The post quickly garnered a strong response from netizens.
I had a feeling this set of photos wouldn't look good, but I knew it wouldn't be, though I didn't expect it to be this bad.
[It's actually quite normal. After all, reality shows are just documenting life. Other guests are entertaining because they have rich lives, but these two brothers don't have jobs and aren't very popular. Their most famous moment was participating in this reality show. It's normal that they're not entertaining.]
[Since it's a story about a wealthy family reunion, I thought there would be a family feud or something. The infighting and drama in foreign wealthy families are incredibly intense; I love watching them.]
[Haha, that's impossible! East Asian families are generally more reserved, and even if they really had a fight, why would they let you see it? The director would have cut it out long ago.]
[Sigh, then there's not much to see. Let me wait and see our prince; this is a true aristocratic family.]
[+1, he's the most prestigious of all the guests. It's just that he's alone in Haishi, which makes it a bit inconvenient for him to participate in the later group activities.]
Don't worry, the prince said he'll be moving to Kyoto soon and continuing filming at the castle there.
...
After having dinner with his grandmother at the Xie family's old residence, Xie Siyan returned to his study to handle the family affairs that had been piling up for the past few days.
A little later, Uncle Gao knocked on the door and came in to report: "Young Master, Mr. Fu has invited you to this year's stallion show next Sunday."
Xie Siyan looked up and asked, "Fu Jingran?"
Fu Jingran is the eldest son of the Fu family and is active in Beijing's elite social circles. The Fu and Xie families have been close friends for many years, with the closest relationship being among their grandfathers' generation; the younger generation doesn't keep in touch much. Because he and Fu Jingran attend the same equestrian club, they occasionally go horseback riding together, and their relationship is fairly good.
“No, it’s Mr. Fu Shuyu.” Uncle Gao shook his head. “This is Mr. Fu Shuyu’s first public event since settling in Beijing. The invitations were sent to various families in the name of the Fu family, and the Xie family also received a copy.”
“No,” Xie Siyan said, showing little interest. “Let Xie Pingfeng go to the family event. Tell him he can choose a racehorse he likes.”
"Okay, I understand." Uncle Gao nodded, turned around and left the study.
After Uncle Gao left, Xie Siyan put down his pen and rubbed his temples. For some reason, he had been unusually unable to calm down lately.
But he really hasn't raced horses in a long time. Although the horses have been kept at the racecourse, their performance will decline if they don't run for a long time.
Thinking of this, Xie Siyan contacted Xiang Yu: "Want to go horse racing?"
"Sure," Xiang Yu readily agreed. "Just the two of us?"
Xie Siyan: "Let's invite our partners as well."
After a moment's thought, Xiang Yu tried asking, "Yan Shenyu?"
"Whatever." Xie Siyan said expressionlessly.
Xiang Yu deliberately did the opposite of him: "Then I won't call him. He's been recording a variety show lately, and he seems quite busy."
Xie Siyan was forced to change his tune: "You can call him whatever you want."
Xiang Yu: "..."
Xie Siyan: "..."
"Okay," Xiang Yu changed her mind, "Let's invite him, and the meeting will be next month?"
?
Xie Siyan: "Why didn't you say next year?"
"You're so impatient, aren't you?" Xiang Yu couldn't help but laugh. "I think I've figured it out. You're not looking for me to race horses, but rather to meet Yan Shenyu."
Xie Siyan vehemently denied it: "No."
Xiang Yu: "Then wait until I return to China before we talk about it."
Xie Siyan: "This month."
“I really can’t,” Xiang Yu said, looking out the window at the unfamiliar streets of a foreign country, her teasing tone fading. “The project I’m working on is quite complicated, and I won’t be back until next month at the earliest.”
What use are you? Xie Siyan hung up the phone, thinking to himself that he really had to take matters into his own hands.
But the weather has been too hot lately. He remembered that Yan Shenyu was very afraid of the heat and had refused to go out when he sent her flowers last time. He wondered if Yan Shenyu would be willing to go out recently.
It's also strange that he was suddenly invited to go horseback riding. Besides, does Yan Shenyu like horseback riding?
A series of reasons flashed through Xie Siyan's mind, but his hand had already opened Yan Shenyu's WeChat. It was then that he saw Yan Shenyu's latest update.
[Thanks to the prince for inviting me to see stallions! (And, not the kind of stallions you're thinking of)]
The accompanying picture shows a corner of an invitation to a stallion exchange event. The boy is holding the corner of the invitation, with long, slender fingers and rounded nails.
A moment later, Xie Siyan dialed Uncle Gao's number: "I'll personally attend the stallion meeting next week."
...
Not only Yan Shenyu, but the other four guests of "The Diary of Observing the Rich and Powerful" also received invitations from the Stallion Club.
In his original world, Yan Sheng also received an invitation to this stallion club, and was ridiculed for wearing the wrong clothes. Even worse, he later embarrassed himself in public because he couldn't ride a horse, and almost got injured...
He was originally an ugly duckling who had forced his way into high society, and his embarrassment at such an important occasion further solidified his belief that he was incompatible with this social class.
Yan Sheng tossed the invitation aside, determined never to suffer for herself again.
However, when he opened his WeChat Moments, he saw Yan Shenyu's latest post, and he could almost picture the excited expression on her face when she sent the message...
He had forgotten that Yan Shenyu particularly enjoyed trying new things, and this was an activity that clearly appealed to him.
Are we going to let him go alone? What if he wears the wrong clothes like I did? What if he gets injured because he can't ride a horse?
Yan Sheng pursed his lips. He glanced at the invitation letter that had been tossed aside, but ultimately picked it up again.
