In the end, Jiang Mingxi finished his instant noodles while sitting on the director's suitcase.
It was the only meal he had eaten all day.
Zhao Jiayuan drank the last mouthful of noodle soup, turned to Jiang Mingxi, and said, "I feel like I haven't eaten anything. How about another round of auctions?"
The director's eyelid immediately twitched, his eyes filling with fighting spirit.
[Hahahaha, the director's scared to death.]
[This Survival Challenge is pretty different from all the ones I've watched. On other shows, the guests work hard to find food and stuff.]
[It's scripted, right? How could they really eat just one bowl of instant noodles all day? These are celebrities. They definitely ate off camera. The instant noodles might just be staged.]
[Can't speak for other shows, but this one definitely isn't scripted. Would any script dare have Jiang Mingxi play Jiang Ke's recording like that? And Song Lan kicked Jiang Ke to the ground? Hahahahaha!]
"Song Lan!"
As they were talking, the people the county had arranged to take their tourism promotional photos arrived.
A car stopped, and a refined-looking man in dress pants and a shirt stepped out.
He called out to Song Lan.
Jiang Mingxi was drinking his noodle soup. At the sound, his eyes darted up.
"It really is you!" The man looked to be in his twenties and was quite handsome. Smiling broadly, he came through the gate and walked straight toward Song Lan. "I'm here on a shoot. I heard you were filming a show here, so I dropped by to see you."
Song Lan looked at the newcomer with some surprise.
The director hurried over to greet him.
[Who's this? He seems pretty close to Song Lan?]
[No idea, but he's so handsome.]
The person from the county shook hands with the director and said with a smile, "Hello, Director Lu sent us to take the tourism promotional photos here. This is..."
He was just about to introduce the person beside him.
The man beside him cut him off, smiling at Song Lan. "Aren't you going to introduce me?"
Jiang Mingxi's expression instantly shifted.
Huh?
Song Lan casually set his noodle cup on the table beside him, then stood and stepped forward. "Su Hui."
The man being introduced, Su Hui, immediately laughed. Loosely curling his hand into a fist, he gave Song Lan a light punch on the shoulder. "Oh, get out of here. What kind of introduction is that?"
Then he turned to introduce himself to the director. "Hello, I'm Su Hui, a photographer for Sea of Clouds."
[Holy shit!!!!!!!]
[Sea of Clouds? The Sea of Clouds I'm thinking of? The one countless celebrities fight tooth and nail to get on the cover of?]
[Yes, exactly! And Su Hui is Sea of Clouds' top photographer, bar none.]
[My god, I never imagined Sea of Clouds' top photographer would be this young and handsome!]
[Handsome people really do hang out with handsome people.]
Of course the director had heard of Su Hui. He simply hadn't expected to meet him here in person.
He quickly shook his hand with a smile. "Hello, hello. Such a pleasure to meet you."
Beside him, the person from the county in charge of the shoot said, "We originally arranged for a photographer, but when Mr. Su heard that Teacher Song Lan was here, he agreed to come take everyone's photos."
[Wow!]
[Now I'm suddenly excited to see how these photos turn out!]
[My silly son's in luck too. He actually gets to have Su Hui take his photos.]
The director's eyes immediately lit up.
Livestreaming Su Hui taking everyone's photos would generate buzz all on its own!
In front of the screen.
Jiang Mingle's eyes were red with jealousy.
Jiang Mingxi, you bitch. What gives you the right!
At the location.
Su Hui smiled and greeted everyone.
"Brother Chong, long time no see."
Chen Chong smiled faintly. "Long time no see."
[Su Hui knows Chen Chong too? I don't remember Chen Chong doing any shoots for Sea of Clouds.]
[They must have their own circles. It's normal for them to know each other.]
"Jiayuan!" Su Hui waved at Zhao Jiayuan with a bright smile. "Your new song is so good. Could I get your autograph? My little sister's a fan."
Zhao Jiayuan had been sitting beside Jiang Mingxi. Hearing this, he stood and chuckled. "Sure, no problem."
Once Zhao Jiayuan finished speaking, Su Hui smiled at Song Lan. "How many more days are you filming here?"
Song Lan's brows drew together slightly.
He hadn't greeted Jiang Mingxi.
Just as Song Lan turned to look at Jiang Mingxi, Zhao Jiayuan grabbed Jiang Mingxi's arm and pulled him to his feet.
He pulled so abruptly that Jiang Mingxi nearly tipped over the noodle cup in his hand, which still had soup in it.
"This is my good friend Jiang Mingxi. Handsome, right?" After pulling Jiang Mingxi up, Zhao Jiayuan put an arm around his shoulders and introduced him to Su Hui.
Su Hui followed Song Lan's gaze, his expression instantly turning apologetic. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. That was my fault. The lighting's too dim, and I didn't see clearly. I'm so sorry. Please don't be angry, Mr. Jiang."
[Uh, well...]
[What do you mean, uh, well? Isn't this perfectly normal? Jiang Mingxi wasn't sitting anywhere noticeable to begin with. It's normal not to see him.]
[I don't know whether it's normal, but he greeted every guest except Jiang Mingxi. If I were Jiang Mingxi, I'd definitely feel hurt.]
[Hurt, my ass. Does he deserve it? He's a washed-up nobody who only came on this show to whitewash his image. Someone on his level obviously doesn't deserve to know Su Hui.]
[Zhao Jiayuan pulled Jiang Mingxi right up without even thinking. Sob, sob, I really want to ship these two.]
But after saying that, Su Hui didn't wait for Jiang Mingxi's reply.
Almost the very next instant, he said to Song Lan, "Hurry up and explain for me, or Mr. Jiang will think I did it on purpose. I'm being terribly wronged here."
He glanced at the camera running beside them.
"You're livestreaming too. The viewers will start calling me a snob and all that. Even jumping into the Yellow River wouldn't wash me clean. Come on, hurry." Su Hui urged Song Lan in a very familiar tone.
The director: ...
Help!
If Song Lan actually offered an explanation, the viewers would probably start attacking Jiang Mingxi.
After all, Jiang Mingxi really wasn't a big star.
"No, no, Xiaoxi's very easy to get along with," the director hurriedly said. "Well, let's start getting ready for the shoot. It's getting late."
But Su Hui tugged on Song Lan's arm and asked a little uneasily, "Mr. Jiang really won't be angry?"
Jiang Mingxi felt a little uncomfortable.
He didn't want to hear Song Lan explain on Su Hui's behalf.
He walked around the chair and headed aside, telling Zhao Jiayuan in a voice neither loud nor soft, "I'm going to throw this noodle cup away."
"Jiang Mingxi." Song Lan stopped him.
Holding the noodle cup, Jiang Mingxi looked back.
Song Lan met his eyes. "Come here."
Jiang Mingxi didn't want to go over.
If Song Lan really spoke up to explain anything for Su Hui, he would feel hurt.
Instinctively resisting, Jiang Mingxi asked, "Do you need something, Teacher Song?"
[Ah, help, why does the atmosphere suddenly feel weird?]
[Same!]
[Putting myself in Jiang Mingxi's shoes, he's been so open about pursuing Song Lan. If Song Lan now helps someone else tell him not to be angry and all that, he'd probably feel hurt, right?]
[But he's only known Song Lan for three days. Su Hui and Song Lan are obviously old friends.]
[Seriously, Su Hui, why insist on having Song Lan explain for him!]
[Why blame Su Hui? He's just worried Jiang Mingxi will get angry.]