Chapter 55 – Stop Gifting, Stop Gifting!
Qi Yushuo was taken aback. He almost responded with the same attitude he used with his friends: “Do you have a dog’s nose?” But when he looked down, he was met with a head of black and pink gradient short hair. The round eyes reminded him of his Alaskan Malamute; even the emotion expressed in them felt strangely similar.
When his manager had told him about it, he had subconsciously assumed it was just a persona Lin Ganzhi had created. Not many people in the entertainment industry were genuinely willing to eat so much. But in that moment, he found himself believing it.
“Ahem!” Just then, Director Fang coughed loudly, issuing a stern reminder, “No matter how good it smells, there’s no more to eat!”
Seeing his plan foiled, Lin Ganzhi lowered his head in disappointment.
At his words, everyone burst into laughter, except for Zhong Jingyi, whose laugh was a cold sneer.
Next was the other male artist’s self-introduction. However, the boy, who looked quite well-behaved and cute, spoke even more concisely than Qi Yushuo, almost perfunctorily. “Hello everyone, my name is Lu Xi. I’m an actor.”
??
That’s it?
Even though everyone looked at Lu Xi with expectant eyes, hoping he would say more, Lu Xi clearly had no intention of cooperating. He stood with his hands in his pockets, head down, completely unfazed by the fact that he was on a live broadcast. The live stream was flooded with comments calling the newcomer arrogant.
For the sake of the show’s schedule, Director Fang could only continue with the proceedings. “For this episode, we will follow the same grouping as last time. The two newcomers will come up and draw lots to decide which group they’ll join. Blue is for Jingyi’s group, and red is for Ganzhi’s group.” Director Fang held out the lottery box.
The two of them walked over and reached their hands in at the same time.
The members of Zhong Jingyi’s team looked nervously at the lottery box. Lin Ganzhi, on the other hand, was quite relaxed, adopting a zen-like attitude toward work. However, his two teammates seemed just as tense, their gazes locked on Qi Yushuo. The objective was clear: everyone wanted the one who looked super reliable.
The audience also grew tense:
[Qi Yushuo has to be in Yizai’s group!]
[Please assign Lu Xi to Lin Ganzhi’s group.]
Zhong Jingyi’s fans were the same as always, switching subjects and predicates to curse Lin Ganzhi in various ways.
[Can the person above watch their mouth!]
[What’s wrong? Lin Ganzhi and Wenren Yi being in the same group was already cheating. My Yizai doesn’t know anything, so what’s wrong with having someone who looks strong in his group? This is called reasonable resource allocation!]
[Oh, you care so much about reasonable allocation? You’re so poor, why doesn’t your super-rich Yizai reasonably allocate some of his wealth to you?]
[Hahahahaha, you’re savage! You’ve cornered the market on roasts!]
[I can’t, I’m dying of laughter. Are all of Zhong Jingyi’s fans this brainless? Didn’t they say before that with Film Emperor Luan, Zhong Jingyi was invincible? Why do they need to pull in a tall, strong guy now? The relationships in a certain circle are so complicated~ Tsk tsk tsk.]
The on-screen comments were a battlefield, and the scene on camera was no less intense. All eyes were on the two as their hands simultaneously emerged from the lottery box.
A blue tag landed in Qi Yushuo’s hand.
A triumphant smile immediately appeared on Zhong Jingyi’s face. Fan Feimiao was so happy he jumped up and went to hug Qi Yushuo. Qi Yushuo politely took two steps back, offering his hand instead. “Senior, I’ll be in your care this week.”
Fan Feimiao wasn’t bothered by this at all. He happily shook his hand. In the first episode, Zhong Jingyi and Luan Yuanzhou, as a couple, always had endless things to talk about. Not only was he lonely, but he had also been a third wheel for a week. Now that someone else had joined, he wasn’t alone anymore, and this newcomer seemed very reliable.
