Chapter 24
After they had eaten and drunk their fill, the rich aroma of food still lingered in the air. The charcoal fire burned warmly, echoing with the sound of rain outside.
It created quite a feeling of peaceful, quiet days.
[This feels so comfortable. I suddenly have the urge to go on a deserted-island adventure too. Someone hurry and knock some sense into me!]
[I’m dying of laughter. Upstairs, calm down! Big Shot Shen, Ye God, and the others are on a deserted-island vacation. If you go, it’ll really become deserted-island survival!]
[Sob sob, if you ignore their reputations outside, every one of them is actually so nice. Not one of them is causing trouble. Even Gu Shengsheng, who was given a selfish persona, the worst thing he did was take his teammates’ food for free after getting sick, but in the end, he still obediently went to wash the bowl…]
[I’m dying of laughter. And Mo Fan’s character setting is supposed to be somewhat irritable? My god, I’ve only seen him working nonstop, working nonstop, never stopping once. He clearly looks like a hardworking old ox. After working for so long, he still isn’t irritable? Could his real persona be that he likes working? He only gets irritable if you don’t let him work?]
[Don’t say that, don’t really say that. Earlier, he did get irritable when he saw Gu Shengsheng sitting around doing nothing. Doge.]
[Who understands? I came here wanting to watch people fight and see the ugliness of human nature, but why is this season like this ghost—too harmonious—kind of thing?]
[The person in front, you’re still sending bullet comments saying you want to see the ugliness of human nature? What, you can’t watch harmony? Just tell me whether you’ve been converted or not. All six of them are top-tier visuals. It’s too friendly to my eyes!]
[Even if they do nothing right now and stay completely still, it looks like a blockbuster movie. And not just any shot, but the kind of classic scene you’d take from the essence of the whole film and use as the poster! The atmosphere is amazing!]
…
Gu Shengsheng was still a little weak after all, so he climbed onto the bed alone, but he lay on the outermost side, closest to everyone.
The bed Shen Jinfeng had made was very large. There was only this one bed in the entire wooden hut.
When he had made it, it was purely to save time and also to prevent another argument like last time over who would sleep in the same room as whom.
With a bed this big, everyone could just sleep together.
They were all men anyway, so there was nothing that needed to be avoided.
The other five lazily sat on the ground.
He Erwang and Qi Xiu leaned back-to-back as if they had no bones.
Mo Fan leaned against the pile of firewood, somewhat drowsy. Although it was a little inappropriate, he still could not help sighing, “This is really comfortable.”
He genuinely felt that it would be great if things continued like this forever.
This time, even Qi Xiu did not jump out to say that he had not gone to university yet and wanted to escape the deserted island as soon as possible.
Anyway, according to his divination, as long as he followed Boss, all misfortune would turn into fortune and all danger would transform into good luck. Since that was the case, he might as well properly enjoy the present.
That was right. Yesterday morning, the moment he opened his eyes and saw that he was in such a completely unfamiliar environment,
looking around, there was endless ocean, lush, flourishing woods, and an empty beach where heat waves rolled through the air. It felt as if he had been forgotten by the world on this isolated land.
And from every direction, man-eating monsters seemed as if they could rush out at any moment.
Cut off from the world, it gave off a terrifying feeling of being unable to call upon heaven or earth for help.
Only after his memories gradually returned
did Qi Xiu remember that it was actually because he did not have enough tuition money that he had agreed to that big fool Gu Shengsheng’s invitation to sign up for some island expedition team.
In the end, this team had terrible luck and encountered wind and waves at sea.
They failed to reach the planned island and drifted onto a real deserted island!
Wasn’t this just seeing ghosts?!
No matter how short he was on tuition, he would not joke around with his own life and safety!
The old man was still waiting for him to provide for him in old age.
Qi Xiu had been an orphan since childhood, picked up and raised by the old man.
The old man was a fortune-teller who was blind in one eye. It was said that because he had been too good at fortune-telling and had helped others change fate in his early years, he suffered retribution.
Moreover, he could not hold on to wealth. As long as he earned money and put it in his pocket, within a few days, that money would evaporate in all sorts of ways. To put it simply, it would be gone.
Therefore, although the old man was quite capable, bringing Qi Xiu up from childhood had never led to any good life.
They had barely managed to get by with enough food and warmth.
