While Shen Xingsui was waiting in the yard, he started preparing the dishes that might be needed to cook the fish once he felt a little better.
The weather is a bit bad today. A light drizzle is falling from the sky. The houses of the Fei people are all made of blue bricks and wood. Mist hangs in the mountains and forests. The New Year has just passed, and spring is slowly approaching. Even the wind seems to carry a fresh scent.
Shen Xingsui was chopping vegetables when she heard some noise outside.
Shen Xingchen came in carrying a piece of chopped fish, looking like she wanted to show off: "Look how well this fish was prepared?"
Shen Xingsui was a little surprised, but quickly realized what was going on and asked, "Second brother, you didn't cheat, did you?"
"Cheating?"
Shen Xingchen looked at him as if he were being insulted: "I got it through my own abilities!"
Shen Xingsui was skeptical.
However, since the fish had already been prepared, it was generally a good thing. The two of them put the vegetables in the pot and started cooking. They followed the recipe exactly, but the taste of the fish they made was rather indescribable. After all, they were both inheritors of the "dark cuisine" tradition, and neither of them had any talent in this area.
The village chief's wife took a bite and fell silent.
Shen Xingchen clearly wasn't good at reading people's expressions, and only asked, "How do you like it? Is it delicious? If it's delicious, then hurry up and give us the treasure and the map!"
The old woman slowly put down her spoon and said, "Give me your points book."
This is a notebook where you can accumulate points.
The guests on the show can earn points by completing tasks, and these points can be exchanged for food or clues.
Shen Xingchen eagerly handed it over, and then saw that the old woman had written a line on the notebook. He happily took it, wanting to see how many points she had added to his score, but he saw a label of -20 points.
Shen Xingchen's smile froze on her face.
The old woman slowly explained to him, "I baked all my glutinous rice cakes, but not a single one turned out. It wasted a whole fish and a lot of ingredients from my family. To be honest, I would feel that deducting 20 points is too little."
"..."
That seems to make some sense.
Shen Xingchen's embarrassed expression amused the viewers in the live stream.
"That's terrible."
"Young Master has come to experience life."
"Is this the tragedy of losing a thigh?"
Perhaps seeing that he was truly pitiful, the old woman still said, "However, considering your sincerity, I can still give you some clues about the treasure."
Shen Xingchen perked up: "Thank you!"
The old woman handed him a card.
The card has a pattern drawn on it, and it's a somewhat complex circular pattern. At first glance, the pattern looks strange, but upon closer inspection, it seems a little familiar.
Shen Xingsui said, "It feels like I've seen this somewhere before..."
Shen Xingchen couldn't recall it either, but he was quite confident: "This must be the key clue!"
Shen Xingsui also felt that this pattern would be useful in an important place, so he nodded and said, "Then let's put it away for now."
After completing their guardian duties, they began to return to the center of the village to regroup. By this time, it was slowly getting dark, and the guests from the other groups had also gradually returned. Everyone was discussing what they had learned that day:
"We got two mission cards."
"We got 50 points."
"..."
Everyone was talking about what they had gained that day, but Shen Xingchen and Shen Xingsui remained as quiet as chickens.
An Ran was in a rather high spirits today. He leaned closer and asked, "Brother Xingchen, what did you two get today?"
Shen Xingchen hadn't answered yet, but the viewers in the live stream had already answered for him:
"Haha, I got -20 points."
"That's hilarious."
"This was a complete and utter defeat."
Shen Xingchen stubbornly retorted, "These are all external things. You are all too attached to them, unlike me, who has long since seen through the vanity of the world and distanced myself from these worldly matters!"
An Ran wore an expression that was hard to describe.
Shen Xingchen then looked at him and asked, "And what about you two? How are things going with Brother Fu?"
An Ran answered with undisguised pride: "Our harvest is quite good; we have obtained the key to enter the dense forest."
Shen Xingchen praised them sincerely: "You guys are awesome. It seems you've coordinated very well."
When it comes to cooperation, An Ran's smile faded. In fact, he had spent the whole day by himself. Fu Jinxiao had basically ignored him and was searching for the key according to his own ideas. Although they had communicated when necessary, it seemed to be all business from beginning to end.
Viewers in the live stream also remarked:
"I was wrong, I was really wrong."
"I haven't seen my brother say much all day."
"Waaah, I thought he suddenly wanted to do variety shows this year."
"No, it's also possible that the wrong person is the right partner?"
"So, you're only this happy when you're with Sui Sui?"
