Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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Yue Ziming sighed, “If there really weren’t no other rooms available, I’d rather move out than be constantly subjected to such sarcastic remarks.”
Mo Xiaoxiao and Zhang Ningwei exchanged glances, feeling sorry for Yue Ziming. Her boyfriend was an egomaniac, and now her roommate was a drama queen— it was truly pitiful.
Jiang Mochen, seeing Yu Xiaoyu leave, calmly said, “Continue cooking.” He then looked at Li Mo, feeling a pang of guilt, “I should have known better than to let you wash the vegetables.”
“I’m fine,” Li Mo said, “Who isn’t a little princess? I’m not afraid of her if we really start arguing.”
She then turned to Li Bozhong, “You’re not allowed to interfere for her anymore.”
Li Bozhong sighed helplessly. At his age, being spoken to like that still made him feel somewhat ashamed, but Li Mo didn’t feel that way. She was outgoing and possessed the fearlessness of adolescence; Yu Xiaoyu’s words only angered her and didn’t evoke any shame.
So when she saw that her father didn’t answer, she immediately pressed, “Why aren’t you saying anything? If you ever try to talk to her again, or say a nice word to her, I’ll ignore you.”
Li Bozhong glanced at the camera. “Watch your mouth.”
“What’s there to be afraid of? Will Yu Xiaoyu’s agency let this segment air? They’ll definitely cut it out. Besides, even if it airs, it doesn’t matter. I’m not in the wrong, so who am I afraid of?”
When Li Bozhong’s generation of veteran artists were making movies, reality shows hadn’t taken off yet, so he didn’t know much about variety shows, let alone the tricks of editing, the importance of character design, and the power struggle between agencies and production teams. He was afraid that Li Mo would say the wrong thing, so he just replied, “Okay, okay, go wash the vegetables.”
“That’s more like it.” After saying that, Li Mo continued washing the vegetables.
Seeing Li Bozhong walking towards him, Jiang Mochen whispered as Li Bozhong took out the pot, “Teacher Li, you don’t need to take her words to heart.”
Li Bozhong smiled and nodded, “I know, don’t worry, I didn’t take it to heart.”
Seeing him say this, Jiang Mochen lowered his head to prepare to chop vegetables.
When Yang Xinhe, Yu Haoyuan, and Wei Zhihang finished washing the vegetables in the backyard and brought them back, they found only the four of them in the kitchen and three people in the living room.
Yang Xinhe asked Yu Haoyuan, “Where are Fei Jingyu and Yu Xiaoyu?”
Yu Haoyuan shook his head.
Yan Qingchi replied, “They’ve gone upstairs to rest. You can go upstairs and rest for a while after you’re done.”
Yang Xinhe, who couldn’t cook and knew he wouldn’t be of much use to her, asked directly, “Really? Then I’ll really go upstairs to rest.”
Yan Qingchi nodded, “Go ahead.”
Yang Xinhe patted Yu Haoyuan, who looked at Yan Qingchi, “Then I’ll go up too.”
“Okay.” Yan Qingchi looked at Wei Zhihang, “If you’re tired, you can go rest for a while too.”
“What about you guys?”
“We need to cook dinner.” Yan Qingchi asked him, “Do you want to cook with us?”
Wei Zhihang waved his hand, “I only know how to make fried rice, nothing else. Do you need me to make fried rice?”
“No need now, maybe next time.”
“Then I’m going to sleep.” Wei Zhihang finished speaking and turned to leave the kitchen.
Li Bozhong was preparing to cook spaghetti, but Yan Qingchi felt they should first stir-fry the vegetables and the spaghetti sauce, since they hadn’t bought rice, and spaghetti was their only staple food.
Li Bozhong agreed, and Yan Qingchi told him to rest for a bit while he cooked the vegetables first, then he would cook the noodles.
Li Bozhong felt bad troubling him and said he could cook it himself. But Yan Qingchi insisted, and Jiang Mochen also advised, “Rest for a while, you must have gone to bed very late last night.”
Seeing their insistence, Li Bozhong reluctantly agreed.
Suddenly, only the two of them were left in the kitchen.
Jiang Mochen was about to talk to Yan Qingchi when Mo Xiaoxiao ran into the kitchen and said, “We’ve peeled and chopped the fruit. We just need to make a salad.”
Jiang Mochen: “…Okay.”
Seeing Yan Qingchi chopping vegetables and Jiang Mochen making pasta sauce, Mo Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but say, “We are in for quite a feast today!”
“We only cooked two dishes,” Yan Qingchi replied. “We’re saving the rest for the next few days.”
“Do you need Wei Wei’s help? Wei Wei can cook.”
“No need, you two go and rest. We’ve finished cooking the dishes, and Teacher Li will be cooking the noodles soon.”
“Okay then,” Mo Xiaoxiao said with a hint of regret.
Seeing Mo Xiaoxiao leave, Jiang Mochen thought to himself, “Finally, it’s just the two of us in the kitchen.” He looked at Yan Qingchi gently and smiled at him.
Yan Qingchi lowered his head and smiled as he chopped vegetables.
Jiang Mochen then said to him, “After we finish eating, let’s head straight to the lighthouse.”
“Who else is going besides us?”
“Li Mo, I guess. Yu Xiaoyu said she wanted to go before, but now she probably doesn’t.”
“Yu Xiaoyu’s temper is really…” Yan Qingchi shook his head, not understanding how someone with that temper could survive in this industry.
“Have you heard of Yu Xiaoyu before?” Jiang Mochen asked him.
Yan Qingchi shook his head.
“I haven’t, but I’ve vaguely heard of Wei Zhihang.” Jiang Mochen asked him, “Do you understand what I mean?”
