Tang Xueqing did not want Tang Shiba on the same team as Si Wuyu.
What if she fell for Si Wuyu and started pestering him?
Fang Cheng seemed interested in her, though. She could make use of that.
She lowered her head regretfully, looking forlorn. "But my sister has a bad reputation. Teaming up with you would affect you too. Zhao Tiantian and Zhao Shen don't care about those things, so she'd be a good fit for their team."
This was her roundabout way of saying Tang Shiba's reputation stank.
Fang Cheng was tempted and really wanted to agree, but he could only look cautiously at his brother.
"Bro, how about..."
"Oh, someone beat me to it. Looks like I'm out of luck."
Tang Shiba had come over to ask to team up. Seeing that the female lead had beaten her to it, she assumed they had already agreed. She turned to leave, but Si Wuyu stopped her.
"We'll team up with you."
Tang Shiba thought she had misheard. She turned back to confirm. "Are you sure you want to team up with me?"
Si Wuyu nodded. He wanted to hear who, exactly, had swallowed up his Si Family.
He had discovered that he could only hear her thoughts when he was close to her.
He wanted to know who was plotting to swallow up his company.
"Sure."
She smiled at Tang Xueqing, a hint of smugness in her expression. Humiliated, Tang Xueqing ran off crying.
Zhao Tiantian went to comfort her, shooting Tang Shiba another disgusted look.
Great. Tang Xueqing was poisoning the siblings against her again.
Zhao Shen was also looking toward Tang Shiba, his expression dark. Who knew what he was thinking?
Once the teams were settled, the three of them went into the woods to find branches for their tent.
Zhao Tiantian wanted to find the Director, but discovered that none of them were around. All she could do was stamp her foot, looking aggrieved.
"Damn bastard. He had his fun and gave me nothing. Men really are all rotten."
"Tiantian, let's go find stones on the beach first. We need stones to set up the tent."
Zhao Tiantian could only leave reluctantly.
On the beach, a group of people were packing up crabs.
The fake Director urged them from the side, "Hurry up. Time to get on the boat."
The crabs they had caught last night still were not enough to fill the orders. They would send out a batch today, then catch more tonight.
"Boss, all done. After we ship these out, let's buy some Plush Dolls wholesale to sell. We can draw something on them. The fans will definitely buy them."
The boss thought this was a good idea. "Buy some scissors too, and paste their signatures on."
When they sold them, they would claim the signatures were handwritten.
The scammers thought they were so clever...
Meanwhile, Tang Shiba cut plenty of branches with her dagger. Si Wuyu and Fang Cheng had no daggers, so they could only gather dead branches.
None of the three spoke.
Fang Cheng had a problem with Tang Shiba because she was always bullying Tang Xueqing, Zhao Tiantian, and the others.
Si Wuyu was concentrating on listening to her thoughts, so he said nothing either.
Poor little Fang Cheng. He's been spoiled his whole life.
Especially by his mother. She's obsessed with spoiling her son. Whatever he wants, she gives him. When she found out he liked Tang Xueqing, she kept pushing him to spend money winning her over.
Tang Xueqing accepted everything without a shred of guilt, but kept stringing him along without agreeing to date him. She even said, "I'm nice to you because you feel like an older brother to me. Can't you just spoil me like a little sister?"
Only an idiot like Fang Cheng would think persistence could win her heart. And what did he get? He was just one of the fish in the female lead's pond.
And Emperor Si, too. His company is huge, yet all he has on the brain is romance. His relatives can't wait for him to fall in love and neglect the company.
And then...
And then what? Just finish the whole story!
Every time he got some gossip, he only got half of it.
And then his second uncle's family took advantage of his romance to team up with his rivals and nearly destroy his company. Sheesh, wealthy families are so complicated.
As if you aren't from a wealthy family yourself...
Second Uncle?
A complicated look entered Si Wuyu's eyes. That seemingly honest family had turned out to be traitors.
If they had not saved his parents, he would never have let them into the company.
The Si Family really is complicated. That time Si Wuyu's parents nearly died? His second uncle was behind it.
What!
A shadow fell over Si Wuyu's eyes.
It looked like he needed to get to the bottom of certain things.
If that was true, he would not spare his second uncle's family.
Luckily, that psycho Si was ruthless enough to snatch the company back. Otherwise, he'd have ended up begging on the streets.
Haha, Emperor Si is so handsome. What a waste to make him a beggar. He'd be perfect as a Male Model.
Si Wuyu gritted his teeth. So this was what Tang Shiba was really like. She actually wanted him to become a Male Model.
He would remember this.
The three gathered a large pile. Once they thought they had enough, they dragged the branches back.
From a distance, they heard Tang Xueqing's delighted voice.
"I only stumbled across them. I didn't expect to be so lucky."
"Xueqing, you're such a darling. You even found all these crabs while gathering stones."
"Being on your team is an easy win." That was Zhao Shen's voice.
Tang Shiba and Si Wuyu exchanged glances, a bad feeling rising in their hearts.
In the livestream chat
[Say something, darling. Don't be afraid of getting hit. We'll protect you.]
[Tang Shiba is a demon. Look how scared our boys are. They've kept their heads down the whole time.]
[This vicious nobody even has a knife. Someone put her in her place. She thinks she's invincible.]
[A washed-up nobody belongs with trashy men and women. I support their team with both hands.]
[I support it with both feet too.]
[My kid supports it too!]
[My grandson supports it too.]
[Raise your hand if you're all my grandsons +999999]
???
Tang Shiba and Si Wuyu both quickened their pace.
When they saw what Tang Xueqing was holding, they were stunned.
We worked hard all night, and the female lead helped herself to the spoils?
Si Wuyu looked displeased too. With an icy expression, he began digging holes to set up the tent.
Fang Cheng scampered over. "Where did you find these? How are there so many?"
"Haha, someone must have gathered them and forgotten to take them. Maybe the production crew left them there."
The cameraman's face twitched violently.
They would never leave those there. Some idiot must have gathered them last night and forgotten to take them away.
He could only take credit. "Yes, we left them there. You're really lucky."
They had done the hard labor, yet the production crew and Tang Xueqing's trio had taken all the credit. Tang Shiba joined in digging holes, looking utterly defeated.
Tang Xueqing walked over with a bag of crabs, a smug smile in her eyes.
"Sis, you don't seem to have anything, so you can have this bag. One bag is enough for us."
Eat, my ass. You actually have the nerve to give me my own stuff.
She put on a troubled expression. "You really want to give it to me?"
"On one condition."
See? Nothing good ever comes out of her mouth.
"How about switching teams with me? If you agree, this bag is yours."
"Oh, then take it away. I just remembered I don't like crabs."
Fang Cheng took the crabs and gave Tang Shiba a disapproving look. "If you won't eat them, I will."
Then he said to Tang Xueqing expectantly, "Xueqing, I like crabs. Can you give this bag to me?"
Tang Xueqing's smile did not reach her eyes. She glanced at Si Wuyu as he worked, a flicker of admiration passing through her gaze.
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled sweetly. "Of course. If you like them, take them. I don't hold grudges. Even if my sister dislikes me, I won't resent her. I just hope she can get along with me. That would be enough."
"After all, I care about her very much, and I want to help her shake off her reputation as a washed-up nobody."
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