Zhong Jingyi and Luan Yuanzhou also went over to shake Qi Yushuo’s hand, while casting a provocative glance in Lin Ganzhi’s direction.
Lin Ganzhi, however, stood up with his smile unfaltering and walked toward Lu Xi. He politely extended his hand. “Don’t feel burdened. Just think of this week as a tour of the tropical rainforest. You might not win with my team, but I’ll do my best to make sure you have something to eat at every meal.”
Lin Ganzhi’s speech as a team captain lacked any sort of momentum, like a salted fish that had given up, rolling over to invite a new salted fish to join.
Lu Xi had been very resistant, but after hearing Lin Ganzhi’s relaxed introduction, his guard lowered slightly. He hesitantly reached out his hand. “Is that okay? I’m really useless.” Lu Xi had a very clear assessment of himself.
Que Jin went up and patted Lu Xi’s shoulder, comforting him in the tone of an older sister. “It’s fine, you’re in the same position as me. With me in the group, having one more of us won’t make a difference.”
Lin Ganzhi nodded in strong agreement.
Wenren Yi’s expression was complicated. She felt that Que Jin had been completely led astray by Lin Ganzhi.
After the groups were formed, everyone returned to their seats. Qi Yushuo left Lin Ganzhi’s side and sat next to Fan Feimiao. He had come on this show with a casual attitude, but leaving Lin Ganzhi’s side made him feel inexplicably annoyed.
Once everyone was seated, Director Fang had an assistant place two tents and a lighter on the table.
Then he said, “For this episode, our production team has planned a general route. There are professional staff at each checkpoint to assist with rescue and help. If any of you feel unwell, you must notify the cameraman immediately. This time, the directors will only be observing remotely. Each group will be assigned one cameraman to follow you. You only have one chance to choose supplies today: two tents and one lighter. According to the results of the last episode, Ganzhi’s team gets to choose first.”
A look of unwillingness crossed the faces of Zhong Jingyi’s team. Anyone with a brain would choose the tents, which meant they would have to sleep on the unprotected rainforest floor again tonight.
Qi Yushuo also guessed that Lin Ganzhi would choose the tents.
As everyone’s eyes focused on Lin Ganzhi, he reached out and chose the unremarkable lighter without a moment’s hesitation. His expression was calm. Aside from the newly joined Lu Xi, the rest of his team was used to Lin Ganzhi’s unconventional choices and expressed no objections. After all, only by following Lin Ganzhi could they get food.
???
Everyone was dumbfounded. Qi Yushuo, however, frowned deeply.
Fan Feimiao, the most impatient of the lot, asked, “Lin Ganzhi, you’re not going to throw the game, are you? Let me tell you, I’m very competitive!” As he spoke, his hand immediately reached for a tent.
Lin Ganzhi shot Fan Feimiao a look of utter disdain. “I couldn’t tell.”
The bullet comments erupted in laughter.
“The game for this episode is as follows: you need to head south and find the clearance props hidden by the production team. Whoever finds them first will be the winner of this episode,” Director Fang announced the final rules, then began to confiscate any usable items from the guests.
He started with Fan Feimiao and Wenren Yi, from whom he confiscated various small cookies and chocolates.
Both teams were about to accuse each other, but then they realized they were all equally guilty, so they shut up.
“No necklaces, and no belts either.” Zhuang Wenduan walked over with his hands in his pockets, inspecting them lazily. And so, a belt was once again taken from Fan Feimiao, and a ship’s wheel necklace from Wenren Yi’s neck.
How could it be so evenly distributed?
Both teams fell silent again.
“Um, can I keep my ring on?” Lin Ganzhi meekly held out his hand, showing the ring on his left ring finger that he had bought with Yan Shengping.
Zhuang Wenduan raised an eyebrow and, for the first time, made an exception. “If you’re not afraid of losing it.” Director Zhuang had uncharacteristically bent the rules.
