Jin Si silently pursed his lips.
Qi Wu was already ecstatic over her new candy. Naturally, she did not care for lemon drops now.
Only a fool like Chang Xun would be worried about her.
Despite that thought, Jin Si remained on the line with Chang Xun.
Meanwhile, Chang Xun had used his connections to let himself into the production team's control room.
Qu Man was currently waiting backstage so that she could coordinate with Song Qi.
When she spotted Chang Xun sneaking into the room, hunched over like some comical thief, she could not help but roll her eyes.
"Why are you here?" she impatiently asked.
Realizing he had been discovered, Chang Xun straightened up and strode over.
"Why so annoyed?" He stood before Qu Man and leaned forward to whisper into her ear, "We were so close before."
Hu Mofei's thoughtless remark was actually true. Something had happened between Qu Man and Chang Xun.
However, the fact that they used to date was still a secret only known to the two of them.
After they broke up, they felt so humiliated by what happened during the relationship that they both swore never to tell anyone about it.
Qu Man's eyes turned to ice. Her glare was as sharp as a knife.
"Shut up."
Chang Xun stopped before he went too far and linked his hands behind his head while languidly walking over to Song Qi's seat.
"Hey, bro. You. Yes, you."
He did not hesitate before starting to make requests of the crew member like he was a friend. "Can you focus on Qi Wu's camera? Make sure I can hear whatever's going on as well."
Silence fell.
The crew members stared at Qu Man with a lost look on their faces.
Chang Xun was an extremely famous manager in the industry. His greatest achievement was turning Jin Si from a nobody to a three-time award-winning actor in just three years.
Hence, everyone in the room recognized Chang Xun.
Qu Man had shut her eyes out of frustration.
However, Chang Xun soon started acting up as he grumbled, "Come on. Don't be so petty. We're all friends, right? I'll just watch. I won't record anything!"
He was like a mosquito persistently buzzing around Qu Man's ear, disrupting her peace.
She snapped her eyes open and sighed in a tone of surrender, "Give it to him."
A smile instantly appeared on Chang Xun's face. "Do you hear that? The great demon says yes."
The crew members all looked at him with starry eyes.
Out of the entire production team, only a few dared to call Qu Man a demon to her face.
Song Qi, who was in the main hall of the stadium, noticed the ruckus happening in the control room. He picked up his radio and asked, "What's going on, Qu Man?"
"Chang Xun's here," Qu Man replied, exasperated.
Confusion flashed across Song Qi's face. "Why is he here?"
Qu Man glanced at Chang Xun, who was happily watching the camera trained on Qi Wu, and rested her head in her hand as she helplessly answered, "He's here to watch because he's afraid you're bullying his daughter."
The look on Chang Xun's face was nearly identical to Hu Mofei's.
"Is he mad?"
Song Qi could not resist letting out a curse.
Qu Man nodded in agreement. "He's quite mad."
Just then, Chang Xun spoke up through the radio, "What's this, Song? I've been of great help to you."
Qu Man turned in surprise to find Chang Xun boldly looking at her as he spoke into a radio he had dug up from somewhere.
She decided to just ignore him.
Upon seeing that, Chang Xun picked up the script Song Qi had left at his desk and flipped through it.
"Let me see what you have planned… Wishing bottles? Song, when did you become so tacky?"
"Shut up and just watch!"
*
Meanwhile, the filming was happening as normal.
The contestants wrote down their wishes for the next three months into strips of paper before stuffing them into glass bottles.
The bottles were so tiny that their palms were bigger than the bottles.
Just then, the crew raised the red curtains.
Hiding behind the curtains was a pond with the statue of a huge stone turtle with its mouth open as water flowed around it.
"This is the Pond of Dreams."
When the contestants continued to stare at him in confusion, Song Qi explained, "You will throw your bottles into the turtle's mouth. If you succeed, you win ten points."
Most people have thrown coins into wishing wells and ponds before.
It was just one of the many rituals humans had to pray for luck, but no one was actually able to throw a coin into the mouth of the stone turtle statues located inside the ponds.
As for the pond that had been set up, there was water constantly flowing everywhere and around the turtle, making it harder for anyone to know when to throw the bottle into the turtle's mouth.
Song Qi was not surprised to see fear and hesitation in some of the contestants. "You can choose to keep your bottles and hang them by the Tree of Dreams, but you won't gain any points that way."
Some heaved a sigh of relief when they heard that.
However, many were still tempted by the ten points offered.
The bolder contestants were already standing up.
"Mr. Song, can I have a practice throw?"
As that contestant was the first to go, Song Qi allowed it.
A crew member stepped forward and handed the contestant an empty glass bottle.
Now, everyone's attention was on the brave contestant who was the first to step forward.
The contestant took a deep breath and silently observed the flowing waters without moving a single inch.
A lot of the other contestants had realized what he was trying to do. He was trying to synchronize his throw with the water so that the bottle could flow along the currents and into the turtle's mouth.
Finally, he made his move.
He threw the empty bottle into the air, and it landed in the pond with a gentle splash.
Every contestant in the stadium held their breath as they watched the bottle.
However, the bottle did not flow into the turtle's mouth as planned. Instead, it gently brushed past the turtle's face before sinking into the pond.
Pity filled the hearts of many contestants.
"It was only a few inches. What a pity."
"The water is actually flowing fast. Can a bottle really make it?"
"Just try it. It's ten points!"
Ten points was enough for a contestant to be within the top twenty.
Just then, Chang Xun picked up a headset and adjusted it so that it connected to Qi Wu's microphone.
"Are you going to give it a try?"
Qi Wu's gentle voice filled Chang Xun's ears.
Chang Xun looked around and found that Qu Man was having a meeting with some of the crew on the other side of the room. Evidently, she could not be bothered with him anymore.
As for the rest of the crew, they were all busy with their own work. Naturally, they would not bother him.
Chang Xun pulled out his phone and placed the headset near the phone's microphone.
Once that was done, Chang Xun whispered into the phone. "Enjoy listening."