The little monk Lian Qing, who was severely struck by a passerby girl, no longer had the heart to ask for blessings from others, fearing that he would suffer the same blow again.

In the end, Yu Wenning couldn’t bear to see him in distress, so he found the cameraman and offered to be filmed as a passerby, signing blessings for the little monk. As expected, he received a grateful thank-you from Lian Qing for this gesture.

When they returned to the others, Lian Qing was still a little down. Seeing this, the others quickly showed their concern.

Lian Qing didn’t dare to say that he had been humiliated by a girl, which was very embarrassing! So he just said that he was tired.

Except for the cameraman who followed Lian Qing, and Yu Wenning who was walking behind them, everyone believed him. After all, they were all very tired. If they weren’t tired at this point, they must be superhuman.

The group quickly got in the show’s car and headed back, with everyone resting with their eyes closed.

Before getting in the car, Lian Qing looked at Yu Wenning. Seeing Yu Wenning waving goodbye to him, Lian Qing knew it was time to say goodbye. But at that moment, he was filled with reluctance. He waved his hand to Yu Wenning for a long time before entering the car with a low mood.

There was no conversation on the way back. When they arrived at the villa rented by the show, they saw a pile of things, mostly meat and vegetables, placed in the yard through the fence.

Lian Qing looked curiously at those things, then turned to the show’s director.

The director cleared his throat and said with a smiling face, “As I mentioned earlier, whoever finishes distributing the flyers first, will have the priority to choose. Now, I announce that the first one to finish distributing the flyers is Luo Zisheng.”

Both Lian Qing and Luo Zisheng were confused, and Lian Qing raised his hand and said, “Director, isn’t it me?”

He remembered that he had finished first, and Brother Luo only came back afterwards.

The director glared at him and said, “Did you forget that you gave your flyers to someone else to distribute and the ones you distributed afterward were Luo Zisheng’s?”

Lian Qing’s breathing hitched, and it seemed like it was true…

Luo Zisheng awkwardly patted his shoulder and said, “Sorry for taking advantage.”

Lian Qing replied, “I didn’t want to give it up at all…”

Luo Zisheng, who had taken advantage of the situation, laughed without saying a word and asked the director, “What’s the selection process?”

The director pointed to the shelf and said, “The first person to arrive can choose three items, which can be meat, vegetables, cooking utensils, or sauces. The second person can choose two items, and the remaining three can only choose one. If you want something else afterward, you must perform a talent in exchange. I need to remind you that some meat only has one portion, so if it’s taken, it’s gone.”

Lian Qing raised his hand again and asked, “Director, what’s the use of us taking these things?”

The director replied, “To cook, of course.” He pointed to the other side where a row of induction cookers were set up. “Since ancient times, our country has advocated doing things ourselves, so you’ll have to cook your own meals. Oh, and this time you are not allowed to help each other.”

TN: This sounds like something my mom would say. “You’re a grown-up! Learn to do things by yourself! Don’t disappoint your ancestors”

Lian Qing and the others were speechless. The program team was really good at pushing them to the limit, and they couldn’t do anything about it except to accept their fate.

The first person to choose items was Luo Zisheng, who selected a set of tools including a pan, spatula, and knives, as well as a set of sauces. He then chose a piece of beef and returned to his spot.

Next was Lian Qing, who stood in front of the shelf for a while before selecting a set of tools and a steak. He had compared the portions of the meat and realized that, except for the steak, the portions of the other meats were very small!

The remaining people could only choose one item, and they all chose tools.

After that, everyone raised their hands and asked the director to show off their talents in exchange for food. Lian Qing didn’t have any condiments, so how could he cook?

Luo Zisheng was the first to perform his talent, which was tongue twisters, and he did it extremely well. Before the director could even say anything, Lian Qing was the first to clap with admiration. As someone who stutters when nervous and is prone to speaking too quickly, he deeply admired someone like Brother Luo who could speak so much without stumbling over his words.

With people applauding, this talent naturally passed. Luo Zisheng then went to pick two potatoes and returned.

Next was Sun Yazhi, who performed a whistle and played a high-energy section of a popular song. Of course, he passed and received what he needed.

Li Chengsi and Qian Linsen followed closely behind. However, their performances were not very good, but they were humorous, so the director let them pass.

Finally, the director looked at Lian Qing and asked, “Little Monk, don’t you need anything else?”

“I do, but I don’t know what to perform,” Lian Qing said, touching his nose in distress. Compared to the previous seniors, he felt like he was useless.

The director said, “Just perform something you’re best at, anything will do.”

