Entertainment Circle’s Mascot - Chapter 27

After a laughing and noisy event, the relationship between Lian Qing and the big brothers improved a lot. He felt that the big brothers were all pretty good and they could joke around with each other.

The big brothers also thought that the little monk was quite cute, with a naive and honest personality. Although he sometimes was a bit too honest, he wasn’t annoying at all and could always make people laugh. After going through the hardships of two seasons of the show together, they had already become good brothers and friends, able to share everything and didn’t need to please or calculate each other.

The little monk didn’t have many ulterior motives, and was likable. They never suspected whether Lian Qing was pretending or not. To be honest, they had been in the entertainment industry for ten to twenty years, and Li Chengsi had been in it for thirty years, as a heavyweight actor. They were all savvy people, and could see through someone’s true character.

Anyway, they welcomed guests like the little monk, who were much better than those who intentionally caused trouble for ratings.

After chatting for a while, they prepared to go back to sleep. The production team would start recording early tomorrow, so they needed to rest more to fight against the production team tomorrow.

Lian Qing returned to his room, took a shower, and threw himself onto the soft bed.

Then…

“Ah, ah, ah…”

The bed emitted a series of screams, extremely frightening and eerie.

Lian Qing jumped up in a daze, lifted the covers, and saw a layer of yellow cartoon chicken toys with long necks spread out underneath. He picked up one and lightly squeezed it, and a scream came out from the red chicken beak.

Lian Qing: “…” No wonder the big brothers warned him to be careful, the production team was too sick!

He calmly swept all the little chickens to the ground and lay down to sleep again.

Just as he lay down, he heard strange noises from above. He instinctively rolled off the bed, and the next second, he saw that the bed he was lying on was drenched by water falling from above. Well, he avoided it in time, and nothing happened to him. But the bed…

He stared at the bed blankly for several seconds, pouted his mouth, got up and took out a set of clothes from his luggage to use as a blanket, casually covering it on his belly. He looked around and picked up the dozens of screaming chickens on the ground, spreading them out and lying on them.

The screaming chickens let out another sharp cry, then returned to calm. Lian Qing closed his eyes calmly and fell asleep peacefully.

When Luo Zisheng and the others came to look for Lian Qing, they knocked on the door, but there was no response. When they called out, there was still no answer. They turned the door handle and found it wasn’t locked, so they went in.

What they saw inside was the little monk sleeping on top of a sea of yellow screaming chickens. The handsome young man was dressed in pajamas, sleeping soundly with a cute sleeping position and a peaceful expression, with a shirt draped over his belly.

Probably hearing the sound, the young man on the bed above the screaming chicken groggily opened his eyes and was stunned for a moment when he saw a bunch of people in his room. Then his eyes gradually cleared. He got up, and the screaming chicken beneath him let out another scream.

Lian Qing: “…” He felt a subtle sense of embarrassment, as if he had just farted in public.

Everyone else: “…” What kind of situation is this?!

Suppressing a laugh, Luo Zisheng asked, “It’s the custom of the program team to play tricks on the guests. We just came to see how you’re doing, little monk. Are you okay?”

At the mention of this, Lian Qing pouted unconsciously and pitifully said, “Not really. These chickens are too much.”

Luo Zisheng was taken aback and couldn’t help but cry out, “So you only care about these chickens being noisy?”

“Well…” Lian Qing miserably pointed at his bed, “They put these chickens under my bed, scaring me. Then they splashed water on my bed, so I had no bed to sleep on. I had to sleep on top of these chickens, but… they’re too hard and uncomfortable!”

“Hahaha… little monk, why are you so funny!”

“I can’t believe you managed to avoid the water splashing. Impressive!”

“Ah, the program team is too cruel. Last time, they even broke someone’s bed, nearly driving them crazy. Little monk, don’t worry, come with Li Ge. Li Ge’s bed is big enough for both of you!”

“Hey Li Ge, you’re a bit fat, let it be. Little monk, come with Luo Ge. We’re both thin, so it’s perfect for us to sleep together.”

“I think you’re amazing, little monk. You can sleep on top of screaming chickens!”

“I’m too tired.” As Lian Qing spoke, he yawned widely and rubbed his eyes. “I can’t just sleep on the floor. It’s cold during the season change.”

At this time, the program director approached and said provocatively, “Oh, you’re all here!”

Everyone stopped talking and stared at him silently.

Under so many eyes, the director couldn’t help but take a step back, and he swallowed his saliva, saying, “Lian Qing, I have another room over there. You can go sleep in it, ah!”

Lian Qing looked at him suspiciously and said cautiously, “Do you have another plot?”

