As the villainess in an old-school wealthy family novel, Ning Yuxuan possessed stunning beauty and an enviable background—her mother was a once-renowned film queen, and her younger brother was a ...
48 048
"Look what good stuff I've brought!"
Ning Shiyue's pupils dilated as he looked at Xie Zhiyan's reply on his phone.
Is this still the same Zhiyan-ge he knows?
Ning Shiyue almost suspected that Xie Zhiyan had been possessed by some love-obsessed person, which was why in this CP-themed video full of pink bubbles, he could only see Ning Yuxuan's line, "I have a boyfriend."
Is this what a normal person would focus on?
After thinking it over, Ning Shiyue felt that as Ning Yuxuan's younger brother and Zhiyan's friend, it was necessary for him to make a small contribution to the stability of their relationship.
He replied, word by word: "Brother Zhiyan, my sister is filming on location right now, her phone should be with her. If you need it, you can text her now to contact her."
Xie Zhiyan: [No need.]
As Ning Shiyue looked at those two words, the phrase "serves him right" suddenly popped into his mind.
He locked his phone and casually tossed it onto the table next to him.
Alright, if something similar happens again, he won't bother reminding Xie Zhiyan again!
...
In the arcade, Jiang Ning'an also finished her game.
Ning Yuxuan gave her the high-five she had missed earlier, and then suggested, "I just discovered that this machine also has a two-player online mode, want to try it?"
Jiang Ning'an was also in high spirits, and immediately agreed upon hearing this: "Sure!"
Then she suddenly remembered something and turned to look at Duan Ziyao: "Little Ziyao, do you want to try it too? Or you can play with Yuxuan instead?"
Jiang Ning'an has a habit of taking care of actors younger than herself when she's on set, so she also takes care of Duan Ziyao to some extent on the show.
Upon hearing this, Duan Ziyao glanced at Ning Yuxuan, then quickly looked away: "I suddenly feel a little thirsty. You guys play first, I'll go buy a bottle of water and come back to you."
He left in a hurry, as if afraid that Jiang Ning'an would try to stop him.
Jiang Ning'an looked at the boy's back with some confusion, then shrugged at Ning Yuxuan: "Then let's play a duo game."
[Hey, why is Ziyao wandering off? I thought he was going to join the game.]
[Was he shy? Too embarrassed to play duo mode with Ning Yuxuan, so he just made an excuse to run away?]
[I actually think it's even more appealing this way! Being too proactive seems greasy, a little shyness is just right!]
Ning Yuxuan and Jiang Ning'an played another round of online multiplayer. Their excellent teamwork drew praise from the viewers in the live stream.
Just as the game ended, Duan Ziyao returned from buying water.
Jiang Ning'an took the half-bottle of juice that Duan Ziyao had asked her to keep for him earlier from his hand: "Thank you."
In Duan Ziyao's hand, besides a bottle of mineral water, there was also a bottle of iced tea and a bottle of sports drink, all unopened.
"I bought a few extra bottles." Duan Ziyao lowered his eyes slightly, looking very obedient. "You guys choose first, the rest is fine with me."
Jiang Ning'an shook the half-empty bottle of juice in her hand: "I'll just drink this first, there's still half left."
Duan Ziyao nodded slightly, then silently looked at Ning Yuxuan.
He didn't ask anything.
However, Ning Yuxuan understood his gaze, so she reached out and said, "Then I'll take a bottle of iced tea, thank you."
[Ziyao's little brother's eyes just now looked like a puppy's, so cute!]
Where can you find such a thoughtful younger brother? I want one too!
[Hey, Ning Yuxuan already has a boyfriend, why don't you go for it yourself, hahaha!]
[I want it too! I want it too! Don't fight me for it!]
Duan Ziyao held the bottle and handed the iced tea to Ning Yuxuan, carefully avoiding touching her hand.
Ning Yuxuan opened it and took a sip.
The mothers also came over.
"So the three of you are here!" Su Yun was the first to walk over. "We were at that coin-operated machine just now. That thing was really frustrating; it wouldn't come down no matter how hard we tried."
Ning Fei also came to her daughter's side: "What are you and Ning An playing? Are you having fun?"
Ning Yuxuan replied, "It's a rhythm game, Mom, do you want to try it too?"
Ning Fei subconsciously waved her hand: "You young people should play this. I've never played this before, and I'm not good at it."
Ning Yuxuan insisted, "It's not difficult. This is even simpler than the one we played in the villa before, and it even has music. I can help you pick a song you've heard before."
Ning Fei seemed somewhat persuaded, but still hesitated: "Really?"
