Chapter 44

Su Xingyao trended last night because of his tutoring session, which sparked considerable discussion. This was known only by the production team’s directors and staff, while the other guests were unaware.

During the recording, the production team had confiscated their phones.

The sponsor-provided phones for the guests were only able to send messages between the six of them. None of the usual apps were installed, and they weren’t allowed to use them.

However, this did not affect Su Xingyao’s growing popularity with the public.

After two consecutive episodes of outstanding performances, more and more people were noticing his strengths.

Especially after the heat surrounding last night’s event, Su Xingyao’s solo livestream hadn’t even started yet today, and his popularity was already on par with the other guests. The viewership was rising at an alarming rate, increasing by the second.

When Su Xingyao first joined the show, his solo livestream was virtually empty. Once people found out he was the guest, most didn’t bother to watch, and those who did were almost all black fans waiting to criticize him.

But by this episode, the audience’s attitude had completely changed, doing a 180-degree flip.

【Start the stream, start the stream!】

【It’s 8 o’clock, production team, are you still not awake? Can’t you hear my alarm going off for the eighth time?】

【Hurry up, I want to watch Su Xingyao QWQ】

【Will Su Xingyao be the first to wake up and make breakfast again today?】

【Really jealous that the guests get to eat food made by Su Xingyao. It’s bad enough that the kids can’t eat it, but now the production team isn’t even starting the stream so I can watch?】

The viewers were growing anxious, but they didn’t know that the production team was intentionally delaying the stream.

It wasn’t that the production team was teasing the viewers, but rather that there had been a problem with the recording.

To be specific, the planning details for this episode had been leaked.

After Su Xingyao came back from his jog, he heard Shi Hongyu explaining the situation to everyone.

“There’s another show from a rival channel that’s also doing a travel variety show called ‘Leisure Weekend,’ which is pretty similar to ours.”

“They launched their first episode yesterday, and just like us, they did a live broadcast. Our staff noticed that their content and theme overlapped a lot with ours.”

Shi Hongyu was speaking diplomatically.

The truth was that after the launch of We’re Going Traveling, it had received extremely high ratings and a lot of buzz. As a result, people had started to take notice of the show’s format.

Especially Matcha TV, a channel that has always been in competition with Mint TV, the platform that airs We’re Going Traveling. They recently launched Leisure Weekend and poached several people from We’re Going Traveling‘s team.

One of those poached was a key member of the creative team for this episode.

This person secretly copied the entire plan for this episode and used it for the first episode of Leisure Weekend, even going so far as to air it one day earlier.

So, the content they recorded yesterday was almost identical to the planned content for today, with even the themes being the same.

“We had planned for tonight to have each guest host their own livestream, using their own cameras to show the audience around Lushui County and promote the area…” the planning assistant explained, almost in tears.

“But they prepped this exact segment yesterday.”

“Meaning, if we don’t cancel this segment today, it will directly clash with theirs.”

After hearing this, the guests realized this was a very serious leak for the production team.

After all, if the two shows end up being almost identical in content, it would definitely spark discussions and comparisons.

The other production team had clearly prepared to ride on the popularity of We’re Going Traveling by copying its format, aiming to capitalize on the buzz.

For the hardworking directors and staff who had put so much effort into the show, it was understandably frustrating to see their hard work being hijacked halfway by another team just to profit from the hype.

“Dear guests, to avoid unnecessary complications, we will have to make some temporary changes to the recording plan for this episode. This might require a little extra effort from everyone,” Zhang Shanfeng explained briefly, his gaze inadvertently falling on Su Xingyao.

There was something Zhang Shanfeng had not shared with everyone.

In fact, the other production team had already purchased trending spots to try and discredit We’re Going Traveling.

However, they didn’t expect that Su Xingyao would dominate the trending topics last night by offering a detailed tutoring session that stole all the attention.

As a result, their efforts to buy trending topics fell flat, and the audience wasn’t even interested in their show. Instead, they were all discussing how amazing Su Xingyao was.

The planning assistant took over the conversation, “But it feels a bit unfair to just give up like this.”

She smiled, “So we were thinking of changing the live stream to a video where the guests shoot casual footage throughout the day, capturing the beauty of Lushui County. Then, we can all pitch in to edit the footage into an advertisement to be featured in the main episode. How does that sound?”

After hearing this, all the guests nodded in agreement and support.

However, when Shi Hongyu heard the plan to edit the video together, he had a slight concern.

“But editing this will be a bit tricky. Aren’t we making this harder for ourselves?”

Filming a video wasn’t a big deal, but editing it in a creative and appealing way was definitely a challenge.

After Shi Hongyu expressed his doubts, the other guests nodded in agreement.

The planner had anticipated this issue.

She smiled and was about to suggest that the post-production team could guide them when Su Xingyao casually spoke up.

“I can handle that a little. We can give it a try later.”

When the guests heard Su Xingyao say this, they immediately cheered up, their previous concerns completely gone. They gathered around him, eager to hear more.

