The Fake Daughter Want to Be Villainess - Chapter 9

The Program Team fell into an odd silence, and Yu Zhen looked at Qu Mei in disbelief: “Do you really hate me that much?”

Her lips trembled as she questioned, “Would you rather stay in that tent than answer the questions?”

Qu Mei did not respond; she simply turned her head slightly, avoiding Yu Zhen’s gaze.

Yu Zhen’s eyes reddened. She lifted her chin slightly and looked up for quite a while before managing to compose herself and returned to her seat.

The director seemed oblivious to this small argument and continued with the microphone, “Although one group scored zero in this task, don’t be discouraged. After all, we have more tasks planned for the afternoon.”

He encouraged the guests, “Who will end up in the seaside room is still an unknown!”

The guests were not very enthusiastic. Only Jiang Shu peeked her head out, filled with skepticism, and asked, “Are we going to have lunch? Do we need points to stay, and what about food?”

The director laughed exaggeratedly, “Oh, Miss Jiang hit the nail on the head.”

“I was originally going to keep it as a little surprise,” he chuckled, “but since someone asked, I’ll announce it early.”

The director said in a boastful tone, “The Program Team has prepared delicious lunch for everyone; each portion can be exchanged for just one point!”

How can one point be called “just one”?

Jiang Shu, who only had one point, felt distressed. She looked at the director and cautiously asked, “Director, is one portion for one person or for a group?”

The director looked at her in surprise, “Of course, one portion is for one person.”

“Oh,” he seemed to just realize, asking in an overly kind, affected manner, “Do you only have one point?”

【Hahaha, that was such a cheeky comment from the director! If I were Jiang Shu, I would be so mad I’d jump up!】

【Jiang Shu and Pei Wang can only buy one portion; the Program Team is definitely not that generous. How little can one portion be? Can they even share enough to be full?】

【The relationships on this show don’t seem too good, right? Honestly, they might need to worry more about the other pair. What if they don’t want to share the food?】

【Ugh, am I the only one thinking about the other pair? Qu Mei and Yu Zhen have no points at all; my goddess can’t be expected to go hungry, right?】

Yu Zhen clearly thought of this issue too: “Director, what about the groups with no points?”

“There’s nothing we can do,” the director shrugged, “They’ll just have to go hungry.”

Yu Zhen showed a stunned expression and instinctively turned to Qu Mei, finding her still expressionless, causing her to get angry again.

She shoved her hands into her pockets and leaned back against her chair, “Fine.”

Yu Zhen scoffed, “It’s not like I’m the only one going hungry, so whatever.”

The Program Team staff had already pushed the lunch cart over, with ten neatly arranged lunch boxes on top.

The director moved the chairs in front of the lunch cart and, like a wealthy landowner, slapped the cart, announcing, “It’s time for lunch. Who wants to eat?”

The first to get their meals were Lin Hui and Wang Siyuan. They had scored four points in the teamwork test, so a meal was more than enough for them.

Ren Lishu and Qiao Xian, having the same score as Lin Hui’s group, hesitated no more and promptly exchanged for two portions before leaving.

As the lunch boxes were opened, the aroma of the food wafted along the seaside.

The director raised his hand and looked over at Jiang Shu and Pei Wang, “What about you two?” He picked up a portion and waved it in front of Jiang Shu, deliberately dragging out the question: “Not eating?”

Jiang Shu stole a longing glance at the lunch box before resolutely turning her gaze away.

She wanted to eat, but with only one point—

“Oh right, there’s a rule I forgot to mention.” The director’s voice perked up again, “While points must be earned through teamwork, they can be individually redeemed.”

He seemed to enjoy stirring the pot, adding fuel to the fire: “First come, first served!”

Jiang Shu quickly lifted her head. She was considering whether to throw her pride aside and redeem a meal before Pei Wang when she heard Pei Wang’s voice from nearby: “I’d like to exchange for one lunch box.”

His tone was calm and unhurried, sounding relaxed: “Thank you.”

Jiang Shu turned her head in anger.

How could Pei Wang so confidently redeem a lunch box? He—

She watched as a lunch box was placed in front of her.

Pei Wang’s hand still rested on the lunch box. His long fingers were distinct, looking both lean and strong.Pei Wang pushed the lunch box slightly forward again and said, “You eat first.” After a brief pause, he asked tentatively, “Do you mind if I eat what you leave behind?”

Eat her leftovers, and then he would eat the rest?

Jiang Shu was taken aback. She hurriedly waved her hands and exclaimed, “No, no, no—”

Eating leftovers carried either a sense of humiliation or too much intimacy; she thought even a Vicious Supporting Female Character shouldn’t go that far.

Suddenly, Jiang Shu turned her head to the director and asked, “Can I borrow a set of chopsticks and a bowl?”

The director, from the start of the recording, had given off an impression of being petty and stingy, so when Jiang Shu asked this, she didn’t even hope he would agree.

However, to her surprise, the director looked at her for a moment, then actually bent down and pulled out a set of disposable utensils from under the food cart.

“Sure,” he said, smiling proudly, “Aren’t I particularly generous? Especially considerate?”

Jiang Shu acknowledged him with a perfunctory nod, then opened the disposable bowl and chopsticks, crumpling the plastic wrap into a small ball and stuffing it into her pocket.

She then opened the lunch box, dividing most of the rice and vegetables into the disposable paper bowl and handed both the bowl and chopsticks to Pei Wang, saying, “Let’s eat together.”

There was no way she wouldn’t eat; sharing was the best compromise she could make.

The groups of guests began to eat quietly, and the director opened his own lunch box, commenting as he ate, “Mmm, this tomato and egg stir-fry is really well done, sweet and sour just right.”

“This stir-fried lettuce with meat is also good; the meat is marinated, not greasy at all, and the fresh aroma of the lettuce perfectly complements it—just amazing!”

After taking several bites and sipping the soup, he looked over at Qu Mei and Yu Zhen, deliberately raising his voice and asking, “Hey, why aren’t you two eating? Is the food not good?”

Yu Zhen couldn’t hold back and shot him a glare in front of the camera.

【Hahaha, that glare was perfect! The director just deserves it!】

【That glare looks stunning, filled with a charming anger! Aw, sister, glare at me! Don’t glare at that old man!】

【Wait, are they really not going to prepare food for Yu Zhen and Qu Mei???? Filming a show doesn’t require this, right????】

【No need for you to worry, clearly the director is trying to give them an opportunity to eat!】

“Ah,” the director indeed was offering a way out, “I’m just soft-hearted.”

“Let’s do it this way,” he waved his hand, “I’ll give you both a chance. I’ll throw out a question for you; if you two answer correctly, I’ll give you a chance to overspend your points. You can advance your afternoon points to have lunch, how about that?”

The staff handed them both paper and a pen again.

The director casually posed a question: “When was your last meeting?”

He raised a finger and set a time limit, “Three minutes to answer.”

Yu Zhen quickly wrote down her answer and passed the paper to the director. He glanced at it, then turned to Qu Mei, who hadn’t even picked up her pen, surprised, “Aren’t you going to answer?”

He set Yu Zhen’s answer aside and started eating with chopsticks: “Think it over; this is your last chance.”

“I really will not give you any food,” the director emphasized, “I’m really ruthless.”