[Hahaha, no rush. She’s not impatient at all, she’s busy enjoying the scenery together with God Zhou!]
[Brother Ye, just promise us one thing: when you see that scene later, don’t cry!]
[I’m suddenly looking forward to seeing his reaction!]
[Brother Ye, walk faster! You’re going to see your little sister! Shouldn’t you be running?!]
By the time Shao Yuye reached the small park, the rain had finally stopped.
He had just lowered his umbrella when he spotted Jin Xiaoyu wandering around nearby by herself.
Curious, he asked, “What are you doing here?”
Startled by his sudden appearance, Jin Xiaoyu blurted out in surprise, “Why are you back so early?”
“…?”
Shao Yuye didn’t stop walking, only gave her a strange look.
Jin Xiaoyu chuckled awkwardly as she hurried after him.
“I mean… you finished your mission really fast! Hahaha!”
A true CP shipper had to know how to create opportunities for the couple!
She’d been waiting here specifically to intercept Brother Ye.
She just hadn’t expected Brother Ye to finish his mission so quickly. She felt like she’d barely wandered around for a few minutes.
[Hahaha, so Xiaoyu doesn’t want Brother Ye coming back this early either?]
[Could Xiaoyu be shipping ‘WanZhou’ on-site too?]
[Even the guests are shipping them. Could WanZhou actually be real?!]
Completely oblivious to all of this, Shao Yuye proudly puffed out his chest at the compliment.
“Of course.
“Who do you think I am~”
The two walked back together, but there was still no sign of Qi Luozhou.
Shao Yuye frowned. Remembering how Jin Xiaoyu had also been sitting alone on the bench yesterday, he asked with concern, “Where’s that unreliable partner of yours? Did he ditch you again?”
Jin Xiaoyu hurriedly waved both hands.
“No, no.”
She had willingly stayed away so she wouldn’t interrupt God Zhou and Wanwan.
Not daring to talk about God Zhou with Brother Ye, she quietly took a disposable hand warmer out of her pocket, tore open the package, and handed it to him.
“Brother Ye, here. A hand warmer.”
Shao Yuye raised an eyebrow.
“What’s this for?”
Jin Xiaoyu chose her words carefully.
“It… might keep you a little warmer.”
From the moment they’d met, Shao Yuye had already felt that she was acting oddly.
Holding the hand warmer, he looked utterly baffled.
What was that supposed to mean?
[Hahaha, Xiaoyu means: warm yourself up now, because your heart might get cold later…]
[So Xiaoyu really is shipping them too?!]
[Ahhh! ‘WanZhou’ is seriously such a great ship, I could say it ten thousand times!]
Shao Yuye still had no idea what nonsense Jin Xiaoyu had been talking about.
That was, until they stepped into the park.
His steady stride came to an abrupt halt.
Good grief!
Seriously, good grief!
Jiang Yuan, Zhang Yiran, and Qi Luozhou were all gathered around his little sister!
He’d said it last night, hadn’t he?
His sister really was incredibly popular!
Damn it.
From now on, he absolutely couldn’t leave her by herself anymore.
Otherwise these ‘wolves and tigers’ would swarm toward her the moment they caught the scent of an opportunity.
Especially that shameless Zhang Yiran.
The guy was putting on an overly sweet, sickeningly cutesy voice as he pleaded, “Pretty little sister, pleeease help your Brother out!”
As he spoke, he even grabbed Shen Wanwan’s sleeve and gave it two little shakes.
It was a flawless performance of ‘a macho man acting cute.’
Shao Yuye felt goosebumps all over.
Meanwhile, Jin Xiaoyu’s mouth dropped open.
Wait.
Although God Zhou was sitting right beside Shen Wanwan… all of Shen Wanwan’s attention was on Zhang Yiran.
How could anyone tolerate that?!
Where had these two come from?
How dare they interrupt the young couple’s romantic moment?!
Get lost!!!
Almost simultaneously, both of them shot forward like bolts of lightning.
Before Shao Yuye had even reached them, his voice rang out first.
“Ugh!”
After finishing his act of cuteness, Zhang Yiran had already been so embarrassed he could barely face anyone, covering his face with both hands in utter mortification.
The moment he heard Shao Yuye’s voice, his social death meter instantly maxed out.
All four people turned toward them.
Shao Yuye glared at Zhang Yiran.
“So fake! Seriously, way too fake!”
How could a grown man shamelessly act cute toward his little sister?
Ugh!
Zhang Yiran: “…”
Another fiery gaze landed on him.
Jin Xiaoyu glared just as fiercely.
“Hideous! Absolutely hideous!”
Because of him, God Zhou and Wanwan had even stopped talking!
Zhang Yiran: “…”
Seeing her Brother return, Shen Wanwan smiled brightly and peeked out from behind Zhang Yiran, revealing half her face.
“Finished your mission?”
“Yeah.”
Shao Yuye pulled Shen Wanwan over to sit beside him instead. As his gaze swept across Qi Luozhou, he said pointedly, “Don’t sit with people who have ulterior motives.”
Smiling, Shen Wanwan glanced at Qi Luozhou.
He still wore that relaxed, carefree expression, the corners of his lips curved into a lazy smile.
As though he would forever sit calmly above it all—spotlessly clean, untouched by the dust of the mortal world.
This time, Shen Wanwan agreed wholeheartedly.
“Brother’s right~”
From the side, Zhang Yiran tried in vain to explain, “Don’t look at me like that! We were just stuck on our mission and asked your sister to help us clear it…”
Jiang Yuan nodded vigorously in agreement.
