Chapter 11

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Chapter 11: Title

"Song Yutian?" The agent repeated in surprise. "Are you sure it’s her? You’re not mixing her up with our other artists, right?"

After confirming several times, the agent finally accepted that the brand had chosen Song Yutian for collaboration.

After hanging up the phone, the agent paused for a moment and even smiled with some relief.

Just the second day after joining the program, a skincare company called to discuss a collaboration, and it was a well-known brand. It seemed this girl had finally figured things out.

At 9:54 AM, as the last contestant walked down the stairs, all ten contestants had arrived at the meeting point—the first floor of the villa.

The largest room on the first floor was the living room, but unlike a typical home living room, it was set up more like a hotel lobby. Aside from a few sofas and a large carpet, there was hardly any other furniture.

At that moment, the contestants were all seated on the sofas in this room. No one knew what the competition would entail on the first day, and a tense atmosphere filled the air.

However, since the groups were formed yesterday, everyone naturally sat with their teammates and occasionally talked to each other.

Qin Yuanzhuo and Su Moying sat on the far left of the sofa. Qin Yuanzhuo kept telling Su Moying not to be nervous, assuring her that he would take care of everything. Su Moying nodded in response now and then.

An Xin and Liu Tian sat on the right side of the same sofa. The two of them continued their usual playful banter, reminding each other not to hold back.

Wei Yao and Gong Yu sat on the opposite sofa. In this group, the boy always asked the girl if she was okay, and Wei Yao’s responses were polite—neither cold nor too familiar.

After a brief greeting, Shen Xi and Zhong Yueli stayed silent. Instead, it was Wei Yao and Shen Xi, who sat next to them, who talked more, as the two girls checked in with each other about what had happened last night.

Everyone’s voices were not loud, and it was hard to hear clearly in person, but everyone was wearing microphones, so the viewers in the live stream could hear the conversations distinctly.

The director had not appeared yet, and many viewers were discussing this typical "group social situation."

[Turns out even stars have awkward chats when they don’t know each other—this scene is quite funny, haha!]

[Shen Xi and Zhong Yueli are definitely the most socially anxious; they’ve only said five sentences in total.]

[Since yesterday, I’ve been firmly supporting the Gong Yu and Wei Yao couple! Hehe!]

[If you’re here for the couple drama, you’re in the wrong place. This is a competition show, thank you. Sister Yao is uniquely beautiful.]

However, after watching five minutes of awkward small talk, the audience noticed two people who seemed very out of place—

Gu Feng and Song Yutian nodded to each other when they met, but surprisingly, they didn’t say a single word to one another—not even a glance.

Song Yutian ignored Gu Feng because she didn’t want to give him any false impressions.

In the original novel, ‘Song Yutian’ had relentlessly pursued Gu Feng, refusing to give up until she won him over.

Song Yutian thought that if she started talking to Gu Feng now, he would surely assume she had some kind of agenda, so she chose to stay silent.

Anyway, since the competition hadn’t started yet, her goal was to win—not to befriend Gu Feng.

After a night of thinking, Gu Feng believed he had completely figured out Song Yutian—clearly, this woman was changing her strategy and playing hard to get.

Last night, Gu Feng tossed and turned in his single room for two hours before finally falling asleep. The reason for his sleeplessness was that he kept replaying the day’s events in his mind.

Right from the start of the warm-up match, Song Yutian had led him around, stealing the spotlight while he failed to show any of his skills and even got mocked. At first, as Gu Feng recalled everything, he became more and more frustrated, regretting that he hadn’t asserted himself better in each moment.

However, as he continued thinking it over, Gu Feng convinced himself otherwise. This time, he had simply been unprepared. Next time, he wouldn’t let her take the upper hand. No matter what Song Yutian did, he would stay calm and not let her affect him.

Song Yutian’s reputation couldn’t be worse right now, so even if Gu Feng openly showed his dislike for her on the show, the audience wouldn’t criticize him—they might even praise his honesty.

As a result, both of them had their own thoughts. Although they were sitting on the same sofa, there was no communication—neither through words nor through glances.

Faced with this situation, the audience became like detectives, closely analyzing their every move.

[I noticed Gu Feng secretly looked over at Song twice, but she never glanced at him even once.]

[Just yesterday, these two weren’t this distant. I wonder if something happened last night.]

[I have a theory—maybe they had a falling-out before this show.]

[It must be because Gu Feng has seen what Song Yutian is capable of. You all know what I mean.]

Just as the comments were beginning to turn into unkind speculation about the female participant, a sudden voice interrupted the discussion.

The audience then realized that it was already ten o’clock.

The chief director appeared before them with a smile. "Good morning, contestants! How did you sleep last night?"

After a brief round of responses, the director began introducing the day’s competition.

"Do you all remember the rules we announced yesterday?" the director asked. "Let me refresh your memory."

"The points competition consists of different themes, each spanning two Match Days. Today is the first Match Day of the first theme, and now I will announce what that theme is—"

The director deliberately paused before announcing, in sync with the live stream subtitles: "Travel!"

His English pronunciation was noticeably accented; the audience could follow along with the subtitles, but the contestants on-site looked confused.

Chuckling, the director added, "Ahem, it’s about travel. Nowadays, trips have become a major part of modern life, and our city’s tourism industry is booming. Today’s and tomorrow’s competitions will revolve around the theme of travel."

Next, the staff brought in a whiteboard identical to yesterday’s, while the live stream temporarily switched to a rules screen.

"Seventh Avenue in the city center has preserved its Republic-era architecture, and its rickshaws—human-powered vehicles—are a unique tourist attraction. Today, each team will receive a rickshaw and become drivers for a day. The team that earns the most money within six hours will be today’s winner!"

The director read the rules aloud, and the live stream cut back to the contestants. The camera panned across their faces, capturing their shifting expressions as they quickly formulated strategies.

The director continued, "For today’s competition, feel free to be as creative as you like. There’s only one rule: all earnings must come from the rickshaw. Also, lunch is on your own, so you’ll need to budget accordingly."

"Now, each team, hop onto your assigned vehicle and head to Seventh Avenue in the city center. The competition will begin as soon as all teams arrive!"

–

Song Yutian and Gu Feng, along with their dedicated camera director and several photographers, got into the SUV heading to the city center.

The viewers in the comments speculated whether the two would remain as silent as they had in the villa, but to their surprise, Song Yutian spoke up as soon as they got into the car.

"Gu Feng, why don’t you go first and share your thoughts?"

Song Yutian had no intention of relying on Gu Feng; if she wanted to win, she had to depend on herself. But since this was a team competition, she needed to ask for her teammate’s input first.

Gu Feng had expected them to remain silent for a while, so he was caught off guard when Song Yutian asked for his opinion right away.

Suppressing a small flicker of satisfaction, he responded coolly, "I do have some ideas."

Song Yutian’s expression remained blank. "Speak."