Having already seen Su Xingyao’s many talents, none of them doubted his words.

Cen Yi: “Wow, you can do this too, Xiao Su!”

Feng Han: “Bro, I feel like ‘a little’ means ‘a whole lot’ here…”

As Feng Han said this, the guests’ livestreams were immediately activated.

The audience, having no idea what was going on, was instantly intrigued by Feng Han’s comment.

【Did I miss some key information here?】

【What do you mean by ‘a little’ and ‘a whole lot’?? Production team, what are you planning now??】

【I have a feeling, with Feng Han’s tone, that Su Xingyao’s about to do something big again?】

【Ahhhh, is this for real?? I’m so excited!!】

Once the livestream started, the recording for today’s episode officially got underway.

Zhang Shanfeng picked up the loudspeaker and called everyone to gather in the living room.

“The first task of today is—find the contact person.”

After briefly and bluntly stating this, he didn’t provide any further explanation.

Tong An’an looked at Zhang Shanfeng in confusion, “Director Zhang, can you at least give us a bit of information?”

Where is this contact person? Are they male or female? What do they do? Why isn’t any of this being told to us?

Zhang Shanfeng chuckled, “Just go to the street and take a look. Maybe you’ll find some clues in the busy areas.”

After leaving behind this vague statement, he took out the sponsor’s phone.

“Please pay attention to all the details around you. You might find many useful clues.”

“Of course, you can also take pictures of these clues.”

Shi Hongyu initially didn’t understand what Zhang Shanfeng meant by taking pictures of the clues with the phone.

Just as he was about to ask, Cen Yi stopped him by holding his hand.

Only then did he realize that the production team had come up with this unexpected way to shoot the promotional video.

The audience watching the livestream had no idea what Zhang Shanfeng was up to, and seeing the vague clues he provided, they flooded the comments with messages like, “Director Zhang is a riddle master.”

After the riddle master, Zhang Shanfeng, finished speaking, the guests headed towards the bustling downtown area.

Because the production team had given so little guidance, they had no real clues to go on as they walked.

However, after spending time together in the previous episode, the group had already agreed that Su Xingyao was the smartest of the bunch, so they all naturally turned to him for answers.

“Xingyao, what do you think we should do now?”

Shi Hongyu walked next to Su Xingyao, holding his phone and scanning from left to right with his phone’s detection tool.

Feng Han and Xu Xiang also flanked Su Xingyao, each calling out, “Bro, where should we go?”

The audience watching this strange scene couldn’t stop laughing.

【In the last episode, Shi Hongyu became ‘brothers’ with Su Xingyao through brainwaves, and now, this episode, he’s got Feng Han and Xu Xiang as his little followers too!】

【Hahaha, Su Xingyao’s team can’t function without him!】

【Laughing so hard, others join shows to make new friends, but Su Xingyao gains a new brother, a sister, and a younger brother every time!】

【I suggest you change your group name to ‘A Happy Family’!】

On the street, seeing the other three asking Su Xingyao, Cen Yi and Tong An’an also turned their hopeful gazes toward him.

Su Xingyao, who everyone had high hopes for, stopped in his tracks under the weight of everyone’s attention.

【Hahaha, look how scared he is!】

【Su Xingyao: At such a young age, he’s bearing the pressure he shouldn’t have to!】

Just as everyone thought Su Xingyao was overwhelmed by their gazes, he pointed to the lively, ancient-style street on the right.

“How about we try playing a guessing game over there first?”

The staff members assigned to play passersby around the guests: ???

Zhang Shanfeng, who had been observing the guests’ every move from in front of the monitor: ??????

Since there were no real clues, when Su Xingyao made his suggestion, everyone walked over to the old lady’s riddle booth.

There were many people in front of the riddle booth.

The group waited for a while, trying to find a gap to squeeze through.

The booth’s owner was an elderly woman, appearing to be in her sixties or seventies, but with a lively spirit. She wrote calligraphy beautifully with a brush.

Upon seeing the guests and the cameras following them, she wasn’t flustered at all. Instead, she smiled and casually spoke, “Are you all here to guess riddles?”

Xu Xiang nodded obediently. “Yes, Grandma. May we give it a try?”

The elderly woman was very kind. “Of course.”

After agreeing, she added, “But I have a rule here: Guess one riddle, and I’ll give you two in return.”

Shi Hongyu immediately asked, “What does ‘guess one, get two’ mean?”

The old lady smiled and took out a piece of paper.

“You all write me one riddle, and then I’ll return two riddles to each of you.”

She handed the brush to Xu Xiang.

“Little sister, you write one.”

Then she took out another sheet of paper and handed it to Feng Han.

“You’re all six guests, why don’t you two write riddles? I’ll give one riddle to each of the other four.”

“Just like guessing riddles, you have one minute to write.”

This rule seemed a bit odd.

Furthermore, seeing how calm the old lady was while being filmed by the cameras, the guests began to have an inkling of what might be going on.

