When Jiang Shi woke up the next day, Cheng Ye was no longer beside him. The window had been boarded up, and the room was pitch black.

Not knowing the time, he could only get out of bed, lift the cloth covering the camera, and slowly fumbled to put on his microphone.

It had indeed rained last night as the director team had said. The outside was wet, and the rain had washed the persimmon tree a more vibrant green. The earth exuded a fragrant scent, and the other side of the mountain was glowing with golden light.

Cheng Ye was sitting where Jiang Shi had sat yesterday, dealing with documents. Hearing the movement behind him, he turned his head and glanced. “The director said for us to get up and gather at the village entrance.”

After washing up, Jiang Shi followed Cheng Ye to the village entrance.

They arrived neither early nor late. Two couples were already sitting inside—the other two heterosexual couples. Jiang Shi had worked with two of them before; the rest were strangers.

Upon meeting, there was an inevitable round of pleasantries. After the greetings, they ate the breakfast prepared by the production team while waiting for the others.

Sun Jiayu’s group was the last to arrive. Both of them looked like they hadn’t slept well, yawning as they walked.

Sun Jiayu was a singer, from a wealthy family, and with a lively personality, he often participated in various variety shows and was generally well-liked.

As soon as he appeared, several people invited him to sit with them, but he plopped himself down next to Jiang Shi.

After a night, he had finally recovered from the shock Cheng Ye had given him yesterday.

“You won’t believe it, last night I dreamed of Brother Cheng sitting next to you, holding a basin and eating noodles. It’s so jarring, so jarring.”

The breakfast prepared by the director team was a local specialty snack. Jiang Shi held a small crispy biscuit in his hand and felt like laughing at his words. “He grew up in a village before. It’s not strange for him to do these things.”

“It’s different…” Sun Jiayu said, “Bill Gates said in an interview that he had a hard childhood, but that’s completely different from Bill Gates starting a fire and cooking in front of me.”

The chief director came over with his megaphone again.

“Did everyone sleep well last night?”

Except for Jiang Shi and Cheng Ye, a wave of complaints immediately came from the crowd.

“I’m sure everyone has already learned that ‘About Us’ is a lifestyle variety show. Five couples form five families, and each family’s initial environment is different. What you have to do is to work and live like the local villagers… and strive to manage your own little home well.”

The director rambled on about the show’s concept and rules.

Cheng Ye sat on Jiang Shi’s other side. “This one is delicious.”

Jiang Shi took a bite.

“This one is not bad.”

Jiang Shi took another bite.

“This one seems a bit spoiled. Give it to the person next to you.”

Sun Jiayu, who was stuffing his face with breakfast next to them: “??”

Dude, you…

The chief director continued, “Each family’s initial fund is five hundred. But because everyone’s house had some problems yesterday, and you made deals with the production team, the money you owed yesterday will now be deducted from your initial funds.”

He began to read out how much each group had been deducted. When he got to Jiang Shi’s group, he paused. “Jiang Shi and Cheng Ye’s group, not a single cent was deducted. So you are the only group with five hundred in funds.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the other guests present were all shocked. Ignoring their shock, the director continued, “As you saw when you arrived yesterday, the things in the house are not complete. Your task this morning is to use the remaining funds you have to purchase the necessary supplies.”

“By the way, since the show is a live broadcast plus edited format, in the next three months, you will have to accumulate at least fourteen hours of live broadcast time each week. The staff will give you the phones for live broadcasting. When you go shopping later, you have to do it with the live broadcast on.”

A staff member handed a phone to Jiang Shi, saying as he did, “Teacher Jiang, you are in live broadcast room number three. The phone only has the live broadcast software. You can’t do anything else besides broadcasting.”

Sun Jiayu wailed, “The mountain road is so hard to climb. You’re not going to make us buy things and then carry them up ourselves, are you?”

The director smiled mysteriously. “That was just the path you took on your first day. There’s another road on the mountaintop that you can drive on. It’s only a two-minute walk from here.”

Jiang Shi: “…”

This was truly despicable.

The others were all getting ready to go shopping one by one. Jiang Shi was still sitting on the chair, trying to figure out how to start the live broadcast.

He poked Cheng Ye. “Is it this button?”

Cheng Ye leaned over to look. “This one, I think.”

He reached out and tapped it. Jiang Shi’s magnified face suddenly appeared on the screen, so clear that even the color of the sunlight falling on his eyelashes was visible.

[Beauty crit!]

[Opening screen crit!]

[Forty-nine condoms crit!]

Jiang Shi was a bit nearsighted and was about to lean closer to see what the bullet comments were saying when Sun Jiayu, next to him, said pitifully, “Jiang Shi, can we borrow some money from you?”

Sun Jiayu’s group was the worst off. They had no water and no quilt, and had been scammed out of four hundred by the director team.

Jiang Shi didn’t want to be the one to decide about the money. He looked at Cheng Ye.

So Sun Jiayu went to talk to Cheng Ye.

Everyone else had left. Cheng Ye was holding his phone. Hearing his request, he said generously, “We can lend it.”

Sun Jiayu’s eyes lit up.

Then they heard him speak, “Lend you one hundred, and you’ll pay back two hundred.”

