Chapter 54
Zhou Qingyu smiled.
Lu Beiyu also smiled.
One minute later—
Zhou Qingyu started to rant at Lu Beiyu. Yan Xi used all her strength to hold her back.
"Lu Beiyu, you little rascal! Explain yourself! What on earth did you draw? Am I really that ugly? No, I'll pay for you to take good painting lessons. You must draw me beautifully!"
Scared, Lu Beiyu hid behind Piao Baoyuan.
On his face were three turtles drawn by Zhou Qingyu, one on his forehead, one on his cheek, and one on his chin.
With teary eyes, Lu Beiyu said, "Miss, I really drew very carefully. You even said it was cute!"
Zhou Qingyu was furious. "Shut up!"
That afternoon, Zhou Qingyu didn't go back to the villa to sleep. She was too busy pestering Lu Beiyu.
Lu Beiyu swore that the biggest mistake in his life was drawing a picture for the young miss! The afternoon passed quickly. Even Yaozu, who had been working hard to earn money, was tired. It didn't even wag its tail as vigorously as before.
The three of them and the dog had dinner and then returned to the villa.
At eight o'clock in the evening, Director Yu came to check the results.
Since there was a penalty for the last - ranked guest, everyone was very nervous. The first one to show his results was Chu Mo.
Chu Mo said, "I posted a message online saying that I offered professional photography services. A couple contacted me, and I took photos for them. The payment was 400,000 won." Chu Mo put the money he earned on the table. Director Yu counted it. It was exactly 400,000 won.
[400,000 won is about two thousand yuan, right?]
[Chu Mo is really good!]
[I went to Chu Mo's live - stream. Because of privacy concerns, the live - stream didn't capture the couple, but it did show the landscape photos he took. They were really beautiful!] After Chu Mo, the next ones to show their results were Ye Luoyi and Su Lingling. Ye Luoyi said in a soft voice, "Lingling and I rented some audio equipment and started singing on the street in the evening. We earned a total of 320,000 won, plus some change."
Since the money was from tips, the bills in Ye Luoyi's hand were all small denominations, mostly in thousands of won. It took Director Yu a while to confirm that it was 325,000 won.
[Ye Luoyi is really good!]
[The two of them sang very nicely! I really like it!]
[Ye Luoyi is an actress, and she can sing so well. The future looks bright for her!] Lu Beiyu interjected, "Only 320,000 won? I thought it would be more." Ye Luoyi also knew that she didn't earn much. "It's indeed less than we expected."
She originally thought that with her fame, she could earn three or five thousand yuan in one night. Zhou Qingyu sneered, "In country H, the idol culture is very popular. You can easily find people who can sing and dance in the crowd. Your singing isn't outstanding, and you can't dance. What's the use of busking here?"
Ye Luoyi looked embarrassed. She also noticed this, but by the time they had moved the equipment to the night market, there was no time to change their plan. The reason they could earn 320,000 won was that many passers - by recognized Ye Luoyi and gave tips because of her fame. Su Lingling raised her head and said, "Zhou Qingyu, at least we earned some money! How much did you earn? Did you rely entirely on Yan Xi?"
Su Lingling and Ye Luoyi, both from wealthy families, were too proud to do other jobs. They thought that Zhou Qingyu was probably the same.
Zhou Qingyu was even more arrogant than them. How could she go out to work and earn money? Zhou Qingyu brushed the hair that had fallen to her shoulder and said, "I'll scare you when I tell you!" "Okay, okay! Let's go in order!" Director Yu interrupted the three of them in time. "The next one is Lu Beiyu!"
When it was Lu Beiyu's turn to show his results, he proudly led Yaozu out. Yaozu still wore those dazzling goggles on its eyes, and its head was held high. Lu Beiyu coughed lightly and said, "Our group earned a total of 510,000 won! Here it is. Count it."
Lu Beiyu put the money on the table.
Director Yu teased, "Lu Beiyu, aren't you going to tell us how you earned this 510,000 won?" Lu Beiyu's face instantly turned red. "Well... Yaozu earned 500,000 won, and I earned 10,000 won... Director Yu, why do you have to expose me! Don't I have any face?" Everyone covered their faces and laughed. Lu Beiyu felt very embarrassed.
The last group was Yan Xi and Zhou Qingyu. Yan Xi put all the sorted money on the table and said, "I found the job. Qingyu performed the cello in a restaurant. This is the payment, a total of 770,000 won."
"770,000 won?"
Everyone gasped.
[Isn't that more than four thousand yuan! That's even more than what Lu Beiyu earned!]
