CSGM - Chapter 22
Chapter 22: Standing Firm Against the Majority
Today, the five people responsible for going up the mountain to invite guests were Ren Zhi, Chu Xi, Zhao Shiqing, Luo Yangtian, and Xiao Han.
Ren Zhi and Chu Xi walked at the back, while the other three were in front.
But before they even started climbing the mountain, the five of them spotted several ATVs parked in a row by the side of the road. Clipped to the front of one was a cardboard sign with crooked, yet legible, writing-
【Ride up the mountain, 150 yuan/person!】
And sitting by the road where the vehicles were parked were three men. Although they were of different ages, they all had reddish, dry skin and wore hand-sewn cloth shirts and large, baggy pants.
They were clearly locals with a distinct style.
The three men were also watching the five of them, their gazes following the cast members, waiting to see if this rare group of tourists wanted a ride up the mountain.
Luo Yangtian exclaimed, "Wow! This... this is way too expensive."
Although he wanted to get up the mountain quickly, this price for a ride was a total rip-off for tourists!
Xiao Han, wearing sunglasses, said, "It's normal, little brother. This is how they make their money."
The Director already said this place used to be a scenic area that has since declined, so a price like this is to be expected.
Zhao Shiqing said, "I'll go ask how long it takes to walk up." With that, she jogged over to the three men by the road.
While they were talking, Chu Xi walked over to the row of ATVs, her gaze sweeping over their tires in a quick inspection.
No safety issues.
She returned to the group and said bluntly, "Let's take the ATVs."
Zhao Shiqing returned just then, slightly out of breath, and said, "It'll take about half an hour to walk to where people live. Should we walk?"
Chu Xi repeated, "We're taking the ATVs."
Zhao Shiqing turned to her, hesitating. "Should we take them? But for the five of us, it'll be seven hundred and fifty yuan. That's too expensive... Let's just walk. Half an hour isn't that far, really. I'll be fine."
Having said that, if the others still insisted on taking the ATVs, then it would be their problem.
Chu Xi shot her a sidelong glance, her eyes filled with disdain, and her words were just as merciless.
"You're out of breath from just jogging a few steps, and you say you'll be fine?"
Zhao Shiqing froze, not expecting Chu Xi to confront her so directly.
This was in front of the live cameras!
Chu Xi really dared to not leave her a shred of dignity!
She had clearly never encountered such a situation. Her mind went blank for a few seconds, and she was left speechless, completely dumbfounded.
While she was silent, Luo Yangtian spoke up, asking politely, "Sister Xi, are we really taking the ATVs? In a place like this, we might not even make seven hundred and fifty yuan in a whole day..."
Chu Xi said nothing, merely giving Luo Yangtian a heavy-lidded look.
Her features were already cool and sharp, not soft and charming like the average female celebrity's. She was like a distant, lofty snow-capped mountain.
Luo Yangtian received the warning glare and instantly backed down, changing his tune. "But I have no objection to taking the ATVs. I'm fine with whatever."
Xiao Han adopted a preachy posture, knitting his brows and stating the obvious, "Taking the ATVs costs too much money, Chu Xi. I think you should reconsider..."
A mocking smile touched the corner of Chu Xi's lips. "With the time and energy it would take to climb this mountain, you could serve two more tables of customers. Don't waste your strength on useless things. If anyone wants to walk, they can walk by themselves. I'm taking an ATV."
After speaking, she grabbed Ren Zhi's wrist. "Let's go. Get on."
Her attitude was firm, standing against the majority, giving no one a chance to refuse.
Ren Zhi was taken aback for a moment but quickly recovered. She said to the others, "Sorry, I'm not feeling very well today, so I'd really like to take the ATV. My apologies for making our restaurant spend the money."
"Sister Zhi, you don't have a cold too, do you?" Luo Yangtian asked in surprise.
"Sister Zhi, are you okay? If you're not feeling well, you shouldn't go up the mountain. We can go," Zhao Shiqing added, seizing the opportunity to curry favor.
But-
She thought to herself, Ren Zhi was fine this morning. She must be saying this to cover for Chu Xi, to save her face.
