"What are you doing?"
the director roared, then strode over, pulling away the hands others had placed on Yang Haolin while shouting, "Let go! Let go of me! Look at the state of yourselves!" Where is your
morality? Where is your bottom line?
Xu Gui had already been pushed to the back by the later arrivals. Standing at the back of the crowd, he watched the director squeeze into the group like a sardine, shoving everyone aside.
The people being pulled apart cried out, "Hey, director, what are you doing?"
"What am I doing? I should be asking you what you're doing!" The director rolled his eyes and said irritably, "This is a serious program, don't mess around here..."
The director told everyone to disperse, and the group reluctantly left. Only then did the director notice that there were even a few cleaning ladies from the hotel among them... No wonder there were so many people.
"The director's so petty! It's not like he was touching his muscles, what's he getting so worked up about?"
"Yeah, I bet the director's just jealous that the cameraman's muscles are better developed than his!"—I forgot to mention, the director is also a workout fanatic; his muscles are incredibly defined, often making it seem like he could punch several people at once.
"Hey, but that guy's muscles are really firm, they feel really nice to touch!"
"Right..."
Whispers drifted from the dispersing crowd. Hearing them, the director was incredulous: Ha, I'm jealous that his muscles are better developed than mine? Do I need to be jealous?
The director gave Yang Haolin a forced smile, and Yang Haolin immediately looked away guiltily. The director glared at him resentfully, his eyes filled with disappointment.
...
Fortunately, despite some initial setbacks, Xu Gui's program still officially premiered on schedule.
At 9 PM, everything was ready. The previously dark official live stream room of "360 Trades" gradually lit up amidst the anticipation of countless netizens. The moment the show started, a dense barrage of comments instantly covered the entire live stream screen, its popularity soaring far ahead of other variety shows, leaving viewers envious.
[It's here! It's finally here! We've waited so long, it's finally starting! Hooray!]
[Ahhh, I see my idol! Two months have passed, and he's still so handsome!]
[Every guest looks great! Is that Su Ya? She looks so much prettier than before!]
[I also see my Xiao Gui! Wow, Xiao Gui's image seems much better than before! Although she's still the same person, she seems brighter overall? Is this the embodiment of "dazzling"?] [
I wanted to say this before, but Xinghai really doesn't value Xiaogui much. During the last shoot, Xiaogui appeared completely without makeup, but her skin is so good! Even without makeup, it looks better than my skin with makeup—clear, radiant, and rosy. It's so enviable! So, really, no one wants to hire Xiaogui to endorse skincare products? They'd definitely sell out!]
[Not only that, the clothes and shoes Xiaogui wore before were visibly cheap street vendor items. This time, at least she's had some makeup and styling done. Is Xinghai finally starting to treat us better? Stop letting Xiaogui run wild?]
[Insider information: Xinghai has changed Xu Gui's manager. This manager is very influential in the industry and has completely changed Xu Gui's team. Xu Gui isn't the same Xu Gui anymore.]
[If that's true! That's great! Xinghai has finally shown some respect. I'll refrain from criticizing them too much from now on!] The
live stream chat was overflowing with comments; a quick glance was overwhelming, making it difficult to know where to begin.
Each of the ten guests had their own fans, who naturally focused their conversations on their favorites. Xu Gui's fans were among them, quite a few in number, with several prominently featured as "God Turtle" (a nickname for Xu Gui).
As Xu Gui's fans, they noticed her different look today; she had clearly had a makeover, looking much more beautiful and glamorous than before.
Especially noteworthy was her clothing, specially provided by *fashion* magazine—they had sent her a lot of clothes after the last photoshoot.
After the show started, the director, as usual, said a few words at the beginning and then announced the new rules for this episode.
Compared to the first episode, the rules for the second episode had changed again; the production team had introduced a points system.
Everyone was bewildered: "Points?"
"Hahaha, aren't you all curious about what these points are all about?" The director smiled, his smile appearing incredibly sinister to everyone. He said, "For every hundred yuan the guests earn, they get one point. And these points are what you need to survive each day..."
"The resources you need for daily life in the hotel, such as your room, your daily food, etc., all have to be exchanged for points!"
According to the director, the rule was actually quite simple: you needed points to live in the hotel. However, there were some more detailed regulations.
For example, the production team divided the hotel rooms into three categories: superior, mid-range, and inferior. Superior rooms were naturally the best, the hotel's most luxurious suites; mid-range rooms were large standard rooms; and inferior rooms…
Everyone looked at the photos on the projection screen, silently glancing at the beaming director.
