The More Tragic I Act, the Stronger I Get — My Fans Beg Me to Stop Killing Off My Roles-Chapter 217: The Most Down-to-Earth Gift

At the filming location of the variety show 'The Yearning for Mundane Fireworks Daily Life'.

A beautiful mountain cabin, known in the industry as 'Mushroom House'.

In the courtyard, the two mainstay hosts of the show, Huang Yulei and He Jiongjiong, were rolling up their sleeves and chopping firewood.

With a creak, the first program vehicle pulled to a stop at the courtyard gate.

The door opened, and Luo Yu stepped out alone, pulling his suitcase.

He had changed out of the complex costume from the film set, wearing only a simple white T-shirt and jeans, looking much cleaner overall.

But facing the several cameras inside and outside the courtyard in an instant, he still seemed a bit uncomfortable.

He Jiongjiong, sharp-eyed, immediately greeted him with his signature warm smile.

"Welcome, welcome! Luo Yu is here!"

He enthusiastically took the suitcase from Luo Yu's hands, "Ah, you look even more handsome in person than on TV!"

Luo Yu politely tugged the corner of his mouth, giving a slight nod, with no extra words.

But his gaze subtly swept over the several fixed camera angles and the host's position within the courtyard,

quickly building a preliminary model of this new 'film set's' camera layout and character relationships in his mind.

The second car followed closely behind.

The door was pushed open, and Su Qingying stepped out.

As soon as she appeared, even the air around them, which had seemed somewhat noisy due to the cicadas' chirping, quieted down a few degrees.

He Jiongjiong, who had just been casually joking with Luo Yu, still wore a smile on his face,

but his words clearly stalled, unable to find the right words to continue for a moment.

Huang Yulei beside him also stood up from the firewood pile, subconsciously slapping the wood chips off his hands onto his pant legs,

his smile appropriately restrained yet carrying a clear sense of distance.

"Welcome, Qingying."

"You must be tired from the journey."

The atmosphere sank into a polite but distant awkwardness.

Just then, the third program vehicle finally arrived belatedly.

As soon as the car stopped, the door was pushed open from inside.

Jiang Ci, yawning, carrying a backpack that didn't look very full, and pulling a small suitcase, walked out unsteadily.

He Jiongjiong seemed to see a lifesaver, immediately livening up the atmosphere.

"Jiang Ci! Finally, you're here! Tired from the trip?"

Jiang Ci shook his head straightforwardly, answering without any polite pretense.

"Not tired, slept the whole way."

He looked around the rustic courtyard, finally fixing his gaze on Huang Yulei.

"Just a bit hungry. Teacher Huang, what are we eating tonight?"

One sentence completely disrupted all the preset small talk procedures.

Huang Yulei was stunned by his question.

Then, as if a switch had been flipped, he suddenly burst into loud laughter, hearty and genuine.

"You kid, so honest!"

He pointed towards the kitchen, waving his hand grandly.

"Whatever you want to eat, make it yourself!"

Inside the small house, it was time for the new guest gift-giving segment.

Luo Yu first took out the gift he had prepared: several boxes of beautifully packaged local specialties, safe and conventional, nothing to fault.

He Jiongjiong accepted them with a smile, uttering polite words of thanks.

Next, it was Su Qingying's turn.

Under everyone's gaze, she placed the antique wooden box that her assistant had been guarding all the way on the table.

She opened it herself.

A set of Ru kiln tea ware, with sky-blue glaze and a warm, smooth luster, lay quietly within the dark silk.

Even someone completely ignorant of antiques could see the preciousness of this set.

He Jiongjiong and Huang Yulei's expressions became wonderfully complex.

They wanted to praise it, but felt any flowery language would seem inadequate.

They wanted to accept it, but were afraid of accidentally damaging it.

He Jiongjiong's hand hovered over the wooden box for half a second before silently withdrawing it.

Huang Yulei, meanwhile, subconsciously cleared his throat, trying to find another topic.

Su Qingying completely failed to notice the two hosts' stiff smiles, or perhaps she noticed but didn't understand the social implications.

In her view, sharing something that brought her the most inner peace was the highest level of sincerity, her understanding of 'the flavor of everyday life'.

She introduced seriously.

"This is a small token of my appreciation."

"I hope everyone can drink tea together and relax after work."

She was entirely motivated by the most sincere desire to share, hoping to bring everyone what she considered the best way to relax.

The atmosphere inside the room became somewhat heavy under the powerful aura of the 'artwork'.

Jiang Ci rummaged in his half-empty backpack for a long time.

Finally, he pulled out something tightly wrapped in the most ordinary transparent plastic bag and handed it over.

"Teacher Huang, Teacher He."

"I didn't prepare any expensive gifts."

He placed the bag on the table with a dull thud.

Through the plastic bag, one could see it was packed full of dark-colored pickled vegetables.

"This is sour long beans my mom made herself. She says they're absolutely perfect with plain rice porridge."

The bag's opening was tied with a tight knot that clearly came from an elder's hands, one that would be difficult to undo.

That bag of sour long beans, brimming with the rich flavor of everyday life, was placed right next to that priceless set of Ru kiln tea ware with its inherent 'keep away' aura.

One was the ultimate refined elegance.

The other was the ultimate rustic simplicity.

The two displayed side by side created an interesting contrast.

The whole room fell silent for a second.

Then, Huang Yulei was the first to burst into hearty laughter.

He immediately picked up that heavy bag of sour long beans as if receiving some hot treasure, the awkwardness on his face completely vanishing.

"Oh my! This is good! This is really good!"

He Jiongjiong also seemed relieved, leaning over to squeeze the bag, his face full of joy.

"This is exactly what our 'Mundane Fireworks Daily Life' should have!"

Su Qingying watched them treating a bag of sour long beans like a priceless treasure, feeling somewhat bewildered.

She subconsciously glanced at her own antique and elegant tea set, then looked at that plastic bag with the tight knot,

her understanding of the logical relationship between 'preciousness' and 'popularity' somewhat shaken.

Luo Yu, meanwhile, adjusted his glasses, silently noting this scene in his mind.

Is this the 'reality' of variety shows?

Jiang Ci was very satisfied with this effect; his mom's cooking never received bad reviews.

He Jiongjiong smiled and clapped his hands, announcing today's first task.

"Alright, since the three of you just arrived, let's not stay idle, let's stretch our limbs a bit."

He then changed the subject, mysteriously winking,

"Just a reminder, the 'mystery task' we've prepared for the three of you might appear at any time, in any form."

After building up the suspense, he finally pointed towards the lush green mountain forest behind the house.

"Now, let's start with our appetizer—go to the bamboo forest on the back mountain, dig up five jin of fresh bamboo shoots, and we'll make stir-fried bamboo shoots with pork!"

Dig bamboo shoots? Jiang Ci's gaze turned towards that bamboo forest, but a thought uncontrollably popped into his mind:

In the movie, wasn't Ye Chen sealed by the original sorcerer in a similar bamboo forest? This program crew wouldn't be that clever, would they?