Chapter 821: "A Wandering Journey Through Mountains and Rivers," Side Story Recording
Among them, Xin Yiran jumped the highest, enthusiastically welcoming Xiao He's arrival: "Brother Xiao, Brother Xiao, over here! I specifically saved a seat for you!"
The comedic relief, Zhou Nanye, immediately looked at Xin Yiran in disbelief: "Yiran, I asked to sit in the seat next to you, and you tried to chase me away. So you were waiting for Brother Xiao! My sincere feelings have been misplaced!"
Xin Yiran immediately said, half-shyly and half-jokingly: "Oh, Brother Zhou, I've been recording for a whole season; now that I've finally successfully fangirled again in this extra episode, can't you just let me have this?"
Host Teacher Qiu Hua immediately complained to the Program Group in a very understanding manner: "Then we have to blame our Director Hu for not being effective. Every time he looks for Xiao He, Xiao He is busy joining a Film Crew. Our director didn't time the invitation well!"
Director Hu raised his microphone, looking very innocent: "That can't be my fault! Next time, I'll definitely find a time when Teacher Xiao isn't with a Film Crew."
In just a few short sentences, they subtly explained the reason why Xiao He would not be participating in "Travelogue of Mountains and Rivers" moving forward, while also making the atmosphere on set even livelier.
Xiao He sighed inwardly at the good atmosphere of this program, and while thanking them, sat down next to Xin Yiran.
Director Hu didn't waste any time and immediately entered the most crucial game segment: "As you all have seen, we are honored to participate in the annual Hong Kong cruise party event. We are currently on the 'Xiangsheng Cruise Ship' of the Hongyu Ocean Group, which signifies the eternal prosperity of Hong Kong..."
Following a long introduction, Director Hu announced this round's game: "So, we have brought a large map of the Xiangsheng Cruise Ship. Everyone needs to guess and fill in the functions and locations of the various areas. The team with the highest accuracy rate will win our luxurious dinner worth tens of thousands tonight!"
Hearing this, everyone immediately wailed: "Ah—"
Actually, to put it simply, this was a matching game. The large map of the Xiangsheng Cruise Ship featured major areas of different natures, such as the "Entertainment Zone," "Business Zone," "Rest Zone," "Commercial Zone," and "Crew Zone." Now, these large areas had been dismantled by the Program Group into puzzle pieces.
The participating guests needed to use their own understanding and guesses about the ship's structural layout to match these puzzle pieces to the blank map of the Xiangsheng Cruise Ship.
The team with the highest accuracy rate would win.
But this really worried everyone.
Because many of them had rushed to record the program the moment they boarded the ship. They had thought that they could just walk around the ship after filming, so they hadn't spent any extra effort paying attention to the functions of the various sections on the ship.
As a result, they never expected the Program Group to pull something like this!
Damn it! Who would pay attention to the layout of the ship when boarding? Just looking at those gorgeous decorations was already overwhelming, okay!
Only Xiao He coughed lightly and raised his hand weakly: "Director, I happen to have memorized the entire map of the Xiangsheng Cruise Ship. This isn't very fair to the others. Since I joined temporarily and haven't been assigned to a team, why don't I act as off-site assistance?"
Everyone present was stunned for a moment, seemingly not expecting that Xiao He had actually memorized the map of the Xiangsheng Cruise Ship.
Director Hu Pei was also incredulous: "Teacher Xiao, you actually memorized it?!"
His perfect game plan was actually ruined just like that?
Director Hu Pei had been waiting for the guests to come up with all sorts of imaginative layouts!
Zhou Nanye immediately tried to snatch him: "What more is there to say? I have the best relationship with Brother Xiao, so Brother Xiao definitely counts as being on our team."
"Pah! Clearly I am the one with the best relationship with Brother Xiao!" Liang Cheng, who was to the side, immediately retorted.
Xin Yiran was the most direct; she leaned right next to Xiao He, half-hugging his arm, and said very pitifully: "Brother Xiao, you won't let your fans lose, right?!"
The others: "Damn it! Using that tactic!"
Xiao He had always been very good to his fans; it was hard to refuse a reason like that!
