Kun Yun naturally put the call on speaker, which made recording easier too.
"Hello, this is Mushroom House. Who are you looking for?" Kun Yun answered.
"Mushroom House, yep, that's the one. I'm the Mushroom Superhero, so of course I'm here to eat at Mushroom House." The voice on the other end buzzed with a low pitch, clearly altered on purpose.
Kun Yun exchanged a glance with Zhou Dakong, who looked like he had a theory brewing. The ever-eager Dakong quickly asked, "Hey, are you the guy whose film dropped over the Labor Day holiday and made over a billion at the box office?"
"My total box office has crossed a billion, but it wasn't a Labor Day release," the voice replied.
Huh? That didn't match who Dakong had in mind. Refusing to give up, he pressed on, "Are you an alum from the Seeds program?"
"I've never attended an art university," came the answer. Then the caller shifted gears. "Can we move on to the next step?"
Baffled by the line of questioning, Kun Yun decided to play along. "Alright then, Mushroom Superhero, what would you like to eat?"
"Pineapple purple sticky rice, lemongrass grilled fish, pork steamed in banana leaves, five-spice grilled Dai carp... Oh! And I really want to try the hand-grab rice. I'll be counting on Chef Lan," the guest rattled off the names without hesitation.
Wow. Five dishes in one go. This guest wasn't shy at all.
"How many people are with you, Mushroom Superhero?" Kun Yun asked.
"Just the two of us, but superheroes burn a lot of energy. We eat big. Thanks in advance."
The call ended shortly after that brief exchange.
"What do you think, Dakong? Who do you feel it is?" Kun Yun asked.
"I think it's Professor Shu Jin," Zhou Dakong guessed.
"No way, that's not Shu Jin's voice," Kun Yun shook his head. Shu Jin had been on Happy Camp four or five times; Kun Yun was very familiar with his tone.
Meanwhile, the usually quiet Tan Lu had a guess of her own. The voice reminded her of her idol using a forced deep tone, but since she wasn't sure, she held back, lips parting only to close again.
The three of them returned to the kitchen and relayed the phone call to Lan Wuyi, who had just finished plating a fruit dish.
"If he never went to an arts school, that means he's not formally trained," Lan Wuyi noted. Having been a drama teacher at the Central Academy of Drama, he was quite familiar with industry backgrounds.
He mulled it over. "There aren't many films that hit over a billion in box office. Not formally trained... and a sense of humor, calling himself Mushroom Superhero... Could it be Wang Ruwu?"
"Not Professor Wang," Kun Yun said, shaking his head again. "The guest was disguising his voice, but you could still tell he's under thirty."
"Xiao Mei, you seem like you have an idea?" Zhou Dakong wasn't as dumb as he looked. He'd noticed Tan Lu's hesitation and decided to ask.
"No, nothing really," Tan Lu quickly shook her head.
The four residents of Mushroom House kept trying to puzzle it out. Unfortunately, Zhou Dakong had steered them in the wrong direction from the beginning, assuming the mystery guest was an actor. With that misdirection, they never had a chance.
Meanwhile, the first episode's guests, Chu Zhi and Chen Mei, were arriving at the village in a bouncing tuk-tuk.
Chen Mei, born in the early 1970s, was a national first-class actress. After graduating from Beijing Film Academy, she was assigned to the National Arts Theater. While her achievements in film weren't quite as high as Zhang Ning's, she had still won Best Actress at the Cairo Film Festival. Domestically, she'd swept awards like the Huabiao, Huading, Feitian, and Golden Rooster.
"Xiao Jiu, you sing so well. Teach me sometime," said Chen Mei with a smile. "Every time I go to KTV, I can't even get my hands on a mic."
"Sister Mei, your voice is great. If you hadn't gone into acting, I think you'd have made a fantastic singer," Chu Zhi replied seriously. "I mean it. That scream just now proved you've got a strong and bright vocal range."
"Really? I always thought I was just a mic hog," Chen Mei laughed, genuinely pleased.
She was blunt by nature, not fond of empty compliments. But praise backed by something concrete? That, she could accept.
