Soup dumplings, pork rib soup, and three or four side dishes—it looked like a very generous spread.
Upon seeing them arrive, Liang Xinran greeted them with a smile: "Hello, Sister Yan, Ashi, I didn't have a chance to chat with you yesterday. It's all my fault for being so silly yesterday, I'm so sorry, you won't be mad at me, will you?"
Yang Shuyan was taken aback: "Why blame you? You had no choice but to get sick."
Liang Xinran smiled and said, "Sister Yan is so kind."
Their tone was intimate; anyone who didn't know better would think they were very close.
Liang Shi maintained his distance and remained silent throughout.
She didn't want to have any connection with Liang Xinran that went beyond that of strangers.
When Liang Shi and Yang Shuyan arrived, they couldn't just have breakfast right away; they had to play games first.
It is a two-player cooperative game called "Point East, Point West".
The show presented a challenge: the two people had to point in opposite directions.
No room for negotiation, and the same result cannot be achieved three times in a row; it must be a best-of-three series.
Liang Shi and Yang Shuyan were fairly in sync and barely passed the test.
The breakfast they were given consisted of milk, toast, eggs, and two side dishes.
Han Qian and Qi Qi arrived one after another. Bai Yu arrived late, sporting a messy, frizzy hairstyle and wearing slippers. Upon arrival, she leaned against the wall and yawned, completely lacking any decorum.
In the end, all that was left for Bai Yu was an egg.
Bai Yu frowned: "...I'm hungry."
Yang Shuyan gave him her milk and toast.
Bai Yu: "?"
Bai Yu seemed to only notice Yang Shuyan at this moment, his eyes filled with fear. He immediately tidied his hair, but Yang Shuyan slapped him on the back of the head with considerable force, enough to be picked up by the sound recording equipment.
Everyone: ?
The staff on site thought Bai Yu would lose his temper, since everyone knew that this young master usually had a bad temper.
Previously, Liang Xinran accidentally scratched him with a tree branch in the wild, and this young master gave her a good scolding.
As a result, Yang Shuyan hit her on the head...
After a few seconds of silence, Bai Yu looked at Yang Shuyan with a wronged expression and asked reproachfully, "Sister Yan, what are you doing?"
"You're giving up your career too?" Yang Shuyan flicked his forehead again: "You're an idol."
Bai Yu: "...Okay, okay."
Bai Yu made a face at her when she looked down, and Yang Shuyan saw it and slapped her from a distance. Bai Yu immediately became as quiet as a chicken.
The interaction between the two was quite interesting.
The staff member looked like he had bumped into something.
The director was overjoyed. He had heard that Bai Yu was most afraid of Yang Shuyan in the entertainment industry, but he never expected it to be like this. They looked like they had great chemistry.
This part absolutely has to be included! It'll definitely generate buzz and be a hot topic.
Liang Shi was fine; she didn't deliberately create any topics for herself and always dutifully completed her tasks.
In the next part of the trip, you'll be searching for treasure in various parts of the town.
Liang Shi was like a lone wolf; she would start doing tasks as soon as she got the task cards. She was lucky, and she completed the tasks in the beginning very smoothly.
Bai Yu asked her to team up with him, and she readily agreed. However, she also asked Bai Yu why he didn't go to Yang Shuyan instead.
Bai Yu scoffed: "She teamed up with Liang Xinran."
Liang Shi was relieved; taking Bai Yu with him was much better than taking Liang Xinran with him.
After a day of treasure hunting, Liang Shi and Bai Yu came in second place, while Yang Shuyan and her group came in first.
They accumulated the highest points, which they could use to get an extra meal in the evening.
A day later, Liang Xinran seemed to have become quite familiar with Yang Shuyan, but Yang Shuyan remained indifferent.
There was no intimacy with Bai Yu as he had with her.
When it was time for dinner, they played games after eating, the classic "strolling through three gardens".
Liang Xinran kept losing in unexpected ways.
Finally, with notes stuck all over his face, he still smiled at the camera and said, "How could this happen?"
The next few days were pretty much the same.
Liang Xinran didn't deliberately provoke Liang Shi, but she would occasionally clash with her unintentionally, such as when competing for tasks or when forming a team. Liang Xinran would smile sweetly at her and say, "Ah Shi, are you going to try and steal it from me again?"
Liang Shi would always give in to her because he was too lazy to argue with her.
However, when it came to winning or losing, Liang Shi refused to back down an inch.
The production crew privately nicknamed them the "Battle of the Two Beams".
Liang Shi didn't take it to heart; she just wanted to finish filming the show as soon as possible.
I don't really want to see Liang Xinran.
What bothered Liang Shi most was the evening before the recording ended.