[To be precise, it's more than what Yaozu earned!]
[When we watched their live - stream before, wasn't it only about 300,000 won? Why is it so much now?]
[The customers in the restaurant gave a lot of tips at that time!] Huosang Restaurant is a Michelin - starred restaurant with an average per - person consumption of 100,000 won. The customers there are very generous with tips. With just a few more generous tips, the total amount went up. Zhou Qingyu was very proud. 770,000 won was nothing to her, but it was all earned by her, and their group had earned the most!
She looked at Ye Luoyi and saw the indignation in her eyes. She was extremely happy.
The last - ranked person had to accept a penalty. This was set by the program team from the beginning. Ye Luoyi and Su Lingling bowed their heads resignedly. They didn't know what the penalty was, but they knew they couldn't escape it.
As it turned out, Director Yu smiled mischievously. "Although there is a penalty for the last - ranked one, we never said whether it's the last group or the last individual! You guys discuss among yourselves, determine each person's earnings, and then we'll do the ranking!"
[Damn! Self - distribution? That's so cruel!]
[But everyone can just distribute the money evenly, right? Then only Ye Luoyi and Su Lingling will receive the penalty!]
[Although it's said to be an even distribution, in fact, it's a test of the relationship between partners!] This time, Director Yu first turned his eyes to Lu Beiyu and asked his group to make the distribution.
Lu Beiyu held his head high and said, "There's no need to distinguish between mine and his between me and Yaozu! Of course, we'll split the money evenly!"
"The bulk of the money was earned by Yaozu. It has to agree first!" With that, Director Yu put all the money from Lu Beiyu's group into Yaozu's small backpack. "Lu Beiyu, if Yaozu is willing to split the money with you, the right to distribute it will be yours. If not, then you only earned 10,000 won."
Lu Beiyu didn't care. "My Yaozu is the best. Of course, it's willing to..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Lu Beiyu saw that Director Yu took out Yaozu's favorite dog snacks. "Come on, Yaozu. Do you want to come to me or go to your brother?" Yaozu stuck out its tongue, stared at Director Yu with bright eyes, and drooled all over the place. It was so greedy.
Lu Beiyu stamped his feet angrily. "Director Yu, you're so sneaky! This is a foul! Yaozu... come here. Come to your brother, okay? Your brother loves you the most! Come here quickly!"
As one of the "Siberian Huskies trio", Samoyeds have no resistance to food. Lu Beiyu watched helplessly as Yaozu walked towards Director Yu step by step. He was almost in tears. If he only got 10,000 won, then he would be the one to receive the penalty! Just now, he saw Director Yu asking the program team to catch cockroaches! The penalty must be to put cockroaches in their clothes!
Next to him, the guests were laughing uncontrollably.
Especially Zhou Qingyu added insult to injury. "Lu Beiyu, you should have raised a Border Collie back then. Border Collies are much smarter and wouldn't have left you!" Lu Beiyu's eyes were firm. "No, Yaozu is my family. I can't replace it!"
Yaozu hesitated for a long time. Driven by its greedy nature, it walked towards Director Yu. But in the last moment, it seemed to understand what Lu Beiyu said. It looked at the dog treats reluctantly, then turned around and firmly threw itself into Lu Beiyu's arms! Lu Beiyu didn't expect Yaozu to come back. He was knocked down by such a big dog and fell on the grass.
After being stunned for two seconds, he hugged Yaozu tightly.
"Woof! Yaozu, you're the best!"
(Dogs are all angels! Although it loves to eat, it loves you more!) [It's the same with my dog. If I'm in a bad mood, it will also put down the food and come to me. Dogs are spiritual. They are not pets, but family!]
[Ah, I also want to have a cute Yaozu like this!]
Lu Beiyu chose to split the 510,000 yuan he and Yaozu earned equally.
Next up were Zhou Qingyu and Yan Xi.
Without hesitation, Zhou Qingyu said, "Yan Xi found this job for me. We'll split it equally too."
This time, the way Zhou Qingyu and Yan Xi partnered to work was similar to the cooperation model between an entertainment agent and an artist in the entertainment circle. The agent finds resources, and the artist works. In the circle, with Zhou Qingyu's status, an agent would take a 30% cut. If the artist's status was lower, a 50 - 50 split was also common.
In fact, artists understand very well how important an excellent agent is. Without resources, even the most outstanding person can only be buried, while if the agent is powerful enough, even a nobody can be made into a net - celebrity.
The next group was Ye Luoyi and Su Lingling.
