Chapter 42

Chapter 42

After lunch, Xing Shi rested for a while and did a quick makeup touch-up before starting the afternoon shoot.

The six individuals had traveled back to ancient times, and under the influence of their abilities, they seemingly became the sons and daughters of officials. To everyone around them, they looked like long-haired figures in ancient attire.

With the imperial banquet just around the corner, their families were all hands on deck, making sure everything was perfect. The preparations fell to the six of them as the family's children.

Each of the six guests received a task and hit the streets. This part of the game allowed them to team up in pairs to complete their family's assignments, and they could also exchange information from the letters they had.

After obtaining their new identities, each of them had a vulnerability.

Xing Shi was a Junior General, but since his identity was fake, his vulnerability was that he couldn't touch or talk about any weapons.

The family's task was to find a legendary divine weapon to present to the emperor during the imperial banquet.

With his vulnerability and task conflicting, it was up to Xing Shi to figure out a solution.

Xing Shi stuffed the task slip into his belt and strolled down the street. Soon, he saw Qi Changyi.

Qi Changyi spotted him and, seeing he was alone, smiled and asked, "Want to team up?"

Xing Shi replied, "Already done."

The PD and directors exchanged confused looks: "?"

Qi Changyi, surprised: "That fast?"

Xing Shi, shrugging: "Yeah, it was easy. What about you?"

Qi Changyi said, "I've just arrived on the street."

Xing Shi said, "Then I'll help you. What's your task?"

Qi Changyi showed him the task slip, which was to find a beautiful jade.

Xing Shi had a plan, and after walking a few steps, he spotted a small jewelry stand by the roadside. He picked up a jade hairpin and quickly grabbed Qi Changyi's wrist.

Qi Changyi froze, feeling something being shoved into his hand before he could react. He glanced down, speechless.

The two PDs: "?"

The directors: "???"

The nearby staff hesitated for a few seconds before cautiously picking up a megaphone: "Qi Changyi, out."

Qi Changyi: "..."

Without a second thought, Xing Shi gave him a wave and walked off, grinning.

The directors were debating whether to call a stop or let the PD film Qi Changyi's reaction as bonus footage when Xing Shi turned a corner and ran into Yan Feng.

Within two minutes, following the same approach, he sent Yan Feng away.

The directors called a halt.

Xiao Qin was assisting an artist for the first time and was doing a great job. Seizing an opportunity, he brought over a cold drink and used a small electric fan to cool him down.

Xing Shi sipped the cold drink, looking innocent as he gazed at the director.

Director Jiang helplessly said, "Xing Shi, this is not how it's supposed to be played."

Xing Shi looked confused. "Wait, is that not how it's supposed to work? The rules are about eliminating people, right?"

Director Jiang bit his tongue, thinking that if given another ten minutes, Xing Shi could eliminate everyone. Then what would they film?

He explained, "You can't just force people into it. You need to guide them into making mistakes on their own."

Xing Shi thought for a moment, "That should be easy too."

Director Jiang immediately added, "You're not allowed to eliminate anyone today."

With that command, the actors returned to their original positions.

Qi Changyi stood on the street and met Xing Shi again, smirking at him.

Ever since they met, Xing Shi's personality didn't quite match the rumors Qi Changyi had heard. But this prank finally lined up with what he'd been told.

He asked, "Wanna team up?"

Xing Shi nodded. "Sure, why not?"

Qi Changyi asked as they walked, "Want to exchange information?"

Xing Shi glanced at him, still holding the alien letter. "Sure."

Qi Changyi could guess that Xing Shi's method of elimination likely involved a special commission and was curious to see how he would play it. "My letter mentions a palace maid."

Xing Shi said, "Oh, mine doesn't have that information. Mine mentions a eunuch named Xiao Shun. What's the name of your maid?"

Qi Changyi wasn't sure if Xing Shi was telling the truth and looked at him.

Xing Shi appeared harmless but turned the tables. "Can't say? Or is your letter different from ours?"

Qi Changyi couldn't help but laugh. Xing Shi sure knew how to play the blame game.

Xing Shi knew he'd slipped up, but it was just a variety show, so no big deal. With the reshoot, he could act like nothing happened.

Qi Changyi gave him the truth. "Her name is Cui Zhu."

The two only exchanged this one piece of information before starting the task.

They found the relevant NPC through the clues and purchased the items specified by the family.

Due to a flaw, certain words needed to be avoided during the negotiation, but overall it went smoothly.

The others finished up their tasks, signaling the NPC to wrap things up and heading home to turn in their stuff.