“How could there be a plot? It’s just a routine check. Haha…” The director laughed awkwardly a few times, his voice getting smaller and smaller. He said with a bitter face, “You’ve been calm throughout the entire ordeal, even when you heard so many screaming chickens. You got up calmly and flipped the blanket over when you felt something on top. You even rolled off the bed without getting wet… Ah, after this battle, I also discovered that ordinary traps probably won’t work on you. So, don’t worry, we won’t bother you tonight!”

Lian Qing was half doubtful and half trusting, “Can I trust you?”

The director hesitated and looked at him for a while under his clear eyes, then raised his hand and vowed, “I promise not to trick you tonight!”

“Okay, then I’ll trust you for now,” Lian Qing said, standing up from the ground. After thinking about it, he added sincerely, “Brother, don’t let me down with your trust.”

The program director suddenly felt like a heavy burden was on his head and quickly promised, “I won’t let you down, I won’t!”

Everyone else looked at him jokingly, all calm and composed. They knew the program director well, and he definitely wanted to trick Lian Qing again. But with Lian Qing’s words, could the director still shamelessly bully the young man?

The director indicated that he dared not. Lian Qing was quickly taken to another room and slept peacefully until dawn.

Early the next morning, just as the sun was rising, Lian Qing suddenly felt like something was watching him while he was sleeping. He opened his eyes abruptly and saw a person wearing a vampire mask, whose face he could not see. The person immediately started laughing when he saw Lian Qing awake.

Without thinking, Lian Qing punched the person.

“Ah!” The person screamed and took several steps back, holding his face. Meanwhile, the cameramen who had entered the room without Lian Qing noticing rushed up and surrounded the person.

Lian Qing sat up suddenly, realizing that he was filming a show and the person wearing the mask was probably just a small part of the program set up by the production team.

He hurried over and took off the person’s mask. Under the mask was a staff member of the production team, whom Lian Qing had seen last night. He held the person’s face with both hands and saw that one side of his cheek was already purple.

“I’m sorry, are you okay? I’ll take you to the hospital, please bear with it…” Lian Qing apologized as he helped the person towards the hospital.

Before they could leave the room, the program director, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, stopped them. He said that they had a doctor with them and told Lian Qing not to worry. The person was not seriously injured, just had a small bruise, and would be fine.

The person also generously said that he was okay, and that he deserved to be hit for scaring people. Lian Qing double-checked that he was not seriously hurt before being urged by the director to go wash and change.

When he arrived at the dining hall, he saw four other men huddled together, talking about something.

“Little monk, come over and sit down. How was it? They didn’t trick you again last night, did they?”

Lian Qing shook his head and nodded again. Suddenly, he shouted to the director behind him, “You promised not to trick me for one night!”

The director calmly replied, “It’s daylight now, not night!”

Lian Qing: “…” Well, they didn’t trick him at night, but it was fair game in the morning.

The people around him couldn’t help but laugh.

“Can’t we talk normally? What’s with all this trickery!”

“Exactly. But little monk, what did he do to you?”

“I guess he just had the person in the mask scare you, right?”

Lian Qing was surprised, “How did you know?” Did he hit someone…

As a host, Luo Zisheng is very sensitive to other people’s emotions. He noticed that Lian Qing was feeling low and not talking much, so he immediately showed concern and asked, “What’s wrong? Did something scare you? It’s okay, just point out who did it and I’ll help you get revenge! Tying him up in a sack or something like that is no big deal.”

Lian Qing felt a bit guilty and said, “Forget about revenge, I already beat the guy up…”

Luo Zisheng widened his eyes and exclaimed, “What?!”

The others immediately gathered around and asked in surprise, “You beat someone up?!”

“Wow, you’re so capable, where did you hit him?”

Lian Qing pointed to his cheek and said, “I hit him in the face. His face turned red and there’s a bruise.”

“If the program crew asked you to come over now, then his injury shouldn’t be too serious. Don’t be too hard on yourself.”

“Yeah, actually I envy you for being able to hit someone. Unlike me, I was so scared that I almost cried!”

“Can I just say, well done on hitting him? Let them know not to scare people, serves them right!”

“Amazing, amazing, are you a tiger? Little monk! Really, well done!”

“Hahaha…it’s okay now, after we finish recording the program, we’ll accompany you to see him.”

After everyone comforted him, Lian Qing’s self-blame was somewhat alleviated. They had breakfast together and were then taken by the program crew to a lively street.

The director of the program crew held a microphone and shouted, “Five knights, next, you will embark on the road to rescue the princess. Now…”

Luo Zisheng raised his hand and said, “Director, we don’t want to be knights!”

Lian Qing followed suit and said, “Director, can’t we be princes?”

The director said in a frustrated tone, “Quiet! Whether you’re knights or princes, you all have to save the princess for me!”

