CSGM - Chapter 47
Chapter 47: The Ring is Gone
At first, she had just wanted to liven things up by calling Chu Xi over to play a game with them…
Now Chu Xi was gone. She left as she came, without a care in the world, leaving Xiang Xian frozen in place.
The game that had been so exciting just moments ago suddenly became utterly tasteless…
She looked at Xiao Han, and Xiao Han looked at her. Together, they looked at the child who had run over from next door, their eyes declaring-
The game is over for tonight!
Now that they all knew the "first to take three wins" strategy, how could they possibly play?! Chu Xi had exposed the entire game in just a few sentences!
Although they had lost the joy of blissful ignorance and challenging the unknown, they had gained the realization that they weren't very smart. :)
After they dispersed, Xiang Xian shook her head in frustration. She couldn't help but think that Chu Xi's reaction time and thinking speed were more like the product of higher education than an actor muddling through the entertainment industry.
It was then that she realized Chu Xi was different from any other celebrity she had ever met.
A genuine academic powerhouse was a rare commodity in the entertainment world!
So Chu Xi was this type, someone with an exceptionally high level of personal skill?
No wonder the show's director treated her differently. Now, Xiang Xian was also slowly feeling the shock Chu Xi had unintentionally given her.
The cast of Our Restaurant live-streamed their part-time jobs at a pharmacy and a horse farm for two days, earning a total of 1600 yuan. It wasn't much, but it was enough to buy the ingredients needed to reopen the RV restaurant.
Besides, this was a rural area—vast, abundant, and sparsely populated—so the local vegetables were incredibly cheap.
Cabbages bigger than your head for three yuan a bunch, potatoes as wide as your palm for fifty cents each, and a huge bag of green peppers for just a few yuan. They were fresh, high-quality, and inexpensive. The price of meat, however, was about the same as in a regular market.
The cast members bought meat from the village butcher, then went to a fish farm to pick out locally farmed white shrimp and crabs from the ponds.
Watching their wallet shrink rapidly after buying the freshwater delicacies, Xiao Han said to the others, "Let's not buy too much. We should try to bargain a little. We don't have much money left."
Ren Zhi nodded and suggested, "Let's buy some fish, too. We should ask around to see who sells it cheaper here."
There were quite a few man-made fish ponds in the area, so they had to shop around.
Xiang Xian was now sitting with the production crew, watching the cast's live stream on-site just like them. She wasn't pretending anymore; she was the well-connected insider, and it was time to lie back and enjoy it.
The restaurant cast walked everywhere to buy groceries, while the crew followed them, watching from their vehicles. Naturally, Xiang Xian chose to ride in a car.
The five cast members walked and asked for directions along the way, finally finding the home of an owner who raised their own fish, had reasonable prices, and a good reputation.
A three-story, self-built villa stood before them. It was surrounded by several large ponds, with a small, gurgling river behind it. Fishing nets were drying on racks in an open area, a row of fishing rods leaned against the villa's outer wall, and buckets of fish feed were scattered about.
It was clearly the home of a professional fish farmer.
Luo Yangtian ran ahead and called out, "Hello, is anyone here? Is the owner in?"
After a moment, the villa door opened. A woman in pajamas, holding a little girl's hand, came out. She squinted at the gate, looked them over, and didn't come any closer, simply calling out to them from the doorway.
"What are you here for?"
Luo Yangtian, standing at the front, handled the conversation. "We'd like to buy some fish. Could you tell us your prices? And what kinds of fish do you have?"
The woman said lazily, "Buying fish... The owner isn't here today."
Her husband wasn't home, and she was comfortably watching TV by herself.
Luo Yangtian persisted, "Are you the owner's wife?"
Of course she was.
Seeing that he was a handsome and polite young man, the owner's wife became much more patient. She said, "The ponds mainly have black carp, grass carp, crucian carp, and silver carp. You can look for yourselves. There are signs by each pond with the prices marked."
Hearing this, the other cast members walked over to the ponds to have a look.
Chu Xi looked at the signs by the pond and said, "The prices are a bit cheaper than the last few places."
Ren Zhi muttered, "I wonder what the quality of the fish is like here..."
Li Xiling crouched down and peered into the water. "These fish all look nice and plump."
Seeing that they seemed eager to buy, the owner's wife hesitated for a moment, then pointed Luo Yangtian toward the fishing nets.
The owner's wife said, "The owner's not here. If you want to buy, you can net them yourselves. Just bring them over to be weighed when you're done." In short, she wasn't doing any physical labor.
Luo Yangtian flashed a sunny smile. "Alright! Thank you, ma'am!"
Doing it themselves was no problem. Since starting Our Restaurant, the five of them had lost count of how many things they'd had to do themselves!
Luo Yangtian turned around, subconsciously calling out to Chu Xi.
"Sister Xi! We can catch the fish ourselves!"
Chu Xi calmly walked over and joined him in front of the rack of drying nets. A fishy smell wafted over with the breeze, hitting them full in the face.
Chu Xi frowned, pulled a lollipop from her pocket, unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth. The fresh orange flavor spread, making the air much more pleasant.
"Want one?" she asked Luo Yangtian kindly, tilting her head.
"No, thanks, Sister Xi." Luo Yangtian shook his head. He looked at the rack, grabbed a net with a long pole, and turned back to suggest, "Should we use this one to catch the fish? Let's just catch one and see."
This one's big, Luo Yangtian thought. It'll probably scoop up a whole school of fish.
Chu Xi could tell from his words that he had no experience. She told him, "You can't handle that one. Pick a smaller one. Don't even think about the big ones."