Shao Yuye shot back stubbornly, “Is that how you ask someone for a favor? Where’s the money? Where’s the sincerity?”
Zhang Yiran complained aggrievedly, “…That’s still not sincere enough?! Why don’t you ask your sister what outrageous demand she made?!”
When Shen Wanwan first told him to act cute, Zhang Yiran had flatly refused.
He was a proud, full-grown man. How could he possibly act cute?!
But he and Jiang Yuan simply couldn’t clear that challenge on their own.
Left with no choice, they had used a Challenge Assistance Card.
They designated Shen Wanwan as the person to help them pass the stage, but there was one catch—
They had to obtain Shen Wanwan’s cooperation.
Faced with Shen Wanwan’s unreasonable request, Jiang Yuan completed it almost immediately.
Zhang Yiran, however, was backed into a corner. Red-faced, he reluctantly acted cute.
It had already been mortifying enough that the whole thing was broadcast live.
Who knew Shao Yuye would catch him in the act, too?
His expression cycled through so many emotions that it was almost comical.
The livestream chat burst into laughter once again.
[Zhang Yiran: My entire reputation has been destroyed here!]
[It’s fine, it’s not embarrassing. Even Brother Ye acts cute in front of his little sister.]
[Shen Wanwan is incredible! So… will we ever get to see God Zhou act cute? Wanwan, work harder! Trick God Zhou into doing it!!]
“It was just acting cute. What’s so outrageous about that?!”
Shao Yuye raised an eyebrow, clearly dissatisfied.
“If you’ve got the ability, clear the level yourself!”
Zhang Yiran: “…”
—You hopeless siscon with the world’s most shameless double standards… One day you’re going to pay for this.
Suddenly, Zhang Yiran found himself looking forward to the day Shen Wanwan fell in love.
What kind of expression would Shao Yuye have then?
That hopeless siscon would definitely cry his eyes out.
In consideration of Zhang Yiran and Jiang Yuan’s sincere attempts at acting cute, Shen Wanwan helped the two of them clear the level.
Now that Zhang Yiran’s group’s challenge was complete, it was time for everyone to find the hidden quest NPC and turn in the mission.
This time, the reward was another small brocade pouch.
Inside the red embroidered silk bag was a thin strip of paper, rolled into a tiny scroll.
Shao Yuye untied the pouch, unrolled the note, and read aloud:
[Escape from the Deserted Island: Early New Year Plan (Part 1)!
[Tip: Stockpile as much food as possible. It’ll be very useful~]
The NPC beside them immediately launched into an exaggerated performance.
“My goodness! You guys are amazing! You actually discovered this top-secret plan on only the second day!!”
Shen Wanwan merely glanced at him with an expression… that looked suspiciously like someone looking sympathetically at an idiot.
The staff member playing the NPC: “…” Why does that feel like mockery…?
Before he could finish recovering mentally, Shao Yuye asked another question.
“If we’re escaping the island anyway, why are we stockpiling food?”
The staff member weakly explained, “…This is only Part One. You don’t have the complete information yet.”
“Fair enough.”
Shao Yuye folded the note, tucked it into the waist pouch he carried with him, and looked as though he believed the explanation.
The staff member silently let out a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, everyone else’s attention was drawn to the title on the note, and the livestream immediately exploded with speculation.
[The director’s brewing up another huge scheme, isn’t he?!]
[Because Wanwan broke his whole game on Day One, is he trying to send Wanwan and Brother Ye home early?]
[No way. Shen Wanwan is literally the show’s money-printing machine. Besides, ‘Petty Revenge Duo’ are still together as a team right now, the ratings are through the roof. Why would the director send his two cash cows home? I’m convinced he’s planning something huge.]
[Maybe it’s another piece of misleading information. So… should they stockpile food or not? Could this be the real mystery?]
[What do you think Wanwan will do?]
Watching Shen Wanwan fall into thought, the audience grew excited once again.
[Can Wanwan crack the puzzle again this time?]
[Of course! I don’t know why, but I have this inexplicable confidence in her now. It feels like there’s no situation she can’t solve.]
[Hahaha! Other celebrities go on reality shows and get played by the production team; Shen Wanwan goes on reality shows to play the production team instead! I seriously love this!]
But it was obvious that Shen Wanwan didn’t care much about the clue.
They didn’t deliberately hoard food, but they cleared levels so quickly that by evening they’d accumulated a generous stockpile of ingredients anyway.
In fact, they had so much extra that they sold some to the production team in exchange for Speed Tokens, then used those coins to buy the dinner Zhang Yiran and Jiang Yuan had cooked.
This time, Zhang Yiran and Jiang Yuan had copied Shen Wanwan’s earlier strategy. They bought cooking equipment and ingredients, then returned to cook meals for sale.
None of the levels at this stop rewarded Speed Tokens.
After analyzing the situation, Zhang Yiran and Jiang Yuan concluded that this was probably another tactic by the production team to drain everyone’s token reserves.
Maybe Speed Tokens would become critically important later.
To fight back against the production team, they had no choice but to sell their meals cheaply.
In the end, they charged just 100 Speed Tokens per person for a full day’s meals, attracting every guest as a paying customer.
The livestream comments laughed again.
[Wanwan: I’ve already moved on from this strategy. Since you’re all working so hard, I’ll let you earn a little too.]
[Honestly, using this strategy now only earns hard-earned money. The ingredients themselves can be exchanged for Speed Tokens too.]
[Six hundred tokens a day! Even after deducting ingredient costs, they’re still making at least 300 coins in profit. In the current situation, that’s basically a fortune!]