I'm in Wuha, and the whole internet is shipping me and Song Yuqi as a couple.

The sightseeing bus slowly drove back along the ring road, and the sea breeze blew in through the open doors, making the clothes of the passengers flutter.

Chen He slumped in his seat, his hands resting on his stomach. When the car wheel rolled over the speed bump, he bounced along with it.

"The fastest I've ever run in my life was when I was being chased by the men in black just now."

Deng Chao took out a tissue from his pocket and wiped the mud off his face.

"Are you running?"

"You rolled down the mountain."

"Brother Chao, what do you know? That's called a tactical downhill maneuver."

Chen He rolled his eyes and pointed at Jiang Che and Song Yuqi in the front row.

"And look at those two."

"What battle royale? It's clearly a paid island date."

Song Yuqi was still leaning on Jiang Che's shoulder when she heard this and raised half of her face.

"Brother He, we worked so hard to get the pass card."

Chen He snorted twice.

Lu Han was tilting her head back to drink water, and before she even put the bottle down, she started laughing.

"Brother He, just accept your fate."

"Today, we're just moving backdrops."

Song Yuqi didn't respond to that, instead burying her head in Jiang Che's shoulder, leaving only half of her face visible to the people in the back row.

Jiang Che pressed down on her wind-blown hair and glanced back at Chen He.

"Should we deduct your share of that three thousand yuan?"

Chen He immediately shut his mouth and made a zipping motion with his hands around his mouth.

Two seconds later, he unzipped the zipper again.

"No, Brother Che, I was wrong."

"You and Yuqi are a match made in heaven. I was just jealous."

The sightseeing bus came to a stop in front of the seaside villa.

The five of them had just gotten out of the car when they saw Wu Zheng standing in the middle of the courtyard, his face long and drawn.

The assistant director followed behind him, holding a tray with a thick stack of red banknotes on it.

Chen He turned his foot and rushed over in two steps.

"Director Wu! What a kind person!"

"They're handing out bonuses right at the entrance?"

Before his hand even touched the money, Wu Zheng pressed down on the tray.

"What's the rush? The settlement process isn't finished yet."

Deng Chao walked over and patted him on the shoulder.

"Old Wu, don't look so pale."

"Victory and defeat are common occurrences in war."

Wu Zheng raised his shoulder and shook off his hand.

"You're exploiting loopholes in the rules, sticking name tags on your chests—what kind of heroes are you?"

Jiang Che led Song Yuqi closer without even stopping.

"The rules only state that name tags will be torn off and the player will be eliminated; there is no rule that they must be stuck on the back."

"Make reasonable use of the rules."

Song Yuqi had already walked to the tray and spread her palms up.

"Director Wu, we have three thousand dollars left over, plus a thousand dollars as a reward for clearing the level, making a total of four thousand."

"Please settle the bill."

Wu Zheng stared at her outstretched hand, and only released the tray after a few seconds.

"Accountant Song, you've calculated things very clearly."

Even close brothers should keep clear accounts.

Song Yuqi took the banknotes and counted them one by one.

"Besides, we're not even related to the production team."

Chen He clapped twice from the side.

"Well said!"

"Yuqi's words are so encouraging!"

Wu Zheng pressed the edge of the tray twice, and when he looked up again, he finally managed to force a smile.

"Everyone, don't get too excited yet."

"We won the game this morning, but the cost of living on the island is not low."

Deng Chao took half a step back.

"What are you up to now?"

"Hot water and gas have been restored; this is just a basic guarantee."

Wu Zheng raised his hand and tapped the villa gate.

"The production team prepared a top-notch seafood feast for lunch."

"King crab, grouper, and Australian lobster are all freshly prepared by a five-star chef."

Upon hearing the name of the dish, Chen He's mouth opened first.

"Is it free?"

Wu Zheng turned his head and glanced at him.

"Dream on."

"A full seafood feast, 3,800 yuan."

Song Yuqi immediately hid the four thousand yuan she had just counted behind her back.

"I won't eat it."

Wu Zheng's smile faltered for a moment.

"Song Yuqi, this was personally cooked by a five-star chef. You won't have this chance again if you miss it."

Song Yuqi ignored him and turned to ask Jiang Che.

"Do you want some?"

"There are still some blue crabs and groupers left over from yesterday's beachcombing in the refrigerator."

Jiang Che reached out and took the money from behind her, then stuffed it into her small bag.

"Doing it yourself is cleaner."

Chen He immediately changed his tune.

"Yes! Che-ge's seafood hot pot is the best in the world!"

"Who wants to eat your lousy meal!"

Deng Chao nodded in agreement.

"Three thousand eight hundred for a meal, Old Wu, do you really think we're easy targets?"

Wu Zheng's hand was still on the empty tray, and upon hearing this, he tapped the edge again.

"Make it yourself?"

"The premium seasonings in the kitchen are charged separately."

Jiang Che lifted his eyelids and glanced at Wu Zheng.

"I received the keys to five locations this morning, and two of the insulated boxes contained picnic seasoning packets."

"It's still unopened, but it's enough."

Wu Zheng turned and stared at the assistant director.

The assistant director shrank back and pulled the tray in his hands closer to his chest.

"Director Wu, the logistics team just put those in there to enrich the props..."

Lu Han couldn't help but burst out laughing on the spot.

Chen He even grabbed Deng Chao's shoulder, laughing so hard he couldn't straighten his back.

"This is called reaping what you sow."

"Director Wu, this is like sending seasoning from afar!"

Wu Zheng pointed at Chen He for a long time before finally swinging his arm down.

"OK!"

"You guys are pretty good!"

"We'll see who wins in the water sports this afternoon!"

After saying that, he turned and left.