Qi Xiu could also tell fortunes. Since he had followed the old man from childhood, he had learned some superficial skills from him alongside his schooling. He had probably learned around fifty or sixty percent.
But this fifty or sixty percent was actually enough for him to go out and bluff people—no, to help people resolve small disasters and earn some pocket money.
It was just that no one believed him… so this money was a little difficult to earn.
Because of that, the old man always said that once Qi Xiu got into university and earned big money by relying on his own ability, he could then be filial to him.
In the end, Gu Shengsheng, that person with more money than sense, was willing to give him money, yet harmed him terribly.
To say he was not afraid would be a lie.
Qi Xiu had acted completely on instinct. After he had recovered a bit of strength, he hurriedly divined a hexagram for himself.
Then… he divined that the boss of this team was a big shot.
What kind of big shot, he did not know. The person was a little too powerful. In any case, the hexagram showed that as long as he followed this big shot, no matter what happened, misfortune would turn into fortune and danger would become blessing.
In the old man’s words, that would be: Qi Xiu, you’ve met a great benefactor!
Qi Xiu suddenly understood.
No wonder he had agreed to follow Gu Shengsheng to some deserted-island adventure.
He must have divined for himself before setting out and discovered that he was going to meet a benefactor!
Although he did not have the memory of divining it in his head, he usually did divination as frequently as eating, drinking, and breathing.
Maybe because he did too many divinations every day, he had forgotten it himself.
Thus, at the beginning of the Season Three livestream of What Kind of Person Are You?, after everyone woke up and faced the situation of having no food,
Qi Xiu, whose character setting was “timid and cowardly,” was the first team member to ask Shen Jinfeng for help: Boss, I’m so hungry.
Cough cough, well, ahem. A benefactor is precious, hugging a thigh should be done early, and recognizing a boss feels wonderful.
At this moment, everyone lazily lay, leaned, or sat around, listening to the rain outside pattering heavily and the occasional thunder rumbling.
He Erwang suddenly remembered this matter. “Qi Xiu, how did you know it would rain heavily tonight? Did you really calculate it through divination?”
Mo Fan also turned his head with interest.
Gu Shengsheng participated from afar. “Qi Xiu, we’ve known each other for so many years. How come I didn’t know you could tell fortunes?”
Qi Xiu raised his brows, hesitated for a moment, and honestly said, “My grandpa made a living from this. I learned it from him.”
“School is a place for studying. How could I possibly do fortune-telling at school?”
Wouldn’t that be crashing directly into materialism?
“The problem is, your calculation was really accurate.” He Erwang remembered that at the very beginning, this kid had said something about a lucky direction and then led them to find coconuts. “Hey, can you do a divination for me?”
Shen Jinfeng sat to the side, watching as everyone surrounded Qi Xiu like stars around the moon.
He lazily propped up his chin and did not join in or interrupt. He listened with great interest.
Qin Ye suddenly touched his arm and asked him in a breathy voice, “Do you believe in this?”
Shen Jinfeng shook his head. “No.”
Qin Ye let out a soft laugh. “I don’t either.”
“Sounds like there’s a story?” Shen Jinfeng asked.
Qin Ye coughed lightly, his expression showing a slight trace of unnaturalness. “I was always single before.”
He paused. “Because I was always single…”
Hm? Always single, and then?
Why did he stop talking?
Shen Jinfeng understood.
The secret admirer was using this opportunity to confess his clean romantic history to him.
For some reason, Shen Jinfeng felt a little embarrassed, listening to the person involved secretly hint at something to him.
He also coughed lightly. “And then?”
Only then did Qin Ye continue. “My mom found a so-called master to calculate my fate, mainly regarding romance.”
“That master said I was destined to grow old alone and would never find someone I mutually liked in this life.”
At this point, he naturally glanced at Shen Jinfeng. “Little Captain, do you think that master was cursing me?”
Shen Jinfeng’s expression became somewhat subtle.
In the past, when he was in ancient worlds, he had often encountered such mystical people too. They said his fate was extraordinarily noble, but he had no affinity with romantic love.
Speaking of which, had those masters in the past also been cursing him?
Qin Ye was still waiting for his answer. Shen Jinfeng thought for a moment and replied lightly, “If you work hard, you can find one.”
Was there anything in this world that hard work could not accomplish?
[Pfft.]
Clearly, the others inside the hut were still listening to Qi Xiu explain his childhood fortune-telling experiences and had not noticed at all that these two were secretly talking.