It seemed like they might be able to find some clues here, so they all got excited and began brainstorming riddles.

However, riddles weren’t something people encountered often, and unless in an emergency, they might be able to say a few.

But when the time actually came—especially with a time limit—everyone’s minds suddenly went blank, like a short circuit, and no one could think of a single character.

Cen Yi racked her brain and was the first to come up with one.

“Extra generous!”

She immediately urged Xu Xiang, “Xiangxiang, hurry up and write!”

Xu Xiang immediately bent her head down and began writing furiously.

Feng Han, also holding paper and a pen, began to panic.

“What’s the second one? What’s the second one?”

Cen Yi waved her hand. “I can’t think of anything. My brain’s about to explode from the pressure…”

The old lady noticed Feng Han’s anxiety and cheerfully started a countdown, “Thirty seconds left, come on, young man.”

Feng Han’s face immediately turned red. “Help…”

As everyone was at a loss, Su Xingyao spoke up.

“Seventy-two hours.”

At first, Feng Han, still nervous, didn’t hear clearly. “What?”

Su Xingyao repeated, “Seventy-two hours.”

This time, Feng Han finally heard it clearly and quickly wrote it down on the paper.

Fortunately, Su Xingyao had come up with the riddle just in time. As the last second ticked away, Feng Han managed to write the second riddle.

The viewers in the livestream chat had already started guessing what characters Cen Yi and Su Xingyao had chosen for their riddles.

The knowledgeable old lady took both of their papers, glanced at the riddles, and gave a thumbs-up to the six of them.

“Good, both riddles are correct.”

Afterward, she picked up four paper fans from the hanging display and handed one each to Cen Yi, Tong An’an, Su Xingyao, and Shi Hongyu.

The fans were tied with red silk thread. Su Xingyao pulled off the thread, and the fan opened to reveal a simple riddle written on it.

^[1]“无米真荒唐” (Wú mǐ zhēn huāngtáng), translates to “Without rice, it’s truly absurd.” It’s a play on words that hints at the character “华” (Huá). 无米 (wú mǐ) … Continue readingWithout rice, it’s truly absurd.

Su Xingyao read the riddle and hadn’t answered yet when he suddenly heard Tong An’an squealing and bouncing on the spot.

“I know this one! I know this one! It’s ‘^[2]“Hua” (华, huá) to the first riddle “田间花下逢” (Meeting in the fields under the flowers) comes from a play on the structure and meaning of the charactersHua,’ isn’t it?”

After saying that, she opened her fan, revealing the riddle: Meeting in the fields under the flowers.

The old lady nodded at her.

After Tong An’an guessed it, Cen Yi opened her fan too. “What is ‘^[3]“first-class standard” (一流水准) was presented as part of a riddle in the story. Riddles often use wordplay, idioms, or metaphors to lead to a solution that connects seemingly … Continue readingfirst-class standard’?”

She asked, “Is it ‘bing(Ice)’?”

The old lady smiled and shook her head.

Su Xingyao glanced at her fan, then calmly said, “^[4]“Huái” likely connects metaphorically to “water”, derived from the phrase “一流水准” (first-class standard), where “流” (stream/flow) and … Continue readingHuai?”

The old lady nodded approvingly. “Correct.”

Then, she picked up a sprayer and sprayed some water onto Cen Yi’s fan. Quickly, the character Huai appeared on the back of the fan.

Shi Hongyu, amazed by this, hurriedly unfolded his own fan. “This, this…^[5]“吴头楚尾，落花无泪” (Wú tóu Chǔ wěi, luò huā wú lèi) translates to “Wu head, Chu tail, falling flowers with no tears.” “Wu” (吴) is a Chinese … Continue reading‘Wu head, Chu tail, falling flowers with no tears.'”

“The Wu head is a mouth, and the tail of Chu is… what?”

While saying this, he began writing.

As he spoke, the others started helping him guess.

Su Xingyao glanced at the last four characters and wrote one on the table.

Sharp-eyed viewers quickly figured out what character Su Xingyao had written.

【Is it ^[6]路 (lù, meaning “road” or “path”) is often linked to journeys or directions that one takes in life. The 呜 (wū) sound in the riddle, while tied to emotions, may also be … Continue reading‘road’?】

【It should be ‘road’ that Su Xingyao wrote.】

【It seems like the correct answer.】

Shi Hongyu also saw the character Su Xingyao wrote and immediately looked at the old lady. “It’s ‘road,’ it’s ‘road!'”

The old lady smiled and sprayed some water onto his fan. Sure enough, the character “road” appeared.

Now that the three of them had finished guessing, only Su Xingyao’s answer remained.

Having guessed two of the riddles, the other guests weren’t worried at all about Su Xingyao’s turn.

Sure enough, with the answer already in his mind, Su Xingyao confidently said, “Sugar,” and the old lady happily handed them a clue card.

“Congratulations, you’ve found the first clue. You can now proceed to the next location.”

Upon hearing the old lady’s words, the guests suddenly realized.

