Of course, Shang Lu had no intention of answering this question in detail. She merely smiled and gave two words: "Secret."
The bullet comments were flooded with question marks. The more they couldn't guess, the more it made them scratch their ears and cheeks in curiosity, their hearts itching.
【Damn, Shang Lu, you have such a ruthless heart.】
【If I don't get an answer today, I won't be able to sleep!!!】
【Boohoo, who can tell me what she actually said?】
The production staff were naturally also very curious about this "secret," but because of what had happened earlier, they felt they were in the wrong regarding Shang Lu. Seeing that she was unwilling to answer, they naturally didn't dare to dig deeper and could only hurry to skip this topic.
According to the previous rules, Shang Lu and Xu Ze were in a group, so Xu Ze had also benefited from her good fortune and obtained Room A together with Shang Lu.
The production team had prepared a total of six rooms for the guests, sorted into A, B, and C with two of each.
So Lin Yanyan and Ye Lu got Room B, while Song Zeqian and Jiang Jing got Room C.
#The harder you work, the luckier the people you hate become along with you.#
Fortunately, Shang Lu didn't actually hate Xu Ze, so she didn't mind. Instead, she could see that Lin Yanyan was truly quite displeased that Ye Lu had benefited from her to get Room B.
The production team finally gave them half an hour to rest, letting them each take their luggage to their corresponding rooms to tidy up.
Room C was the most crude. Inside was only a single bed and a set of table and chairs. As the senior, Jiang Jing accepted it fairly well. And Song Zeqian had filmed documentaries and stayed in environments countless times harsher than this, so he had no complaints either.
Room B had simple renovations. It looked like an ordinary room—not good, but not bad either.
Room A was a different story. It had a very large balcony with excellent lighting, a spacious area, and everything from sofas, air conditioning, projectors, to coffee machines—it was practically the configuration of a luxury hotel.
And just as Shang Lu had put down her suitcase, sat down, and opened a bottle of mineral water, the door was pushed open directly from outside.
Lin Yanyan stood in the doorway, her hand still on the doorknob, yet surveying the entire interior of the room with an appraising gaze.
Shang Lu sat on the sofa looking at her lazily. "Before entering someone else's room, you should knock first. Did no one teach you such basic manners?"
Lin Yanyan didn't answer Shang Lu's question. Instead, she walked directly into the room and said in a commanding tone, "Hey, let's switch rooms."
The bullet comments: "?!"
【Damn! Are we getting a catfight this quickly? I'm getting excited.】
【Lin Yanyan's princess syndrome is truly incurable.】
【But Shang Lu doesn't have a good temper either. Shang Lu, tear her apart!】
【Let's guess whether Shang Lu can keep the right to use the room? Place your bets, no take-backs!】
The room had clearly been determined according to the game rules, yet the person before her could so righteously demand to switch with her. Shang Lu had never seen such a move before.
But to be honest, it wasn't too annoying.
Being able to directly state one's thoughts and goals to her was still better than that time at a dinner party when Ning Lin had pitifully told her in front of Jiang Yi that the lounge was too close to the elevators and noisy—not saying it directly, yet implying between the lines that she wanted to switch lounges with her.
Compared to hypocritical kindness, Shang Lu preferred straightforward foolishness.
Shang Lu suddenly stood up and walked toward Lin Yanyan. Her gaze fell on Lin Yanyan's face with some deep meaning, and then she smiled gently. "Sure, but there are conditions."
Lin Yanyan was startled by this sudden smile and took a step back, but her mouth refused to admit defeat. "Shang Lu, what are you trying to do?"
"'There's no such thing as a free lunch, nor free lodging.'" Shang Lu said as she took out her phone. "Fifty thousand for one night, twenty percent off for two nights. WeChat or Alipay?"
Lin Yanyan: "?"
In the end, watching the eighty thousand arrive in her Alipay account, Shang Lu smiled even more sincerely, tossed out a "Welcome to cooperate again next time," then exchanged keys with Lin Yanyan, picked up her suitcase, and went to Room B.