Only some of the viewers watching the livestream were drawn in by the way the two had deliberately lowered their voices and leaned close together, their expressions making it seem as if they were discussing some life-or-death matter.
They could not help being curious. While listening to Qi Xiu boast, they also opened another livestream room specifically to listen to what Qin Ye and Shen Jinfeng were conspiring about.
In the end, they heard this conversation.
[What master? Where did such an unreliable master come from? Qin Ye has no one who likes him? His fangirls could line up all the way to France, okay!]
[As everyone knows, in the global “Top 100 Most Handsome Faces” voting for Qin Ye, male voters made up 53%, an even higher proportion. He has plenty of male fans.]
[Mother-in-law, mother-in-law, the master you found wasn’t accurate at all! Your daughter-in-law is right here!]
[Mother-in-law, mother-in-law, the master you found wasn’t accurate at all! Your son-in-law is right here!]
[+1]
[+407]
Very soon, [+8869…]
[LMAO, good grief, is this line proving it by example? The master said he couldn’t find someone he mutually liked. He didn’t say no one liked him, okay? The main issue is that Qin Ye has high standards and can’t fall for others, right?]
[Sigh, what is love in this world? Those who understand all know how hard it is to find someone you truly like who truly likes you back. Love has nothing to do with looks, wealth, or whether a person is outstanding. Damn it, talking about my sad history is making me cry.]
[You must be joking. If I had Qin Ye’s family background, would I still worry about love?]
[You must be joking. People whose material needs haven’t been satisfied are all fantasizing that they don’t need emotional needs.]
[Upstairs, you… cursed so harshly!]
[I’m dying of laughter. The problem is Shen Jinfeng answered so seriously: “If you work hard, you can find one.” Big Shot, wake up! I won’t listen! Love isn’t something you can achieve just by working hard. Even if you’re a big shot, it won’t work!]
[How is this any different from a top student saying, “If you work hard, you can get into Peking University”?]
[The problem is, Qin Ye thinks it makes a lot of sense. He nodded very seriously… I’m speechless. These two people’s brain circuits are incredible.]
The conversation the two deliberately lowered their voices for, thinking the others in the hut had not heard, was heard by tens of millions of people in the livestream room.
The funny thing was that after the two finished talking, they sat upright with calm, unruffled faces and focused on Qi Xiu, as if they had never been distracted.
The bullet comments began teasing them. Only the CP fans’ lines, trying to find sugar in the cracks, stood out awkwardly.
[Who understands! Hidden feelings quietly passing back and forth in public silence!]
[I have to suspect that after Ye God said all that, the real key point was only one sentence: I was always single before…]
[Hahahahaha, just based on Big Shot Shen saying “If you work hard, you can find one,” I reasonably suspect Big Shot Shen might have always been single before too!]
[Sob sob sob, too shippable! Since you’re leaning so close, just kiss already!]
…
Because the number was too small, the few sneaky comments were mixed among countless bullet comments and did not attract attention for the time being.
As Qi Xiu officially began, Qin Ye and Shen Jinfeng stopped whispering, and the netizens’ attention was completely drawn over.
“I can do divination for you.”
Qi Xiu shook his head and copied his master’s manner, reaching out to stroke his beard and trying to “act” professional. In the end, he stroked empty air.
“Cough cough.”
His unprofessional movement drew doubtful looks from the people around him.
Qi Xiu did not explain. He only said the industry slogan: “Whether it’s accurate or not depends on whether you believe it or not, but a hexagram can’t be given for nothing. Anyone who wants me to tell their fortune has to pay.”
He Erwang fell silent for a moment. “Do we look like we have money right now?”
“Can we pay you after we get out?”
Gu Shengsheng, lying on the bed, also joined the fun. “My dad has plenty of money. Do one for me first, and I’ll have my dad pay you when the time comes!”
[I’m dying of laughter hahahaha. Who is Gu Shengsheng’s dad?]
[You should ask the production team how rich of a dad they arranged for Gu Shengsheng to make him so extravagant!]
For some reason, the staff watching the livestream in the studio suddenly felt a little sour inside.
Xiao Li took a sip of milk tea and sighed. “If I could have a memory implanted that made me briefly think I was a billionaire, that would be nice too.”
After saying that, he thought and thought, then could not help adding, “Sob sob, that would simply be too great! I could never say such extravagant words in this lifetime!”
Sun Xinping: “…”
He was convinced.