They had indeed come to the right place!

【I had a feeling something was off earlier, and turns out the old lady was the contact person after all!】

【Am I the only one curious about how Su Xingyao found the contact person so quickly? The production team didn’t give us any clues, right?】

Not only the viewers, but the guests were also curious.

Shi Hongyu directly asked Su Xingyao about it, and Su Xingyao smiled lightly. “Actually, I was guessing too.”

He then pointed around. “But this area is the most crowded.”

“Before we left, didn’t he tell us to head to the busiest place?”

After hearing Su Xingyao’s explanation, the guests immediately understood.

“Got it, next time we’ll head for the busiest place too.”

Meanwhile, Zhang Shanfeng, sitting in front of the monitors and overseeing the whole situation, couldn’t help but think:

…Why can’t I ever keep my mouth shut?! I really need to say less from now on and keep a cool, aloof attitude!

After getting the information from the old lady, the guests found that the clue card she gave them contained the four characters they had just guessed:

“Road, Hua, Sugar, Huai.”

Xu Xiang read the four characters aloud. “Do these four characters mean anything?”

Shi Hongyu looked at the card back and forth. “Are we supposed to combine them into a name or something?”

Shi Hongyu’s idea sparked a new thought in everyone.

They quickly pulled out their phones and began trying to combine the four characters.

However, these four characters didn’t seem to fit together well, and after some time, the guests realized none of their combinations made sense.

Just as everyone was feeling stuck, Su Xingyao typed two lines on his phone.

“Perhaps, these four characters should be split up and rearranged,” Su Xingyao suggested.

The group stretched their necks, eagerly peering at the characters Su Xingyao had typed on his phone screen.

It displayed: Huaihua Road and Sugar

The next line read: Huahuai Road and Sugar

By splitting the characters this way, the four characters suddenly made sense.

One is a place name, and the other is a clue related to sugar.

Cen Yi asked a passerby if there was a Huaihua Road or Huahuai Road nearby. After learning that Huaihua Road existed, everyone excitedly gave Su Xingyao a thumbs-up.

“Xiao Su, you’re amazing.”

This type of word puzzle game wasn’t too difficult, but the guests hadn’t figured it out right away. It only took a little time to rearrange the characters, and eventually, they were able to make sense of it. However, with Su Xingyao’s help, their efficiency clearly increased.

Soon, the six of them arrived at Huaihua Road and discovered a small park, where the famous local attraction, Huaxian Pond, was located.

The pond was bustling with visitors. The guests walked around, shooting footage on their phones, while searching for anything related to sugar.

After some investigation, their attention finally focused on an elderly man selling sugar paintings by the edge of the pond.

Many children surrounded the old man, with one child spinning a wheel under the watchful eyes of the crowd.

As the wheel turned, the children grew quieter, each one bending forward, their eyes wide open, watching to see what it would land on.

“Ah… It’s a rabbit!”

The second the wheel stopped, a voice of disappointment spread through the crowd.

The six guests waited until the old man finished painting the rabbit for the child, then approached him.

Drawing from their earlier experience, the guests didn’t hesitate. Tong An’an went straight to the point. “Grandpa, hello, are you our contact?”

The old man didn’t immediately answer. Instead, he asked Tong An’an, “Miss, would you like to try spinning the wheel?”

Tong An’an paused, her eyes showing both surprise and excitement.

She reached out her hand, then hesitated, turning to confirm with the old man. “Is it okay?”

The old man nodded.

After receiving his approval, Tong An’an nervously made a quick prayer before giving the bamboo wheel a slight push.

The wheel spun for several rounds before coming to a stop.

Tong An’an held her breath, her heartbeat slowing down as the wheel came to a halt.

But the wheel missed the dragon, landing instead on a butterfly nearby.

Seeing the dragon was less than a centimeter away, she felt a bit disappointed. “I really wanted the dragon…”

She muttered softly, “When I was a kid, I always wanted to land on this, but I was never lucky enough to get it.”

Tong An’an’s words resonated with the viewers in the live chat.

【I’ve never landed on the dragon either +1】

【Not once +10086】

【If you didn’t get the dragon, does that mean you didn’t want it? sobs But every time it’s just so close! In the end, I’ll just have to buy it directly】

【??? You can actually just buy it????】

【I wish I had known, I would’ve bought one!】

When many viewers in the live chat realized they could just buy the sugar paintings, the old man had already quickly finished painting a butterfly.

He handed the butterfly to Tong An’an and asked the six guests, “Would you like to try?”

Hearing the old man’s words, everyone felt this was part of the mission and nodded eagerly.

The old man stood up from his spot and enthusiastically explained the sugar painting technique to them.

“When you create a piece that satisfies me, you’ll get what you want.”

The first confident contestant, Shi Hongyu, stepped up.

However, despite his confidence, he poured out too much sugar, and it turned into a messy lump.

Shi Hongyu fumbled for a while but couldn’t shape the sugar into anything recognizable.

