Chapter 25

Zhao Yunyun woke up early this morning, too busy to eat breakfast, and immediately went online to check on Su Xingyao in the livestream room of We’re Going Traveling.

Ever since Su Xingyao discovered the “ghost scale” issue, many influencers and regular netizens followed suit last night, taking their phones to local night markets and street vendors to check if their scales were accurate.

Especially many influencers, who posted videos overnight exposing the “ghost scale” problems they discovered in various cities across the country.

While these videos created a lot of buzz, Zhao Yunyun felt that these follow-up testing bloggers had always approached it with the intention of exposing fraud, which felt a bit forced. It lacked the spontaneity and intrigue of Su Xingyao’s original moment when he discovered the discrepancy while shopping for vegetables.

Because of this, just like all the other curious people, she joined the livestream room yesterday and suddenly realized that Su Xingyao was actually quite interesting.

Of course, the reason she woke up so early today was more out of curiosity about what Su Xingyao had chosen last night.

Her intuition told her that Su Xingyao was definitely going to pick something unexpected.

When Zhao Yunyun entered the livestream platform, the show hadn’t started yet.

She quickly found Su Xingyao’s livestream room and clicked to enter.

Without the usual crowd of people following the trend, Su Xingyao’s livestream room was much quieter this time. However, compared to the emptiness of yesterday’s early broadcast, today’s numbers were already quite impressive.

This morning, in the otherwise dark room, there were already around fifty to sixty thousand people waiting.

Bored, but not wanting to miss the first look at the room Su Xingyao had decorated, Zhao Yunyun made herself a cup of instant noodles and then began reading the chat in the livestream.

The early risers in the livestream, just like Zhao Yunyun, were all guessing what Su Xingyao had chosen last night.

【Does anyone know what Su Xingyao picked yesterday?】

【He probably just picked bed sheets and pillowcases. His room didn’t have those, and those are just enough for sleeping.】

【But knowing Su Xingyao’s previous performances, he probably wouldn’t be so boring.】

【So, what did he pick exactly? This show is really good at messing with the audience’s mindset. I dreamt all night trying to guess what Su Xingyao chose.】

【I dreamt he asked the production team for two giant pandas.】

【Hahahahaha, here in Sichuan, we all have a panda. Support Su Xingyao for asking the production team for this!】

【@ZhangShanfeng, Zhang Shanfeng, are you awake? If you’re awake, hurry up and open the livestream!】

【@ZhangShanfeng, open the livestream quickly, don’t make me beg you!】

The viewers in the livestream, growing increasingly impatient, quickly shifted from guessing what Su Xingyao had chosen to collectively @ZhangShanfeng.

Zhao Yunyun found the way people were mocking the director amusing and decided to join in on the fun.

But just as her comment was sent, the livestream screen suddenly lit up.

【It’s starting, it’s starting!!】

【Director, you’re finally awake!!】

The audience, who had been waiting for a long time, excitedly filled the screen with comments as they searched for Su Xingyao’s presence.

However, the production team was not so considerate and did not immediately show what Su Xingyao had chosen. Instead, the camera focused on the dining table in the living room.

It was already filled with a variety of breakfast options, both Chinese and Western.

All of these breakfasts were made by Su Xingyao himself.

【Watching this early in the morning, I’m getting hungry.】

【What a sumptuous breakfast.】

【Did Su Xingyao wake up so early to make breakfast for the guests?】

【He’s so considerate, I love him! I want to take him home and make him my wife.】

【I don’t allow that! He’s already my wife!】

As the viewers in the livestream room watched with envious eyes, the other guests gradually made their way into the living room.

Their reactions were the same as the comments.

“Ahhhh Xingyao, you’re like an angel sent by the production team to save us.”

Tong An’an, overjoyed, immediately grabbed Su Xingyao’s wrist and affectionately rubbed it, wearing a blissful expression.

The other guests, seeing this, were equally touched and expressed their gratitude.

“You’ve worked so hard, thank you, thank you!”

Su Xingyao waved his hand dismissively, “It’s nothing.”

