“Achoo—!”
Jian Feiyang sneezed, and a sheen of moisture immediately welled up in his eyes.
He blinked, his deer-like eyes filled with innocence.
Was someone thinking about him, or was someone cursing him?
The moment the members assigned to his group saw it—oh boy.
This was bad, this was really bad. Could it be that Jian Feiyang had caught a cold?
That absolutely would not do!
Immediately, all four of them crowded over.
The four of them somehow managed to form a formation that looked like a whole army closing in.
“Xiao Jian, are you okay?”
“Yeah, Xiao Jian, are you alright?”
“Brother Jian, are you feeling cold? Want to put on this rain poncho?”
“Right, right, Brother Jian, take care of your health—don’t catch a cold…”
Before one of the two girl group members could finish that sentence, someone hurriedly covered her mouth.
“Kids say the darndest things, kids say the darndest things! How could Xiao Jian possibly catch a cold? What are you saying?”
The others immediately echoed her.
“Right, right, Xiao Jian won’t catch a cold.”
“Exactly, exactly. Brother Jian looks like he trains—his body must be super strong, no way he’d catch a cold.”
What a joke!
If Jian Feiyang really caught a cold, their miserable days would begin!
Among the four guests grouped with Jian Feiyang, there were two girl group members not yet twenty, one variety show host already over forty, and another who, though only in his early thirties, was a comedian weighing over two hundred pounds.
When the four of them were first assigned to the same group through a mini-game, the eight eyes meeting between them looked no different from a funeral scene.
Meanwhile, the other group—leaving aside Jing Yuan, a young and energetic force, there was also a singer in his early twenties, a young man from a boy group, plus one of the show’s regular cast members who could practically do anything from climbing mountains to diving into the sea.
The last member was a female celebrity in her thirties.
But she was famously an extreme sports enthusiast.
When the first four people were sorted, everyone froze.
Even the production team hadn’t expected the groups to turn out like this. Director Zhao even began seriously wondering whether their “no script” rule needed to be reconsidered.
But before he could say anything, Jing Yuan—who already had three strong teammates—spoke up first.
“This grouping feels like we’re getting too much of an advantage. How about we send one person over to the other side?”
The moment he said that, the entire place fell silent.
What did he mean by “send one over”?
Wasn’t he blatantly saying the other group just couldn’t cut it?
Even though this was basically obvious, having Jing Yuan spell it out like that—anyone with pride would have trouble swallowing it.
And besides…
The three people on Jing Yuan’s team rolled their eyes hard behind the scenes.
They’d been grouped together by luck too, and Jing Yuan just casually suggested sending someone away.
Sure, he got to say the nice words and take the moral high ground—but who exactly was supposed to go?
Whoever got sent to the other team would be heading straight into hardship, alright? Why didn’t Jing Yuan have the self-awareness to volunteer himself?
Director Zhao was a seasoned old fox. One look at the atmosphere and he decisively shut it down.
“Haha, everyone knows Jing Yuan means well, but this is a variety show—luck is part of it. Let’s just go with it. There are still two people left to be assigned, no rush.”
As soon as he said that, the three people on Jing Yuan’s team all breathed a sigh of relief.
The other team still didn’t look great, but they felt a bit better too.
Really accepting Jing Yuan’s goodwill?
They’d rather just lose face outright. Being stepped on publicly and then owing someone a favor for no reason—who would be happy about that?
Still, this left the remaining four people feeling nervous.
They looked at Jian Feiyang, smiling brightly and radiantly, then looked at the calm, steady, and extremely reliable female celebrity—also a well-known extreme sports enthusiast—and their gazes slowly settled on her.
The female celebrity frowned almost imperceptibly, then glanced again at Jian Feiyang, who seemed completely unaware of everything.
Of course she could see the situation clearly—if she went to Jing Yuan’s side, life would be much easier; but if she went to the other team, it would be tough, yet she’d likely have a chance to truly shine.
Only…
She clenched her teeth.
She looked again at the other four-person team, her heart sinking.
Even if she could stand out in that group, the problem was—none of them were famous.
The two girls were members of a rookie girl group, so obscure she’d never even heard of them.
As for the other two, one was a comedian with little fame to begin with, and the other was just a variety show host—not even a top-tier one.
If she joined that team, it was very possible she’d struggle all day, only for the edit to give her one or two brief shots of her “carrying the whole team.”
On the other hand, the other group had the program’s veteran cast member—at the very least, food and comfort were guaranteed.
And Jing Yuan was there too.
Jing Yuan’s popularity was pretty solid, and the singer also had a decent fanbase. If she went over, even without working too hard, just chatting with them would probably earn her plenty of screen time.
With that calculation in mind, the female celebrity went all out during the game.
Just as she’d expected, she successfully joined Jing Yuan’s group.
She was also very tactful—before going over, she even put on a regretful expression.
“What a pity, but maybe today was destined from the start? Perhaps this round really is all about luck.”
She framed her all-out effort as mere luck. Those who saw through it understood perfectly well, but there was nothing they could say.
Were they supposed to blame someone else for not carrying them?
This was a show, not a charity!
Still…
The four of them looked at Jian Feiyang, who joined their team with a bright, fresh smile. Though they felt a little dejected, their mood strangely wasn’t all that bad.
Maybe the essence of humanity really was being shallow for good looks.