In the end, he helplessly used two bamboo skewers to mash the shapeless sugar together, creating a lumpy sugar swirl.

The second to try was Feng Han.

He took a more careful approach, learning from Shi Hongyu’s mistake, pulling the sugar threads carefully. However, his creation… well…

“What is this supposed to be?”

Cen Yi couldn’t help but ask, as she couldn’t make out any shape.

Feng Han, with one hand in the air, made a motion he thought looked cool, drawing a horizontal and vertical line.

“It’s a turtle.”

Shi Hongyu, who was busy twirling his sugar with both hands, looked up and sarcastically commented, “That’s clearly a ^[7]“Wang ba” (王八) is a derogatory term in Chinese, referring to a turtle, but it’s often used as an insult. The term specifically targets a turtle’s appearance and behavior, with … Continue readingwang ba!”

Next up were Cen Yi and Xu Xiang, who started their own sugar painting attempts.

Although this craft required some skill, both of them did better than the first two, but their lack of experience still showed. Xu Xiang’s piece even broke in half when she tried to lift it.

“This looks easy, but it’s really hard to do…” Xu Xiang sighed.

Cen Yi comforted her, “That’s why it’s an intangible cultural heritage!”

After they finished, it was Su Xingyao’s turn.

The other guests had seen his artistic skills before and were all watching him expectantly.

Su Xingyao didn’t start immediately. Instead, he took a moment to observe the ceramic tile and the sticky consistency of the sugar threads.

Once he had a good sense of things, he took a small spoon and scooped up some sugar syrup.

Then, in a very short time, the audience watched in amazement as his hand moved swiftly, drawing precise lines on the ceramic tile with the spoon.

Soon, a winding, curving line appeared in front of everyone.

At first, they could tell what he was drawing.

But after a few seconds, as the various curved lines stacked up, everyone realized he had directly tackled the most difficult shape on the spinning wheel — the dragon!

【Holy sh*t…】

【Su Xingyao is so professional!】

【It’s so smooth and flowing… I almost thought he had specially studied this!】

【Although it’s not as perfect as the old man’s work, this level is really impressive!】

The old man, watching Su Xingyao’s skill, stroked his beard and smiled with admiration.

Once Su Xingyao finished, he quickly used a spatula to lift the sugar painting before it completely hardened.

The old man didn’t hold back his praise, smiling and complimenting him, “Not bad, you have great potential.”

He walked up to Su Xingyao and patted his shoulder.

“Alright, the lesson is over for today. You can pass the test now.”

After finishing his words, the old man sat back down, picked up his spoon, and started painting on the ceramic tile again, lost in his own work.

Su Xingyao walked over to Tong An’an’s side. “Do you want to spin again?”

Tong An’an didn’t understand Su Xingyao’s meaning. “Spin what?”

Su Xingyao made a spinning motion with his hand in the air.

Tong An’an didn’t get it, but she mimicked his motion.

The next second, Su Xingyao smiled.

He handed the dragon he had just made to Tong An’an. “Congratulations, you won the dragon this time.”

When Tong An’an covered her mouth in surprise, the viewers watching the screen also screamed in excitement.

【Ahhhhhhh Su Xingyao, you’re so good!】

【Just now, An’an said she had never gotten the dragon from the spinning wheel, and Su Xingyao gave her a dragon!】

【Sobs I’m so touched by Su Xingyao’s kindness!】

【I also really want a sugar painting that Su Xingyao made with his own hands!】

【Ahhhhhh Su Xingyao, don’t be so gentle, these little details really strike me in the heart!】

【Why are you all calling him Su Xingyao? That’s so formal, unlike me who just goes with a casual ‘Hey, hubby!’】

After Su Xingyao had created the work the old man was satisfied with, the old man returned the favor by giving them a sugar painting.

It was a beautifully made sugar painting of a fan.

“I’m your contact. This is a clue for you.”

The old man smiled as he handed the fan to Cen Yi, who was standing at the front, finally revealing his identity.

After Cen Yi took the fan with both hands, the six guests solemnly bid farewell to the old man and left the Huaxian Pond.

At this point, the clue was already quite clear.

The old lady had given them the folding fan riddle, and the old man had given them the folding fan sugar painting.

So the next contact they needed to find would be related to folding fans.

With this clue, the audience finally realized that Green Water County was indeed full of details related to fans.

The streetlamp designs, the windows on the walls, and the decorative folding fans found everywhere in local shops…

As the guests walked and inquired along the way, they learned from the locals that Green Water County was a place with a long history and rich cultural heritage.

Although Green Water County was small and not very famous nationwide, it had a treasure — the fragrant fan, one of the four great famous fans in China, which had been passed down since the Ming Dynasty.

And just like the word riddles and sugar paintings experienced by the previous guests, the fragrant fan was also part of the intangible cultural heritage.

At this point, the audience finally understood.

