The bus stopped before it even reached the village entrance.
Everyone got off, looking bewildered.
"What's going on? Don't tell me we have to walk the rest of the way ourselves?" Just imagining that outcome made Xia Yu feel a little overwhelmed. As someone with a severe case of laziness, asking him to exercise was like asking for his life!
"Probably not." There was a hint of uncertainty in Hou Yunqi's voice.
Zhong Ran dragged Leng Yifan off the bus.
Once Leng Yifan got off and saw the surroundings, out in the middle of nowhere, he regretted accepting this variety show a little.
Qin Huai pulled the big oaf behind him off the bus. "Just as well. You haven't met your exercise quota for today."
Gu Yunlan clung to the bus door with both hands, reluctance written all over his face.
Seeing that the front door was blocked, Xu Wang and Pei Yanchuan quietly got off through the back door.
"Everyone, please open your suitcases and voluntarily hand over your food and cash." The director approached with a sign in his hands and a beaming smile.
"Director, surely there's no need for that." Yun Xi's expression was strained. He had bought plenty of supplementary supplies to show off his excellent cooking skills on the variety show.
"Don't worry, everyone. The production team won't take them for nothing. We'll weigh the food in your suitcases, and every 100 grams will earn you 100 yuan. That money can serve as your starting funds, and during the travel filming later on, you can exchange it with the production team for supplies or food whenever you need them." The director pulled an envelope out of his pocket. Inside were thirty banknotes. Apparently, he didn't think the guests could have brought much.
[The director is so mean. I love it.]
[Did baby Yun Xi bring the most? Why was he the first to object? (Covers mouth and snickers)]
[Calling it now: I think Best Actor Gu brought the most.]
[Then I'm betting on Xia Yu's team.]
[I want to guess President Pei's team, but I also feel like President Pei is so rich he probably wouldn't bring cash. Aren't cards and checks a little too light?]
[Your words just dealt a heavy blow to my heart.]
[Hahahahaha!]
Xu Wang's eyes lit up at the director's words!
Pei Yanchuan only felt the grip on his arm tighten. Thinking of what was in their suitcase, he could guess that Xu Wang must look very happy right now.
At the director's urging, everyone began opening their suitcases and taking out the things the production team wanted to confiscate.
Besides Hou Yunqi, Xia Yu had two great loves in life: reading novels and eating snacks. Having one of them suddenly taken away really upset him.
Xia Yu held a bag of chips in his left hand and a packet of cookies in his right, with a large jelly cup clamped in his mouth, stubbornly refusing to let go.
As Xia Yu's alpha, Hou Yunqi could only stand beside him and coax him helplessly.
In the end, their food weighed 390 grams, and the director generously rounded it up to 400 yuan.
Leng Yifan and Zhong Ran were a little more normal. After all, they were going for the image of a genuinely loving wealthy couple, so their suitcase was filled with things that could demonstrate that, such as foot-soak sachets, a massage gun, books, and so on.
The boxes and bags on top even had thoughtfully attached sticky notes, with times written on them and a few hearts drawn beside them.
[Wow! Ranran is so attentive!]
[Not even a single snack.]
[Now I'm starting to believe they're truly in love.]
[Young Master Leng and Ranran, together forever!]
[But doesn't that mean Ranran's team won't have any starting funds?]
The director hadn't expected their suitcase to contain absolutely no food either.
He could only give them 100 yuan as a token gesture.
Gu Yunlan certainly lived up to Qin Huai calling him a foodie. Qin Huai had been worrying about their starting funds, but when he opened the suitcase, he realized he had still underestimated the man beside him.
Numbly, Qin Huai took an extra-large bag of spicy strips, a can of lemon soda, a braised egg, a tub of instant noodles, and a ham sausage out of the suitcase.
With every item Qin Huai took out, Gu Yunlan's heart ached.
"Honey, honey, leave me one." Gu Yunlan lunged forward and hugged his husband's waist, trying to stir up one last shred of tenderness toward him.
Qin Huai stared down at the alpha around his waist with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Don't make me smack you!"
Gu Yunlan shuddered at his husband's expression and immediately straightened up.
Mercilessly, Qin Huai placed everything in his hands on the production team's scale.
It weighed a full jin.
One jin was 500 grams, so the director gave them 500 yuan.
Holding the 500 yuan, Qin Huai turned toward Gu Yunlan with a devilish smile. "There. With all this money, I'll buy you as many cucumbers as you want from now on."
Gu Yunlan wanted to cry but had no tears. He had gone to so much trouble to hide all of that.
Yun Xi had quite a lot more.
Garlic sauce, chili sauce, hot pot base, peanut butter...
The pile of bottles and jars really weighed down the scale.
The director's smiling mask almost slipped when he saw them.
When he finally saw that their combined weight came to nearly three jin, his mask shattered after all.
Gritting his teeth, the director pulled out thirteen banknotes and handed them to Yun Xi.
Yun Xi had still been feeling gloomy, but then he noticed the assistant standing behind the production team suddenly giving him two thumbs up.
That was their secret signal. If the online comments about him were good, the assistant would give him a thumbs-up.
Two thumbs up now meant that people weren't put off by all the things he had brought.
That thought lifted Yun Xi's spirits considerably, and he accepted the 1,300 yuan from the director with a smile.
Holding the suddenly thinner envelope, the director walked over to Xu Wang.
A mysterious smile appeared on Xu Wang's face.
Pei Yanchuan instantly understood what Xu Wang meant. He opened the suitcase and took out something wrapped very securely that looked like a tennis racket.
The director looked bewildered. "We're not confiscating sporting equipment."
"Director, this isn't sporting equipment. It's a leg of lamb," Xu Wang enthusiastically explained.
"A leg of lamb?" The director's eyes widened, but his expression remained disbelieving.
The other guests gathered around curiously as well.
Seeing that the director didn't believe him, Pei Yanchuan put the item straight into his arms.
Caught off guard, the director doubled over under its weight. He took a deep breath and straightened up.
Pei Yanchuan continued rummaging through the suitcase, then took out another securely wrapped item.
"What's this one?" The director suddenly had a bad feeling.
"A big pork knuckle!" Xu Wang beamed.
At Xu Wang's words, the director looked as though he was questioning his entire existence...
[Oh my god, is this for real?]
[Go, wifey! Go, hubby!]
[Everyone, look! The director's face has gone dark.]
[Of course it has. His wallet's in danger, haha.]
Holding in his frustration, the director placed the items in his arms onto the scale. The moment they landed, even the scale sank a little.
A full eight jin.
Looking at the number on the scale before him, the director silently raised his fingers. Eight jin-didn't that mean 4,000 yuan?
"Director, pay up." Xu Wang smiled at the director, who was on the verge of tears.
The director forcefully pulled the remaining money out of the envelope. There were only 700 yuan left, which meant he had to come up with another 3,300 yuan. What was he supposed to do? Filming had only just begun, and he already felt like quitting.
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