Two children looked at them eagerly.
Su Chengyang felt a little embarrassed, and almost forgot that communication was also a barrier.
“Sorry kids, we’re not locals and don’t understand Sichuan dialect very well.”
The children nodded obediently and said in broken Mandarin, “Guoguo1, hey, how much money?”
Su Chengyang: “…”
Su Chengyang hesitated, vaguely understanding their meaning, and replied with a stiff smile, “It’s ten yuan.”
The children’s faces fell, and one of them asked with a sigh, “Guoguo, is there any way2, can you give us a discount?”
Su Chengyang was confused and looked at Jiang Shanqi for help, “What magic3?”
Jiang Shanqi was even more confused than her: “…”
The children: “…”
The children explained, “Just, can’t afford, because of…cheaper, can you make it a little cheaper?”
Su Chengyang hesitated for a moment and said, “Okay, how about eight yuan?”
“I want it.”
Two children dug out eight yuan in change from their pockets and handed it to Su Chengyang. Su Chengyang took the money and gave them a toy car.
After the two left, Su Chengyang looked at them puzzled with the money in her hand.
After a moment, she turned to Jiang Shanqi and said, “I have a feeling that things won’t go smoothly from here on out.”
Jiang Shanqi nodded in agreement.
The two of them struggled for half an afternoon, not eating much. After getting the money, Su Chengyang suggested buying pancakes, which cost eight yuan each with a piece of pork inside.
Jiang Shanqi agreed, and Su Chengyang prepared to take the money to the snack street to see how others were doing.
Before leaving, she reminded Jiang Shanqi that if customers came and they couldn’t understand them, just quote them a price.
When she arrived at the snack street, she immediately saw Song Mingan and Shen Fu at the side at a glance. They were selling things like socks, but business was very bad. Passers-by didn’t even look at their stall.
Su Chengyang walked up to them to say hello, but as soon as she approached, Song Mingan approached her.
“Sir, do you need anything?” he asked.
Su Chengyang blinked at him and said, “It’s me.”
Song Mingan’s expression collapsed in an instant. He had a small mustache on his face, blowing his mustache and glaring, “How did you come here?”
Su Chengyang shook the few dollars in her hand and said, “Shanqi and I made our first bucket of gold tonight, and we’re going to buy a pancake to fill our stomachs.”
Shen Fu sat quietly on the side, lifted his head when he heard this, and asked curiously, “What are you selling?”
“Kids’ toys.”
“When do you think you’ll be able to sell 300 of them?”
Su Chengyang shook her head, “If we can’t sell them, we’ll think of other ways.”
Su Chengyang didn’t stay too long. After chatting for a while, she went to find the pancake shop she had seen before, waited in line for a few minutes, and ordered a pancake with pork loin, cut in half and packed separately.
On the way back, she glanced in the direction of Han Songxue and Qi Fu, and sure enough, as she expected, there were food trucks all around, and no one noticed the dozen or so scarves they were wearing.
“What the hell! Are you Qi Fu!”
Suddenly, a scream erupted from the crowd.
“I have seen your <Flame Trees>!!! I cried very hard when you died!”
“Qi Fu? Is he the one in the recent <Travel> variety show who loves wearing skirts?”
“Definitely! Look at his figure!”
“Wait… he’s Qifu, and the one next to him is…”
“Han Songxue! Han Songxue, whose emotional intelligence has no lower limit!”
“Ah, are you filming <Travel> here? Are the others nearby too?”
“My goose… Is my goose here? I really want to see her!”
Su Chengyang and Song Mingan were not far from where Qifu and the others were. They immediately put on serious expressions when they heard the commotion. They almost forgot that they were recording a program now. Once someone recognized them, they could easily find the others.
Su Chengyang held a pancake and lowered her hat, quickly leaving the scene of the incident.
When she reached a fork in the road, she bumped into Qin You, who had hurried over. They glanced at each other, understanding each other without words.
Su Chengyang grabbed her shoulder and whispered, “Han Songxue and Qifu have been recognized. Be careful.”
