“Then…what do you want?” Wang Xiang stopped struggling and sat back down on the stool.
Hearing Wang Xiang’s words, everyone’s expressions immediately changed, revealing friendly looks. Especially Huang Xiaochu, whose face was already beaming with smiles: “Director Wang, that’s more like it! What bad intentions could we have? We just want to make the program more exciting, that’s all.”
Mu Li: “Exactly!”
Peng Xiaochang: “No bad intentions!”
Zhang Xiaoyang: “It’s all for the program!”
Zhang Xiaofeng: “Just for program effect!”
Seeing Zhang Xiaofeng also start to echo these three boys, Huang Xiaochu and He Lin’s eyes almost popped out.
“Wonderful Life” had been recorded for so many seasons, and Zhang Xiaofeng had always been a quiet and gentle girl. They didn’t expect that after less than half a day of recording this season, she had already changed and started fooling around with the three boys. This truly surprised the two adults.
They didn’t even need to think to know that this couldn’t have been done by Peng Xiaochang and Zhang Xiaoyang. The only explanation was the newcomer. Zhang Xiaofeng’s transformation was very likely caused by him.
However, both of them were also happy to see this scene.
Zhang Xiaofeng became famous at a young age, being crowned a “child star with acting prowess” since she was ten. Beneath this seemingly glamorous and glorious title, it also brought her endless pressure.
The audience’s expectations of her also rose. Whenever she performed even slightly poorly, it would be infinitely magnified by others.
For a teenage girl, such demanding expectations, while not necessarily right or wrong, indeed caused Zhang Xiaofeng a lot of pressure. From past performances, even though Peng Xiaochang constantly tried to engage her, she mostly just sat quietly to the side.
At an age that should be like a blooming flower, she was forced to act so mature, which also made Huang Xiaochu and He Lin feel a bit of heartache.
Not only them, but even the entire program team felt the same way, so everyone also took extra care of Zhang Xiaofeng.
With Zhang Xiaofeng like this, Peng Xiaochang and Zhang Xiaoyang also seemed to have some changes.
They seemed more relaxed, or rather, these four together seemed more like siblings living under one roof.
In a way, this was what Huang Xiaochu and He Lin wanted to see, and what they hoped for in “Wonderful Life”: hard work, rewards, and most importantly, the love of family.
However, all of this looked different in the eyes of Wang Xiang and Xi Xi at this moment.
In their eyes, Huang Xiaochu and He Lin, these two scoundrel leaders, along with four little scoundrels, were about to extort something from them.
“Hurry up and tell us, what do you want to do?” Wang Xiang said, feigning indifference.
“Hey, Director Wang, what are you talking about?” Mu Li quickly went up to appease him, “Aren’t we negotiating terms? Since we’re negotiating terms, naturally there have to be terms to discuss, right?”
After thinking for a moment, Mu Li gave Huang Xiaochu a meaningful look. Huang Xiaochu gestured for him to continue, and only then did Mu Li slowly say: “How about this, you first tell us some of the arrangements for this episode. And we, too, will consider them. Finally, everyone can discuss it together, and that way, everyone can be harmonious. How about it?”
Unexpectedly, Wang Xiang snorted coldly, his gaze gradually Lock-On Mu Li: “I finally understand. You are the bad guy among the common people. I said that after you came, these three little rascals started causing so much trouble. So, you’re the culprit!”
“Director Wang ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ You’ve misunderstood me ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦” Mu Li quickly ran behind Wang Xiang and started massaging his shoulders and back, “I’m just trying to make life more comfortable for my older brothers and sisters! Who would have thought it would cause such a misunderstanding? All of this is to blame…”
“Uh…” Mu Li scanned the room, then pointed his finger at Director Xi Xi sitting opposite him, “Him, yes, him, Director Xi Xi, it’s him! He stole our money and wouldn’t even buy us iced coconuts. It’s nearly 40 degrees Celsius, and my older brothers and sisters are just baking under the sun. How can I bear it?”