The task ended earlier than usual that day because she and Yang Shuyan were about to leave, and the production team prepared a sumptuous dinner for them.
After the mission was over, everyone had to get their hair and makeup done. Liang Shi didn't even bring a styling team; she had to do it all herself. So she simply braided her hair and put on a light makeup look, much like the kind of "first love" makeup look you see online.
After she finished getting her hair and makeup done, she went to the restroom, only to find Liang Xinran smoking when she came out.
He had no expression, his eyes were cold and gloomy, and he silently exhaled smoke. His delicate face carried a sense of world-weariness, but it was different from Zhou Yi'an and Chen Mian's. It was a world-weariness with a hint of gloom, and the corners of his lips were slightly curled up, with a faint sarcasm.
Even though he hadn't said anything yet, it already made people feel uncomfortable.
Liang Shi washed his hands and slowly dried them, completely ignoring her.
She stubbed out her cigarette and spoke in a slightly hoarse voice, "Is isolating me fun?"
Liang Shi paused, his hand-wiping motion halting. "What makes you say that?"
"Anyone can see you don't like me." Liang Xinran's voice was even lower: "I don't know what I did, I've been avoiding you a lot."
“That’s not true.” Liang Shi’s tone was cold and distant. “You’re overthinking it.”
Liang Xinran lowered her eyes and said, "I know none of you like me. I'm not here to compete with you. I know I can't win against you. My eldest and second eldest brothers both like you very much."
She didn't show any expression when she said that, but her voice was very disappointed.
Liang Shi frowned slightly, realizing something was wrong. He looked around but couldn't see any recording equipment.
Logically, this should be a free period, and the staff should all be resting, so it shouldn't be a recording session.
But if it wasn't a recording, Liang Xinran's words are really strange.
Liang Shi became more alert and said coldly, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"How could you not know?" Liang Xinran chuckled. "It's just the two of us here. I told Mom I wanted you to come back, but it seems you blocked her. Mom was quite sad. You didn't come when Mom was sick before."
“She probably doesn’t want to see me,” Liang Shi replied.
“How could that be?” Liang Xinran said, “You two have been together for over twenty years, I’ve just been away all the time. Mom is good to me only because she feels indebted to me, but she really likes you, otherwise she wouldn’t have been so good to you all this time. I don’t live in the old house anymore, if you really don’t like it, I can leave.”
“I don’t dislike you,” Liang Shi said. “Don’t overthink it. There shouldn’t be any competition between us.”
"That's good." Liang Xinran smiled wryly, "I thought you never liked me."
"Why would you think that?" Liang Shi asked rhetorically.
Liang Xinran was taken aback: "The feeling I get is that you really dislike me. You never look at me when you talk. It's just a gut feeling. I've always wanted to talk to you, but you..."
"Forget it." Liang Xinran's voice was bitter. "I only entered the entertainment industry to do what I like. I won't compete with you for anything. You don't need to hate me so much."
Liang Shi frowned, but did not deny that he didn't dislike her, and turned to leave.
The last day of recording was uneventful.
//
After recording, Liang Shi and Yang Shuyan took a plane back to Haizhou City together.
Liang Shi had told Xu Qingzhu in advance, but Xu Qingzhu had a very important meeting and said she would have her assistant pick her up. Liang Shi immediately refused, saying, "I can just take a taxi back myself, and I can also have Dr. Zhao pick me up. I haven't seen her in a long time."
Xu Qingzhu chuckled: "You two really are good friends now."
Liang Shi: "...Could it be a friendship forged in adversity?"
Xu Qingzhu didn't say anything more and went to get busy.
Liang Shi only told her to take care of her health.
But before boarding the plane, Liang Shi received a message from Zhao Ying: "Where are you?"
Liang Shi sent her his location, and Zhao Ying sent her an OK emoji, saying, "Wait there after you get off the plane, I'll come pick you up."
Liang Shi: [Huh?]
Zhao Ying: [The director of "Yu Guang" is looking for you; let's meet together.]
Liang Shixia: [Okay.]
After the plane landed in Haizhou, Liang Shi and Yang Shuyan disembarked together. Both of them were good-looking and attracted attention along the way.
Yang Shuyan, in particular, has a large following among casual observers.
But Yang Shuyan's agent and assistant were very helpful and protected her well.
Liang Shi asked Yang Shuyan where she was going next, and Yang Shuyan replied expressionlessly, "Going home to sleep."
The agent sighed, "We have to meet the director tonight."
Yang Shuyan: "That happened tonight."
broker:"……"
Liang Shi said goodbye to her, saying that he would see her again next time.
Yang Shuyan took off her sunglasses and asked her, "How are you getting back?"
"Sister Ying is here to pick me up," Liang Shi said. "I have something to do in a bit."