After a D-List Celebrity and Their A-List Ex-Partner Join a Travel Reality Show - Chapter 9

After venting his frustration, He Lan clearly felt his mood improve significantly.

Sensing the surrounding silence, he picked up the iced coffee the staff had just refilled for him, took a sip, cleared his throat, and looked at the director with a smile. “Cut that part out.”

Seeing Meng Yichun still looking at him blankly, he realized the situation and gave a shy, embarrassed smile, politely asking, “Sorry, I have not been online for too long. This is a live stream, right?”

Meng Yichun’s mouth twitched.

No, you knew it was a live stream!

The live broadcast was kept within two hours, so it was not very long. After answering questions from fans and gathering a list of the most anticipated check-in spots from the audience, they went off-air.

When the guests arrived at the restaurant, the production team had already prepared their meal.

Zuo Jiaxi had originally braced himself for the possibility of having no food. However, upon entering the door and seeing the various local delicacies on the long table, his eyes widened. He looked at Meng Yichun and asked, “Director Meng, is there a share for our Husky group among these dishes?”

He Lan, who was following behind Zuo Jiaxi, paused his steps. He found the question awkward. Why did it sound so strange? He felt like something was not quite right.

After everyone was seated, Meng Yichun answered in a very understanding tone, “Yes! The production team truly felt the dedication and effort of every guest during this morning’s competition. Therefore, based on humanitarian concerns, the production team has decided not to make things difficult for everyone during lunch today.”

He introduced the local specialties to the guests one by one, though he skipped over two mysterious dishes that were covered by lids. Having performed physical labor all morning, the group did not pay attention to the two covered dishes and began to eat.

Norwegian cuisine is heavy on seafood. The most famous are king crab, salmon, fish soup, and arctic sweet shrimp platters. The production team had invited a local chef who had prepared nearly every local specialty.

The guests invited for this season had great personalities, and they got along very comfortably. They chatted while eating, and the atmosphere was wonderful. Because this trip was too far away, no agents had followed them. It was equivalent to having class without a teacher, and that class happened to be gym class.

Therefore, no one was buzzing in their ears about fat loss, sugar control, or avoiding carbohydrates. Such an opportunity to taste local food was rare, so they focused only on enjoying the delicacies, having long ago tossed the instructions from their agents back home to the back of their minds.

When Zuo Jiaxi was back in China, he was managed by his agent and his team leader, so there were many things he could not eat. But the kid was still growing! Since he did not bring his agent on this trip abroad, he had no intention of resisting the temptation of the food. Before long, he had polished off two bowls of fish soup all by himself.

Because he was surrounded by seniors, he felt a bit embarrassed to grab too much food casually. After eating a bit, he stared longingly at that large platter of king crab on the table.

He Lan, who was sitting next to him, could not help but laugh at his expression. He patted Zuo Jiaxi on the shoulder and asked in a low voice, “What do you want to eat?”

“Huh? Teacher He.” Zuo Jiaxi felt like a schoolboy caught in the act. After hearing He Lan’s question clearly, he felt a little shy, touched his ear, and whispered, “Crab meat.”

He Lan felt that these kids who danced and sang were really having a hard time. They were at a prime age for growth, yet their diet was so strictly regulated. He stood up, picked out a few pieces with plump meat, and brought them over. He did not put them directly into Zuo Jiaxi’s bowl but started peeling the shells.

Watching He Lan’s long fingers peeling the shells with such agility and proficiency, Zuo Jiaxi said with great admiration, “You are so proficient! You peel it so fast and so cleanly! Does Teacher He like eating seafood very much?”

The production team had considered that some people might not be able to eat or might not like seafood, so they had prepared quite a few other delicacies. Since there was basically no seafood on He Lan’s own plate, he had assumed He Lan did not like it.

He Lan paused for a second, placed the peeled crab meat into Zuo Jiaxi’s bowl, and said, “What can your brother He not do? Eat.”