Ning Yuxuan simply pushed Ning Fei by the back and led her to the rhythm game machine: "Really! Come on, I'll teach you from the side, it's not difficult at all!"
Ning Fei stood in front of the machine, half-heartedly.
Ning Yuxuan helped her insert coins and enter the tutorial interface.
"Mom, look," Ning Yuxuan said patiently. "This is a tutorial. You don't need to rush. Just follow along slowly."
Ning Fei had never played a similar game before, and awkwardly placed her finger on the screen: "Is that so, Xuanxuan?"
Ning Yuxuan: "Yes, yes, that's right! Mom, look how quickly you've got it! Keep going, keep going!"
Encouraged by her daughter, Ning Fei regained some confidence and continued to click on the screen following the instructions of the animations and sounds.
Ning Yuxuan chimed in, adding to the atmosphere: "Yeah! That's right! Awesome!"
[Haha, Ning Yuxuan is so supportive!]
[I suddenly remembered the scene this morning when Teacher Ning Fei taught Ning Yuxuan how to play shuttlecock, but now it's the other way around.]
Ning Yuxuan is amazing. I've been reflecting on this, and if it were me and my mom, I would have given up the first time my mom refused.
Teacher Ning is also very willing to try new things and didn't spoil her daughter's fun, so relationships are actually mutual.
After following the tutorial once, Ning Fei's movements became much more proficient.
Upon entering the song selection page, Ning Yuxuan helped her mother choose an old song: "How about this song, 'My Heart Has Always Belonged to You'? I remember you used to sing it all the time at karaoke."
Ning Fei nodded: "Okay, I'll listen to you."
As the countdown ended with "three, two, one," musical notes of different shapes began to appear on the machine's screen.
The tutorial and the actual game start are somewhat different. In the tutorial mode, the game will remain paused if you don't press the correct note, but this won't happen once the game officially starts.
Ning Fei was initially a bit flustered: "Hey Xuanxuan, why did this suddenly become so fast? Why don't you help me—"
"Mom, don't worry," Ning Yuxuan said gently. "Listen to the rhythm, follow the rhythm of the song slowly, it's okay if you miss it."
With her daughter's reassurance, Ning Fei gradually caught up with the rhythm, and her movements, which were initially a beat slow, began to improve.
This is a ballad, and it's easy to sing; the notes don't come out very fast.
By the second half of the song, Ning Fei was able to keep up with the rhythm perfectly and even managed to land dozens of hits in a combo.
After the song ended, Ning Fei received an "A" grade.
Ning Yuxuan cheered, "Mom, you're amazing!"
Before Ning Fei could react, she was suddenly embraced by her daughter.
Although this wasn't the first time his daughter had ambushed him, it was the first time she had hugged him during a live broadcast, with many people watching.
Ning Fei was a little embarrassed: "Hey, Xuanxuan... everyone's here."
Ning Yuxuan nuzzled against Ning Fei's shoulder, then let go of her mother: "Hehe, Mom, you're amazing! You learned it so quickly."
Qin Man, who was standing to the side, looked at this scene with an expression that was incredibly gentle, her eyes full of smiles, and even a little envious.
Since the show started airing, Qin Man's relationship with her daughter has improved significantly, and the two have begun to express their feelings for each other.
However, Qin Man admitted that she couldn't do what Ning Yuxuan and Ning Fei did.
Of course, Qin Man also understands that everyone has a different personality and a different way of getting along.
Now she can often have heart-to-heart talks with her daughter, and her daughter often shares her work and life troubles with her. Qin Man is already very content.
After seeing this, Su Yun patted her son's back hard: "Son, look at Xuanxuan, how close she is to her mother! When will you learn from Xuanxuan? I'll be so happy!"
Duan Ziyao remained silent.
[Haha, Aunt Su, your standards are a bit too high. Your son and Ning Yuxuan aren't even the same type of person.]
[Auntie, you should compare Duan Ziyao and Ning Shiyue. That would make you feel more balanced. Ning Shiyue probably wouldn't hug his mother either.]
However, I can understand Aunt Su's thoughts, and I'm also very envious of Ning Yuxuan and Teacher Ning's relationship!
Ning Yuxuan then pulled Ning Fei to play a second round.
This time, she chose an easy song for Ning Fei, an old song she had heard before.
With the experience from the first game, Ning Fei kept up with the rhythm from the start, only missing a few notes throughout the game, and finally got an "S" score.
Ning Yuxuan didn't hug Ning Fei this time, but she gave her a big high five to celebrate.