Otherwise, with four people against taking the ATVs, Chu Xi's stubborn insistence would have gotten her ostracized.
A trace of dissatisfaction rose in Zhao Shiqing's heart.
Ren Zhi is just too nice, still helping Chu Xi even in a situation like this!
What has Chu Xi ever done to deserve this? On what grounds?
Ren Zhi smiled and shook her head. "It's nothing, I want to take the ATV too."
Luo Yangtian played along with a supportive laugh. "Alright! Let's take the ATVs then. Woohoo, I've never ridden one of these off-road four-wheelers before!"
Since both women wanted to ride, they might as well. Arguing further would only create unpleasantness among them.
He instantly joined Chu Xi and Ren Zhi's side, even waving to Xiao Han with a toothy grin. "Come on, Brother Han!"
Xiao Han's lips pressed into a thin line, the corners turned slightly down. From behind his sunglasses, his eyes shot several annoyed glances at Chu Xi.
Chu Xi not listening to him was a huge loss of face for him.
But then even Ren Zhi spoke up for Chu Xi, so he couldn't say anything more. Otherwise, if the audience saw, they'd say he, a grown man, was haggling with two women.
Pfft.
Xiao Han kicked a pebble on the roadside to vent his frustration.
The audience, having witnessed the entire argument among the cast members, had to hand it to Chu Xi.
What is presence? This is presence!
What is capability? This is capability!
One person vetoing everyone else, that's so damn awesome!
【Chu Xi has shown me what it means to be an obscure artist who does whatever she wants. Everyone else was trying to save face and didn't want to cause a scene, but she was just like: say whatever you want, I'm taking the ATV anyway.】
【I feel like she bullied everyone.】
【Does she really not have to consider the restaurant's income...? She seems to always be like this, with no sense of teamwork.】
【It's a long mountain road, and they just woke up. It's normal not to want to climb, right?】
【She's so cool. I wish I had half her courage at my company.】
【She shut Zhao Shiqing down so hard she didn't dare speak... What did she do wrong? She's just a flying guest here to help. My heart aches for Little Jelly for a second.】
【Zhizhi is trying so hard to be the peacemaker. You can tell she's the only one thinking about how to keep everyone from fighting.】
After Ren Zhi spoke, the tense atmosphere between the two sides of the "to ride or not to ride" debate did indeed ease a lot.
Unsuspecting viewers thought Ren Zhi was just smoothing things over. Otherwise, with Chu Xi's personality of not caring about anyone else, she probably would have ended up fighting with the members who wanted to save money.
Viewers who had been following the show since it premiered were slowly starting to see it: Chu Xi was absolutely the type of person with zero internal friction, only external friction!
Chu Xi couldn't care less what the other members of this show thought.
Everyone got on the ATVs one by one, and Xiao Han, suppressing his displeasure, paid the seven hundred and fifty yuan.
【Xiao Han's face is almost green with anger, but Chu Xi is acting like nothing happened. That emotional stability is incredible.】
【Speechless. Of course she's stable, because everyone did what she said.】
【It looks like Zhao Shiqing is wiping her eyes. Is she crying?】
The camera was now on a wide, long shot, obscuring the details. All that could be seen was Zhao Shiqing raising her hand to wipe the corner of her eye again and again.
Chu Xi, sitting in the ATV behind, sneered. So dramatic.
Suddenly, her phone vibrated. She had received a message from Ren Zhi.
Ren Zhi: 【Thank you.】
She turned her head. Ren Zhi, sitting beside her, was looking at her with a gaze that was clear, beautiful, and gentle, yet held a deeper meaning. They exchanged a look, and Ren Zhi conveyed a hint of gratitude.
Chu Xi's eyes were cool and detached. If her expression were a reply, it would probably be an emotionless period.
She didn't even reply to Ren Zhi's message before locking her phone.
She spoke softly, her tone indifferent. "Don't overthink it. It was just convenient."
Don't get ahead of yourself. She wasn't some kindhearted person.
Next time she courted death, she absolutely wouldn't help her.
