DISCLAIMER: We don’t own any of the stories published. We don’t know any Chinese language and this is our first time MTL-ing a novel, expect inaccuracies in the translations.

❌ NO SPOILERS. WE ARE MTL-ING THIS AT THE SAME TIME WE’RE READING IT ❌

Translated by: jiejie

Editor: Qiaone

Chapter 16 – The Emperor’s Seaside Tour

Since they had to get up early the next day, the crew did not arrange the rest of the activities in the evening. The group went to bed early and everyone was called up before four in the morning on the second day.

The filming location is next to a beach in Yalong Bay, where the program team specially signed a contract with a scenic spot to rent it. It took more than an hour’s drive on the road— the winding path and gloomy sky made it difficult to wake up. The people who were called up early slept in the car and didn’t wake up until they arrived.

The makeup was already done at the hotel but had to be fixed before going on camera. The show’s makeup artists were busy and the accompanying cameraman had begun to set up the machines to film the sunrise. An Xumo looked over the horizons, the sea, and the sky boundary was flushed with a pale white light, the azure seawater lapped against the white sand beach, and the fresh sea breeze came.

He turned his head and glanced at Zhou Jinchen who was not far away. The man is talking with Yan Xiangyan on the side, his eyebrows were handsome and tall, and it was more intoxicating than the sea breeze.

An Xumo originally signed the contract because he wanted to see Zhou Jinchen, now what he has gain was far swifter and richer than he had imagined.

It wasn’t long before the horizon with white light was suddenly covered with a layer of gray clouds. After discussing with the local guide, the director came over to the six men and said, “Let’s go to the stone house first and start shooting right away. Let’s hurry up a bit, it looks like it might rain today.”

Yang Xiangyan smiled and said, “To have a rainy day on a weekend is a good thing.”

The main point of 《Sunny Weekend》 is the leisurely life represented by “weekend” and the bright mood that “sunny” represents. In addition, there is a lot of affections between the two characters, Yan Xiangyan and Zhang Zhiwei, between celebrities and young entertainers, and between hosts and guests. But coincidentally, since the first season of the show it has been raining eight out of ten times during the recording period, and the storyline “It’s always raining on 《Sunny Weekend》” has even made it to the top search for “rainy weekend”.

The six of them went to a stone house built on a hill by the sea. Compared to the wooden house in the first season, this stone house has become a two-story “mansion.” However, it is only now that the filming of the second episode is being filmed, and the popularity of the stone house is a little lacking. The cameramen were placed in various shaded areas of the house and the filming soon begins.

Unlike the intense entertainment variety shows like challenges, competitions, and matches, the presence of the camera in 《Sunny Weekend》 was not very strong, and accordingly, the requirement for the artist’s sense of lenses and on-the-spot reaction ability was virtually reduced a lot. This is also the reason why Zhou Jinchen chose to make 《Sunny Weekend》 the first variety show for An Xumo. If he were to participate in a variety show with fast-paced games, he’s afraid that An Xumo wouldn’t even be able to get a few shots.

On the set of 《Sunny Weekend》, even after the cameras started working, the artists on camera were still able to present themselves at their own pace, and the difference between before and after the camera wasn’t very obvious.

After the recording began, the hosts, Yan Xiangyanen and Zhang Zhiwei prepared breakfast. The porridge was cooked with glutinous rice and sea rice, and the taste was very fresh. After the first season’s exercise, the two, who weren’t very good cooks before, have already developed their cooking skills to be camera-ready. Before the meal, they also gave the newcomers Zhou Jinchen and An Xumo a few close-up shots. But this was already their only remaining stock. After the steaming breakfast, the ingredients became the first problem to be solved.

The furnishings in the stone house have a strong natural style. Although the cooking utensils are modern, they still need to burn wood for the fire. Continuing the last season’s style, Yi Tianmeng, who is familiar with it, was sent off to chop firewood, while the other resident MC, Han Ming, took Zhou Jinchen along to pick up ingredients.

Before leaving the house, Zhou Jinchen called out to An Xumo, and Han Ming’s gaze swept over. An Xumo was vaguely aware of Han Ming’s thoughts, but he wanted to be with Zhou Jinchen, so he went over anyway.

The sky outside the house was still grey, but the local guide said that it will not rain for a while. The trio’s mission was to find as many ingredients as possible to supply the stone house before it rained.

The program’s rule is five seafood are exchanged for one kilogram of rice, with the latter being the standard unit, all the other meat, vegetables, and eggs can be exchanged at the prescribed price. The beach is located in a remote place with beautiful scenery. Most seafood was small crabs and mussels. Han Ming, who already had one shooting experience, briefly talked over the main points with the other two, and the three picked up crabs on the beach.

An Xumo wore a white T-shirt with shorts specifically suited for the seaside, and along with his age made him look like a boy who had just returned from high school. His white t-shirt is no longer the last popular style of 9.9 yuan for free delivery, its stitching and design are obviously several notches higher. The oncoming sea breeze blew his wide T-shirt up, and even if An Xumo didn’t do anything, he was just as good at getting the shots that the editors and post-production especially liked.

He lowered his head and found traces of activities in the crevices of the reefs, but the progress wasn’t very smooth. According to Han Ming’s method, An Xumo fumbled for a long time but failed to find a harvest. After returning empty-handed again, An Xumo turned back to look in Zhou Jinchen’s direction, but unexpectedly, the other two people who had been moving in different directions were now standing together.