How promising.
Fortunately, there was still someone clear-headed present.
Mo Fan, whose persona was a gloomy middle-aged unemployed man, looked in horror at the two rich young masters beside him who were bidding against each other and seemed to spend money without even blinking.
He became irritable.
“What’s there to compete over!”
He asked Qi Xiu, “How much? Give me a number!”
Qi Xiu pretended to shrink his shoulders backward. “Wow, so scary.”
For some reason, common sense told him that Mo Fan’s personality should make him afraid.
But somehow, he could not really feel afraid.
Judging by his face, he was clearly a kind, loyal, honest man.
Qi Xiu smiled and said, “Whether you give more or less, it’s all sincerity.”
“But right now, we’re all on a deserted island, and no one has money. I’ll set a price. Washing dishes once is three yuan, washing clothes once is ten yuan, helping me boil hot water is five yuan.”
“Anyone who wants me to do divination can claim the work themselves, okay? Don’t go back on your debt.”
The others let out breaths of relief.
Mo Fan scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly. “I can do all of that. Why don’t you calculate for me first?”
Qi Xiu nodded. “What do you want to calculate? What method do you want to use?”
Mo Fan was confused. “What do you mean, what method?”
Qi Xiu lazily listed, “Eight characters, six lines, Zi Wei… Forget it, ordinary people don’t need to know all that. Just tell me what area you want to calculate?”
He looked at Mo Fan’s somewhat blank eyes and sighed.
“Most people care most about health, studies, children, love, wealth, career, and so on.”
Mo Fan lowered his head and hesitated for a moment, then decided, “I want to calculate my career.”
He was the oldest in this team. He was already forty-one this year, and yet he had encountered unemployment. How was he supposed to live from now on?
His smile was slightly bitter, and his tone carried some vicissitudes. “I’m unemployed right now. Can you help me see whether I can still find my next job?”
[Damn, the persona the production team arranged for Mo Fan is actually quite fitting. He hasn’t had any roles to film in the entertainment industry for a long time, right?]
[Ever since he was exposed for domestic violence, no one has asked him to act, right? He does still have a few completed works that haven’t aired.]
[There are still unaired completed works? His domestic violence incident happened three or four years ago, right? They’re still sitting there? Maybe they’ll never air.]
[But in this show so far, he hasn’t shown anything abnormal.]
[Smile. Some people might not know that many people who commit domestic violence do not have violent tendencies toward everyone in life. He might only do it to his wife because he treats her as his possession.]
[I still have the injury photos his wife posted on Weibo back then. What woman would joke about something like that? If those injuries weren’t caused by him, why didn’t he explain?]
[Sigh, I’ve never dared to say it, but Mo Fan was my childhood male god. When he and Ah Qing got together, all of us blessed them back then. Mo Fan really loved Ah Qing. He pursued Ah Qing for three years before finally winning the beauty, and he even gave up Director Li’s male lead role for her. I really can’t believe a person like that would commit domestic violence… Sob sob, how could he bear to treat someone he once loved so deeply like that?]
[The person in front, after hearing you say that, I kind of understand… Generally speaking, in a relationship, when someone gives more in the early stage, or even gives far beyond the normal range, if they later don’t receive a return or don’t receive the return they expected, there will be a gap. For some people, that gap is fatal.]
[Mo Fan sacrificed too much for Ah Qing. He might even have felt that he gave up many good opportunities, so when his career in the entertainment industry later had no splash, he blamed all of it on Ah Qing and vented his anger on her.]
[No, at that time, Mo Fan was clearly still getting male lead roles…]
[Enough, enough, stop arguing. Let’s see what Qi Xiu calculates!]
On the livestream screen,
Qi Xiu, whose appearance was fair and handsome and who looked exactly like a good student at first glance, very un-materialistically took several stones and arranged and combined them in a way no one understood.
He casually asked Mo Fan a few questions, then had him meditate and choose one stone.
After Mo Fan finished the action, he stared at Qi Xiu somewhat nervously.
Qi Xiu continued fiddling with the stones. His expression was calm, and he was not muttering words like everyone had assumed an expert would.
About two minutes later, he looked up at Mo Fan. “Congratulations. Your career will improve.”