【Holy sh*t, it turns out this entire episode is introducing intangible cultural heritage…】

【Each step flows into the next, the production team is really putting in effort!】

【I was wondering how the production team found such a hidden gem of a place, turns out it’s so rich in history…】

The six guests spent nearly an hour and finally found their last contact for the day — the president of the Fragrant Fan Group, Zhi Wenze.

President Zhi, dressed in a traditional Chinese robe, warmly welcomed the six guests and took them on a tour of the various types of fragrant fans.

“Our fragrant fans may look simple, but they are far from it.”

After showing them the finished products, the president took the guests to different workshops to observe the production process of the fans.

As they walked through the process, he explained, “Making our Fragrant fans is no easy task. There are 15 different stages of work involved, and from the beginning of production to the final product, it takes 132 steps.”

After giving the guests a full tour, the president announced the task for the day.

“So today, you will all have the honor of making your own fragrant fan.”

The six guests had roughly guessed what the task would be on their way here.

However, hearing from the president that even a small fan requires so many steps to complete, they still felt unsure when it was their turn to do it.

“President, we are all amateurs…”

Before Shi Hongyu could finish his sentence, he trailed off, but his meaning was clear.

The president and the production team had, of course, anticipated that they couldn’t complete every step, so they were divided into four different groups to handle various tasks.

The guests automatically split into groups based on their strengths.

Feng Han and Shi Hongyu, the two males, went to shave bamboo to make the fan’s ribs, while Cen Yi and Tong An’an went to learn seal carving from the master.

The only one who could draw, Su Xingyao, was unanimously assigned to the group responsible for painting with ink and color.

The remaining Xu Xiang went to learn how to glue the fan leaves together.

After the tasks were assigned, everyone was responsible for their own processes and could no longer communicate with each other.

The fans they made would be inspected by the masters, and only if the inspection passed would the task be considered complete.

As Xu Xiang was leaving, she waved at Su Xingyao and said, “Brother Xingyao, I’m going on a journey by myself. When I come back, you can continue teaching me geography!”

Upon hearing the first part of her sentence, Su Xingyao waved back at her.

But as soon as the second part came out, he quickly changed his gesture and signaled her to hurry up and leave.

【Hahahahaha, daughter, you’re directly using your brother as a tutor!】

【I’m dying laughing, Su Xingyao’s expression of disdain is so funny, I could laugh all day!】

【Daughter, do you have issues with geography too? Next time, will you ask your brother to tutor you in chemistry as well?】

【Hahahaha, Su Xingyao is being forced to review high school knowledge!】

【Teach me, teach me! My geography is bad, I want to hear Su Xingyao teach geography!】

After Xu Xiang left, Su Xingyao followed the staff to the Ink and Paint Group.

This group was responsible for painting and writing on the fan surfaces, and as soon as Su Xingyao entered, he was captivated by the various styles of paintings.

After a brief tour with the master, he was led into a room where the master began teaching him how to paint on the fan surface.

Su Xingyao was quick to learn, and after the master explained it once, he had almost grasped it.

Since they didn’t know his skill level, the master asked him to start by mixing colors and then do a practice drawing on a trial fan surface.

Before starting, Su Xingyao asked again, “Master, may I paint a map?”

The master smiled and nodded, “This is just a practice fan surface. As long as it’s not something unhealthy or negative, you can paint whatever you like.”

With the master’s permission, Su Xingyao picked up his brush and quickly drew a map of the country on the fan surface.

Seeing Su Xingyao draw a complete national map in just a few strokes, the live stream audience was stunned.

【Oh my God…】

【If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I’d think this outline was printed by a machine!】

【6666666, even my geography teacher’s maps aren’t this precise!】

【I just took a screenshot and compared it with a geography book, it’s almost identical!】

【!!!!! I really wish I had this skill!】

【Using a practice fan surface to draw a national map… Su Xingyao… are you preparing to use the fan to teach Xu Xiang some geography knowledge?】

The audience’s guess was actually right.

After Su Xingyao finished outlining the map, he began adding dotted lines inside.

He remembered that Xu Xiang had mentioned she had trouble remembering which province was in which location, so now that he had the opportunity to paint, he decided to draw this knowledge on the fan for her.

At first, when Su Xingyao added only a few dotted lines, the audience didn’t catch on.

But by the time he had drawn about a third of the map, the audience finally realized that he was actually drawing a national administrative map.

And the dotted lines represent the boundaries of each province!

【Oh my God, I quickly flipped open my geography book】

【Guys, I can’t find my high school book, so I’m using my little sister’s middle school geography book for now. Page 8, 8th grade, first semester, hurry up and compare!】

【I compared it, it’s almost exactly the same】

【It’s hard to imagine, he’s drawing an administrative map with such precision…】

【The key thing is, he’s not referring to a map, he’s drawing it all from memory】

【Su Xingyao, are you a 3D printer?】

【Such terrifying drawing ability and memory!】

After Su Xingyao finished outlining the boundaries of each province, he chose eight colors and filled in the regions.

Since many viewers were following along with their books, at first, some were correcting Su Xingyao in the bullet comments, saying his coloring was wrong.

