The next day.
The “Bright Star” guests all received the notice sent by the crew almost at the same time. It was said that the second episode recording was ready, and they were requested to arrive at the specified location on time.
Shen Xingchen wailed, “The second episode is here…”
Shen Xingsui had already been mentally prepared. “It’s been more than a month since the last episode, it really was due soon.”
It was earlier than he originally guessed, actually.
He very much wasn’t ready to face Fu Jinxiao at this time.
Shen Xingchen rolled on the bed and said, “I don’t want to record this show, it abuses the guests!”
Shen Xingsui smiled helplessly and said, “There’s nothing you can do about it. Fortunately, it’s only for a few days, just persevere. Plus, the audience and your fans must really want to see you.”
Shen Xingchen was still rolling over. “I haven’t been on camera for so many days, am I getting fat?”
Shen Xingsui: “…”
“What should I do?” Shen Xingchen’s idol burden suddenly came, “The camera lenses will only make me look even fatter. Ugh. I shouldn’t have eaten that much during the holidays…”
Shen Xingsui comforted him, “It doesn’t matter, what your fans like is your talent.”
Shen Xingchen’s movements froze, and he looked back at Shen Xingsui. Shen Xingsui, who was looking back, suddenly felt a little nervous. ‘Oh… did I offend Erge? Maybe he’s angry now…’
Unexpectedly…
Shen Xingchen clapped his hands, “That’s right, this Erge of yours relies on his talent to eat. What am I afraid of? Hahaha!”
Shen Xingsui: “…”
It’s good to be overconfident. Sometimes.
The two quickly packed up and bid goodbye to the rest of the family. After boarding using the air tickets provided by the program group, they finally arrived at their destination early the next morning.
That kind of long flight really was tiring, even if they spent most of them sleeping.
Once they stepped out of the plane, the sun was already high in the sky.
The cameramen had been waiting for a long time, and began to follow them up after they got off the plane.
At the same time, the live broadcast room of “Bright Star” was opened again. Its popularity was unprecedented, despite it being so early in the morning. As for the barrage area, it was lively as usual.
[Suisui, Mom misses you so much.]
[Is Xingchen getting fat?]
[Hahahaha, be careful when saying that! Who knows if he will jump and hit you.]
[Finally I can see my babies again.]
[Great , I can see Anran fighting with them again. There shall be no more melon shortage, sisters!]
Now the whole Internet knew about the animosity between the Shen family and the Jian family. While a lot of them were neither Jian Zhi, Shen Xingsui, or Jian Anran’s fans, they simply were excited to see how this would go down. They hoped these young masters of wealthy families would at least fight it out a little.
During the days when these people were not fighting, the entertainment circle was too calm, and the melon-eaters were lonely.
Now that the show was finally on the air, these idle netizens on holiday suddenly became melon farmers.
After getting out of the car, Shen Xingchen said in surprise, “Wow, what a winding mountain range.”
“There are villages and towns there.” Shen Xingsui pointed to the specks of something in the horizon, full of awe, “The scenery looked like a setting from a xianxia drama.”
Houses, blue bricks and tiles, two-story buildings, scattered among the mountains, with clear, sparkling rivers, surrounded by clouds and mist. It really looked like a fantastical paradise.
A voice came from behind and said, “Before I came here, I guessed that we were going to come to the Miao people to shoot, but I didn’t expect it to be true!”
When Shen Xingsui and Shen Xingchen turned their heads, they saw Instructor Tuya and Instructor Li coming together. They seemed to be equally impressed by the beautiful scenery in front of them, and they all showed fascinated expressions.
Other guests also came.
When Anran came over, he was still carrying some small cakes, and he enthusiastically distributed them to everyone, “I made this myself. Are you hungry after a day’s flight? Let’s eat together.”
When Shen Xingsui was offered, he declined, “Thank you, I brought my own food.”
Anran asked, “What did you bring?”
“It’s just ordinary rice balls.” Shen Xingsui took it out of his backpack, “If you are hungry, you can eat it too.”
At first everyone was sharing Anran’s cake, thinking that he was really caring and enthusiastic. But after seeing Shen Xingsui’s rice balls, they became curious:
“Oh, I don’t think this rice ball is ordinary!”
“It’s so cute. It’s in the shapes of small animals.”
“Hahaha, it looks so delicious.”
Shen Xingsui smiled shyly, “This is all made by my mother. If everyone likes it, she will be very happy.”
While talking, there was another person not far away. As he walked there, the cameramen faithfully followed every of his steps. Just by judging at the commotion this person brought, everyone knew who this man was.
Fu Jinxiao was talking with the staff around him in a low voice.
The man wore a black windbreaker today, with a light-colored woolen sweater inside. He also wore stylish black sunglasses. In the cool winter wind, he looked a little aloof.
