Chapter 154: Grand Confession (Plus More)
Chapter 154
The inflatable boat crossed Ming Road, and the guests happily carried it to the beach to salvage supplies.
On the way there, Xia Xi seriously asked Zhong Ruanxing, "Which area did you pick up supplies from? I want to try my luck there too."
Zhong Ruanxing: "?"
She looked at the King of Songs carefully, seeming to wonder how such a mind could write so many popular hits.
Bai Yinyue walked alongside laughing so hard she couldn't stand upright.
Xia Xi looked at her suspiciously, "Yinyue, what are you laughing about?"
Bai Yinyue spread her hands, "I just love to laugh."
The bullet screen was laughing to death by these two:
[Turns out the King of Songs has such a silly and cute personality! I always thought he was a cold male god from listening to his songs!]
[The singers and painters stick together! Artists should play with artists!]
[Xia Xi, do you still remember what you said about interacting with every female guest? You haven't looked at anyone else after interacting with the young miss!]
[After interacting with the young miss, his heart was set. No need to interact with anyone else!]
...
When they arrived at the beach, the sea and sky were one color, the clear sky was as bright as washed, and the three female guests stood barefoot on the beach enjoying the sea view. The male guests dragged the inflatable boat into the water, got on it, and headed towards the supply boxes floating in the distance.
After much difficulty rowing halfway, suddenly a gust of wind blew up, and a wave splashed over, instantly blowing the inflatable boat back onto the beach.
Xia Xi was so angry he slapped the surface of the water.
Zhong Ruanxing and the others also laughed uncontrollably, and quickly came over to help push the inflatable boat back into the sea. After going back and forth several times like this, they finally got close to the supply boxes. From afar, they saw a few people excitedly open the supply boxes and wave at the female guests on shore, but the sea wind was too strong to hear what they were shouting.
Soon after, they came back with supplies loaded on the boat.
Yang Ze happily said, "There are a lot of supplies, we didn't finish moving them in one trip. Let's go again!"
Making a raft was the most difficult task the program team had set up for the guests, and correspondingly, the reward for completing it was very generous. But they didn't expect Zhong Ruanxing to intervene, completing it so easily.
Seeing the guests excitedly transporting supplies, the program team felt as if their hearts were hollowed out and ached.
Zhong Ruanxing shouldered baskets full of supplies, felt a row of resentful gazes next to him, turned his head and gave a dazzling smile: "Thank you for your generosity, Director! We will make good use of these supplies!"
Director Yan covered his heart and made a pained expression.
The bullet screen was charmed by this charming smile:
[If a beauty smiles at me like that I'd give her all I own!]
[Please don't be unappreciative, program team! Quickly provide everything the beauty wants!]
[I really want to fast forward to the last night to see who this beauty's heart will sway towards!]
...
The supply boxes not only contained fresh ingredients, but also some fast-growing vegetable seedlings. After taking the supplies back to base, the guests started reclaiming the vegetable garden next to the chicken coop and planted the vegetable seedlings so they could grow their own vegetables going forward.
Previously they wanted to catch some seafood and fish to improve their diet, but lacking the tools they hadn't succeeded. The supply boxes also provided the guests with suitable tools, and catching fish and shrimp would surely become a daily activity for the guests from now on.
Busy until the afternoon, suddenly there was a commotion outside the base, followed by staff coming to announce: "The new female guest has arrived."
Duan Langyun didn't have much popularity on the show, and after being eliminated her popularity shot up for a whole day and night. Of course, the hot search trends weren't singing her praises.
Everyone was guessing who the newly added female guest would be. They thought it would take at least two to three days to finalize schedules, but didn't expect her to arrive on the island so soon.
A few people stopped what they were doing and went out to welcome the new guest.
A woman wearing a black strap dress, voluptuous figure and gorgeous looks, walked in and greeted in not very standard Mandarin: "Hello everyone, I'm Zhuang Xueyu, I'm from Hong Kong, China."
Turns out it was Hong Kong celebrity Zhuang Xueyu.
In recent years, the Hong Kong entertainment industry has declined somewhat, with TVB's dominance long gone, especially after the rise of mainland Chinese entertainment, Hong Kong's entertainment industry has fallen even more. Other than former Heavenly Kings and Queens, there are few famous Hong Kong celebrities now, mostly those who have entered the mainland Chinese market as singers.
Zhuang Xueyu wasn't very famous in mainland China, but had decent popularity in Hong Kong, having starred as the female lead in several TV shows and released a few albums, considered a singer-actress double threat.
As soon as she appeared, the other guests unconsciously looked towards Zhong Ruanxing.