“Ah…” Mu Li sighed deeply, “Under duress, I could only be the bad guy.”
“But!” Mu Li’s tone suddenly rose, and he pointed at Xi Xi again, “He, our respected Director Xi Xi, I never thought he would be so spineless! We were just trying to scare Director Xi Xi a bit, to make him understand our hardships, but he actually exposed the program team’s plan directly.”
“Director Wang ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ There are bad people among the common people!” Mu Li spoke with tears in his eyes, and Xi Xi on the opposite side almost flipped the table.
Wang Xiang coughed and showed a puzzled expression: “So, you were also forced?”
“Exactly!” Mu Li nodded vigorously.
“Since that’s the case, then let’s discuss it?” Wang Xiang didn’t continue to be stubborn, mainly because Huang Xiaochu was quietly approaching with a slipper in his hand.
“It’s good that you’re like this earlier!” Huang Xiaochu immediately smiled, threw away the slipper in his hand, put his arm around Wang Xiang’s shoulder, and said with a smile, “Come, come, come, please introduce to us, what new plans does the program team have this time?”
When it came to introducing the program flow, Wang Xiang became a bit more serious: “Actually, it’s very simple. The theme of this episode is unlocking. You can obtain shells, which we call treasures, in different ways. Once you accumulate a certain amount of treasures, for example, 20, 40… you will unlock corresponding projects, including planting areas, coffee shops, and various other projects. As for your ingredients this season, you can obtain them directly after completing some simple tasks.”
“As for the methods of obtaining shells, it’s mainly through fishing. For each different type of fish you catch, you can get some shells. As for the fish you catch, you can choose to eat them or sell them in the village.”
Mu Li asked: “Then how do we go fishing?”
“We will provide you with fishing boats. You can go fishing with the fishing boats,” Wang Xiang said.
“No, you’re that kind? Is this fishing boat free?” Huang Xiaochu asked suspiciously.
“It must be free,” Wang Xiang said with a look of indignation, “Do we only have this much trust between us?”
“Is everything free?” Mu Li pressed.
“This… this…” Wang Xiang hesitated for a moment, and finally, under everyone’s questioning, he had to reveal his plan in advance, “Naturally, not everything is free.”
“Don’t you need tools for fishing? Different fishing tools need to be rented for a fee.”
As soon as these words came out, it naturally aroused everyone’s anger.
Huang Xiaochu said heartbroken: “I knew it, you couldn’t be that kind.”
Peng Xiaochang: “There are bad people among the masses!”
Zhang Xiaoyang: “Director, you have betrayed our trust in you.”
Eventually, Huang Xiaochu was the first to calm down: “Tell us, how are you going to charge?”
“Uh, different fishing gear has different prices,” Wang Xiang directly pulled out a board, which was covered with the prices of different fishing gear, “If you rent everything, it’s 3000 yuan.”
Huang Xiaochu immediately stood up: “Children, throw him into the sea.”
“3000 yuan, where do we have that much money?” He Lin also expressed his dissatisfaction.
Wang Xiang said: “You can mortgage a loan. Don’t you have a house?”
“They’re even starting to eye the house. If the house is gone, where will we live?” Huang Xiaochu said indignantly.
“As for the house! You can always squeeze in and sleep,” Wang Xiang said, looking unconcerned.
“So, this 3000 yuan must be spent no matter what?” Mu Li asked.
“If you have the ability to catch fish bare-handed in the sea, that’s fine too,” Wang Xiang’s chin was almost pointed at the sky.
“You said that, right?” Mu Li blinked, indicating, “Are you serious?”
Seeing Mu Li’s expression, Wang Xiang’s heart suddenly skipped a beat. It would be one thing if someone else asked that, but since it was Mu Li who said it, he had to consider it.
Fishing, for those who know, isn’t difficult; it’s half luck, half skill. But for Pokémon living in the ocean, fishing is not a difficult task.