Teacher Ning is amazing! Truly outstanding people can do anything well!
[And Teacher Ning has never played a similar game before, so this achievement is definitely very impressive!]
With Ning Fei demonstrating, Qin Man and Su Yun also tried out the rhythm game machine once each.
The machine has a wide selection of songs to choose from, with many of them being older songs from over a decade ago, featuring a soothing rhythm that is perfect for beginners.
Jiang Ning'an and Duan Ziyao served as off-site instructors, helping the two mothers familiarize themselves with the game.
In the end, Qin Man and Su Yun got "S" and "A" respectively in the second round.
After playing the rhythm games for a while, the group went to explore other parts of the arcade.
When it was time for dinner, the production team announced that everyone would be going to a restaurant for dinner that night.
Everyone was visibly happy.
In this show, the guests almost always cook for themselves, but this time they can finally enjoy themselves and go out to a restaurant.
The guests rode in the production crew's car to a nearby restaurant.
After everyone was seated, the waiter did not appear for a long time, nor did anyone bring the menu for them to order.
They exchanged glances, all sensing that something was amiss.
Sure enough, the production crew came out to announce the rules—
The guests have to answer questions prepared by the production team. Only by answering a question correctly can they get the chance to order a dish.
Each person has two chances, meaning that everyone can eat a maximum of twelve dishes, but in extreme cases, it is possible that no one will get to eat any dishes.
After the rules were announced, Su Yun was the first to speak up: "This variety show of yours is really going to make things difficult for people. You can't even let people eat in peace, you have to take a test first. I haven't taken a test in over twenty years. If you test me on physics or chemistry, won't I be unable to eat anything?"
The staff member smiled and said, "Don't worry, Aunt Su, all the questions we ask you are related to your son."
Su Yun's eyes lit up: "You should have said so earlier! I know my son well, you can ask me anything about his height, weight, and age!"
The production team smiled but remained silent.
When the staff asked which group of guests wanted to answer the question first, Su Yun confidently raised her hand first: "I'll go first."
The first question is: What is the name of Duan Ziyao's team?
Upon hearing this, Su Yun immediately said, "I know that! It's a foreign name, three characters long, but what if I don't know how to pronounce it?"
Staff: "It's okay if your pronunciation isn't accurate, but you need to tell me exactly which three letters it is."
Su Yun frowned in thought: "It seems, it seems to be... O something again?"
[Haha, this question was really a bit difficult for the auntie. Luckily, only the abbreviation was needed, and she didn't have to say her full name.]
[The abbreviations are quite difficult; to be honest, to us laymen, all the team names look pretty much the same.]
Su Yun pondered for a long time, and even gave Duan Ziyao a look, hinting to her son to give her a hint.
However, the staff saw through her intention and immediately stopped her: "No one present can give you any hints! Neither Duan Ziyao himself nor anyone else."
Unable to get help, Su Yun muttered to herself, "O-something G, should it be OAG? Or OIG?"
The staff member shook her head: "No, ma'am, please think about it again."
While Su Yun was struggling with her decision, Ning Yuxuan suddenly asked the staff, "There shouldn't be any time or number of questions we can answer, right?"
The staff member was taken aback: This doesn't seem to be mentioned in the rules.
Seeing the staff's reaction, Ning Yuxuan said knowingly, "That means there are no restrictions. Aunt Su, don't rush, take your time to think it over. It's okay if you say something wrong."
The staff vaguely felt that Ning Yuxuan's words were a bit off, but it wasn't a hint to Su Yun, it was just encouragement, and it didn't violate the rules.
Upon hearing this, Su Yun glanced at Ning Yuxuan, and two seconds later suddenly realized, "Oh right! Yuxuan, you reminded Auntie! There are only a few English letters, I can guess them one by one!"
As she spoke, Su Yun began to recite the alphabet: "ABCD...OAG no, then OBG?"
Staff: "..."
Su Yun: "OCG?"
The staff member's lips twitched: "...Congratulations, Auntie, you got it right."
[Hahahaha, I'm dying of laughter! The twitching at the corner of the staff member's mouth was hilarious! Hahahaha]
[I never expected Aunt Su to answer correctly using enumeration! Ning Yuxuan, you're such a clever little devil!]
Aunt Su deserves praise too! At least she remembered the first and last letters, otherwise who knows how long it would have taken her to guess.
The second question was for Su Yun: what exactly does Duan Ziyao do in the team?
This time, Su Yun was completely stumped. It was already quite an achievement for her to remember the name of the game her son played and the name of the team.
Su Yun had no idea how the game was played, so how could she possibly know those technical terms?