Lin Ganzhi quickly shook his head. This was a token of his and Yan Shengping’s love; he would absolutely not dare to lose it! Lin Ganzhi preciously turned the silver ring on his finger, the small diamond fragments emitting a warm, dazzling light.
Zhong Jingyi turned his head away in annoyance. He’s so poor he can only afford a ring like that, and he’s still showing it off.
At this moment, the bullet comments were severely polarized. For Lin Ganzhi’s anti-fans, they had to seize every opportunity to slander him! At the same time, for his fans, this was a precious opportunity for some sweet content!
[Hahaha, I’ll bet a bag of spicy strips that the old man couldn’t stand us shipping Ganzhi baby with various CPs and deliberately came out to assert his sovereignty!]
[Is the old man planning to go all out showing off this episode? Hahaha, but still, I’ll take this dog food.]
[Why do you keep saying it’s the old man? I think Ganzhi is enjoying it. He was showing off his husband’s good luck on Weibo before. I think showing off the luck was secondary; he just wanted us to see the ring!]
[It feels like no matter how much he’s slandered online, Lin Ganzhi’s married life is still thriving. The two of them are so sweet~]
[Wuwuwu, didn’t they say Yan Shengping never dated? How did he fall so head over heels in just a few months of marriage? I don’t believe it, unless you show me!]
[Hey you, your abacus is so loud it’s hurting my eyes!]
[Heh, that ring looks like it only costs a few ten-thousands. Is it even worthy of being shown off?]
The bullet comments began to be interspersed with all sorts of sour remarks, but soon, some unbiased netizens couldn’t stand it anymore and came out to educate them.
[What kind of sales associate comment is this? Only a multi-million-dollar ring is worthy of your attention? Then why don’t you buy one yourself? I bought a ring from this brand, and it’s super sturdy. The brand’s official account even came down to like Ganzhi’s post. What are you being so high and mighty about?]
Once one person expressed their dissatisfaction, others were stirred up. They might not have much else, but they had a mouth and a keyboard. They cursed Zhong Jingyi’s fans until they didn’t dare to make a peep.
Just then, “Number 12345” gifted another 500,000 in the live stream, and the screen was filled with dazzling virtual battleships.
Following that, “Number 12345” even sent a bullet comment to add insult to injury: [Well said.] It had the same vibe as a certain movie scene with the line “keep the music playing, keep dancing.”
Now Lin Ganzhi’s fans were even more emboldened. The big shot’s money was so satisfying.
The show had only been on for half an hour, and another topic was already trending: “The Joy of Shipping a CP with a Big Shot!”
At home, Qin Taotao, who was engrossed in the live stream, couldn’t handle this kind of excitement. Madam Qin, who was watching with her, was also quite interested. When she saw someone spending money and the bullet comments were all praising Lin Ganzhi, she patted her daughter’s shoulder. “Taotao, how do you send this battleship? Teach Mommy. It seems like everyone praises Ganzhi when they see it.”
Did she even need her mom to remind her? Qin Taotao took out her phone. “Mom, I’ll just do it. I’ll gift 600,000 first, and then more later.” The rich could be so willful.
[Taozi Who Super Loves Baby Ganzhi: For my baby Ganzhi! Universally Disliked CP is the best! His husband is super handsome! Everyone, ship it!]
As she spoke, virtual battleships and rockets once again flooded the bullet comments. The grand scene stunned the other fans. An obscure celebrity like Lin Ganzhi actually had so many wealthy fans! And the more nice things they said, the more they gifted him!
How impressive was that! Lin Ganzhi’s fans instantly turned into typing machines, frantically dominating the screen. The big shot “Number 12345” was not to be outdone and gifted another million.
Within a few minutes, Lin Ganzhi was trending again: “Lin Ganzhi and His Wealthy Fans.”
Lin Ganzhi walked into the jungle with a laid-back attitude. Even though the temperature was close to thirty-eight degrees Celsius, he suddenly shivered, getting a strange feeling of losing money. That couldn’t be right; his salary card was securely locked in his little golden safe!