I Swear I Don’t Want to Be Everyone’s Favorite - Chapter 21.2

Xiang Fan clearly refused to believe this fact and immediately left to investigate the truth.

Faced with this outcome, Jiang Luoyue was speechless but also relieved that she finally had a reason to send them away.

“Aren’t you going?” she asked Yu Jingtang softly. “If you’re faster than the guide, you might win.”

Yu Jingtang seemed to be thinking. A few seconds later, she said to Ning Fuguang, “You go.”

“Fu Yunqing makes a good point,” Ning Fuguang said calmly, unmoving. “At worst, we just won’t win.”

Fu Yunqing: “What do you mean by that? Looking down on our team? Giving you a chance to win and you won’t take it?”

Seeing that they really weren’t moving, Fu Yunqing immediately said, “If you’re not going, I’m not going either.”

“Are you playing house?”

Yu Jingtang’s tone was calm, but the more detached a person’s emotions, the more impactful such words became.

As the tent was about to turn into another debate arena, Jiang Luoyue took a deep breath and raised her voice: “I’m tired and want to rest.”

In the next moment, she saw the three people who had just been fighting fiercely as if missing a bite would haunt them for the rest of their lives suddenly fall silent, like a pause button had been pressed or obedient pets receiving a command.

When the world returned to silence, Jiang Luoyue could finally curl back under the blanket. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her breathing and force herself to sleep. But as she closed her eyes, Xiang Fan’s inexplicable “debate about the moon” suddenly came to mind: “…”

After who knows how long, Jiang Luoyue finally stopped resisting the cheesy pun and fell into a deep sleep.

Of course, she didn’t know that the three who had maintained a facade of peace resumed their bickering the moment they left the tent. But they were all careful not to wake Jiang Luoyue, keeping their voices very low.

Jiang Luoyue couldn’t hear them, but the cameras dutifully broadcast the scene to the live stream.

To the viewers who had been waiting, it looked like the group had reunited and then suddenly entered the tent together for half an hour. Not long after, Xiang Fan entered, then left in disbelief, followed closely by the other three, all looking refreshed and satisfied.

【Poor Jiang Luoyue, toyed with so easily】

【It’s the first time I’ve heard Xiaotang say so much, and it turns out to be mocking Fu Yunqing for acting like a peacock in front of Jiang Luoyue. Such sophisticated vocabulary, teacher, is this really something our Jingtang would say?】

【The main cast of Square Team is just as shameless as their fans occupying the tent and even trying to steal team members. Despicable, disgraceful! Pitiful and lamentable!】

【The world is full of chaos, but I have only one wish: as long as you five live well together, nothing else matters!】

【Breaking news: Xiang Fan found the resource pack!】

The livestream immediately erupted in an uproar, but when viewers flooded into Xiang Fan’s solo perspective, they found the woman’s hands empty.

The scene was already crowded with staff. The director forced an awkward smile and said, “Hand over the resource pack, and the recording can end.”

“End?” Xiang Fan laughed. “You think you can start and end things as you please?”

She pulled out her phone, which had been turned off for days, and sent a few messages using an extremely weak network signal. Casually, she remarked, “To thank you for your enthusiastic hospitality these past few days, I’ve prepared a little gift for you too.”

The director had a bad feeling.

Sure enough, not long after, twelve professionals carrying speakers, led by Xiang Fan’s assistant, stepped into the rainforest.

At her command, the speakers blasted extremely low-quality DJ music, accompanied by heavy beats. Birds scattered instantly, chirping in alarm. Everyone instinctively covered their ears, and the livestream’s audio was quickly muted. Yet, some viewers still pieced together the truth and exclaimed in disbelief.

【Isn’t this the same song from the music box? Xiang Fan, you really hold a grudge, don’t you?】

Jiang Luoyue had no idea how the production team and viewers were being tormented. Perhaps because she was ill, she had an unusually long dream and woke up feeling completely refreshed.

The familiar reflective coating of the tent still greeted her eyes, the fabric flickering with the shadows of dancing flames. Having stared at this scene for so long, Jiang Luoyue had grown accustomed to it. But as she stretched and curiously glanced at the campfire outside the tent, her body suddenly froze.

Xiang Fan had set out to find the resource pack at noon. If the variety show had ended, she should have been woken up in the afternoon.

Why was it already night?

Shock and bewilderment washed over Jiang Luoyue, yet there was no trace of the fear of being abandoned. If everyone had left, there wouldn’t be a fire burning outside.

A faint, natural fragrance wafted toward her. Unconsciously swallowing, Jiang Luoyue followed her instinct to eat and opened the tent flap.