"We're the last in this group. Most likely, one of us two will be punished," Ye Luoyi sighed. "So Lingling and I discussed that one person will take the change and the other will take the bulk. Then we'll draw lots to decide who will be punished." Su Lingling was a bit hesitant but still nodded.
(This kind of distribution is appropriate.)
[After all, someone has to be punished. It's better if one less person is punished.]
[Actually, many people tipped because of Yiyi's fame. I think this distribution is already very beneficial to Su Lingling.]
Ye Luoyi made two pieces of paper of different lengths and asked Su Lingling to choose. The person who drew the short paper would only get the change and have to accept the punishment. Su Lingling was very nervous. She heard from Lu Beiyu that the punishment was related to cockroaches, and she was also afraid of cockroaches.
As soon as she drew the lot, Su Lingling's expression instantly froze, and her fingers were trembling. It was the short paper. She lost.
Su Lingling's face turned pale. She really hated cockroaches.
Ye Luoyi comforted her, "It's okay, Lingling. The program won't go too far. You can just bear it!"
Yan Xi glanced at the two of them.
Without saying a word, she casually grabbed Yaozu's dog treats and threw them behind Ye Luoyi. Yaozu gave Yan Xi a resentful look, then ran behind Ye Luoyi to look for the treats.
Ye Luoyi was still comforting Su Lingling when she felt something strange behind her. She turned around and saw a big furry thing behind her.
"Ahh!"
Ye Luoyi let out a scream and lost her balance, falling to the ground! Yaozu, with the treats in its mouth, ignored everything and went back to Lu Beiyu's side. Lu Beiyu patted it. "Why did you run behind Sister Yiyi? What if you scare her?"
Yaozu whimpered twice and didn't dare to let go.
It was afraid that if it let go, the treats would be thrown away by Yan Xi again.
Ye Luoyi got up with Su Lingling's support, still feeling scared. Suddenly, Zhou Qingyu pointed at the half - piece of paper on the ground. "What's this?" She picked it up, then looked at the half - piece of paper in Su Lingling's hand. "These two seem to fit together? Ye Luoyi, didn't you cheat by cutting the paper when drawing lots?"
Ye Luoyi's face instantly turned as white as a sheet.
"No! I didn't! Lingling, you have to believe me. I didn't!" But Su Lingling felt something in her heart turning cold bit by bit. "Let's draw lots again," Su Lingling said coldly. "This time, not you. Zhou Qingyu, you do it!"
Ye Luoyi still wanted to explain, but Su Lingling didn't want to listen at all. She just waited for Zhou Qingyu to prepare new lots, and then the two of them drew lots again.
Ye Luoyi's heart was pounding. She also didn't want to be punished. Besides, Director Yu was going to scare them with cockroaches. It would definitely be screenshot and made into memes. As a celebrity, how could she be so disgraceful!
Fortunately, this time, Lady Luck was on her side.
Ye Luoyi looked at the long paper and let out a sigh of relief.
And Su Lingling looked at the short paper, her face even more ugly.
The last group was only Chu Mo left. He and Lin Ranran were engaged. Everyone naturally thought that Chu Mo would choose to split the money equally.
When it came to dividing the money, Chu Mo suddenly said, "I earned all the money. Can't I divide it however I want?"
Lin Ranran was startled for a moment. She had been keeping quiet and trying to make herself as invisible as possible.
What did Chu Mo mean? Was he going to let her be punished?
Lin Ranran bit her lips. Her father had contacted her today, saying that the company was in a difficult situation recently and asking her to hold on to Chu Mo tightly.
Lin Ranran looked pitiful. "Brother Chu Mo, do you really have to do this? I... I'm also afraid of cockroaches!"
A sly look flashed across Chu Mo's eyes, which made Lin Ranran's heart skip a beat. After a while, Chu Mo put away his teasing look and said calmly, "We'll also split it equally."
Now, all three groups had split the money equally, and the only one to be punished was Su Lingling. Goosebumps rose on Su Lingling's body. When she saw Director Yu bringing a black cloth bag, she was so scared that she cried.
Suddenly, Lu Beiyu raised his hand. "How about I take Lingling's punishment instead?" He scratched his head. He was also afraid of cockroaches, but he felt it was not good to let a girl be punished.
Su Lingling looked at Lu Beiyu gratefully. "Beiyu, you're so kind!" Lu Beiyu smiled. "It's nothing. But Director Yu, go easy on me! Cockroaches are so disgusting."
Director Yu was confused. He took out his Polaroid from the black cloth bag. "Your punishment is to take an ugly - face selfie and post it on Weibo. What does it have to do with cockroaches?"