“…”

Zhao Chuan complained, “Brother, we’ve at least shared a meal together.”

Cheng Ye said, “Otherwise, it would be three hundred.”

Sun Jiayu pulled Zhao Chuan away. “Let’s go borrow from the director team.”

The director team, unaware of what had just happened, said according to plan, “You can borrow. Borrow one hundred, and you’ll pay back three hundred.”

“…”

One was more of a scammer than the other.

The two trudged back. “Brother Cheng, one hundred, no more.”

Cheng Ye took out a hundred from his pocket and gave it to them.

Sun Jiayu felt like a real fool. In just one day, he had been scammed by Cheng Ye twice, but he still felt that Jiang Shi’s group was inexplicably reliable.

“Jiang Shi, can we go shopping with you? At least we’ll have company on the way.”

“No.” Cheng Ye skillfully stuffed the bag of things into his backpack and put a sun hat on Jiang Shi. “You go by yourselves.”

With that, he pulled Jiang Shi away.

Jiang Shi held up the phone and walked beside him. After they had gone some distance, he asked, “Why didn’t you let them come with us?”

Cheng Ye said, “They look like they have no life experience. They’d be a hassle.”

“They’re not giving us money, why should we help them?”

Jiang Shi poked him. “We’re live.”

Cheng Ye’s steps faltered. He glanced at the phone screen and saw that the camera was pointed at Jiang Shi’s face. He moved the phone slightly, and after seeing the blue sky on the screen, he withdrew his hand.

“What’s wrong with being live? We’re not breaking any rules.”

Jiang Shi: “…”

[So stingy. Sun Jiayu’s attitude was so good. What’s the harm in agreeing?]

[And he says they have no life experience. Anyone who didn’t know would think you’re so amazing.]

[Cheng Ye didn’t do anything wrong. Whether to agree or not is their freedom. Certain people should stop with the moral high ground.]

[I want to see faces. What’s with showing me the sky?]

Jiang Shi and Cheng Ye got in the car. He looked at the phone, which was almost flat, and reached out to adjust it. At this distance, he couldn’t see the words on the bullet comments, so he smiled and greeted them.

“Hello everyone, we’re in the car now, getting ready to go shopping on the street here.”

He shared the camera with the man beside him. “You tell me, is four hundred enough to buy what we need?”

Cheng Ye said reservedly, “It’s enough.”

He folded the money in his pocket and put it in the small bag Jiang Shi carried with him. “You keep the money. You manage all the money in our family.”

Saying such things in public, Jiang Shi felt an inexplicable sense of shame. He didn’t dare to look at the bullet comments even more. He reached out his other hand and pinched Cheng Ye, changing the subject. “So what should we buy? Do we not have any bowls at home?”

Cheng Ye was baffled. “Why did you pinch me?”

Jiang Shi: “…”

Jiang Shi said, “Let’s see what the audience recommends we buy.”

He squinted and leaned closer. The bullet comments were dense, all flashing with the same word.

[Condoms!]

[Buy condoms, buy forty-nine of them!]

Jiang Shi: “…”

His face went from white to green, then flushed red. “No… what are you guys talking about… what…”

Condoms.

[Hahahaha… he’s blushing. Isn’t it a bit late to be blushing now?]

[You dared to say it, and now you’re afraid of us knowing?]

[Okay, okay, now the whole world knows that you and Cheng Ye use forty-nine condoms a week.]

Jiang Shi suddenly came to his senses. “You heard what was said that day?”

[Hahahaha… you didn’t know?]

[Not only did we hear it, it was a trending topic.]

[Do you know that President Cheng has a nickname now? The man who uses forty-nine condoms a week.]

Jiang Shi: “…”

Jiang Shi’s suspended heart completely died.

Cheng Ye was still beside him, asking, “How about we buy a fan? It’s getting hot, you can have a breeze.”

Jiang Shi said, “I want to buy some tape to seal your mouth.”

Cheng Ye: “…”

Cheng Ye said, aggrieved, “What did I do to make you angry again?”

Jiang Shi, blushing, stuffed the phone into his hands.

Cheng Ye looked down and saw a screen full of—

[The man who uses forty-nine condoms a week]

He frowned, thought for a few seconds, and understood what had happened. He didn’t look at the phone, but first apologized to Jiang Shi, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know what was said that day was heard.”

Jiang Shi’s anger flared up. He didn’t care that they were still live and gave Cheng Ye a slap. “What’s the use of being sorry? My innocence has been ruined by you.”

Cheng Ye paused. “It’s okay, I can be responsible.”

His tone was even a little expectant.

Jiang Shi said, “Get the hell out!”

Cheng Ye: “…”

“We’re still in the car. I’ll get out later.”

[Hahahahahahahahaha…]

[Weren’t these two acting like they weren’t familiar with each other at the beginning? How is the style like this now?]

[Help, how can it be so funny?]

[I declare, you two are really a couple. An ordinary person can’t act this out.]

[I really feel for President Cheng. Not only did he not get to bring the condoms, his wife is angry too.]

[Has no one said it? Jiang Shi is so beautiful when he’s angry. Wife, be with me. I’ll definitely treat you better than President Cheng.]

President Cheng backhanded this person out of the live broadcast room.