Chapter 240 Turtle Soup

Li Zhibai originally wanted to help, but after breaking a bowl, he realized that "in the kitchen, not helping is the greatest help," so he cleaned up the pieces and dragged Qin Zhibai away with him.

"Don't just stand there like an idiot, you're being punished by standing."

Qin Zhibai was dragged away by Li Zhibai.

Everyone else who saw this laughed.

Qin Zhibai was still struggling: "I can help a little."

Li Zhibai: "How can you help?"

Qin Zhibai thought for a long time but couldn't come up with an answer.

Li Zhibai: "People should know their own limitations. If you know you don't have the ability, then don't cause trouble for others."

Qin Zhibai clearly wanted to refute Li Zhibai, but didn't know how. He opened his mouth, hesitated, and then stopped.

-

Li Zhenzhen and Chen Biqiu ate their boxed lunches while watching the images on the screen.

The two of them occupied a table, eating and chatting at the same time.

“Li Zhibai’s interactions with Qin Zhibai are quite interesting,” Li Zhenzhen said. “Li Zhibai is indeed very suitable for variety shows; his reactions and performances are far superior to those of others.”

Chen Biqiu said, "What do you think? There's a reason why he's popular. Can you find another person like him in the industry?"

Li Zhenzhen thought for a moment and shook her head. "It really is true. Those who are richer than him are not as uninhibited as him, those who are more uninhibited do not have his arrogant confidence, and those who are more famous do not have his carefree and unrestrained feeling of not taking himself seriously."

Chen Biqiu: "Every program needs someone like this."

"Um."

"What did Mengli say? Haven't they replied yet?"

"No." Li Zhenzhen shook her head. "Anyway, I've said everything I needed to say. If she comes back, of course I'll welcome her. If she doesn't come back, then let's find someone else. I think it's even better that she's not here than when she is. Without her, the atmosphere is much more harmonious. I really hate filming content about fighting."

Chen Biqiu smiled and said, "No matter what the content is, as long as it happens normally, we will record it. Don't let your own likes or dislikes influence your record."

"Hey, Mengli's back!" someone suddenly said.

Everyone else immediately looked at the screen.

Li Zhenzhen was also looking for it, and then she found Mengli walking in at the camera position near the entrance.

"Is Mengli coming back to continue recording?" Mengli's PD asked in surprise.

"It seems so," Li Zhenzhen chuckled softly. "It looks like she ultimately chose to stay."

Chen Biqiu said, "If she just leaves like this, she'll be the one who's really stupid."

"If she stays, her situation won't be good either."

"That's not necessarily true. This young girl is a very good actress. As long as she doesn't feel embarrassed, it's others who will feel embarrassed," Chen Biqiu said.

-

As long as you're not embarrassed, it's others who will feel awkward.

Many people know this principle, but not everyone can apply it well.

That's how principles are; knowing them doesn't necessarily mean you can actually do them.

However, this did not pose any problem for the granules.

At least in Lu Yanhe and the others' view, Meng Li was perfectly fine. When Meng Li came in, no one noticed her yet; it was Li Zhibai, who was sitting on the sofa playing games with Qin Zhibai, who saw her first.

After Li Zhibai saw her, he hesitated for about a second. Before he could figure out what to do, Meng Li suddenly walked towards him.

In that instant, many thoughts flashed through Li Zhibai's mind as he tried to guess what Meng Li had come here for.

To his utter surprise, Meng Li walked up to him, smiled, and said, "Li Zhibai, let's make up."

At that moment, Qin Zhibai suddenly came to his senses, staring in astonishment at the suddenly appearing Meng Li, and then at Li Zhibai.

His face was filled with a mixture of disbelief and incredulity.

Qin Zhibai is not a person with exaggerated expressions; most of the time, he is expressionless.

Therefore, when he displays these emotions on his face, the feeling he evokes is quite different.

Li Zhibai had already realized what was happening.

He raised the corners of his mouth and smiled, then stood up, nodded, and said, "No problem, it's a small matter anyway."

Meng Li sighed, "I've been too tired these past few days, and I'm in a bad mood. I'm easily triggered. I'm sorry."

Li Zhibai: "I have a bad temper too, it's okay."

Without warning, the two reconciled under the watchful eyes of dozens of cameras.

-

Everyone present was trying their best to control their facial expressions.

At this moment, the greatest test is not Li Zhibai and Meng Li's acting skills, but the acting skills of everyone else.

This was especially true for Lu Yanhe and Yan Liang.

Lu Yanhe simply did not believe that Li Zhibai and Meng Li had truly reconciled.

But what exactly happened to make someone like Li Zhibai suddenly willing to act? Lu Yanhe couldn't understand.

Based on Lu Yanhe's understanding of Li Zhibai, he believed that Li Zhibai would rather not record the show than compromise with Meng Li.

Could it be that Zhou Pingan coerced or bribed him?

That's impossible.

Li Zhibai was completely unmoved by Zhou Ping'an's ideas.