Yan Qingchi thought for a moment and understood.
Wei Zhihang was clearly more famous and well-known than Yu Xiaoyu, yet he partnered with the almost unknown Yu Xiaoyu for the show, and he clearly didn’t like Yu Xiaoyu. So the most likely explanation was that he had no choice but to partner with her.
Judging from this, Yu Xiaoyu must also be someone of status; no wonder she was so arrogant.
“Looking at it this way, Wei Zhihang is actually quite pitiful.”
Jiang Mochen looked at him and chuckled. He walked over and whispered in Yan Qingchi’s ear, “Not entirely. Think about it, with Yu Xiaoyu’s personality, the production team can only label her as genuine and childlike. Even if they cut out many of her negative scenes, the remaining footage will definitely still show her spoiled side. When viewers see her like that, what do you think their feelings will be towards Yu Xiaoyu’s partner?”
Yan Qingchi thought for a moment and whispered back, “So other people like me might even feel sorry for him?”
Jiang Mochen smiled, “And then?”
“From casual observers to fans.”
“A promising young man.”
“So, he and Yu Xiaoyu are essentially each getting what they want,” Yan Qingchi whispered. “But isn’t Yu Xiaoyu at a disadvantage? With her personality, it’s good enough if she doesn’t get criticized after the show airs. Even if she becomes famous, it will only be through negative publicity.”
“You forgot something.”
“What?”
“This is only the first episode of the show.”
“So?”
“Have you ever heard of the term ‘whitewashing’?” Jiang Mochen asked him. “When someone does a hundred good deeds, and then suddenly does one bad deed, everyone will seize on that bad deed and keep condemning him; but when someone does a hundred bad deeds, and then suddenly does one good deed, everyone will say he’s changed for the better and start to look at him in a new light. Someone like Yu Xiaoyu is the easiest to whitewash. She started from a low point, and the show lowered everyone’s expectations of her from the beginning, so the growth path is perfect for her. As long as she tones down her temper as we film, everyone will think she’s grown and will speak up for her. As for her earlier ego, it will all just become stepping stones on her road to success.”
Yan Qingchi hadn’t expected it could be done this way and couldn’t help but give Jiang Mochen a thumbs up. He thought it was no wonder Nancheng had achieved its current status; Jiang Mochen truly understood the rules of the entertainment industry. As long as he got the cards, no matter what they were, he could become the final winner.
Just as Yan Qingchi was about to praise him, he heard a faint voice ask, “Brother Jiang, Brother Yan, what are you two doing? Whispering?”
Yan Qingchi quickly took a step back, thinking to himself, “I was careless!”
Zhang Ningwei looked at the two who had just been whispering in the kitchen and thought their relationship was too close. It was rare to see boys whispering so much, and especially so closely.
However, she didn’t think much of it. After all, she still liked Jiang Mochen, so subconsciously she assumed that Jiang Mochen liked girls.
Yan Qingchi asked somewhat awkwardly, “Why are you here?”
“Xiaoxiao said you were cooking, so I came to ask if you needed any help.”
“No need.” Yan Qingchi waved his hand. “I’ll just cook a couple of simple dishes. You and the others can go and rest.”
Zhang Ningwei had guessed this would be the case. Although Xiaoxiao had told her to ask and try, Zhang Ningwei thought she would get the same answer. Because she liked Jiang Mochen, she paid more attention to Jiang Mochen and Yan Qingchi than Mo Xiaoxiao. Because of this, she noticed that although they both seemed easy to talk to and sociable, most of the time they preferred to communicate only with each other and didn’t like outsiders interfering in their affairs.
Zhang Ningwei observed that they rarely sought help from others; everything was discussed and resolved internally. Unlike Yang Xinhe and Yu Haoyuan, who occasionally argued, these two seemed to never quarrel. It was always a matter of one going along with the other’s pace, or the other yielding to the other’s. When one made a decision, the other rarely said anything, simply offering silent support.
Zhang Ningwei felt that the relationship between Jiang Mochen and Yan Qingchi was similar to hers with Mo Xiaoxiao, yet different; it seemed even closer and more trusting.
She sighed inwardly and said, “Alright then, I’ll just wait to eat.”
“Okay.”
Zhang Ningwei left, and Yan Qingchi finally breathed a sigh of relief, looking at Jiang Mochen, “Stay away from me.”
Jiang Mochen smiled, “Okay, let’s continue cooking.”
Everyone finished the sumptuous dinner before 7:30. After a satisfying meal, during free time, Li Bozhong asked, “Does anyone want to go see the lighthouse?”
“Me! Me! Me!” Li Mo raised her hand.
“Qingchi and I will go too,” Jiang Mochen said.
Mo Xiaoxiao and Zhang Ningwei didn’t really want to go; they were already very tired after walking all day.
Yue Ziming wanted to go and tugged at Fei Jingyu’s sleeve, whispering, “Let’s go too.”
Unfortunately, Fei Jingyu wasn’t interested in the lighthouse and thought it was silly to go see the light so late at night. “Forget it, let’s rest early.”
Yue Ziming had no choice but to give up.
Yu Xiaoyu didn’t want to go with them because of what happened in the kitchen, so she remained silent.
The remaining three boys weren’t interested in the lighthouse, so they agreed to play cards that evening and wouldn’t go.
Thus, only Li Bozhong, Li Mo, Jiang Mochen, and Yan Qingchi were ready to go see the lighthouse.
Jiang Mochen was quite satisfied with this lineup; rounding off Li Bozhong and Li Mo, he could essentially have some alone time with Yan Qingchi.
And how to round off Li Bozhong and Li Mo? It was simple: after all, Li Mo was a fan of his.
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