The audience was also indignant on Su Yun's behalf.
[This question is also difficult for Aunt Su! At least give her some options!]
[Exactly! If you're given an ABCD combination, you still have at least a one in four chance of guessing correctly.]
In the end, Su Yun answered one question correctly and got a chance to order food.
The production team suggested that everyone could order one by one, or wait until everyone had answered the questions before ordering.
After discussing it, everyone decided to go together last, so that they could decide what dishes to order based on the number of questions they answered correctly.
Su Yun and Duan Ziyao were in the same group, and Duan Ziyao was the second to answer the question.
Before Duan Ziyao officially began answering, a staff member came out to fix a bug: "Each question can only be answered once, and once confirmed, it cannot be changed."
The production team asked Su Yun what her favorite color was and what her shoe size was.
These questions were asked to Su Yun by the production team before filming, and her answers are the primary basis for the discussion.
At the time, Su Yun thought the questions asked by the production team were routine interview questions, and now she deeply regrets not having given her son the answers beforehand.
However, after a moment's thought, Duan Ziyao still got them all right: Su Yun likes red and her shoe size is 37.
Su Yun was very pleased: "He's truly my son. By the way, what position did you play on that O something G team? Let me remember that."
Duan Ziyao: "...Mid lane."
Su Yun: "What?"
...
The second group to answer the questions were Jiang Ning'an and Qin Man.
The program team asked Jiang Ning'an two questions: what was the name of Qin Man's third role in her acting career, and what was the name of her tenth role?
The question asked to Qin Man was to name the five male actors Jiang Ning'an had worked with, and the first broadcast date of Jiang Ning'an's first TV series.
These questions were all a bit difficult, but both of them answered them correctly, getting all four questions right.
Jiang Ning'an's eyes welled up with tears when she heard her mother answer the second question without any hesitation.
When her first work was broadcast, Jiang Ning'an didn't dare tell Qin Man to watch it, fearing that her mother would have high expectations of her and be dissatisfied with her immature acting skills.
I never expected my mother to remember the broadcast date so clearly, she could still say it off the top of her head even after so long.
[I knew this group would get all the answers right! Although Ms. Qin's care for her daughter isn't overtly obvious, it's definitely no less than any other mother's!]
I noticed Jiang Ning'an's eyes were red; she must have been moved.
[I only became a fan of Jiang Ning'an after watching this show. I originally thought she was just a boring, cold beauty, but I didn't expect her to be so cute in private!]
The last group to answer the questions were Ning Yuxuan and Ning Fei.
In fact, to avoid the extreme situation where everyone answers all the questions correctly or doesn't answer any questions and thus doesn't get any food, the production team prepared a question bank of more than twelve questions.
This way, the difficulty can be adjusted at any time based on the answers given by the previous guests.
So far, the first four people have answered seven questions correctly.
The staff member glanced at the question bank in his hand, selected the most difficult one, and asked Ning Fei, "Excuse me, what was Ning Yuxuan's score in the college entrance examination mathematics?"
Is it really that difficult? To be honest, I don't even remember what score I got.
[And the question isn't asking for the total score, but rather the score for each subject, making it even more difficult.]
Before Ning Fei could answer, the staff asked Ning Yuxuan, "Yuxuan, do you remember your math score?"
Ning Yuxuan shook her head: "I just remember that I did pretty well on the test, so how did you find out my score?"
The staff member smiled mysteriously: "We asked relevant insiders."
The viewers in the live chat immediately understood.
[Oh, no need to guess, it's Ning Shiyue!]
So, did the younger brother look through his sister's report card, or did he remember her grades perfectly even after all these years?
"So, Ms. Ning," the staff member asked, "do you remember what score your daughter got on her college entrance exam in mathematics?"
Ning Fei nodded and smiled gently: "Yes, Xuanxuan's math score in the college entrance examination was the best she ever got that year, 136 points."
The staff member exclaimed in surprise, "Congratulations, Teacher Ning, you answered this question correctly."
Wow! She really is a top student who got into University A; her grades are so high!
[My point is that even though six or seven years have passed, Ms. Ning still clearly remembers her daughter's math scores and how she performed!]
Staff: "Second question, what color shoes did Ning Yuxuan wear when she first came to this villa to participate in the recording of the show?"
Ning Fei replied without hesitation, "It's a pair of blue and white sneakers."
[...Teacher Ning isn't just an actress, she's also a criminal investigator, right?]
[The production team asked such difficult questions, yet Teacher Ning answered them effortlessly.]