After all, having such a good-looking young guy on the team, smiling so sweetly… wasn’t the worst thing in the world.
Ah—
He really was smiling so sweetly it felt like your heart might melt.
Once the teams were finalized, the production crew, as usual, provided two different survival locations.
To prevent anyone from saying something strange again, Director Zhao spoke first and cut it off at the pass.
“These two locations were provided by our local guide. After drawing them on these two pieces of parchment, even I didn’t open them to take a look. So this is entirely up to luck. Neither place is too bad—one is by the coast, the other requires going into the rainforest. Send one representative to draw.”
On their side, the four of them, with an unspoken sense of unity, pushed Jian Feiyang forward.
Jian Feiyang blinked his innocent eyes as he walked up to Director Zhao, still turning his head back to look at his teammates.
“I’m drawing? Really, me?”
All four nodded repeatedly.
“You do it, my luck’s pretty average.”
“Yeah, yeah, my luck’s not great either.”
“Same for us two. We’re both infamous bad-luck charms in our group.”
Jian Feiyang gave an “oh,” then his eyes lit up.
“So this is about luck? Then I think my luck’s actually pretty good. When I played games before, I pulled an SSR on my first try!”
Just then, Jing Yuan volunteered himself and stepped forward. Hearing Jian Feiyang say that, he smiled and spoke up instead.
“Yeah, A-Yang’s luck is pretty good. Then you draw first—I’ll take whatever’s left.”
Behind him, the four teammates all frowned.
This Jing Yuan had just said his own luck was good and wanted to draw—yet now he was letting Jian Feiyang go first?
Then why was he even rushing to volunteer…
Oh right, for the camera time.
Led by the female celebrity, a few of them curled their lips, but it wasn’t convenient to say anything out loud.
On the other hand, when Jian Feiyang’s four teammates heard him say his luck was good, they all fell into a strange silence.
Not for any other reason—if his luck was really that good, how did he end up in their group?
Jian Feiyang didn’t notice their thoughts at all. Smiling happily, he chose the one on the left.
As the saying goes, men on the left, women on the right!
He cheerfully opened the parchment, then waved it around with a grin.
“It’s the rainforest! I drew the rainforest!”
Jing Yuan let out a sigh of relief.
So that meant they were going to the coast?
He had come on this show to get away from Mister Zhuo, but he had at least done a bit of homework.
Leaving everything else aside, rainforests were dangerous—not only full of snakes, insects, and wild animals, but food also wasn’t guaranteed.
The coast was much better by comparison. At the very least, the sea definitely had fish, right?
Maybe the guests themselves couldn’t catch any, but the veteran member from the production team definitely could.
With the teams decided, everyone boarded two different boats, each harboring their own thoughts.
The moment Jing Yuan saw the boat, his face went pale.
He had just wanted to ask the two girl group members for a seasickness pill, when he realized that team had already boarded quickly and set off.
…Damn it.
Left with no choice, Jing Yuan turned to the production crew.
Director Zhao looked a bit unhappy, but still had someone give him one.
After taking the pill, Jing Yuan put his smile back on and greeted the rest of his teammates.
“They’ve already left, so let’s hurry too. I’ve watched our show—if we get there earlier, we should be able to build a shelter sooner. We can’t lose to that team.”
Silence.
Other than the veteran from the production team, no one responded to Jing Yuan.
His smile stiffened slightly.
It was the female celebrity who finally remembered Jing Yuan’s status as a popular idol and temporarily let go of his earlier questionable behavior.
“You’re right. Let’s all work hard together—we can’t let that team beat us.”
Seeing her respond, Jing Yuan’s eyes flickered quickly.
If he handled his relationship with this female celebrity well, things should be much easier for him later.
The two of them immediately gravitated toward each other in apparent harmony.
Over on the other side, although the four-person group had already lost much of their morale, the upside was that everyone had a pretty good attitude.
The comedian was quite self-aware about his weight. He positioned himself as the team’s mood-maker, so as soon as he got on the boat, he started livening things up.
The variety show host played along smoothly, and the two girl group members were still young and couldn’t hold it in—once teased, they burst into laughter, their clear voices filling the boat.
Jian Feiyang was just as simple-minded, and soon started laughing along with them.
For a while, the atmosphere on the boat was actually pretty good.
But once they disembarked and looked at the lush, dense rainforest stretching out before them, their expressions gradually darkened.
The comedian, in particular, showed a face on the verge of tears when he heard they had to go deeper inside.
With his tonnage…
He could only grit his teeth and throw his two hundred pounds into it!
Before he could even brace himself, Jian Feiyang, still smiling happily, suddenly walked off to the side.
He took out the multifunctional knife provided by the production team, chopped off a branch with a crisp snap, and in just a few swift motions shaved it smooth before handing it over.
“It looks like it gets a bit shaky going uphill. Teacher, take this—just use it as a hiking stick.”
Huh?
The comedian accepted it instinctively.
To his surprise—it was pretty sturdy?
The other three were also dumbfounded, and soon found identical equipment appearing in their hands.
Holding their freshly made hiking sticks, a single thought slowly surfaced in their minds—
Wait. This isn’t how it was supposed to go, is it?
Weren’t we all supposed to be useless together?
This is amazing! Mom, someone lied to me here!
But I’m totally willing to be lied to!