The audience really felt like they had been thoroughly taught a lesson by Actor Fu today. Fu Jinxiao didn't smile much and was busy doing tasks to find the key. The show was being recorded seriously, but something just felt off. Now they are slowly realizing what it was.
But in any case, today is already over.
As it grew dark, the production team said, "Now we'll start tallying everyone's points. The last group with the lowest points so far will face punishment tonight. First, we won't provide food, and second, you'll have to sleep in tents tonight."
a bolt from the blue.
What a ruthless production team.
Shen Xingsui and Shen Xingchen exchanged a glance, both seeing despair in each other's eyes. There was no doubt that they were the last group. Sleeping in a tent was one thing, but to make matters worse, they didn't even have any food. This made things even more difficult.
Shen Xingchen patted Shen Xingsui on the shoulder and said, "It's okay, little brother. Even without anyone's help, we can still get through tonight, right? Just consider going hungry as a way to lose weight. Enduring wind and rain is the quality a young hero venturing into the world should have!"
Fu Jinxiao's voice came from not far away. The man said slowly, "Give half of my dinner to Shen Xingsui."
The others were taken aback.
Fu Jinxiao lifted her eyelids to look at the director and asked, "Is it not allowed?"
The director wouldn't dare let his precious child go hungry, so he nodded: "Okay, of course, then Sui Sui, you can eat with Teacher Fu."
Shen Xingsui was surprised to receive this benefit and was immediately touched, but quickly became a little worried: "Won't you have enough to eat?"
"It's alright." Fu Jinxiao said in a calm tone that made people envious: "I have the most points, which is more than enough to exchange for a table full of food. You don't need to worry about that."
Shen Xingchen, standing beside him, was shocked. He pointed at himself in disbelief and asked, "Then, what about me?"
The director, always eager for drama, remarked, "Then you'd better pray for yourself."
"..."
Shen Xingchen's expression froze. If there were a table here, no one would suspect anything, and he might even have overturned it on the spot.
The viewers in the live stream were also amused:
"Sui Sui said, 'Don't drag me into this hunger. You may not have a man, but I do.'"
"Haha, you can rely on yourself, I'm going to rely on someone else."
"Hilarious, Brother Fu really spoils Sui Sui."
"May you always have a strong support system year after year."
Shen Xingchen grabbed Sui Sui's arm and yelled, "Sui Sui, you can't abandon your brother and suffer! Can you bear to watch me starve and then lose your brother in the end?"
Shen Xingsui was amused by his antics, and looked at Fu Jinxiao with a hint of helplessness.
Fu Jinxiao raised an eyebrow and glanced at Tuya.
Upon receiving the signal, Teacher Tuya understood immediately and came over to comfort her, saying, "It's alright, it's alright. You can eat with us then, it's fine."
And that's how we solved the dinner problem.
During the meal, everyone discussed who the mole might be and when they would start eliminating people. Everyone had their own guesses about this.
While eating, Shen Xingchen decisively took out her task card and secretly handed it to Fu Jinxiao, saying, "Brother Fu, thank you for treating us to dinner. I'll share this task card with you."
Fu Jinxiao glanced at the pattern.
Shen Xingsui knew he was clever, so she leaned closer and asked, "Do you know what this is?"
Fu Jinxiao picked up the card and looked at it for a while before saying, "We've seen this design before."
Shen Xingsui had always thought she had a good memory, but she didn't expect Fu Jinxiao to be even more meticulous than herself, so she quickly and humbly asked, "Where have I seen this before?"
Fu Jinxiao opened her lips: "The center of the village."
Everyone else was stunned.
Because they gather in the village center every day, and they've never seen this pattern before.
Shen Xingsui thought about it seriously for a moment, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration and slapped the table: "I know! It's because the cloth on the ground during the performance that day had this pattern, but it was taken away later."
Fu Jinxiao nodded.
Shen Xingchen was puzzled: "Should we go find that person, or go to the village center to take a look? But there's nothing there."
Fu Jinxiao pointed to the pattern and said, "There's a moon on this pattern. Let's go take a look tonight."
Shen Xingchen revealed a smug expression: "Maybe I'll see some fairies late at night."
Fu Jinxiao said with a smile, "It could also be a female ghost."
"..."
It had been drizzling all day in the Fei ethnic village. As it got dark in the evening, everyone went out to check out the village center. Shen Xingsui put on a thicker coat and went out. She saw Fu Jinxiao holding an umbrella at the door. He was tall and handsome, standing in the hazy smoke, with warm yellow light falling down, like a traditional Chinese ink painting.
