The fact that Xie Ji slept in Lu Xunji's room was no longer a secret in the villa.
Everyone approved and felt perfectly reassured.
That feeling of being scared limp by Xie Ji's mouth in under three seconds was best experienced as little as possible, lest they develop some incurable condition that required a trip to a men's health clinic.
In some respects, wasn't this a kind of magic attack against a romantic rival?
Only the clueless netizens would make a fuss.
Once everyone had finished washing up in dribs and drabs, the cameras gradually shut off, and the livestream rooms began closing too.
But only the livestream rooms closed, not the netizens' enthusiastic, gossip-hungry hearts.
The shippers, stunned by Lu Xunji's sheer sexiness, began frantically catching up on the lore and cooking up content.
[So Xie Ji and Lu Xunji aren't biological brothers. I knew it. They don't even have the same last name. How could they be biological brothers?]
[Here to dig through the archives. What kind of Haitang fiction is this? Xie Ji is like a transmigrator with a vicious male supporting character system. He stole the real young master's identity and thinks he's committing all sorts of evil to follow the vicious supporting character's storyline, but in the real young master's eyes, he's just a cat who can only scratch people. So cute I'm dying!]
[You have one hour. I want to see this fic on Haitang!]
[Lu Xunji looks so aloof and refined. How does he have so much sexual tension once his clothes come off? Our gorgeous Lu really has the textbook broad shoulders, narrow waist, and long legs. Perky ass, hot young model, perfect husband!]
[Didn't they say Lu Xunji had his identity as the real young master switched and lived in the countryside all this time? How is he still so pale!!]
[You don't get it. That's how genes work. Naturally cool-toned pale skin doesn't tan. I have a friend like that. Besides, look at Beauty Lu's build. That clearly wasn't built in a gym. Healthy, evenly distributed muscles, absolutely bursting with strength. One look tells you he got them from doing physical labor all the time.]
[The veins on Lu Xunji's waist have me drooling, waaah.]
[Girl, this is a comment section, not an uninhabited zone!]
[No wonder there were rumors that Xie Ji wanted to lick Beauty Lu's abs. I want to lick them too. I'd pay to lick them! Question Xie Ji, understand Xie Ji, become Xie Ji, surpass Xie Ji!]
The widespread discussion sent "Young Field" trending overnight. The already popular variety show climbed another tier, its numbers skyrocketing, with signs that it might even surpass the nation's favorite dating show.
And so, the moment Director He opened his eyes, he was greeted by the assistant director's big, gleaming white teeth, with drool nearly dripping onto his face.
"As expected of Young Master He, you really spare no expense! Buying trending spots while I was asleep, too. Were you trying to surprise me?"
Director He: "..."
He seemed to have encountered a ghost first thing in the morning. He'd said they needed to keep a master on hand to exorcise the production team.
The assistant director gleefully hugged his tablet and checked the numbers.
Director He asked hoarsely, "...What trending spots?"
The assistant director slapped his shoulder. "Oh, you rascal, still putting on an act with me? With this many trending hashtags, if you didn't pay for them, are you saying it's all organic?"
Director He focused his gaze and finally saw that overnight, Young Field's trending topics had occupied half the rankings.
Ten of the top fifty topics were related to Young Field.
For example:
#Young Field, a delicious dating show#
#Young Field, you can even watch a rural variety show here#
#Lu Xunji, number one on the capital's elite must-eat list#
#All x Ji, a paradise for multishippers#
#Xunji x Xie Ji, an explosive ship with an equally explosive ship name#
#Shi x Ji, the god of pure love falls on the spot#
#Yao x Ji, a player's last little mermaid#
The good news: they'd broken out of their niche.
The bad news: they'd done it through thirst.
Director He lowered his eyes and began pondering why his guests weren't farming properly and had started office romances instead.
Was he not giving them enough work?
This wouldn't do. They needed to break up. He hadn't even found anyone himself, so what gave these little brats the right?
He was here to be a director and torment the guests. How the hell had he become the god of matchmaking?
"Suppress the hashtags." Director He was concise. "Notify the guests that, starting now, the production team will no longer provide three meals a day. They'll need to take a boat off the island every day to buy ingredients in a nearby town."
"Oh, right." Director He fell silent for a moment, then added, "Make them pay for it themselves."
The assistant director froze. "Wait, isn't that going too far? They're all pampered young masters. Who among them can cook? Besides, the villa doesn't even have pots, bowls, ladles, or pans. And they only came out of consideration for their parents. They've done pretty well these past few days, too, diligently finishing all the work they were supposed to do. If we pull this... what if they throw in the towel?"
Director He patted the assistant director's shoulder and said earnestly, "Don't worry. I'm doing this for the show, too. After all, I've poured my heart and soul into it. I don't want it to go under either."
"If the show goes under, all it means for you is a failed investment. Your dad will break your legs and send you to an orphanage, that's all. But I have a lot more to consider."
The assistant director choked, then pressed the issue. "What do you have to consider?"
Director He looked at him with utter sincerity. "Having my talent buried and being forced to go home to inherit a hundred-billion fortune, spending every day on luxury cruise ships, sinking painfully into decadence, then waving a hand to order a thousand bottles of '82 Lafite and sighing that life is as bleak as snow, that's all."
The assistant director: "..."
Fuck you. He shouldn't have asked. He was going to fight these top-tier wastrels to the death.
By the time the guests received the new message delivered by the production team's drone, it was around eight in the morning.
The pig slop the production team originally provided had already been incredibly hard to swallow. If not for Xie Ji's face being a feast for the eyes, Mu Yao would have starved to death on this island.
Great. Now even the pig slop was gone.
Shang Yan leaned back in his chair and tapped his long, well-defined knuckles against the edge of the table, a gesture that indicated some displeasure with the production team's decision as well.
Mu Yao sat off to the side with an even sourer expression, picked up his phone to contact his parents, and spoke while holding his temper in check.
"Whoever wants to film this can do it. I'm done putting up with this shit." Mu Yao stood up. "I'm quitting. Can't I just go back to work at the company?"
Mu Yao's mother's voice came from the other end, sounding quite young. "When I asked you to choose between being the company's general manager for two months and going on a variety show, wasn't this your own choice?"
"I've made plenty of wrong choices in my life." Mu Yao gave a derisive snort. "I'm going back-"
Halfway through, he caught a glimpse of gold out of the corner of his eye.
Perhaps because he had gone to sleep too late the night before, Xie Ji wasn't very energetic just then. He looked utterly wilted, and he hadn't bothered tying up his soft blond hair, leaving it draped over his shoulders.
His features were soft, but not at all feminine, with a youthful gallantry to his brows and eyes. Sleepiness had reddened the corners of his eyes, and paired with those misty eyes, he was so pretty it made people want to hold him and kiss him.
Mu Yao paused, and his mother's voice came through the phone. "If you really don't want to keep filming, I'll arrange for someone to bring you back. I'll speak to Director He..."
"No need." Mu Yao muttered, "I suddenly remembered I haven't fed my fish. They're little fry I raised myself. I don't trust anyone else to feed them."
His mother sounded as if she had heard the biggest joke in the world. "There are actually fish in this world that you care about that much?"
"There are." Mu Yao glanced at Xie Ji, the corners of his lips lifting slightly. "A little mermaid glittering with gold."
With that, before his mother could react, he hung up and appeared at the foot of the stairs in a flash, beaming. "Good morning, little mermaid."
Xie Ji gave him a strange look and asked earnestly, "Bro, have you gone crazy raising fish?"
Mu Yao: "..."