Although Su Xingyao said it was nothing, both Feng Han and Xu Xiang looked at him as if he were their own brother.

After finishing the filming last night, Su Xingyao had asked everyone in the group chat about their breakfast preferences. This morning, he had gone to the trouble of preparing different dishes based on each person’s likes.

Especially Xu Xiang—she had mentioned wanting to eat Zhajiangmian (noodles with soybean paste), and Su Xingyao had actually made it for her, and it tasted so good!

Thinking about the breakfast and recalling how Su Xingyao had offered to give up his room to her last night, Xu Xiang, who had received such thoughtful care on her first variety show appearance, felt incredibly happy.

So, looking at Su Xingyao, she blurted out, “Brother Xingyao, why don’t you just be my real brother?”

Su Xingyao, who was drinking hot milk, almost choked when he heard Xu Xiang’s unexpected remark.

He smiled and looked at Xu Xiang, who was gazing at him with a sincere expression.

“Don’t worry, I can handle things at home!”

Xu Xiang’s comment made the other guests burst into laughter.

Shi Hongyu immediately teased, “You can’t just steal my brother right in front of me! Yesterday, during our game of Pictionary, Xingyao himself confirmed it!”

The breakfast passed quickly amidst the laughter of the guests.

After finishing their meal, everyone went to wash the dishes on their own, not letting Su Xingyao, who had been busy all morning, do anything else.

Once the dishes were done, the moment everyone had been eagerly waiting for finally arrived—the segment where Su Xingyao would reveal how he decorated his room.

“Should we still draw lots for the order?”

Feng Han, who had already gotten used to Zhang Shanfeng’s tactics, directly asked the director.

However, the rebellious Zhang Shanfeng, of course, wouldn’t follow the guests’ wishes. He whimsically pointed at Xu Xiang’s room and said, “Let’s start with the most luxurious room.”

The camera then followed Xu Xiang to her room.

The energetic and cute young woman didn’t hesitate at all, pushing open the door to her room without any shyness.

This room was the best one drawn by Su Xingyao. It was already a beautifully renovated room with complete furnishings, a fully equipped space that was already quite lovely.

Such a room didn’t need much decoration to look great, so Xu Xiang simply placed a bouquet of yellow lilies and a vase on the bedside table.

Xu Xiang’s decoration might not have been particularly surprising, but the yellow lilies blended well with the room’s fresh style, making the overall look quite pleasant.

After touring Xu Xiang’s room, the cameraman moved on to check the rooms of Tong An’an, Cen Yi, and Shi Hongyu.

These guests had chosen some very conventional decorations for their rooms. While their rooms looked good, they lacked any real surprises.

The only room that stood out to the audience was Feng Han’s, but his “surprise” came from the half-built toy blocks he had put together.

Looking at the strange pile of blocks he had assembled, Feng Han smiled awkwardly, saying, “It got too late last night, so I only got halfway through building it and then fell asleep.”

He then began to complain about the director.

“I said I wanted toy blocks, but I didn’t ask for 720P ones…”

Hearing Feng Han’s pitiful tone, the audience in the comments went wild with laughter.

【Hahahaha, Zhang Shanfeng clearly didn’t want you to sleep!】

【Laughing to death, 720P, it would take forever for anyone to finish that!】

【Feng Han is still too innocent, he doesn’t realize how many tricks the production team has up their sleeves.】

【What about Su Xingyao’s room? Is it Su Xingyao’s turn next?】

The question from the viewers in the livestream echoed the voice of Shi Hongyu.

“What about Xingyao’s? Are we going to see his room now?”

He turned to Su Xingyao with an eager expression on his face, “I’m really curious and looking forward to it…”

Hearing this, Feng Han immediately chimed in.

“To be honest, last night I totally didn’t expect you to choose those two things…”

The audience perked up when they heard the first half of Feng Han’s sentence.

But when they heard the full sentence, they went wild.