Lu Beiyu: ???
All the guests: ???
The program crew was also very confused. At this time, a stagehand raised his hand. "Did Beiyu overhear my phone call? During the day, we found cockroaches in the room where the equipment was placed. We were worried that they would damage the equipment, so we called someone to get rid of them. We didn't want to scare the guests with cockroaches! We're not that disgusting!"
All the guests:
[What a big misunderstanding! It turns out the punishment is just to take an ugly photo!] [But this misunderstanding exposed a lot. It seems that the friendship between some so - called best friends is quite fake, and some engaged couples don't seem to be that sincere either!] [This program was too peaceful and loving before. Let the drama start! Let the drama start!]
The punishment of taking a funny - face selfie was nothing serious. Su Lingling didn't need Lu Beiyu's help. She took the photo and posted it on Weibo.
After that, she walked straight back to the room without holding Ye Luoyi's arm anymore. Ye Luoyi quickly chased after her and wanted to explain things to Su Lingling. However, Su Lingling walked so fast that she slammed the door shut with a "bang", leaving Ye Luoyi feeling rebuffed. Just then, Zhou Qingyu and Yan Xi happened to pass by. Zhou Qingyu crossed her arms and sneered, "You've already cheated. Now you're chasing after her to apologize? How hypocritical!" By this time, the live - broadcast had ended, and there were no cameras around. Ye Luoyi was no longer polite. She glared at Zhou Qingyu angrily and said, "Aren't you just relying on the fact that you earn more? If you were in the last - place group and faced the situation of self - allocation, what could you do?"
She glanced at Yan Xi and said, "Wouldn't you also let Yan Xi be punished!" It was just that Ye Luoyi was unlucky this time and ended up in such an embarrassing situation. If Zhou Qingyu's group had come in last this time, Ye Luoyi firmly believed that Zhou Qingyu wouldn't have handled it better. This was simply an unsolvable problem. "If we were in the last - place group,"
Zhou Qingyu looked at Ye Luoyi and said word by word, "I would split it equally with Yan Xi." As night fell, all was quiet.
Yan Xi took a shower and lay on the soft bed.
Zhou Qingyu had already finished her shower and was sitting in front of the dressing table doing her skin - care routine, her eyes fixed on her phone all the time.
Yan Xi took a glance. The WeChat interface on the screen was that of Pei Yubai. Zhou Qingyu had taken Pei Yubai out of the blacklist yesterday, but Pei Yubai hadn't contacted her again.
Zhou Qingyu lay on the bed in distress and said, "Xixi, didn't you say that if I don't get back together with him too soon, Brother Yubai will love me more? But now he doesn't even contact me!" "Maybe he's too busy with Tianhui," Yan Xi said.
In fact, she had also expected that Pei Yubai would have no time to deal with Zhou Qingyu. Previously, when Zhou Corporation withdrew its resources, Tianhui's cash flow was disrupted, which was a huge hole. Pei Yubai had to find a way to fill it first.
The confession at the airport yesterday involved a love triangle among three people, and Pei Yubai would have to handle that for a while. In both of these matters, Pei Yubai was in a weak position, and the public opinion on the Internet was fierce. It was very likely that Pei Yubai wouldn't have sorted things out even by the time they returned to China.
Zhou Qingyu was very worried. "I took away the resources that were meant for Brother Yubai. Is it bad for Tianhui? Maybe I should contact the group again and give the resources back to him?"
Yan Xi quickly said, "But Sister Qiao Yan has already allocated all the resources. New contracts can only be signed next quarter. Qingqing, you have to believe in Second Young Master Pei. He's so capable. How could he not get out of this difficult situation?" "Well..." Zhou Qingyu was still hesitating.
Yan Xi raised her eyebrows and said, "Don't you believe in Second Young Master Pei's ability to handle a crisis? Do you think he's a useless person who needs your help all the time?" "Of course not!" Zhou Qingyu immediately denied it. "Brother Yubai is very capable. He can handle it on his own!"
The negative effect of the plot on Zhou Qingyu's love - struck brain was finally defeated by their belief in Pei Yubai's ability. Apparently, the plot still wanted to affirm the male lead's aura. Yan Xi understood that Zhou Qingyu currently only had a luck value of 52.2 points, so it was understandable that she was controlled by the plot.
She deliberately brought up another topic to divert Zhou Qingyu's attention. "I noticed that Lin Ranran seemed very strange today, and Chu Mo's attitude towards her has also changed. Did something happen between them?"
