After receiving the message, Ning Xiaoyu’s first thought was whether her cover had been blown.

But after some consideration, she decided it was impossible. Not only had it been pitch dark last night, making it hard to see anything, but even her voice wasn’t her own— it was that of the professional voice actress who usually dubbed female leads on dramas.

Given these circumstances, no matter how resourceful the other party was, it was simply impossible for him to know her identity.

With that realization, Ning Xiaoyu relaxed completely.

Who cared why he messaged her? Ning Xiaoyu never let herself get bogged down by such trivialities.

Still, after receiving a message from the movie king, her life underwent some unexpected changes.

Unfortunately, for Ning Xiaoyu, these changes weren’t benefits but annoyances.

For one, the number of viewers in her livestream room skyrocketed. What was once a small, obscure room with only a few hundred viewers now regularly had several thousand people online.

For another, when she went down to the kitchen that morning, the female guests all looked at her with cryptic expressions, as if trying to figure out what made her worthy of receiving a message from the movie king. One actress even smiled and greeted her proactively.

Just yesterday, she had been an unnoticed, insignificant nobody.

People probably wouldn’t believe it, but Ning Xiaoyu preferred to stay under the radar, quietly endure until the show ended, and then silently collect her payment from the production team.

【Anchor’s popularity has risen quite a bit, but why don’t you seem excited?】

【Anchor, your popularity is finally no longer rock bottom!】

【Applause for the anchor!】

Thanks, but no thanks.

Not wanting to mingle with the other guests, Ning Xiaoyu grabbed a box of instant wontons, opened it, poured in hot water, and waited for her meal to be ready.

During this time, she noticed Ning Yuwei glancing at her several times. Ning Xiaoyu, however, couldn’t be bothered to respond.

Last night, Ning Yuwei sent Lu Jingdu a message first, but while Lu Jingdu didn’t reply to Ning Yuwei, he did send a message to Ning Xiaoyu.

For someone like Ning Yuwei, a proud daughter of heaven, this must have been a significant blow.

But what did that have to do with Ning Xiaoyu?

At breakfast, the movie king was once again absent, but no one seemed to mind.

Rumor had it that the production team had gone to great lengths to secure Lu Jingdu’s participation. To get him on board, they likely made several concessions, like allowing him to prepare his own meals, skip group activities, and so on.

Essentially, Lu Jingdu was a walking billboard. Wherever he appeared, attention followed. Even if it was just his name, his devoted fans would show up enthusiastically.

Getting him to participate was already a win for the production team. The director probably didn’t dare ask for more.

────ρя


After breakfast, it was time for the morning free activity segment.

The director cleared his throat and said, “I’m sure you’re all aware by now. Last night, the male guest who received the most ‘goodnight’ messages was Lu Jingdu, and the female guest was Ning Yuwei. However, some of you seem to be slacking off already and didn’t send out ‘good morning’ messages on time this morning.”

For some reason, Ning Xiaoyu felt as though she’d been hit in the knee by a stray bullet.

Half-awake this morning, she had groggily discovered she was trending online and had completely forgotten about sending a message to another guest.

“To encourage interaction among guests, the production team has decided that every completed task earns a guest a friendship coin. Guests can also earn coins by receiving messages from other guests. Friendship coins are the only recognized currency on the show, and all ingredients used for meals— instant hot pots, self-heating rice, self-heating wontons, etc— are priced on the board for your reference.

Guests without enough coins can earn them by completing tasks.”

As for the tasks, the production team provided several options:

1. Buy groceries at the market （5 coins）.

2. Water the flowers in the garden （3 coins）.

3. Clean the Friendship House （6 coins）.

4. Perform a talent show （2 coins）.

5. Receive coins from other guests.

6. More tasks to be added later.

“Now, the staff will distribute the coins to each guest.”

Ning Xiaoyu didn’t receive a single coin.

She should’ve had three. She sent one message last night and received two messages. But her bowl of instant wontons this morning had cost her all three coins.

This meant if she wanted to eat the three-coin instant hot pot at noon, she’d have to work in the morning.

Of course, she could also play the social butterfly and message every guest at noon.

She could, but she absolutely wouldn’t.

So, Ning Xiaoyu chose Task 2, which was watering the flowers in the garden.

It seemed like a relatively easy task.

But when she arrived at the garden, watering can in hand, and saw the sheer number of plants, she realized…… this might not be as easy as it looked.

To make matters worse, she accidentally overheard someone’s phone conversation in a corner of the garden.

“You’re overstepping your bounds.

What does my participation in a variety show have to do with you?”

Although the person addressed the other party as ‘you’ respectfully, the tone was detached and indifferent.

Ning Xiaoyu realized her timing was bad and that she’d stumbled into the middle of someone’s call. Holding the empty watering can, she was about to quietly retreat and pretend she hadn’t heard anything when the person on the phone ended the call and fixed his sharp gaze directly on her.

This was undeniably a familiar face.

Ning Xiaoyu inwardly cursed her bad luck.