He did not like seafood. He did not like it cooked, and he liked it even less raw. Even knowing the fishy smell was faint, He Lan found it hard to swallow. As for how he practiced such a technical skill as peeling shells, was it not because a certain someone liked it? He subconsciously glanced toward Shen Shiqin’s side.

Coincidentally, this glance caught Yuan Kuanglun on the other end, who was placing peeled crab meat into Shen Shiqin’s bowl.

He Lan let out a “Tch” in his heart and retracted his gaze. Looking at Zuo Jiaxi, who was stuffing his cheeks until they were bulging, he asked, “Want more?”

Zuo Jiaxi hurriedly waved his hands, saying unclearly, “Enough, enough. Thank you, Teacher He. I will peel it myself in a bit.”

“Do not be polite.” He Lan picked out a few more crab legs and put them in Zuo Jiaxi’s bowl, not stopping until they were piled into a small mountain.

…

Shen Shiqin heard the noise and glanced their way, but quickly withdrew his gaze.

Yuan Kuanglun followed Shen Shiqin’s line of sight and saw the scene at He Lan’s end. He nudged Shen Shiqin’s arm and asked, “Brother Shen, what is wrong?”

“Nothing.” Shen Shiqin retracted his arm slightly. He held his spoon absent-mindedly, toying with the few remaining bits of fish in his bowl.

Seeing that something was off, Yuan Kuanglun reached out, picked up Shen Shiqin’s bowl, and said, “I will get Brother Shen some more fish soup. You seem to love it.”

Shen Shiqin had just realized what was happening and was about to politely decline when his bowl had already been taken away by Yuan Kuanglun. Before long, he was served a full bowl of fish soup, and his plate now had a few more sweet shrimp and peeled crab meat on it. He looked down at his tray and gave a slight nod to Yuan Kuanglun. “Thank you.”

Yuan Kuanglun smiled more broadly, laughed twice, scratched his head, and said, “You are welcome, Brother Shen. Eat more.”

Shen Shiqin was actually not used to eating food picked up by people he was not familiar with, nor food that others had peeled and delivered to his mouth. Except when he was with He Lan—He Lan would pick up food for him or peel shells for him, and over time, he had gotten used to it. And because He Lan was there at that time, he would occasionally put his mysophobia aside. So, thinking back on it later, he probably did not have true mysophobia back then.

However, after the breakup, he realized that mysophobia—which he considered a bad habit—had not really gone away. Eating seafood was also troublesome; if it required peeling shells, it was better not to eat it at all. But considering the camera was still recording, Shen Shiqin intended to pick up a piece of crab meat that Yuan Kuanglun had peeled.

He merely moved his chopsticks and tapped them lightly on the edge of the plate a few times, failing to pick anything up. This action went on a little too long. He was silently waging an internal war, trying to tell himself he did not have mysophobia and that since the camera was recording, it was not good to refuse someone’s kindness.

Just as he was about to overcome his mental struggle and pick up the food, He Lan’s voice came over: “Director Meng, what are those two hidden dishes? You really do not intend to show them to us?”

Shen Shiqin breathed a sigh of relief and took the opportunity to put down his chopsticks.

Meng Yichun said mysteriously, “Although everyone has been exempted from the punishment regarding food selection, for the sake of fairness, we still have to find some other small punishments to keep things interesting.”

He Lan suddenly felt the food in his bowl was no longer tasty. He looked up calmly and asked, “May I ask if this is also part of the humanitarian aspect?”

Meng Yichun remained fearless: “No, this is called giving a sweet date and then a slap!”

Just then, as a veteran who had participated in the first season, Yu An spoke up quietly: “Do not tell me it is the same as the last season, with a bunch of things that push the limits of human taste buds.”

Meng Yichun: “Speaking of which, please allow me to brag a bit. I have learned a lot of experience from the previous director. Please rest assured, nothing that should be there will be missing.”

The guests had all watched the first season before recording, and what left the deepest impression on everyone—aside from experiencing local culture—was that the fans were most looking forward to the punishment segment where they would randomly experience local “delicacies.”