"Director, are you using the hotel's dormitories?" someone couldn't help but ask.
The "lower-class" rooms were actually six-person dorm rooms. Although they looked very tidy in the photos, the space was cramped, and the beds were bunk beds, instantly reminding one of high school dormitories.
The director exclaimed, then smiled broadly, "If you don't want to stay in rooms like this, then work hard to earn money and try to upgrade to a standard room... However, upgrading to a standard room requires 20,000 points."
One hundred yuan equals one point, 20,000 points equals two million... That's not money you can earn in a day! In other words, the guests were basically confirmed to stay here for the first day.
The director sighed, seemingly genuinely, and said, "It's not that I wanted to do this, but I consulted the viewers. Everyone thinks you've been too comfortable before and demands we increase the difficulty! Otherwise, they won't watch our show!"
"Our production team is just responding to everyone's requests,"
the director said matter-of-factly.
The viewers in the live stream: ?? Who are you talking about?! Who are "everyone"? Are you talking about us?
[Slander! It's all slander! We didn't make that request!] [
Insidious, so incredibly insidious! The guests probably won't believe his nonsense, right?]
[Uh, it seems like the guests actually believe him...]
...
The viewers in the live stream were furious. Now, looking at the director's smile, they felt it was truly sinister.
"By the way, your goal this time is one hundred million!" The director smiled and held up one finger. "Whoever is the first to earn one hundred million will be the ultimate winner!"
"If no one earns 100 million by the end of the show, then our production team regretfully declares that everyone has failed the challenge, there are no winners, and therefore no one will receive the winner's prize!"
The director's bombshell statement left the guests reeling.
"Wait, director, is your production team treating us like enemies?" one guest couldn't help but ask. "Earn 100 million in a month? Aren't you overestimating us?"
He hadn't yet said: if they really could earn 100 million in a month, they wouldn't be on this show; they'd be at home already.
Seeing the guests' restlessness and apparent dissatisfaction, the director gestured downwards, saying, "Everyone, calm down. Let me finish. I haven't finished speaking yet… A goal of one hundred million is indeed an impossible goal we've set!"
"For the guests, this is indeed a huge challenge. Therefore, whoever completes this challenge automatically wins the competition."
The director looked at everyone, "However, if no one achieves this goal, don't worry. After filming, the first-place winner will still receive the reward we promised!"
After the director's explanation, everyone finally understood the production team's meaning.
The reward promised by the production team for first place remained unchanged; only the production team added another challenge—the challenge of "earning one hundred million."
This was a virtually impossible challenge, so the reward offered to the challenger was extremely generous.
"...Whoever succeeds in this challenge will not only receive a reward of 100 million yuan, but also sponsorship from twenty brands and become their spokesperson! Of course, if you don't want the endorsement, the brands can directly convert the endorsement fee into cash!"
As the director spoke, the names of twenty brands appeared on the projection screen. At a glance, many of the guests held their breath.
"...That's BA, wow! That's a big brand!"
"Not just BA, there's also YL, and even Denla... These are all globally renowned luxury brands!!!" "Is
the production team going all out this time?"
"Ahhh, if I could complete this challenge, I can't even imagine how happy I would be!"
...
The guests had no objections to the production team's arrangements. After all, while the "earn 100 million yuan" challenge seemed crazy, the rewards offered by the production team were also incredibly generous.
Leaving aside the 100 million yuan prize from the show, just look at the twenty sponsoring brands… a glance reveals they are all well-known brands, including many high-end luxury brands. So, if anyone could complete this challenge, even just the endorsement fees would be enough to achieve instant financial freedom and become a millionaire.
Of course, choosing to be a brand ambassador would be even more remarkable—an endorsement from so many famous brands…
Thinking about this, countless people felt their breath catch in their throats.
The director, seeing the guests' reactions, was satisfied and smiled, "Well then, good luck to everyone! I hope some of you can earn 100 million yuan within a month and complete this impossible challenge!"
After the director finished speaking, the official live stream ended. The viewers in the live stream, seeing the now-blacked-out chat room, were somewhat in an uproar and immediately began heated discussions online.
[My god, the show "360 Trades" is truly insane! The challenges set for the guests are insane, and the rewards for success are insane!]
[Whoever succeeds in the challenge will see their net worth skyrocket!] [I feel like this could make me a top-tier star overnight!]
