Chapter Five—Mu Ran Can Speak Five Languages?!

“Jiang Ning!? You’re lying to me! Why didn’t you go down and drag the raft?” Qi Jun’s shout startled a few more birds.

Jiang Ning shot him a sidelong glance. “It’s dirty.”

Qi Jun had no retort, fuming as he dragged the raft back.

When the two returned to the shore, less than half an hour had passed. The others exclaimed in surprise—how could Jiang Ning and Qi Jun be so fast? Was the prop from the show crew that easy to find?

The remaining two teams began searching the island, but after an hour, they found nothing. Disappointed, the four returned to the shore, only to see Jiang Ning and Qi Jun preparing to set out to sea.

“Wait!” Fu Jiaojiao called loudly after Jiang Ning’s retreating figure.

She hurried over, grabbing Jiang Ning’s wrist. “I asked the director’s team—the raft isn’t a show prop. You can’t go out to sea right now!”

“Let go.” Jiang Ning’s eyes were icy as they settled on her own wrist.

Fu Jiaojiao stiffened, then flung off Jiang Ning’s hand. “This raft isn’t a show prop. It’s public property—you can’t monopolize it!”

Qi Jun, seeing Fu Jiaojiao’s aggressive stance, retorted, “Hey! Why are you being unreasonable? I worked hard to haul this up. Fair competition, right? How is this monopolizing?”

“Ning, Jiaojiao’s right. This is public property. It’s not proper for you to keep it to yourself,” Gao Tiange stepped forward to chime in.

“What do you think?” Jiang Ning looked past Gao Tiange at Bai Zehan.

Bai Zehan feigned hesitation, then said, “Ning, Tiange and Jiaojiao are right. Public resources on the island should be fairly contested by everyone.”

“This is outrageous!” Qi Jun rolled up his sleeves, gripping the raft tightly with the air of someone ready to fight for it.

Jiang Ning’s delicate, cool face remained calm, a mocking smile tugging at her lips. “Qi Jun, let them have it. Compete fairly among yourselves. We don’t want it.”

“Come on, be rational! I’m very competitive—I can’t lose!” Qi Jun saw Jiang Ning walking away and hurriedly released the raft, quickly catching up to her.

“Ning, I’ll go with you to look for props!” Yun Fu followed as well.

“Alright.” Jiang Ning smiled faintly, then turned to Qi Jun. “Don’t worry. I’ll let you win.”

On the live chat:

“Is it just me, or does Jiang Ning seem really cool?”

“That move from Fu Jiaojiao was so underhanded!”

“Can’t wait for Jiang Ning to pull a comeback!”

The three of them headed back onto the island. Jiang Ning, familiar with the terrain, led the other two to a cluster of shrubs. “Qi Jun, go check it out.”

“Why me again? That shrub isn’t even dirty!”

Jiang Ning gave him a look, and Qi Jun, resigned, approached.

“Whoa! Inflatable kayaks! Two of them! Quick—inflate them, you each take one.”

Back at the shore, Fu Jiaojiao and her team watched. Bai Zehan, standing on the raft, looked between the two women before finally settling his gaze on Fu Jiaojiao. “Jiaojiao, Tiange is your senior. Why don’t you…”

Fu Jiaojiao pointed to herself, her tone aggrieved. “Mr. Bai, if I hadn’t stopped Jiang Ning, would this raft even be at your feet?”

Growing impatient with Fu Jiaojiao’s persistence, Gao Tiange replied sharply, “Jiaojiao, I see you have potential. You’re young—winning or losing isn’t so important for you.”

On the live chat:

“Aren’t Fu Jiaojiao and Bai Zehan both twenty-five?”

“Gao Tiange is such a hypocrite.”

“What happened to fair competition?”

“Lost all respect for Gao Tiange!”

“Doesn’t anyone think Bai Zehan’s the problem? Why can’t two women share a raft? Afraid they’ll fight at sea?”

In the end, Bai Zehan and Gao Tiange took the raft and set out for the neighboring island. They’d only paddled a dozen meters before the raft began to sink.

“Zehan, what’s happening?” Gao Tiange looked down in horror at her soaked shoes.

Suddenly, the rope binding the raft snapped, the logs drifted apart, and both Bai Zehan and Gao Tiange fell into the water.

“Haha, what’s this? The Best Actor and Actress are planning to swim there?”