Lu Yanhe was completely baffled, but since the show was being filmed, he couldn't rush up to Li Zhibai to ask what was going on.

He and Yan Liang exchanged a glance, and could only grit their teeth and continue recording.

-

Zhou Ping'an's work is not yet finished.

After resolving the matter with Li Zhibai, Zhou Pingan drove directly to the airport to pick up Ma Zhiyuan, who had just returned.

Ma Zhiyuan had an assistant and a driver, but Zhou Pingan still came over because he had an important matter to discuss with Ma Zhiyuan in person.

Night fell over the fields.

Zhou Pingan checked the time and saw that Ma Zhiyuan would not land for another twenty minutes, so he sat in the car and waited.

Vice President Ma suddenly called.

"Hello, Mr. Ma?" Zhou Ping'an answered the phone immediately, feeling a little surprised as to why Vice President Ma was calling so late.

Vice President Ma said, "I heard that Li Zhibai got into a fight with Meng Li while recording a program today?"

"Oh, you've already heard about it? I just finished dealing with this matter." Zhou Ping'an was puzzled, wondering why Vice President Ma was so well-informed and had heard about it so quickly. He explained, "The matter has been resolved. It was just a small conflict between the two of them. Li Zhibai was threatening to quit the show, but we just calmed him down."

Vice President Ma said, "Keep a close eye on Li Zhibai's side, and make sure he doesn't suffer any losses."

"Don't worry, Mr. Ma, I understand," Zhou Ping'an said. "I'd rather let anyone else suffer a loss than let him suffer a loss."

Zhou Ping'an assumed that Vice President Ma had come to check on Li Zhibai.

He couldn't help but mutter to himself that having a super-rich background meant enjoying better treatment. When had Vice President Ma ever cared whether other artists were being taken advantage of?

Vice President Ma suddenly changed the subject, saying, "Chen Ziyan also went today, you know that, right?"

"I know, she heard that this matter was related to Lu Yanhe and affected him. She was afraid that Lu Yanhe would suffer, so she insisted on going over."

“You’re out of the loop, you’ve been kept in the dark, and you still don’t know anything about it.” Vice President Ma’s words made Zhou Ping’an frown in confusion.

Zhou Pingan asked, "Mr. Ma, what information have I missed?"

"Chen Ziyan went to give the program a sponsorship. Lu Yanhe got an endorsement deal, and the brand is very generous, paying a high endorsement fee and even willing to support Lu Yanhe. Hearing that Lu Yanhe had recorded a program, she went to sponsor it." Vice President Ma chuckled. "Speaking of which, Chen Ziyan is really capable. With this sponsorship, Lu Yanhe has become the program's goldmine."

Zhou Ping'an looked surprised. "What?"

Vice President Ma: "Are you dumbfounded? Don't be fooled by the fact that Li Zhibai is the most popular artist on the show right now. Lu Yanhe might just surpass him. The money has already been delivered. Do you think the production team would edit Lu Yanhe to have a negative image? They're not offending Lu Yanhe, but their cash cow."

Zhou Pingan suddenly realized why Vice President Ma had made that call tonight.

"Mr. Ma, shall we contact Li Zhibai's parents and see if we should have them get an implant done as well?"

"Why bother contacting his parents? Doesn't Li Zhibai have any brands willing to endorse him?" Vice President Ma said. "He's so popular now, he doesn't even need to think about it. Why go to all this trouble to contact his parents? It's not like there aren't other brands willing to pay for it."

Zhou Ping'an: "Yes, yes, I understand."

“Whether it’s Li Zhibai or Lu Yanhe, they are both artists in our company. But I know very well who is an outsider and who is one of us. Don’t let your guard down,” Vice President Ma said. “Although he is only a nineteen-year-old kid, he has Chen Ziyan behind him. She easily and effortlessly put Lu Yanhe on a golden list in the program, and you haven’t heard anything about it. I don’t know what you’ve been busy with.”

Zhou Ping'an was speechless, feeling like he wanted to vomit blood.

What is he busy with for no reason?

He works from dawn till dusk every day, managing artists, handling business, discussing collaborations, negotiating projects, meeting with platforms, keeping an eye on the news, he doesn't care about anything.

You sit in the office all day and never have to deal with these things on the front lines, so it's easy for you to talk when you're not the one experiencing it!

"I will definitely improve," Zhou Ping'an said with a smile into the phone.

-

A house for young people.

We ate dinner together, washed the dishes, and then sat in the living room playing games.

Playing games is one of the easiest ways for people to get to know each other.

Peng Zhixing said, "How about we try the turtle soup first?"

“Sure,” Xiao Yun said immediately, his eyes lighting up.

Lu Yanhe asked, somewhat puzzled, "What is sea turtle soup?"

"It's a very simple game." Xiao Yun explained to everyone enthusiastically, "Simply put, we are given a riddle, and we try to guess the answer based on the riddle. We can keep asking questions, and the host can only answer yes or no. Then we try to find the answer to the riddle based on these clues."

