An itchy sensation trickled from the palm of her hand all the way into her heart.
Shi Yi endured it for a moment before pretending as if nothing had happened, turning her head back. “It’s fine.”
“Auntie, we’ve completed Task 10.”
Auntie Chen glanced at her nephew, seeing right through him without exposing him. “Alright.”
Gu Zhan looked back at her, his expression entirely unbothered.
Auntie Chen: Tsk.
Fang Yanhang felt extremely uncomfortable.
On the surface, both of them looked completely composed and serious, but no matter how he looked at it, he felt something was off between the two. There was a certain kind of air about Gu Zhan that made it impossible to look him straight in the eye… energy?
Fang Yanhang cleared his throat, as if suddenly reminded. “Ahem, Little Qiu, shall we do Task 10?”
Ming Qiuqiu: “Sure.”
The two clasped their hands together and let go after three seconds.
They felt absolutely nothing throughout the entire process.
Fang Yanhang thought to himself that completing tasks with absolute innocence was supposed to look like this.
Shi Yi appeared to be earnestly studying the app, voicing the issue she had noticed: “In the Love Island app, you can see your gold coin balance.”
“Hmm?”
When Wen Xin looked up, Gu Zhan and Shi Yi had already separated. Without thinking much of it, she chimed in, “Is it like online banking? Can we scan to pay or not?”
“It seems like we can.”
Shi Yi discovered that tapping inside revealed a payment feature capable of scanning QR codes.
Wen Xin pulled out her phone. “There really is one.”
“App payments are much more convenient than bank cards. Let’s try it out when we head outside later.”
Gu Zhan bent one knee upward, casually resting his fingers on it. Watching the person beside him ignore him and shift the topic, a gentle glimmer of amusement flashed across his eyes.
“…”
For the song duet task, only Wen Xin and Xie Yixing succeeded.
One was an actress and the other a singer, so getting emotionally invested wasn’t difficult for them.
Fang Yanhang, however, couldn’t pull it off. Every time he finished singing, the robot would give him a critique: “Zero emotion, deceiving Little Tu.”
“Warning, warning! Scumbag alert!”
“Not sweet at all, Little Tu doesn’t ship it.”
Fang Yanhang: “…”
Walking down the road, he couldn’t hold back his frustration and vented wildly about Little Tu: “Seriously, what a scumbag!”
“I think he’s the one who looks like a scumbag!”
“If I gave him candy, would he ship it then?!”
Wen Xin and Ming Qiuqiu dissolved into tears of laughter.
Wen Xin: “Hahaha, Little Tu is way too smart.”
Fang Yanhang was notorious for switching girlfriends rapidly; no girlfriend had ever lasted longer than two months with him.
Attempting to drag Shi Yi down with him, Fang Yanhang asked her, “Why didn’t you two go sing?”
Maybe the robot itself was just broken.
Gu Zhan shielded Shi Yi, speaking unhurriedly: “Afraid that after listening, you’d feel ashamed of yourself.”
Fang Yanhang: “…”
Chatting and laughing along the way, the guests walked over to the right half of the island. Having visited once at noon, they were much more familiar with the route this time.
Familiar with the way, they headed straight for the Exchange Hall.
“After turning in the tasks, let’s go pay the electricity bill!” Wen Xin said. “We can’t forget this time.”
Ming Qiuqiu nodded. “I’ll go turn in my task.”
The task she had taken was themed “Lavender Date,” requiring photos taken in a field of lavender. The more fitting the photos were to the theme, the more gold coins she would receive.
She wondered how many gold coins she could get.
The staff member smiled. “Hello, three gold coins have been transferred to your account. You may check and accept them.”
Wen Xin frowned: “Only three gold coins?”
She remembered that Ming Qiuqiu had great expressive power, and the photos taken that afternoon were very eye-catching.
Seeing her genuine confusion, the staff member subtly reminded her, “Love Island is a dating variety show.”
Wen Xin had a sudden realization and understood.
On Love Island, everything revolved around the core theme. This was a dating variety show, and at the end of the day, it had to land on sweetness.
For a lavender date, Ming Qiuqiu should have chosen to take photos together with Fang Yanhang.
For a solo shoot, no matter how well shot it was, the maximum she could get was three gold coins.
The staff member at the Poet Exchange Window looked at the eight poems in Gu Zhan’s hands, completely at a loss for words.
The director had previously stated that guests shouldn’t earn gold coins too easily, but now Gu Zhan had written eight poems in one breath… 40 gold coins. It seemed the director had miscalculated.
Glancing at the inexplicably excited reviewer behind them, the staff member transferred the gold coins to Gu Zhan’s card.
Gu Zhan took back his bank card.
His poems took the longest to review, and Wen Xin and the others were already done. “How did it go? How many gold coins did Teacher Gu get?”
Gu Zhan naturally walked toward Shi Yi’s side. “40.”
“Oh, 4—how many?”
Except for Fang Yanhang, who had asked earlier in the afternoon, the rest of the guests were stunned.
Gu Zhan: “40.”
“Why so many??”
Fang Yanhang: “Didn’t you hear when I asked him this afternoon? He wrote eight.”
“When did you ask?”
“Right a few minutes before Little Xie reminded us about the fan tasks.”
“…No recollection.”
Wen Xin couldn’t remember; she only recalled that she was choosing photos with Ming Qiuqiu at the time.
Not that it mattered, though.
Wen Xin gave a thumbs-up. “Teacher Gu is amazing.”
Gu Zhan smiled. “The credit isn’t mine.”
Following Gu Zhan’s gaze, the guests looked toward Shi Yi. What did that mean?
Shi Yi’s heart tightened.
Gu Zhan looked at Shi Yi. “It was all thanks to Little Yi’s help.”
