When recording variety shows, the crew members often have to standby for long periods.
Jiang Mo had anticipated this situation and pulled out a few packs of Wangzai QQ candies from her canvas bag, handing them to Cui Tiantian beside her. "Want some candy?"
"I'll take one," Cui Tiantian said, leaning in for a friendly hug with the pretty girl.
Jiang Mo popped two QQ candies into her mouth. "Tiantian, how old are you? Are you Gu Ye's personal stylist, or is this a side gig?"
"I'm 28, but I already have ten years of work experience," Cui Tiantian stretched lazily. "I've been with Gu Ye for a year now, mainly handling his styling, but I also take on freelance jobs when I have time."
Jiang Mo was surprised, eyeing Cui Tiantian's youthful round face. "I thought you were around my age."
Cui Tiantian chuckled, cupping her cheeks. "Maybe it's my face shape—it makes me look younger."
"Is this your first time at a variety show recording?"
"Yeah, first time."
"Today's filming will probably take a while, so we’ll be waiting for ages," Cui Tiantian shared her wisdom as a veteran in the industry. "You know what I’ve become best at after working in this field?"
Jiang Mo’s eyes sparkled with curiosity. "What?"
Cui Tiantian grinned. "Standby mode."
Jiang Mo immediately understood—just like what they were doing now.
Returning the favor, Cui Tiantian dug into her bag and pulled out some beef jerky and dried mango to share.
Chewing on the jerky, she studied Jiang Mo’s face. "Did you do your makeup yourself?"
"Yeah, but I don’t usually wear much, so it’s not great. Does it look bad?" Jiang Mo lacked confidence in her skills—even Gu Ye seemed startled when he saw her earlier at the hotel.
"Pretty girls like you are naturally beautiful, even without makeup," Cui Tiantian reassured. "But today’s look is just okay. How about I touch it up for you?"
Her makeup kit was right beside her anyway.
"Really? Then I’ll gladly take advantage of your skills today!" Jiang Mo beamed. This was a celebrity stylist, after all.
For an ordinary person, booking a session like this would cost thousands.
Another win for her.
Cui Tiantian opened her kit. "No big deal."
Meanwhile, Huang Ling wasn’t with them—she’d gone out to chat with the director, assistant directors, and other artists’ managers to network.
As she worked on Jiang Mo’s face, Cui Tiantian marveled inwardly at her flawless skin—smooth, fair, with tiny pores and no blemishes.
It was even better than some celebrities’, despite their frequent high-tech salon treatments.
Most star photos were heavily retouched anyway.
So really, ordinary folks shouldn’t stress about their looks.
"All done, take a look," Cui Tiantian handed Jiang Mo a mirror.
Jiang Mo eagerly admired her reflection, turning left and right. "Tiantian, you’re amazing!"
Cui Tiantian smirked. "I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve."
Huang Ling returned with three boxed lunches from the production team. "Here, lunchtime!"
She passed the meals over, then did a double-take at Jiang Mo. Huh? Why did she look even prettier now?
Jiang Mo accepted the box and peeked inside—two meat dishes and one veggie. Not bad.
"Ms. Huang, what’s Gu Ye having for lunch?"
Huang Ling replied casually, "He’s eating Chef Bai’s cooking—braised pork and beggar’s chicken, I heard."
Hometown Life, a slow-paced rural variety show, featured four regular cast members, including Bai Yu—nicknamed "Chef Bai"—the main culinary star. Guests typically enjoyed his meals.
"Lucky Gu Ye! I’ve heard Chef Bai’s cooking is fantastic," Jiang Mo said, not yet realizing anything amiss since she hadn’t watched much of the show.
Huang Ling and Cui Tiantian exchanged glances, barely holding back laughter.
Huang Ling stifled a chuckle. "Yep, yep. So I told Gu Ye to eat up—farming’s hard work."
Jiang Mo blinked. Had she said something funny?
After lunch, she learned that Zhou Wansen and Tan Tao had arrived.
Unfortunately, she’d been busy eating and missed seeing them.
