[Wait. Weren't there rumors that Ji Nanshu tried to seduce Bai Nanyu's fiancé at his engagement banquet?! Doesn't that make He Jingyi the one Ji Nanshu tried to seduce??]
[...The whole reason rumors are rumors is that they aren't true. I'm not a Ji Nanshu fan, but with his looks... even if he were going to seduce someone, wouldn't it be someone on Chu Mo's level? Surely he wouldn't be blind enough to seduce He Jingyi?]
[He Jingyi is the heir to Hai City's He Family! His looks might be average by entertainment industry standards, but he's rich! Wouldn't you want to land a rich guy and shoot straight to the top?]
[Holy shit, that's disgusting! Selling his ass!]
[What the fuck are you making shit up for! Did you see it with your own eyes?]
[Tsk, everyone who went to the engagement banquet that day knew about it!]
He Jingyi froze. This was Ji Nanshu?? The Ji Nanshu who always dressed like some bizarre shamate, a walking feather duster??!!
He was actually this good-looking! Tsk, he should have had the Bai Family send him over back then.
But this worked out perfectly. Didn't he like him and try to seduce him? He was much easier on the eyes now than before.
A faint smile curled at He Jingyi's lips. "Nanshu, long time no see."
Well, when He Jingyi acted like a decent human being, he certainly looked the part.
Ji Nanshu tilted his head, confusion showing in his eyes, his lips slightly parted as though he didn't quite understand what He Jingyi meant.
He asked, "Have we... met?"
Pfft-
Who was laughing?
Oh-it was Jian Yuanjia, who never minded more drama when he was watching the show.
"Well, did you hear that, Young Master He? Our Nanshu doesn't know you! Quit acting like you're old friends!"
Beside him, Bai Nanyu tugged at He Jingyi's sleeve, looking all understanding. "Brother Jingyi, if my third brother... doesn't want to know us, just let it go."
If he doesn't want to know us, just let it go... bleurgh-
What kind of passive-aggressive bullshit was that!
Jian Yuanjia rolled his eyes and called out to Director Yang with extreme impatience, "Director Yang!! Aren't you going to announce this episode's task yet!"
Suddenly called out, Director Yang looked embarrassed. Ahem, ahem... I just got too caught up in the gossip! I thought there might be a shuraba!
Yang the Loudspeaker said, "Viewers! Guests! Good morning, everyone! This episode's livestream will take place in Incense Valley Town! Incense Valley Town got its name because every household here is skilled in traditional incense-making."
"But as times changed and technology advanced rapidly, this traditional method of making incense gradually faded from society's memory. That also left this little town backward and poor. So-"
"Our theme this episode is promotion! We'll keep the same teams as in the first episode, with one livestream room per team and links for buying incense. The deadline is four in the afternoon on the third day. Whichever team brings in the most money wins."
"The winning team will get one privilege of their choice in the third episode!"
"Come on, same rules as always! Hand over your phones! Each person's phone this episode has three hundred yuan for living expenses! Stop calling me heartless."
His conscience did kick in occasionally~
Jian Yuanjia waved a hand. No!! You've just dug a few more pits along your road of shamelessness!
At the end, Director Yang added, "Oh, right, the guest star automatically joins the team that won last episode~ And~ you mustn't open the storage room in the back courtyard of this house!!"
"Everyone~~ Good luck!!!"
He Jingyi's team assignment left Jian Yuanjia quite unhappy. Now they had another dead weight!!
Why another?
Because Jian Yuanjia had very consciously classified himself as dead weight, of course. But he was different from that annoying He Jingyi. He was handsome, likable dead weight (*^▽^*)!
After the teams were assigned, Bai Nanyu's face visibly fell. He gave his teammates a wry smile. "Sorry, everyone. I hurt my leg in a fall a couple of days ago, so I can't walk very well. I might end up holding everyone back."
Jiang Yue clapped Bai Nanyu on the shoulder, completely unconcerned. "It's fine, Nanyu. You don't need to run around to sell things!"
Yu Lu encouraged him too. "Exactly, Nanyu~ This episode isn't like the first one~ We don't have to run all over town~"
Li Lan shook her head in disagreement. "Director Yang said promotion. We might not just be promoting incense, but Incense Valley Town too."
"Hehe, it's fine! In the end, it's still about how much money we make from sales anyway!"
Yu Lu didn't want to run around this lousy little town at all. What was there to run around for in a backward, impoverished place? It would be exhausting and dirty!
Bai Nanyu frowned, his eyes visibly reddening again. "I'm sorry, everyone. I'm holding you all back again..."
Meanwhile, Ji Nanshu's team had already decided to head out and look around Incense Ancient Town first.
"Nanshu, could I trouble you to wait two minutes?" Just before they left, He Jingyi looked concerned, wanting to comfort Bai Nanyu some more. "I'd like to say a few more words to Xiaoyu."
At some point, a huge crowd of viewers had flooded into the livestream-
[Wow, who's this guy?? He's so gentle!!]
[To the person above, you don't know? He Jingyi! The He Family's heir and Bai Nanyu's fiancé!]
[Ohhh, I know! The one Mistress Ji tried to seduce!! No wonder. He must've been after his money! Makes sense, he's just an adopted son. The Bai Family definitely won't give him anything!]
[Hey, you know what, He Jingyi really is my type! I love gentle guys!]
[Bai Nanyu and He Jingyi seem pretty well matched... If only I had a fiancé like He Jingyi too. Rich, gentle, and good-looking.]
He Jingyi went over and got lovey-dovey with Bai Nanyu for a while before flashing his signature smile again. "Everyone, I'm ready. Let's go!"
The five of them were the first to head out.
Incense Ancient Town wasn't large. It would take about half a day to walk around the whole town.
However, its old buildings were very well preserved. Wooden houses with blue-tiled roofs and stilt houses were everywhere. Ancient streets and old lanes, blue bricks and gray tiles-everywhere showed the timeworn face of the ancient town.
Incense Ancient Town was surrounded by mountains on three sides and spent roughly half the year shrouded in a steady drizzle. Perhaps they were lucky, because the weather was quite nice today. Gentle, bright sunlight filtered through gaps in the trees and around the stilt houses blocking the view, spilling onto the stone paving and the townspeople. The occasional chirping of insects and birds only accentuated Incense Valley Town's deep tranquility.
He Jingyi took a deep breath, his eyes bright with delight. "The air here is absolutely wonderful!! I feel like staying here for a while would elevate my soul!!"
Jian Yuanjia curled his lip, clearly utterly disdainful.
What an act!
He clearly didn't like places like this, yet he could act so convincingly. With acting skills that good, why didn't he become an actor!
Cen Yan clearly liked the place too. She nodded in agreement, suddenly becoming much more talkative. "Mr. He is right. It's really wonderful here! It's different from Wuzhen. It feels completely undeveloped."
"Senior Brother!!! I think I've found the inspiration for my new album. How about making the theme the various ancient towns and traditional cultures of Hua Country?! I think it's so beautiful here!!"
Once the conversation turned to her own field, Cen Yan became talkative, nothing like that cool, aloof older woman.
This seems a little flat. I'll have to give it some more thought.