[Watching the live stream today, my reaction was: after hearing the director's initial words, I thought, "Has the production team gone mad?"; after hearing the director's subsequent words, I thought, "The production team really has gone mad!!"]
[I had heard from industry insiders that Hunan TV made a lot of money from this show, which is incredibly enviable. Other shows have production teams begging for sponsors, but with "360 Trades," sponsors are begging the production team. So, for this episode, quite a few sponsors approached us, but I didn't expect so many, and all of them are big brands.]
[Whoever can complete this challenge will instantly become a winner in life!]
[Earning 100 million in a month, even without this reward, would already make someone a winner in life, right?]
[Everyone, calm down. The reason the production team is offering such a generous reward is because this challenge is basically impossible! Earning 100 million in a month is simply an impossible challenge!] "
That's true. Earning 100 million a month? I wouldn't even dare to dream of doing that!"
After the initial discussion, netizens gradually calmed down, realizing that the challenge arranged by the production team was simply impossible. Since it couldn't be completed, the so-called rewards were just castles in the air, unattainable.
However, the challenge did bring the production team a huge amount of buzz. Currently, the show "360 Trades" occupies several trending topics on Weibo, making other production teams incredibly envious.
Meanwhile, at the hotel, Xu Gui and his ten guests were also discussing the "100 million" challenge.
As the discussion progressed, their heated discussions gradually subsided, and they realized that the challenge set by the production team was simply impossible for them to complete. Who could earn 100 million a month?
If they had that ability, would they still be standing here? They would already be trillionaires!
Thinking this way, the guests became even more level-headed. However, this obviously didn't include Xu Gui, whose eyes were practically glowing.
She thought, if she could achieve this challenge, wouldn't she be closer to her goal of building the world's number one amusement park? This business seemed like a sure thing!
Xu Gui made her decision, clenching her fist and saying, "I've decided, my goal this month is to earn 100 million!"
Kuang Ming, who had just heard her statement, said, "...On the premise that you can actually earn that 100 million!"
He admitted that Xu Gui was very good at making money with her unique "profession," but she had to understand that it was 100 million a month, not 100 or 10 million. Even the richest man in the country wouldn't dare to guarantee that he could earn 100 million in a month on this show.
So...
"Instead of 100 million, you should earn 2 million first, and move from the six-person dormitory to a standard room!" he said.
Xu Gui came back to her senses and said, "Of course, I'll go make money now!"
At this moment, her desire to make money was too intense, so after putting her suitcase in the six-person room, Xu Gui hurriedly took Yuan Lu and her cameraman Yang Haolin and left.
She wanted to make money, her goal was to earn 100 million!
At this moment, the other guests were doing similar things to Xu Gui; everyone was eager to go out and make money. After putting down their luggage, they all rushed out, some even faster than Xu Gui. Therefore, Xu Gui's behavior wasn't strange among them.
Kuang Ming was a little worried and couldn't help but give Xu Gui a few instructions before letting them leave.
After leaving the hotel, Yang Haolin turned on the live stream equipment. Xu Gui's fans were already waiting in the live stream room. Seeing that all the other guests' live streams were open, but Xu Gui's wasn't, the fans were getting a little anxious.
Fortunately, Xu Gui's live stream was finally open.
[Here it comes! Wow, it feels like it's been ages since I've seen Xiao Gui! Is this what they mean by "a day apart feels like three autumns"?]
[Xiao Gui looks much better than before, and her skin still looks so good, truly "flawless" skin, white and tender, and even a little pink! Ah! She's so cute, even the mom fans are screaming!]
[Of all the celebrities I've watched, I still like Xiao Gui's live stream the most. Here, it feels like coming home.]
[Haha, Xu Gui is live, which means I'll have some fun again! My go-to entertainment for work and meals!]
[Actually, Xu Gui could have continued livestreaming after the show ended. I see other guests livestreaming every few days, but Xu Gui only did it once in two months, just two days ago. What's she doing?!] [
So, where is Xiao Gui going? Is she going back to her fortune-telling stall under the overpass?]
...
The livestream chat was lively, but Xu Gui didn't pay attention to it for the time being.
She thought about whether to continue setting up her fortune-telling stall under the overpass like before, but she always felt that she couldn't make much money there.
Xu Gui stroked her chin: So, should we change the location?
Suddenly, she had a flash of inspiration, picked up her phone, and sent a message to a friend. Soon, the other party replied. Xu Gui looked at the address the other party sent and immediately said, "It's decided, we'll go here today!"