“Um!”
After they separated, Su Chengyang returned to their toy stall.
In the time Su Chengyang left for a while, Jiang Shanqi made another ten or so yuan in sales.
When Su Chengyang returned, Jiang Shanqi curiously asked, “What happened? I heard some commotion over there.”
Su Chengyang picked up the fisherman’s hat from the chair next to her, gave it to Jiang Shanqi to wear, and then handed her a pancake. She whispered, “Songxue and the others were recognized. Someone knows we’re recording the show, so be careful.”
Jiang Shanqi was surprised, “Recognized?”
“Yeah. You go ahead and eat. I’ll watch the stand.” Su Chengyang replied.
Their location was separated from the snack street by one street, so they were still safe for the time being.
Jiang Shanqi shook her head, “You go ahead and eat. I’m not very hungry.”
Upon hearing this, Su Chengyang didn’t refuse. She was indeed a little hungry.
She nodded, took a chair, and sat in a corner, facing the wall to enjoy her hard-earned food.
“What the hell? They’re recording the show here on a trip?”
“What?!”
“I’m not kidding. My friend sent me a message. The one who acts as a cop and writes songs is on the snack street.”
“My goddess is here too?”
“Definitely!”
. . . . .
Two young people passed by their toy stall and exchanged a few words before quickly heading towards the food street.
When Su Chengyang turned around after finishing half of her pancake, the previously overcrowded pet street had only a few people left.
Su Chengyang was surprised and asked, “Where did everyone go?”
Jiang Shanqi pointed in the direction of the food street.
The owner of the pet store next to them struck up a conversation with the two.
“Don’t you want to go see?” the owner said in Mandarin, which both of them understood.
Su Chengyang asked Jiang Shanqi to go eat first and then lowered her voice to ask the owner, “What are we going to see?”
“I heard that there’s a variety show being filmed in the night market, and there’s someone named Su Chengyang in it,” the owner said.
Su Chengyang laughed and said, “I rarely watch variety shows.”
The owner chuckled and said, “My wife loves watching them. She even left the store to go get Su Chengyang’s autograph.”
Su Chengyang smiled but didn’t say anything else.
“Hey, how much is this?”
A person suddenly appeared in front of the toy stall. Su Chengyang turned her head and saw Xiao Lu with both hands in her pockets, looking at her with malicious intent.
Su Chengyang glared at her and whispered, “Don’t come here and cause trouble.”
Xiao Lu pouted and said, “I came to check on your business. The previous two groups have been recognized, and they are probably performing somewhere now.”
“Han Songxue and Song Mingan’s group?”
“Yes, and someone is specifically looking for you. They will probably find this place soon.”
Su Chengyang nervously looked around and said, “Then you should leave quickly. Many of my fans have seen you before.”
Xiao Lu shrugged, took out her phone, and said, “I’m here to complete the task assigned by Manager Lin.”
Su Chengyang was stunned and asked, “What task?”
Xiao Lu didn’t answer and instead held up her phone and said, “Smile.”
Su Chengyang looked dazed, and Xiao Lu snapped a picture with a “click.”
She seemed very satisfied with her photography skills and immediately sent the picture out, saying, “Manager Lin is worried sick. He’s afraid he’s not around, so I took your photo.”
Su Chengyang: “…”
Hearing some commotion from the street, Su Chengyang didn’t have much time to say anything. She quickly sent Xiao Lu away, sat back in her place, lowered her hat, and pretended to play with her phone.
“My wife must be here too.”
“If we find her, we can see her perform for us with our own eyes.”
“But there are so many stalls here, how do we find her?”
“They seem to be in pairs. Didn’t we just find three male guests earlier? Su Chengyang must be paired with a female guest.”
“Right, just look for the stall with two girls together, and we’ll know.”
A few hurried girls passed by the toy stall. They glanced at Su Chengyang and, seeing that she was dressed like a man, didn’t look closely and quickly looked away. Su Chengyang breathed a sigh of relief and felt lucky that she dressed up like a man.
