My Fiancé's Scandals Never End, So I Married His Uncle Instead-Chapter 151: The Punishment for Losing
The production team’s main control room.
Director Coleman’s attention was glued to the split screen for Chloe Chambers’s group. The moment the word "child" sparked a series of increasingly bold and imaginative bullet comments about Silas Norwood, the tea in his hand lost its flavor.
"These netizens just love to stir up trouble..." He paced back and forth, then personally picked up his phone to dial a number. As soon as the call connected, he cleared his throat. "Deputy Station Head, it’s like this. Could you have the tech department set up a banned word filter for the split screen’s bullet comments? We have a special guest here..."
Before he could finish, a cold laugh came from the other end. "Special? Aren’t you the one who hates special treatment the most? And now you’re asking for it yourself! Netizens have freedom of speech. As long as they don’t cross any red lines, the more drama they create, the more traffic it brings to the platform. You’re a veteran in this business. Do I really need to explain this to you?"
"But this guest’s identity is truly—"
The person on the other end cut him off. "I don’t care what his identity is. Since he’s on the show, he follows the show’s rules. Setting up a banned word filter is impossible. If he can’t handle it, he can leave. This travel variety show is a huge hit. Forget some random civilian—even A-list celebrities are eyeing the permanent cast spots. There are plenty of people lining up to take his place."
Director Coleman was just about to say the name ’Silas Norwood’ when a series of beeps sounded. The call had been disconnected.
Cursing inwardly, Director Coleman was about to redial when the assistant director suddenly let out a sound of surprise. "Is headquarters always this efficient? The bullet comments on Best Actress Chambers’s split screen have been completely wiped. Not a single one can be sent now."
Director Coleman leaned in. "What’s going on?"
’Did they have to be so drastic?’ He had only requested to set up a filter for related banned words to prevent vulgar topics from being directed at Silas Norwood. Besides, the deputy station head hadn’t even agreed. The call had just ended, and now the platform had shut down the entire bullet comment channel for that screen.
The assistant director looked into it and reported in a low voice, "A wild guess is that it’s an operational malfunction. Only this split screen has no bullet comment channel. The comments for the other groups are working fine."
Director Coleman was lost in thought when the deputy station head’s call came through.
He answered. "Deputy Station Head, I was just about to report to you—"
"Report my ass!" the voice on the other end cursed immediately. "You were beating around the bush for so long! Why didn’t you just say that Chairman Silas Norwood was on the livestream?"
Director Coleman was stunned. "...You know?"
"Chairman Norwood’s assistant called the station head directly. How could I not know?" The deputy station head steadied his tone. "Since it concerns Chairman Norwood, our headquarters’ tech and operations departments will be monitoring everything around the clock. Whenever Chairman Norwood is on screen, the bullet comment function will be disabled entirely. Also, please extend my and the station head’s greetings to Chairman Norwood and his wife. The station head has already bought a plane ticket for the day after tomorrow. He’ll be coming to the set personally to report to Chairman Norwood."
When the call ended, Director Coleman breathed a sigh of relief.
Nearby, the host, who had overheard some of the details, personally handed Director Coleman a cup of tea and asked tentatively, "The station head is coming the day after tomorrow?" 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚
The two were old friends in the industry. Director Coleman moved away from the others and confided in him in a low voice, "When they say the Norwood Family controls more than half the entertainment industry, it’s not just talk. Azure TV is also a Norwood holding. Don’t be fooled by the platform’s glamorous facade. In the last two years, many new entertainment powers have been developing rapidly. I heard several prominent families, including the Kingston Family of Seraphina and the Nolan Family of Astoria, have entered the circle. They’ve even formally presented their shareholdings to Chairman Norwood. If the station head isn’t proactive about getting more face time with him, in a couple of years, he could be pushed aside and left out in the cold."
The host’s expression also grew complicated. He reached out, patted his old friend’s shoulder, and together they turned their attention back to the split screen for Chloe Chambers’s group.
In the livestream, the clear picture was mostly a wide shot, with many beautiful close-ups of Best Actress Chambers and Music King Scott. But when the camera fell on the non-celebrity guest, it was always on his back or his profile. On screen, the noble and refined man had his sleeves rolled to just below his elbows. He followed beside his wife, silently searching for mushrooms with patience and gentleness. Occasionally, he would lean in and whisper something in her ear, and you could hear Celia Sterling’s clear, soft, and amused little laugh.