The other sensible guests have already started to say hello first:
“Mr. Fu.”
“Happy New Year, Actor Fu.”
“Instructor Fu…”
Fu Jinxiao nodded at everyone’s greetings. Next to him, Anran was eager to talk to him. He held a cake, leaned forward, and said in a sweet voice, “Instructor Fu, are you hungry after getting off the plane? This is a cakeI made myself. Do you want to try it?”
Fu Jinxiao glanced at it and replied, “I’ve eaten before.”
Anran got embarrassed by this cold rejection, especially since he knew a couple of the guests were definitely laughing at him inwardly.
However, after Fu Jinxiao finished speaking, he cast his eyes on Shen Xingsui who was not far away. He took a step, crossed a row of people, and walked in front of Shen Xingsui. Feeling oppressed, Shen Xingsui was still holding the box in his hand, and couldn’t find anything to say.
Fu Jinxiao took off his sunglasses to look at him. His handsome features seemed to be tired, and he said, “I received an urgent notice at noon two days ago and went to B City. Next time, I’ll visit you.”
Shen Xingsui, again, couldn’t find words to reply to that.
In fact, Fu Jinxiao didn’t need to report such personal matters to him at all. Regardless, it made Shen Xingsui happy to hear it.
Shen Xingsui finally replied, “Oh, um…you pay attention to your health, don’t work too hard.”
Fu Jinxiao has worked all night to help a friend save a rehearsal party. The high-intensity work makes him look positively exhausted. He must’ve tried to catch sleep during the flight, as he looked like he just woke up from a restless sleep. He lowered his head as he replied to Shen Xingsui, “Did you bring this rice ball?”
Shen Xingsui nodded.
Fu Jinxiao gave an enigmatic smile, “I want to try it.”
Shen Xingsui was worried about him, and said hastily when he heard this, “I’ll get you gloves, and here’s a small half box. Is it enough? I have other foods in my bag.”
Fu Jinxiao said, “That’s enough for me. No need to give me more, I’ll take two.”
Anran from behind came over at this time, holding his cake. Relying on the live broadcast camera to give him face, he complained in the most aggrieved tone possible, “Instructor Fu, didn’t you just say you’ve eaten?”
Fu Jinxiao looked at him with a side-eye and raised his eyebrows, as if what Anran said was nonsense, “I didn’t say I was full.”
“…”
Anran could only lose to the old fox’s meticulous logic.
Seeing that everyone was here, the director started to introduce the setting of this episode, “Hi everyone, welcome to the second installment of “Bright Star”. I am very happy to meet you here. What we are going to visit today is our beautiful and mysterious Miao ethnic minority. In the next five days and four nights journey, we will go deep into the Miao people, explore the customs here, and become good friends with nature~”
Everyone applauded together.
The director smiled and continued, “Everyone worked hard in the last episode. So, we decided to give you a well-deserved vacation this time! Relax and enjoy your time here!”
No one believed his bald-faced bullshit.
If the program group is kind, pigs will climb trees. With its tail.
Sure enough, when everyone walked through the trail and came to the cottage, there were two tables of dishes in front of them. These dishes were all half-covered to prevent the smell leaking, and yet, the guests could still smell the overwhelming sour smell from a distance.
The director said, as if he was innocent, “As we all know, we Miao people have always liked to eat sour food. Today, when we enter the Miao village, we must first pass the test of the Miao people! On the table in front of everyone, there are special delicacies of the Miao culture. There are three dishes on a table: fish in sour soup, beef with sauerkraut, and hot and sour chicken.”
Everything sounded very sour. For those who loved sour foods, this was heaven. For those who couldn’t eat sour foods, this was gourmet hell.
The director looked at the guests, who all looked like they cringed from the smell, with a happy face. “However, just eating them would be boring! So, we designed a fun game for everyone. So, everyone will take turns to taste the delicacies one by one, but the others won’t be able to see what they’re eating! Besides these three dishes, we will also add a sweet dessert to one of the guests. People who voted correctly on who eats the dessert wins! However, if you all vote incorrectly, the two guests – who manage to fool you – will win instead!1clarification: everyone gets a turn to eat, and one of them will get dessert. At the end, everyone got one chance to vote on who gets the dessert. If the majority votes correctly: then people who voted correctly wins while people who voted incorrectly + the guest who got the dessert lost. If the majority votes incorrectly: the dessert guest + the person who got the majority votes won; because these two people successfully fooled the majority.”
In other words, this was a test of acting skills.
For this kind of game, the winner would probably be the resident Movie Emperor and someone else, but most of them were still vigorous and excited to win.
The director finally told everyone the prize, “In the end, our winning guest can get the right to name a losing guest and make a request to them, and the other party cannot refuse.”