Post-meal, she finally understood what "ultra-long standby" meant as she dozed off.
At 3 PM, the group finally emerged from the nearby wooden cabin, ready to farm—planting peanuts.
The cameras followed them to the fields.
"They’re filming outside now. Take your staff passes if you want to watch," said Huang Ling, too familiar with variety sets to care. She let Cui Tiantian escort Jiang Mo.
At the farmland, Jiang Mo could only marvel: So many people!
She never realized how massive the behind-the-scenes crew was.
Meanwhile, Gu Ye, Zhou Wansen, and Tan Tao followed regular cast member Zhou Kai to the peanut field.
Their afternoon mission: plow, fertilize, and sow the plot.
"Wansen, ever done farm work before?" Gu Ye struck up conversation.
"Some as a kid at my grandma’s village, but not much," Zhou Wansen adjusted his straw hat. "You?"
Gu Ye rested a hand on the tiller. "First timer."
"Hey, we met on another show before—you helped me out. Never got your contact though. Let’s connect this time. I’ll treat you to dinner later."
He pulled out his phone, opening WeChat to scan codes.
"Don’t mention it," Zhou Wansen added him. "We’re both in Jiangcheng—let’s hang sometime."
"You’re from Jiangcheng too? Then we’re hometown buddies!"
Zhou Wansen smiled. Having met Gu Ye twice before, he sensed unusual enthusiasm this time.
Zhou Kai approached. Since Zhou Wansen was the eldest, he asked, "Wansen, should we split tasks or work together?"
Zhou Wansen assessed the scene. "Only one tiller, so one person operates it. The rest can mix fertilizer and spread it while plowing."
"I’ll handle the machine."
"Great. Wansen tills, the rest of us haul fertilizer," Tan Tao nudged Gu Ye. "Coming?"
Gu Ye nodded. "Sure."
As they headed toward the parked tricycle, he glanced toward the camera crew, searching for Jiang Mo—and spotted her bright figure amid the crowd, clinging to Cui Tiantian’s arm while peering around.
Their eyes met briefly.
Tan Tao stepped into his line of sight. "Gu Ye, your recent drama was fantastic! My sister adores it and begged for your autograph. Would you mind?"
"No problem, I’ll sign later," Gu Ye replied, turning away.
Tan Tao smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear. "This fertilizer is a bit heavy. Should we carry it together?"
Gu Ye rubbed his nose and walked around to the opposite side. "It's fine. Just one bag—not that heavy."
He tugged at it but couldn’t lift it easily. Fortunately, he worked out regularly, so he adjusted his grip and managed to haul the bag of fertilizer from the tricycle into the peanut field.
Zhou Wansen fiddled with the micro-tiller for a moment, quickly figuring out how to operate it, and started plowing the field without a word.
Jiang Mo clung to Cui Tiantian’s side, watching the group in the field, her gaze fixed on Zhou Wansen.
Oh my god, she was finally seeing him in person!
He was even thinner and taller than he appeared on TV—no wonder people said the camera added ten pounds.
His skin wasn’t as fair as on screen, but his sharp, well-defined features confirmed it: he was undeniably handsome.
"He’s so good-looking!" she couldn’t help but sigh.
"Yeah, I think so too," Cui Tiantian agreed. "Even though I’ve been around him for a while, sometimes I’m still struck by how unfairly handsome he is."
Jiang Mo realized Cui Tiantian had misunderstood—she wasn’t talking about Gu Ye. But she didn’t correct her.
Shifting her gaze to Gu Ye, she noticed the young master struggling to move the fertilizer bags.
Sigh. Probably the hardest labor he’d ever done was after entering the entertainment industry.
Cui Tiantian patted Jiang Mo’s hand and whispered, "Have you noticed how Tan Tao keeps hovering around Gu Ye?"
"Really?" Jiang Mo glanced over.
"Definitely. I’ve been watching for a while," Cui Tiantian said. "She’s probably sticking close to him because he’s got more screen time and popularity. Maybe even angling for a CP angle."
With only two male guest stars, that would mean… Zhou Wansen wasn’t as famous.