An hour later, Xu Gui and her car arrived at their destination smoothly, a residential area called [Peony Garden].
The residential complex is named Peony Garden because it houses a century-old peony king. When the complex was built, the developer purchased this peony king from a family at a high price and planted it in the center of the complex.
It is said that this peony king is over 800 years old, and every year when it blooms, it creates a magnificent and beautiful spectacle, truly a national treasure.
Because of this peony king, all the greenery in Peony Garden is planted with peonies, and new varieties are added every year, resulting in an extremely complete range of peony species. Every spring, the peonies throughout the complex bloom in competition, truly a peony paradise, making the name "Peony Garden" truly fitting.
In recent years, Peony Garden has become famous, and more and more people know about it, so every spring countless people try to find ways to come and take photos.
Unfortunately, this is a residential complex, not a tourist attraction. The only way to enter is to buy a house here, but the house prices are exceptionally high; to buy a house here, you need to start at hundreds of millions.
However, the harder something is to obtain, the more curious people become. The more mysterious the Peony Garden is, the better its reputation becomes, attracting countless people. It's quite famous.
Many people in Xu Gui's livestream knew of the Peony Garden's existence, and were puzzled to see her there.
[Why isn't Xu Gui setting up her fortune-telling stall at the Peony Garden?]
[Peony Garden? Is it some kind of peony flower base?]
[Peony Garden isn't a flower base! Although it has more peony varieties than those so-called peony bases, it's definitely a residential area.]
[Haha, you guys are making a big fuss about this. A residential area, built like a tourist attraction. I thought I could get in with a ticket.]
[I heard the Peony Garden has very strict security, with security guards patrolling all the time. Non-residents can't get in. What's Xu Gui doing here?] The netizens
had just said, "Non-residents can't even get in," when Xu Gui's car arrived at the entrance of the Peony Garden and drove in smoothly.
Netizens: ???
[Does Xu Gui live here?]
Xu Gui certainly didn't live here, but she had a friend who did. Before coming, she gave them their license plate number, which the friend then gave to the gatekeeper. After the gatekeeper entered the number, Xu Gui's car naturally entered smoothly. Once
inside, the person standing at the gate quickly approached.
"Fu Xia!"
"Xu Gui!"
Xu Gui opened the car door, and Fu Xia, who was standing outside, immediately climbed in. The two friends, who had only seen each other yesterday, happily hugged each other again, as if they hadn't seen each other for ten days or half a month.
Fu Xia glanced at the live stream camera, then looked at Xu Gui and said, "Why did you suddenly come to find me? You're filming right now, is this okay?"
Xu Gui replied, "It's okay, I came to find you for work!"
Fu Xia was puzzled.
Xu Gui thought for a moment, then said tactfully, "Aren't all the people living in your neighborhood very wealthy? I think some of them must need my help, so I came here specifically to help them out!"
"As long as they're willing to pay me a tiny bit of money!"
She held out her hand, gesturing for a tiny amount.
It could be said that Xu Gui's words were somewhat tactful, but not tactful enough; her meaning was immediately clear. Fu Xia instantly understood—Xu Gui was here to "make a fortune" and "rip off the big spenders."
"I introduced you to an uncle before, and you refused," Fu Xia brought up the matter.
Xu Gui said, "Times have changed!" The situation was completely different now.
"I want to make a fortune now!" she said.
Fu Xia had watched the program's previous live broadcast and instantly understood Xu Gui's meaning. She blinked and asked, "You want to challenge the program's 'one hundred million' goal?"
Xu Gui nodded.
Fu Xia pondered, "...That won't be easy." Even her family couldn't guarantee a net profit of one hundred million a month.
"It's okay…" Xu Gui said.
Actually, she really wanted to say, "I'm sure I can achieve this goal," but remembering what Kuang Ming had said, she chose to be modest, saying humbly, "I'll try my best. Maybe I'll get lucky and succeed?"
Anyway, without effort, it definitely wouldn't succeed.
Hearing this, Fu Xia nodded in agreement, "That's true."
"Besides, that's why I came to find you," Xu Gui added.
She had a good plan. Fu Xia's neighborhood was full of wealthy people, and many of them would definitely need her help. They could certainly contribute to her money-making scheme.
Thinking of this, a sly glint flashed in Xu Gui's eyes.
She was truly a cunning and clever turtle! She had actually come up with such a brilliant plan.
Xu Gui thought proudly.