Chapter Summaries

After transmigrating into the disgraced actor Xu Su, he learned he owed fifty million and had a variety-show contract he could not afford to break. He accepted the work, rejected his old obsession with Li Weizhou, and left his followers with a scandalous post about his new romantic tastes.

• Xu Su woke in a shabby room and realized he had transmigrated into a book as an obscure actor with fifty million in debt.
• Xu Su answered a call from his manager, Cheng Nan, and remembered the original owner’s disastrous devotion to Li Weizhou and his financial ruin.
• Cheng Nan told Xu Su he had a place on Return to a Simple Life, and Xu Su agreed to appear after learning that breaking the signed contract would cost three million.
• Xu Su checked the hateful comments on Weibo and posted that he had outgrown his hopeless romanticism and was looking for eight tops.

Xu Su resumed his public feud with online haters, then went to film a live lifestyle show after learning the novel had no remaining plot because it had ended badly. At the village, he met Zhuang Luo, whose past role in encouraging the original owner's pursuit of Li Weizhou revealed that Xu Su had been used in the couple's private games.

• Xu Su replied to insulting comments on social media, trading barbs with his critics.
• Cheng Nan ordered Xu Su to report for filming and threatened to end their professional relationship afterward.
• Xu Su realized that the novel had reached its botched ending and that no plot remained.
• At North Suburb Miemeng Village, Xu Su joined the live show Return to a Simple Life and faced hostile comments from viewers.
• Shen Chuanzhu arrived, followed by Zhuang Luo, who greeted Xu Su as if their meeting were a coincidence.
• Xu Su recalled that Zhuang Luo had encouraged the original owner's pursuit of Li Weizhou to provoke jealousy and reassurance from Li Weizhou.

Director Yu Daniu introduced a masked identity-guessing challenge for the guests, and Lu Jing and Li Weizhou each questioned the disguised contestants. Huo Yuchen unexpectedly appeared on the show and declined to ask a question, while the identities behind the masks remained unconfirmed.

• Director Yu Daniu explained that the guests would guess the identities of three masked contestants to earn priority in choosing accommodations.
• Lu Jing arrived, reacted to the eerie masks, and asked whether the figures behind the cloth were human; they truthfully answered yes.
• Li Weizhou greeted viewers and asked what the contestants enjoyed doing, prompting answers about cosplay, slacking off, and growing flowers.
• Huo Yuchen was revealed as the sixth guest, declined to ask a question, and argued that the rules allowed him to transfer his turn.
• Lu Jing used his question to ask whether the contestants were men who liked women, and they answered yes, no, and no.
• Li Weizhou asked what the contestants were best at, and they answered making northeastern soybean paste, slacking off, and pulling weeds.

Xu Su openly challenged Li Weizhou and Zhuang Luo during the live show, then raced to claim a comfortable house at the camp. The chapter ended with several guests moving into their chosen accommodations before Director Yu finished explaining the rules.

• Shen Chuanzhu, Xu Su, and Zhuang Luo removed their masks, revealing their identities and confirming Huo Yuchen had guessed all three correctly.
• Xu Su rebuffed Li Weizhou's complaint with sharp retorts, then joked with Zhuang Luo and Lu Jing as the others reacted to his changed attitude.
• Director Yu redirected the group toward the next stage, and Xu Su refused to hold hands before leading everyone to the camp in Miemeng Village.
• Director Yu showed the guests their accommodation options and began explaining how the rankings determined who could choose first.
• Xu Su, Huo Yuchen, and Shen Chuanzhu each hurried into a preferred room before Director Yu finished speaking, prompting Lu Jing to point out who had disappeared.

Li Weizhou gave Zhuang Luo the thatched hut, but Lu Jing grabbed it first, and the guests began a word-chain game. Xu Su’s crude contributions eliminated Zhuang Luo and sparked a sharp exchange with Li Weizhou, drawing a surge of viewers to the livestream.

• Li Weizhou chose a cave so Zhuang Luo could have the thatched hut, but Lu Jing rushed in and took it.
• Director Yu started a word-chain game, and Xu Su and Huo Yuchen extended a sentence with increasingly insulting words until Zhuang Luo could not continue and was eliminated.
• Zhuang Luo comforted Li Weizhou and praised his cooking, prompting viewers to speculate about their relationship.
• Xu Su joked that Huo Yuchen needed maternity insurance, then called Zhuang Luo a green tea and provoked Li Weizhou by comparing him to a dog.
• Xu Su and Li Weizhou argued, and their exchange rose to the trending searches as the livestream gained viewers.