“What will happen if we save her?” Sun Yazhi also raised his hand.

The director said impatiently, “Each of you will receive two boxes of milk provided by our sponsor! Or do you want the princess to offer herself to you?”

Li Chengsi raised his hand leisurely and said, “Director, I already have a wife, I don’t want the princess.”

Lian Qing nodded seriously and said, “Bigamy is illegal.”

“Ha…”

“Mm-hmm…”

Laughter erupted all around, as everyone struggled to hold back their giggles, not daring to jinx the unlucky director.

Taking a deep breath, the director said, “All the princesses are inside the XX Zoo, and each one has a corresponding number. You’ll find out the specifics when you get there. As for how to get there from here, that’s up to you.” As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Liang Qing raise his hand, and the director’s heart raced in that moment.

Liang Qing asked, “Can we use any means necessary?”

The director’s heart resumed its normal pace as he replied, “Yes!”

So everyone scattered, each trying to figure out a way to get to the zoo.

Liang Qing had planned to run there, but when he asked a passerby for directions, he realized it was quite far away. If he ran, it would take at least two hours, which wasn’t feasible.

Taking a car was also not an option, as the program required him to surrender all his money. He couldn’t even use the money in his phone, as the program team wouldn’t allow it, so that was a dead end.

Liang Qing stood there spinning in circles for a while, feeling troubled and unable to think of a solution. He had no choice but to start running towards the direction of the zoo pointed out by the passerby, while trying to come up with a plan.

Not long after he started running, he saw a chubby guy struggling to pedal his bicycle by the side of the road.

Liang Qing approached him and said, “Hey, can you wait a sec?”

The guy stopped and panted, looking at Liang Qing, then at the staff behind him, and finally asked, “What’s up?”

Liang Qing got straight to the point, “Can you give me a ride to the XX Zoo?”

“That’s actually on my way, but I don’t think I can carry you,” the guy said between gasps.

“It’s fine, I can carry you!”

“You?” The chubby guy eyed Liang Qing suspiciously, then thought for a moment before getting off his bike and sitting in the rear seat. He said resolutely, “Let’s ride, and if you can’t carry me, there’s nothing I can do.”

“Okay!” Liang Qing thanked him and got on the bike, then said to the guy behind him, “Lift your feet up and hold on tight.”

The guy did as he was told, and the next moment the bike sped forward.

The chubby guy exclaimed in surprise, “It’s so easy for you to ride!”

“It’s not too bad, the main thing is that your bike’s wheels are big enough, and the pedals feel pretty good,” Liang Qing replied.

“Right, I’m too fat. I went to several stores before finding the sturdiest and biggest-wheeled bike,” the guy said chattily, then asked with a smile, “Are you a celebrity? You look familiar, and there’s a camera crew following you.”

“Yeah, I’m filming a show.”

“Will I be on TV?”

“Maybe, I’m not sure either…”

…………

Two people were chatting with each other and before they knew it, they had sped up quite a bit.

The cameraman and the others who were left behind watched the car until it became a small black dot and said, “… did they just leave? What are we going to do now?!”

They had no choice but to hail a taxi on the roadside and head straight to the zoo.

They arrived at the entrance of the zoo one by one. When they saw that Lian Qing’s camera crew was waiting for them at the entrance, they rushed over to ask about him.

The cameraman helplessly explained, “Lian Qing hitched a ride on someone else’s bike and was chatting with the owner while riding, and he forgot about us.”

Everyone was surprised, and Luo Zisheng asked, “Didn’t you call him?”

The cameraman replied with a grievance, “We did, but he was riding so fast and chatting so passionately that he didn’t hear us calling him.”

A staff member added, “We all thought he would stop riding after a while and wait for us, but who knew…”

“He’s a little monk who leaves everyone in the dust,” Luo Zisheng joked, holding back a laugh. “It’s just like him to do something like this.”

“Hahaha… he’s such a fun kid!” Li Sichen exclaimed. “Everyone else is trying to get in front of the camera, but he didn’t even realize that he left the camera crew behind.”

Qian Linsen put his arm around Sun Yazhi’s shoulder and stroked his small beard, laughing, “I told you he’s a little joker, hahaha…”

The others all laughed and waited in place, wanting to see for themselves how Lian Qing hitched a ride on someone else’s bike and how he chatted with the owner so passionately.

It didn’t seem like much time had passed before they saw someone riding a bike toward them from afar. The cyclist was so excited that he waved to them as he approached.

As the bike got closer, everyone could see who was riding it and couldn’t help bursting into laughter.

The bike had bigger wheels than a regular bike, and a handsome, slim guy was pedaling hard on it. On the back seat was a chubby guy with his chubby hands wrapped around the slim guy’s waist, his chubby legs dangling helplessly off the sides of the bike frame. He looked awkward and out of place.