The fire was blazing brightly. Yu Jingtang stood in front of the grill, holding a brush in one hand and skewers in the other, meticulously coating both sides with seasoning. Fu Yunqing was threading skewers while sneakily nibbling on the ingredients. Ning Fuguang, busy grilling, shot her an impatient glare.

Meanwhile, Xiang Fan stood by the tent, holding a camera, carefully adjusting the angle as she recorded everything.

Jiang Luoyue’s sudden appearance made her raise an eyebrow and wave. “Awake?”

The scene wasn’t limited to just them. At a distance, on the other side, the staff of Hate Me were also hard at work, grilling with clear division of labor. However, while the grill was crowded with people, only the director’s team was responsible for threading the skewers.

They seemed on the verge of complaining but hesitated, glancing back in unison the twelve speakers were still ominously positioned nearby, playing that same instrumental track, though the volume had been significantly lowered.

Jiang Luoyue stared blankly at the scene and asked uncertainly, “Did you not find it?”

“Found it.” When Xiang Fan said this, she seemed to find it somewhat amusing herself. “But I didn’t take it.”

She recounted the whole story of how she got back at the production team. As Jiang Luoyue listened, it felt as though it had happened ages ago, even though it was only a few hours earlier.

“I slept for a long time,” she said uncertainly.

Xiang Fan smiled gently. “Not that long. The timing is just right now.”

“Jiang Luoyue!” Fu Yunqing finally spotted Jiang Luoyue and called out loudly, complaining with a pout, “They’ve been making me skewer food this whole time. I’m exhausted.”

“You’ve skewered more than you’ve eaten. Stop pretending to suffer,” Ning Fuguang muttered under his breath before casually adding, “Here, these are freshly grilled. Come have some.”

Yu Jingtang tossed aside the brush and began meticulously wiping her fingers with a wet wipe. “Luoyue.”

Jiang Luoyue responded to each of them one by one, then hesitated and glanced back at Xiang Fan. “Guide Xiang?”

“I’m filming behind-the-scenes footage,” Xiang Fan said. “Go ahead. I’m not hungry.”

Jiang Luoyue had only taken a few steps when Yu Jingtang reached out to check her temperature. Confirming it was normal, she smiled and took Jiang Luoyue’s wrist, only to feel something Jiang Luoyue had never worn before.

“A watch?” Yu Jingtang lowered her gaze, puzzled as she looked at the timepiece.

Jiang Luoyue only then remembered. “It’s Miss Fu’s.”

“Miss Fu?” Fu Yunqing, hearing the address, bristled. “This morning you were calling me Yunqing. Why are you being so formal in front of her ”

Jiang Luoyue rubbed her temples, feigning a headache. Fu Yunqing immediately dropped the subject and hurriedly urged her to sit down.

It was only then that Jiang Luoyue remembered something else.

After Xiang Fan had “gotten back” at the production team, why hadn’t she ended the variety show right away? Why wait until evening?

She couldn’t figure out the reason, just as Xiang Fan, standing behind the camera at that moment, stared at the figure in the corner and couldn’t understand why she had gone along with their silly games.

Not taking the resource pack, just to let Jiang Luoyue rest a few more hours even going so far as to pay out of pocket for ingredients and tools to “treat” the entire production crew.

Why had their thoughts led her to make such a wrong decision?

Before Jiang Luoyue woke up, Xiang Fan had observed everyone and concluded that she’d been influenced by that fool Fu Yunqing.

Because Fu Yunqing clearly favored Jiang Luoyue, living in that environment had skewed Xiang Fan’s perspective, making her unconsciously look out for Jiang Luoyue too.

But after Jiang Luoyue woke up, even though the camera captured countless people, Xiang Fan’s gaze still fell on only one person. She didn’t know if this was a negative effect of Fu Yunqing’s influence, but she gradually began to feel that making this decision might not have been so bad after all.

On screen, everyone was raising their glasses to celebrate the successful recording of the second episode of Hate Me.

The director, finally freed from skewering duties, tearfully announced the viewership ratings and the rewards the guests had earned.

Jiang Luoyue couldn’t drink alcohol, so her glass had been swapped for milk. She raised her cup helplessly as three other glasses clinked against hers in the next moment, sending droplets of alcohol splashing. Yet, she still felt like something was missing.

When she instinctively turned to look for Xiang Fan, Xiang Fan pressed the shutter button.

The blazing bonfire cast a warm, orange-red glow across the night sky. Jiang Luoyue’s lips curved into a smile, her expectant gaze reaching past the flames, fixed solely on Xiang Fan.

Xiang Fan stared at the photo for a long time before finally turning off the camera and walking toward the group.

She suddenly grew quiet, with only one thought in her heart.

Even if Jiang Luoyue would gaze at countless others with a similar look in the future, at least for this moment, she belonged only to herself.