a step while climbing just now and pulled at his wound. The injury down there, which had not healed yet, split open again! His wound has torn open twice in a single day. Look at all that sweat on his face—it's not from the heat, it's from the pain!]
Chu Xiyue:!
My god, is he really pushing himself this hard?
Chu Xiyue's gaze drifted slightly downward, but she quickly looked away and focused on He Jinyuan's face again, her expression subtly complicated.