Qi Jun strode over, a kayak slung over each shoulder, brimming with confidence.

Fu Jiaojiao’s eyes lit up. She sidled over, her voice sweet. “Qi Jun, can I team up with you?”

Qi Jun snorted. “Even trees have bark—why don’t you have any shame?”

He set one kayak in the water. “Ning, I’ll take Yun Fu. You watch out for yourself.”

Qi Jun, worried he might cramp up if he fell in again, teamed with Yun Fu instead of Jiang Ning, saying, “I don’t have five million to spare!”

The three set off in their kayaks for neighboring islands in opposite directions.

“Jiang Ning, you knew the raft was faulty, didn’t you? Can you take us with you? That inflatable kayak is big enough,” Bai Zehan called out from the shallows to the woman who didn’t look back.

“Mr. Bai, the inflatable kayaks are official show props,” Gao Mingliang shouted into his megaphone, giving a not-so-subtle warning.

Bai Zehan flushed, coughed awkwardly, and led Gao Tiange back to shore.

“How humiliating! Didn’t you realize the raft was broken?” Gao Tiange flung off Bai Zehan’s hand, dragging her soaked dress as she stomped ahead.

As they came ashore, Fu Jiaojiao quickly handed her towel to Bai Zehan.

He took it, then turned to Gao Tiange. “Tiange, wrap yourself up so you don’t catch a cold.”

Gao Tiange snatched the towel from him. “Thank you, Jiaojiao.”

Fu Jiaojiao forced a dry smile, a flash of resentment and frustration in her eyes.

With no props, Bai Zehan’s group could only wait on Hundred Flowers Island for news from Jiang Ning’s team.

Mo You Island wasn’t far—Jiang Ning reached it in less than twenty minutes, parking her inflatable kayak beside a few jet skis on the shore.

She looked around. Compared to the deserted Hundred Flowers Island, Mo You Island seemed designed for leisure and enjoyment. Yet the show gave her no clues about the mystery guest. The island was vast—how was she supposed to search?

“Do you have any clues?” Jiang Ning turned to the cameraman following her.

He shook his head.

Jiang Ning’s gaze shifted to the large European-style castle at the island’s center. Was that the place?

Just then, a small corgi trotted over, wagging its tail and nudging her pant leg.

Jiang Ning bent down, ruffled its furry head, and plucked a card from its mouth: “Go to the cabin.”

She straightened, scanning the area, and spotted a wooden cabin hidden behind several tall trees. Smiling, she deliberately walked in the opposite direction.

On the live chat:

“Wasn’t the clue to go to the cabin?”

“Where’s Jiang Ning off to?”

“Is her IQ dropping? I thought she was hardcore!”

Suddenly, Jiang Ning turned, walked up to the cameraman, and held the card to the lens between delicate fingers.

“See what’s written here?” She spoke with a hint of amusement.

“Is that… correction tape?”

“Castle?”

“Whoever wrote this clue card didn’t even bother, what a joke.”

“Jiang Ning is something else—she even peeled off the correction tape.”

“Never seen a show clue card with correction tape—first time for everything.”

“Maybe the crew just made a mistake and had to fix it?”

Jiang Ning noticed there were no footprints in the muddy earth around the cabin—making it certain the guest wouldn’t be inside.

Sure enough, upon entering the castle, a young man in a tailcoat greeted her with a cheerful smile.

“Jiang Ning, welcome to the castle. I am Liu Dongdong, the butler. If you wish to rescue the mystery male guest, you must complete a small task.”

Jiang Ning followed him into the lavish hall. “What task?”

Liu Dongdong gestured to a row of people standing in the grand foyer. “The mystery guest is in this castle. If you can guess the nationalities of these support guests, you may ask each one for a clue about the guest’s location. But remember, Jiang Ning—one guest, one question.”

Facing these international participants from various countries, Jiang Ning’s fair face remained serene. She smiled lightly and approached the first male guest, dressed as a chef.

“He’s from Italy.” Glancing at the spaghetti in his hands, she addressed him in flawless Italian, “Hello, can you tell me where the mystery guest is?”

The man was startled by her perfect accent, stammering, “I… don’t… know.”

Jiang Ning paused, glancing at Liu Dongdong.

He smiled. “Ning, you can’t be so direct with your question.”