Later, they gathered for another round of info-sharing. Xing Shi winged it, guessing based on what they said.

The afternoon's filming wrapped up, and tomorrow's imperial banquet would be shot at a different location.

As Xing Shi finished taking off his makeup, he spotted Yan Feng rushing out with his assistant. "Hey, Feng Ge, you free for dinner tonight?"

Yan Feng shook his head. "Can't, got a job to do."

Xing Shi reminded him, "Don't forget, you need to wake up early for makeup tomorrow."

Yan Feng didn’t even look back as he said, "I’ll be back."

Xing Shi watched him walk away and then looked at Fu Xiuning. "Is he always this dedicated?"

Fu Xiuning nodded. "He hasn’t had a break since debuting, and his schedule’s been nonstop."

The implication being that if Xing Shi wanted to see him again, he’d have to book more gigs.

Xing Shi, not wanting to make plans, asked, "Doesn’t he worry about burning out?"

Although Fu Xiuning really wanted to keep using him, taking down the system was more important, so he said, "I’ll remind his agent."

The next morning, they woke up early and slipped back into their ancient costumes.

To save costs, the imperial banquet, like yesterday’s street scenes, was kept simple, without the elaborate details you’d see in TV dramas.

The banquet hadn’t started yet, giving the ability holders time to gather clues and track down the client.

Yan Feng arrived at the film city in the morning.

He had slept on the way and, after getting off the car, downed a cup of coffee. He looked fairly alert.

He had been eliminated by Xing Shi the day before and said to the system, "Xing Shi probably got a special commission. I need to send him packing and show him who’s boss."

The system expertly agreed. "That’s right. When the variety show airs, the fans will see the boss’s shining moment!"

Yan Feng was slightly satisfied and, after the round of investigation ended and everyone gathered to share information, he took the initiative to ask, "Has Xing Shi found anything?"

Xing Shi said, "I know about a palace maid named Cui Zhu. She serves in the prince’s palace. As for the other people mentioned in the letter, I’m not sure of their exact locations yet."

Wen Zixin added, "Yes, I also found out about this lead on Cui Zhu. Finding her should help us learn about the client. She likes to wear green clothes—cough... um..."

Yuan Xinyu couldn’t help but tease, "Are the words 'clothes' hard to say?"

Everyone laughed, guessing her slip-up was related to that.

Amid the laughter, Yan Feng glanced at Xing Shi and thought, could it be that I guessed wrong? Didn’t Xing Shi get a special commission?

Xing Shi caught his gaze and continued, "I also found out that the client likes to read. Maybe we can find some useful clues. Feng Ge, the direction you searched had the imperial library, right?"

Yan Feng, still pondering his suspicion, replied without thinking, "Yes, but I didn’t see any books."

The staff said, "Yan Feng, out."

Yan Feng: "!"

His role was the talented younger son of the Prime Minister’s family, and activities like playing music, chess, calligraphy, and painting were forbidden for him.

This kid deliberately set him up.

Feeling annoyed, he mentally commanded, "Move him to position 15!"

The system said, "Okay."

It hurriedly tried to soothe him, "The boss has been too tired lately, and he took advantage of that."

Yan Feng felt slightly better and headed to the waiting area.

The rest of the group didn’t expect someone to get eliminated so early in the discussion.

Yesterday, Yuan Xinyu and the others were too far away to know about the pause on Xing Shi's side, but this sudden change made them suspicious of him. "You two were on the same mission before, right?"

Xing Shi had originally planned to set up a few stages, but the other party fell for it as soon as he started. He innocently said, "No, that's not it."

Qi Changyi interjected, "He was with me, though."

Yuan Xinyu and the others nodded, temporarily dispelling their suspicions.

After sharing the information, they split up and searched again in different directions.

On the way back, Xing Shi met Wen Zixin and walked back with her, muttering gloomily, "It's so hot. I shouldn't have chosen the Junior General's uniform. It would be nice to wear robes like Boss Qi and the others, where you can go bare-legged inside."

Wen Zixin was amused. "You'll know better next time."

Xing Shi responded and chatted with her about the new discoveries. Seeing that her attention was on the plot, he fanned himself a bit and commented on his riding outfit, then turned to look at her, giving a sweet smile. "Sister Xin, your outfit looks nice. Is it Tang or Song dynasty style?"

Wen Zixin was dazzled by his smile and instinctively said, "It's Hanfu."

The staff said, "Wen Zixin, out."

Wen Zixin, distracted by Xing Shi's charm, ended up getting herself eliminated, leaving the field in tears.