“The hexagram shows that after a long period of silence, your career will accumulate enough strength and burst forth. Within the next three months, there will be clear improvement, and you’ll enter a period of outbreak. This also benefits from your past accumulation. The time of harvest has arrived. As you sow melons, you reap melons; as you sow beans, you reap beans. Brother Mo, after we leave the deserted island, hurry and send your resume to the position you want! Your next job won’t be a problem!”
Hearing that he could still find his next job, Mo Fan immediately let out a breath of relief.
“What you said makes sense too. I always worked seriously in the past, and I have rich experience. It’s not me boasting, but in the company, my skills were top-tier. As you sow melons, you reap melons; as you sow beans, you reap beans. I’ll borrow your auspicious words. Maybe the next job I find will be even better!”
Qi Xiu thought for a moment. “No, the hexagram shows that your previous work will receive returns.”
Mo Fan frowned in confusion. “My previous work?”
He racked his brain thinking about it, then suddenly his eyes lit up. “Could it be that the stocks I bought before are going to rise?”
Qi Xiu shook his head. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
“Don’t worry. Something good will happen.”
He did not know what Mo Fan’s previous specific work was, and Mo Fan also only thought of himself as an ordinary worker.
But the viewers watching the livestream were different.
Qi Xiu’s hexagram… for Mo Fan, who worked in the entertainment industry, had a very obvious direction.
Benefiting from past accumulation, previous work was about to reach harvest time. For an artist, wouldn’t that mean his old dramas?
[What does this mean? Is Mo Fan going to regain popularity because of “being a person”?]
[Could it be that because Mo Fan is about to become popular again, those completed dramas he filmed before might get released?]
This kind of situation did have precedents.
During Season Two, there had been a black-red young actress who was given a sacrificial lamb persona in What Kind of Person Are You?, but she had relied on excellent character to reverse her reputation against the wind.
She became more popular than a top-tier star in one stroke, and her heat skyrocketed.
The drama she had just filmed, in which she only played a supporting role, was immediately brought out.
It became popular by taking advantage of the heat.
Some netizens carefully counted the unreleased dramas Mo Fan had filmed and completed, and then suddenly discovered an earth-shattering fact.
[Holy crap, swallows saliva, unbelievable. Do you dare believe this? Mo Fan actually really has a drama that quietly, secretly aired in a corner no one knew about!!!]
[Shocked face. Blade and Sheath Operation finished filming more than three years ago. Mo Fan plays the second male lead in it, and it actually premiered two days ago!]
[What drama? I didn’t even see a trending search. It made no splash at all.]
[Two days ago… Two days ago, our show hadn’t even started airing yet. There’s no possibility that this drama aired because Mo Fan became popular again or because they predicted Mo Fan would become popular again.]
[The more I think about it, the scarier it gets. Qi Xiu really seems to have something.]
[This drama didn’t air earlier or later, but happened to air around this time. I checked the schedule. It happens to finish airing in three months. Holy crap, did Qi Xiu really calculate it? Did he already know and was advertising this drama?]
[Then we’ll have to ask Old Dog Sun whether he took money.]
[No, maybe it’s just a blind cat running into a dead mouse? Mo Fan asked whether he could find his next job. Even someone who knows nothing and pretends to fortune-tell would definitely say, “Keep it up, you’ll find something better.”]
[Stop arguing, stop arguing. Qi Xiu’s subtext is that this drama will become popular, right? Whether it becomes popular or not, won’t we know after waiting a while? They’re still on the deserted island. Can they control whether a drama becomes popular or not?]
[Blade and Sheath Operation is an anti-drug criminal investigation drama. This kind of drama is usually very hard to become popular, right… And it’s said that because of its sensitive subject matter, it was shelved for so many years. Anyway, I’m not very optimistic.]
At this moment, no one knew that
Blade and Sheath Operation would become one of the biggest breakout dramas in the entertainment industry in recent years.
With its sensitive and heavy subject matter, realistic yet artistic filming, conflict-filled plot full of satisfaction, and densely packed memes that spread beyond its circle, the drama became a rare series in recent years that appealed to both young and old and drew the entire nation into watching it.
If the drama had followed its original fate, it would have quietly gone online and then waited for word of mouth to ferment…
But because of Qi Xiu’s divination, it immediately attracted countless people who went to watch out of curiosity.
Its path to explosive popularity rapidly began.
Meanwhile, Qi Xiu, who was completely unaware that he had accidentally revealed an astonishing skill before the entire nation’s audience, scattered the stones and smiled as he spoke.
“Who’s next?”