Everyone else was used to seeing handsome guys with beautiful girls, but now they were seeing a handsome guy with a chubby guy. It was like watching Beauty and the Beast.

The scene was so strange and unique that everyone burst out laughing.

“Hahahaha…”

“Hehehehe…”

“What the heck is this, hahaha…”

“This little joker is trying to kill me with laughter…”

As they laughed, Lian Qing rode up to them. After stopping the bike, he looked at everyone who was laughing hysterically and asked sincerely, “What are you guys laughing at?”

Everyone laughed and shook their heads, too embarrassed to say it in front of the chubby guy. Luo Zisheng stopped laughing first and asked, “Little monk, do you know that you left your camera crew behind?”

Afterwards, Lian Qing paused for a moment, then touched his hair and apologized to the camera crew, “I’m sorry, this is my first time recording an outdoor reality show and I’m not used to it…”

The camera operator waved on behalf of everyone, forgiving Lian Qing generously.

Then, Lian Qing pulled the owner of the bike, a chubby guy, and said to Li Chengsi, “Brother, he’s your fan, can we take a picture with him?”

The chubby guy blushed and said excitedly, “Teacher Li, hello!”

Li Chengsi smiled friendly and said, “Hello, let’s take a picture together.”

The chubby guy naturally had no objection, so everyone gathered together and took a picture with him. After that, the chubby guy pushed his bike and reluctantly waved goodbye to everyone, shouting to Lian Qing, “You have to work hard and get your two boxes of milk!”

“I will! You also have to work hard and lose weight successfully!”

“Okay, let’s work hard together!”

After the chubby guy finished speaking, he rode his bike slowly away, leaving Lian Qing standing there with a reluctant gaze as he watched him leave.

Qian Linsen patted his hair with a smile and said, “You’re so good at it, you’ve established a revolutionary friendship with someone already?”

Lian Qing sighed, “He’s a really nice guy. We had a great chat on our way here.”

“I can tell,” Luo Zisheng held back his laughter and clapped his hands. “Alright everyone, let’s go into the zoo, all for the sake of two boxes of milk.”

The group chatted and laughed as they walked up to the entrance of the zoo, where they each received a numbered plate and a key from the security guard. The guard spoke in clumsy Mandarin, “Brave knights, your princesses are inside waiting for you. Go ahead, knights!”

Suppressing their laughter, the group walked into the park and scattered in search of their “princesses.”

Along the way, Lian Qing saw many animals. It took him more than ten minutes to find the corresponding number for his plate. When he saw the big number [6] on the iron door, he had a bad feeling.

He knocked on the door, and a young man in his thirties came out to greet him. The man looked at Lian Qing’s numbered plate and said with malicious intent, “You must be the knight for our sixth princess. Follow me, she’s been waiting for you for a long time.”

Lian Qing suddenly had second thoughts and hesitated to follow the man down the dimly lit corridor.

The man called out to him again, and the cameraman behind him reminded him quietly, “Two boxes of milk!”

For the sake of the milk, Lian Qing overcame his anxiety and followed the man.

After walking for a while, the man stopped and pointed to a glass enclosure ahead. His voice was full of schadenfreude as he said, “Your princess is in there. Use the key in your hand to rescue her.”

Looking through the dim light, Lian Qing saw a girl sitting under a tree in the enclosure. His intuition told him that it wouldn’t be so easy to “rescue” her. The production team was known to be notorious for stirring up trouble, so why would they let him off easily?

He carefully looked around and finally noticed a long, slender creature hanging on the trunk above the “princess” and another one coiled nearby. Even in the dim light, Lian Qing could tell what it was: his archenemy, a snake!

At this moment, he finally understood why the director of the show had asked him what he liked earlier. He also understood how ruthless the production team, known as the most ruthless in the industry, could be.

He turned around and walked away.

The young man stopped him and said urgently, “Your princess is inside, waiting for you to rescue her. Are you going to run away and abandon her?”

Lian Qing nodded seriously, “Yes, I am abandoning her.”

The man was taken aback and didn’t know how to respond. He instinctively looked back at the camera crew behind them.

Receiving the man’s pleading gaze, the cameraman stood up courageously and whispered, “Two boxes of milk…”

Lian Qing continued walking away, leaving behind the man and the cameraman who were at a loss for words.

Lian Qing’s heart stirred a little, but when he looked at the snake inside, he immediately said firmly, “Even if you give me ten boxes, I won’t go!”

“If you don’t go, all the audience and netizens will mock you,” a staff member whispered.

Lian Qing looked at her resentfully and said, “But if I go in, then she will have to save me…”