Lin Yanyan fell silent. As far as she knew, the Shang family was wealthier than her own family. This amount of money shouldn't mean much to Shang Lu, right? Moreover, Shang Lu's expression of having "scored a huge bargain" suddenly made Lin Yanyan feel as if she had suffered a loss, and she even subtly regretted her actions.
The livestream room also fell silent.
【Damn, I didn't expect it would end like this.】
【Shang Lu made a clean profit of eighty thousand... I submit.】
【Eighty thousand for two nights. Forget staying in Room B, I'd be willing to sleep on the streets.】
【There was actually no war, but full of peace and love. What a bizarre turn.】
Shang Lu carried her suitcase out the door and headed straight for the room with the B1 doorplate.
The moment the key was inserted, a door with the A2 doorplate not far away opened, accompanied by a puzzled voice: "Shang Lu?"
Shang Lu turned back. Seeing that the person calling her was Xu Ze, she waved at him in greeting and said very perfunctorily, "Hi."
What Shang Lu didn't expect was that the next second, the opposite door also opened, and Ye Lu stuck his head out to ask, "Shang Lu, why are you coming to Room B?"
Xu Ze also didn't understand. He stood quietly in place looking at Shang Lu, waiting for her answer.
Shang Lu pushed her suitcase inside and explained, "Lin Yanyan spent money to buy my room."
Ye Lu's voice was full of incomprehension: "...Huh? You can even sell that?"
Right at this moment, Xu Ze quickly walked over.
He passed the key in his hand to Shang Lu, then extended his other empty hand toward her.
Shang Lu tentatively raised the Room B key in her hand and asked, "You want to switch with me?"
Xu Ze nodded.
Shang Lu thought for two seconds and said, "There's no need for that."
There was air conditioning, a phone, and a bed—actually, it was pretty much the same wherever she stayed.
And Ye Lu immediately shouted in dissatisfaction, "Hey Xu Ze, if you don't want to stay there, switch with me!"
But Xu Ze looked into Shang Lu's eyes and said, "You earned it."
He hadn't successfully sold the product; it was only because of good luck that he had been grouped with Shang Lu. Otherwise, he should also be staying in Room C.
Shang Lu understood what Xu Ze meant. Although she couldn't tell whether Xu Ze was being genuinely kind or falsely polite, she had always hated the classic scenario beloved by fellow countrymen where people politely deferred to each other and fought over the bill. To end it quickly, she stopped refusing and directly agreed.
And after sensing Ye Lu's puzzled gaze, Shang Lu repeated that line to him: "Do you also want to stay in Room A? Fifty thousand for one night, twenty percent off for two nights. WeChat or Alipay?"
Ye Lu was stunned for a moment, then said, "Dream on! My money doesn't grow on trees! Only an idiot would spend money to buy your room!"
"Creak—"
Another Room A door opened from the inside, and Lin Yanyan looked at Ye Lu with an expressionless face.
Shang Lu walked over with a bright smile, patted Lin Yanyan's shoulder, then pointed at Ye Lu and said sincerely, "He called you an idiot."
Ye Lu: "?"
The bullet comments: "?"
【Shang Lu, the way you're openly sowing discord is too hilarious! Are you an elementary schooler?!】
【It can't really be called sowing discord. Ye Lu's words did indeed mean that, hahaha.】
【Lin Yanyan's face darkened, hahaha.】
【Ye Lu, why are you closing the door? Are you chickening out!】
【Shang Lu is exactly the kind of troublemaker who loves watching the world burn yet can stir things up with a straight face. She really suits this show, hahaha.】
By the time they went down to gather, it was already dinner time.
On the table were six different plates containing vastly different food.
Plate No. 1 had abalone rice, chicken soup, and a serving of shrimp dumplings. From there, the food degraded in sequence, and by the time it reached Plate No. 6, there was only a single, lonely steamed bun.
Before distributing dinner, they needed to score each other first.
Each person had five different score cards, representing ten points, eight points, six points, four points, and two points.
The production team had an exclusive room with six boxes bearing their names. Each person had to cast one score card for every other guest besides themselves.
After voting, the guests had to return to their respective rooms and would receive dinner corresponding to their final ranking, delivered by staff.