Fishermen usually use Water-type Pokémon to assist in fishing, but most Water-type Pokémon are used to find schools of fish. Their own ability to catch fish is not too strong; it’s barely enough to feed themselves, but it’s still difficult to support a family of fishermen.
But this is for average-level Pokémon, such as Superior or below Superior Pokémon. For those Superior, Gym, or even Heavenly King Level Water-type Pokémon, catching fish? That’s just too easy.
And Mu Li, a retired Champion player, having a Heavenly King Level Water-type Pokémon by his side, is that strange?
As soon as this possibility came to mind, Wang Xiang’s tone immediately changed: “Temporarily change one rule: fish caught by yourselves can only be eaten by yourselves. They cannot be sold, nor can they be exchanged for other ingredients. Those fish that are to be sold can only be caught using fishing gear.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a Togekiss descended from the sky, dropping a half-meter-long large fish it was holding in its mouth beside Mu Li, signaling that it was a gift for him, and then spread its wings and flew high into the sky again.
Mu Li couldn’t help but blink and look at Wang Xiang. Wang Xiang could only blink back, exchanging a look with the almost-dead fish, revealing a look of lingering fear: “Good thing I spoke first.”
Mu Li rolled his eyes at Wang Xiang in annoyance: “You make it sound like I would cheat.”
Mu Li, however, showed no reaction, but everyone else was already stunned.
“That’s Togekiss, right? The one that caused such a stir a few days ago?”
“No way? Can this Togekiss even fish?”
“Is that Togekiss Mu Li’s?”
“Such a big fish can be eaten for a long time, right?”
...
When Mu Li arrived earlier, there weren’t many staff members accompanying him, and few people saw Mu Li letting the Pokémon go out to play. Now, suddenly seeing Togekiss, their surprise was imaginable.
Huang Xiaochu and He Lin were even more surprised. They were well-informed and naturally knew the value of Togekiss, but no one had told them that Mu Li had one!
As for Peng Xiaochang and the others, although they already knew Mu Li had a Togekiss and had even been in close contact with it, no one expected this Togekiss to be able to fish, and to catch such a large one at that.
Only the Golden Magikarp floating in the air nearby shivered all over after seeing this scene.
“What do you say now, Director Wang?” Mu Li quickly tried to change the subject, “We can catch fish ourselves. At worst, for these two weeks, we’ll just eat fish. I see there are some cacti planted in the yard, we’ll just eat those as vegetables. That way, it’s not impossible for us not to go fishing.”
Wang Xiang’s expression changed, his originally cold face instantly becoming amiable: “Hey, how can that be? A Li, you’re still young, and so is our sister. You’re both still growing, how can you just eat fish and no vegetables? That easily leads to nutritional imbalance.”
“Then what about the price of the fishing gear?” Huang Xiaochu raised an eyebrow, smirking.
“2700?” Wang Xiang asked tentatively.
“What did you say?” Huang Xiaochu seemed not to have heard.
“2500, no less,” Wang Xiang gritted his teeth.
“Forget it, forget it. Eating cactus is pretty good too,” Huang Xiaochu stood up, signaling that everyone could leave.
“2000, that’s the lowest price,” Wang Xiang shouted.
“1500, interest-free loan,” Huang Xiaochu began to haggle.
Wang Xiang directly refused: “Impossible, too low. And an interest-free loan, impossible.”
“Then how much do you say?” Huang Xiaochu said.
“1800, mortgage one room,” Wang Xiang gave his lowest price.
“1800, interest-free loan. Anyway, that house is useless to you, we’ll redeem it in a couple of days. This is the bottom price, you consider it,” Huang Xiaochu said.
Wang Xiang hesitated, but just then, Togekiss passed over them again, and another half-meter-long fish fell down.
The fish landed right in front of Wang Xiang and bounced twice in front of him, staring at Wang Xiang with dead fish eyes, as if mocking him.