Shen Xingsui stared, somewhat stunned.
Fu Jinxiao took a few steps toward him and said in a low voice, "It's raining. Why don't you stay inside? I'll go check on things and come back to tell you."
Shen Xingsui shook her head: "Let's go together. It's not safe for you to go alone."
Fu Jinxiao smiled and said, "With so many photographers following us, what could be unsafe?"
Shen Xingsui was a little embarrassed and annoyed, but Fu Jinxiao didn't expose his little thoughts. After waiting for a while, they set off when Shen Xingchen arrived. The three of them walked slowly through the rainy night in the small village.
After a few minutes' walk, we finally arrived at the center of the village.
To everyone's delight, two children holding umbrellas stood there, seemingly waiting for someone. As the group approached, the two children, dressed in the traditional attire of the Fei tribe, bowed and said, "We are here on the orders of the fairy to help you young heroes seal the treasure. It is fate that we have met here today. Please accept this map leading to the dense forest."
Shen Xingchen accepted the document the closest to her, but after looking at it for a while, she hesitated and said, "I don't understand it."
Shen Xingsui also joined in the study.
The two looked at it for a long time, but unfortunately found that the patterns on it were so densely drawn that they were completely incomprehensible.
Fu Jinxiao glanced at it indifferently and said, "You've got it upside down."
"……oh"
Shen Xingchen quickly flipped the map over again, and now she could finally understand it.
The two were engrossed in studying the map when Fu Jinxiao stepped forward and noticed a child clutching something in his hand. She asked, "What are you holding?"
The child with braids replied, "This is a water gun given to me by a fairy. It's filled with magical water. If you pour this magical water on a bad person, that bad person will never be able to access the treasure."
Fu Jinxiao held out her hand: "Give it to me."
The child hesitated for a moment: "But the fairy sister said that this bottle must be given to the righteous young hero..."
Fu Jinxiao raised an eyebrow, but instead of snatching it, he took a piece of candy out of his pocket and handed it to her.
The little girl promptly placed the small bottle in his hand: "Here you go."
The viewers in the live stream finally couldn't help but burst out laughing at this point:
"That's incredibly shameless."
"Does the fairy know how willful you are?"
"This one and only divine water was just given away so casually?"
"However, the righteous young hero next to me was still studying the map..."
Fu Jinxiao returned with the items and said to the two of them, "It's still raining here. If you want to go back and check, go back. We can enter the dense forest tomorrow. Hide the map well."
Both of them responded.
After returning home, Shen Xingchen quickly went to sleep.
Shen Xingsui and Fu Jinxiao walked towards their room. As they walked, Shen Xingsui couldn't help but ask, "Teacher Fu, what did that child give you from time to time just now?"
Fu Jinxiao glanced at him and said, "It's nothing, just a small prop."
Shen Xingsui nodded thoughtfully.
Fu Jinxiao looked at his expression, smiled, and said in a low voice, which seemed to be shrouded in mist in the rain: "What, do you suspect that I am an undercover agent?"
Shen Xingsui looked up and said, "Then you are, are you?"
Actually, this is a really silly question.
Because no undercover agent would voluntarily admit to being an undercover agent, right?
Even if they did, they would never admit it, so there's no point in asking this question at all.
Fu Jinxiao simply walked quietly beside him. Upon hearing this, a smile seemed to flicker across the man's handsome face. He lowered his head, his dark, deep eyes fixed on him as he asked, "You want me to be, don't you?"
Shen Xingsui was taken aback, and replied somewhat stiffly, "Of course... I don't want that."
Fu Jinxiao raised an eyebrow.
This brief silence felt longer than any other time.
quite a while
Fu Jinxiao smiled and said, "Well, then I'm not one of them."
Shen Xingsui didn't know why, but she had a strange feeling that no matter what, as long as Fu Jinxiao said no to her, he would definitely be on her side, even if their positions and identities were different, there would be no danger.
...
Day 2
This is the third day of filming for the show, with only two days left until the end.
After gathering all the guests together, the director said, "Now we'll announce the personnel list. Of the eight people in your team, how many are protecting the treasure, and how many want to destroy it? The ratio is 5:3."
When this data was released, most of the guests were shocked.
Ning Ze said, "In the data released yesterday, there was only one person who was a vandal."
“This guy is terrifying. He infected two people in just one day yesterday?” Xu Qinke said. “At this rate, we will be wiped out by tomorrow at the latest.”