Yan Feng, watching from the waiting area, remarked, "He’s definitely working on a special commission."

Wen Zixin fake-cried, "I know that now."

Suddenly, another person was gone, and Yuan Xinyu and Lu Fengya were now thoroughly suspicious of Xing Shi.

But the fun of this game was that you couldn't vote someone to death; you could only use rhetoric or items to set traps for the other party. Seeing that Xing Shi had been exposed, Qi Changyi informed them of Xing Shi's flaw and weapon.

Yuan Xinyu and Lu Fengya were confident. With three against one, they figured it would be easy to take him out.

The answer was no; Xing Shi was very vigilant and didn't fall for it. Instead, he found an opportunity to take Yuan Xinyu out.

Realizing she was dealing with a tough opponent, Lu Fengya backed off, conserving her energy and focusing on gathering more intel.

By the time the imperial banquet began, she was ready to split up with Qi Changyi and investigate the suspicious clients, aiming to finish the mission first.

However, before they could separate, a loud shout rang out. "Your Majesty!"

The room fell silent, and all eyes snapped toward the voice.

Xing Shi stood in the center of the hall, staring directly at the emperor.

The emperor, sensing everyone's attention on him, kept his composure and asked, "Is there something you wish to report, my lord?"

Xing Shi said, "My humble family has presented a treasure. Did Your Majesty receive it?"

The emperor nodded.

Xing Shi declared, "I beg to report, Your Majesty, it has another name—the spaceship!"

Qi Changyi and Lu Fengya exchanged puzzled glances.

The three in the waiting area were equally stunned.

The directors: "...Is he really that reckless?"

But his recklessness proved surprisingly effective.

According to the game rules, the client must react upon hearing the keyword. The empress, after a moment of stunned silence, cried out, causing the wine cup in her hand to clatter to the floor.

Xing Shi immediately zeroed in on her.

Lu Fengya snapped back to reality and looked at the person next to her, thinking she must have misheard: "Did you say a spaceship? Isn't the setting supposed to be ancient times?"

Qi Changyi was curious, but that wasn't the main concern now.

He said, "He's already found the person. We need to hurry."

Lu Fengya immediately became serious: "Got it."

Unfortunately, they still couldn't outpace Xing Shi, who got there first.

The two letters set by the production team each season are always connected, and this time was no different.

The mission letter received by Qi Changyi and the others was from the crown princess. She had recently found her husband's behavior strange, as if he was plotting something big. He had been going to the harem every day and had been getting close to Cui Zhu, a palace maid from the Eastern Palace.

At first, Qi Changyi and the others guessed it was either "he had an affair with the emperor's concubine," "secretly preparing a surprise gift," or even "plotting a coup." But following the clues, they discovered he was suffering from an embarrassing illness and could get the cure from the empress.

Xing Shi's storyline unfolded differently.

His mission letter came from the alien empress, whose son had half-alien blood. Their adulthood came later than Earth's, and now that her son was approaching adulthood, his body was having issues. She was hesitating between "suppressing her son's alien bloodline" and "taking her husband, son, and daughter-in-law back home." Xing Shi's victory meant she chose to go home.

When a paper spaceship was brought out, everyone was left in awe, thinking how creative the production team was.

Then, they watched as the empress happily took her family onto the spaceship, and the emperor and his people were also thrilled, thinking they were about to ascend to immortality.

The onlooking Yuan Xinyu and the others: "..."

Indeed, when an anomaly won, things tended to spiral out of control.

But this was too much to handle! What even was a spaceship doing here?!

They felt both amused and exasperated, looking at the production team with speechless expressions.

The production team was also a bit dumbfounded. They had thought they could film for a bit longer, but Xing Shi had gone into elimination mode right from the start and smoothly cleared the game.

The director, recalling the footage they had captured, felt it should be sufficient and moved on to the next segment.

The six guests changed back into modern clothes and split into two groups. The four regular guests returned to the conference room to film a meeting scene, briefly summarizing the event and then each filming a dream sequence video to set up for the next episode.

Xing Shi and Qi Changyi then did separate interviews.

As the day grew darker, the director announced the end of the shoot, and everyone cheered.

The four regular guests were happy.

They had more filming tasks, and if they didn’t finish today, they’d have to pick up where they left off tomorrow. But thanks to Xing Shi’s actions, they could wrap up early.

They had already added Xing Shi on WeChat and gave him a friendly look, suggesting they should hang out sometime in the future.

Yan Feng was pretty impressed with his new protégé and reluctantly let it slide, praising, "You did well."