In less than half an hour, the crowd on pet street gradually increased. Su Chengyang and Jiang Shanqi made about a hundred dollars. During that time, the girls who said what to find them passed by their stall twice but didn’t give them a second look because they looked like an ordinary couple.
After a while, those girls passed by again and were talking loudly.
“The other group of guests has also been found.”
“Yeah, don’t you think they’re a bit foolish? Who comes out to set up a stall while wearing a watch worth more than ten thousand? They’re obviously not ordinary people.”
“But what about my wife! I don’t think any of these women look like her.”
“Keep looking, they must be in the night market.”
Su Chengyang turned her head and looked at Jiang Shanqi in confusion.
“Qin You and the others have been found,” Su Chengyang said.
Jiang Shanqi nodded with relief, “Thank goodness you reminded me to take off my jewelry, otherwise it would have been bad.”
As time passed, Su Chengyang and Jiang Shanqi were never recognized.
Due to the primacy effect, everyone assumed that Su Chengyang’s partner was a female contestant. When they passed by Su Chengyang’s toy stall, as a ‘man’, nobody bothered to give her a second glance.
Gradually, Su Chengyang and Jiang Shanqi made more than two hundred yuan in sales, which was enough to cover their travel expenses for the next day.
They relaxed behind the stall and chatted aimlessly.
Su Chengyang asked tentatively, “Is your senior sister busy lately?”
Jiang Shanqi shook her head and said, “She’s been quite active lately. I heard she even cancelled a prearranged script for it.”
Su Chengyang didn’t think much of it, but she could tell from Jiang Shanqi’s attitude that she didn’t know about Tian Rong’s participation as a guest on the show. The show’s producers must have wanted to keep it a secret from the other guests, but Su Chengyang had a connection with Tian Rong, so she was informed in advance.
Su Chengyang didn’t want to break the rules of the program, so she didn’t mention this matter.
Jiang Shanqi hesitated for a moment and said, “You and my senior sister…”
Su Chengyang calmly replied, “I don’t know your senior sister.”
Jiang Shanqi lowered her head and asked, “Did she come to look for you later?”
Su Chengyang shook her head and said, “No.”
“She…”
“Sorry to interrupt.”
Just then, someone suddenly appeared in front of the toy stall.
Both of them instinctively looked up and saw a woman standing in front of them wearing a Hanfu and a veil on her face. She looked ethereal.
Su Chengyang didn’t recognize the person in front of her and felt a bit puzzled, but the other person’s eyes seemed to suggest they had met before.
Jiang Shanqi suddenly stood up from her chair, looking surprised, “Senior sister?”
Su Chengyang was stunned and looked at the person in front of her in disbelief.
Even during the time when things were heated between Yang Xiuyi and Tian Rong, Su Chengyang never saw any photos of Tian Rong online, or maybe she did see them but didn’t know it at the time, and she never searched for anything related to Tian Rong.
Because she always believed that Yang Xiuyi was the one who made the mistake, and Tian Rong was at most an innocent bystander. Su Chengyang never held any resentment towards her, at most feeling a bit uncomfortable and only saying that she wanted to record a program with her.
Tian Rong’s gaze swept over the two of them, and she lifted the bamboo basket in her hand, which contained many sachets, and asked softly, “I sewed these sachets myself, do you two like them?”
Su Chengyang looked at her with confusion, not understanding what she was trying to do.
Jiang Shanqi clearly didn’t expect Tian Rong to appear here. Her face instantly turned unpleasant, and she unconsciously glanced at Su Chengyang.
“Senior sister, you…”
“If you don’t like them, then I’m sorry to have bothered you.”
Tian Rong didn’t give Jiang Shanqi a chance to speak, and with a slight lowering of her eyes, she left.
Her appearance was like a beam of light in a crowded place, wherever she went, attracting countless admiring gazes from people who longed for the light.