It wasn’t until Su Xingyao finished coloring and started labeling each province that those who had corrected him understood why he had colored it that way.

Because Su Xingyao had filled in the colors to help Xu Xiang divide the provinces into eight sections for easier memorization.

“The first section is quite simple: Heibei, Jilin, and Liaoning.”

Su Xingyao wrote these three names in yellow on the section covering the three provinces.

Then his hand traced a half-circle on the southern coastal part.

As he colored, he slowly recited key words for these areas, “Shan, Jiang, Zhe, Fu, Guang, Guang.”

“Next up, Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Chongqing…”

The viewers followed along, drawing in their notebooks while listening to Su Xingyao’s mnemonic rhyme.

【This rhyme… actually quite useful】

【I followed Su Xingyao and drew it twice, and with his sectional memory technique, I managed to memorize it in one go】

【Su Xingyao is really teaching me how to remember each province, I’m crying】

【Who would’ve thought that the knowledge I couldn’t figure out in school would suddenly make sense while watching Su Xingyao make a fan?】

【I never really understood how to remember this, even after practicing a ton of times with puzzles before the college entrance exam, I still got confused. Every time I had to deal with provincial knowledge, I’d get dizzy, but today… I understood it in a single glance!!!】

【Thanks to Su Xingyao for sharing such a useful method, I’ll teach it to my high school sister】

【I’m always envious of Xu Xiang, I also really want a geography fan, sob sob sob】

While Su Xingyao was drawing, the master went to take a photo of the national administrative map hanging in the neighboring room to compare.

After looking at the photo on his phone for a while, the master gave Su Xingyao a thumbs-up and said, “Well done, it looks just like a real administrative map.”

The master, with many years of drawing experience, could naturally tell that Su Xingyao had some solid skills.

“Have you studied painting before?”

Su Xingyao nodded, “I studied for a few years in university.”

The master, seeing that Su Xingyao was still young and learning painting only in university, was a bit surprised. “Your painting skills are quite good! You’ve only been learning for such a short time?”

Noticing the astonishment and admiration in the master’s eyes, Su Xingyao smiled faintly. “Maybe my teacher is just that good.”

This conversation between Su Xingyao and the master immediately caused a stir in the live stream.

【What??? Su Xingyao only started learning to paint in university??】

【Is this what it means to be a genius? I feel like I’ve wasted over ten years of painting lessons, sob sob sob】

【Last time I saw him painting an entire wall, I thought he had at least studied for fifteen years, but he only learned for a few years??】

【It’s okay, some people just have a natural talent for art, don’t you think Su Xingyao’s artistic vibe is off the charts?】

【Now that you mention it, I do think Su Xingyao’s painting style is quite unique. It feels like I’ve seen it somewhere before, but I can’t quite place it】

【Guys, so who is Su Xingyao’s teacher? They must be really amazing too】

【I don’t know, netizens have been digging for so long and still haven’t found his school. Now there’s another amazing teacher, I feel like Su Xingyao has so many secrets! QWQ】

【Ah, my head itches, I really want to know the truth!】

After Su Xingyao finished painting the administrative map, he carefully placed the fan aside to dry.

The master, having realized Su Xingyao’s abilities, didn’t say much more. He simply instructed him to begin painting the fan.

Su Xingyao didn’t rush to start painting immediately after picking up the brush.

He mostly painted modern watercolor, and while he had studied traditional Chinese painting with Eder, he wasn’t as skilled in it as a professional.

After thinking it over, and to match the ancient elegance of the fan, Su Xingyao finally decided to paint a peony by Xu Xi, which he had once enthusiastically copied.

【Xu Xi, who never wished to enter the officialdom, had a particularly fresh and free-spirited painting style. His peonies are elegant, with a wild and unrestrained style, using ink as the main medium, but emphasizing the combination of lines and colors, focusing on the spiritual essence of the flowers and plants.】

As Su Xingyao painted, he was fully focused, first using light ink to outline, then lightly applying color. Before long, a dignified and elegant peony appeared before everyone.

By the time he finished the last stroke, the barrage comments went wild.

【Someone link me up, I want to buy these hands】

【I thought Su Xingyao couldn’t paint traditional Chinese art… I had no idea he was this good】

【Is this Xu style painting?】

【What’s Xu style?】

【Xu Xi, a master with a very unique style】

【You can tell Su Xingyao must have put in a lot of effort into his painting skills】

【Oh my god, is this really something someone who only started learning to paint in university could do? So impressive!】

The master, who had not taken his eyes off the fan since Su Xingyao started painting, finally looked up reluctantly once Su Xingyao finished.

“If I didn’t know you had a full-time job, I’d really want to invite you to stay and work as a painter in our Ink Paint group.”

The master’s words were undoubtedly a high compliment for Su Xingyao in his world.

Su Xingyao politely thanked him and put down the brush.

After the fan dried, he picked up a brush again and wrote a poem on the side.

It was a poem titled Peony by Xu Ning.

