The medical team's doctor finally diagnosed Zhou Kai with acute hives.
He was all right as long as he stayed in his room. Before going to sleep last night, the guests had covered the cameras to avoid being filmed doing anything unseemly in their sleep, so the morning viewers could only hear him, not see what he actually looked like.
But if Zhou Kai wanted to leave the room, he would have to brace himself. The production team certainly wouldn't cover all the other cameras just for him.
So Zhou Kai currently faced two choices: stay in his room, or find a way to cover the welts on his body.
But that actually wasn't the most important thing.
Xue Ranran said, "Acute hives? Then you need to identify and eliminate whatever's causing them first. Otherwise, they won't get better. Having them flare up over and over is awful."
Wang Chengran said, "That's going to be tricky. We're all in a new environment. Apart from the things we brought ourselves, everything here is something we're encountering for the first time. How are we supposed to rule things out?"
Fu Yunyi, however, stood silently to one side, looking thoughtful, though no one knew what he was thinking.
Xia Zhiyi walked over and asked, "What are you thinking about?"
Fu Yunyi said, "Nothing. I'm just trying to remember what Zhou Kai was like when I got up. But the room was dark, so I didn't get a clear look."
As he spoke, Fu Yunyi paused and touched his face. "Come to think of it, I share a room with him. Why am I completely fine?"
Xia Zhiyi said, "That depends on the individual."
What he actually thought was, You're the male lead, complete with a protagonist halo. Even getting sick serves to advance the plot for you. How could you be like Zhou Kai?
Fu Yunyi said, "Man, it's only the second day. Why is Zhou Kai's health so poor? He wasn't feeling well yesterday, and now he's like this. I don't even know whether to call him unlucky."
Xia Zhiyi said, "Maybe Mercury's in retrograde."
Fu Yunyi said, "Could be."
Zhou Kai couldn't take part in filming for the time being. The guests could also sense that he was in a bad mood and on the verge of an outburst, so they didn't crowd around him. After each expressing their concern, they gave him some space.
Xue Ranran said, "Well, the doctor prescribed some medicine, but... I hope Zhou Kai gets better soon."
Wang Chengran looked at Zhou Kai's tightly shut door, then at Fu Yunyi, who still looked radiant despite sharing his room, and lowered his voice beside Xia Zhiyi's ear. "Good thing their room's camera is still covered. Otherwise, when Zhou Kai was standing next to Fu Yunyi just now, the contrast would've been brutal.
"When Zhou Kai watches the show back, he's definitely going to lose it."
Xia Zhiyi blinked.
As Wang Chengran spoke, he caught sight of the faint dark circles beneath Xue Ranran's eyes and asked, "Xue Ranran, did you not sleep well last night?"
With everything going on with Zhou Kai, Xue Ranran had already forgotten about it. Wang Chengran's question instantly reminded her of last night's experience. "You had to bring that up. I don't know which one of you was snoring last night, but it was deafening. I couldn't sleep properly."
Wang Chengran said without thinking, "Definitely wasn't me. I'm a great sleeper."
Xia Zhiyi said, "..."
Xia Zhiyi cleared his throat and tugged on his sleeve.
Wang Chengran said, "Teacher Xia, why are you pulling on my sleeve?"
Xia Zhiyi said, "Have you considered the possibility that only one person was snoring last night, and that person..."
Wang Chengran said, "Definitely wasn't me. I never snore."
Xia Zhiyi said, "Really?"
Fu Yunyi said, "Someone was snoring last night?"
Xia Zhiyi said, "..."
Fu Yunyi really hadn't been affected at all.
But thinking about it, that made sense. He had clearly been drunk after just one drink yesterday. He had probably fallen asleep the moment his head hit the pillow after returning to his room, completely oblivious to any noise around him.
Qin Yue couldn't hold back anymore either. "Wang Chengran, it was you."
Wang Chengran said, "Huh? What?"
Qin Yue took a breath and pointed at her eyes. "Don't bother denying it. If you really don't believe us, we can ask Director Gong to show us last night's footage. The cameras were covered, but I got up and asked about the noise when I heard it last night. Xia Zhiyi was awake at the time. You were the only one snoring."
Wang Chengran was stunned. "How is that possible!"
Qin Yue said, "...Come on, let's go find Director Gong."
Wang Chengran said, "I don't believe it! Director Gong!"
With that, Wang Chengran turned and went to find Director Gong.
Director Gong was quite happy to see this development and obligingly had someone pull up the footage for Wang Chengran. Although there was only the conversation to listen to, the facts spoke for themselves.
Wang Chengran was dumbfounded. "I! I actually snore!?"
Then he cupped his face in disbelief. "Doesn't that mean my handsome-guy image is completely ruined!? Were there lots of viewers in the livestream last night? Did I embarrass myself in front of the entire country?!"
Everyone said, "...Yes."
Wang Chengran hurriedly apologized to everyone.
He apologized especially earnestly to Xia Zhiyi, who had clearly suffered the most.
Xia Zhiyi said, "If you really feel bad, wipe down the sofa when you have time later."
Wang Chengran said, "Sure, sure. I can handle a little thing like that."
Wang Chengran said, "But why does the sofa need wiping down?"
Xia Zhiyi said helplessly, "This house is too old. The wooden boards overhead probably haven't been cleaned in ages. They're covered in dust, and you shook it loose."
He had checked when he got up. Never mind the sofa, there was dust on the cabinets and table too. It all needed cleaning.
He had originally planned to wipe everything down himself after breakfast, but seeing how genuinely guilty Wang Chengran seemed about disturbing everyone else's sleep, he simply handed the job over to him.
Wang Chengran was deeply embarrassed. "Okay, okay. Don't worry, Teacher Xia. I'll wipe it down later."
Fu Yunyi said, "Oh! I was wondering about that. When I was unpacking yesterday, I wiped down the table in my room, but when I got up this morning, it was dusty again. I thought this place just collected dust that easily."
Wang Chengran said, "...Is my snoring really that powerful?"
Fu Yunyi said, "Not necessarily. Maybe there's just a lot of dust overhead."
Soon, their attention shifted to another major matter-breakfast.
Or rather, the question of their three daily meals.
The production team had made it clear that they wouldn't be providing any meals. The guests would have to sort those out themselves.
Qin Yue volunteered that she knew a little about cooking and took on the role of cook.
However, when Qin Yue said she knew a little about cooking, she really did mean a little.
And with little food available to begin with, breakfast was extremely simple-a bowl of noodles in plain water and a boiled egg.
Qin Yue had originally wanted to fry eggs for everyone, but... controlling the heat was difficult, and she burned one.
After finishing their bland breakfast, the guests immediately found the motivation to earn money and points-even if it was only to eat better, they had to work hard!
At least the little shop sold that all-purpose hot pot base!
Xia Zhiyi took the job of gathering firewood in the mountains while taking the cattle out to graze. It should have been a sure thing, and everyone else thought he was the one least likely to run into trouble.
Who could have imagined that Xia Zhiyi would be the very one to have an accident?