【Which two things? Just say it already!!】

【Feng Han, did you learn how to tease us from Zhang Shanfeng?】

【I’m really looking forward to it, but honestly, I think we should manage our expectations. The foundation of Su Xingyao’s room was already like that, and the production team only gave him two things to work with—how much can he really do with that? Will he even be able to make something nice out of it?】

【Ah… yeah, that actually makes sense.】

The viewers’ anticipation stemmed from not knowing what Su Xingyao had picked last night.

But after the comments pointed out the poor state of his room, with its hard bed and all, they started to realize that his decoration might not turn out to be anything too amazing.

While the viewers in the chat discussed, Su Xingyao had already brought everyone to the front of his room.

“I’m so excited…”

“My intuition tells me it’s going to be beautiful.”

The three female guests, who already knew what Su Xingyao had picked, were even more excited than the audience, staring at Su Xingyao’s room door without blinking.

The next second, Su Xingyao’s long, slender fingers pushed the door open.

The scene that suddenly appeared on the screen made the audience gasp in astonishment.

What they saw was a mural covering an entire wall.

Four pandas were leisurely playing under a bamboo forest.

The one on the far left was sitting on the ground, with its back to everyone, happily eating bamboo. Its posture looked like a cute triangular rice ball.

The other two round, chubby pandas were busy fighting over bamboo, their little paws swinging through the air, vividly animated.

The last one looked the most content with life.

It leisurely held a bamboo leaf in its mouth, lying on its back, its legs stretched out, exposing its round white belly, basking in the sun in an incredibly relaxed manner.

The entire wall mural was outlined in black paint, and the overall tone matched perfectly with the pandas in black and white.

But this painting wasn’t just black and white.

The artist added a brilliant stroke at the top, painting a beam of sunlight.

The bright light slanted through the bamboo forest, gently shining on the panda’s round belly, which was basking in the warmth of the sun…

What was once a somewhat gloomy black-and-white scene was suddenly illuminated by this beam of light!

The guests were stunned when they saw the painting.

Especially Tong An’an, who loved pandas, immediately ran to the mural, bent down, and carefully examined the vivid image.

Although she had guessed that Su Xingyao might choose to paint, she thought he would only do some simple, cartoonish drawings.

But to her surprise… it was such an enormous project!

And, it was so beautiful!!

Tong An’an looked at Su Xingyao, almost in disbelief, “Did you… really paint all this?”

Su Xingyao nodded, “Mm.”

“This whole wall… How long did it take you to finish it?”

Cen Yi asked, suddenly remembering that Su Xingyao had also woken up early to make breakfast for everyone. She couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for him.

Su Xingyao hadn’t really paid attention to how long it took to paint.

He never thought about such things while painting.

“Several hours, I can’t remember exactly.”

Although Su Xingyao didn’t mention the exact time, it was clear that the wall was bare around midnight last night, and by today, a full mural had already been completed. It probably didn’t take too long.

Once the mural was revealed, the comments in both Su Xingyao’s livestream and the main livestream exploded.

【Ahhhh, these pandas are so cute! Su Xingyao, you’re so good at painting!!】

【So adorable! I want a cute mural like this in my room too!】

【Wait, did it really only take less than a night??? Incredible!!】

【This painting is amazing! Did Su Xingyao study art before?】

【I don’t know, his background info didn’t mention anything about it.】

【Ahhh, as an art student, I’m really envious of Su Xingyao’s skill! I wish I could also quickly paint such a mural like him!】

The viewers in the livestream didn’t know in advance what Su Xingyao had chosen, so when they saw the painting, they were absolutely stunned.

After all, there are very few celebrities in the entertainment industry who can paint at such a level.

And on top of that, he painted this in his spare time…

Most of the viewers in the livestream were completely amazed by Su Xingyao’s skill.

However, the sharp-eyed viewers soon noticed something.

【Wait a minute!! It seems like Su Xingyao didn’t just paint this one!】

【What???】

【He painted something else???】

【Yes, yes, I just saw a patch of green flash by.】

A few viewers’ comments immediately drew everyone’s attention.

However, the livestream camera was focusing on the wall, so aside from the pandas and bamboo, they couldn’t see anything else.

