After finishing their hotpot, the three of them didn't linger. They took a car back to the villa, and when they got downstairs, they saw three cars—yellow, blue, and pink—all in their parking spaces. It seemed everyone had returned.
Luo Shimiao went upstairs to find Lan Xinyue, only to find her lying on the sofa, like a fish out of water, staring blankly at the ceiling.
"What happened? Did you lose your soul and not find it?" Luo Shimiao stretched out his finger and waved it in front of her eyes.
Lan Xinyue said slowly, "Right now, all I can hear in my head is the crackling sound of eggshells."
Luo Shimiao chuckled to himself: "Another person driven to the brink of collapse by having a raw egg peeled off. Did you pass the test?"
"The location scouting is done, and Cao Lu is also on camera. According to the staff, she was so angry that she cursed in front of the camera, which is a first for her."
Remembering something, Lan Xinyue suddenly sat up, grabbed the car keys from the table, and handed them back to Luo Shimiao: "Thank you. By the way, have you eaten? Zhou Yang is cooking. Do you want to stay and eat with us?"
"I've already eaten, I'm going upstairs now, you get some rest."
"Okay." Lan Xinyue leaned back on the sofa and continued to drift off into her own thoughts.
At 4 p.m., Director He gathered everyone on the lawn, which was the place where the candlelight dinner was held.
Three familiar dining tables were set up on the lawn.
Zhou Yang asked, "Director He, what surprise have you prepared for us this time?"
Director He smiled mysteriously: "It's definitely good stuff. Let me tell you about the games we're going to play later. The first game is called 'Sharing Weal and Woe,' and the second is called 'Carrying the Burden Forward.'"
"Let me explain the first game rule: the challenge is to eat ten dishes. You get 10 points for each dish you eat. The more points you accumulate, the deeper your love for food is."
"During the challenge, if either side fails to eat, it is considered a failure, and the CP with a final score below 60 points will be punished."
Zhang Kailun asked, "Is there a reward for scores above 60?"
Director He: "No, the budget is limited, please understand. How about we reward you with an hour of aerobics? What do you think?"
In a rare moment of unanimous agreement, everyone said in unison, "It's not very good!"
Zhang Kailun: "Director, please continue. Pretend I didn't ask."
Director He clapped his hands and shouted, "Bring the props!"
Three staff members in uniform pushed a food cart over. The cart had four tiers, each with two round stainless steel trays covered with dome-shaped lids of the same material.
The staff arranged the food cart vertically on the table according to the numbers on the lids, then pushed the cart back and brought the remaining two trays to the table.
After seeing that all the food had been served, Director He said, "You must eat at least two bites of each dish; otherwise, the challenge is over."
"Sharing joys and sorrows, the challenge begins!"
Luo Shimiao lifted the lid, and after seeing what was inside, he raised an eyebrow: stinky tofu?
Lan Xinyue next door had already started eating: "Director, how did you know I love stinky tofu?"
A glint of shrewdness flashed in Director He's eyes. Don't be too happy yet, the best is yet to come.
Luo Shimiao pointed at the stinky tofu and asked Gu Nian, "Can you eat this? If you can't, then we won't eat it."
Gu Nian didn't speak, picked up his chopsticks, put a piece in his mouth, and then picked up another piece: "Open your mouth."
Luo Shimiao obediently opened her mouth and bit into the stinky tofu.
The first dish of stinky tofu is not difficult and everyone can accept it.
Next up is the second dish.
With a loud crash, Cao Lu exclaimed, "Ah, a cockroach!"
Director He explained, "This isn't a cockroach, it's a water beetle. It tastes delicious and is very nutritious. Everyone who's tried it says it's great. It's a man's energy booster and a woman's beauty salon."
Looking at the black water beetles soaking in the broth, Luo Shimiao thought of dung beetles.
Director He stepped forward, picked up a water beetle, and demonstrated for everyone: "First, remove its head, then remove its wings, and then gently pull out the internal intestines at the triangular point on its tail. Then you can eat it. Take a bite and burst out of its plump belly, the internal organs will burst out, the taste is amazing!"
Live stream chat, bullet comments.
—[Oh my god, this gave me goosebumps. The director is a bit of a psychopath.]
—【If you don't look closely, this thing really does look like a cockroach.】
—[I just can't bring myself to eat it; the thought of putting it in makes my stomach churn.]
Luo Shimiao picked up a water beetle, cleaned it according to Director He's method, and then put it to Gu Nian's mouth.
Gu Nian glanced at her, then opened his mouth and ate the water beetle.
How does it taste?
"good."
With Gu Nian's assurance, Luo Shimiao peeled five eggs, ate two herself, and gave the rest to Gu Nian.
Gu Nian leaned close to Luo Shimiao's ear, his lips almost touching her ear, and said in a voice only the two of them could hear, "I'm healthy, I don't need tonics or aphrodisiacs."
Luo Shimiao's face flushed, but he pretended to be nonchalant. In a blind spot where the camera couldn't capture the moment, he gave Gu Nian's waist a light pinch.
Seeing that they had all eaten, Cao Lu thought to herself: I can't lose to them!
Gritting his teeth, he closed his eyes, put the water beetle that Zhang Kailun had peeled into his mouth, and swallowed it directly.
Director He: "Very good, everyone is very courageous."
Lan Xinyue opened the third dome-shaped lid, and everything went black before her eyes: "Director, it's bugs again!"
Luo Shimiao lifted the lid and said, "I've eaten these fried silkworm pupae before, they're delicious! They're absolutely amazing with a plate of them while watching a horror movie."
Lan Xinyue's lips twitched violently; this meal plan was a death trap for her.
Luo Shimiao picked up a silkworm pupa and tossed it into the air, then caught it with his mouth. Gu Nian picked up the pupa with chopsticks and put it in his mouth, his movements natural and elegant.
Live stream chat, bullet comments.
—[This comparison reveals that monkeys still prefer to eat with their hands.]
—[Although it has taken human form, its monkey nature is etched in its genes and cannot be changed.]
With the presence of water beetles, the silkworm pupae became less terrifying.
Zhou Yang even praised while eating: "Shi Miao, you're right, it's really delicious, one bite is enough to make you smitten, it's so addictive, I can't stop eating it."
The fourth dish was fried scorpions. Practice makes perfect, and the six people, each holding a skewer of fried scorpions, calmly ate them in front of the camera.
Luo Shimiao looked at the dome-shaped cover marked with the number 5 and said, "Director, are we going to have roasted snake next? If so, we suggest you go to the cemetery sales office beforehand."
Director He shrank his neck and looked at the smiling girl. He seemed to see a dark shadow floating above and behind Luo Shimiao. The shadow was holding a sickle and was laughing strangely at him.
"Oh my god, that's creepy," Director He said, hugging himself and shaking his head. "No, no."
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