IPCFS: Chapter 104 Part 2

The trio was forced to hand over their phones as required by the show.

Before Ji Li could put his phone in the box, a video call arrived.

“I need to answer this call to report my safety to my family.”

Ji Li saw the caller ID and quickly turned off the headset. He ran to a small corner on the side to answer his phone.

“Hey, Qin Yue.”

“Li Bao, are you recording at the airport?” Qin Yue saw the nervousness in his lover’s eyes and slightly restrained his tone. “Where are you going?”

“Liangzhou. The specific location wasn’t mentioned.”

Ji Li glanced at the director group filled with chicken thieves and coughed. “I have to hand over my phone for money.”

Qin Yue frowned. “What do you mean? I have to break contact with you for the next three days of recording?”

“Yes, that should be the case.” Ji Li felt that the upcoming unknown journey was full of bad luck.

He looked at his lover, whom he hadn’t seen for a long time, and instinctively softened his tone. “I feel that I am in a den of thieves, and I am about to be sold.”

“This show is my investment. If they are a den of thieves, then I am the head of the den of thieves. It seems that you have fallen into my palm.”

“Nonsense. Are you almost finished?”

Ji Li gave a low laugh and hurried to chat with his lover.

He didn’t know that there were female writers on the opposite side discussing him in whispers.

“Was I blind just now? There was the character ‘Yue’ on the call display of Ji Li’s phone, right?”

“Oh my god! Could it be a phone call with Brother Yue?”

“Ah, stop talking! My CP brain is about to go out of control!”

The three of them were deeply hidden Chinese Rose CP fans. They were waiting for Ji Li and Brother Yu to distribute sugar offline during the recording of this reality show!

Of course, they still had the ethics of staff members and were concerned about the future star path of their idols, so they definitely wouldn’t talk about the recording of this show.

They suppressed the excitement in their eyes and kept glancing at Ji Li.

Ah, it must be a phone call with Brother Yue!

Why else would he be smiling so sweetly? Pink bubbles were about to burst into the sky!

Yuan Yifei saw this and had to cover for his friend. “Ji Li, the time limit is almost over.”

Ji Li heard this and quickly lowered his voice to say goodbye to Qin Yue. Then he rushed back.

As a result, he was completely stunned when he saw the box containing the phones.

One, two, three, four—four phones?

“The Third Young Lady lives up to her name and brought three mobile phones alone,” Yuan Yifei teased.

“What is your one phone worth? I can exchange more money for my three phones.” Ji Yunqi shot back.

Ji Li smiled and quickly handed over his phone.

There were five mobile phones. The group of directors found their ‘conscience’ and gave them 10 yuan.

Ji Li held their meager travel funds and fell into deep thought.

If the amount of travel expenses was determined by their destination, where were they going?

Yuan Yifei also felt bad. On the side, Ji Yunqi realized the same and started to feel guilty.

“…Don’t worry. Perhaps it is just a pretense by the director team.”

Pretense?

That didn’t exist.

Two hours by plane, two hours by bus and one hour by mountain car.

It was almost dark by the time they arrived at their destination.

“Baa～～～”

The trio looked at the old farmers passing by with sheep and then at the muddy path on the ground. They collectively fell into a rigid silence.

From the city to the countryside, from the countryside to the mountains, was this a poor travel show?

It was a completely deformed show!

Ji Yunqi had never been to such a place, and now he couldn’t even wear his cool sunglasses.

“You calculated your fortune with a master?”

“Give us a good start?”

“Ji Yunqi, you have poisonous hands!”

Yuan Yifei’s words became more heart-wrenching, and he almost wanted to leave on the spot.

Ji Li was dumbfounded. He finally understood why the program team was so ‘stingy.’

In this place, they might not be able to even spend 10 yuan.

Ji Yunqi swallowed nervously and quickly raised a hand in protest. “Director, I want to see the playback of the dart result at that time!”