Just as they were eagerly wondering what else Su Xingyao had painted, Xu Xiang helped them out.

Xu Xiang turned around, pointed at the wall beside the hardboard bed, and widened her eyes. “I remember there was no window here yesterday…”

The cameraman and the guests followed Xu Xiang’s gaze.

Then, a half-open window appeared before everyone’s eyes.

Outside the window, under the blue sky and white clouds, two lively little birds flew by, as though they would burst out of the screen and come toward them.

The sheer, gauzy curtains fluttered in the breeze, revealing a potted plant on the windowsill.

Among the vibrant green plants was a pot of multi-headed roses, their densely packed flowers blooming fervently in the sunlight. At first glance, they looked just like the real thing.

【!!!!!!】

【The atmosphere is absolutely perfect…】

【I guess my vocabulary is so poor… at this moment, I can only say ‘wow’ and have no idea what else to express!】

【If I hadn’t seen the livestream yesterday, I’d seriously believe there was actually a window in this room…】

【Ahhh, I love these potted plants so much!】

【Please, Su Xingyao, can you paint one for my house too? Wuwuwu…】

【So beautiful! Can you make a tutorial? I’d love to have a window like that in my bedroom, even if it doesn’t have one!】

The guests on-site were completely stunned.

Before entering the room, none of them could have imagined that such a shabby room could be transformed so dramatically by Su Xingyao, just with a paintbrush and some paint!

“Xingyao, you’re just too amazing!”

Shi Hongyu couldn’t help but exclaim, “How did you do it?! I remember Director Zhang didn’t give you much paint…”

Su Xingyao nodded in agreement, took out the cleaned palette and paintbrush, and handed them back to Zhang Shanfeng.

He chuckled lightly, “Director Zhang only gave me seven colors of paint.”

He pointed at the panda mural and said with slight regret, “So I could only design it like this for now.”

At this point, everyone finally understood.

It turned out that the black-and-white design with warm lighting was due to the lack of paint!

“If there were enough paint, wouldn’t the details be even richer?”

“Director Zhang, please don’t be so stingy next time! I want to see Su Xingyao paint!!”

The scene of Su Xingyao painting quickly spread across major forums, with viewers who had watched the livestream taking screenshots.

The late-rising haters soon heard about it.

When they saw the livestream filled with praise for Su Xingyao, their jealousy flared up again.

【He painted all this in one night? Stop listening to Su Xingyao’s bragging.】

【Su Xingyao is useless. I don’t believe he can paint so well…】

【The production team must have found someone to paint it for him overnight.】

At first, it was just a few people posting such comments, and the viewers ignored them.

However, the haters persisted and kept questioning. Soon, the livestream comments turned into demands for the production team to explain, asking Su Xingyao to paint something live on camera.

Of course, the production team would not casually cater to the haters’ requests.

After the guests had toured each other’s rooms, everyone unanimously agreed that the best reward for this task should go to Su Xingyao.

“Congratulations to Su Xingyao for winning the Best Decoration Award!”

After Zhang Shanfeng finished speaking, Su Xingyao walked up to him, took the small ball from his hands.

“What’s this?”

He looked at Zhang Shanfeng curiously.

Zhang Shanfeng didn’t directly answer but said, “It’s a magical little ball. You can open it when you’re in trouble.”

Su Xingyao lowered his head and looked at the small ball in his hand.

He gently squeezed it with his fingers, curious about what was inside the ball.

Although curious, he knew this was part of the show, so after squeezing it a bit, he showed the ball to everyone and then put it in his bag.

After receiving the award, the production team gave everyone some time to rest.

Xu Xiang, still excited, ran off to tour Su Xingyao’s room again, unable to believe this was the same shabby, hardboard bed room she had drawn yesterday.

Thinking about the hardboard bed, she quickly looked down at Su Xingyao’s bed.

What caught their eyes was still the bare hardboard bed…

Compared to yesterday, it was much cleaner, but other than that, nothing had changed…

Xu Xiang, unable to believe it, ran to the bedside. “Didn’t Director Zhang give you anything last night?”