Wasn’t he the one who didn’t even bother eating breakfast in the dining room?

Wasn’t he the one with his own private meals?

Wasn’t he the one who skipped several group gatherings?

Why was it that every time, she just happened to run into Lu Jingdu in the most deserted places?

Ning Xiaoyu couldn’t help but suspect that the love system was secretly meddling.

Just as she thought of the love system, the next second, it issued a new mission.

〖Girl, as you can see, the movie king has just ended an unpleasant conversation and is in a bad mood. Everyone has their own little secrets, and coincidentally, you’ve unintentionally stumbled upon his. At this moment, you can:

A. Apologize sincerely— ‘Sorry, Daddy, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. It was all an accident!’

B. Deny everything— ‘Huh? Don’t worry, I didn’t hear a thing! I promise!’

C. Comfort him gently— Silent companionship is worth more than words. Stay quietly by his side and help him through this rough patch.〗

Ning Xiaoyu mentally rolled her eyes in frustration.

She had overheard just two vague sentences, so how did that count as unintentionally discovering the movie king’s secret? What secret? She, the so-called eavesdropper, didn’t even know! She couldn’t even guess the identity, age, or gender of the person on the other end of his call.

By now, Lu Jingdu had already taken a few steps toward Ning Xiaoyu, casually adjusting his cufflinks as he asked indifferently, “Is something the matter?”

Ning Xiaoyu shook her head. “No, I just came to water the flowers in the garden.”

He nodded slightly, not showing much reaction.

Ning Xiaoyu walked over to a nearby faucet, filled the watering can, and asked in her head, “What’s the time limit for option c?”

〖Love System: The moment the movie king cheers up is when the mission ends.〗

So not only did she have to do the mission, but she also had to ensure the movie king was in a good mood?

What a chosen one!

What a true winner in life!

So many people adored and cared for him. It was honestly enviable.

For someone like Ning Xiaoyu, whose father was in a coma and whose mother had remarried, she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy.

At least the first mission had a clear time limit— ten minutes of sitting by his side. But this one? The only guideline was his happiness.

Among the three options, Ning Xiaoyu reluctantly chose option c.

Why?

She couldn’t exactly call him ‘Daddy’ the moment she opened her mouth, could she? That was way too embarrassing.

That ruled out option a immediately.

As for option b, it felt insincere. Denying she’d overheard anything, even though she had, was just not her style. Ning Xiaoyu could be a slacker, but she wouldn’t stoop to being deceitful.

As for why she didn’t choose punishment, Ning Xiaoyu had her reasons.

Option c wasn’t overly demanding, and once she earned love points, she could exchange them for 10,000 yuan in real money. Coincidentally, her father’s medical fees were due soon. To be honest, she really needed the money.

Considering all that, option c had the highest cost-benefit ratio.

Thus, Ning Xiaoyu started watering the garden while keeping an eye on the movie king.

Perfect, the movie king had settled onto a stone bench.

Great, it seemed like he was deep in thought and had no plans to leave anytime soon.

Even better, there was still no one else around.

Ning Xiaoyu watered the plants as quickly as possible, then put down the watering can and quietly walked to the grassy area behind the movie king.

Her movements weren’t small so Lu Jingdu noticed her immediately. However, he didn’t react, nor did he say a word.

Ning Xiaoyu remained silent as well.

After all, the mission only required silent companionship.

There was no need for conversation between them, and they weren’t at that kind of stage.

Sitting on the grass, Ning Xiaoyu inhaled the fresh scent of flowers and greenery in the air.

She had to admit, it was refreshing and invigorating.

Perhaps because she hadn’t slept well the night before, or perhaps the sun was just too warm and comforting, Ning Xiaoyu felt herself growing sluggish. Slowly, her slacker energy began to radiate once more. To put it plainly, she was getting drowsy.

She struggled to keep her eyes open and asked the love system in her mind, “How is it now? Is the movie king in a better mood?”

〖Love System: He’s still feeling gloomy. What do we do?〗

Ning Xiaoyu gave a casual “Oh” in response. She remembered the mission— silent companionship.

But the sunlight was so warm, so pleasant.

She tried her best, but eventually, she couldn’t resist anymore.

Ning Xiaoyu thought to herself, I’ll just nap for a little while, just a tiny little while. It shouldn’t be a problem, right?

At that moment, due to a technical glitch, a previously inactive camera finally came online.

Within seconds, a flood of viewers poured into the live stream.

And then, they saw Ning Xiaoyu…… along with the nation’s top movie star sitting nearby.

At this moment, the young and handsome movie king sat silently on a stone bench. He didn’t do much, but the scene was stunningly picturesque.

The movie king’s fans were taken aback.

What’s going on? Why was Ning Xiaoyu near their idol again?

Just as the girlfriend fans were gearing up to lash out at Ning Xiaoyu for clinging to their beloved idol, they suddenly noticed something.

The person supposedly clinging to the movie king…… seemed to be asleep?