Xu Su and Huo Yuchen derailed the on-set sentence game, leaving Li Weizhou and Zhuang Luo to prepare dinner after their defeat. While reflecting on how to recover his heart-shaped diamond, Xu Su joked with Lu Jing and Huo Yuchen about wishing he were a monkey instead of carrying fifty million in loans.

• Xu Su and Huo Yuchen turned the sentence game into increasingly absurd insults, while Li Weizhou reluctantly added to their lines.
• Director Yu drew lots to set the next round's order, but Xu Su and Huo Yuchen again derailed the game, leading Li Weizhou and Zhuang Luo to lose and take charge of dinner.
• Xu Su found a quiet spot to think about how to make Li Weizhou return his priceless heart-shaped diamond voluntarily.
• Lu Jing found Xu Su sitting in a tree, and Xu Su said he missed being a monkey because monkeys avoided work, school, marriage, and children.
• Huo Yuchen joined them, and Xu Su remarked that being a monkey would at least spare him fifty million in loans, stunning Lu Jing.

Xu Su reflected on the diamond scandal before joining the guests for a “You Have, I Haven’t” game. The game exposed the contestants’ achievements and odd habits, and Xu Su ended his turn by proudly announcing his fifty-million debt.

• Xu Su cursed the original owner for letting Li Weizhou accept the diamond secretly, then postponed his despair when he heard dinner was ready.
• Huo Yuchen caught Xu Su when he slipped while climbing down from a tree, and Xu Su joked that he had come down to be human.
• Director Yu gathered the guests after dinner and started a game where the first two players to lose all ten fingers would miss breakfast.
• Li Weizhou and Zhuang Luo each named an acting award they had won, making everyone fold a finger.
• Shen Chuanzhu said he had eaten rice for forty years, and Xu Su asked if he could count his great-grandmother’s experience as his own.
• Lu Jing admitted he had drunk floral water and medicated oil, and Xu Su claimed he had also drunk dish soap and shower gel before revealing his turn: he was fifty million in debt.

During a livestreamed game, Huo Yuchen revealed that he had never slept with anyone, and Xu Su loudly wondered if he was impotent. After Xu Su challenged Li Weizhou and offered to serve Huo Yuchen in exchange for money, Huo Yuchen asked what Xu Su would offer for fifty million.

• Huo Yuchen said he had never slept with anyone, and Xu Su asked if he was impotent or had an incurable condition.
• Huo Yuchen warned Xu Su to stop talking, but Xu Su asked him for fifty million instead of sending him to the afterlife.
• Li Weizhou accused Xu Su of shamelessly asking Huo Yuchen for money, and Xu Su threatened to expose Li Weizhou's two-faced behavior.
• Xu Su told Huo Yuchen that dignity should not get in the way of taking money, and Huo Yuchen asked what he would offer in exchange.
• Xu Su knelt before Huo Yuchen and declared himself ready to obey any order in exchange for the money.

During the livestream’s finger game, Xu Su sparred with Zhuang Luo, while Huo Yuchen’s surprising confession and the others’ outrageous statements kept the group entertained. The game continued with everyone losing fingers to increasingly hard-to-beat claims.

• Xu Su questioned Lu Jing about putting down a finger, and Lu Jing explained that he had checked a map repeatedly to find a hotel.
• Zhuang Luo questioned why Xu Su had not put down a finger, and Xu Su snapped back; the online audience argued over who had started the conflict.
• Huo Yuchen said he had never dated anyone, and after Li Weizhou challenged the statement, Huo Yuchen defended it by distinguishing dating from paid sex.
• Xu Su joked that he had knelt and begged the crown prince to spare him fifty million, then Lu Jing claimed he had drunk cat milk and dog milk.
• Shen Chuanzhu said he had eaten salt for forty years, then explained that Yuan Zhenxiang had beaten him in the game by claiming forty-five years.

During the experience game, Xu Su accidentally touched Huo Yuchen’s thigh and improvised increasingly outrageous rhyming excuses. Li Weizhou’s attempt to spare the others failed, leaving only him and Xu Su eligible for breakfast the next morning.

• Zhuang Luo named spending a month in an uninhabited desert, prompting Li Weizhou and him to exchange affectionate looks as viewers shipped them.
• Xu Su, angered by memories of Li Weizhou accepting the original owner’s gifts without returning his feelings, slapped Huo Yuchen’s thigh by mistake.
• Xu Su tried to explain the touch with rhyming blessings, then also caressed Huo Yuchen’s head and lips, leaving the room speechless.
• Li Weizhou chose riding a train as his experience, but everyone except Xu Su folded down a finger because they had never ridden one.
• The game ended with Xu Su and Li Weizhou as the only people who would get breakfast, and everyone returned to their rooms for the night.