Su Xingyao smiled. “No, not really.”

Xu Xiang was about to sigh in relief upon hearing this, but then she heard Feng Han, who was passing by, add something else.

“They only gave him a blanket, nothing else.”

Xu Xiang: …

Just a blanket…

So, Xingyao really just slept on the hardboard bed last night…

Without even sheets or pillows!!!

After hearing Feng Han’s description, Xu Xiang angrily turned to Zhang Shanfeng to complain.

“Director, your production team is really heartless… treating the guests like this!!”

Afterward, she sheepishly said to Su Xingyao, “I’m so sorry, brother… If it weren’t for me…”

Su Xingyao didn’t elaborate on the details, mainly because he didn’t want Xu Xiang to feel guilty.

But unexpectedly, Feng Han had already said it out loud, so he could only smile and comfort the young girl. “It’s fine, I’m used to it. Back in… military training, we used to sleep on the ground directly.”

He really was used to it, but it wasn’t because of military training.

When he was a child, he was often punished by his adoptive father and made to sleep in a small dark room. Falling asleep on the floor while crying had become a daily occurrence.

He often woke up from the bugs crawling on the ground.

So, compared to that, sleeping on a hardboard bed actually felt like a luxury for him.

But these things were not appropriate to mention on the show, and Su Xingyao had no intention of telling anyone.

Su Xingyao didn’t want to intentionally evoke sympathy, but the haters couldn’t help themselves and started making malicious interpretations again.

【Su Xingyao is going too far with this persona-building. How can anyone sleep on this hard bed?】

【I don’t believe he sleeps on this. After the livestream, he probably went to a hotel to sleep.】

【What’s Su Xingyao up to? Last episode he went crazy with building his persona. Trying to clear his name? Dream on.】

【You haters are so annoying. Do you really think Feng Han would lie for Su Xingyao in front of so many people?】

【What persona is Su Xingyao building? He just didn’t want the little girl to feel bad, that’s why he didn’t say anything. If Feng Han hadn’t misunderstood, no one would’ve known he only had a blanket last night.】

【Haters, get lost.】

After the brief break, the production team sent a bus to take the guests to the next task location.

Since it was a travel show, the afternoon filming was relatively relaxed.

The production team took them to a famous local tourist spot, and the six of them enjoyed themselves while filming. They ended the day with a boat ride and sightseeing, each of them wearing satisfied smiles on their faces after the enjoyable trip.

After the boat ride, Su Xingyao followed the group off the boat and arrived at a popular local spot.

This place, not far from the lakeside, was called “Cat House” and belonged to a kind-hearted local woman who had adopted seven stray cats. She often posted interesting videos of her cats, which made her quite famous in the area.

When Su Xingyao and the others arrived, the owner was busy looking at a pile of materials, clearly troubled.

At that moment, the production team gave them their final task of the day—“Help the owner solve the problem she’s facing.”

The eldest of the group stepped forward and asked, “What seems to be troubling you?”

The owner took out her phone, swiped it, and quickly found a video.

“I want to make a bus for my cats, just like this one,” she said.

Su Xingyao felt the idea sounded a bit familiar, so he stepped forward and looked down to watch the video on her phone along with the others.

On the screen, he saw a “little train” speeding along.

In the first carriage, a dog with a defective ear was excitedly waving its paws in the wind.

In the second carriage, an orange cat arrogantly lifted its chin and squinted its eyes, looking at the world in disdain.

In the third carriage, a cute duckling was flapping its wings and shaking its head in a panic…

The video was accompanied by a cheerful background music, and the little train zoomed past with “Animal Bus” written on its front.

The video was posted just last night, but it had already received over three million likes…

Seeing the familiar cats, the familiar dog, and the familiar animal bus, Su Xingyao suddenly felt a strange sense of deja vu—like he had just witnessed a gossip story unfold right in front of him.

Lu Zhiyun had actually posted this video…

In the few seconds that Su Xingyao was lost in thought, Shi Hongyu had already moved to the materials and started figuring out how to assemble them.

