Chapter 16: Giving the Director a Little Thrill

Jiang Nanxi thought for a moment and asked, "What about Li Zhengtao?"

"He's gone. He won't be participating in the filming. I'll be distributing today's tasks in a moment."

"Alright."

Jiang Nanxi went back to continue eating her hairy crabs.

Although the director had allowed Jiang Nanxi to stay, her behavior had been broadcast live, and netizens had immediately dragged her onto the trending searches with insults.

#JiangNanxiHasNoManners #JiangNanxiDisrespectsSeniors #FeelingForSeniorLi

Jiang Nanxi already had many anti-fans, and this incident only increased their numbers.

Li Zhengtao didn't say anything in public, but he made several calls to the director in private, demanding that Jiang Nanxi be removed.

The director also felt that Jiang Nanxi was a ticking time bomb who brought trouble wherever she went; he wanted to remove her too.

However, Liu Qingyan—the nation's "White Moonlight" and award-winning actor—said that if Jiang Nanxi left, he wouldn't film either!

Jiang Nanxi was just an obscure celebrity; whether she stayed or left was a minor matter. But for someone of Liu Qingyan's stature, if he were to withdraw mysteriously, his fans would chase him and curse him for years.

Furthermore, the Liu family was one of the top elite families in the Imperial Capital. The variety show *Returning to the Countryside* was backed by the Liu family's investment, and he didn't dare offend his benefactor!

The director was caught in the middle, forced to let Jiang Nanxi continue filming, though he harbored deep resentment.

When assigning tasks in the afternoon, the director gave Jiang Nanxi and Li Chu's team the most difficult task to complete.

The director said, "Today is a prop task. Each team will receive a prop, and you will need to complete tasks based on that prop to earn points."

After speaking, the director had the staff distribute a black plastic bag to each team; the props were inside.

Shen Lan X Song Wanwan: A bronze gong.

Liu Qingyan X Song Shixing: A suona.

Jiang Nanxi X Li Chu: Black stockings.

Seeing the props of the other teams, Jiang Nanxi pulled the black stockings out of the plastic bag and couldn't help but question the seemingly innocent director, "Director, are you targeting our team? Why are everyone else's props musical instruments? Why are ours black stockings, and torn ones at that!"

Li Chu also expressed her dissatisfaction, "Today's task is to earn money based on the prop, and the amount of money earned will be converted into points at the same ratio. Everyone else has musical instruments; they can perform on the streets, or if all else fails, they can sell the instruments for money.

We only have black stockings, and they're torn! How are we supposed to make money? If we put these on, what if we get arrested for being indecent? Director, you are too unscrupulous!"

The director looked innocent and bewildered. "I didn't know. I distributed them randomly. How was I supposed to know you'd draw the stockings?"

The two were speechless and said nothing more.

The director added, "If you feel this task is too difficult, you can choose to give up. Didn't you earn a lot of points yesterday? You're far ahead of everyone else. It's fine if you don't get any points today."

Jiang Nanxi: "..."

Li Chu: "..."

The director sent everyone off to do their tasks.

As Shen Lan passed by Jiang Nanxi, he saw the stockings in their hands and mocked, "There are so many holes in those stockings; wearing them would make you look like a 'borderline' girl.

Even though we have our differences, I'll give you some kind advice: it's best not to use those stockings, otherwise, netizens will mock you even more. People who don't know better might think you came to this show to solicit on the streets."

Jiang Nanxi turned to look at him.

Shen Lan chuckled and said, "It's just a few points. As female celebrities, there's no need to sacrifice so much for points, is there? It's better to just give up on today's task."

After saying this, Shen Lan hurriedly pulled Song Wanwan away, fearing that Jiang Nanxi might pull out a toothpick again and call him "Toothpick Guy."

Once they reached a deserted area, Shen Lan said to Song Wanwan, "To protect the image of female celebrities, they definitely won't be able to do today's task! If they wear black stockings to do the task, they'll be mocked by netizens for a whole year, and there will be negative news!"

Song Wanwan pursed her lips and smiled, her eyes filled with schadenfreude. "It seems the director doesn't want Jiang Nanxi in the crew and is intentionally making things difficult for them.

They only have a little over a hundred points right now, so they aren't leading by much. As long as we earn a few hundred yuan performing, we can overtake them today."

"Right, let's go do the task immediately."

Shen Lan and Song Wanwan ran off excitedly.

Liu Qingyan remained standing where he was.

He stared at the black stockings in Jiang Nanxi's hand, then turned to look at the director. His cold, phoenix-like eyes were exceptionally icy, making the director shiver.

The director quickly explained, "Teacher Liu, this was truly random. If your team had drawn the stockings, you would have had to use them for the task as well.

We are filming a show, not playing house. We have to have some excitement and difficulty to keep the audience interested, don't you think?"

Liu Qingyan said abruptly, "I'll trade my suona for them."

Director:???

Song Shixing:!!!

As a teammate, Song Shixing was the first to shout, "I disagree! How can we do a task with black stockings? How could a man like me possibly wear black stockings!"

The director also hurriedly said, "No, no, you can't trade. That doesn't follow the rules of the game."

Jiang Nanxi stared at Liu Qingyan for a moment, somewhat surprised that he would speak up for her. However, she didn't need help.

Jiang Nanxi said directly to them, "No need. It's just black stockings, right? I can still complete the task!"

After saying that, she gave the director a sinister smile. "Director, you like excitement, don't you? I'll give you some excitement. I guarantee the show's effect will be explosive."

Director:?

Seeing Jiang Nanxi let out a villainous "jie jie jie" laugh, the director's heart skipped a beat, filled with an ominous premonition.

What... what is she planning to do?

But her prop was just a pair of black stockings; she couldn't possibly do anything outrageous, could she?

[Are Jiang Nanxi and Li Chu really planning to wear those torn stockings? It looks a bit vulgar.]

[I'm truly done with this show. Although I think Jiang Nanxi is annoying, there's no need for the director to humiliate her with this kind of task, right?]

[You dog of a director, making female celebrities wear stockings to be suggestive on your show—are you brainless? It's one thing to target that psycho Jiang Nanxi, but why involve our Li Chu!]

Because of the director's idiotic move, the bullet comments, which were originally all attacking Jiang Nanxi, had split: half were attacking Jiang Nanxi's lack of manners, and half were attacking the director for being lewd.

The director knew his behavior would draw criticism, but he had no choice. He just wanted to make that crazy woman Jiang Nanxi give up!

Seeing the online criticism, the director went to take a sip of tea to calm his nerves. "Why are they cursing me? Jiang Nanxi could have chosen not to do the task and quit the show. This girl is such a troublemaker; do you think it's easy for me to protect my show? I'm offending people on both sides!"

After muttering, the director gulped down more tea to soothe his frustration.

Just as he had rested for a moment...

Suddenly, he saw a staff member running toward him in a panic, shouting, "Director, this is bad! Jiang Nanxi and Li Chu put the black stockings over their heads and went to rob a convenience store!"

"Pfft...!"

The tea sprayed directly out of the director's mouth. He was completely stunned. "You... what did you say?"