Chapter 11

Chapter 11

All three of them turned their gaze toward Wen Zhi.

Wen Zhi was digging into a plate of bright red spicy chicken, while little Mu Mu, with a stern expression, clung stubbornly to the plate, refusing to let go.

"Mommy’s being naughty. I’m going to tell Grandpa Zhong."

Doctor Uncle had said to be especially careful with spicy or chilled foods.

Suddenly, Wen Zhi picked up a piece of spicy chicken and stuffed it into Mu Mu’s mouth. He gulped, unsure whether to spit it out or eat it.

Wen Zhi blinked and whispered, "Eat up. I know you love spicy food the most. You only stay away because your father doesn’t like it."

Mu Mu froze. "...Mother knows?"

Of course she knew. Lu Xun hated spicy food so much he banned even a single spicy dish at palace banquets. Once, a concubine who ate something spicy was immediately thrown into the cold palace.

But Mu Mu took after her—a spice lover.

She sometimes gave in, only to be met with Lu Xun’s disdain. Yet, the women in the palace envied her for being the only consort who could openly eat spicy food without punishment.

Seriously, what’s the big deal with spicy food?!

If that man were in front of her now, she’d shove him into a pot of chili water.

Mu Mu took a bite of the spicy chicken, and his eyes immediately watered, tears welling up.

Wen Zhi leaned down and asked softly, "Are you crying?"

Mu Mu sniffled and muttered, "N-no...it’s just really spicy..."

Wen Zhi: "Eat more. The more you eat, the less it burns."

Seeing how seriously he was eating, Xiao Xiao reached out, wanting a taste too. Lin Jiyao actually gave her a piece. The comments went wild with frantic warnings, but the next second, Xiao Xiao spat it out, bursting into tears as snot streamed down her face.

"Waaah! Brother’s mean, so mean!"

Lin Jiyao calmly poured a glass of water for his sister, thinking, *Is it really that spicy?* He absentmindedly picked up a piece and popped it into his own mouth—only to be hit by the spice, frantically grabbing for water.

"Water, water..." But the glass beside him had already been gulped down by Xiao Xiao.

Lin Jiyao’s face turned red, his tongue hanging out as he fanned himself, his expression turning into a perfect meme. The table was in chaos, and the crew rushed to fetch him water.

After chugging a whole bottle, he stared at Wen Zhi with a mix of disbelief and horror: *Is she trying to kill me?!*

Who with a weak stomach eats something this spicy?!

"Hahahaha, I screenshotted it! Our Ji-ge’s expression is meme-worthy!"

"Hahahaha, curiosity killed the cat! Ji-ji’s face is gonna make me laugh for a year!"

"My aloof prince has such a hilarious side too, hahahaha, thank you, Beauty Wen!"

"Everyone, look at Lin Jiyao’s face—he’s seeing Wen Zhi through a haze of spice, I’m dying!! Hahahaha!"

Lin Jiyao’s meme-worthy expression instantly shot to the top of trending, accompanied by a chaotic clip of him desperately searching for water.

#Aloof Lin Jiyao’s Once-in-a-Millennium Meme Face#

Netizens curiously clicked in, first laughing themselves silly at Lin Jiyao's meme, then their gazes, just like his, landed on Wen Zhi.

Their first reaction: "Holy crap, that divine beauty just slayed me."

Second reaction: "Why is it this amateur participant again? She’s bad news!"

"Every time I click in for my idol Ji-gege, I somehow end up inexplicably drawn to Wen Zhi. Confirmed—she’s definitely toxic."

"She’s already played our Ji-gege twice, hahahaha."

"More, more! Screenshots of Ji-gege driving the ox cart and the spicy meme are saved. Wen Zhi, keep it up! Give us more memes!"

"Too savage, hahahaha."

"Just wanna ask, does Wen Zhi have a Weibo? I’m becoming a fan just for that gorgeous face."

Soon, a wave of Wen Bingchun’s fans rushed in, taking over the comments section with insults.

"All you fangirls who only care about looks, scram! Why stan Wen Zhi of all people? She’s a total trainwreck! She keeps messing with our Ice Queen. Even your Lin Jiyao got played twice, and you still stan her? Are you stupid or what?"

