The dating reality show host just wanted to give up, but the rich girl fell for him.

Under the dim light bulb, Lin Mo looked like a puppet whose soul had been drained.

He stood expressionless in front of the dilapidated stove, holding a long-handled ladle in his hand, his eyes so empty they seemed to see into the end of the universe.

But strangely, despite his face clearly saying "I want to die, leave me alone," his long, slender, bony hands performed god-like maneuvers as if by muscle memory.

The snow-white pork fat sizzled happily in the hot pan.

With precise control of the heat, the oil is slowly rendered out, and the originally greasy fat particles are transformed into golden and crispy fried cracklings.

Lin Mo's eyes were lifeless. He grabbed a handful of finely chopped scallions and sprinkled them into the boiling lard.

With a soft "boom," the aroma of scallions mixed with the domineering fragrance of animal fat, etched into human DNA, exploded in the small kitchen.

Minimalist, yet extremely deadly.

"Gulp."

In the quiet kitchen, a very clear sound of swallowing saliva could be heard.

Jiang Ruoyun sat at the dilapidated dining table, which was missing half a leg and propped up with bricks, her hands supporting her chin, her eyes glowing like a cat's in the dark.

She was still wearing the haute couture gown she had just worn on the podium, the hem of which trailed casually on the cement ground, seemingly unconcerned about the dust it had collected.

This chaebol heiress, who usually scoffs at Michelin three-star restaurants at social gatherings in Beijing, is now staring intently at the pot in Lin Mo's hand.

"Lin Mo, are you done yet? I'm starving."

Jiang Ruoyun swung her legs, which were clad in crystal high heels, and spoke in a soft, coquettish voice, showing no trace of her former "aloof young lady" persona.

Lin Mo sighed, like a ruthless assembly line worker, scooping the perfectly cooked, thin, jade-like dragon whisker noodles into a large blue-and-white porcelain bowl.

A spoonful of secret-recipe soy sauce base, a spoonful of boiling hot scallion oil, sizzled and poured over.

He transformed the simplest plain noodles into a dish with a texture that would transport you to another world.

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"Eat, eat, all you ever think about is eating. Didn't you just have Australian lobster at the banquet?" Lin Mo said irritably, slamming his bowl down in front of her.

Jiang Ruoyun couldn't wait to break open the disposable chopsticks and took a deep breath of the aroma, completely disregarding her image.

"That lobster wasn't even steaming hot; it was like eating plastic. Your noodles have soul!"

She mumbled incoherently as she slurped up large mouthfuls of noodles, glistening with scallion oil that clung to her exquisite lips, making her appear both charming and alluring.

Seeing her possessive and food-loving demeanor, Lin Mo's initial resentment at being "forced to work" inexplicably dissipated a little.

He pulled out a chair, sat down, picked up the thermos on the table, took a sip of goji berry tea, and looked weathered.

"What kind of mess is this... I was sleeping the whole time, how come I'm in first place by a landslide?"

Lin Mo rubbed his temples in anguish. "When will I finally be able to avoid paying that five million yuan penalty for breach of contract?"

As Jiang Ruoyun ate her noodles, she glanced at his desperate, self-righteous expression out of the corner of her eye, a sly glint in her eyes.

She casually grabbed the backpack that Lin Mo had tossed on the table and rummaged through it.

"Huh? What's this?"

Jiang Ruoyun's fair fingers picked out a card with a gold trim.

It was the golden mission card that the director had shoved into Lin Mo's hand on the awards stage just now, and which Lin Mo had seen for the first time and then "blurred his vision."

When Lin Mo saw that card, it was like seeing a death warrant; he almost spat out the goji berry tea he had just drunk.

"Don't read it! Put it back! Just pretend you didn't see it!" Lin Mo reached out in horror to grab it.

But Jiang Ruoyun had already nimbly dodged, biting the end of her chopsticks, clearing her throat, and loudly proclaiming in a voice that could be heard throughout the entire live stream.

"Ahem, congratulations to Lin Mo for winning the first stage championship with a decisive advantage."

"Given that this season's ratings broke the ten-year record for domestic dating reality shows, major sponsors immediately added an extra 100 million yuan to their investment!"

As she read this, Jiang Ruoyun paused deliberately, her eyes crinkling into crescent moons as she looked at Lin Mo, whose face had turned green.

The director filming was hiding behind the camera, desperately trying to suppress his laughter.

