So I'm the Villainess- Screw the Plot, Let's All Go Down Together! - Chapter 8

Except for Fu Zhihan and Jiang Muxue.

The other guests briefly thought over the sad events in their lives, barely managing to keep themselves from laughing in front of the live stream camera.

The guests were either gossiping or stifling laughter, their minds clearly not on the meal.

In contrast, Shen Zhi ate and drank as if she had no psychological burden, as if the explosive statement earlier hadn’t come from her mouth.

The calmest person in the room, aside from Shen Zhi, was Xie Jinyan, who had been observing from the sidelines.

The man carried himself with a lazy, casual demeanor, turning a simple meal into an elegant affair akin to a French dinner, every move exuding grace.

Everyone was unconsciously drawn to his pleasing eating manner.

No one noticed the faint smile that flickered in the eyes of this man, who usually seemed uninterested in everything.

For the rest of the time, the director kept a close watch on the live stream, relieved that nothing unexpected occurred.

Once the guests finished their meal, he eagerly picked up his portable loudspeaker to continue the schedule.

“Due to time constraints today, we’ve prepared lunch for all the guests in advance. However, starting tonight, until the end of the recording, except for special circumstances, all meals will need to be prepared by the guests themselves. As for how to divide the tasks, you can negotiate among yourselves.”

Having the guests cook for themselves is a common practice in dating reality shows, so naturally, everyone had no objections.

“But the acquisition of ingredients will require the guests to obtain them as a team.”

Upon hearing “obtain them as a team,” the guests knew the production team was up to something.

Jiang Muxue finally recovered from the earlier awkwardness.

After Shen Zhi’s comment, she lost her appetite and barely ate anything during the meal.

She initially thought that since today was the first day of recording, the production team would at least give them time to get to know each other, but she didn’t expect that they’d have to obtain their own ingredients so soon.

She couldn’t help but smile and ask, “What if we can’t obtain the ingredients?”

The director, calm and composed, smiled slightly, “Then you’ll have to go hungry.”

As soon as he said this, the room was filled with groans.

After all, they had been too busy gossiping at lunch and hadn’t eaten much, so they were already feeling quite hungry.

…

The filming location for “Summer Heartbeat” was on a famous island, with eight guests arriving at the destination in two cars.

“Yes, as you can see, the sea before us is rich in resources. Today, we will experience beachcombing.”

“We will form teams of one man and one woman to go into the sea and collect ingredients for tonight’s dinner. Of course, if there are ingredients that guests don’t want or find difficult to handle, they can exchange them with the production team for other ingredients.”

“And the team that collects the most ingredients will receive an additional reward.”

After a brief introduction, it was time for the tutorial.

Everyone watched attentively, knowing that going hungry was a minor issue, but losing face was a major one. No one wanted to be the one dragging the team down and being laughed at.

Even the notoriously ill-tempered Xie Jinyan condescended to glance over.

Among the eight guests, Shen Zhi alone seemed to be lost in thought.

[Does Shen Zhi have any sense of teamwork? Everyone else is studying seriously, and she’s daydreaming?!]

[Haha, I’m really impressed. Whoever teams up with her is truly unlucky!]

[This girl must have been criticized widely, right? Wasn’t there evidence before that she was unprofessional, often arriving late and leaving early, and even verbally abusing the staff?]

At this moment, Shen Zhi was unaware that she was being harshly criticized by the viewers in the live stream room.

She frowned, feeling like she was missing some important information.

It wasn’t until Xu Che mentioned that he grew up by the sea and often went beachcombing with his mother as a child…

She finally remembered!

She finally understood why Xu Che’s name felt familiar when she first heard it.

Because in the novel, Xu Che’s ending wasn’t good, and she even felt sorry for him at the time.

But she had read this novel a long time ago.

So much so that she hadn’t remembered it immediately!

Xu Che came from a single-parent family, relying on his mother since childhood, and thus had a very close relationship with her.

He finally made a name for himself in the entertainment industry, becoming busy with work, and naturally, his contact with his mother decreased.

He didn’t know that his mother, who always reported good news but not bad, had been experiencing health issues for a long time.

While Xu Che was recording a variety show, his mother fainted at home due to illness and passed away unnoticed.

Upon receiving this news, Xu Che was devastated, falling into deep self-blame. After handling his mother’s affairs, he announced his retirement from the industry.

A year later.

On the anniversary of his mother’s death.

His long-unused Weibo account suddenly posted a message from his former agent, announcing his death by suicide due to depression, causing a great stir.

And Shen Zhi remembered that the day his mother passed away was the same day he was beachcombing on the variety show, talking about his mother with the other guests!

Now, now there must still be time!

But they were currently live, with several cameras pointed at them besides the guests and staff.

If she brought this up in front of everyone, she’d probably be seen as crazy, right?

How could she privately warn Xu Che?

“Alright, after a brief learning period, I believe everyone has grasped the essentials. Now, our guests can decide their own groups.”

Shen Zhi made her decision almost instantly. As soon as the director finished speaking, she immediately said, “Xu Che, I’ll be in a group with you.”

Hearing Shen Zhi suddenly say she wanted to team up with Xu Che surprised everyone.

Even Xie Jinyan paused for a moment, glancing at Shen Zhi out of the corner of his eye.

Xu Che was taken aback, but despite the surprise, he quickly smiled and agreed, “Sure.”

“That’s great. Xu Che just mentioned he used to go beachcombing often. Zhizhi, with you two in a group, it’ll definitely be easier for you than for us. You surely won’t go hungry tonight!”

Jiang Muxue looked at Shen Zhi, unconsciously showing an envious expression.

With these words, the expressions of many on-site became subtly nuanced.

[Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!!! Shen Zhi, can you be any more shameless!!!!]

[So eager to say she’s teaming up with Xu Che, isn’t it just because she wants to do nothing and reap the benefits? This woman’s shamelessness truly astounds me.]

[And she didn’t even ask, just decided the grouping on her own. Even if Xu Che wanted to refuse, he couldn’t! Scheming woman!!]

[Sister, this is a live broadcast. Can you hide your little schemes a bit? I thought she had gotten smarter, but she’s still as brainless as ever.]

[Is she treating our Cheche as free labor? Damn, I’m so pissed!!!!]

Although she knew Jiang Muxue’s words were likely intended to stir things up, normally she would have retorted long ago.

But right now, she couldn’t be bothered.