The words came from Xia Wan's mouth, and the more rumors spread, the more serious the consequences will be.

After giving her instructions, Lu Yan went back, passing by Xia Wan's tent area on the way.

It was already 12 o'clock, and their group's tent was still not set up. It was crooked and looked like it would collapse with a gust of wind. Fang Chen was in charge of cooking, but he hadn't dug a hole as well as An Xinrong. He knelt on the ground to add firewood to the hole to start a fire, but the flickering flames went out as soon as they lit up. He angrily slammed his fist on the ground, wanting to overturn the pot, but he remembered that they were filming a show and forced himself to hold back. His face was covered in soot, and Lu Yan shook her head at the sight.

Xia Wan came out of the tent, covered in sweat, wanting to get some fresh air, but instead saw Lu Yan.

She was filled with hostility towards Lu Yan, believing that Lu Yan was there to make a fool of herself.

My gaze shifted downwards to Lu Yan's feet. She was wearing slippers and walking leisurely, not at all like someone who had injured or sprained their ankle.

It was all an act, as expected.

Perhaps only a woman can see through someone's manipulative nature at a glance; only Zhuang Yan was foolish enough to think that Lu Yan was very weak.

Xia Wan was about to say something sarcastic when she saw Zhuang Yan walking towards her.

The tents of the two teams were not far apart, at most ten meters apart.

Even though it's such a short distance, Zhuang Yan still made a special trip to pick up Lu Yan. Was he afraid that someone might hurt her?

Who is Zhuang Yan guarding against?

Zhuang Yan approached Lu Yan, but before he could speak, Lu Yan raised her hand and said, "Can you carry me back?"

"Does your foot hurt?"

"I don't want to leave."

Without the slightest hesitation, Zhuang Yan actually bent down and picked her up.

She wondered if it was sweat that got into her eyes, which made her vision blurry with tears.

She didn't understand why the two of them had become so close in such a short time. When she was observing their interactions in the observation room, Zhuang Yan had been avoiding Lu Yan, and it was clear that Zhuang Yan cared a lot about Lu Yan being his aunt. What could have changed him so quickly?

An Xinrong had already picked the mushrooms; only a few were edible in the basket.

Zhuang Yan first made a broth with mushrooms, and then added instant noodles to it. The aroma of the soup noodles wafted all the way to the next door.

Fang Chen's stomach was growling with hunger; he felt he could eat a whole cow right now. The fire in the stove still wouldn't light, so in frustration, he smashed the lighter in his hand.

Ling Xuan finally got the tent in place. He had gotten up early and spent the morning doing physical labor, so his stomach was already empty. When he smelled the aroma, he thought Fang Chen had prepared the meal.

When they went outside, they found a cold pot, cold water, and cold firewood, a sight that sent chills down their spines.

"Where's the food you cooked?"

"I can't start this fire."

Next door, Zhuang Yan called out, "Dinner's ready!" Ling Xuan looked over with envy and jealousy, touching his flat stomach, his heart burning with hunger.

"How come you can't even start a fire? What time is it? The neighbors have already started eating. What are we going to eat? You can't even cook properly!" Ling Xuan complained. "Look at Zhuang Yan next door. He's a rich kid. He can cook, camp, and set up tents... You're from the countryside. How come you can't compare to him in anything? Have you never done any of these things at home?"

This wasn't the first time Ling Xuan had found Fang Chen's lack of work skills strange. On his first day, Fang Chen put on airs and wanted to be the team leader, firstly because he was older, and secondly because he came from a rural area.

He repeatedly mentioned that he came from the countryside, highlighting his own abilities, which gave people the illusion that he was a successful person who had risen from humble beginnings.

Ling Xuan initially admired Fang Chen, but when Fang Chen kept emphasizing how difficult his background had made things for him, he seemed cheap.

Fang Chen retorted irritably, "Just because I come from the countryside, does that mean all I know how to do is this?"

“But you can’t even start a fire and cook, and you did a sloppy job with the tasks assigned to you before. You can’t even tell the difference between garlic sprouts and scallions.”

“People of my generation who come from rural areas don’t do farm work. It’s normal that I don’t. In order to get ahead, we don’t have enough time to study every day, and our parents are reluctant to let their children do farm work.”

Ling Xuan couldn't help but sarcastically remark to him, "Isn't what you're saying contradictory? You mentioned your family before, saying how hard life was in the village, and that your three older sisters could do everything. Turns out, only the women in your family can do these things. You can't do them because your sisters did them all, right? But your sisters aren't that much different from you, are they? Didn't they go to school? You also said you were the first college student from the village. So, tell me, did your sisters fail to get into college, or did your family make them give up college for your sake?"

Ling Xuan has confirmed that Fang Chen just wants to capitalize on the "rural underdog" persona. He can't do anything, yet he insists on promoting how difficult and arduous his life is on the show.

What hardship has he endured? His family relies entirely on his parents and three older sisters to support him.

Logically speaking, Fang Chen is already a small business owner, so if he can participate in recording this kind of variety show, his background must be quite impressive.

For example, his annual income as a live streamer is at least tens of millions, and Fang Chen's income will not be lower than his.

They're living such a good life, yet he never brings his family to the city to enjoy it, or buys them a house in the nearest county town.

In their county town, a house of over 100 square meters plus renovations could be done for a million yuan, right? But once, Ling Xuan saw Fang Chen video chatting with his sister at home and found that it was still a brick house in the countryside. Couldn't they even afford to build a multi-story building?

The more Ling Xuan thought about it, the stranger he found this person. Men understand men's flaws best. Was Fang Chen, who wasn't a pure "phoenix man" (a man from a poor background who achieves success),?

He immediately set his sights on An Xinrong, the youngest, most temperamental, and easiest to coax, trying to get close to her and win her favor. He even pretended to be pitiful in front of her, hoping to gain her empathy.

The more I learned about Fang Chen, the less I wanted to have anything to do with him. Fortunately, the show was about to finish filming.

He had a feeling that this variety show would become a hit, and once the full episodes aired, Fang Chen's personal information would be completely exposed. So he decided to go for it.

Fang Chen's face turned ashen from Ling Xuan's sarcasm: "Ling Xuan, are you deliberately picking a fight? Why should I tell you about my family's affairs? If you think starting a fire is easy, then you do it."

"I'll do it." Ling Xuan picked up the lighter from the ground, tried it three times, and successfully lit the fire. He added firewood to the pit, but it didn't go out.

Ling Xuan clapped his hands and sneered. Although he didn't say anything, you could see the word "trash" in his eyes.

Fang Chen's face turned even paler.

Fang Chen gritted his teeth. Having reached his current position, his reputation was what he cared about most, and he already harbored a grudge against Ling Xuan.

Ling Xuan was starving, so he threw the instant noodles into the water before it even boiled. The noodles ended up being undercooked but barely edible.

Eating dry noodles while smelling the aroma of food wafting from next door made the meal tasteless and unappetizing.

An Xinrong was the loudest, constantly shouting "Delicious! Delicious!"

Fang Chen couldn't help but glance at her a few more times. He was already in a bad mood, and now he felt even more frustrated.