This time, Ren Zhi just got lucky that there happened to be vehicles by the road.
For as long as the five of them were on the mountain inviting guests, Chu Xi had to listen to Zhao Shiqing drone on about how taking the ATVs this morning was a waste, how her heart ached for the money, and how they should have just endured it and walked.
Croaking like a frog.
She couldn't be bothered to argue with a frog, but when it was time to go down the mountain, she stated her position firmly:
"I'm taking an ATV down the mountain, too. If anyone thinks it's a waste of money, they can walk down themselves."
Zhao Shiqing shrieked, "We're not in a hurry going down, why do we still need to take the ATVs?!"
Xiao Han frowned deeply. "Seven-fifty plus seven-fifty... that means we worked for nothing today. We might even end up losing money."
Ren Zhi was about to say something when Chu Xi suddenly pulled her onto an ATV before she could even react.
"No need to say anything. Get on."
Chu Xi took some money from Ren Zhi's pocket, picked out three hundred yuan, and gave it to the driver. After saying "Go," she tossed a casual remark to the others: "We're leaving. Do as you please."
The ATV's large wheels started rolling, and it sped away.
This swift and decisive action left the camera crew behind on the mountain.
In a panic, the cameraman from Team A foolishly chased after them for a couple of steps before realizing he couldn't catch up. He quickly scrambled onto another ATV, using public funds to tail them.
The camera lens zoomed in and out, making the ATV carrying Chu Xi and Ren Zhi appear large and small in the frame. It was clear the cameraman was trying very hard to keep up, which amused the audience to no end!
A stream of comments expressing pity for the cameraman and laughing hysterically floated across the live stream.
No one knew who was holding this camera, but this cameraman was truly both pitiful and hilarious.
In the ATV ahead, Ren Zhi thought silently for a moment.
Then she said thank you to Chu Xi.
"I'll explain to them later. I don't want everyone to misunderstand you."
"Misunderstand what about me?" Chu Xi glanced at her, curious.
"Misunderstand that you wanted to take the ATV for yourself."
"Oh, but I did want to take it for myself."
"Then why did you pull me along..."
Ren Zhi could clearly feel that Chu Xi had done it because she knew about her leg injury and didn't want her to climb the mountain.
After she spoke, Chu Xi turned to size her up, then suddenly smiled.
"You couldn't climb the mountain anyway. If I hadn't pulled you along, wouldn't you have known to take an ATV yourself? Those people don't have enough IQ. Money should be spent where it's needed. Why save it? To leave it for the black-hearted Director? Heh, I refuse to believe your brain is that stupid too."
Ren Zhi: "..."
Could she go a single day without calling someone stupid?
Ren Zhi thought for a moment and reminded her, "Chu Xi, you shouldn't always say things like that. People will have a problem with you."
In fact, aside from Chu Xi's really nasty mouth, Ren Zhi thought she was great in other aspects.
Chu Xi was completely dismissive. "I don't care what problems they have."
"You..."
"Looking after you is enough. Why should I care what other people think? It has nothing to do with me."
"..."
Ren Zhi's voice suddenly caught, as if something was stuck in her throat.
In reality, Chu Xi had admitted it. Today was about looking after her.
The feeling of guessing something versus hearing it with her own ears were worlds apart. Amidst the bumpy jolts of the ATV, her heart suddenly began to beat much faster.
Three people were left on the mountain.
Zhao Shiqing was a ruthless person. True to her word, she "practiced what she preached" by saving the restaurant's funds and walking down the mountain herself.
But when a woman is ruthless to herself, it's so she can be even more ruthless to others.
On the way back to the RV restaurant with Xiao Han and Luo Yangtian, she forced her eyes to turn red. With tears welling up, she slipped past the camera and whimpered to the Director in an aggrieved, choked voice.
"Director, I'm sorry, I'd like to go rest for a bit."
Without waiting for the Director's reply, she turned and ran back to her tent.
This whole performance left even the straightforward Director dumbfounded.
However, her actions were broadcast to the live stream just as she had hoped, sparking a huge uproar among the viewers.
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