Huo Yuchen’s grandfather pressured him to find a partner on the lifestyle show, while Xu Su mocked Li Weizhou’s failed attempt to share breakfast with Zhuang Luo. Xu Su left the dining room after eating most of the food and trading barbs with Li Weizhou.

• Huo Yuchen told Huo Ruhui that the show was not a dating program, but Huo Ruhui insisted he find someone anyway.
• Li Weizhou tried to persuade Director Yu to let him share breakfast with Zhuang Luo, but Director Yu refused.
• Xu Su repeatedly laughed at Li Weizhou’s arguments, then claimed his rigorous training would keep him from laughing.
• Li Weizhou returned to find most of the breakfast gone and accused Xu Su of eating too much.
• Xu Su challenged Li Weizhou’s idea of sharing equally, then left to wait outside.

Xu Su shared stolen custard buns with the other guests, while Zhuang Luo misread his exclusion and Li Weizhou’s lack of food. Director Yu then brought the group to uncultivated land and explained their half-month farming task, which assigned plots by quiz ranking.

• Xu Su offered three custard buns to Shen Chuanzhu, Lu Jing, and Huo Yuchen, and Huo Yuchen ate one after Xu Su stuffed it into his mouth.
• Zhuang Luo assumed Xu Su was jealous of his relationship with Li Weizhou and waited for Li Weizhou to bring him food, but Li Weizhou had none to spare.
• Director Yu gathered the guests and took them to thirty-three mu of uncultivated land.
• Director Yu explained that the guests would work the land for half a month and that a quiz would assign them plots ranging from three to eight mu.

Director Yu explained that the cast would answer twelve general-knowledge questions, with higher scores earning smaller areas of wasteland to work. Xu Su sought Huo Yuchen’s help with the quiz, then argued with Zhuang Luo over his reassurance until Huo Yuchen cut him off.

• Director Yu announced the twelve-question quiz and explained that contestants with higher scores would be assigned less wasteland.
• Xu Su, worried about his poor memory, asked Huo Yuchen for help, and Huo Yuchen agreed.
• Xu Su sat beside Huo Yuchen for the quiz and joked that his confidence was like a cheap product guaranteed to exist but not work.
• Zhuang Luo tried to reassure Xu Su, who challenged him to take eight mu of land if doing more or less was all the same.
• Li Weizhou told Xu Su not to go too far, while Xu Su questioned Zhuang Luo’s intentions.
• Huo Yuchen impatiently interrupted Zhuang Luo as he tried to explain himself.

During a farm-show quiz, Xu Su and Huo Yuchen answered a brainteaser correctly while the other celebrities gave suggestive answers. The chapter ended with Xu Su and Huo Yuchen earning a point as viewers reacted to the contestants’ answers.

• Zhuang Luo fell silent after Huo Yuchen stopped him, while Li Weizhou also quit defending him.
• Viewers argued over Zhuang Luo and Xu Su’s exchange and speculated about why Huo Yuchen had intervened.
• Director Yu began the quiz by asking what got people on top excited and people below worked up.
• Xu Su recalled a bizarre job from his past and wrote down “a concert,” matching Huo Yuchen’s answer.
• Lu Jing, Shen Chuanzhu, Zhuang Luo, and Li Weizhou wrote suggestive answers, shocking the director and viewers.
• Director Yu revealed that “a concert” was correct, giving Xu Su and Huo Yuchen one point.

Xu Su and Huo Yuchen kept scoring well as Director Yu’s quiz continued, while the other guests struggled with the questions. Xu Su helped Lu Jing copy his final answer, and the quiz ended with Xu Su and Lu Jing earning the last point.

• Director Yu asked the guests what married women loved most, and Xu Su and Huo Yuchen answered diamonds while the others gave awkward responses.
• By the eleventh question, Xu Su had 9 points, Huo Yuchen had 10, and Zhuang Luo was panicking over his low score.
• Xu Su signaled Lu Jing to copy his answer to the steak question, and both earned a point alongside Huo Yuchen.
• Zhuang Luo blamed Xu Su for his poor performance as Director Yu read the final question about two mountains.
• Xu Su wrote that two mountains made six, Lu Jing copied him, and Director Yu awarded them each a point.