The assistant director quickly chased after him with the tray, almost tripping over the steps at the courtyard gate.

Once the two had walked away, a cheer immediately erupted in the courtyard.

Song Yuqi took out the four thousand yuan again, arranged them according to denomination, stuffed them into her small bag, and patted the bag twice.

"A resounding victory! All four thousand dollars are safe!"

Jiang Che reached out and pinched the tip of her nose.

"Little money-grubber."

Song Yuqi sniffed, tilted her head back, and snorted at him.

"That's called being thrifty and managing a household well, don't you understand?"

Chen He immediately dragged out the sound.

"Oh my, so thrift and frugality have come out!"

"Brother Chao, listen to this."

Deng Chao wiped his face.

"I heard you."

"I'm so tired of hearing about it."

Lu Han pushed open the villa door and turned back to urge him on.

"Go take a shower, you smell all sweaty."

"After washing up, wait for Che-ge to start the meal."

The five people went back to their rooms to wash up.

Half an hour later, Jiang Che changed into a white short-sleeved shirt and gray athletic shorts, then turned and went into the kitchen.

Song Yuqi, with her hair in a bun and wearing a light yellow casual dress, followed them all the way to the pool.

"Chef Jiang, let me help you."

Jiang Che took the cleaned blue crab out of the sink. As soon as the crab's leg moved, she took a half step back.

"Aren't you afraid of getting your hand pinched?"

Song Yuqi stood back up, not giving an inch.

"With you here, it won't dare to pinch me."

Jiang Che chuckled softly, pressed the crab onto the cutting board, and cleaned it up neatly.

"Please peel the scallions, ginger, and garlic for me."

"Yes, sir!"

Song Yuqi moved a small stool over and sat by the sink peeling garlic.

The blinds weren't closed properly, and a few rays of sunlight shone across the floor tiles. When the wind blew, the blinds made two crisp sounds.

After peeling a clove of garlic, she held onto the skin without throwing it away.

Jiang Che.

"Um?"

"Did you really always cook for yourself when you were a child at your maternal grandmother's house?"

The cleaver struck the ginger with a series of thuds.

"I didn't know how at first, and I almost set the kitchen on fire."

"After going hungry a few times, I figured it out myself."

Song Yuqi was peeling a clove of garlic when her fingernails stopped at the edge of the skin, and she didn't peel any further for a while.

She put the garlic back in the basin, walked over and tugged at Jiang Che's sleeve.

"From now on, whatever you want to eat, I'll learn to cook it for you."

The kitchen knife was put back on the knife rack.

Jiang Che wiped his hands clean with a towel and rubbed her hair twice with his palms.

"Forget it."

"I'm afraid you'll blow up the kitchen."

Song Yuqi stomped her foot and reached out to pinch his waist.

"Jiang Che!"

"How dare you look down on my cooking skills!"

Before her fingers even touched him, Jiang Che grabbed her wrist.

He pulled her back, and the small stool beside her feet scraped against the floor tiles with a soft sound. The two of them were only half a step apart.

"I don't look down on you."

Jiang Che looked down at her.

"I can handle cooking."

Song Yuqi's hand was still in his palm. She tried to pull it away but couldn't, and the heat on her face could no longer be suppressed.

"That's more like it..."

Two heads suddenly peeked in through the kitchen doorway.

Chen He clung to the door frame, his gaze first falling on the two people's clasped hands, then shifting to the stove.

"Ahem, you two."

"Is dinner ready yet? I'm starving!"

Deng Chao pushed him from behind.

"Don't disturb the young couple's sweet moments."

Song Yuqi immediately pulled her hand back, turned around, turned on the tap, grabbed the already washed scallions, and rinsed them again.

Jiang Che put the towel back on the rack and turned to look at the door.

"Dinner will be served in ten minutes."

"Go set the table."

"Okay!"

Chen He responded quickly, grabbed Deng Chao, and ran towards the restaurant.

The lunch ingredients were few, but the portions were generous.

Steamed blue crab, pan-fried grouper, braised octopus with scallions, plus a pot of white rice—the five of them had barely sat down when their chopsticks started moving non-stop.

Chen He was gnawing on a crab leg, his mouth still full.

"Absolutely amazing!"

"With Che-ge's cooking skills, his seafood stall would be packed!"

Deng Chao picked up a piece of fish and put it into Lu Han's bowl.

Eat more.

"Who knows what kind of trouble Wu Zheng will cause us this afternoon."

Lu Han swallowed the fish in her mouth, and her chopsticks paused on the edge of the bowl.

"Director Wu lost two games in a row this morning."

"The water activities this afternoon probably won't be so easy."

Song Yuqi put down her chopsticks and patted the small bag next to her.

"What are you afraid of?"

"We have a huge sum of four thousand yuan right now, so we're very confident."

Jiang Che ladled out a bowl of fish soup and pushed it in front of her.

"Drink the soup first."

"Follow me this afternoon, don't overexert yourself."

Song Yuqi picked up the soup bowl and blew on the steam rising from it.

"Okay."

The sun was shining brightly outside the window, and the sea was so bright that it was hard to open one's eyes.

At the program's headquarters, Wu Zheng laid out the afternoon's projects on the table, tapping his fingers heavily on the banana boat and jet ski sections.

"The highest difficulty level."

The water sports instructors exchanged glances, but no one responded.

Wu Zheng knocked it again.

Did you hear me clearly?

"Give them the highest difficulty level for both banana boats and jet skis!"

The assistant director stood by the door, holding the empty tray from that morning. His lips moved, but he didn't try to persuade him.

Wu Zheng slammed the proposal sheet onto the table.

"I refuse to believe we can't deal with them this time!"