Compared to Gu Ye… yeah, that tracked.
She looked back at her idol, working alone on the tiller, while the other three chatted and laughed while mixing fertilizer.
She worried Zhou Wansen wouldn’t get enough screen time.
Just as the thought crossed her mind, Gu Ye walked over to Zhou Wansen and handed him a bottle of water, telling him to take a break.
Wait—was Gu Ye deliberately looking out for her idol?
She decided then: from now on, she’d add an extra egg to his noodles.
No—two eggs!
The peanut field wasn’t large, so the four of them finished in just over an hour.
Next, they were sent to catch eels in the rice paddies, which left them all splattered with mud.
Once filming wrapped, the cameras moved indoors.
The walk back from the paddies along the country path was unrecorded—a blank space in the footage.
"Tissue," Gu Ye muttered, eyeing the mud on his clothes, eager to wash up.
"Here, I’ve got some!" As the day’s assistant, Jiang Mo took her job seriously.
Hearing him, she hurried over and handed him a tissue.
Then she offered one to Zhou Wansen. "Do you need one too?"
The group had already noticed Jiang Mo lingering nearby—after all, among a bunch of guys, a pretty girl stood out.
"Thanks," Zhou Wansen said, surprised by the offer, but he took the tissue.
Jiang Mo scratched her head. "No problem. I’ve got water too—want some?"
Zhou Wansen shook his head. "I’m good."
Gu Ye turned his head. Seriously? Whose assistant was she? He was right there, and she was already fawning over someone else.
"Ahem. Need more tissue," Gu Ye said, trying to reclaim her attention.
Luckily, Jiang Mo noticed and drifted back to his side.
Tan Tao studied Jiang Mo, sensing an unspoken rivalry. "Who’s this girl?"
"I’m Gu Ye’s assistant," Jiang Mo introduced herself when asked.
"Oh, just an assistant," Tan Tao said, her eyes flicking between them, but she didn’t press further.
Jiang Mo flitted around and, in a blink, slipped back to Zhou Wansen’s side.
"I loved your movie The Silent One."
"Really? Thanks," Zhou Wansen said, surprised. Most people knew him from his hit drama years ago.
That film had been a low-budget indie project, but he’d loved the role.
Assuming she was just being polite, he responded courteously.
"With the industry slowdown, there aren’t as many projects now, but your acting is amazing. When the right opportunity comes, you’ll break through."
Jiang Mo wasn’t sure what else to say. She wanted to encourage him, but her words felt stiff. Did she sound insincere?
Zhou Wansen turned to look at her properly. "I appreciate that. I’ll keep working hard."
"Um… later, if you have time, could I take a photo with you?"
"Sure."
Meanwhile, Gu Ye was stuck with Tan Tao chattering nonstop beside him. He couldn’t ignore her, so he gave half-hearted replies while grumbling internally—his assistant had completely forgotten about him the second her idol showed up.
Jiang Mo successfully got her photo and autograph from Zhou Wansen, tucking them into her bag like treasures.
The guest stars would leave after dinner.
Jiang Mo stuck around and snagged another boxed meal.
After filming, Gu Ye returned to his van and rummaged around. "Is there any food here?"
"What? Didn’t you just eat?" Jiang Mo pulled out a pack of gummy candy from her bag.
"Aren’t you too old for this?" Gu Ye snatched it from her. "That ‘dinner’—even you wouldn’t be able to stomach it. It was inedible."
Huang Ling chimed in, "Just some industry secrets. Bai Yu’s cooking reputation is all hype. His dishes are… creatively disastrous. You get the idea."
Jiang Mo was stunned. When she watched the show, the cast—especially Allen, the variety show veteran—always raved about the food, scarfing it down enthusiastically.
So it was all an act? Their acting was that good?
"Of course. This isn’t about food—it’s about playing the game," Cui Tiantian said. "Jiang Mo, Gu Ye said you came to watch his filming. But you kept drifting toward Zhou Wansen."
Almost like… she was his fan.
Well… she had come to see Zhou Wansen. Had Gu Ye told them she was here for him?
