The livestream chat had already exploded.
[Ahhhh! Can't you two just be honest with each other? You're seriously like elementary school kids!]
[He knows Xingxing hurt his back! He can't carry heavy things for too long! He's carrying Xingxing's bamboo basket! Ahhhhh! I'm dying over this ship!]
[What are you two hiding for? Dating isn't something shameful! All this sneaking around just makes me want to snoop even more!]
[Waaah! The Mutual-Dislike CP is the best!]
Song Yunxing hadn't noticed his true intentions at all and charged up to him in a fury.
"Shen Yanci, how dare you trick me!"
Song Yunxing rushed to his side, ready to interrogate him, but Shen Yanci casually handed him the three point vouchers he'd received in exchange.
"We've got thirty points here already. We've earned back what we spent renting the tools."
Song Yunxing's anger was extinguished in an instant. His questions stuck in his throat, leaving him unable to say anything.
After hesitating for a moment, he pulled out a ten-point voucher and a five-point voucher and gave them back to him. With a cold snort, he shouldered his empty bamboo basket and went back to work.
Shen Yanci stuffed the remaining vouchers into the pocket of his rumpled suit and followed unhurriedly behind him, carrying an empty bamboo basket.
The guests spent most of the day picking mandarins. They had all been enthusiastic at first, but gradually, their strength began to give out.
The afternoon sun grew fiercer, its rays scorching, and everyone moved more and more slowly.
"Director, it's already noon. Let us take a break." Lu Ran's hair was disheveled, and she was so exhausted that she plopped down on the ground, no longer caring about her image.
Apart from the two relentless overachievers still picking mandarins, the other guests were all drenched in sweat, resting in the shade of the trees.
The director leisurely rose from his lounge chair, set down the mandarin segment in his hand, and clapped.
Staff members came over carrying two foam boxes and lifted their lids.
One held chilled watermelon, juice, and bottled water; the other held piping-hot boxed lunches and rice balls.
Exhausted after a whole morning of work, the guests gathered around, eager to get some water to quench their thirst.
"Hey, wait!" Director Guo slapped the lid shut and obnoxiously popped his last mandarin segment into his mouth, mumbling, "These all cost points! No points, no food!"
The director pointed at the price list stuck to the front of the boxes-a slice of watermelon or a bottle of juice cost ten points, a bottle of water five points, a boxed lunch fifteen points, and a rice ball ten points.
All the guests: ... (glaring fiercely at the director)
[Director Guo, you're such a bastard!]
[I've never seen such an obnoxious chief director! Isn't he afraid the guests will revolt?]
[These prices are just wonderful. You only have to pick fruit for an hour to afford one boxed lunch.]
[Director Guo, stop messing around. I'm worried for your life!]
The director remained utterly shameless. He had warned them in advance that guests weren't allowed to bring snacks or drinks to the shoot, so none of them should have anything to eat.
Everyone had worked hard all morning. Helpless as they felt, they could only buy something to tide them over.
Lu Yiyi hid in the shade and pushed Luo An out to buy food.
She was exhausted. She had never imagined the show would be filmed like this!
To look perfect on camera, she hadn't changed her clothes. With her black hair tied in a half ponytail, she had strolled leisurely beside Luo An, helping pick a few mandarins along the way.
But as time passed and the weather grew hotter, her hair stuck to her back, and sweat soaked through the back of her little camisole. There was nothing beautiful about her appearance anymore!
The exposed skin on her back stung faintly. She might have gotten sunburned.
She instinctively glanced at the camera and realized some of her makeup had worn off!
Lu Yiyi paced irritably, desperately wanting to stop the livestream and go touch up her makeup. But since none of the other guests had said anything, she couldn't very well be the first to bring it up.
Luo An came running back with a boxed lunch, a bottle of water, and a rice ball. Handing her the lunch and water, he said with a bright smile, "Here, big sis. I'll just have the rice ball."
Lu Yiyi wasn't in the mood to play along at all. She took the water and lunch expressionlessly, radiating gloom.
Seeing this, Luo An immediately set down the rice ball and fussed over her.
Lu Yiyi managed a couple of perfunctory replies, but she failed to keep her expression under control. Even through their screens, the viewers could feel her irritation.
[The director is seriously heartless. Turning a dating show into this-the guests are suffering so much!]
[Can't you see what he's doing? He's testing whether they really have feelings for each other. Hardship is what reveals a couple's true feelings.]
[Lu Yiyi seems so spoiled. The other female guests complain about being tired, but they don't scowl at their partners.]
[It's perfectly normal for Yiyi to be unhappy when they're working this hard, okay?]
[Is the commenter above Yiyi's maid? How much is she getting paid for this show, yet she can't endure even this little bit of hardship?]
[Meanwhile, the two with the biggest fan bases are still hopelessly addicted to picking mandarins!]
The two top stars exchanged another batch of mandarins and headed over with their empty bamboo baskets on their backs.
The livestream camera panned toward them, bringing two of the entertainment industry's finest faces into view. For a moment, even the barrage of comments thinned.
Backlit by the sun, the contours of their features seemed almost unreal. Even their indistinct silhouettes were breathtaking.
As they drew closer, Shen Yanci's features gradually came into focus: cool, stern eyes and brows, a high nose bridge, and thin, deep-red lips. Even more eye-catching was his composed air of noble, aloof elegance.
Even carrying a bamboo basket, he looked like a male model walking the runway.
Yet the young man behind him was every bit as striking. Wisps of silver hair brushed his full forehead, and his beautiful, peach-blossom eyes shimmered. Every shifting glance held an indescribable allure and seductive charm.
His naturally vivid beauty, innocent, clear gaze, and face without a trace of makeup were enough to make others feel inadequate just standing beside him.
The scorching weather did nothing to diminish either man's beauty. Their perfectly judged dishevelment only added to it.
Song Yunxing couldn't care less about how he looked on camera. The moment he spotted the two foam boxes, his eyes lit up, and he raced over to Director Guo.
[My gorgeous, food-loving husband Xingxing!]
[Seriously! Shen Yanci made the global top twenty most beautiful faces!]
[Our Xingxing's beauty made him famous far beyond his fandom. He's a born mermaid beauty known everywhere!]
[So this is what top-star beauty looks like! It's nothing special, really. (Wipes drool)]
Shen Yanci lazily lifted his eyelids and glanced at Song Yunxing's retreating figure.
He wore only a thin, long-sleeved sweatshirt, and fine beads of sweat covered his neck.
One corner of the gland patch at the back of his neck had curled up, and his fair nape was bright red.
Shen Yanci's brow twitched slightly, and he strode forward.
The sight of the price list brought Song Yunxing back to his senses.
After agonizing for ages, he chose stinginess over indulgence and took only a bottle of water.
Song Yunxing twisted off the cap and gulped down some water, then casually plucked a mandarin from a tree and peeled it.
He felt safer keeping his money in his own hands. This director wasn't easy to deal with.
Off to one side, Shen Yanci was saying something to Director Guo. The director nodded, then picked up his megaphone and announced, "All guests, take a short break. Head back to the temporary makeup room to touch up your makeup and put on some sunscreen so you don't get sunburned."
Before you continue