Everyone booed.
“Then, let the game begin!”
The person who got the first turn was Shen Xingchen. The young master walked imposingly behind the curtain, sat down, and then glanced at the dishes in front of him. He immediately grimaced.
Everyone else guessed:
“Is it a sour dish?”
“I guess so.”
“If it’s not a dish but a dessert, then he should get an Oscar or something.”
Shen Xingchen, who was sitting on a chair, picked up another piece with the urging of the director. The guests couldn’t see what he was eating because he was covered by a cloth curtain from next below, so they could only guess based on his expressions.
When Shen Xingchen raised his head, he was chewing, his expression was already distorted by sourness, he said while eating, “It’s delicious, so sweet, this dessert is really delicious.”
Other guests: “…”
The live broadcasts’ audience responses were united, and they filled the screen with the same words: [Hahahahaha!!]
Shen Xingchen was already close to numbness. He directly gave up, and asked the staff for water to wash it down before he went crazy.
Soon it was the turn of the second guest.
When Instructor Tuya was sitting on the chair, her brows were also furrowed. She put the food in her mouth, first twisted for a moment, then quickly returned to normal, and smiled: “Well, it’s delicious, You can try it later, it’s really delicious! Honest!”
The other guests were silent again.
Then it was Fu Jinxiao’s turn, and everyone’s eyes fell on him.
Then, when Actor Fu saw the food in front of him, he raised his eyebrows slightly in surprise, then picked up the spoon and took a bite. His expression was calm from the beginning to the end, and he would nod from time to time while eating. With his calm demeanor and noble bearing, he looked as if he was dining in a Michelin Star restaurant rather than a reality show.
When the others saw it, they were very puzzled:
[He’s eating the dessert, right?]
[I think… so?]
[Remember, this is Movie Emperor Fu!]
[Don’t be fooled by him, right?]
Shen Xingchen who was next to him said, “That damned food is too fucking sour for me to stand, and I love sour foods! In fact, I have eaten Miao dishes before. The food is not that sour. That dog director must have dropped a fuckton of vinegar into it, I bet.”
The others also didn’t believe Shen Xingchen’s words, feeling it was exaggerated. But, when it’s finally their turn, it was indeed very sour. A lot of them cringed on reflex, as they couldn’t pretend otherwise.
Shen Xingsui originally wanted to challenge himself on his acting ability, since he couldn’t eat sour. But when he ate it, his face wrinkled. It’s clear he was eliminated on the spot.
Finally, the program group started the voting session.
Everyone didn’t believe that Fu Jinxiao could endure such sourness no matter how good his acting skills were, so everyone voted for Fu Jinxiao collectively as the one who got the dessert.
Only Instructor Li sighed as he lost to the majority, “You are still too young.”
Finally, after the director got the voting results, he revealed the answer with a meaningful smile. “Now, let me announce the guest who was luck– I mean, who got the dessert! They are— Tuya!”
Everyone was dumbfounded.
So this means that Fu Jinxiao also got the same sour food??
Everyone – bar Instructor Li, who only looked somewhat smug – looked at the actor as if he wasn’t human. While Fu Jinxiao only answered with an innocent smile, “Well, what can I say? I love sauerkraut.”
Instructor Tuya next to him laughed and said, “You too underestimate your Teacher Fu. For filming, even if he eats rotten cabbage for the sake of the plot and has to pretend as if it tasted delicious, he would do it with flying colors. Eating this level of sourness is an easy game for him.”
Everyone was in awe.
The director began to say, “Okay, now let our two winners exercise their prize! You can name someone and request them something, and they cannot refuse!”
Tuya got the first chance. She thought for a while, then said to Instructor Li with a smile, “Last time you brought me the spicy chicken made by your family. It’s really good. Can you bring me some to try next time?”
Instructor Li only laughed, relieved the request was easy to do, “Alright, alright.”
Then it was Fu Jinxiao’s turn, and the director reminded him, “Fu-ge can also choose a player to make a request.”
Fu Jinxiao thought about it for a while. Not far away, Shen Xingsui’s dark eyes carried some emotions that he himself couldn’t understand it. He was… somewhat nervous. For some reason.
Fu Jinxiao hooked his lips up, then faced Shen Xingsui, “I have an unfeeling request to Teacher Shen.”
Shen Xingsui now was even more nervous. With so many people watching, plus it was live-streamed. But… that also meant that Fu Jinxiao’s request wouldn’t be too willfully outrageous. He could only try to calm himself and ask, “What is it?”
But Fu Jinxiao seemed to ignore the camera and the other guests including the director. The man just stood there frankly, looking at Shen Xingsui. The afternoon sun fell on him, and he looked at him with a gentle gaze.
“Can you stay with me?”
