Zheng Xing was reporting to Su Li. "Boss, I found out that the two newcomers have already moved into the Manor. Song You is in Meng Chichi's old room, and she's been behaving herself so far.
"But that Liu Jinjian fellow was supposed to stay in Zhao Yuhao's room, and he didn't like it. He asked the staff to give him a bigger room."
"Oh? Where did he move to?"
"The first room on the right, where the headless ghost woman's body is."
Su Li scoffed. "With that attitude, he doesn't seem like the well-behaved sort either."
"Exactly, Boss. I found out that he's incredibly arrogant. He's taken veiled digs at the entertainment industry, yet he's been reaping its benefits all along. Having the headless ghost woman scare someone like him would be doing him a favor." Zheng Xing's eyes were full of scorn.
Su Li was unconcerned. "What he's like is none of my business, as long as he doesn't go out of his way to provoke me."
The next day, the livestream began.
All the guests had arrived in the first-floor lobby.
Su Li also got a look at the two new guests.
Song You belonged to the same talent agency as Meng Chichi. While Meng Chichi cultivated an innocent image, Song You went for the girl-next-door little sister image and was known as the nation's little sister. She was cute, and although she wasn't as popular as Meng Chichi, she had played quite a few beloved roles.
Liu Jinjian was an ordinary-looking middle-aged man with a rather arrogant gaze. He was famous for writing melancholy youth fiction and literary novels, and many of his works had been adapted into television dramas or films. Recently, he had also been posting short supernatural stories on Feibo.
Song You greeted them first. "Hello, everyone. I'm Song You. I look forward to learning from you all." She seemed very humble.
Liu Jinjian, however, didn't even look them in the eye. With his chin raised, he said perfunctorily, "I'm the writer Liu Jinjian."
The guests' microphones hadn't been turned on yet. Standing beside Su Li, Chen Zhuo whispered to him, "Su, be careful around that Liu Jinjian guy. He doesn't look like a decent person."
Su Li chuckled. "All right."
Seeing their interactions, the viewers flooded the screen with comments:
[What are Zhuo Bao and Li Bao whispering about?!]
[What is it that we esteemed members aren't allowed to hear?!]
[Li Bao looks so good when he smiles, aaaah!]
[They're both so cute!!]
[I'm shipping it, I'm shipping it!]
An Hui and Cheng Sirong also came over to talk to Su Li and Chen Zhuo. When the topic turned to the new guests, both of them brought up Liu Jinjian.
Cheng Sirong looked disdainful. "That guy-remember what I posted in the group yesterday? He insisted that the staff change his room because he didn't want one someone else had stayed in. Said it was dirty. I was thinking, how many people have stayed in hotel rooms? Why doesn't he say that then?"
An Hui also spoke quietly. "I'd only heard that he looked down on people in the entertainment industry. Now it seems the rumors were true."
"Seriously? Hasn't he just written a few books? Didn't he only become famous after someone bought the rights and adapted them? This industry gave him his fame and fortune, and now he turns around and looks down on it?" Chen Zhuo was even more disgusted.
"What's he got to be so arrogant about? Look at the way he looks at us. I really want to slap him. I hope his room is haunted!" Only now did they realize that Cheng Sirong had a fiery temper.
Su Li nearly laughed aloud at her words and kept nodding in agreement with everyone.
He felt like they were a four-person gossip team.
They had all added one another on WeChat and created a group chat on the day of Meng Chichi's incident. Cheng Sirong had named it the Melon-Eating Squad.
For the first time, Su Li felt that having friends was quite interesting.
Meanwhile, the viewers were discussing them even more:
[What are you four whispering about now? Let me hear!]
[They're like a little group of four. So cute!]
[These four actually get along this well?]
[Best Actor An and Singing Queen Cheng are so nice to Li Bao.]
[What magic does Su Li have? An Hui, Cheng Sirong, and Chen Zhuo are all so nice to him.]
