Chapter 90

Chapter 90

An Ye was indeed startled.

At first, when she heard that there were geese at the place where the chickens were to be caught, she became distracted.

Chi Tuo was afraid of geese, and An Ye felt that might be the only thing Chi Tuo was afraid of. When he was about seven or eight, he was chased and bitten by a goose all the way down an alley. He fell while running, and the scar on his knee could still be seen a little bit now. She vaguely remembered that the left side of Chi Tuo’s stomach had been pecked a few times, and it became red and swollen. After they returned, Zhang Rou cried for several days.

During that time, Chi Tuo was in a bad mood.

Afterward, whenever he saw geese, he would avoid them.

Later, when she changed her WeChat name to "Little Goose," he seemed to feel better. When he was in a bad mood, he would buy little goose toys to tease her and cheer himself up with bad goose jokes.

She hadn’t expected that this little village would raise so many geese. As she followed Xie Xiaoling and exchanged jump ropes with the villagers for ingredients, she kept looking in the direction where Chi Tuo and the others were filming.

Then, she heard that something had happened. Someone was chased by the geese and fell into the reservoir.

An Ye’s mind went blank in an instant. Without even greeting anyone, she ran straight in the direction where Chi Tuo and the others were filming.

She didn’t know whether Chi Tuo could swim. At least before he was eighteen, Chi Tuo definitely couldn’t swim.

She started regretting whether she had been too impulsive in accepting this variety show. Chi Tuo had such a bright future, but because of her, she had to take on this unreliable variety show, because she had been slandered and her career had been affected.

Her mind was filled with messy thoughts, but she saw Qi Wei in the crowd.

"Qi Wei!" she called out loudly.

Qi Wei was startled. She rarely heard An Ye speak so loudly. Turning toward the sound, she saw An Ye rushing over like she was flying, out of breath, grabbing her, "Who… who fell into the water?"

Qi Wei had never seen An Ye speak so loudly or so quickly, not even when she had seen a ghost. She froze for half a second before responding, "Zhao… Zhao Pi."

"Where’s Chi Tuo?" An Ye didn’t let go of her. She hadn’t seen Chi Tuo in the crowd.

"He was the first to see Zhao Pi fall in. Not knowing the depth of the water, he jumped in to save him before he could call anyone," Qi Wei seemed to know the situation clearly in the middle of the chaos. "There’s nothing wrong. The on-site doctor checked everything, and he should be showering and changing clothes now."

"That reservoir had just opened the sluice gates a few days ago, and the water left behind was really dirty. But luckily, the water had been released. Otherwise, there would have been a real problem today." Qi Wei saw that An Ye was still looking around, clearly not listening to her, and sighed. "Chi Tuo should have been sent to the main base to shower and change clothes."

That was the building where the staff were staying.

An Ye patted Qi Wei on the shoulder, said nothing, and turned to run.

"Lan Yi Fang, follow her." Qi Wei took all of Lan Yi Fang’s belongings, lowered her voice, and said, "There are reporters on-site, don’t let her rush into the bathroom."

Lan Yi Fang nodded, lowered her head, and ran after An Ye.

Luckily, this girl had been wild growing up, so she wasn’t slower than An Ye. She caught up after a bit of chasing.

Qi Wei looked at their backs, sighed, and turned to continue negotiating with the production team.

Her people had almost had an accident on the show, and she couldn’t let that go without an explanation. It was just right, as she had been seething with anger ever since the production team had openly helped Guan Shengyu cheat.

An Ye quickly found out where Chi Tuo was.

The staff building’s lobby was full of people, both reporters and staff members. As soon as An Ye rushed in, the entire lobby fell silent for a second, and everyone stared at An Ye at the entrance.

An Ye didn’t stop. She went straight upstairs.Chi Tuo was in the bathroom on the second floor, showering and changing clothes.

There was a staff member squatting at the door. Upon seeing An Ye, his bored face instantly turned into a big "O" shape.

An Ye smiled at him. After confirming that Chi Tuo was inside, she knocked on the door.

The staff member, still in a daze, couldn't help but remind her: "Chi Tuo is inside, showering."

Showering, male, fully undressed.

An Ye didn't say anything and knocked twice more, saying, "Chi Tuo."

The sound of water stopped, and Chi Tuo's voice came through: "Hmm."

"Are you injured?" An Ye asked through the door.

"I'm fine." Chi Tuo replied, "Wait a few minutes, I'll be done soon."

An Ye acknowledged.

It wasn’t until now that An Ye finally returned to her usual self.

She still had sweat from all the running earlier on her face, and though her breathing was steady, her eyes were now starting to focus on the other people around.

Downstairs, a group of people were all looking up towards the second floor.

The staff member who had been squatting still hadn't realized he should stand up, and he was still looking up at her, frozen in that position.

Behind her, Lan Yifang, holding her knee and gasping for breath, asked with great concern, "Is Chi Tuo okay?"