Watching Su Xingyao’s skilled brushwork, effortlessly writing elegant, strong, and neat calligraphy, the viewers felt their minds were about to short-circuit.

【I’m so impressed my scalp is tingling…】

【It’s one thing to paint well, but his calligraphy is also amazing】

【Su Xingyao, are you showing off your skills? I love it, show off more!!】

【Upstairs, my 40-meter long knife almost couldn’t be stopped】

【Can any expert tell me what kind of script this is?】

【It’s probably the Liu style. It’s so beautiful!】

【Ahhhh, Su Xingyao is incredible, I’m too tired of saying it!!!】

Su Xingyao, who had just dominated the trending list last night, was once again pushed to the top of the search list due to these two fan artworks.

His fan paintings and calligraphy were screenshot and praised in all kinds of creative ways by the netizens.

【To be honest, I never thought a celebrity could be this amazing…】

【This is beyond the level of a normal celebrity】

【No offense, but I just don’t get why someone so amazing would still take all that hate from the entertainment industry】

With Su Xingyao constantly trending, he attracted a lot of attention in a short time.

Under this intense focus, some astute netizens managed to dig up his university information.

【Guys!!! It’s been found out!!! Su Xingyao is truly amazing!!! A top graduate from a world-ranking TOP 3 university!!!】

This news instantly shocked the entire internet.

【My god!! Top 3 university graduates… no wonder he’s so impressive on the show】

【Su’s School! God Su!! When ignorant, I slandered God Su. When I understood, I respected God Su. When I matured, I followed God Su, and in my dreams, I became God Su! Su’s School! Amitabha!! Susu is simply too incredible!!!】

【Oh my god, I can’t believe they didn’t even promote or hype up his top-tier university background】

【The funniest thing is that yesterday, while he was helping with homework, a bunch of idiots were calling him a graduate from a “^[8]“sham university” refers to a fake or illegitimate university, often implying that the institution is not recognized or accredited by legitimate educational authorities. sham university”…】

【Laughing so hard, whose “sham university” is that impressive? These haters seriously think your brother or sister doesn’t want to go to this “sham university”?】

With this major discovery, combined with Su Xingyao’s outstanding performances on the show, he continued to frequently trend and gained a lot of new fans.

The first thing these new fans did was follow Su Xingyao on Weibo.

However, they discovered his Weibo hadn’t been updated for two years.

What was even more infuriating was that his pinned post had over a million negative comments.

As fans clicked to read the millions of insults calling him useless, they couldn’t help but find it all particularly ridiculous.

【How the hell can you call such an outstanding person useless with over a million insults???】

【How blind can these people be…】

The new fans realized that looking at Su Xingyao’s Weibo was pointless, so they searched for his super topic instead.

To their surprise, the majority of the posts in Su Xingyao’s personal super topic were insults from anti-fans, which made it almost like a black super topic…

They went on to search for his Square as well.

Aside from the praise and discussions from the recent days due to the program, there were only two fan posts praising him. One was a selfie from two girls who had bumped into Su Xingyao at the airport a few days ago.

It was already frustrating enough for fans to find no management on his Weibo, no moderation in his super topic, and the company unreachable, leaving fans unable to find a group to share their admiration.

Then, when they saw the post from the fans who ran into Su Xingyao at the airport—saying that he was alone the whole time—everyone really got angry.

【I’ve never seen a celebrity in such a miserable situation…】

【Damn it, how is Su Xingyao such an outstanding person, yet his career is in such a bad state?】

【You’d have to ask Yingxing Entertainment】

【Didn’t you all notice that Su Xingyao’s reputation only turned around after he broke his contract with Yingxing?】

【Now that you mention it, when Su Xingyao was with Yingxing, all he got was negative news, and the company didn’t even try to do damage control】

【And the funniest part is that this stupid company didn’t even put his education background in his artist resume】

【This dumbass company is trying to hide the fact that Su Xingyao graduated from a TOP 3 university??】

【What kind of trash company is this? They didn’t properly manage a talented artist, leaving him with all this negative press?】

【They were too busy promoting that white lotus, Shen Huaixi】

【So this company was busy promoting someone like Shen Huaixi, and left someone as amazing as Su Xingyao on the sidelines?】

【Exactly! Didn’t Shen Huaixi have a scandal recently? He used to spread rumors and blacken Su Xingyao’s name】

【I saw the fans’ post about Su Xingyao being at the airport alone. It looks like he’s been going solo recently…】

【My god, does he even have an assistant? This is just too miserable…】

【But even if Su Xingyao would rather fight alone, it shows just how bad this company must be if he’s willing to leave it】

While netizens were digging into how Yingxing Entertainment had treated Su Xingyao before, that very night, something even more infuriating happened.

After seeing this, netizens were enraged and immediately flooded the Yingxing Entertainment website.

Soon, #YingxingTrash# and #YingxingOwesSuXingyaoAnApology# were trending on the top search spots, as angry netizens flooded the trending topics.