The staff were also surprised: "How did Teacher Ning remember it so clearly?"
Ning Fei smiled and said, "Before we set off that day, I asked Xuanxuan to wear a pair of high heels, but she refused, saying that she was going to record a show all day and that wearing heels would be uncomfortable, so I had no choice but to let her have her way."
Actually, she didn't deliberately remember these things; it's just that ever since her daughter suddenly became willing to be close to her, every little thing between them seemed to automatically imprint itself into her memory.
Perhaps subconsciously, Ning Fei cherishes every moment she can spend with her daughter.
Finally, the staff asked Ning Yuxuan two questions about the roles Ning Fei had played, and Ning Yuxuan answered them both correctly.
These days, Ning Yuxuan not only catches up on Ning Shiyue's works, but also rewatches Ning Fei's movies when she has free time. The two movies that the program asked about happened to be the ones she had recently watched.
After everyone has finished answering the questions, they can order a total of eleven dishes based on the results.
With plenty of time to spare, everyone discussed and ordered the restaurant's signature dishes, a mix of meat and vegetables, along with soup and drinks.
After having a good meal, everyone drove back to the villa, ending today's live stream.
After shooting on location for most of the day, Qin Man and Ning Fei went to take a shower.
Ning Yuxuan was watching TV on the sofa on the first floor when Jiang Ning'an walked over.
"Yu Xuan!" Jiang Ning'an patted Ning Yu Xuan's shoulder from behind the sofa. "Look what good stuff I brought!"
Ning Yuxuan followed the gaze and raised her eyebrows: "Weren't all our phones taken away by the production team?"
Jiang Ning'an smiled playfully: "Yes, but I told the staff that we get so bored every night at the villa, and there are only a few old movies on TV. I convinced them to let us use our phones for a while before bed."
Previously, the production team strictly prohibited the guests from using their mobile phones inside the villa, mainly because they were worried that various external disturbances would affect the guests' mentality and thus affect the recording of the show.
For example, the incident involving Cen Meng and Cheng Xiyang caused a huge uproar while the show was still airing, with heated arguments taking place in the live broadcast room and on Weibo.
This episode was unusually calm, with only Ning Yuxuan and Duan Ziyao's pairing briefly trending on social media, but it didn't cause much of a stir.
Therefore, the production team did not need to be overly vigilant.
"Do you know how to play Glory of Kings?" Jiang Ning'an asked. "I often play this with my friends. If you play it too, we can play together."
Ning Yuxuan replied truthfully, "I used to play it, but I haven't touched it for several months, so I guess I've gotten rusty."
I started playing this game because Ning Shiyue dragged me into it. Later, Ning Yuxuan and Ning Shiyue had a falling out, so I didn't play it much anymore.
Jiang Ning'an: "It's okay, it's just for fun anyway!"
Ning Yuxuan: "Okay then."
Jiang Ning'an smiled, her eyes crinkling: "Okay! You wait for me, I'll call Ziyao over too! I just asked him, and he said he happens to be free."
The game Duan Ziyao played professionally was a PC game, but it was similar in gameplay to the mobile game Jiang Ning'an played.
Jiang Ning'an enjoys playing games, but she has never experienced what it's like to play with professional players, so she specifically asked the staff for permission and also asked Duan Ziyao if he wanted to join in.
Seeing that Ning Yuxuan had agreed, Jiang Ning'an went upstairs to call Duan Ziyao.
While Jiang Ning'an went to call Duan Ziyao, Ning Yuxuan glanced at WeChat, but there was nothing important.
Everyone knows she's recording a live broadcast these past two days. If she has something to say, she'll let us know in advance; people usually don't choose these two days to contact her.
After Duan Ziyao was called down by Jiang Ning'an, the three of them quickly reached an agreement and started a game.
Ning Yuxuan hadn't played this game in a long time, so the first game was a kind of rehabilitation, a chance to get used to the controls.
After finishing the first game, Ning Yuxuan stretched her body, turned off the focus mode on her phone, and found a series of messages from Ning Shiyue.
Ning Shiyue: [Ning Yuxuan, what are you doing? I saw you logged into the game, are you playing with someone in a team?]
Ning Shiyue: [Aren't we not allowed to use our phones during the show? What are you up to? You didn't sneak out just to team up with someone to play games, did you?]
Ning Shiyue: [Who are you playing with? It's not that prodigy pro player who's not even twenty yet, is it??]
The last sentence contained three question marks to express the sender's excitement.
[Author's Note]
Ning Shiyue: (Pink loopy, sarcastic emoji) A genius professional player who's not even twenty years old!