"He's fine." An Ye smiled, leaning against the handrail of the second-floor stairs. Only now did she have the time to look at the crowd downstairs.

There were many reporters, all chattering. She had no idea how many photos had been taken of her since she rushed in.

There had already been quite a few reporters invited for the broadcast today, and now with the live stream situation going haywire, the production team must be in chaos trying to maintain order.

"Xiao Lan," An Ye tilted her head and whispered to Lan Yifang, "Go find the PR team. Tell them to take the reporters outside and find a place to settle them. When everyone comes back, it won't be good if the reporters are still here while the production team hasn’t figured out their stance yet."

Qi Wei would definitely cause a scene. Even though Zhao Pi wasn’t a top-tier singer, he had a company and a manager. Not to mention, the second group had the popular idol Lu Yifei. The production team would have to calm everyone down before they could continue filming.

An Ye thought to herself, this is truly a mess.

She should be frustrated. After all, both Guan Shengyu and this variety show were a headache. Especially with Guan Shengyu, if they succeeded, her ten years of hard work in building her reputation would be wasted.

But, after hearing Chi Tuo's steady voice from the bathroom, telling her that he was fine, she felt surprisingly calm.

Maybe it was because her emotions had fluctuated so wildly earlier, she now habitually started viewing herself from a third-person perspective.

She absently watched the reporters downstairs being escorted out of the lobby by the staff, saw the squatting staff member finally realize he should stand up and leave, and listened as Lan Yifang hurriedly told her that the incident where she had rushed into the bathroom and knocked on the door had already hit trending. Qi Wei had also messaged her in the work group, advising her not to take any action for now, otherwise, it would have to be officially announced.

Outside, the atmosphere was chaotic.

But she didn’t feel much about it.

It wasn’t until the door behind her opened that Chi Tuo came out, surrounded by steam. He was wearing a very thin black tank top and the sports pants she had prepared for him—stubbornly choosing a pair with a gray-purple top and dark gray bottom from the colorful options.

His hair was still wet.

There was a scratch on his exposed arm, still red and swollen as he hadn't had the chance to apply medicine yet.He came out frowning, staring directly at An Ye for a moment, then snapped his fingers at her.

"Clear your mind of all that nonsense." He must have rushed out, still carrying the moisture from the shower. The shower gel didn’t have the orange scent from home, but rather a slightly undesirable, cheap powdery fragrance. However, when combined with the steam from Chi Tuo's body, it became a bit ambiguous.

An Ye was jolted back to her senses by the subtle, suggestive scent, stunned: "What?"

"You're spaced out." Chi Tuo glanced downstairs, then flicked her earlobe, a smile appearing on his face.

He was afraid she might be overthinking. The moment he saw her expression when he came out, he realized she probably had been.

But she snapped back to reality quickly.

"Did you run over here? Your face is all sweaty." After confirming An Ye was okay, Chi Tuo went back to the bathroom to grab the towel from the suitcase and started drying his hair.

Chi Tuo’s motion was a bit rough as he pulled the towel tight and began slapping it against his short hair, droplets of water flying everywhere. An Ye stepped back a little.

"What's wrong with your arm?" An Ye didn’t answer the obvious question.

Chi Tuo’s slightly gruff movements finally made her realize the main focus when he first came out.

"Dodging the geese..." Chi Tuo looked at An Ye with an indescribable expression, gesturing, "They were huge, eight of them."

An Ye: "..."

She suddenly felt like laughing.

"...If Qi Wei saw us standing here on the second floor laughing, she’d come at us with a knife." An Ye rubbed her forehead, finally fully recovering.

All those negative emotions that had suddenly surged were gone, replaced by the memory of Chi Tuo’s eight geese.

It was tragic. It wasn't even a multiple of three.

"Did a lot of people see you run over just now?" Chi Tuo was quick to react.

"Downstairs was full of reporters, so the photo of me almost rushing into the bathroom probably already hit the trending list." An Ye shook her head. She hadn’t checked her phone, so she didn’t know what the situation was like now. "But everything’s a mess now, and Qi Wei hasn’t thought about silencing anyone for the moment."

Chi Tuo smiled and started getting dressed after wiping his hair halfway dry.

"Aren’t you going to apply medicine?" An Ye entered the bathroom and grabbed the sports clothes he was about to put on. "Is there anywhere else you’re hurt besides your arm?"

"My foot twisted a little." Chi Tuo never hides things like this from An Ye. "But the doctor in our team applied some ice before I took a shower, so it doesn’t hurt now."

"Wasn’t the water cold? Was there no staff responsible for safety around? Why did you have to take off your clothes and jump in?" An Ye had fully snapped back to her senses now. All the dark, negative energy in her mind earlier could now be turned into words. "Can you swim well?"

Luckily, the water wasn’t deep.

What if it had been deeper?