“You can check, but it’ll cost you 1 yuan.” Chen Xiaoyun was a good director, but he had somehow become a profiteer.

“I run a small business, an honest business.”

“……” I believe in your evil.

Ji Yunqi didn’t give up and spent 1 yuan to check the result of his thrown dart.

The program team hadn’t cheated them. He had indeed won first place.

The destination was Liangzhou, Qin Mountain Pass.

“This is an excellent area for outdoor adventures and sightseeing. There is Yuncheng in the west and Sichuan City in the north. They are all well-known cities for tourism.”

There was a reason why the program team chose this place.

It was a big country with countless beautiful scenery.

The tourist cities were always crowded with people and weren’t conducive to filming. It was also a bit similar and boring.

The beautiful scenery of Liangzhou definitely wasn’t lacking compared to the neighboring provinces, but its development was relatively slow. It was easy for it to be ignored by the public when choosing to travel.

Of course, tonight was just the beginning.

The real beauty and humanity would officially begin tomorrow.

“Okay, I will ask our three guests to carry their luggage. The program team has prepared a cabin for you!”

“Let’s go. We’re already here.” Ji Li’s mentality wasn’t bad, so he picked up his suitcase and walked first.

Yuan Yifei glanced at the surrounding environment and silently followed.

Ji Yunqi had been pampered since he was a child. When had he ever been to such a place? He looked down at his brand new limited edition sneakers and almost cried.

However, this was the travel destination that he selected with a smile. It had to be finished even if he cried.

A cool guy never gave up easily!

Ji Yunqi carried the suitcase and followed.

Fortunately, the program team still had a conscience, and the house prepared for them was fairly clean and tidy.

“The three of you have worked hard. The program team has prepared local specialties for everyone. The price is 1 yuan, 2 yuan, or 3 yuan. Please choose.”

Ji Li touched the huge amount of wealth in his pocket—a full 9 yuan.

The three of them stared at the cash on the table and fell into a weird discussion again.

“Save some money?”

“It doesn’t save much, right?”

“Is 1 yuan enough to eat?”

“3 yuan is too extravagant, right?”

The staff members tried very hard to suppress their smiles.

Usually, celebrities traveled in a grand manner. Now they were so tight on money that they had to discuss whether to spend 1 yuan or 3 yuan?

This contrast would probably go on the hot search once it was aired.

The three of them discussed it for a while before finally deciding to spend 2 yuan, which was quite satisfactory.

They believed that the director team wouldn’t be very cruel. No matter what, they should still be fed!

Facts proved it.

There was enough to have a full meal, but the cruelty was also there.

They exchanged a bunch of raw potatoes and raw sweet potatoes for 2 yuan.

Ji Yunqi suspected that this was a prank show. “Can we eat like this?”

“We have prepared seasonings for you in the kitchen. Since this is your first trip, we won’t charge you for it.”

I thank you.

Ji Yunqi vaguely muttered. He obviously felt that the team of directors weren’t human.

Ji Li patted the shoulders of his friends and took the lead to head to the kitchen with the ingredients.

This time, he was the one dumbfounded.

It was an earthen stove.

The type where they had to make their own fire.

Ji Li was originally a novice cook, let alone when faced with this primitive stove.

As for Ji Yunqi, the young master—they definitely couldn’t count on him.

“Let me start the fire. Potatoes and sweet potatoes are easy to cook. We can just throw them on the fire and bake them for a bit, or we can remove the skin and steam them.”

Yuan Yifei volunteered to be in charge.

Ji Li was a bit surprised. “Yifei, you know how to use this?”

“Yes.” Yuan Yifei glanced around. “Yunqi, help wash the food.”

“Ji Li, give me a hand.”

Ji Li and Ji Yunqi exchanged looks and quickly obeyed.

Yuan Yifei first picked up the small dead branches on the side, piled them together and rolled a handful of dry straw into small bows. “Ji Li, hold it for me. I’ll strike a match.”