Behind the monitor, Shan Li sighed in disappointment: "Sigh, that cold expression again. Even though you're a cold beauty, nothing's happening, and the variety show just won't go on. There are only two days left this week, and we still don't have any usable footage."
"What about your brother?" Jiang Xulin asked.
"Yan Shenyu?" Mentioning this, Shan Li's resentment grew even stronger, his face contorted with bitterness as he complained, "He's not home most of the time. The paparazzi are always following him, but what can we do if he won't let us film? He always says it's family privacy. What can we do?"
"What should we do?" Jiang Xulin tapped him on the head, exasperated. "In any case, we shouldn't just sit here complaining about the guests."
"What can I do?" Shan Li said, feeling wronged.
"Charge up to them, pester them relentlessly, and beg them to let you take pictures if they won't let you."
“Reality shows aren’t that easy,” Jiang Xulin said coldly. “Do you think the guests are actors who just stand there waiting for you to film them? It’s normal to be rejected. If you’re rejected once, try a second or a third time. Eventually, you’ll succeed one time.”
Hearing the director's encouragement, the cameramen, who had been feeling frustrated for the past few days, had a glimmer of hope.
“Yan Shenyu is obviously up to something. Whether you’re shameless or playing the victim, make sure you get a shot of it! As for Yan Sheng,” Jiang Xulin glanced at the quiet, melancholic boy in the camera lens before saying, “Just film normally for now. If he doesn’t talk, he doesn’t talk. If he’s going to be melancholic, he is. Film everything. Don’t miss any details. Their storyline is particularly suitable for exploring the plot.”
Everyone nodded and dispersed to get back to work.
A day later, the photographer who had been following Yan Shenyu rushed back excitedly.
"Good heavens! Brother Lin was right, Yan Shenyu really is up to something! It took me a lot of effort to convince him to let me film him!"
"What what?"
What's so interesting about it?
The other staff members gathered around.
"Hehe, you'll find out on Saturday." The staff member smiled mysteriously, keeping everyone in suspense. "What about Yan Sheng? Any progress?"
"No, I still stay in my room alone every day. Apart from eating, I don't interact much with my family."
“It’s okay,” the staff member filming Yan Shenyu said smugly, “It’ll be fine on Saturday.”
Saturday? The others looked up curiously.
...
Saturday is Yan Sheng's 24th birthday.
Early in the morning, Yan Sheng drew back the curtains and looked out from the window on the third floor of the villa.
The sun had not yet risen, and the sky was a gradient from deep blue to light blue. The lake was clear and cloudless, foreshadowing a few sunny days ahead.
After washing up, Yan Sheng went downstairs to have breakfast before heading to school.
The restaurant was empty, except for Aunt Chen who smiled and brought out his breakfast.
Everyone in the Yan family has a different schedule, so they don't eat together every day. Yan Sheng is used to eating alone, so he puts down his schoolbag and eats by himself.
Halfway through the meal, Yan Shenyu came downstairs. The young man, with his long hair haphazardly tied back, didn't even look at him and went straight into the kitchen, saying, "Aunt Chen, I want to eat beef rice noodles today."
"I knew you wanted some. I still have the stewed beef from last night," Aunt Chen said with a smile, taking out rice noodles from the refrigerator. "Would you like some chive leaves?"
"Yes, yes, yes," Yan Shenyu nodded, "and add a lethal amount of cilantro and chili oil as well."
Aunt Chen smiled and agreed.
After doing all this, Yan Shenyu pulled out a chair and sat down next to Yan Sheng, asking, "Are you going to school today?"
Although it's still the holidays, Yan Sheng occasionally goes to the school to help professors with their research, and she's been going out these past few days.
Yan Sheng hummed in agreement, but felt a little guilty.
The professor didn't actually call him today, but he preferred to spend his time working rather than idly spending his birthday at home.
Moreover, he was unable to complete his postgraduate studies in his previous life for some reason, and he did not want to leave that regret again in this life.
Yan Shenyu on the other side breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, Yan Sheng had something to do today, otherwise he would have had to find something to distract Yan Sheng.
Soon, Aunt Chen brought over the beef noodles. Yan Shenyu didn't say anything more and began to carefully mix the noodles.
The enormous porcelain bowl was filled with rice noodles, topped with huge chunks of beef, sprinkled with a lethal amount of cilantro, and covered with a lethal amount of chili oil—the kind of bowl that would make you worry about whether his anus was alright.
But undeniably, compared to Yan Sheng's milk and bread, this steaming bowl of rice noodles is more appetizing.
Seeing Yan Sheng looking at him, Yan Shenyu, who was about to eat, put down his chopsticks and pushed the bowl over: "Do you want to eat?"
"No need." Yan Sheng then realized how long she had been staring and hurriedly looked away.
"Really don't want it?" Yan Shenyu handed over the chopsticks. "The way you looked at me just now was like someone who had been eating a diet for a month seeing someone else eating meat."
Was his expression really that exaggerated? Yan Sheng subconsciously picked up her phone, wanting to check her own expression through the screen.
However, he soon realized that he had actually watched it and had fallen into Yan Shenyu's trap.
Yan Sheng shook her head and said coldly, "I won't eat."
“Oh, right,” Yan Shenyu suddenly remembered, “You can’t eat spicy food. Never mind, I won’t force you…”
"Who says I can't eat spicy food?"
A strange competitive spirit seized Yan Sheng's mind. Before he could react, he had already picked up a mouthful of rice noodles from the bowl. The noodles were covered in red oil, and the smell alone was enough to make one want to cough.
Yan Sheng has a light diet and almost never eats spicy food, but it's too late to back out now.