The scenery in this small village in Xishuangbanna was breathtaking. The riverside houses all had "Zhuge Liang hats" for roofs, and all the people walking by were locals. There weren't any tourists in sight.
Chen Mei looked toward the orchards stretching across the far bank and muttered, "Hard work really puts the focus on 'hard.' Farming's no joke."
Her mood shifted as quickly as it had risen. Just a moment ago she'd been talking excitedly about music with Chu Zhi, but now, upon seeing the fruit fields, she fell silent.
Chu Zhi had already read up on how Mushroom House had guests work during their stay. Determined to set an example, he planned to fully embrace the labor — and had quite a few "creative" ideas lined up for it.
The tuk-tuk pulled up to the main road outside Mushroom House. From there, it was a short walk down a smaller path to the entrance.
"Thanks, uncle," Chu Zhi said as he paid the driver.
While Chen Mei had brought two rolling suitcases, Chu Zhi traveled light, with just a backpack containing two books and a change of clothes — summer clothes didn't take up much space.
"Sister Mei, let me help you with those," Chu Zhi offered, reaching for one of the suitcases.
As they passed through the flower fields, the Mushroom House crew heard the puttering engine of the three-wheeler. They leaned against the doorway to look, and Lan Wuyi was the first to spot Chen Mei — the two had known each other for years.
But before he could greet her, a loud scream pierced the air.
"Brother Jiu! It's Brother Jiu!"
The one shouting was none other than Zhou Dakong, who bolted over to greet them.
"Brother Jiu, you're my idol," Zhou Dakong beamed.
To be accurate, Zhou Dakong wasn't a real Little Fruits fan. The true Little Fruits fan was the thunderstruck Tan Lu.
It was really Jiu-yé. Tan Lu's eyes went wide with shock. As a singer-songwriter herself, how could she not admire Chu Zhi?
But her shy personality held her back. She didn't move, only stealing glances in his direction.
Zhou Dakong's reaction, on the other hand, was pure and unfiltered. For him, Chu Zhi was an Asian superstar — especially after he'd stood alone against Adidas. That had earned Zhou's deep respect.
"Could I get your autograph?" was the second thing he said.
"Of course," Chu Zhi nodded with a smile.
It wasn't until Kun Yun nudged her that Tan Lu mustered up the courage to quietly step behind Zhou Dakong and softly greet, "Hello, Teacher Chu. Hello, Teacher Chen."
You couldn't blame Tan Lu. She was naturally introverted. Seeing her idol in person? Her reaction was perfectly normal.
Zhou and Tan were polar opposites. The cheerful Zhou took the suitcase straight from Chu Zhi's hand.
"Brother Jiu, let me carry that for you." Then, realizing the other guest might need help too, he added, "Teacher Chen, I'll take yours too."
"It was Xiao Jiu helping me, both of those are mine," Chen Mei laughed. "I may have overpacked a bit."
"No problem, no problem. I'm strong. Leave them all to me," Zhou Dakong said eagerly.
They followed the little path up to the house. The pets, excited by the new arrivals, leapt and wagged their tails.
Zhou Dakong carried the suitcases into the house first while everyone else exchanged greetings.
"Teacher Lan, Teacher Kun," Chu Zhi greeted politely.
In earlier seasons, there had been some ruckus online about how Lan Wuyi often didn't recognize rising stars. Fans found it unbelievable — How can you not know our idol when you're in the entertainment industry too?
But that logic didn't hold up. At Lan Wuyi's age, the only way for someone to make an impression was through a truly solid body of work.
"Chu Chi— Ode to the Orange Trees is an amazing album. One of the most refreshing things I've heard in recent years," Lan Wuyi said immediately, recalling his signature work.
"Ode to the Orange Tree is brilliant. I've got at least five of its tracks on repeat in my playlist," Kun Yun added. "That call earlier, Mushroom Superhero — that was you, wasn't it? Your film When I Close My Eyes passed 1.5 billion at the box office, if I remember right."
Kun Yun's warmth made it feel like they'd known each other for years, even though they'd just met.