“Yes.”

Yuan Yifei took out a matchstick, scratched it lightly to ignite it, and stuffed the small stick into the straw ball to light it up. Then he carefully placed the ball onto the pile of dead branches.

Yuan Yifei’s operation was very skillful and completely stunned the entire program team.

In fact, they had prepared dinner for the three guests. Letting them cook using the earthen stove was naturally meant to get interesting materials.

“No, how do you…” Ji Li was also surprised.

It was one thing to make a fire, but it was another thing to be so skillful.

Yuan Yifei blocked the microphone and said with a faint smile, “One summer vacation, my family was forced to flee by debt collectors, so my mother took me to hide in the country.”

Father Yuan gambled and owed a large amount of money. The mother and son mortgaged the house, but it was far from enough to pay back the money.

The mother and son fled from the debt, and their accommodations at the time were far worse than this.

Yuan Yifei couldn’t adapt to the environment at first and clamored to go back to the city. Yet in the face of Mother Yuan’s tearful scolding, he could only accept his life.

Later, they returned to the city. However, the two month holiday left a deep impression on Yuan Yifei that he remembered until now.

Yuan Yifei’s narration was very calm, as if he was only talking about the past of another person and it had nothing to do with him.

His management team would review the final footage of the reality show, and this conversation would be cut out. He never liked to use his past experience to sell misery.

Ji Li remembered Yuan Yifei’s life experience and was a bit distressed.

His father was imprisoned for gambling, and his mother died in a car accident.

Yuan Yifei was oppressed by his company to make money right after his debut, and this lasted for a full five years.

Later, he was finally qualified to choose his movie scripts, but he never managed to win a trophy.

The steadily lit fire reflected on Yuan Yifei’s glasses, and a very shallow and faint loneliness flashed in the eyes hidden under the lenses.

“Yifei, actually…”

Just as Ji Li was about to say something, Ji Yunqi came back with a lot of ingredients.

“Look, is it clean enough?”

Ever since he was a child, Ji Yunqi had never needed to work. Today was an exception.

If the scene of him washing the vegetables was aired, the Ji couple would probably shout ‘my son has suffered’ when they saw it.

Yuan Yifei stood up and teased him, “Thanks to the Third Young Lady, the potato skin and sweet potato skin can be used as a mirror.”

“F*k you.”

Ji Yunqi was a natural optimist. It had been less than half an hour, and he had already adapted to the environment. “What should I do next?”

“Bake it and eat it?”

Let’s just eat something really simple. He was really tired after the day’s journey.

Yuan Yifei took the ingredients from Ji Yunqi’s hand and said with a smile. “The two of you, bring over a small stool and sit on the edge of the earthen stove.”

It was cool in the mountains, so keep warm.

“Okay,” Ji Yunqi responded and rushed to find a small stool. He was obviously looking forward to such a novel experience.

The three of them sat around the stove and settled their dinner in a simple manner. They weren’t picky eaters.

The team of directors outside the venue looked at each other. The sumptuous dinner they prepared didn’t need to be delivered.

Ji Li had a laid back style, Yuan Yifei was unexpectedly good at practical things, and Ji Yunqi, who had a ‘young master’s disease’, was unexpectedly cooperative.

The three people each had their own popularity and strength, but they didn’t act arrogantly at all during today’s filming. They also gave enough laughs.

The program team was so happy to meet such guests!

“Director Chen, I just received a call from Teacher Qin Yue. He has booked the earliest flight tomorrow, and said he will rush over to record the show.”

“Why is he coming all of a sudden? Wasn’t his schedule not available?” Chen Xiaoyun was startled.

Before the assistant could reply, there was a female writer next to her jumping happily.

Ahhhhh!

Brother Yue was coming!

Will I be able to eat sugar offline tomorrow?

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TL: Advance chapters are available over on my Patreon. You can go check out the details on my Patreon page.

Proofreader: Azure