"Agreed. Wen Zhi is nothing but a moocher + useless freeloader with bizarre behavior. Look at what she’s doing now!"

In the livestream, after the meal, everyone sat around the dining table—except Wen Zhi, who sat on the sofa holding a transparent glass cup.

Inside the cup were chrysanthemums and goji berries.

Her reason? "Cooling down after eating spicy food."

Yeah right, 'cooling down'.

Who drinks hot stuff right after eating spicy food?

"What kind of person drinks chrysanthemum tea after eating spicy food? I’ll hate her forever."

Antifans spammed relentlessly until someone stepped up and created the first-ever Wen Zhi hate account.

The first video posted was Wen Zhi sitting on an ox cart playing chess, Lin Jiyao driving, Wen Bingchun holding an umbrella, Sen Sen fanning her, and a bunch of kids brown-nosing.

The nerve of it made everyone furious.

Fans of Ice Queen and Lin Jiyao flooded the page with comments. Within a day, Wen Zhi’s antifans surged past 100,000 and were still growing.

"Let’s see how long this moocher can keep coasting along."

"Let’s cancel her completely for our Ice Queen!!!"

"Jiyao, stay away from this walking disaster! Let’s go after her!"

"Hahahaha, I’m just a random commenter, but where did Wen Zhi get that cup? It’s so pretty."

*Note: Random commenter, you’ve been blocked by an Ice Queen superfan.*

Completely unaware that her first-ever fan page was a hate account, Wen Zhi continued sipping her tea without a care.

Director Fang reminded everyone, "As per the rules, all guests must hand over their wallets and phones upon arrival. Phones will be returned daily at 8 PM after filming ends, while wallets will be returned later. Since it’s already late today, we won’t confiscate phones, but please hand over your wallets now."

This season, like the last, will utilize five streaming channels. When everyone is together, the main room will be used, but when separated, the feed will split into four. After the livestream, the final cut will combine all angles.

One by one, the guests handed over their wallets. Director Fang then let them go relax. Lin Xiaoxiao begged to go to the terrace to stargaze. Sen Sen and the plump kid wanted to join, so Wen Zhi suggested they all go together.

Passing by her own room, Wen Zhi sighed, "Sleeping on a spring mattress in the attic during such hot weather is still a bit unbearable. The electric fan isn’t much help either. Having air conditioning would truly be living comfortably."

"Hahahaha, that’s such a humblebrag! The other three have cement floors in their rooms, and Ice Beauty doesn’t even have a bed."

"Hahaha, Xiao Xiao is so envious of just having an electric fan. Wen Zhi, did you even think about how the kids would feel?"

"Offending three people in one sentence—no one does it quite like Wen Zhi. She’s just begging for backlash!"

Wen Bingchun deliberately offered, "How about we switch? My room downstairs is relatively cooler."

Wen Zhi bluntly replied, "What’s the point of it being cooler if you don’t even have a bed?"

Liu Yiru burst out laughing.

Wen Bingchun: "... She felt a pang of frustration."

The terrace also had wooden flooring, with a long wooden table and two wooden benches placed on it. Beside the table was a small swing wrapped in tiny string lights.

Lin Xiaoxiao let out a delighted squeal the moment she saw the swing and hurried over to sit on it. She then pulled out a storybook and waved at Mu Mu, "Mu Mu-gege, come read me a story!"

Mu Mu, seeing such a beautiful swing for the first time, had his dark eyes light up as he quickly walked over to Lin Xiaoxiao.

The chubby kid barreled over and plonked himself down next to Xiao Xiao, boasting, "I’ll read it to you. I’ve read tons of books!"

Lin Xiaoxiao handed him the book skeptically. The chubby kid took it confidently, opened it, and immediately got stuck on the first word.

Such a complicated character—and one he hadn’t learned yet, with no pinyin to help.

He struggled for a while before standing up, flushed and flustered, and handed the book to Mu Mu. Mu Mu took it, sat beside Xiao Xiao, and began reading patiently.

Lin Xiaoxiao swung her pink princess shoes, her eyes shining as she stared at Mu Mu. "Mu Mu-gege is so amazing!"