And this voting score might also be related to a series of subsequent task arrangements, so everyone had to keep their received score and food secret and not tell anyone.
The bullet comments immediately got the purpose of this segment.
【So the voting isn't scary; whoever gets the low score is the embarrassing one.】
【If the five votes add up to only a dozen or so points, that would be so awkward. It proves this person is truly unpopular and ranked last with everyone.】
【I'm starting to look forward to it, hahaha! I'll bet Xu Ze has the highest score. So far, he really seems like the most normal one.】
【Choosing the most hated king of villains from a group of villains...?】
【Short for the King of Villains Supreme (bushi).】
*
The first to enter and vote was Shang Lu.
Without any need to think, Shang Lu directly put the highest ten-point card into the box with Lin Yanyan's name.
The PD following her was very surprised: "Teacher Shang, do you and Teacher Lin have a good relationship?"
He felt insincere even saying this himself.
The bullet comments were also full of question marks. No one understood why Shang Lu would actually cast her vote for Lin Yanyan, who had never had a very good attitude toward her.
Shang Lu thought for two seconds and answered, "We're not close, but I truly don't hate her."
As for the remaining score cards, Shang Lu put the lowest two-point card into Song Zeqian's box. Simp No. 1 and Simp No. 2 were both good-for-nothings, so she naturally didn't find Simp No. 3 very pleasing to the eye either.
Then the others entered the room to vote in sequence and returned to their own rooms to wait.
Ten minutes later, Shang Lu's door was knocked on.
A staff member walked into the room carrying a plate, and on the plate in his hand was placed only a lone steamed bun. With an apologetic voice, he announced the result: "We're sorry, Teacher Shang. You ranked sixth in this vote, so you can only have one steamed bun."
Shang Lu accepted this result calmly and asked, "Do you have Lao Gan Ma?"
Staff member: "?"
The staff member asked in disbelief, "Don't you have anything you want to say about this result?"
"No." Shang Lu shook her head and asked again, "So do you have Lao Gan Ma or not?"
Eating it dry was really a bit hard to swallow.
Staff member: "..."
There were many question marks in Shang Lu's livestream room at this moment. Quite a lot of people didn't understand this voting result.
【I thought Xu Ze and Shang Lu were getting along quite well. Xu Ze voluntarily switched rooms later, so he should have some good impression of her, right? He should have given Shang Lu a high score.】
【Her performance today wasn't problematic either. Why is she the lowest?】
【Honestly speaking, Shang Lu was pretty cute today. This result is so weird.】
Immediately, Shang Lu's anti-fans jumped out to explain.
【Why ask so many questions? We're watching the show's effects; only those actually filming know what kind of person Shang Lu is. It's not surprising she got this score, right?】
【Hahahaha, so refreshing! Shang Lu is the most unwelcome wherever she goes.】
【Serves her right, Shang Lu. As expected, everyone's eyes are sharp.】
【Those who hate Shang Lu, assemble in the bottom right corner!!!】
And right at this moment, things took a turn.
【Wait! Everyone quickly go check the other livestream rooms. There's a problem with this result. Song Zeqian also got a steamed bun over there!】
【+1 to the previous comment. I just came from Xu Ze's livestream room. He also got a steamed bun over there. I checked everyone's—all steamed buns!】
【???】
【Huh? Could everyone have the same score? That's impossible, right?】
【I get it. The production team is the problem! They deliberately gave every guest a steamed bun to make them think they were the most unpopular person. That way they can sow internal conflict.】
【Indeed, if someone knows they're the most hated person in the group, their attitude while interacting with others will definitely be affected, making it easy to trigger conflicts.】
【This production team is truly wicked... but I love watching it!】
Regarding the production team's trap, the one who reacted the most was Lin Yanyan.
She looked at the PD in disbelief and asked, "I actually got the lowest score? I'm the most hated?"
The PD was so frightened by the young lady's aura that he took a step back, but could only steel himself and nod. He still had to endure the pressure to remind her: "Please keep this result confidential. It will be related to the following tasks."
Lin Yanyan was furious. She directly threw the steamed bun into the trash can and said, "I'd rather starve to death than eat this kind of thing!"
