Chapter 178

Chapter 178

As the camera panned into the hotel room, the audience at home was also transported inside.

Since the lineup for this parent-child special wasn’t announced in time, many viewers didn’t know that Yi Tiantian would be part of this episode.

Yi Tiantian had been absent from several episodes, so fans weren’t expecting him to show up this time either.

However, to everyone’s surprise, those who regularly watched the live stream noticed that the first shot of the broadcast was actually Yi Tiantian!

Excited, they started sharing the news, and fans flooded into the live stream room.

What was originally a sparse stream of comments suddenly surged, and the chat became lively.

[What a great day! Yi Tiantian is back!]

[Wow! I didn’t expect Yi Tiantian in the parent-child special!]

[Is Yi Tiantian out of his mind? This travel destination’s economy isn’t developed at all, and the conditions are terrible. What’s the point of coming here?!]

[Not everyone joins the show just to travel! There are many meaningful things to do as well!]

[I personally think this place is boring. If it weren’t for Xie Yi and Xie Niao, I wouldn’t be watching this!]

As more people joined, the comments section became heated, with everyone arguing and no one willing to back down.

Meanwhile, Yi Tiantian, unaware of the chat’s commotion, walked into the hotel room with a heavy heart.

The room only had the most basic furniture—a bed and a bedside table, not even a desk.

Yi Tiantian placed his luggage aside and tried sitting on the bed. To his surprise, the bed was as hard as a traditional Chinese kang bed, even worse than the one he’d slept on in Glory Underground City.

It was hard to imagine how tough life must be for the locals.

Yi Tiantian hoped that after this episode aired, more people would pay attention to the situation here and that tourism could help boost the local economy.

"By the way, what are the specific rules for the hide-and-seek game?"

After putting down his luggage, the staff member responsible for coordinating with him arrived and explained the task.

"That’s a good question. First, we need to take you for makeup to disguise your identity."

The staff member smiled and said to Yi Tiantian.

"Of course, the other guests will also be in disguise; otherwise, the task would be too easy."

Yi Tiantian nodded, and then two or three makeup artists entered the hotel room and began to dress him up.

Since the local people liked to wear light-colored clothes, the production team had specially prepared a simple light blue top and jeans for Yi Tiantian so he could fit in more seamlessly.

Yi Tiantian watched the makeup artist apply powder to his face in the mirror. He then asked another question.

"Will the other guests come to the hotel too? If they do, won’t we be exposed?"

The staff member replied seriously, "We’ve considered that. Each pair of guests will be taken to different locations. As the host, Tiantian Ge, you will be the last to gather with everyone at the hotel. The other guests are getting their makeup done elsewhere."

"That makes sense."

Yi Tiantian nodded slightly.

"Yes, next, let me explain the specific task requirements for the game of hide and seek."

The staff member took out the task card and read its contents to Yi Tiantian, who was getting his makeup done.

Yi Tiantian listened closely, afraid of missing any details.

For this hide and seek task, the production team had equipped each guest with a paintball blaster. If both players spotted each other, but one hit the other with a paintball first, the hit player would be out, and the other could continue searching for the remaining guests.

This process would continue until the last pair of guests were declared the winners of the hide and seek activity.

"So, I still can't know what the reward is for winning?"

Yi Tiantian obediently closed his eyes as the makeup artist applied light-colored eyeshadow.

"That's right. We can't reveal the reward just yet. Once the champion is decided, everyone will know."

The staff member smiled as she looked at Yi Tiantian in the mirror.

"Alright, you guys are really keeping this hush-hush. Even I, the host, don't get to know!"

Yi Tiantian opened his eyes and saw a dramatically different face in the mirror opposite him. It was the first time he had tried such heavy makeup; thick black eyeliner accentuated his eyes, and his double eyelids had been doubled in size with eyelid tape, adding a touch of refinement to his usually fresh look.

"Ah?! Is this really me?!"

