"Xueqing."
Zhao Tiantian spotted Tang Xueqing and ran over to give her a big hug.
"I missed you so much! It's been a while since I last saw you."
Tang Xueqing pushed her away with some distaste, though she kept it off her face.
"It's been ages. Have you been all right lately? I was really worried about you."
"I'm fine. What could possibly be wrong?"
[A trashy woman and a fake innocent. A perfect match. Stay together forever.]
A young, slightly chubby man walked over with a task card in his hand.
"Everyone, gather around. The livestream has already started."
Why was this Director different from the previous one?
Zhao Tiantian discreetly sized up the new Director. Why wasn't he the one she had slept with before?
Had they replaced him?
Noticing that this one was younger and had a pretty good build, she gave him a seductive look.
The Director's scalp prickled under her gaze.
Had this woman figured something out? But his act had been so convincing. Surely not...
"For this livestream, you'll need to live on the island for a week. During that week, the Production Team won't provide any food or accommodation."
The Fake Director put away the task card and looked nervously at everyone. "Is that clear?"
Zhao Shen immediately objected.
"Nobody told us this was deserted-island survival before we came. We didn't bring anything."
"Exactly. We only brought basic toiletries. We don't even have tents."
Zhao Tiantian chimed in.
Fang Cheng had already fallen in love with the little island. Who cared what kind of livestream it was?
Si Wuyu said nothing. His expression remained calm, but he was thinking about what Tang Shiba had said.
Tang Xueqing was unhappy too. "How are we supposed to last a week? There's no food and nowhere to stay. Who knows whether there are wild animals on this island?"
"Exactly!" Fang Cheng threw in. When Tang Xueqing looked over, he smiled at her, revealing a little canine tooth.
Tang Xueqing shyly turned away, not daring to look at him.
[Fang Cheng's such an innocent guy. He isn't going to become Tang Xueqing's lapdog, is he?]
[He's reached this age without ever dating anyone? Aww, he's still an innocent little puppy.]
[Last time he found a girlfriend, she took him to a hotel room. He said he was still little. Talk about a communication gap—she thought he meant his dick and ran straight off.]
Si Wuyu glanced at his younger cousin. With his eyes darting everywhere, he really did look like a dog.
A dog who boasted about having lots of girlfriends, at that.
So he was just a clueless rookie after all.
"That's how the Production Team arranged it. You signed contracts. If you don't want to film, pay the penalty and leave right away."
The Fake Director almost let his vicious side show. If he hadn't been holding himself back so hard, he would have started swearing.
Damn it, wouldn't it be great if they just paid the penalties? Why bother with a livestream? What the hell was the boss thinking?
The penalty was steep, so naturally no one was willing to pay. They could only swallow their anger and settle the score after filming ended.
Everyone stared at the silent little island, feeling lost.
Only after the Fake Director left did the livestream connect.
People gradually discovered the stream and dropped in.
[Am I in the wrong place? Is this A Loving Family? Why is the camera quality so bad?]
[What kind of livestream is this? This amateur camera work is fucking awful. Is the Production Team broke?]
[Can you switch to a better camera? Watching this is giving me OCD.]
After seeing the comments in the livestream, the camera operators fiddled around for ages before finally fixing the image quality and camera settings.
Doing this as amateurs was seriously difficult.
With no other choice, the group could only search the island for any inhabited homes.
Forget inhabited homes—they were the only highly intelligent creatures on the island.
When they saw the tents the Production Team had set up, everyone lost their cool.
They had to sleep out in the open, while the Production Team had both food and shelter.
This was outright bullying.
They were even eating instant noodles right in front of them. That had to be deliberate.
Everyone rummaged through their suitcases but found nothing useful.
Tang Shiba also stared silently at her bag.
The variety shows she had filmed before always provided food. Even wilderness survival shows supplied provisions.
This was the first time she had encountered anything like this.
Her bag held only basic medical supplies for emergency treatment in case she got injured during filming.
Other than that, she had only toiletries and two changes of clothes.
Tang Xueqing came over too. Her eyes lit up when she saw the medical supplies.
"Shiba, carrying that bag must be inconvenient. Put it in my suitcase. You can take it out when you need it."
"No, thanks. It's safer if I carry it myself."
These were the only things that could save a life. She couldn't let someone take them.
When Tang Shiba refused, Tang Xueqing still wouldn't give up.
"There's nothing on this island. If someone gets hurt, those supplies could save their life. Put them in my suitcase. It has a combination lock."
Tang Shiba stood up and walked away, ignoring her.
Tang Xueqing gritted her teeth as she watched her leave. She had to get her hands on those medical supplies.
From morning until noon, none of them had eaten anything. Some had had breakfast, but even they were hungry now.
Zhao Shen went to ask the Production Team for food and was completely ignored. He could only walk away cursing.
"What kind of shitty variety show is this? Are they trying to starve us to death here?"
Zhao Shen stopped pretending and showed his true colors, prompting a flood of abuse in the livestream chat.
Zhao Tiantian was starving too. She glanced at the Production Team's tents, got up, and walked over.
An entire hour passed before she came back out.
When she emerged, however, she was positively glowing. She gave Tang Shiba a smug look, then quietly approached Zhao Shen and handed him something.
Zhao Shen looked down and saw crunchy instant noodles and bread. He hurriedly excused himself to use the bathroom, then hid away to eat them in secret.
[Zhao Tiantian just had a little sandwich session with that Fake Director and fake assistant director. This woman really isn't picky. She'll take anything. Those two poor directors.]
Why poor? The Film Emperor listened intently.
[Because Zhao Tiantian has Syphilis! Hahaha.]
Si Wuyu was speechless...
Zhao Tiantian and Zhao Shen suddenly stopped complaining about being hungry and hovered around Tang Xueqing instead. They did whatever she told them to do, making Fang Cheng a little envious.
"Come on. Let's find something to eat." Si Wuyu dragged Fang Cheng away, intending to find some seafood to grill.
He didn't want Fang Cheng spending time with that Zhao Tiantian woman. If he caught something, his aunt would start making snide remarks again.
Seeing Tang Shiba gathering a branch, he didn't approach her. He merely glanced her way before leaving.
With her branch in hand, Tang Shiba headed to the shore too.
She found a thin stone and used it to sharpen one end of the branch, then stood in a shallow pool, ready to spear some fish to eat.
Before long, she had speared two fish.
She skewered them on the branch and happily walked back.
Si Wuyu and Fang Cheng returned too. They had gathered some Sea Snails and kelp, and found a stone with a hollow in it.
Was he going to use that stone to cook their food?
Who would have thought the Film Emperor had skills like these? No wonder he had made it to the position of Film Emperor.
Tang Shiba went to ask the Production Team for a lighter.
The Director flatly refused.
"Figure it out yourselves. I'm not giving you one."
"You really won't?"
"No!" Even a scammer had a temper, all right? If she kept running her mouth, he would chase her away.
But Tang Shiba grinned. "I'll tell you a secret. Be good and give me the lighter, or else..."
Before you continue