So, the next second, Teacher Qiu Hua also looked at Xiao He, playing the victim: "Oh, Teacher Xiao, look at my memory—it's getting worse and worse. Since you are the youngest among the guests, if you join my team, we'll complement each other!"
The others: "Damn it! Playing the 'old and pitiful' card!"
Wu Chuyi, who had the worst relationship with Xiao He, looked left and right, and with great self-awareness, withdrew from this tug-of-war.
Instantly, everyone stopped doubting whether Xiao He had really memorized it and were all trying to pull Xiao He into their groups.
The scene descended into "chaos."
Fortunately, Director Hu reacted quickly and immediately thought of a countermeasure: "How about this: Xiao He can give everyone one chance for off-site assistance, but whether it's correct or not depends on your own decisions."
The guests present discussed it and thought it was pretty good, so they all agreed to this method.
Afterward, Xiao He watched as this group of people began their imaginative brainstorming.
"I think this side must be the Entertainment Zone! When I came here, I saw a lot of shiny things placed over there; it must be to attract everyone to go play."
"No, I don't think so. That side must be the Commercial Zone; those shiny things are luxury goods! Can't you take a closer look?"
"Very few people go over here; it must be where the crew members rest..."
Xiao He just held the correct answers while watching this group guess in various ways.
After everyone had discussed enough, Xiao He followed the rules and corrected one answer for each group.
As for whether they accepted it or not, that was up to their choice.
Soon, the game officially revealed the answers—
The final winner was Xin Yiran. Below her was Wu Chuyi. This person had put in some effort to maintain the title of "All-Round Game Player," but he was still one move short.
However, Xiao He carefully observed the final answers of each group and knew that Wu Chuyi must have ultimately chosen to trust his own ideas and did not accept the answer he had corrected. Xin Yiran, however, had won precisely because of that one answer.
"Ahhh!"
Xin Yiran screamed in happiness, turned around, and high-fived Xiao He: "As expected, thank you for the answer, Brother Xiao! My idol is my lucky star!"
Wu Chuyi scratched his head, looking at the final answers on the whiteboard in disbelief: "Why is that area also an Entertainment Zone?! I almost got lost when I went to the restroom earlier, and I happened to see that there was no one there, and the shops were all closed. It didn't look like an Entertainment Zone at all!"
Other teams also made mistakes because of this and didn't understand why that was an Entertainment Zone.
Only Xiao He and Director Hu Pei coughed lightly at the same time.
What else could it be?
Because that's a casino, my friend!
The ship hadn't reached international waters yet, so according to regulations, they couldn't open for business.
And once the ship reached international waters, that deserted area would be the busiest place!
So how could it not be an Entertainment Zone?
It's just that the Program Group couldn't explain it in detail.
So, Director Hu only explained: "If you don't believe it, you can confirm it after the recording ends later. Alright, our final winner is Xin Yiran's team! Congratulations, Yiran!"
Everyone on site applauded sincerely in celebration.
Originally, the recording would have basically ended here, with the remaining parts to be recorded tomorrow or after disembarking.
However, Director Hu Pei glanced at the monitor. Thinking that Xiao He was only appearing this one time, and as off-site assistance, he ultimately had fewer camera shots—they were at a bit of a loss. So, he rolled his eyes, had a sudden inspiration, and raised the loudspeaker again: "How about this: Since Xiao He said he memorized all the area locations, why don't we, the Program Group, give everyone a bonus? As long as Xiao He can correctly fill in all the area sections—including the D-zone sections we didn't include before—then our Program Group will treat all the guests to a lavish dinner!"
Instantly, all the guests' eyes lit up, and they all looked at Xiao He in unison, full of anticipation.
Having already guessed that this was Director Hu's plot to help him gain more camera time, Xiao He smiled helplessly, then walked straight up and, in front of everyone, filled in all the blank areas without hesitation, not missing a single one.
Then, Director Hu Pei announced the result with a smile: "Congratulations to Xiao He, all answers are correct! And congratulations to everyone, you can all enjoy the luxurious cruise party set meal tonight!"
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"Woohoo! Big meal! Thank you, Brother Xiao!"
Liang Cheng immediately cheered in support, and the others laughed as well, surrounding Xiao He to celebrate.
And just at this moment, crisp music rang out across the entire ship—
International waters, we have arrived.