Yu An watched Meng Yichun’s mischievous smile. Her brain began uncontrollably reliving the heroic deeds of her tasting blue cheese pasta across the ocean back in the day. She looked at the two mysterious dishes in the center of the table that had not yet been opened. Although they were covered tightly, she could already faintly smell something foul.

The smell of blue cheese seemed to become clearer from her memory and launched a ruthless attack on her brain. Unable to help herself, Yu An began to gag, forced herself to speak, “Ugh… I advise you all… ugh, be prepar… ugh.”

She stood up, left the banquet at the fastest speed, and headed straight for the restroom.

The remaining guests watched her leave.

He Lan swallowed his saliva, looked at Duan Nan, and asked, “Teacher Duan, what did you eat during the first season? Why did it make Yu An feel so disgusted?”

Duan Nan had a good tolerance level. He said “Oh,” thought for a moment, and replied, “Not much. Just some common ones, like blue cheese. When we went to Sweden, we also tasted surströmming. In Iceland, there was some fermented meat… I do not remember clearly.”

For every one he mentioned, the expressions of the other guests stiffened.

But as a member of the production team, he felt it necessary to redeem the team’s image: “Actually, there were many that were quite normal, such as natto, live octopus, and the like.”

“Ha,” He Lan said. “Was the last season called The Smelly Food Tour?”

“Tch,” Meng Yichun tapped his clipboard, warning, “Watch your mouth.”

Zuo Jiaxi only felt more and more disgusted the more he heard. He slumped powerlessly in his seat, one hand covering his stomach. “If I had known, I would have tried my best to compete properly. I do not want to eat…”

“It is okay, I can help you.” Duan Nan saw his dejected look and smiled comfortingly. “My acceptance level is quite good.”

Seeing the guests all looking like they were facing a great enemy, Meng Yichun spoke in time: “Everyone rest assured. It is definitely not smelly. I already said it is just a small punishment; it will not be anything hard to swallow.”

However, this was met with looks of deep distrust from the Husky group.

Meng Yichun shut his mouth silently.

Shen Shiqin picked up the glass of water to the side and took two sippings, suppressing the nausea in his stomach. He was a bit of a picky eater and already did not like to eat much. Now, hearing their descriptions, he already felt full. Yet, looking down and seeing the fish soup Yuan Kuanglun had just served him and the mountain of crab meat on his plate, he suddenly felt a wave of nausea, so he covered his lips and coughed.

Yuan Kuanglun noticed his abnormality and hurriedly brought the glass in front of him, asking, “What is wrong, Brother Shen? Are you not feeling well?”

Shen Shiqin kept his head down, feeling nauseous again upon seeing the glass.

Just as Yuan Kuanglun was about to put his hand on Shen Shiqin’s back to help soothe him, he was subtly avoided to one side. He had no choice but to pull his hand back and ask with concern, “Are you okay? Do you need to drink more water?”

Shen Shiqin waved his hand. After coughing twice, just as he was about to speak, a light, clear voice came from the other side:

“Director Meng, since this is a punishment for the Husky group, is it not too chaotic for the members of the Husky group and the Reindeer group to be seated together like this? The audience’s viewing experience will not be good. They will not be able to tell who is in the Husky group and who is in the Reindeer group, right? Also, sitting like this, what if the Reindeer group members get accidentally injured when we Husky group members are eating later?”

The people on site were left feeling dizzy by this tongue-twister of “Husky” and “Reindeer.”

Meng Yichun rubbed his temples, trying to understand, but his brain had clearly not processed this sentence.

He asked, “What do you mean?”

He Lan said concisely, “It means, in order to avoid accidentally hurting the Reindeer group, let us Husky group members sit together.”

As he said this, his gaze inadvertently flickered toward Shen Shiqin on the other side.

Shen Shiqin, who was sitting not far away, had his hands placed on his lap. He felt the gaze from over there and curled his fingers.