Xing Shi nodded humbly and asked, "Feng Ge, are you joining us for dinner tonight?"

Yan Feng said indifferently, "We can do it today."

Xing Shi asked, "Not in a hurry?"

Yan Feng replied, "No, no need to rush."

But with an extra day suddenly available tomorrow, could they potentially take a last-minute job? Every little bit helps.

He thought about it as they walked to the restaurant.

The next day, Xing Shi and Fu Xiuning went downstairs for breakfast and ran into Yan Feng, who was coming out of the opposite elevator dragging his luggage.

Xing Shi raised his eyebrows. "Feng Ge, leaving so early?"

Yan Feng said, "Yes, changed my flight last night."

Xing Shi casually asked, "Having breakfast?"

Yan Feng replied, "At the airport."

He nodded at them, took one last look at Fu Xiuning, then turned and left with his luggage.

Making money, starting a company, becoming a capitalist, hiring subordinates to work for him, and training Fu Xiuning—a bright future was calling to him.

He felt energized and climbed into the car, ready to conquer the day.

Xing Shi watched him disappear and made a mental assessment.

Arrogant, overly concerned with appearances, and somewhat frugal—he hadn’t spent a single penny during their time together.

There was a strange confidence about him, as if he had his own set of rules and could always justify his actions. Xing Shi had tried to rile him up a few times, but it never worked.

What bothered Xing Shi the most was that Yan Feng didn’t seem to care about how special Fu Xiuning was to him.

He decided to ask Fu Xiuning for more details.

Xing Shi got his food and followed Fu Xiuning to a seat, looking at him across the table.

Fu Xiuning picked up his utensils and glanced up. "What?"

Xing Shi said, "Nothing, just looking at you."

Fu Xiuning met his gaze and asked, "Thinking about Yan Feng?"

Xing Shi replied, "I guess, he's so hardworking, it kind of makes me feel a little embarrassed. Are the other artists in the company this busy too?"

Fu Xiuning understood he was asking about the other hosts. "More or less, many of them are filming on set."

Xing Shi nodded. So the other two were on set, while Yan Feng had more flexible work that allowed him to meet up.

He sighed. "They’re all so dedicated."

Fu Xiuning added, "Your daily training isn’t a walk in the park either."

He continued, "Yan Feng has been working nonstop for too long; he deserves a break."

Xing Shi understood that this meant an opportunity for him and nodded.

The system finally chimed in, "Why keep talking about Yan Feng? Let’s get back to your bet~"

Xing Shi said, "Not interested."

The system chuckled, "Does saying 'not interested' even matter? Your brother won’t let you off that easy, you know."

Xing Shi’s heart skipped a beat. Before he could salvage the situation, he heard Fu Xiuning continue, "He came from a talent show and has decent skills. Should we ask him to spare some time to give you a class and share his experience?"

Xing Shi didn’t hear the favorability alert and knew that Fu Xiuning had held back this time. He instructed the system to stay quiet and said, "Sure."

Fu Xiuning nodded, and their eyes met for a moment before they both looked away.

They both understood each other perfectly.

Xing Shi’s willingness to use "any request" as a bet showed he wasn’t averse to using unconventional methods to avoid the system’s watch.

Fu Xiuning naturally understood his meaning, but he also knew they were both hesitant.

Because... could the system’s words really be trusted?

A lot of apps claim they don’t collect personal data, but we all know they’re secretly doing it anyway.

They hadn’t been pushed to that extreme yet, so they needed to think carefully before proceeding.

After finishing their meal, Qi Changyi finally woke up and hurriedly ate something before following them to the airport.

After returning to Z City, life resumed its usual pace.

Fu Xiuning talked to Yan Feng’s agent and learned that many of Yan Feng’s jobs were pre-arranged with signed contracts. Canceling would lead to a breach.

The only thing they could do now was not take on new jobs and wait for him to finish this round of work before resting.

Fu Xiuning calculated the time and realized that by the time Yan Feng finished, the other idols would also be wrapping up their projects and returning. For a moment, he considered letting the workaholic keep going.

But he only thought about it and stuck to the original plan.

But things didn’t go according to plan.

A week later, Xing Shi was sitting next to Fu Xiuning, playing with his phone, when he saw a new trending hashtag: Yan Feng fainted.

Xing Shi: "?"

System: "?"

The system exclaimed, "Whoa, did he exhaust himself?"

Hearing this, Fu Xiuning kept his eyes on his book without moving.

The next moment, Xing Shi brought his phone over. "Bro, Yan Feng fainted."