Shi Yi: “…”
Shi Yi’s heart skipped a beat, and she offered a reserved smile. “Teacher Gu exaggerates; most of it was your own doing.”
Proposing the idea of writing love poems was her doing, but the one who ultimately carried this behavior forward—writing a love poem whenever he made a mistake—was him.
Gu Zhan: “Little Yi offered many constructive suggestions.”
Shi Yi: “Teacher Gu is talented.”
“Alright, you two, stop praising each other here.”
Wen Xin didn’t pick up on the hidden meaning in their words and interrupted with a chuckle, “Little Yi is a screenwriter with a solid literary background, and Teacher Gu has a good foundation.”
“Either way, if you made me write, I definitely couldn’t.”
Shi Yi withdrew her gaze, her heartbeat returning to its normal rhythm. “No more praising. Where do we pay the electricity and internet bills?”
Wen Xin: “Right next to the Exchange Hall. Qiuqiu, didn’t you ask just now?”
Ming Qiuqiu replied, “Yeah, I just asked the staff member. She said it’s the shop next to the Exchange Hall with a blue plug drawn on the glass. Electricity, internet, and water cost one gold coin per day.”
The corners of Gu Zhan’s lips hooked up slightly.
Fang Yanhang glanced at Gu Zhan, failing to sense anything amiss.
Could it be that his intuition earlier was wrong?
He spoke up, “I’ll pay for the first day, and we can take turns after?”
Ming Qiuqiu suggested, “We can each contribute one gold coin to pay for two days of expenses!”
That would be better.
The burden on each person wouldn’t be heavy.
That made sense.
The guests nodded. “Then it’s settled.”
“Let’s pay the fees first, then go buy furniture.”
This minor matter didn’t need to consume too much time. What caught the guests slightly off guard was that after paying the internet fee, the production crew announced that because Love Island was now connected to the internet, online payments were enabled.
They were now issuing electronic smartwatches to the guests for free.
However, the guests’ personal phones were confiscated.
Shi Yi was confused.
Wen Xin handed over her phone with practiced ease, explaining to her, “Don’t overthink it. Usually, variety shows issue a new phone for guests to use… I thought we wouldn’t need to do sponsorship ads this time.”
So that was why.
Shi Yi understood, handed in her phone, and exchanged it for an electronic smartwatch.
The guests didn’t dwell on swapping for smartwatches; after making the exchange, they walked toward the shop.
Everyone bought a single bed and a set of bedding, spending eight gold coins.
The gold coin balances held by everyone:
Gu Zhan: [Earned 40 from tasks, earned 10 from fan task, minus 1 for electricity, minus 8 for double bedding set]. Balance: 41.
Fang Yanhang: [Earned 3 from task, earned 10 from fan task, minus 1 for electricity, minus 8 for single bed and bedding]. Balance: 4.
Xie Yixing: [Earned 3 from task, earned 10 from fan task, minus 1 for electricity, minus 8 for single bed and bedding]. Balance: 4.
Wen Xin: [Earned 0 from task, earned 11 from fan task, minus 1 for electricity, minus 8 for single bed and bedding]. Balance: 2.
Ming Qiuqiu: [Earned 3 from task, earned 10 from fan task, minus 1 for electricity, minus 8 for single bed and bedding]. Balance: 4.
Shi Yi: [Earned 0 from task, earned 10 from fan task, minus 1 for electricity, minus 8 for single bed and bedding]. Balance: 1.
Calculating that she only had two gold coins left while everyone else had more than her, Wen Xin couldn’t help patting Shi Yi’s shoulder. “Only the two of us are left as the poorest.”
“…We can’t not buy clothes. Are we two going to go hungry tonight?”
Fang Yanhang thought to himself: You’re overthinking it.
It’s possible for you to go hungry, but Shi Yi won’t… Even if I go hungry, she won’t.
The market was huge; besides clothing shops, there was also a cluster of snack stalls.
Closest to the entrance stood a grill station. The chef had blue eyes, wore white oversleeves on his arms, and disposable gloves on his hands, skillfully sprinkling various spices.
The meat skewers sizzling on the grill dripped with oil, their domineering, spicy aroma overpowering the neighboring cut fruits and bubble tea, making anyone’s mouth water at first whiff.
Wen Xin took a glance, then took another.
She could barely move her feet.
This aroma was far too irresistible.
Ming Qiuqiu asked, “How much are they selling for?”
She wanted to eat some too.
What girl didn’t have a craving for food?
“One gold coin for two skewers, two gold coins for five skewers.”
Wen Xin felt like crying. A set of underwear cost at least one gold coin, and she still needed to save one gold coin to eat.
She couldn’t afford it.
Ming Qiuqiu hesitated, unable to decide. She was slightly richer than Wen Xin, but while Wen Xin was out of options, she still wanted to buy a dress to wear tomorrow.
Shi Yi also glanced over a few extra times.
A hand reached out, and Gu Zhan spoke up, “10 skewers.”
?
Gu Zhan?
Taking the meat skewers, the man split them into two portions. Under everyone’s watchful eyes, he handed the larger portion of six to Shi Yi, held the remaining four, and asked the rest, “Want some?”
Guests: ????
Shi Yi didn’t know whether she should take them or not.
Gu Zhan added, “A thank-you gift.”
Oh, so it’s a thank-you gift.
Wen Xin came to her senses and took a skewer. “Then I won’t stand on ceremony! It’s all thanks to Little Yi’s help, otherwise we wouldn’t get to eat Teacher Gu’s food.”
The others each took a skewer as well.
Shi Yi looked at the solitary skewer in everyone else’s hands, then looked at the huge bundle in her own.
She lowered her gaze, impossible to tell whether she was smiling or not.
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