Generally, a dating show wouldn't choose two guests of the same type, but Zhuang Xueyu clearly overlapped with Zhong Ruanxing's type, both glamorous and charming beauties. Although Zhuang Xueyu's looks couldn't compare with Zhong Ruanxing, her aura was more unrestrained and sexy, with a mature woman's allure.
The program team is trying to stir things up!
But Zhong Ruanxing didn't seem to react at all, her attitude was very natural.
When Zhuang Xueyu greeted Cheng Yaowen, her gaze carried a trace of seductiveness as she reached out a well-maintained jade hand, "President Cheng, please take good care of me."
Cheng Yaowen lazily glanced at her and shook her hand.
When letting go, whether intentionally or not, Zhuang Xueyu's fingertips slid across his palm, somewhat flirtatiously.
When she went to change, Bai Yinyue unsurprisingly gestured meaningfully at Zhong Ruanxing: She's going for Cheng Yaowen! See that?
Zhong Ruanxing also winked back: Saw it, saw it!
Bai Yinyue's eyes showed relief: Finally someone else to take over! This lady is a bodhisattva!
Zhong Ruanxing also agreed: Hope the bodhisattva takes care of this Buddha statue soon! Give us some peace!
After changing, Zhuang Xueyu quickly joined the vegetable garden reclamation. Discussions online about the new guest trended again, whether intentionally hyped or not, they focused on comparing Zhuang Xueyu and Zhong Ruanxing.
Ran Ting, always keeping an eye on public opinion, saw through their intentions at a glance: "They want to use our Ruanxing as a stepping stone into the mainland market!" She coldly laughed, "Daring to ride her coattails, it depends if you have the ability to become popular!"
With the PR team suppressing this emerging trend, it quickly died down. But it did leave an impression on mainland audiences: Their formerly so popular artist might get her blood sucked one day, Ran Ting felt conflicted whether to feel happy or angry for a moment.
The storms online were handled by the team, on the show Zhong Ruanxing just wanted to finish today's work quickly and see what gift Song Jingxing had prepared for her.
How would he give her the gift?
Was he planning to disguise himself as staff and sneak in to surprise her?
The more Zhong Ruanxing thought about it, the more she felt this was highly likely, so she started carefully observing the staff around her, trying to discern any clues from their masked faces.
The staff she eyed: .......?
What, did they offend the beauty?
Very good, they did not.
Not only did they not offend her, because of the new guest's arrival, the end of the livestream was also pushed back. Zhong Ruanxing was unable to get off work on time, and the sky had gone completely dark. The eight guests sat in the yard playing truth or dare.
Zhong Ruanxing was listless, but had to keep working since the livestream hadn't ended.
Though called truth or dare, everyone just wanted to hear truths to probe each other's feelings and emotional experiences.
Zhong Ruanxing got lucky, playing several rounds without getting picked, but Zhuang Xueyu, through the game it was apparent she was gunning for Cheng Yaowen, with all her questions revolving around him.
The audience could tell too:
[Zhuang Xueyu is going all out, the young miss is in danger!]
[But the young miss doesn't seem interested in President Cheng at all, I feel like we guessed wrong before, she didn't come for President Cheng.]
[President Cheng chose Zhong Ruanxing in the individual selection, don't you guys remember! I declare the rich and powerful ship to be officially over!]
[But Zhong Ruanxing clearly isn't interested in President Cheng, so it'll be easy for Zhuang Xueyu to win him over with the same beauty approach.]
[This circle is so messy, I love watching it unfold.]
...
After playing for over half an hour, the final round, Zhong Ruanxing finally got picked.
Zhuang Xueyu looked at her meaningfully with a faint smile on her red lips, "Choose, truth or dare?"
Zhong Ruanxing just wanted this boring game to end quickly: "Truth."
Zhuang Xueyu raised her eyebrows and thought for a moment. She asked, "My question is, is there someone on this island that you like?"
Zhong Ruanxing: "?"
Bodhisattva, your scope is a bit broad. If you ask about the people present, then definitely not. But if you ask about the whole island, then I can't answer easily.
Zhong Ruanxing uncharacteristically hesitated. Everyone pricked up their ears, waiting for her response.
Suddenly, fireworks exploded in the sky above the nearby woods.
With a deafening boom, the entire night sky lit up. After a brief moment of shock, everyone turned together to look behind them.
Dazzling fireworks blossomed in the night sky, with unusual and colorful patterns. A fireworks show unfolded over Hidden Star Island's skies.
Someone nearby exclaimed, "It's from the direction of the Island Manor. The owner of the island is setting off fireworks."
Zhong Ruanxing's wide eyes reflected the brilliant fireworks. Cluster after cluster, after a while, she pursed her lips and smiled silently.
So this was the gift he had said he would give her.
A fireworks show to light up Hidden Star Island was his silent, grand confession.