They weren’t too far away from An Xumo, and they were accompanied by two cameras. Han Ming seemed to have found something, his face was excited as he bent down and picked up two palm-sized clams with one hand, smilingly showing them to the camera, and finally, one at a time, he placed a clam in Zhou Jinchen’s basket.

Zhou Jinchen’s back was facing to the side, so An Xumo didn’t see his expression. But Han Ming was facing this side, and when he picked up the clam, he saw An Xumo, looking towards them. An Xumo looked at him abruptly but after looking at each other, Han Ming completely ignored An Xumo as if sweeping a mass of air and continued to communicate with Zhou Jinchen with a smile.

An Xumo suddenly remembered the concert of Han Ming he had attended before. At that time, more than a dozen of them were waiting in the backstage, and Han Ming in front of them was brilliant. When interacting with fans, Han Ming answered a question — the one wish he wanted to fulfill the most was to invite Zhou Jinchen to be a guest of his concert.

At the moment, Han Ming and Zhou Jinchen are already standing by the beach side by side. The cameraman is working hard to find the most suitable angle for them and present the perfect shot.

An Xumo raised his hand and wiped his forehead. He turned around and continued to look down in the stone crevices.

He didn’t know whether it was because he had misheard what Han Ming said before or because his own practice method was wrong, An Xumo had been searching on the beach for a long time and his basket was still only pitifully covering the bottom. On the other side, Han Ming’s baskets couldn’t be lifted, and Zhou Jinchen had gained a lot. Seeing that the wind was getting stronger, the accompanying director began to call the three of them back to the stone house. Han Ming and Zhou Jinchen returned to the beach one after another. An Xumo, who had nothing to gain, was still working on something in the distance.

Han Ming could see the weight of the basket in An Xumo’s hand. An imperceptible smile flashed under his eyes. Because of the strong sea breeze, the cameras have begun to put away the lenses one after another to prevent the machine from being wet by the sudden downpour. Seeing that no one was filming this side, Han Ming took a few steps towards Zhou Jinchen’s direction, “Brother Chen.”

Seeing Zhou Jinchen looking over, Han Ming gestured in the direction of An Xumo and said, “Brother Chen, I ran into Xiao An by chance last time when I was in the company. He seemed to have a conflict with several trainees. Fortunately, Director Xin’s call came quickly, and Sister Chen was able to handle the matter in time. I was still curious at that time, does Bother Chen knows Xiao An?”

Zhou Jinchen still had no expression. He glanced at Han Ming and said, “An Xumo’s contract is signed by the agent in charge of Zimai.”

Xin Zimai manages more agents, and he hasn’t seen other people make Zhou Jinchen so concerned. Han Ming was secretly suspicious but didn’t show it openly. He smiled and said, “It looks like Director Xin takes care of Xiao An quite well.”

Zhou Jinchen looked at An Xumo who was still in the distance, with a secretive expression in his eyes. Suddenly, he said, “Xiao Mo’s conditions are good, he has a bright future.”

An Xumo, who was bending down to capture his target, suddenly tripped over the gravel beneath his feet and almost fell straight forward. The cameraman next to him quickly reached out to help, but An Xumo had already stood firm. He let out a low hiss, his lips pursed and raised his right hand, and couldn’t hold back a cry of surprise.

He saw a lobster bigger than the palm of his hand, hanging on his white, slender hand. An Xumo had been chasing this lobster just now, and the awkward stagger was just enough for him to “catch” this majestic meal.

When Han Ming heard Zhou Jinchen calling “Xiao Mo”, he was stunned for a moment. In an instant, even the worst thoughts circulated in his mind. Whether it is the opposite sex or the same sex, Zhou Jinchen has never been in any scandalous rumor before. He never would have thought that at a time when he was planning to pursue the other party and had very favorable conditions in every aspect, a rival who was affiliated with Zhou Jinchen would be born across the board.

Han Ming had just gathered himself emotionally and was about to continue probing Zhou Jinchen’s attitude towards An Xumo when there was a sudden movement not far away from the direction of An Xumo.

Everyone on the beach was immediately attracted, they saw An Xumo who came by carrying a basket, and his camera shot is pointing at the two large tongs on the side of the basket. The guide on the side also gave a low cry, “Oh! such a big lobster is really rare.”

Han Ming subconsciously looked at Zhou Jinchen beside him but saw that the man had already stepped towards An Xumo. His heart sank, and his gaze towards An Xumo became even darker.

An Xumo didn’t notice this as he carefully carried the basket. Xiao Yang said he wanted to take a close-up shot of him, so he asked him to take the lobster all the way. But now, his biggest gain is not this amazing prawn.

He didn’t take a few steps before Zhou Jinchen had already walked in front of him, and An Xumo lifted his left hand and showed the ball in his palm.

“Brother Jinchen, look, I found a key to the ingredients!”

The appearance of the metal sphere is very similar to that of the reef, but opening it reveals a key with a special logo attached to it, which is part of the show’s arrangement to find the key and exchange it for a precious class of ingredients from the director. The ingredient key is a rare item, appearing only twice in the eight episodes of the first season.

An Xumo didn’t manage to catch a few crabs, but he was lucky enough to not only catch a large lobster but also find a hidden treasure trove of foreign aid.

Zhou Jinchen naturally knew the rare key, but his gaze only swept over it before moving to another place. With the camera pointed at the two of them, Zhou Jinchen frowned slightly and looked at the tips of An Xumo’s swollen right hand, “Did you get hurt by the lobster?”