Yi Tiantian leaned forward, trying to get a closer look at his reflection. He placed one hand on his chin and alternated between looking at his left and right sides.

"I feel like I just got a whole new face!"

"Since you're a public figure, we need to give you extra camouflage so the other guests won't recognize you right away."

The makeup artist gently turned Yi Tiantian's chin to face her and continued to brush his face with a small brush.

"That makes sense. Otherwise, I'd be too easy to spot."

Yi Tiantian pursed his lips as instructed by the makeup artist, spreading the cinnamon-colored lipstick evenly.

After finishing up, Yi Tiantian waited in the hotel for the next update. Once all the other guests were ready, everyone would be taken to the most bustling commercial street in the area to participate in the hide and seek activity.

Soon, the director's team confirmed that everyone was ready, and the game could finally start!

Under the guidance of the director's team, the guests participating in this episode gathered and then dispersed into the most bustling commercial street in the area.

To prevent the cameramen from revealing the guests' whereabouts, the production team had already set up cameras in various corners of the street. This way, the guests could hide without worrying about being discovered.

Since the commercial street was some distance away from the hotel where Yi Tiantian was staying, he had to drive there. But because the area's infrastructure was lacking, Yi Tiantian had to ride an electric scooter that the production team rented locally to reach the commercial street.

A gentle breeze blew as Yi Tiantian rode the electric scooter, which he hadn't touched in a long time, while turning his head to observe the surroundings.

Without the scars of war, this place could have been a beautiful tourist destination. But as he rode the scooter, all Yi Tiantian saw were dilapidated residential buildings and precarious structures. There wasn't a single high-rise building; all the buildings were low, single-story structures.

Along the way, many locals smiled warmly at Yi Tiantian, as if the destruction around them was just part of everyday life.

Yi Tiantian felt a deep sense of sadness as he took in the scene. He could only speed up his pace, eager to reach the location for today's shoot.

While this was the busiest part of town for the locals, to Yi Tiantian and the other guests, it didn't exactly look like a bustling metropolis—more like a rural market with a few open shops.

This commercial street was the only area with paved roads; beyond it, the ground was covered in sand and mud. The shops mostly sold outdated goods, making it nearly impossible to find anything current.

The faded light-colored dress fluttered in the wind, and small animal toys covered in a layer of dust were carefully placed in the most conspicuous spot outside the shop.

However, the people on the street were visibly excited. Many parents were pulling their kids along as they crowded around the toy shop, where the owner was busy selling toys. He was too busy to even wipe the sweat off his forehead.

But more children stood enviously looking towards the toy shop from a distance. Because of their family's financial situation, they couldn’t even afford such a simple toy.

Yi Tiantian wore a blue shirt and vintage jeans. His face was painted with a somewhat flamboyant makeup, which caught the attention of many people as he walked by.

He walked with the crowd while observing his surroundings, looking out for possible guest candidates.

Meanwhile, the rest of the guests had already taken their positions. Everyone had gathered on this street, each equipped with a paintball marker, and the game of tag officially began.

However, finding a few guests among the vast crowd was not an easy task. Yi Tiantian wandered around for a long time but couldn’t spot Xie Yi or Xie Niao either.

As Yi Tiantian walked through the streets, he actually overheard many residents discussing the shooting of *Special Forces Action!*

A girl wearing a white headscarf stood in front of a clothing store and excitedly said loudly, “Have you heard? They seem to be filming a show here! I’m going to check it out on my neighbor’s TV!”

“You don’t know this, but you actually can’t see that show on TV now! It’s broadcast online, on the internet! Even the richest kid in our class doesn’t have a computer at home!”

Another boy wearing slippers, with his arms crossed, confidently explained to the girls in front of him.

“That’s too bad... I wonder if we’ll meet them! I really want to see what Xie Yi and Yi Tiantian look like in real life,” the girl in the white headscarf sighed regretfully.

The other girls also took a deep breath, filled with melancholy.

Listening to the kids, Yi Tiantian felt an infinite sense of emotion welling up in his heart.