The other guests squatted down as well, discussing how to put everything together to make it look like the one in the video.

Su Xingyao glanced at the materials the owner had prepared.

They were well-prepared, but making seven carriages was more complicated than making just four. Blindly assembling everything wouldn’t work.

Seeing that the guests were also stuck, Su Xingyao decisively spoke up, “Let me draw a blueprint first. It’ll be easier with a plan.”

After saying that, he picked up a pencil and quickly sketched out a design on the paper.

This was something he was familiar with. Before any of the trolls in the livestream chat could doubt him, he quickly finished the blueprint and handed it to the other guests.

Then, he explained to everyone how to assemble the “Cat Bus.”

Su Xingyao’s ability to draw had already become a silent consensus among the guests, so no one doubted him. They all listened attentively to his instructions.

Of course, while the idea of the “Cat Bus” seemed simple, making it was quite a task.

Since the guests weren’t used to this kind of work, the majority of the assembly was still done by Su Xingyao.

At first, the guests were a bit confused about where to start.

But they quickly realized that, following Su Xingyao’s instructions, assembling the “Cat Bus” was much more organized and simpler.

This task was actually a bit difficult for the guests, which was why Zhang Shanfeng had given Su Xingyao the ball that could solve any difficulties.

However, he never expected that Su Xingyao wouldn’t need that “bug” at all, and would even exceed expectations in completing the task…

Two hours later, the “Cat Bus” was finished.

The cat owner was overjoyed and immediately hugged her cats to “test drive” the bus.

Watching the cats happily sitting on the little train, Tong An’an furrowed her brows in confusion.

“Why do I feel like this Cat Bus is still missing something?”

Shi Hongyu stroked his chin and nodded. “Maybe it’s missing some color… it’s too plain.”

After hearing their conversation, Su Xingyao also felt that it was a bit of a shame to leave it like this, so he tentatively asked, “Well… should we add some color to the bus?”

It seemed like everyone had been waiting for Su Xingyao to say this. As soon as he suggested it, they immediately agreed.

Soon, the guests began a second round of modifications to the bus.

They picked up paint and started coloring the carriages according to the video.

Simply applying the paint wasn’t too difficult, but in the video, the train’s head had clearly been specially painted, which was much more difficult for the guests.

None of the five of them could paint such a beautiful train head.

Seeing that everyone was struggling, Su Xingyao quietly took over the task…

Before long, a cute train head was painted under his hands.

Five minutes later, a cute cat appeared on the first carriage.

A few minutes after that, the second cat appeared…

In no time, Su Xingyao had painted a cute cat on each carriage.

The cat owner was so pleased that she couldn’t take her eyes off the bus.

Meanwhile, the viewers in the livestream, watching how effortlessly Su Xingyao painted, flooded the chat with comments.

【How does he make painting look so easy and so beautiful?】

【Is this what a master looks like…?】

【This train head looks exactly like the one in the video. If I hadn’t seen him paint it myself, I’d think it was printed out.】

【Did no one else notice these cats? Su Xingyao painted all seven of the owner’s cats! Each one is so unique. He must have only seen them once, but he remembered all of them!!】

【Ahhhh, Su Xingyao, why don’t you quit being a celebrity and just focus on painting? I’d be the first to sign up.】

【Who were those people earlier who said Su Xingyao faked his painting? Are they the ones who think the production team helped him?】

【Lol, why is it so hard for people to admit that he’s amazing at painting?】

【Hahahahaha, Su Xingyao, you really know how to slap haters in the face live.】

Once Su Xingyao finished painting the bus, the “Cat Bus” was officially completed.

At the same time, the recording for this episode was also nearing its end.

The group left the Cat House and headed to the parking lot to take the production team’s bus back.

On the way, however, they were suddenly stopped by a group of people.

One man holding a banner walked up to Zhang Shanfeng with a smile.

“Hello, may I ask if Mr. Su Xingyao is here? We are from the Market Supervision Bureau.”