After listening, Lu Yanhe seemed to realize something. "Oh, okay, but I've never played this before, so I'll probably play it terribly."

“You scored over 600 on the college entrance exam, you have a high IQ, how could you possibly mess up?” Song Linxin immediately said, “You’ll know once you try it out.”

Peng Zhixing took out his phone and said, "Then I'll give you the questions. I'll be the host, and you guys guess."

"Okay." Everyone nodded.

At this time, even Mengli showed a serious attitude of participation.

Peng Zhixing searched on his phone and read out the first question: "I am a kindergarten teacher. One of the little boys in my kindergarten is five years old this year, but one day he told me that his mother is only four years old. I found it very strange, so I went with him to his home for a home visit. What I saw when I arrived at his home stunned me."

Lu Yanhe looked bewildered. "Huh? What do you mean?"

“We need you to solve the mystery and find out the truth of this matter,” Peng Zhixing said. “You can ask questions, but only yes or no questions. I can only answer yes or no, and questions that are irrelevant to the question.”

Xiao Yun was the first to raise her hand enthusiastically and asked, "Is the kindergarten a real kindergarten?"

"Yes." Peng Zhixing nodded.

Song Linxin asked, "Is the mother really the little boy's mother?"

“No.” Peng Zhixing shook his head.

"Could it be the stepmother?" Song Linxin was taken aback. "Is the mother the little boy's stepmother?"

Peng Zhixing hesitated for a moment and said, "Whether it is or not is irrelevant to the question."

Several people fell into deep thought.

Xiao Yun immediately followed up with Song Linxin's question, asking, "Does that little boy have any mental illness?"

“No.” Peng Zhixing continued to shake his head.

Li Zhibai frowned and asked, "Are you sure there's nothing wrong with your question? Since the little boy doesn't have a mental illness, how could he think his mother is only four years old? Wait, does he have a misunderstanding about age?"

Peng Zhixing hissed and said, "No, but I'll give you a little hint: ask this question from a different angle, it's very important."

Li Zhibai looked completely bewildered.

Yan Liang looked at Peng Zhixing with suspicion and said, "Is there a misunderstanding about the concept of age? The answer is no. This means that the little boy is not unaware of what age is. So, when he said his mother was only four years old, was it because his mother was really only four years old? Of course not."

He suddenly paused, "His mother is only four years old. Does 'four years old' refer to her age?"

“Yes, I’m not referring to age.” Peng Zhixing laughed.

"Huh? What does that mean?" Xiao Yun was taken aback.

Almost everyone looked bewildered and confused.

Song Linxin just asked his mother

A somewhat chilling thought suddenly popped into Lu Yanhe's mind, and he asked, "Four years old, does that mean the little boy has only known his mother for four years?"

Peng Zhixing nodded: "Yes."

Lu Yanhe stared at Peng Zhixing in shock. "Was his mother kidnapped or bought by his father?"

Peng Zhixing nodded again: "Yes."

"Ah—" Song Linxin and Xiao Yun screamed at the same time and hugged each other. Xiao Yun's face showed fear. "This is too scary!"

"So we've figured out the answer?" Lu Yanhe asked.

Peng Zhixing shook his head: "There are still several riddles I haven't figured out."

Yan Liang said, "The scene that shocked me at home, do you mean seeing the little boy's mother chained up inside the house?"

The horror on Song Linxin and Xiao Yun's faces intensified.

Peng Zhixing nodded, "Yes, but not completely."

Qin Zhibai: "The reason for being stunned also includes the fact that the little boy's father was planning to kidnap his teacher. I am a woman, a kindergarten teacher, and he was planning to kidnap me, is that right?"

Peng Zhixing nodded, "Yes, but it's still incomplete."

The group of people looked at each other in bewilderment.

Mengli sat silently in the corner, while the two girls hugged each other, their faces pale.

They looked genuinely frightened.

"Let me remind you again, every word and every piece of information in the riddle is useful," Peng Zhixing said.

Upon hearing Peng Zhixing's words, Lu Yanhe recalled the riddle once more.

—I am a kindergarten teacher. One of the little boys in my kindergarten is five years old this year, but one day he told me that his mother is only four years old. I found it very strange, so I went with him to visit his home. What I saw when I arrived at his home stunned me.

I visited a kindergarten teacher's home and met a mother of a four-year-old. I was stunned... all of this information had been deciphered; there wasn't a single piece of information left undeciphered.

etc--

—One of the little boys in my kindergarten is five years old this year.

Lu Yanhe was taken aback, a chill running down his spine. He asked, "Is the little boy really five years old?"

Peng Zhixing gave a knowing smile. "No."

Lu Yanhe suddenly felt uneasy.

"The little boy is a dwarf, but he is actually an adult. He and his father are not really father and son; they are in a partnership to kidnap women, right?" Lu Yanhe asked.

(End of this chapter)