Mentioning gossip, it piqued Zhou Qingyu's strong interest in gossiping. She immediately forgot about Pei Yubai and shared the new information she had obtained with Yan Xi. "I heard from Yu Xiao this morning that the stock price of the Lin family's company dropped by half last night!"
Yan Xi was surprised. "How could it drop so much? It doesn't make sense!" Zhou Qingyu smiled smugly. "They must have offended someone and got punished. Serves them right!"
Suddenly, Yan Xi remembered the message from Zhou Yanci last night - "I can't tonight. I have work to do."
At noon today, Zhou Yanci also sent Yan Xi a picture of his sleep time record. Zhou Yanci slept for more than 7 hours last night. He woke up for an hour from around three to four o'clock and then went back to sleep. Yan Xi thought this matter was related to the Lin family.
But she didn't know the specific details.
Zhou Qingyu and Yan Xi gossiped about the Lin family for a while. Finally, when there was nothing more to talk about and Zhou Qingyu had forgotten that Pei Yubai hadn't sent her a message, she took out the script to memorize her lines. Yan Xi also started to think about other things.
For example, it was already evening, and normally she should send a message to urge Zhou Yanci to go to bed early.
But Yan Xi also noticed that even though Zhou Yanci had slept for enough hours last night, there was still no reminder of the luck value. It seemed that there was an upper limit to this thing.
It seemed that she had to find something else to boost it.
Thinking like this, Yan Xi didn't plan to send a WeChat message to Zhou Yanci tonight. Sending too many messages might annoy him.
It was very late. Zhou Qingyu only flipped through a few pages of the script before she got sleepy. Yawning, the two said good - night to each other and got into their beds to sleep comfortably.
At the Zhou family's old mansion,
Zhou Yanci changed into black silk pajamas and lay on the bed.
Previously, every night, Zhou Yanci either received a bowl of chicken soup and a WeChat message from Yan Xi or heard her say good - night to him in person.
He thought tonight would be no exception.
He put his phone on his chest and a comfortable smile curved his lips.
The mattress was very soft - bought by Yan Xi.
The eye - mask had good light - blocking properties - also bought by Yan Xi.
The earplugs could block out the outside noise - still bought by Yan Xi. Zhou Yanci felt that he was all set for sleep, just waiting for that last "good - night".
Afraid that he wouldn't hear the sound with the earplugs on, he simply put the phone on his chest. He just waited and waited...
At twelve o'clock at night, the old mansion was completely quiet. Zhou Yanci was getting anxious from waiting. Suddenly, his phone vibrated!
Zhou Yanci excitedly opened his phone and saw the new message -
[Dear Boss Zhou the Skinflint, hello! I'm participating in a super - cost - effective bargain - cutting activity on Pinduoduo. I'm just one step away from success! Please lend me a hand and help me cut the price!]
[Click on the following link to help me cut the price: [specific link]] Zhou Yanci squinted his eyes and saw that the sender was "Assistant Sun". The next second, Assistant Sun retracted the message: [Sorry, Mr. Zhou. My girlfriend took my phone and sent the message by mistake!]
[Mr. Zhou... You should be asleep. You didn't see anything, right?] Zhou Yanci sneered: [Boss Zhou the Skinflint. What... does... that... mean?]
Assistant Sun: [!!!]
[I was wrong, Mr. Zhou!]
[...I heard Yan Xi complaining about you the other day and changed your name on a whim. I'll change it back right away!] Zhou Yanci paused, and the anger in his heart instantly disappeared.
He typed slowly: [Oh, that's a pretty cute name.] Assistant Sun: [???]
Assistant Sun was completely confused.
Was Zhou Yanci possessed by someone? Cute?
Soon, he received another message from Zhou Yanci: [How's the variety show going?]
Assistant Sun immediately replied: [The eldest young lady is doing great. There have been no problems. Her online reviews are very good, and many people are praising her. The live - broadcast has ended by now, and the eldest young lady should be asleep.]
Zhou Yanci was silent for a while and then asked: "...And Yan Xi?"
Assistant Sun naturally replied: "She must be asleep too!"
Zhou Yanci didn't say a word and quietly stared at the text on the screen.
Did she fall asleep and forget to urge him to go to bed? These young girls nowadays... really have no self - control.
Zhou Yanci was extremely annoyed. He tossed his phone, earplugs, and eye mask aside and sulkily got into the quilt.
He tossed and turned in bed for a long time but still couldn't fall asleep.
An hour later, Zhou Yanci got out of bed again and sent Yan Xi four characters: 【Good night】
【Sweet dreams】
What do you think?
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