"At the time, there really was no one around." Chi Tuo looked at her, paused for a moment, then didn’t continue explaining.

An Ye wasn’t really complaining, just venting her frustration.

But there was one thing Chi Tuo still emphasized: "I can swim. I worked as a lifeguard at a pool when I was in Singapore."

An Ye: "...Oh."

An Ye: "I can swim too, I had to learn it for a role."

"Yeah, I know, you even got your diving license." Chi Tuo replied casually, lowering his head as he looked at An Ye still holding onto his clothes. "If there are still reporters downstairs, this picture of us right now should be enough for an official announcement."The sportswear doesn't look great, the color is too bright.

"No more reporters." An Ye took a step back. "Don’t put on your clothes yet, I’ll go get some iodine to disinfect your wound."

"Also, bring me the ginger tea the doctor made. It's in the thermos you gave me. I’m afraid I’ll catch a cold tomorrow." Chi Tuo sat on the toilet lid, having put it down.

"...Are you drinking here?" An Ye glared at him.

"Otherwise, should I go down wearing this?" Chi Tuo tugged at his tank top.

An Ye closed her mouth. She realized that the black tank top was very... muscular.

She also realized that when she was feeling off, Chi Tuo’s masculine charm worked wonders.

In this chaotic situation, the only thing she needed to do now was to go downstairs to get iodine and ginger tea. It felt very strange.

Like in the midst of chaos, there was a constant endpoint.

The iodine for disinfection was quickly brought up. Qi Wei was still downstairs, arguing with the program team, and beside her was Zhao Pi's agent, who had red eyes. An Ye exchanged a glance with Qi Wei before heading back upstairs.

Chi Tuo was still in the same position, elbows resting on his knees, his long legs cramped in the small bathroom, uncomfortably curled up.

An Ye walked over, pulled his arm over, and skillfully started disinfecting and applying the medicine.

Chi Tuo used to do this kind of thing often. Later, when An Ye had some small scratches while filming and didn’t want to make a big deal out of it by seeing a doctor, she learned to take care of it herself. Over time, she became quite skilled at it.

For a while, neither of them spoke.

After a moment, An Ye asked softly, "How did you know I was thinking all those messy things just now?"

"Because I sometimes think like that too." Chi Tuo’s voice was soft as well.

An Ye looked up at him.

He lowered his eyes and smiled at her.

Just then, Qi Wei, who had just finished discussing the trending search issue with the team, saw this scene and quietly stepped back.

She had already instructed her team to prepare for an official announcement at any time.

Neither of them knew, but when they looked at each other, there was no space for outsiders to intervene. The outside noise, rumors, and bad reviews didn’t seem to be much of a problem for them.

Not to mention a Guān Shèngyù, even if the entire Huànzhòu company were between them, it wouldn’t stop them.

Three hours after the incident, the program team finally released an announcement.

They started with the most sincere apology to all the participating guests, explaining the reason for having both chickens and geese in the same place. They also mentioned that the reservoir had just opened its gates a few days ago, and the team had tested the water. The deepest part of the water was only 1.6 meters, so they decided to open up the geese area.

They also updated the public on the condition of the participants, stating that most had minor scratches from branches, which had been treated immediately. Aside from that, everyone was in good condition, and after active discussions with the guests and their agencies, the decision was made to continue the program.

To make up for the hour lost during the live broadcast, the program would air a pre-recorded one-hour cooking session of the guests at 10 PM tonight as compensation, and the guessing game would continue as usual.

The program team also guaranteed that they would be more careful and cautious and would not allow something like this to happen again.

After the announcement was made, Zhao Pi was the first to share it.

He said the incident was his fault, mainly because the chicken bites hurt too much, and he attached a crying emoji.Then it was Lü Yīfēi, whose fans are numerous and influential. He didn’t say much but posted a photo of himself getting ready to kill the chicken.

Next was Yáo Ruò, also posting a photo, showing a group of people gathered around the third person, watching him prepare and chop vegetables.

At 10 PM, the recorded cooking broadcast reached a new high in viewership.

Zhao Pi's agent chose silence in the face of such traffic. Out of the five participating guests, only Qi Wei stood firm, demanding that the program team disclose all the venue and process arrangements after the public announcement, and guarantee that there would be no blatant cheating like during the live broadcast.

Chi Tuo added supplementary clauses to the performance contract, and the matter was only resolved in the early hours of the morning.

"Aren’t you worried about offending people?" Zhao Pi's agent asked Qi Wei.

"Worried." Qi Wei smiled. "But if the price is right, offending them is just part of it."

If a few hours of negotiations today could bring four days of surface fairness, then it was worth it.

Her artist didn’t ask for much—just a simple wish that any normal person would have: peace, health, and a lifetime with one person.

Anyone who tries to interfere with even such a simple wish deserves to be offended.

Because people like that don’t go far.

They are too greedy, constantly looking around, and are easily tripped up along the way.