The chubby kid was crushed.

To make matters worse, Liang Sensen rubbed it in, "Xiao Wen, Mu Mu is younger than you. How does he know so many more characters?"

"Hahahaha, boys really need to study more to have a future."

"Hahahaha, the chubby kid is completely outmatched by Mu Mu."

"Honestly, the little know-it-all is seriously impressive. I didn’t even recognize that first character, but he actually read it correctly—I just looked it up."

"So when the little know-it-all was reading 'The History of World Economic Development' in the car earlier, he wasn’t just pretending? Could it be that his intellect and maturity far surpass kids his age?"

"Possibly. While other kids still need coaxing to eat, he’s already sweet-talking his mom. Hahaha."

As Mu Mu read on, he noticed Xiao Xiao had fallen asleep.

Lin Jiyao came over and carried his rosy-cheeked little sister back to bed. Liu Yiru and Wen Bingchun also took their respective kids to sleep.

The filming crew also went back to rest. After everyone returned to their rooms, the live stream split into four separate feeds.

Wen Zhi’s feed only showed the freely rotating camera in her room.

At this point, only the faint outlines of her and Mu Mu gazing at the stars could be seen.

The surroundings were quiet, with the rhythmic chirping of crickets. Wen Zhi pointed at a moving airplane in the sky and said, "Mu Mu, do you see that? The stars here aren’t like the palace’s—they twinkle. If you make a wish at them, their twinkling means they’re saying yes."

Mu Mu tilted his little head and stared for a long time before suddenly turning to her, looking deadpan. "Mom, the thing twinkling is an airplane. The ones that don’t twinkle are the stars."

Wen Zhi awkwardly touched her nose: "Oh, you know about this stuff already?"

Mu Mu: "It was on TV. I also know the Earth is round, humans evolved from apes, there are seven continents and five oceans on Earth, and different languages. After finishing the Chinese dictionary, I’ll learn English."

Wen Zhi was horrified: No need to go so hard.

"Um... son, there’s no royal throne to inherit at home. We can just chill."

Mu Mu assumed the dignified air of a young crown prince: "Mom, the Grand Tutor said a ruler should be tireless in learning—"

"Stop—" If she didn't stop him, he’d launch into another lecture.

Sigh. After being pushed so hard for so many years, it’s understandable he can’t relax all at once.

We'll take it slow. Step one: start with bedtime stories.

So, when the mother and son lay in bed, the live stream viewers heard Wen Zhi telling Mu Mu a story: "Once upon a time, there was a child who studied so hard, getting up before dawn, that all his hair fell out..."

The live stream viewers recalled Wen Zhi’s earlier words: This kid is just too exceptional. We joined this show to let him stop trying so hard and do things kids his age should do.

So... was she teaching the kid to take it easy?

Unbelievable!

Just as the viewers were about to criticize, the room went quiet. Everyone wondered—had Mu Mu fallen asleep?

"Wen Zhi’s story was so boring, the kid didn’t even want to listen to her nonsense."

"Hahahaha, seriously, what kind of crap was that?"

A minute later, Mu Mu appeared on camera, pulling out a thick Chinese dictionary from his suitcase. He sat at the table and began studying it seriously.

The viewers were baffled.

"What’s happening? Did Wen Zhi’s storytelling put herself to sleep? (???)"

"LMAO hahahaha, seems like it!"

"LMAO hahahaha, damn, I'm dead laughing my stomach hurts. First time seeing someone this pathetic—telling a story to put themselves to sleep."

"Hahahaha, Mu Mu’s so calm!"

The chat was spamming laughs until a comment suddenly popped up in Wen Bingchun’s stream: "Hahaha, I’m dead, Wen Zhi next door put herself to sleep."

At the same time, comments appeared in Lin Jiyao and Liu Yiru’s streams too. Curious, everyone rushed to Wen Zhi’s stream to see the spectacle.

And there they saw Mu Mu holding an extremely thick Chinese dictionary, sitting by the bed, fanning Wen Zhi while diligently memorizing words.

Meanwhile, Wen Zhi clutched a storybook, wrapped in a thin blanket, out cold.

This is ridiculous!