Xu Su and Huo Yuchen tied for first place in the quiz, while Li Weizhou accused someone of cheating without proof and Xu Su insulted him and Zhuang Luo. After claiming their wasteland plots, Huo Yuchen approached Xu Su, who misread his words and launched into a comic rant about being seduced.

• The quiz results gave Xu Su and Huo Yuchen 11 points each, while Zhuang Luo and Li Weizhou placed near the bottom.
• Li Weizhou accused someone of cheating without evidence, and Xu Su fired back with insults aimed at him and Zhuang Luo.
• Huo Yuchen refused to settle the tie with rock-paper-scissors, saying he was allergic to the number three, so Xu Su received three mu and the others received plots from four to eight mu.
• Xu Su began preparing to work his plot, and Huo Yuchen came over to speak with him.
• When Huo Yuchen said he had wanted Xu Su, Xu Su assumed he meant to pursue him and protested that they had known each other for only a day.

Huo Yuchen’s apparent confession to Xu Su sparked online rumors, while the variety-show cast struggled through a meager lunch. Xu Su and Huo Yuchen then intimidated Director Yu into giving them proper boxed lunches and easing future tasks.

• An elderly man watching the broadcast mistook Huo Yuchen’s request for hoeing lessons as a confession and began preparing betrothal gifts.
• Netizens spread clips and rumors that Huo Yuchen had fallen for Xu Su at first sight.
• Director Yu gave the cast half a steamed bun, a scallion, and chili sauce for lunch, prompting complaints from everyone except Huo Yuchen, who quietly ate.
• Xu Su joked that they could beat up Director Yu to get more food, then went with Huo Yuchen to confront him at the production base.
• Xu Su threatened Director Yu while Huo Yuchen demanded four normal boxed lunches, and Lu Jing hurried over to collect them.
• Xu Su warned Director Yu not to make their future tasks difficult, while the confused director silently cursed them.

Director Yu introduced a points system in which the guests had to earn their own food while completing extra tasks, and Xu Su went to pick apples first. As he worked in the orchard, viewers admired his looks despite his unpopular reputation.

• Zhuang Luo and Li Weizhou regretted missing the boxed lunches, while Director Yu abandoned his plans to get revenge on Xu Su after seeing Huo Yuchen's warning gaze.
• Director Yu gave everyone phones with an app for tracking task points and food prices, and announced they had to earn points to buy food.
• Director Yu assigned the guests to pick apples at the village orchard before six, alongside their ongoing wasteland-clearing work.
• Xu Su chose to pick apples first, while the others planned to till their plots before picking; Huo Yuchen started playing a game instead.
• Xu Su discovered that a jin of apples earned one point while even a steamed bun cost five, then teased the cameraman about the production team's food prices.
• Xu Su began picking apples in the orchard, and viewers praised his appearance while discussing why he was disliked.

Xu Su and Huo Yuchen traded jokes while picking fruit, but Huo Yuchen secretly took the apples Xu Su had collected. When Xu Su noticed Huo Yuchen’s injured hand and questioned why he had concealed it, Xu Su explained that he endured hardship because he had been a beast of burden in a previous life.

• Huo Yuchen watched Xu Su pick fruit, and they exchanged teasing remarks that the viewers interpreted as flirtation.
• Huo Yuchen took apples from Xu Su’s basket, claiming his hand hurt, and Xu Su grabbed his collar and demanded the apples back.
• Huo Yuchen showed Xu Su three small cuts on his palm, and Xu Su asked the cameraman to fetch the first-aid kit.
• Xu Su questioned why Huo Yuchen had only mentioned the injury now, but Huo Yuchen changed the subject and asked why Xu Su was not hurt.
• Xu Su said that the sins of his last life had made him a beast of burden in this one, able to endure any hardship.

Xu Su treated Huo Yuchen’s wounds, then threatened him with enormous shears when he pretended he was still too hurt to work. Huo Yuchen ended up diligently picking apples while Xu Su watched with satisfaction.

• The cameraman tried to get Xu Su to treat Huo Yuchen, and Xu Su eventually disinfected and bandaged Huo Yuchen’s wounds.
• Huo Yuchen answered Xu Su’s question about why he joined the show with “Guess,” and Xu Su gave the same answer back.
• After Xu Su finished bandaging him, Huo Yuchen claimed his hands still hurt and refused to work.
• Xu Su pulled out the enormous shears he had used to pick apples and threatened to give Huo Yuchen acupuncture, frightening Huo Yuchen, the cameraman, and the production staff.
• Huo Yuchen began picking apples diligently while Xu Su watched with satisfaction.