Dilraba's rise to fame began with her appearance on Running Man.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" William broke the silence.

"The offensive plan failed, and now we don't even know if the other side's boss is a human or a ghost! Business competition? They don't even have a business! The propaganda war is nonsense; they don't care at all."

Carlos scratched his beard in frustration: "Then let Washington launch its spies. They take so much money from us every year, it's time they did something!"

"Those politicians?" William sneered. "Without sufficient benefits, they'll just spout empty rhetoric. They'll weigh things for a long time, long enough that Dengxu might have already built the next generation of lithography machines."

The white-haired old man raised his head, his eyes sharp:

"Tell Washington, tell that nigger in the Oval Office. If they don't act, starting next quarter, we won't give them a single penny!"

"This... is too radical, Raymond."

"No, this isn't radical at all. If you don't push that black guy, he won't know how good we are."

The meeting room erupted into another argument.

Hardliners believe pressure must be applied, while cautious strategists believe a gradual approach is necessary.

William, as the convener of the response, had to step forward: "Gentlemen, I suggest that the alliance take the lead in putting pressure on Washington and see what their attitude is."

"On the other hand, we organized more technical personnel to analyze the data from this failed attack and look for subtle vulnerabilities in the login defense system."

The meeting then entered into a lengthy discussion of tedious details over the next hour.

At the heart of the meeting, Deng Zhe was getting his hair and makeup done, wearing a green retro jacket and loose jeans.

"This... is ugly in a rather unique way," Deng Zhe couldn't help but complain.

Xiao Chen covered her mouth and laughed, "Teacher Deng Zhe, please bear with it. You'll change clothes after the first part is recorded."

What else could Deng Zhe say? He could only sigh helplessly and then follow the staff to the hotel entrance.

A bus with the program's logo on it was already parked at the entrance.

He was the first to arrive; a gentle morning breeze carried a slight chill.

He tightened his clothes, boarded the bus, and sat in the last seat.

A few minutes later, a figure dressed in the same green retro outfit rushed out.

It's Reba.

"Phew!" She stepped onto the bus and plopped down in the seat next to Deng Zhe.

"You dog assistant!" Dilraba pouted. "Why didn't you wait for me? You ran down here all by yourself!"

She's getting more and more comfortable calling her dog assistant now.

"Reba," Deng Zhe said slowly, without looking at her.

"First, I'm not called 'Feeding'... Pfft! I'm not called 'Dog Assistant'! Second, why should I wait for you? I'm a legitimate guest on the show, okay? Besides, you didn't tell me I had to wait for you!"

Dilraba retorted confidently:

"Does this even need an announcement? Logic, do you understand logic? You're my assistant first, then a guest! Isn't it only natural for an assistant to wait for their boss?"

Deng Zhe couldn't help but roll his eyes, casually picked up a bottle of mineral water from the side, unscrewed the cap, and handed it to her.

"Okay, okay, boss, you're right! Here, boss, have some water!"

"Hmph! That's more like it." Reba snorted smugly, took the water bottle, and took a sip with relish.

Seeing Deng Zhe back down was her biggest victory.

Just as Deng Zhe was about to tease her a couple more times, there was another noise coming from the car door.

The third person to board was Deng Chao, who was also wearing a striking green leather jacket. As soon as he got on the bus, he called out:

"Abi Jiongjiongjiong! Xiao Zhe, good morning Reba!"

Dilraba quickly stood up halfway to greet him: "Good morning, Brother Chao."

However, Deng Zhe completely ignored him; he really didn't want to deal with this shameful jerk.

Deng Chao plopped down next to Dilraba, and the two started chatting.

Following that, the other guests boarded the bus one after another.

Zheng Kai, Wang Zhulan, and Chen He, all dressed in matching blue retro outfits, jokingly pushed and shoved each other as they approached.

Li Chen, Lu Han, and this episode's guest star Guan Xiaotong were all dressed in red, clearly indicating they were on the red team.

Deng Zhe looked at Lu Han and Guan Xiaotong sitting together, and a smile inexplicably crept onto his lips.

If he remembered correctly, about two years later, when the two officially announced their relationship, they crashed Weibo's servers.

Tsk, could this be the beginning of something?

With everyone present, the bus slowly started moving, heading towards the first recording location of the day, Fotang Old Street.

The carriage quickly became lively.

As the captain of Running Man, Deng Chao naturally took on the responsibility of enlivening the atmosphere.

He stood up, clapped his hands, and said, "Come on, let's use this time on the way to clarify our 'family relationships' today!"

He first pointed to himself, then to Deng Zhe and Reba: "Me? I'm the eldest brother! Deng Zhe is my cousin, so he's naturally the younger brother! As for Reba..."

Deng Chao deliberately drawled out his words and blinked, "Since she's Xiao Zhe's colleague, she's considered part of the Deng family, right? That means she's my sister-in-law!"

He called her "sister-in-law" with perfect ease.

"Brother Chao! It's 'brother's sister-in-law'! Not 'brother's sister-in-law'!" Dilraba's face flushed red instantly, and she scolded him playfully, subconsciously looking at Deng Zhe.

Deng Zhe remained calm, even nodding in agreement, and said to Deng Chao in a serious tone, "Yes, elder brother is right. Sister-in-law, why don't you call him elder brother?"

He turned to look at Reba, a teasing smile in his eyes.

"Deng Zhe!!" Dilraba was both embarrassed and angry. She reached out to pinch him, but Deng Zhe nimbly blocked her with his arm.

Their interaction drew laughter and shouts from the carriage.

Zheng Kai, Chen He, and the others, never ones to shy away from a good spectacle, kept shouting, "Hello, sister-in-law!" and "Your brother's got your back!"

Then the blue team and the red team each identified themselves.

The bus soon arrived at the old street of the Buddhist temple.

This is an ancient street with distinctive Yiwu local characteristics. The road is paved with bluestone slabs, and the shops on both sides are quaint and full of all kinds of small commodities.

The nine guests were led by staff into a large auditorium.

Director Yao was already waiting there with a megaphone. Seeing that all the guests had arrived, he raised the megaphone:

"Welcome everyone to Yiwu Fotang Old Street! As you all know, Yiwu's development originated from the 'chicken feathers for sugar' trade, where people traded sugar. So, our first game today is called 'chicken feathers for sugar'!"

"The rules are simple!" He pointed to the long street outside the auditorium:

"The aunties on the second floor will throw chicken feathers downstairs later. You just need to use a basket to collect the feathers and bring them back. The team that collects the most feathers wins."

"Wow!" Dilraba's eyes widened. "That sounds so much fun!"

Looking out at the street, and imagining the scene of chicken feathers flying everywhere, Deng Zhe felt a strong sense of disgust.

It's so dirty!

He didn't really understand the plan when he first saw it on paper, but now that he's on site, he regrets it. He should have asked Yao Yitian to change that part.

He just wanted to find a quiet corner to be a handsome man.

However, Dilraba wouldn't let him off the hook.