Chapter Eleven: Mission Complete

Originally, among the four teams, Lu Zhiming's group had the warmest atmosphere.

But not long ago, three livestreams suddenly showed identical scenes.

Yu Tang, accompanied by Shen Tianshi, once again huffed and puffed her way over to Lu Zhiming's team. Xiao Yufei and Xie Yi, having finished their task with Yu Tang's help, eagerly followed her to join the fun.

Chen Cheng saw Yu Tang pick up a fishing rod and was a bit surprised, gently asking, "Tang Tang? Why are you here? Have you finished your task?"

Yu Tang, searching for bait, replied, "Yes, we're done."

"That aside, where's your bait?"

Chen Cheng looked up at Yu Tang and shook her head softly. "We don't have any bait."

Yu Tang's face twisted in confusion. "??"

"Then what are you fishing for?"

Chen Cheng obediently raised her rod for Yu Tang to see.

Ah… Like the ancient fisherman waiting for a willing fish.

Yu Tang glanced around.

"Where are your staff?"

"What staff? We don't have any either."

Yu Tang fell silent. With nothing at all, how was anyone supposed to play?

Each group should have its own hidden task. If there's no one to issue the task, perhaps it's up to the members to discover and solve it themselves.

And it seemed their hidden task was to find bait.

Yu Tang thought deeply as Shen Tianshi stood awkwardly nearby, holding a basket of freshly picked corn.

From the corner of her eye, Yu Tang noticed the corn in Shen Tianshi's hands.

She beckoned him over. "Come here."

Shen Tianshi, delighted to be called by Yu Tang, went to her with a grin.

Just as he was feeling happy, Yu Tang skipped right past him and bent down to rummage through the corn.

"Let's use corn. It can serve as bait."

Had it not been for this coincidence, Yu Tang might have thought the production team had deliberately set this up, waiting for them to use corn every now and then.

Meanwhile, off-camera, the production team was speechless.

Who told Yu Tang that corn kernels could be used as bait?!

What about the tasks and activities they had painstakingly prepared? Did this count as diligence?

The assistant director, seeing this, fell silent as well, walking over to the director. "Director, do we still need to bring out our NPC?"

The director stared at the monitor, fuming, "Bring them out? Bring out what? Forget it!"

He knew Yu Tang's group would cause trouble!

Yu Tang selected some corn from the basket and shelled them.

She affixed the kernels to the fishhook.

With deliberate action, she sat down and cast her line into the pond.

Everyone watched her closely.

"Will this work?" Xiao Yufei doubted.

Yu Tang glared at her. "Don't doubt me!"

No sooner had she spoken than the hook showed signs of being bitten.

Yu Tang curled her lips into a smile.

She quickly reeled in her line.

Oh my, a large grass carp had bitten the hook.

"Whoa, it really worked?!"

Xiao Yufei's eyes went wide.

"I told you not to doubt me! Come on, hurry up, everyone grab a rod and join in," Yu Tang called out cheerfully.

For reasons unknown, everyone instinctively followed Yu Tang's lead.

By the time they realized what they were doing, they were all lined up in an impressive row.

[Yu Tang is surprisingly clever, coming up with this.]
[Come on, don’t overpraise—this isn’t exactly genius, just basic common sense.]
[But honestly, I never knew corn could be used as bait.]
[Am I the only one who thinks Yu Tang is super enthusiastic? She’s always running around.]
[But she never went to help Zhou Ziheng’s team.]
[Well, when Xiang Youran showed up, he was so passive-aggressive—good thing no one cursed at him.]
[Play your own game, don’t drag us Youran fans into this, thanks.]

Outside, the director watched Yu Tang turn her own task into a mission for everyone.

His face darkened in helpless fury. "Who suggested giving Yu Tang a hidden task?! Whoever did, no more suggestions next time!"

With everyone pitching in, this group managed to finish their task within the allotted time.

The director looked gloomily at the only livestream where Zhou Ziheng's group hadn’t completed their task.

The teams returned one by one to the Heartbeat Cottage.

Yu Tang, delighted, held her task card stamped with completion.

She waved it around, placing it here and there.

"Hey? What’s this? Oh, it’s my task card for after I finished the mission."

"Wow, it’s so hot—let me use my task card to fan myself."

Yu Tang wandered about, starting from Xiao Yufei, passing by Lu Zhiming, and finally brushing past Zhou Ziheng and his team, who smelled strongly of chicken droppings.

When Yu Tang bounced over to Zhou Ziheng, she paused.

She immediately covered her nose with her task card. "Oh my, what’s that smell? It’s awful! I have to use my completed task card to block it!"

For once, Zhou Ziheng felt a twinge of embarrassment upon hearing this.

His fair face flushed red, and he called Yu Tang’s name in exasperation, "Yu Tang!"

Yu Tang snapped to attention instinctively. "Present!"

[Extra reward triggered: Zhou Ziheng, once annoyed by your persistent pursuit, now calls your name with unexpected affection. It seems your relationship has greatly improved.]
[Reward: Michelin three-star culinary skills.]
[Reward distribution in progress, complete.]

Yu Tang froze.

She listened to the system’s voice in her mind, a question mark hovering above her head.

Was that tone really so tender? If so, then many people must be deeply in love with her.

Zhou Ziheng had no idea what was happening with Yu Tang; he just saw her suddenly lost in thought and assumed she was pondering something.

He stepped forward again.

The smell of chicken droppings wafted over. Yu Tang, still not recovered, instinctively took two steps back.

When she realized what was happening, her face wrinkled into a bitter gourd.

"Come on, man, go take a shower! You’re standing here smelling like that—who are you trying to gross out?!"

As soon as she said this, Shen Tianshi burst into laughter, doubling over and quickly chimed in, "Exactly, stinky tofu!"

Then he dashed over to Yu Tang’s side, looking at her with puppy-like devotion. "Tang Tang, I’m right, aren’t I? They’re just stinky tofu."

Seeing Shen Tianshi’s sycophantic behavior, Zhou Ziheng nearly fainted from rage.

Did they think he didn’t want to change clothes?! He didn’t even have spare clothes!

His suitcase had been taken by the production team when he arrived.

[Don’t slander stinky tofu, thanks!]
[Zhou Ziheng is so pitiful, he seems so aggrieved.]
[Why does everyone bully Zhou Ziheng? Is it because he’s not popular enough? It’s all our fault.]
[Stop pitying Zhou Ziheng—this is his job, maybe he’s even happy to do it.]
[After watching for so long, Xiang Youran really is a good guy.]
[Yu Tang is so baffling—doesn’t she realize that after hanging out in a chicken coop, she’ll smell like chicken droppings? It’s normal, okay?!]

As the online debates raged, the production team finally issued a statement.

"Congratulations to all the guests for completing their tasks and returning to our Heartbeat Cottage."