"Is the director okay? Miss Fu's expression looks kind of scary," the assistant said, lowering his voice.
"She's fine. Is she really going to rush over and hit me?" The director clutched his glass and let out a huff. "Hmph, let her torture us."
With that, the director glanced at the door. "Keep watch. Don't let anyone in."
The other staff members: ?
Fu Qinhuan took a deep breath. Just moments ago, the director had suddenly announced a surprise event: reach the small garden and complete a task within thirty seconds. The first person to finish would receive a surprise prepared by the production team.
The moment she heard "thirty seconds," Fu Qinhuan knew the director's team was targeting her. Everyone else was downstairs, and thirty seconds should be more than enough for any of them to run to the small garden.
After thinking for a few seconds, she still crawled out of bed and took a look from the balcony. Sure enough, the other seven were already there.
Fu Qinhuan simply gave up on going and leaned over the balcony to look down.
The balcony was clearly an optimal viewing spot. Seeing that things hadn't started downstairs yet, Fu Qinhuan went back into her room to grab a bottle of water. The task had begun, but the director hadn't stated any rules—he simply had the guests watch a performance first.
"What is this supposed to be?" the system asked. "This wasn't in the script."
"Mmhmm, because I resisted the director's team, the director is deliberately leaving me out," Fu Qinhuan said. "Look, a brilliant villainess is supposed to make other people change the rules for her."
Pei Jinzhi instinctively looked up at the sound of laughter and saw Fu Qinhuan leaning against the railing. She was holding it in, but her shuddering shoulders showed she was still laughing hysterically, her hand tapping the railing unconsciously.
Fu Qinhuan raised an eyebrow and took a sip of water.
"If this surprise turns out not to be a surprise, it's going to be pretty miserable," Fu Qinhuan muttered, watching the slightly stiff movements of the few people down below, finding it a bit funny.
[I want to stand on the balcony and watch too.]
The director narrowed his eyes at Fu Qinhuan, who was smiling brightly up on the balcony, and suddenly got angry. Was she supposed to be up there watching a performance?! She actually looked quite happy.
"They have everything they need already, what on earth can we even add?" a staff member sighed, muttering inwardly.
[Teacher Gu is so amazing!!!]
[You're the monkey, your whole family is monkeys.]
Hearing Ninety-Nine's heartfelt praise, Fu Qinhuan suddenly felt a slight pang of conscience.
"Host, you're amazing," Ninety-Nine praised.
[Suddenly Pei Jinzhi looks like a monkey.]
Fu Qinhuan had managed to hold back her laughter the whole time, but when she saw Pei Jinzhi lose his coordination and plop right onto the ground on his backside, she finally couldn't help it and burst out laughing. The garden was open and spacious, and her laughter carried straight down to the lower floor.
"Increase the stakes for the surprise!" the director lowered his voice. "Make sure Fu Qinhuan gets green with envy and regrets not coming downstairs!"
[I used to think Fu Qinhuan missed out and had it rough, but now I think... the seven people downstairs have it much worse.]
Fu Qinhuan laughed until her stomach hurt. When she looked back down, she saw Pei Jinzhi standing off to the side with his arms crossed, having clearly forfeited. He shot a dark look upwards at Fu Qinhuan.
After watching the performance, the director demanded that the seven of them mimic what they had just seen. They could rewatch it as many times as needed, and the first person to successfully copy the whole routine would win.
Qiao Yifei didn't really want to try either, but her competitive streak and professional dedication wouldn't allow her to quit halfway. She glanced at the director not far away, a hint of murderous intent in her gaze.
In the end, Qiao Yifei and Ye Suchong finished at roughly the same time. Gu Yao was extremely unfortunate, falling short by just a tiny bit.
Fu Qinhuan expressed her congratulations with enthusiastic applause. Qiao Yifei said nothing, while Ye Suchong turned around and gave a wave.
"Does this Ye Suchong have no idea how much dirt there is on me?" Fu Qinhuan wondered.
"He's naturally easygoing. He probably doesn't believe it," Ninety-Nine explained.
"Director, what's the surprise?" Qiao Yifei asked. If the surprise turned out to be some junk, she probably wouldn't participate in these "surprise events" ever again.
"In tomorrow's activities, the two of you will have the privilege of changing partners!"
Qiao Yifei's expression remained blank; she felt zero sense of surprise. Ye Suchong's face also dropped for two seconds—if not for the sake of sparing the director's feelings, he would have loved to blurt out, "That's it?"
The atmosphere turned awkward for a moment. The director glanced at Fu Qinhuan, who wore an expression that clearly said, "Good thing I didn't participate, just as I expected."
"Also, the two of you can tell the production team what you'd like to eat tonight, and we'll prepare it," the director continued.
Fu Qinhuan gave a yawn, held up a single finger toward the production team, and shook it provokingly.
Qiao Yifei frowned. If she got to pick, she'd only be able to name a salad, otherwise her manager would definitely chew her out. But she didn't want to eat a salad at all—she might as well not have been given this prize. Tai Minzhen's cooking was actually quite decent.
Ye Suchong was also somewhat disappointed, though not as visibly as Qiao Yifei, but he still asked quite expectantly, "Anything else?"
The director: ...
"Nothing!" He was exhausted. Things had turned out completely different from what he'd imagined. He had no idea if the guests were just naturally like this, or if Fu Qinhuan's rebellion against the production team had turned the guests wild.
"Tch, you might as well just tell the winner you'll install window screens for them," Fu Qinhuan shouted. "Give us something practical, Director. You're way too stingy."
"Exactly," Yan Yueran said, glancing at the director. "If you'd told us this was the kind of surprise it was, I wouldn't have come."
Because there had only been thirty seconds, she'd almost lost a shoe running over. Ever since her debut, she had maintained an elegant persona—how was she supposed to keep any elegance with a shoe falling off?
The director glanced at Fu Qinhuan, once again feeling that his dignity as a director was slipping away. "Activity over! Those who don't want their reward don't have to take it!"
With that, he stormed off in a huff. He glanced at the two people who actually wanted their prizes, and those two immediately lowered their heads to make themselves as inconspicuous as possible.
Fu Qinhuan went back to lie down.
"Good thing I didn't run down there. We didn't lose out at all with this move," Fu Qinhuan said, looking into the camera. "Proof that laziness has its perks."
She hadn't even read a few pages of her book when another knock sounded at the door. Frowning, Fu Qinhuan wondered what kind of trouble the production team was cooking up this time, only to hear someone outside shout, "Installing window screens!"
Fu Qinhuan: !!!
Fu Qinhuan thought she was suffering from auditory hallucinations, or that she had fallen asleep and started dreaming. She gave the doorway a hesitant look, and only after a few seconds got up to open the door, only to find two people actually carrying tools inside.
"Did the director suddenly grow a conscience?" Fu Qinhuan asked with mild surprise. She watched the people installing the screens, then peeked out the door to see workers entering other rooms as well. Looking vigilant, she asked, "Why are they suddenly being so nice? Could there be some kind of conspiracy?"
The director didn't want to, either. But a few minutes ago, he had received a call from a new investor saying they had already sent people over to help install window screens, without even giving advance notice.
"Whose backing is this?" the director muttered with a frown, watching the screen installation on the monitor alongside Fu Qinhuan's wary expression, feeling a sudden blockage in his chest.