Chapter Eleven: Who Brings Their Own Ingredients to a Show?

“Hey? Wait a minute, why does my horse look so tiny?”
“Can someone come take a look? What kind of horse is this? This little thing looks quite unique.” Wu Dajing called out from the side.

As a few of them approached, they couldn’t help but burst out laughing upon seeing the horse in front of Wu Dajing.

It was a Shetland pony from the UK.

Extremely petite, its height didn’t even reach one meter.

“Hahaha, look at those little stubby legs!”

“The horse’s mane is so distinctive; it looks like the curtain bangs that were popular in the '90s.”

“Dajing, come over here. I want to see if this pony’s legs are longer than yours.”

“Alright, I’ll come take a look.” Wu Dajing nodded.

When he stepped into the stable and stood next to the pony, the sight was so comical that everyone burst into laughter again.

“Hahahahahaha…” × N

The pony’s legs were actually shorter than Wu Dajing’s, only reaching up to his waist.

Meanwhile, the little horse tilted its head with an adorably clueless expression, not understanding why these humans were laughing so much.

The pony seemed to think: Hmph—laugh all you want, never seen a horse before?!

The audience watching this scene couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

“Hahaha, this is hilarious! Where did the production team find such a tiny horse? Who’s supposed to ride this? It’s basically an insult.”

“Uh… I have a bad feeling about this. Do you think in the end, Xu Xiu will be the one riding this tiny horse…”

“Hey, guys, stop. Just hearing that gives me a mental image already. Xu Xiu is capable of anything, no matter how twisted.”

“I’d actually love to see Sister Meng ride this little horse. That would be adorable!”

After touring the stable, everyone strolled leisurely around the island—through the vegetable garden, supermarket, seaside, and lighthouse.

The only downside was the persistent rain outside, accompanied by strong winds that easily broke several umbrellas on the spot.

By the time everyone returned to the dining hall, the sky was nearly dark.

Xu Xiu went straight to bed, genuinely enjoying the comfort of the warm covers.

Outside at the dining table sat Fei Qiming, Wang Chuanjun, Pai Pai, and Wu Dajing.

The four of them exchanged awkward glances, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

Luckily, Wang Sulong came over and, noticing their expressions, immediately sensed the awkwardness.

Coincidentally, he hated seeing others feel uncomfortable.

Just as Wang Sulong was trying to find a topic to break the ice, La Mu approached.

“Hey, little sister, you finally made it! Let’s lighten the mood with some laughter—the place is freezing cold right now.”

La Mu glanced at the group and saw how awkward these newcomers looked.

“Brother, don’t do anything unnecessary. We need to let them adapt to and even enjoy this awkwardness—that’s the whole point of our show.”

“No way. Seeing them so awkward makes me awkward too.”

“No, now that I’ve grown, I actually enjoy this kind of awkward atmosphere.”

Wang Sulong sighed.

Just then, La Mu suddenly turned to Wu Dajing. “Dajing, what’s your zodiac sign?”

This made Wang Sulong laugh.

“You just said you like awkwardness, so why are you asking questions now? Didn’t you say you’ve grown?”

The two exchanged a glance and chuckled.

As they kept giggling foolishly, the laughter quickly spread, and the rest of the group started laughing as well.

Xu Xiu, who had been asleep for about an hour, was suddenly awakened by their laughter.

Groggily stepping out, he found the dining hall already surrounded by many people.

“Wow, you’re finally awake! If you didn’t wake up soon, I was going to come get you,” Wang Sulong said.

“What’s for dinner tonight? Who’s cooking?” Xu Xiu asked the question everyone was thinking.

“Still unclear. No ingredients, the production team is too stingy.”

Wang Sulong’s words were accurate, and Xu Xiu didn’t argue.

Although he had only been on one variety show before, he was already shocked by the production team’s stinginess.

Not even a single chicken—how is that even possible?

Oh, wait, there were some chicks.

When Xu Xiu reached the kitchen, he saw a few girls washing vegetables and preparing to cook.

But when he noticed they only had eggs, he was stunned.

“Are eggs the only ingredients we have? No meat at all?”

“Yeah, and these were brought by Sister Meng herself. The production team didn’t prepare anything,” Song Yanfei shrugged.

“What are you planning to do with just these eggs? Scrambled eggs?”

“Sister Meng said she’d make us an egg feast—eight dishes made from eggs.”

“Ah?”

Xu Xiu was dumbfounded.

Seriously, should you even listen to that?

An egg feast—what a niche term!

“How’s that? Pretty impressive, right? Luckily, I’m here; otherwise, you guys wouldn’t even have food,” Meng Ziyi said proudly, tilting her head.

Though she said no more, her expression clearly begged for praise.

Xu Xiu wanted to compliment her but really couldn’t bring himself to.

“Sigh~ You guys wait here for me.”

With that, Xu Xiu turned and went back to the dorm.

Everyone present exchanged looks, unsure what Xu Xiu had in mind.

They had already tried every possible approach, even repeatedly asking the production team to no avail.

Just as they were pondering, Xu Xiu appeared carrying half a rack of ribs, a bag of green beans in his left hand, and a bundle of vermicelli noodles in his right.

The scene reminded them of a moment from the 2009 Spring Festival Gala…

“Wait, where did you get all these? You didn’t steal from the production team’s supplies, did you?”

“Yeah, what if the production team comes knocking? This could really mess up their plans.”

“Uh… even if we have ingredients, no one knows how to cook. I don’t know how to braise,” Meng Ziyi scratched her head.

The scene in the dining hall made the production team uneasy.

Qi Wei immediately stood up.

“What are you doing?” Gao Liang asked, puzzled.

“I’m going to check the ingredients. This kid didn’t really steal from our supplies, did he? Then what are we going to eat tonight?”

“Why rush? Don’t be so hasty. When will you ever learn to calm down? Tell me, do we have ribs in our supplies?”

“No.”

“Do we have green beans and vermicelli noodles?”

“No.”

“That’s odd. We don’t have these ingredients. So where did this guy get them?”

“I brought them myself!”

Xu Xiu and the others explained in the dining hall.

“You brought these yourself?”

The women were stunned.

They found it hard to believe. When they went out, aside from their fashionable clothes, all they carried were various cosmetics.

Who would bother bringing food, especially raw ingredients? That seemed so pointless.

It wasn’t that the production team didn’t provide anything… well, actually, they really didn’t prepare any ingredients!

But how did Xu Xiu know the production team wouldn’t prepare food? Or was he just someone who liked to bring his own ingredients whenever he traveled?