Tuya said, "Yesterday he was fighting alone, but today he has two helpers. There's no need to wait until tomorrow; it's all over today."
I don't know who joked before that if Fu Jinxiao got the undercover card, no one would survive more than two days. I didn't expect that it would actually come true.
Shen Xingchen stepped forward and said, "Anyway, I'm not an undercover agent."
Li Xu'an and the others also shrugged: "We're not like that either. I spent the whole day yesterday with Teacher Tuya. If you don't believe me, we can vouch for each other."
An Ran thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "Actually, I think Shen Xingchen has a problem."
All eyes fell on Shen Xingchen.
“Because do you remember, the first time, Brother Xingchen kept saying he wished he were an undercover agent, but this time, he's trying to prove he's not.” An Ran raised an eyebrow: “Isn't that strange?”
Shen Xingchen jumped up and down: "If I don't say I'm not, am I supposed to say I'm an undercover agent?"
Teacher Tuya spoke up, saying, "I have a clue card here, which says that this undercover agent is a young hero who became famous at a young age."
The moment the clue card was thrown out, everyone fell silent.
Of course, this card is still pointed at, and many people have turned their attention to Fu Jinxiao, because everyone knows that Fu Jinxiao is a true film emperor who became famous at a young age. He is not even 30 years old yet and has already won the three Golden Horse Awards and the Grand Slam in the music industry.
Fu Jinxiao remained calm and unhurried, glancing around at everyone before saying slowly, "You all debuted around the same age as I did back then."
These words immediately dispelled any doubts.
The youngest person here is only in his early twenties, yet he can still be considered a young hero who has achieved fame at a young age.
So everyone withdrew their attention and suspicions. Teacher Tuya looked at this group of children who had been so easily dealt with by Fu Jinxiao and sighed repeatedly, lamenting that their skills were too shallow.
Shen Xingsui weakly extended her hand: "I think the most important issue we should be focusing on right now is how the undercover agents infect people, right?"
That hit the nail on the head.
That's the most important thing.
Moreover, this undercover agent infected someone, and there was no report about it. This is truly terrifying.
The director had been waiting for this question, and when Shen Xingsui brought it up, he immediately said, "This is everyone's task for today. There are fragments of the Treasure Mirror scattered in this forest. Use the map in your hands to find the fragments, and then use the mirror to look at the tokens hanging on your teammates' waists. If the mirror is red, it means the destroyer, and green means the guardian. If the destroyer finds and destroys the mirror first, then you will lose the opportunity to identify it."
This is a matter of speed.
The director continued with a mysterious smile, saying, "Today, our team pairings will still be based on audience votes. However, we've added an interactive element. In a little while, everyone will use their phones to log into Weibo and send a voting link. The voting period is ten minutes, and the final votes within those ten minutes will determine your final team pairings."
The production team brought out all the phones they had collected previously.
To ensure fairness and impartiality, staff members posted the voting link on behalf of the guests, who then unlocked their phones and brought up the Weibo page.
Shen Xingsui cooperated by unlocking the phone and returning it to the staff.
When the staff saw the phone wallpaper, they smiled and said, "Sui Sui really has a childlike heart, using a cartoon ticket finder as her wallpaper."
Because of what she said, the cameraman came over and gave the phone wallpaper a close-up, which allowed the viewers in the live stream to see the big SpongeBob SquarePants wallpaper.
Shen Xingsui smiled shyly: "I just found it randomly. I don't usually have any other apps to play with, so I just look for wallpapers from some big V's on Weibo or super topics."
As the staff member began editing the Weibo link, they said, "Looking at your usual Weibo posts, I would never have guessed you had such a childlike heart."
Shen Xingsui thought to herself, "Of course I used a secondary account to find them."
But when that thought flashed through his mind, he froze! He suddenly remembered that the Weibo account logged into his current phone seemed to be his alternate account!
Did you switch back?
It seems not...
Before coming here, I wanted to find some wallpapers, so I used my alternate account to search for them. Now I've completely forgotten whether I've switched back!
He was so engrossed in talking to someone that he didn't pay attention to the information on his profile page when he opened Weibo, whether it was his main account or not. Imagine if his alternate account posted a poll link later...
He thought about his username, which he hadn't had time to change yet.
Thinking back to my Weibo posts and comments from those years, and even my mutual following with Fu Jinxiao's various fan leaders.
Once these are exposed...
Then...wouldn't he have to live on a different planet?
Author's Note: Fans: So you're one of us!
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