To Lin Yanyan, this wasn't just a steamed bun—it was humiliation!
She was actually disliked? How could anyone dislike her? Were these people blind?!
Facing the result of receiving a steamed bun, Ye Lu rolled his eyes. The others were relatively calm.
Xu Ze obviously didn't care about these things and still didn't speak.
Song Zeqian knew that he had attacked four people at once during the day, so being disliked was normal. He also felt this result was reasonable. Although unhappy, he accepted it.
As the senior, Jiang Jing could only reveal a helpless yet tolerant smile and say a few very pretty pleasantries, expressing that she was somewhat sad about this result but would continue working hard to integrate with everyone.
Night quickly fell.
The first day of live recording ended here, and everyone successively washed up and entered dreamland.
Good night to everyone, except Lin Yanyan.
Because she had thrown away her only steamed bun, she was so hungry she couldn't sleep at all.
So the next morning, the production team prepared an ordinary breakfast for them, yet Lin Yanyan completely abandoned her table manners and wolfed down the food.
Because Lin Yanyan was making too much noise, Shang Lu glanced at her.
Lin Yanyan immediately realized it, straightened up holding her bread, and glared right back. What are you looking at? It was definitely Shang Lu who gave her a low score. Her having only a steamed bun yesterday couldn't have happened without Shang Lu's "contribution"!
Shang Lu didn't understand why Lin Yanyan was unhappy, nor did she care very much. She withdrew her gaze, picked up her milk and took a sip, continuing to eat breakfast.
Some netizens in the livestream room felt it was very strange.
【Why is Lin Yanyan in such a bad temper so early in the morning? Who provoked her?】
【It's probably the production team's sowing discord taking effect. This morning when Jiang Jing distributed utensils to everyone, she also said some very strange things, tentatively asking if everyone had any opinions about her.】
【Although Song Zeqian hasn't taken off his sunglasses today, I can also feel that he must be rolling his eyes behind the lenses.】
【So wicked. This kind of shenanigan makes the already disharmonious atmosphere even more awkward, but I love watching it.】
After the meal concluded, today's itinerary officially began.
This time they were in groups of three, and the grouping results had also been arranged in advance by the production team.
Directly by gender—Shang Lu, Lin Yanyan, and Jiang Jing were in one group, while Song Zeqian, Xu Ze, and Ye Lu were in another.
The moment she saw her partner was Shang Lu, Lin Yanyan nearly wrote "unwilling" on her face.
Lin Yanyan didn't like Shang Lu.
She had never liked her.
The engagement between Shang Lu and Jiang Yi was considered a semi-public secret within the circle, but the scandal between Jiang Yi and Ning Lin had never stopped, completely not giving Shang Lu and the Shang family any face. Even so, Shang Lu still followed behind Jiang Yi like a simp day after day for years. Who knew how many people mocked her behind her back.
Shang Lu had once been a goddess-level figure in the circle, but the current Shang Lu could be called a joke without exaggeration.
Or rather, Lin Yanyan actually looked down on Shang Lu.
With the Shang family's such superior background as her trump card and her own conditions not bad either, she could actually live so pitifully and humbly for a man. It was too absurd.
After a day of interaction, Lin Yanyan felt even more that her judgment of people was indeed correct. Shang Lu was even more annoying than she had imagined.
Whether it was winning or losing in game segments or ordinary conversation and interaction, Lin Yanyan always felt suppressed by Shang Lu. Even though she had ultimately succeeded in obtaining the room's right of use, she still felt an indescribable grievance. This feeling made her very unhappy, and to make matters worse, she had to be in a group with Shang Lu today, making her even more irritable.
Unlucky! Truly unlucky!
As for the other group, Song Zeqian and Ye Lu also found each other unpleasant, and Xu Ze didn't like talking either.
In short, the atmosphere in neither group was very good.
But the tasks still had to continue.
The director team quickly announced the rules for this game. Each group had three people: two responsible for dodging attacks, and one responsible for attacking people from the other group with soft balls. Both groups would play simultaneously in two adjacent venues. In the end, the standard for victory or defeat would be based on the number of times the two dodging people were hit by balls.