Television wasn’t a rare item for most ordinary families anymore. In fact, many families no longer used TVs because a phone could meet all their needs. But he didn’t expect that, in the eyes of these children, a TV was something out of reach.

If he had the chance in the future, he would definitely help these kids so they could all watch TV.

While Yi Tiantian pondered how he could truly help these kids, a little boy suddenly yelled near a pastry stand.

“What are you staring at?”

The little boy had dark skin and wore a white T-shirt that was completely different from what the local kids usually wore. He also had on black shorts and black sandals, looking more like a child from out of town rather than a local.

With his raised voice, he angrily scolded a tall local girl with big eyes who was about three heads taller than him.

“Why are you staring at me like that? Keep it up, and I’ll poke your eyes out!”

The boy, acting tough, raised his right hand and shouted at the tall local girl.

The girl, taken aback by the boy’s accusation, couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She stuttered, “You... you’re yelling at me?”

“Yes, I’m yelling at you! You poor person, you don’t deserve to look at me!”

The boy, hands on his hips, puffed out his chest like a cocky rooster and kept ranting.

“My parents are right here. They just saw you glaring at me!”

When the boy mentioned that his parents were there, the girl looked up and saw two equally angry adults standing beside him. The man and woman were dressed in stylish white sportswear and wore expensive sunglasses, matching the boy’s attitude.

Across from them were three people, but the girl with big eyes was all by herself. For some reason, her eyes became teary, and she choked up, unable to speak. She raised her right hand to wipe her tears.

Instead of stopping their bullying behavior when they saw the girl crying, the boy's parents became even more arrogant, as if they had ascended to an invincible status.

The boy's mother, in a shrill, accusatory tone, shouted, "Everyone, come and see! This shameless girl is bullying my son!"

The boy's father, with his arms crossed, looked smugly at the teary-eyed girl and said, "We came here as tourists, and on the first day, we ran into such disgusting locals!"

As soon as he said this, everyone around turned their attention to them. Many people spontaneously gathered around, enclosing the boy's family and the lonely girl in the middle.

Seeing that so many people were paying attention to them, the little boy became even more smug.

"If it weren't because Mr. Xie was going to film a program here, I wouldn't have come to a place like this! The people here are both poor and rude!"

The little boy looked like no more than an elementary school student, and Yi Tiantian was shaking his head repeatedly in the crowd.

"Insulting the locals right in front of them, this kid is asking for trouble!"

"And it was clearly the boy who started the trouble, yet he has the nerve to blame the girl?! How shameless!"

"The truth is that the boy was peeking under the girl's skirt, and she only glared at him after discovering it!"

"Mr. Xie is really unlucky to have fans like you! He probably doesn't want to acknowledge any connection to you!"

Yi Tiantian clenched his fists tightly and gritted his back teeth. Just as he was about to step in to help the girl, he saw a girl emerge from the crowd.

The girl was wearing a local fashionable light pink dress, her brown, seaweed-like long hair draped over her shoulders, and her fair skin glistening in the sunlight. With a determined expression, she firmly stood next to the helpless girl, confronting the bullying family of three.

"I saw the whole thing just now. You were the one who peeked first, and now you're saying she glared at you? How shameless to falsely accuse others!"

The person who stepped forward was Xie Niao. She and her brother Xie Yi had split up to search for hidden guests on the street, but a local delicacy had caught her attention. She had come over to buy some, only to witness the boy peeking under the girl's skirt.

Seeing someone stand up for the girl, the boy's parents were very unhappy.

The boy's mother, furrowing her brows tightly, pointed at Xie Niao's nose and said in a high-pitched voice, "Who do you think you are?! You're probably a local peasant as well! You bunch of uncouth people are disgusting! What proof do you have that my son peeked under her skirt? You're making false accusations!"

The boy's father was clearly distracted by Xie Niao's stunning beauty. He stared at her face for a few seconds before being elbowed by his wife, prompting him to hurriedly speak again, though his previous arrogance had significantly diminished.

