Chapter Nine: Demanding an Apology from Jiang Xian

[These people thought they could embarrass Jiang Xian, but unexpectedly, they ended up embarrassed themselves. Haha, this is hilarious.]
[How did they get embarrassed? Who knew the lake was so vast? Don’t forget, Jiang Xian only had two yuan on her. It’s still uncertain who will have the last laugh!]
[I have this strange feeling that the show’s production team just wants to take advantage of the participants.]
[If only Jiang Xian had paid one yuan to ride the yacht from the start, we wouldn’t have had to go through all this trouble!]

Rong Fan, being closer, took a separate yacht alone, so he was the first to board the rowboat where Jiang Xian was.

Seeing Jiang Xian looking relaxed, when she noticed him arriving, she immediately sat up straight, thinking to maintain her image in front of him. She snorted coldly, convinced that no matter how much she tried, he would never be interested in her—unless she left the castle for him, then maybe he’d see her differently.

Little did she know, Jiang Xian only frowned because the once-clean floor now bore wet footprints from Rong Fan’s shoes. His shoes looked soaked, surely his socks were wet too, and she wondered if he had athlete’s foot.

Following the staff’s instructions, Rong Fan took the card for his accommodation that night.

Scanning through the options and failing to find the castle, he realized that Jiang Xian had already chosen it. He couldn’t help but think that she was playing hard to get, deliberately taking the castle to lure him into seeking her out.

Dream on—he had no intention of going after her. He took the villa card instead.

Almost simultaneously, the others boarded the rowboat. The moment they got on, none rushed to pick their lodging; instead, they all slumped down in the resting chairs.

Their arms ached from paddling, their legs from pedaling the pedal boat—they hadn’t recovered at all.

“Ah, I’m exhausted. I don’t think I’ll ever want to go boating again,” Li Jiale said, pressing her hands on her legs, trying to ease the soreness.

“Tell me about it. Treating this as a task to complete is pure torture.”

Lai Bingfu, confident in his stamina and accustomed to rowing boats occasionally, found himself utterly drained today.

On one end were the exhausted group, and on the other, the leisurely Jiang Xian; the contrast was glaring.

Jiang Ke, seeing how carefree Jiang Xian was while she looked so disheveled, felt ashamed and her resentment toward Jiang Xian deepened.

No doubt, there were already people mocking her online.

“Jiang Daxian,” Zheng Jin suddenly called out, giving a thumbs-up.

They had been playing together, and he thought Jiang Daxian was much smarter than him now.

Perhaps because the original owner was more familiar with Zheng Jin, Jiang Xian inexplicably understood what he meant and smiled in return.

“Ladies first. You girls pick where you want to stay tonight!” After resting, it was time to choose accommodations, and Lai Bingfu showed some chivalry by letting the female guests decide first.

Zheng Jin, who had noticed some food on the table and planned to get some for Sheng Ya to replenish her energy, was so surprised by Lai Bingfu’s words that he opened his mouth wide.

No way—who allowed him to act so pretentious? Who allowed him to act that way in front of me?

He hadn’t even had the chance to impress Sheng Ya yet, and Lai Bingfu had already stolen his spotlight. Zheng Jin was furious.

Some viewers in the live stream were touched by Lai Bingfu’s behavior. Initially, they thought he was frivolous, but even Jiang Ke’s fans found themselves liking him.

Almost as soon as Lai Bingfu finished speaking, Li Jiale made her choice: “I’ll take the apartment.”

“I’ll take the hotel,” Sheng Ya said, used to staying in hotels due to frequent business trips.

“I’ll go for the homestay.”

With the female guests done choosing, only Zheng Jin and Lai Bingfu were left, and only the tent and RV remained unclaimed.

“Which one do you want?” Zheng Jin asked Lai Bingfu.

“I’m fine with either,” Lai Bingfu said, not too particular about where he stayed. Besides, the tents and RVs here were surely different from those elsewhere.

“Then I’ll take the tent. I’ll set it up by the hotel entrance. Ya Ya, if you can’t sleep at night, you can come down and camp with me—stargaze and moonwatch,” Zheng Jin said, bending slightly and blinking his large Kasilan eyes at Sheng Ya with hopeful anticipation.

This tactic might work on young girls captivated by Zheng Jin’s handsome looks, but it had no effect on Sheng Ya. To her, Zheng Jin was like an immature little brother. “I’m not interested in that.”

“That’s okay. If you’re afraid of the dark or of bad people, just call me. I’ll rush over immediately. Or, we could exchange contact info?”

[Isn’t Zheng Jin’s behavior similar to Jiang Xian’s? Why do contemporary netizens criticize Jiang Xian, a girl, but not Zheng Jin?]

[The commenter above clearly doesn’t follow the entertainment world much. Jiang Xian chases every handsome guy indiscriminately, even using connections to stir up CP rumors, regardless of whether they have girlfriends. Zheng Jin, on the other hand, focuses on just one. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say Jiang Xian is his mentor.]

[Jiang Xian seems to have changed this time; she hasn’t been pestering the male guests as much.]

Sheng Ya said nothing but gave Zheng Jin a light glance, prompting him to mime zipping his mouth shut.

With all accommodations chosen, everyone finally turned their attention to Jiang Xian and the table before her. The fruit was nearly gone, and over half the snacks had disappeared.

Having just expended some energy, everyone now felt their stomachs growl at the sight of the remaining snacks.

But with so many people, the leftover snacks were clearly insufficient.

“Jiang Xian, you’re so selfish! We haven’t even arrived yet, and you’ve already eaten almost everything? What are we supposed to eat when we get here?” Li Jiale accused angrily.

Li Jiale was upset because she was hungry and Jiang Xian had nearly cleaned out the food.

Jiang Xian replied calmly, “Who told you not to take the yacht? I arrived first and was hungry. The fruit and snacks were delicious, so of course I ate first. Why should I wait for you?”

Rong Fan snorted and shook his head, as if speechless at Jiang Xian’s words.

The boat was quiet, so Rong Fan’s laughter was exceptionally clear.

Originally planning to make trouble for Jiang Xian to ruin her rapport with the audience, he hadn’t expected her to create the opportunity herself. “Xian Xian, this isn’t your home; you can’t act like this. Everyone, I’m sorry—on behalf of Xian Xian, I apologize.”

Jiang Ke’s ambiguous words revealed that Jiang Xian behaved similarly at home, while his apology showed he was understanding.

“Jiang Ke, why are you apologizing for her? You paddled just as much as we did. Everyone is tired and hungry. This selfishness is her own doing; she should apologize herself,” Li Jiale insisted, determined to make Jiang Xian say sorry.