Chapter 9

The director said, “You have three hours, during which you can catch as many fish as you want. Once the time is up, you’ll need to take the fish you’ve caught to the market to sell.”

“Before 8 o’clock, each group needs to hand over 100 yuan to the fish farm owner.”

“If there are no objections, you may begin your work.”

—

“Director, I have a question.” Qiao Cen raised his hand and asked, “Why do we have to pay 100 yuan to the fish farm owner?”

The director answered confidently, “That’s naturally for the fish-catching fee.”

“But shouldn’t this fee be covered by the production team?” Qiao Cen continued, “I’ve participated in other variety shows before, and none of them were this cheap.”

The director was at a loss for words. “…”

Who are they calling cheap? Ah!

The haters seized the opportunity to criticize.

【Is Qiao Cen unable to afford it? The production team set the rule, and he’s complaining.】

【Exactly, talking about others being cheap, but he won’t even pay the 100 yuan himself. Does he want to get it for free?】

Fans defended.

【Rules are rules. People are people. If there’s a problem, shouldn’t they be allowed to ask about it? Can the haters stop mindlessly bashing? Ridiculous!】

【Haters, just leave! Stop trying to get attention here!】

—

“Director, Xiao Qiao is right, I’ve never encountered something like this either.” Tian Ka nodded in agreement, “Shouldn’t this be arranged by the production team? Fine, no bonus for completing the task, but why are they deducting our hard-earned money?”

Others nodded in agreement.

Qiao Chuchu stood in the middle of the crowd, zoning out again, eating melon seeds.

【The production team did arrange the fish-catching part, negotiated with the fish farm owner, and paid them. The reason they deducted the 100 yuan is because the production team doesn’t want the guests to have it too easy. This way, they can create more traffic and drama.】

【That 100 yuan will definitely be pocketed by the production team. Qiao Cen is right, the production team is really cheap. If it weren’t for Qiao Cen and the melon seeds, who would want to be on this crappy show? It’s really boring.】

Everyone’s eyes turned angrily toward the production team, clearly dissatisfied with their actions.

Tong Zhichen, prompted by Lin Lin, also spoke up. “The 100 yuan fee is really unreasonable, and it makes me wonder if the production team is trying to pocket it.”

Bullet comments:

【Tongtong is really smart, I suspect it too!】

【The production team is really stingy. No rewards for the task, and they even deduct money. The director is so cheap.】

【Other variety shows are much more generous, none of them are this stingy.】

—

The director said, “…”

Yes, they took it, but they won’t admit it.

Qiao Chuchu: 【At a critical moment, why is Tong Zhichen so clever again? He actually thought of this, but he still can’t figure out that his wife was replaced. He’s willing to spend money on childhood sweethearts, but not so much on his wife. He doesn’t even know his wife has been swapped out. He’s such an incompetent husband.】

Tong Zhichen: …

Qiao Chuchu’s words stabbed him like knives. This was indeed his fault. His hands, which were resting at his sides, clenched into fists. He would definitely investigate this matter and get to the bottom of it as soon as possible.

The other guests joined in, and the director, afraid of being beaten by the guests, eventually gave up on the fee.

“Cough, cough…” The director pretended to cough, “I just discussed it with the fish farm owner. He agreed to let everyone catch fish for free, but you all need to help him promote his seafood products by taking photos and posting them on Weibo.”

Everyone knew the rules had been set by him, so they didn’t bother to expose it.

Posting on Weibo was simple enough. Qiao Cen happily walked over to Qiao Chuchu. “Sis, let’s take a picture together.”

“Sure.”

Qiao Chuchu smiled gently at the camera, while Qiao Cen made a peace sign, looking extremely happy.

He edited the post and casually posted it on Weibo, adding a caption.

Qiao Cen (Singer V): “Finally, I can introduce my beautiful sister to everyone online. Super happy to go beach fishing with my sister ~ Penguin spin~~~”

【You can tell that Brother Qiao is really happy with his sister.】

【Wow, both the brother and sister are so beautiful, they really look alike.】

【Another day of envy for the sibling relationship!】

—

There was so much seafood, so much, that they could easily grab a handful at a time. They couldn’t finish catching it all.

—

Three hours later, the four groups of guests, each carrying two full baskets of fresh fish, shrimp, crabs, and other seafood, set off to the market to sell. Along the way, they encountered many pedestrians, who were excited and surprised, calling out the names of their respective idols.

Among them, the names Qiao Cen and Tong Zhichen were called out the most, by people of all ages, from young to old. Some even followed them to the market.

“Qiao Cen! Qiao Cen! Qiao Cen! I love you!”

“Tong Zhichen! Tong Zhichen! Tong Zhichen! I love you!”

—

Qiao Cen waved and greeted the pedestrians on both sides while not forgetting to promote his business.

“Hello, thank you for liking us.”

“Is there anyone who likes seafood? Our seafood was just delivered fresh from the fish farm, super fresh, and it’s not expensive. If you’re interested, feel free to take a look. If you don’t buy, that’s fine, but please help us boost our popularity!”

The pedestrians who had followed them heard this and boldly gathered around.

“Wow, such big fish! I really like eating fish, how much is it?”

“How much are the crabs?”

—

Qiao Cen greeted them, “Not expensive, not expensive, I’ll sell it to you at market price.”

Qiao Chuchu was also helping on the side, collecting money.

When the other guests saw they were already busy, they quickly started to act as well, imitating them by trying to attract customers, and it was proving to be quite effective.

At that moment, a chubby middle-aged woman pushed her way through the crowd, and without hesitation, she started yelling.

“What are you blabbering about? What’s all this noise? Just because you have mouths, huh? Who allowed you to do business here? You can’t set up stalls here! Do you even understand the rules of the market? Hurry up and leave, or I’ll call security!”

The woman was quite imposing and happened to stand right in front of Qiao Chuchu and Qiao Cen’s stall. Qiao Cen quickly stepped in front of Qiao Chuchu to block her.

“Excuse me, auntie, we’ve already gotten approval from the market’s security. We’ll only be here for two hours and then leave.”

“I don’t care if you have permission or not! You can’t set up a stall here! Get out now!” The woman yelled. When no one responded, she angrily reached out to swipe at the fish baskets.

Qiao Cen tried to stop her, but Qiao Chuchu held him back and said, “Let her swipe, we’re doing business legally here. If she damages our fish, she’ll have to pay for it. If she refuses, we’ll call the police. This way, we won’t have to work so hard here.”

Qiao Cen folded his arms and said, “Sis is right, if you’re so capable, then go ahead and swipe them.”

The woman was shaking with anger, “You… you… just wait!”

The viewers in the live stream were also getting angry at the woman and started complaining about her.

The director was about to send staff over to mediate, but the other guests beat him to it and surrounded the woman.

At that moment, a stocky middle-aged man arrived. “You little punks, you’re teaming up to bully my wife, huh?”

【What wife? Didn’t you always call her a yellow-faced woman and treat her like a nanny? Your real wife is your first love, who you bought a house and car for, and even had kids with.】

“Mom and Dad, Chen Xiaoyu just killed the fish! I told her, but she didn’t listen. Go beat her up!”

【Oh wow, just as I was talking about it, here comes the kid! Isn’t this the child of the fish-selling guy and his first love? Wow, he’s being fed so well.】

The fish-selling couple: “What’s that sound???”