Those documentaries on TV where they pull up dozens of pounds of fish in one go—that's all done by professional fishermen.
Amateurs like them could only use small nets and go after them one by one.
Luo Yangtian, who was very receptive to advice, let go and immediately went to find another one. "Oh, okay, Sister Xi."
Just then, a sudden shriek from Li Xiling pierced the air and rattled their eardrums-
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-!!!"
It was a long, piercing scream, delivered without taking a breath and resonating in her sinuses—the mark of a powerful singer.
But… screaming like that was really damaging to the eardrums!
And it was so sudden. No one knew what had happened, and they all jumped in fright.
Until Li Xiling cried out in a panic, "My ring!!! Ah! My ring!!"
She was crouching by the pond, her hand, which had been in the water, now dripping wet. Just a moment ago, she had wanted to dip her hand in and stir the water to make the fish swim around so she could get a better look at them.
Who would have thought that a large fish would swim up to her hand and peck the ring right off her finger!
She reacted instantly and reached for it before it could sink, but who knew that the big fish would open its mouth again and swallow her ring whole! Then it turned, dove into the water, and sped away!
Li Xiling instantly fell apart, her heart racing!
What in the world was happening?!
The other cast members hurried over. Li Xiling's mind was in chaos, her mouth formed a perfect circle, her expression dazed and terrified.
"A fish ate my ring!!!"
Li Xiling pointed to her bare ring finger to show everyone, not forgetting to emphasize, "It's worth over two million! It... it..." How could it have been eaten?!!
Xiao Han and Ren Zhi were also stunned when they heard this, freezing on the spot. Luo Yangtian jogged over, dumbfounded.
This…
Anyone who heard that such a valuable item had been lost nearby would probably be shocked for a moment.
And Li Xiling had actually lost her ring! To a fish!
But the price of that ring could buy out all the fish in this pond, and then some!
The owner's wife in the villa had heard the scream. She had changed her clothes and come out. When she asked what happened, her expression was even more exaggerated than the celebrities'!
Even many of the crew members were looking uncertainly at the director—such a major accident had suddenly occurred, should they go and help?
Chu Xi, who heard about it from the back, raised an eyebrow.
Everyone was anxiously discussing the situation over there. She didn't join in, but instead walked to the edge of the pond, crouched down, and quietly looked into the water.
"Sister Ling, do you remember what kind of fish ate your ring?"
"I think it was a black grass carp, or maybe it looked a bit like a common carp... Ugh, I didn't get a good look! Anyway, it was huge, a really fat one!"
"There are thousands of fish in this pond, it's going to be hard to find... And you can't tell from the outside if it's eaten something." The owner's wife also looked extremely anxious. Ever since hearing that Li Xiling's ring was worth over two million, her leisurely afternoon mood of watching TV had vanished.
Running into something like this was just terrible luck. There was no effective solution!
Unless… they netted all the fish in the pond and checked them one by one!
That would mean killing every fish and cutting them open.
Li Xiling's ring was certainly valuable enough to justify it.
Everyone discussed this method, but it would take at least a full day and night. It was no small undertaking.
A single ring had turned every fish in the pond into a suspect. Who could help it that all fish looked more or less the same? It was a helpless situation!
The owner's wife was resigned to the situation and stated upfront, "Well... you'll have to pay for all these fish."
Li Xiling: "I'll pay, I'll pay for it myself!"
Witnessing such a huge disaster, many viewers were discussing it-
【Damn, this is so dramatic. The ring is gone.】
【Right now, some fish in that pond just had its net worth increase by 2 million.】
【This teaches us to be careful when you're 'touching fish'!!!】
【A ring worth over two million. Celebrities really are rich.】
【This... I guess all the fish in that pond are done for now. They're all going to be cut open.】
【The main problem is that all the fish look the same. They can only check them one by one. They'll probably have to kill hundreds. All we can do is wish them luck in finding the one that ate the ring quickly.】
【I'm dying laughing. Ling always messes up in all sorts of ways. It's both tragic and hilarious.】
【They're really in a panic this time. The production crew can't just stand by and watch now, can they?】
If everyone didn't work together this time, they might not find Li Xiling's ring for half a day.
And it was such an expensive luxury item.
This time, the Director really did recognize the urgency of the situation and called a few crew members over to help.
Xiang Xian watched for a while, then gestured in Chu Xi's direction and said to the Director, "She's pretty calm."
The Director was used to it. "She's always like that."
"Oh." Xiang Xian thought, This celebrity really does have a good mentality. She's very composed.
The owner's wife said, "I'll go drain the water from the pond first."
Just then, Chu Xi, who had been crouching by the pond watching for a long time, stood up. She rolled the lollipop around in her mouth with her tongue, walked over to Li Xiling, and looked down at her finger for a moment before turning back.
Luo Yangtian and Xiao Han went to help the owner's wife with the water pump. Chu Xi picked up a small fishing net and, on her own, stuck it in the water and stirred. The startled fish below began to dart about chaotically.
Her eyes rapidly scanned the swimming fish in the pond, her gaze shifting from one point to another, as if filtering information through a net.
Suddenly, the lollipop between her molars snapped with a "crack." She had locked onto her target!
Splash-
The sound of dripping water finally caught the other cast members' attention. They saw that Chu Xi had netted a grass carp.
Chu Xi set the net on the ground and turned to the three people still fiddling with the water pump. "You can stop. The ring is here."
Everyone, including the crew members who were putting on waders and preparing to step into the pond, looked over from all directions, staring at her in confusion.
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