Her figure was graceful, her pace slow and elegant, facing the various emotional gazes of others, as if walking in her own backyard, leisurely and carefree.
The thin veil on her face added a touch of mystery, with a beauty that was half-hidden and half-revealed, making people want to see more.
Until her figure was about to disappear from sight, Su Chengyang and Jiang Shanqi finally snapped out of their daze.
“Why is Senior Sister here?” Jiang Shanqi frowned and turned to Su Chengyang.
Since she had already been seen, Su Chengyang had nothing to hide and decided to be honest.
“She’s the guest for this episode. She’s from Sichuan and is here to promote her hometown,” Su Chengyang said calmly.
She didn’t care about why Tian Rong appeared here or what mindset she had when she saw her. These things weren’t important to Su Chengyang.
Nevertheless, she could imagine that after this episode aired, there would be a lot of drama and controversy.
Jiang Shanqi frowned even more tightly and said, “Why did the program invite her? Even if they wanted to create a buzz, they didn’t need to do it this way, right?”
Su Chengyang replied, “She paid to come here herself.”
“Why did she do that? This is not good for you or for her. After what happened with Yang Xiuyi, she finally managed to distance herself from that incident. Now, by participating in the same program as you, the old story will surely be brought up again. What does she want?” Jiang Shanqi asked.
Su Chengyang shook her head calmly. “What she wants to do has nothing to do with me.”
Tian Rong was just a fleeting appearance. She only showed up in front of each guest briefly and then left. She didn’t appear again until the night market closed that night.
In the end, only Su Chengyang’s team succeeded in the <Turning Trash into Treasure> game. The other three teams were recognized by passersby and earned their fare for the next day through performances.
After returning to the program team, they gathered everyone together and after a few words, let them go rest.
After the staff left, several guests stayed in the room without leaving.
“Did you guys see Tian Rong tonight?” Han Songxue asked tentatively.
Jiang Shanqi gave her a look and replied, “What do you think?”
“What do you think? Why did she come to participate in our program? Isn’t it asking for trouble? She was criticized because of her association with Cheng Yang before, and now Cheng Yang’s popularity is not lower than hers. Moreover, her popularity among ordinary people is twice as good as hers. Is she here to be criticized? Black and red are still red4? Wait until the popularity rises and then clarify that she is also a victim of the Yang Xiuyi incident?” Han Songxue continued to say.
He Xu glanced at a few people and her usual demeanor gave off a feeling of detachment from everything. Upon hearing Han Songxue’s words, she yawned and said, “It’s not impossible.”
Qin You lowered her head and said, “She has no benefit in coming to this program. Sister Chengyang, you have to be careful.”
Su Chengyang knew that they were all on her side, which inevitably touched her heart. She nodded to everyone and said, “It doesn’t matter. Her appearance doesn’t make much of a difference to me. I’ll handle it as I usually do.”
Han Songxue agreed, “Even if she wants to trip up Su Chengyang, we’re not dead yet. Can’t we indulge her?”
Suo Chengyang laughed, “What trip up? It’s not a big deal. You guys have been working all day and performed on the show. Why don’t you go back and rest early?”
Speaking of performing on the show, Han Songxue looked resentful and looked at Qi Fu beside her.
Qi Fu shrank in the corner of the sofa when he met her gaze, “I’m sorry, it’s all my fault.”
Song Mingan said with a sigh of disappointment, “Qi Fu, can’t you be as tough as your appearance? Being recognized means your popularity is high.”
Su Chengyang walked up to Han Songxue and pinched her face, “Can’t you be a little more sensible? You’ll just get scolded again when this episode airs.”
Han Songxue immediately widened her eyes, “I was just joking!”
Su Chengyang smiled and said, “Everyone, let’s go back and rest.”
After saying goodbye to everyone, Su Chengyang returned to her room.
On the way, Xiao Lu popped out from a room and said to Su Chengyang, “Boss Lin wants you to call him back before you rest. He wants to talk to you about Tian Rong.”
“Got it. You can go back and rest too.”
