The production team had prepared only five keys to scatter around the manor. Gu Xuanlin and Shen Shuangjian had found two, while the others had found only two of the remaining three.
With both sides tied and no winner decided, the director arranged for them to eat their slightly cooled lunch first before settling that ridiculous contest.
"Come on, sit down. We're starving."
Lin Weiluo also wanted to ease the atmosphere, so she chose the nearest seat that was also away from the center.
Although she was currently popular and held no low standing in the industry, she still fell short of Gu Xuanlin and Yu Sheng in both popularity and status. Naturally, she needed to show some manners and leave the center spot to someone else.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, everyone occupied four of the six chairs, with Lin Weiluo and Li Yi taking the seats at either end.
Yu Sheng sat second from the right, leaving the center seat and the seat second from the left for Gu Xuanlin and Shen Shuangjian.
Shen Shuangjian had little sensitivity to such things. In his view, as long as there were no elders present, it made no difference where anyone sat. He could not distinguish between the center spot and a supporting seat at all.
So when Gu Xuanlin pulled out the chair in the middle but sat down second from the left himself, Shen Shuangjian simply took the offered seat as a matter of course.
Shen Shuangjian had actually never noticed that, whether in his previous life or this one, he was always at the center of any gathering he attended, always the one people watched.
[Put the pretty kid right in the middle, and the whole shot looks prettier.]
[It's clearly such an ordinary scene, so why am I getting this inexplicable sense of destiny?]
[It feels like the main character has finally arrived.]
[Okay, but isn't it a little inappropriate for Shen Shuangjian to sit in the middle?]
[Agreed. There are clearly older, higher-status people here. Why does an ordinary person like him get the center spot?]
[But Gu Xuanlin gave him that seat himself, didn't he? He even pulled out the chair for him.]
[Have you considered that my fave was just being polite?]
[Oh, shut up. Why do you have so much bullshit to say? Leave if you don't want to watch, you lunatic.]
[Eating the food while cursing the cook, watching the show while cursing the director, going to work while cursing the boss, going to school while cursing the teacher. You people really leave me speechless.]
[In this looks-obsessed world, you've actually become Shen Shuangjian's fans. Have you forgotten just how sick of him Crown Prince Xie was?]
[Let's not bring up the past. I just want to live well in the present.]
[The past is dark and beyond recalling. Let Xie Qingchi suffer a little grievance.]
[Okay, but our Xiao Yu looks so gentle when he watches baby Shuangjian. This ship is killing me...]
[Don't ship them (a Yu Sheng girlfriend fan).]
[Don't die (a Shen Shuangjian husband fan).]
During lunch, Li Yi suddenly received a message from Xie Qingchi.
Xie Qingchi: Let me ask you something.
Xie Qingchi: Is there someone on your production team with long hair who's good-looking? Really good-looking.
The instant Li Yi saw the messages, he was bewildered.
In fact, when he saw the words "good-looking," Shen Shuangjian's face had instinctively surfaced in his mind.
But in the next second, he naturally assumed Xie Qingchi was talking about a beautiful woman. After all, as far as he knew, Xie Qingchi would never call a man beautiful in his entire life.
So he replied: You mean Lin Weiluo?
The other party quickly sent back a question mark.
Xie Qingchi: ?
Xie Qingchi: What does she have to do with anything?
Xie Qingchi: Forget it, I can't get through to you. How's your show going to be filmed now? I've decided to come back and take part.
Xie Qingchi: And remember to find that person for me tonight. I think they're probably a staff member.
Li Yi was rather bewildered.
Although he and Xie Qingchi were friends, there were times when Xie Qingchi's unreasonable behavior and reckless antics truly left him speechless.
He could not even describe the person properly. Where was Li Yi supposed to find them?
Li Yi: Weren't you unhappy about Shen Shuangjian being here too? Why are you suddenly willing to come?
Xie Qingchi: Cut the crap.
Xie Qingchi: Don't bring him up right now. You're ruining the mood.
Li Yi: ...
Li Yi: Then at least tell me what that person looks like and what color they're wearing. How else am I supposed to find them for you?
This time, the replies came much more slowly. It was over ten minutes before Li Yi received another message from Xie Qingchi.
Xie Qingchi: He's really good-looking.
Those few short words encompassed everything.
Li Yi nearly spat out a mouthful of water. Staring at his phone screen, he almost cursed aloud.
He did not understand. It was the same few words over and over-how could it take him more than ten minutes to type them?
Fortunately, not everything Xie Qingchi said was useless.
Xie Qingchi: He's wearing a white fuzzy top. His hair is very long and tied with a red cord.
Xie Qingchi: Also, he has a tear mole at the corner of his eye.
Xie Qingchi: If you're filming the show too, there's no way you haven't seen him.
Li Yi: ...
Each description, every detail, struck Li Yi right in the heart, almost word for word. He unconsciously raised his head toward Shen Shuangjian, who was eating with his head slightly lowered at the center of the table.
A fuzzy top, a red cord in his hair, a tear mole at the corner of his eye, stunning beauty.
He swallowed, looking at the few words in the message field, but could not figure out how to send them or how to let Xie Qingchi know the truth.
After a long while, he deleted the words in the message field, typed a few different ones, and sent them.
Li Yi: I suggest you search online yourself. You should be able to find him.
Xie Qingchi: ?
Xie Qingchi: Are you nuts?
Xie Qingchi: Forget it. I can't count on you at all.
Li Yi: ...
With the conversation over, he turned off and locked his screen, looking somewhat troubled. Perhaps he was already imagining how Xie Qingchi would react after finding videos of Shen Shuangjian.
Or would that idiot Xie Qingchi ignore what he had said and go straight to the director instead, charging headlong into the show?
If that really happened, Xie Qingchi might make a complete fool of himself.
He rubbed his head and could not help closing his eyes.
May Xie Qingchi never meet Shen Shuangjian in heaven. Amen.
Seeing that everyone had more or less finished lunch, Director Wang, who had been cooking up mischief on the sidelines for ages, finally popped out to stir up trouble again.
"Since everyone has finished lunch, I'll now be giving you your second task."
"Because the two teams tied in our key-finding task, we'll be holding a game of hide-and-seek tonight. Only those who participate will get to enjoy tonight's manor banquet."
"We'll randomly select one person to be the ghost. Everyone else will need to run and hide in the manor. The first person caught by the ghost will have to complete a punishment task assigned by the production team."
"I must remind you all: this punishment will be terrifying-!"