A troubled expression appeared on Jiang Jing's face. She said, "At my age, my reflexes aren't good enough. I won't hold you back. I'll be responsible for attacking them."
Everyone felt that Lin Yanyan should fight with Jiang Jing for this position. After all, such a coddled young lady definitely wouldn't want to run around the field in disarray to dodge those balls.
Jiang Jing naturally thought so too. It would be best if she could take this easiest task herself, but if Lin Yanyan fought with her over it, as the elder she would also stand in the natural advantage position of public opinion. This subtle scene wouldn't be cut during post-production either—all of this was screen time and topicality.
But what Jiang Jing didn't expect was that Lin Yanyan had no objections to this task assignment.
The other group also quickly discussed their personnel arrangement: Xu Ze and Ye Lu would be responsible for dodging, while Song Zeqian would attack Shang Lu and Lin Yanyan.
The game officially began soon after.
Shang Lu and Lin Yanyan both changed into the team uniforms specially prepared by the production team and entered the game venue.
There were air cushions all around protecting them very well, reducing the possibility of them getting injured while dodging.
Lin Yanyan glanced at Shang Lu and said in an arrogant tone, "Don't drag me down. It's best if you don't appear in my line of sight."
Lin Yanyan had many years of dance foundation. She felt her physical reactions were very nimble and had the confidence to dodge Song Zeqian's attacks, crushing Shang Lu thoroughly in the upcoming performance.
This was also the most important reason Lin Yanyan was willing to take on this task—to properly showcase herself.
Having heard what Lin Yanyan said, Shang Lu thought for a few seconds and still agreed. "Alright."
The five-minute game time began with the music. From the start, Lin Yanyan stared intently at Song Zeqian, who was responsible for attacking them, determined to win this match.
Song Zeqian still had a pair of sunglasses on the bridge of his nose, yet his actions of taking balls with both hands and alternately throwing them at them were extremely swift, not wasting a single second.
【Damn, no matter how you put it, Shang Lu and Lin Yanyan are two great beauties. Song Zeqian really shows no mercy to the fairer sex at all.】
【What is the previous commenter thinking? Forget gender—Director Song only sees two kinds of people in the entertainment industry: good actors and trash. (lights cigarette)】
Although Song Zeqian's attacks weren't soft-hearted, Lin Yanyan also displayed her advantage, very nimbly dodging Song Zeqian's attacks time and time again.
Although she was unfortunately hit a few times within the five minutes, overall it was already a very good result.
Even many netizens in the livestream room revised their opinion of Lin Yanyan.
【I thought Lin Yanyan would be hit by balls and run around crying from anger. I'm a bit surprised she's not a complete vase.】
【These skills are indeed not bad. She really has something.】
【Wait... so where is Shang Lu?】
Lin Yanyan finally realized what was wrong.
Why had she not sensed Shang Lu's existence from beginning to end in this game? Weren't they teammates? How come she was the only one fighting alone?
Lin Yanyan looked to her left, then to her right. Forget Shang Lu's person—she couldn't even see a single hair.
"...Why did you stop? Is the game over?"
Suddenly, a puzzled voice sounded from behind Lin Yanyan, and Shang Lu's head also poked out.
Lin Yanyan: "?"
The netizens in the livestream room: "???"
Lin Yanyan slowly turned her head. Looking at that beautiful yet detestable face that was extremely close and had its chin resting on her shoulder, she felt as if angry veins were about to pop out on her forehead.
Gnashing her teeth, Lin Yanyan asked, "Shang Lu, why are you hiding behind me?"
"Wasn't that what you said?" After retorting, Shang Lu very seriously explained, "I'm hiding behind you. I won't appear in your line of sight, nor will I drag you down. Isn't this the best of both worlds?"
Lin Yanyan: "???"
【I'm going to die laughing, hahaha. Shang Lu, are you poisonous?】
【Although it seems very strange, thinking about it carefully, it actually makes a lot of sense.】
【Shang Lu (innocent): Woman, are you still not satisfied with what you see?】
【I've attained enlightenment. Is this the legendary "behind every successful woman, there is often another even more remarkable woman"?】