Compared to the other groups’ half-full baskets, the bottom of Silas Norwood’s basket wasn’t even covered yet. But the two of them were in no hurry. They strolled along, looking around, and would sometimes get engrossed in a discussion about wildflowers, talking about things others couldn’t understand, using words like "extraction" and "essence."
"What’s the punishment for the losing team later?" Director Coleman suddenly remembered something. "I don’t care if it’s getting splashed with water or playing ’truth or dare.’ Go change it. Make it something suitable for his status—something more elegant and high-class."
The host paused. "Originally, it was standing under the small waterfall nearby for half a minute."
"That’s absolutely not happening. A wet-look show for Chairman Norwood? Are you insane?" Director Coleman’s brows furrowed tightly. "Just have them drink three cups of tea as a punishment. The tea I have is poor quality. I remember you brought some fine tea with you."
Dusk began to fall.
The three mushroom-picking groups returned to the meeting point.
A staff member tallied the number of mushrooms picked and announced the results on the spot. As expected, Chloe Chambers’s group had the lowest count. The host cleared his throat. "Same rules as always. The two members from the team with the worst results, please come up and accept today’s punishment. Best Actress Chambers’s group, you have one minute to decide who will take the punishment."
"It wouldn’t be right to make the ladies do it." Music King Scott laughed and proactively shot Silas Norwood a look. "Norwood, shall we go together?"
Silas Norwood silently took two steps forward to stand beside Music King Scott.
Behind them, his assistant and bodyguards reflexively moved to stop him, but they paused slightly when they saw the exquisite teacups being set out.
Music King Scott also noticed the teacups. He took a deep breath and gave an exaggerated, wry smile. "So what’s the punishment today? Bitter melon juice? Stinky garlic coffee? Or that legendary Szechuan-chili-and-pepper-infused water that guests will never forget?"
The host wore a meaningful smile. "You’ll know what it is once you drink it."
A brand new, high-end tea set was unsealed and sanitized by a staff member in front of everyone. A light-brown liquid was poured from the pot into the cups, and a faint, elusive tea aroma filled the air. The host personally made a "please proceed" gesture to the two men.
"Please wait a moment." Silas Norwood’s assistant stepped forward, his tone slightly tense. "My employer never consumes beverages from outside sources without precaution. Please allow me to taste-test a cup first."
The other guests all showed strange expressions, and even the livestream chat exploded:
[What is the cameraman doing? The non-celeb guest is standing right there with Music King Scott, and they still won’t give him a shot? Isn’t this usually when they do a close-up on the guest’s pained expression while drinking some horrid concoction? I’m not even asking for a close-up, just show us his face for crying out loud!]
[OMG, we can finally post comments! The split screen was bugged, couldn’t send a single one. I thought the whole platform was glitching. Turns out the screens merged back together and now the comments are finally working!]
[Are you sure it’s working, person above me? I just tried to send like a dozen comments, and any words related to the non-celeb guest’s physique are banned. But other comments go through just fine. Damn, this is so weird.]
[I’m just sayin’, the non-celeb guest has an assistant to taste-test for him? That’s straight-up emperor-level treatment from ancient times! DAMN! Now I’m even more curious about who this guy is!]
[Are they actually using such high-end cups? In previous episodes, guests were using plastic bowls or even leaves. Did the show’s budget get such an insane upgrade?]
[I have this feeling that something is off about this episode’s filming, but I can’t put my finger on it. Director Coleman and the host are acting completely different than usual, like they’re walking on eggshells.]
...
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, the host didn’t stop him. Instead, he handed the assistant a cup filled with tea. The assistant took three small sips, gave Silas Norwood a slight nod, and stepped back.
"Norwood, bottoms up." Nolan Scott, who had a faint suspicion, straightforwardly picked up a cup and took a sip. His hand holding the cup paused for a moment, then he downed all three cups in one go, a complex look on his face.
Silas Norwood elegantly picked up his tea and also drank all three cups at a calm, unhurried pace.
"What does it taste like?" one of the celebrity guests finally couldn’t help but ask.
Nolan Scott smiled, feigning mystery. "Guess."
