Chapter 219: Chapter 217: A Script Arranged by the Production Team?

Xu Jiali seemed to recall something, a smile gracing her face. "Oh, right! How could I forget? Sister Yingying is a psychologist."

Song Jiayan: ???

Song Jiayan didn’t understand what Xu Jiali meant.

He already knew that Wen Ying was a psychologist.

But what did a psychologist have to do with their task?

’Are psychologists good at finding things?’

’Or... was it Little White?’

Understanding dawned on Song Jiayan.

’So that’s it. Doctor Wen is using her professional status as a cover for Little White. It’s Little White doing all the work.’

Song Jiayan looked over at Little White, who was leaping about in the trees before finally settling back into Xu Jiali’s arms.

Song Jiayan recalled that previously, Little White had always been nestled in Doctor Wen’s arms.

"Jiali, do you mean Little White is going to help us?" Song Jiayan whispered, afraid of being overheard. "Wouldn’t that be cheating?"

Little White, who had been resting in Xu Jiali’s arms with its eyes closed, cracked an eye open and shot Song Jiayan a look.

’When did I say I was going to help find food???’

’Does this quiet guy, Song Jiayan, really love to jump to conclusions?’

[Did anyone hear what Song Jiayan said? Why was he whispering? Is he afraid we’ll hear him?]

[I’m curious too. The cameras are always rolling, so theoretically, we should be able to hear everything they say, right? But I totally feel like they were just scheming about something!]

[It’s probably about the fox! You guys remember at Doctor Wen’s clinic, it was this same fox. It seemed like it was sentient! So amazing!]

[I remember now, too! The fox seems to understand human speech. That glance it gave Song Jiayan just now... it’s like Song Jiayan said something that startled it!]

[Is the fox really that amazing?]

Most people who hadn’t seen Little White naturally didn’t understand.

’How could these animals possibly be sentient?’

’It’s all just people hyping them up, isn’t it?’

’Trying to give a fox this kind of character persona on a reality show is just hilarious.’

’Do they really think this is some kind of folktale where the fox can transform into a beautiful, empathetic human and help a scholar on his way to the imperial exams?’

’Give me a break!’

’This is reality!’

’This is a live broadcast!’

Xu Jiali wanted to nod, but she was afraid of exposing Little White, so she just shot him a meaningful look.

Song Jiayan thought he understood.

But in the next moment, Doctor Wen’s actions left Song Jiayan completely baffled again.

Xu Jiali was lost, too. ’Is this some kind of backup plan?’

’Doctor Wen actually let Little White go off and play on its own???’

Xu Jiali was bewildered. "Sister Yingying, aren’t we supposed to be looking for food?"

"We are. What’s wrong?"

"But if Little White is gone, how are we supposed to find anything?" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Wen Ying instantly understood what Xu Jiali was getting at. She also recalled Xu Jiali’s earlier reaction.

’So they’re attributing everything to Little White.’

Wen Ying reached out and ruffled the top of Xu Jiali’s fluffy hair. "Of course we’re going to find it ourselves. Don’t you two want to find the food before the other teams and earn some points? The group rankings might be a chaotic mess, but we can still compete for the individual rankings. Plus, this will boost both of your popularity."

[Why does it feel like Doctor Wen is an adult babysitting two kids???]

[I think so too. Doctor Wen has basically become their den mother... At least the two ’kids’ are obedient!]

Hearing this promise of a bright future, Xu Jiali instantly became compliant. "Sister Yingying, I’ll do whatever you say!"

[Does Doctor Wen honestly think she can find the food the production team hid? She’s not colluding with them and putting on an act, is she?]

[If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be too unfair to the other contestants?]

[I don’t think the director would do that. After all, this is his first reality show. If he ruins it, he ruins his career.]

[This is hilarious. This Doctor Wen acts like she knows everything, trying to play the big shot. If she actually finds something, I’ll just assume the production team set it up!]

While the comments section was buzzing with debate, Xiao Liu immediately updated Director Wen on the latest trends in the live chat.

Director Wen didn’t explain.

Let them guess. The more they speculated, the more hype it would generate.

In any case, only two staff members had hidden the food—one of them being Director Wen himself—so there was absolutely no way any of the contestants knew its location.

The trio was surrounded on all sides by trees of varying heights, making the search incredibly difficult.

Xu Jiali stared expectantly at Wen Ying, who didn’t drag it out any longer. "Jiali, do you see that tree to your right with a single red fruit on it?"

"I see it," Xu Jiali nodded.

"Go dig under the tree."

Xu Jiali immediately turned to go.

"Little Song, walk three hundred paces north. You should see a small, injured bird. Put it back in its nest."

Song Jiayan obediently did as he was told.

[What’s Doctor Wen up to? I get Xu Jiali’s task—she’ll probably dig up some food—but I’m totally lost on Song Jiayan’s part.]

[What does a little bird have to do with the mission? Where are all the Sherlocks at?!]

[Maybe Doctor Wen just wants to save the little bird?]

[Well, the camera’s following him, so I guess we’ll find out just by watching.]

[Heh, if Doctor Wen is really this clairvoyant, the show becomes a joke. Might as well stop watching!]

The spot Xu Jiali had to dig was closer, only about ten meters away.

Sure enough, there was a single red fruit on the tree, though it was a bit ugly-looking.

When Xu Jiali arrived, she crouched down and examined the soil beneath the tree.

She casually broke off a branch and began to dig with it.

The soil seemed to have been packed down, making it quite firm. Xu Jiali had to put in some effort at first.

But once she broke through that top, firm layer, the soil underneath was clearly much looser.

Xu Jiali started digging with her bare hands.

She unearthed a cloth sack.

Her face lighting up with joy, Xu Jiali yanked the sack out of the ground. "Sister Yingying, I found it!"

Wen Ying smiled, watching how happy Xu Jiali was.

But she wasn’t overjoyed, because she knew the bag contained—

Xu Jiali opened the sack, and her joyful expression suddenly froze.

"Three raw potatoes?" Xu Jiali’s face clouded over. "Is the production team even human? Are they expecting us to gnaw on raw potatoes?"

During filming, all of their tools had been confiscated.

So, things like starting a fire hadn’t even crossed her mind before. But now four words flashed through her mind: ’Drilling wood for fire?’

Her head swimming with questions, Xu Jiali walked back toward Wen Ying, looking dejected.

She carried the sack with its three potatoes.

The potatoes were big and would be filling, sure, but this was still so frustrating!

[Can we get a micro-expressions expert to analyze Xu Jiali’s emotional roller coaster just now? I bet it would be hilarious!]

[Hey, don’t be so mean! How can you rub salt in the wound like that?]

[Exactly! Besides, having potatoes is better than having nothing, right? Xie Fu Yao and Jiang Beibei probably don’t even have that much!]

[Oh, you sweet, simple Miss Xu. You’ll soon learn just how precious those potatoes are!]

「The camera cut to Song Jiayan.」