The tens of millions of night owl viewers in the live stream room have almost flooded the chat with comments.

[Hahaha! One hundred million! Lin Shen, you'll never escape the clutches of the production team for the rest of your life!]

[Capital: Want to leave work? Ask me if I'll allow it with this 100 million I have!]

If Zhao Kuo heard this, he'd probably be furious. He paid for online trolls, while the sponsor directly gave Lin Mo a hundred million!

Jiang Ruoyun continued reading, her voice revealing an undisguised schadenfreude.

"Due to the abundance of funds, the originally planned 'Island Survival' episode will be postponed by one week to allow for a comprehensive equipment upgrade and safety inspection."

Lin Mo was stunned for a moment, and a glimmer of hope instantly ignited in his eyes.

"Postponed? That means... I get seven days off?! I can go home and harvest the wheat?!"

He was so excited he almost stood up, and even his signature dead fish eyes shone.

However, Jiang Ruoyun's next sentence plunged him into the deepest abyss.

"You wish!"

Jiang Ruoyun smiled and shook her finger, continuing to read from the card:

Starting today, the production team will be holding a seven-day "Champion Reward Week" at the Heartbeat House!

"To reward all our guests, tomorrow morning at 8 AM, we will welcome a mysterious 'Asia's Top Idol' as a guest star, who will accompany you throughout this wonderful holiday!"

After Jiang Ruoyun finished reading, she slammed the gold card onto the table with a crisp "smack".

The small kitchen was deathly silent.

Only the water in the pot where the noodles were cooking was still bubbling away.

"Clatter."

Lin Mo, who was holding a strainer to scoop out noodles, dropped it straight into the large iron pot.

He froze completely.

one second.

two seconds.

three seconds.

"Aaaaaaaahh ...

Lin Mo completely broke down. He grabbed his hair with both hands, looked up at the camera lens, and howled to the sky. His voice was as shrill as a midnight horror movie.

"You call this a reward?! This is nothing short of forced overtime!!!"

Lin Mo pointed at the camera, his fingers trembling with extreme anger.

"Even the donkeys in the production team don't work this non-stop! The elimination rounds just ended, and you give me this reward week?!"

"I don't need any rewards! I just want to be naturally eliminated! Do you know this is illegal?! You capitalists are sucking my blood!"

"And that so-called top Asian superstar! Is he bored out of his mind to come and cause trouble?! I just want to take a peaceful nap!"

Lin Mo's breakdown was so real, so heartbreaking.

In an era where all celebrities are desperately trying to create a persona and grab the spotlight, his "forced to work" and "would rather die than work overtime" attitude is simply a mudslide.

The chat room erupted in a frenzy of excitement at that moment.

[Hahahaha! Help! Lin Shen's expression of utter despair is just like me going to work on a Monday morning!]

[Lin Mo: Call the police! There are people forcing cattle and horses to work here!]

The more you struggle, the more excited we get! Family, let him work! Weld the doors shut, no one's leaving get off work!

[Well done, production team! We wanted to see these max-level players forced to work overtime in the newbie village!]

What? Asia's top star is coming? I can already picture Lin Shen completely dominating him.

Watching Lin Mo roar wildly at the camera, looking utterly desperate, as if he were about to pass out.

Jiang Ruoyun showed no sympathy; instead, she laughed heartily.

She picked up a piece of sweet and sour pork ribs that Lin Mo had casually fried earlier; it was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.

Taking advantage of the moment when Lin Mo opened his mouth to howl, Jiang Ruoyun raised her hand with extreme precision.

"Hmm!"

The spare ribs were stuffed directly into Lin Mo's mouth, silencing all his accusations.

"Accept your fate, Lin Guanjun."

Jiang Ruoyun rested her chin on her hand, her cool and aloof eyes softening with a mixture of tenderness and cunning. "Be a good girl and keep your meal ticket handy. We have guests coming tomorrow."

Lin Mo subconsciously chewed the rib in his mouth twice.

It has a perfect balance of sweet and sour flavors and is bursting with meaty aroma.

He made it himself, so the taste is impeccable.

But as he chewed on that piece of rib, he felt it was the last bit of feed that capitalists were giving to cattle and horses.

He sighed in despair, dragged over a broken chair and slumped down, like a salted fish that had lost its dreams.

"Destroy it already, I'm tired."

……