Fu Xiuning looked at his screen and saw it was from another indoor variety show. During a game competition, the physical exertion was too much, and Yan Feng collapsed on the ground after one round.

He stood up, "I’ll make a call."

The online uproar grew quickly. Fans, after digging into his schedule from the past year, realized he hadn’t had a break in months and quickly turned on the company in outrage.

The PR department of June Culture Media received the boss’s orders and didn’t respond immediately.

Yan Feng was taken to the hospital and, after waking up and seeing the public reaction online, worried about losing work, he quickly posted his chat history with his agent. He admitted that he had voluntarily taken on the jobs and that his agent had advised him against it, but he didn’t agree because he wanted to become his fans’ pride as soon as possible.

Fans were touched and urged him to take it easy.

The PR department finally stepped forward and released a statement on the official website, indicating that they had always been very concerned about the artist's health and would mandate a period of rest for Yan Feng.

Fans were in tears again, apologizing and expressing gratitude simultaneously, begging them to take good care of their brother.

Yan Feng was not in a good place, calling his agent to discuss wanting to continue working, but he was rejected.

He reluctantly called Fu Xiuning, softening his tone slightly, but it didn’t help, and he quickly grew frustrated.

The system urged, "Hey, take a few days off. You passed out, remember?"

Yan Feng said, "It was just a faint, no big deal."

The system replied, "The doctor also said you're too tired and need more rest!"

Yan Feng snorted, refusing to admit any fault, "This is your fault! You gave me a weak body!"

The system was speechless.

Honestly, pushing yourself that hard, even a machine would break down eventually.

It was lucky it took over a year for something to go wrong.

The system apologized, "I'm sorry, it's our fault."

Yan Feng didn’t let it off the hook, "Now it’s time to use you. Can I sign contracts on my own?"

The system replied, "You can't sign with anyone else while under contract, or you’ll breach the agreement."

Yan Feng said coldly, "Then I'll terminate the contract."

The system disagreed with him leaving Fu Xiuning's company but didn’t directly dissuade him. Instead, it mentioned the amount of the breach of contract penalty.

Yan Feng fell silent.

The system added, "Besides, if you leave the company, you’ll have to find your own opportunities, and you won’t be able to earn as much."

Yan Feng snapped, "So what do you suggest I do?"

The system, cornered, suddenly thought of someone and tried to divert his attention, "Why don't you contact Xing Shi? He has a good relationship with the boss and might be able to put in a good word for you."

Yan Feng thought it made sense.

Xing Shi liked to put his phone on silent when sleeping, so it wasn’t until the next day that he received the call.

Xing Shi had classes and said, "Feng, are you able to leave the hospital? Should we meet in Z City to talk?"

Yan Feng didn’t refuse, as he had plenty of time now that he was free, and said, "I'll return in the evening and head straight to the company."

After hanging up, Xing Shi met him in the restaurant that evening.

It was quite a coincidence that he chose the same seat Yu Shu had sat in before.

Xing Shi sat down and, when he realized Yan Feng wanted him to talk to Fu Xiuning, said, "Sorry, but you need to give me a good reason."

Yan Feng said, "Being free now is reason enough!"

Xing Shi replied, "But the doctor didn’t say that."

Yan Feng, though anxious inside, remained calm on the surface, "He just told me to rest more and ease up on work."

Xing Shi looked at him quietly and, after a few seconds, spoke, his tone filled with sorrow: "Feng Ge, I felt like we clicked right away and I look up to you like an older brother. I want what's best for you, and I hope, every now and then, you can be honest with me. You’ve got money, fame, and your whole life ahead of you. Why are you pushing yourself so hard?"

Yan Feng said, "It's because I'm young that I need to push myself."

Xing Shi replied, "I won't help you unless you tell me the truth. And I can promise you, whatever the truth is, I'll keep it to myself. I won't tell anyone."

Yan Feng was quiet for a moment.

Xing Shi looked at him, wondering if he would finally understand his thoughts this time.

They stared at each other in silence for what felt like forever.

Yan Feng took a deep breath and said calmly, "Alright."

Xing Shi’s eyes lit up, and he gave Yan Feng an encouraging nod.

Yan Feng scanned the room, making sure no one was listening, then leaned in a little and asked seriously, "You’re not going to tell anyone, right?"

Xing Shi nodded seriously.

Yan Feng said, "Okay, then answer me a question."

Xing Shi agreed readily, "Go ahead."

Yan Feng asked, his voice slow and serious, "What’s your dream?"

Xing Shi blinked, clearly thrown off by the question.

The system, "..."