Luo Zisheng also smiled and said, “Yes, anything like breaking stones with your chest or walking on walls is fine.”

“I can’t do those,” Lian Qing said, frowning. “How about I perform…a monkey climbing a tree?”

Others: “…Damn, does this even count as a performance?”

The director hesitated and said, “Okay, I’ll have someone lay down some sponge under the tree…”

Lian Qing waved his hand and said, “No need, I’m not afraid of falling.” As he spoke, he took three or four steps to the foot of the tree, looked up, then kicked off the trunk and strode up the tree like he was walking, finally using both hands to grab onto the trunk and stabilize himself.

People under the tree: “!!!”

Lian Qing, who climbed up the tree effortlessly, jumped onto a thick branch like a monkey and swung on it for a while before finally letting go and landing safely to the surprise of the crowd.

TN: T-Ta-Tarzan? Is that you?!!

The others quickly surrounded him, touching his hands and feet, asking if he was hurt or uncomfortable anywhere.

“Little Monk, are your feet okay?”

“Did you get injured? Are you feeling any discomfort?”

“Why did you have to jump like that? Wasn’t it safer to come down the same way? It’s so dangerous without any safety measures…”

“Why did you have to perform something like this? If something had gone wrong, what would we have done? This silly boy, why is he so clueless…”

Lian Qing helplessly replied, “This tree is not dangerous, it’s much shorter than the trees on our mountain. Really.” He had climbed many trees when he was a monk, so he had a lot of experience.

“But still, you can’t be so casual. It’s too scary.”

“That’s right, you may look cool, but we were all worried sick…”

“It would be fine if there were safety measures, but the sponge hasn’t even been laid out yet!”

………

Lian Qing could only shrug helplessly and promise everyone that he wouldn’t climb trees again in the future. However, he didn’t really think that climbing a tree was dangerous… But the seniors and the director advised him out of concern, so he had to accept it.

In the end, he received a set of seasonings as a reward.

The next round of the talent show began, and when it was Lian Qing’s turn, he honestly asked, “Director, I won’t climb a tree this time, but can I use a spatula?”

“Sure,” the director readily agreed, “but if you’re going to use the spatula to cook, you can skip it. We’ll be able to enjoy it later anyway.”

Lian Qing shook his head, saying no, and turned around to grab a spatula.

He stood in an open space, holding a spatula in his hand, with his eyes closed, trying hard to imagine: you are holding a sword, a very sharp sword. You are a swordsman, a hero, a very powerful and handsome hero…

After brainwashing himself, Lian Qing opened his eyes sharply, with a fierce look in his eyes. His “long sword” suddenly made a move, drawing a silver snake-like shadow in the air with a sword flower. Then, his wrist flew, and the “long sword” in his hand followed, agilely tumbling like a white dragon turning over a river, with a powerful momentum…

When the sword dance was about to end, Lian Qing inserted the “sword” downwards, and then made the most common gesture seen in TV shows when martial arts heroes meet or bid farewell to the director and others with a clear voice, saying, “I have done my best!”

There was applause all around, everyone, including the staff, looked at Lian Qing with admiring eyes. At this moment, almost everyone forgot that the “sword” used in this “sword dance” was actually a spatula.

Li Chengsi was particularly excited, patting Lian Qing’s shoulder, and said excitedly with a red face, “Amazing!”

Qian Linsen also came over, patted Lian Qing’s other shoulder, and said with emotion, “I have never seen anyone who can smoothly play a sword dance without post-production, special effects, or editing, and the speed is no slower than on TV! Little Monk, you are so cool!”

Luo Zisheng also sighed, “Little Monk, you are really suitable for filming fight scenes!”

Sun Yazhi excitedly came over and shouted, “Little Monk, can you do it again? After watching your sword dance just now, I feel inspired and want to see it again…”

Lian Qing shook his head and refused, “Brother, we have to cook first.” Eating is the most important thing, and everything else can wait!

Luo Zisheng nodded in agreement with Sun Yazhi, “Okay, you can ask the director for this section’s content later and watch it as many times as you want.”

Sun Yazhi thought about it and felt it made sense, so he happily went back to prepare the meal. The others were reminded by Lian Qing and returned to their original positions.

Lian Qing breathed a sigh of relief, and after receiving the director’s approval, he got a portion of sweet potatoes that could fill him up. When he returned to his position and was ready to cook, he couldn’t find his spatula no matter how he searched.

He asked anxiously, “Where is my spatula? Did anyone see it?”

Suddenly, a familiar voice came from outside the scene, “It’s stuck in the ground.”