[Li Bao: hamster nodding.gif]
Seeing the four of them, Song You wanted to join the conversation too, but she felt she wouldn't fit in and could only give up.
She knew she had only gotten this guest spot because of Meng Chichi's downfall, so she treasured the opportunity and felt that all she needed to do was behave herself.
Liu Jinjian, on the other hand, disdained them. If he hadn't needed to promote his new book, he would never have filmed a show with these people. He was a man of letters.
Just then, everyone saw Butler Li, who had given them their task two days earlier, walking toward them. They perked up. It was starting.
He bowed slightly to the guests. "Hello, everyone. We meet again. Thank you for helping me find the key fragments last time. We can finally enter the young master's toy room."
"Before that, please come to the banquet hall on the third floor. I've prepared plenty of delicious food there to thank you."
Hearing this, the guests realized they wouldn't be going to the toy room first.
They followed Butler Li to the third-floor banquet hall.
The doors opened, revealing the banquet hall to everyone.
There were cameras all around and plenty of strange red decorations. The hall contained about ten round tables, with a fairly large area resembling a stage at the front.
Most frightening of all were the many mannequins placed throughout the banquet hall. Some stood and others sat, their poses and expressions all different. Their faces were incredibly lifelike, and some even had bloodstains on them, sending a chill through anyone who looked at them.
[What a huge banquet hall.]
[These mannequins are terrifying.]
[Oh my god, the production team is downright cruel. Wouldn't you be scared to death if you walked in with the lights off?]
[These props look way too real.]
The butler led everyone to a round table in the middle and gestured toward it. "Please take your seats." Then he left the banquet hall.
There were six glasses of red wine on the round table, along with little cakes, bread, steaks, grilled sausages, and other food, all giving off a delicious aroma.
The guests sat in their respective seats, unsure what to do, and remained still for a long time.
Suddenly, they heard a noise. It turned out that Su Li was already cutting the steak in front of him.
Everyone noticed that his movements were fluid, elegant, and extremely pleasing to watch, like those of a medieval nobleman.
As he cut into the beef, the inside looked raw. It was probably rare. Su Li put a piece into his mouth, narrowed his eyes, and told the others, "This steak tastes good. It's cooked nice and tender, too."
Everyone was speechless. Could he really eat that?
[As someone who watched his livestream two days ago, this looks very familiar.]
[He can still eat with all these creepy mannequins around?]
[That steak looks so raw. Is it rare? I really wouldn't dare eat it in a place like this.]
[I've figured it out. Wherever Li Bao goes, eating comes first.]
[Su Li looks so good cutting his steak!]
[Stop hyping him up. Can't anyone with hands do that?]
[You above, you really couldn't. You'd probably look like a caveman sawing through meat.]
[This is making me hungry, sob sob. How did this suddenly turn into an eating stream?]
Liu Jinjian frowned, disgust in his eyes. He thought Su Li was simply playing to the crowd for attention. How could he still be thinking about food at a time like this?
His tone was arrogant. "Now isn't the time to eat. We should think about what we're supposed to do and what the production team wants us to obtain here."
"But... I thought the production team prepared all this for us to eat?" Su Li's gaze was innocent.
Cheng Sirong agreed. "Little Su is right. Let's eat first. If there's a task, it'll trigger in a bit." As she spoke, she picked up a cake.
An Hui and Chen Zhuo also started eating, and Chen Zhuo even got Su Li a little cake. Song You looked around and decided it would be better to follow the crowd.
They left the steaks untouched, though. The mannequins around them were too bloody. The guests couldn't stomach rare steak while looking at them.
It had to be said that all the food the production team had prepared was excellent, especially the steak.
Liu Jinjian still hadn't touched anything, his expression ugly.
This Su Li embarrassed me right off the bat, and everyone else agreed with him. People in this industry really are all brainless!
I'm a man of letters, an educated man. I certainly won't stoop to their level!
Before you continue