"Exactly! This is slander!"

At that moment, another little boy emerged from the crowd.

The boy was dressed like a local, but he had a fair face that was different from the other local children. He angrily stepped forward to stand beside Xie Niao and the girl, and declared in a righteous tone, "I saw it happen, and I can vouch for it!"

The boy stood tall, his expression serious and mature beyond his years.

When they saw the other boy step forward, the boy's parents rushed to defend their son.

But before they could say anything, the mother of the fair-skinned boy also came out from the crowd.

"I saw it too!"

The mother stood up proudly, looking at her brave son with pride.

"Is this how you teach your kids to behave?"

The mother spoke up firmly, immediately earning a round of applause from the surrounding people.

"Well said!"

"Some people may be rich, but they have no manners!"

"Anyone who's peeping up girls' skirts is a scumbag!"

Yi Tiantian admired the fair-skinned little boy and his mother and discovered a secret through the rumor system.

"Turns out this mom and son are guests on the show!"

"Ah... This mother is the one I saw in the system earlier, the one who's hiding something from her son..."

As Yi Tiantian's thoughts came through, Xie Niao suddenly turned her head in surprise, looking around.

However, since the fair-skinned mother and son were just ordinary people, they couldn't hear Yi Tiantian's words. They were still confronting the little tyrant boy and his family.

Seeing more and more witnesses standing up, the little tyrant boy and his family gradually fell into a disadvantage. Xie Niao kept comforting the girl who had been peeped on, holding her hand tightly.

The girl, who had been crying just moments ago, now calmed down with everyone's support and bravely recounted what had happened to the crowd.

Just like everyone saw, the little tyrant boy was the one who peeped up her skirt first and then tried to pin it on her!

Many of the onlookers were enraged. They all glared at the little tyrant boy and his family, their faces flushed red, and several had clenched fists. The women and young girls present also stepped forward to condemn the little tyrant boy and his family.

"We might be poor, but we’ve got pride! We don’t need disrespectful jerks coming here and treating us like dirt!"

"Apologize to the girl right now!"

"Apologize!"

Seeing the crowd of people surrounding him, the little tyrant boy turned red in the face. He stomped his feet in anger and shouted at the top of his lungs, "How dare you say another word!! Do you know who my idol is? It's Mr. Xie! You hicks don’t even know who Mr. Xie is?! He can send all of you to prison with just a single finger!"

"What does this kid think Mr. Xie is, some kind of evil capitalist?"

"Oh... So the reason this little boy admires Mr. Xie is because his parents told him that the most famous big boss in the domestic entertainment industry is Xie Yi. If he wants to, he can have any beautiful female star he desires!"

"And so, this little tyrant boy, who has been lustful since a young age, started idolizing Mr. Xie!"

"These parents are seriously messed up, brainwashing their kid with this garbage every day."

Yi Tiantian snorted coldly and found the relevant information in the system.

Seeing their son being so "brave," the parents of the little tyrant boy also stepped forward, hands on their hips, and said, "Son, don't waste your breath talking to these people. Let's go!"

Clearly, they wanted to make a run for it since the situation was turning against them. This family of three had already stirred up the anger of the locals, so they decided to lay low for a while.

However, the little tyrant boy refused to give up and continued shouting at the crowd, "I'm going to be like Mr. Xie one day! I'll sleep with all the women in the world!"

Upon hearing this through Yi Tiantian's thoughts, Xie Yi, who had just arrived, froze on the spot.

"Mr. Xie has been single for so many years, and there's a high chance he's asexual! What nonsense is this little boy spouting?!"

Yi Tiantian found it ridiculous and couldn't help but comment sarcastically.

The suddenly labeled asexual Mr. Xie took a deep breath, silently repeating "I can't hear this" to himself, and finally stepped into the crowd.

The little tyrant boy’s eyes widened in shock as his idol appeared right before him, and he nearly fainted on the spot.