Director Zhang was very pleased as he watched the feedback pouring in from the comments section.
The weather was perfect, and the lake was blue enough to take your breath away.
By late August, the grasslands had already begun to turn golden, while the snow mountains were blanketed in a fresh layer of snow. The entire view was strikingly layered, creating an exceptionally powerful visual experience.
“For those of you who want to immerse yourselves in the beauty of Sayram Lake, you can hop over to another livestream and enjoy the scenery from the comfort of home~”
It took just the right weather and season to experience this kind of breathtaking beauty.
Of course, Director Zhang was determined to find a way to show everyone these views—beauty that normally required a fair bit of luck to witness.
The deputy director watched as the audience in the livestream became completely captivated by the scenery, with hardly anyone mentioning Su Xiaoye or Xie Wanwan.
He then glanced up at the two girls, who had likewise remained untouched by the controversy. They had automatically paired up and were walking along with their arms linked, looking close as ever.
He was deeply relieved.
Director Zhang and Cheng Dong were of the same mind. All the effort they had put into arranging Sayram Lake, such a popular destination, as the very first stop had clearly paid off.
He had insisted on having Su Xiaoye and Xie Wanwan record the final episode with them, and it wasn’t entirely for the sake of ratings and traffic.
Other people’s mistakes should not have to bear consequences for the two of them—especially not Su Xiaoye.
If Su Yue’er’s actions caused Su Xiaoye to miss the final episode, people would only come up with even more speculation, which would be even worse for her.
Some might even claim that Su Xiaoye was an ungrateful wretch who had sent her adoptive mother to prison, and that the program had removed her because of her poor character.
After all, victim-blaming was hardly rare, especially when stirred up by certain brain-dead fans.
Allowing the two girls to continue appearing on the show openly would, to some extent, dispel a great deal of unnecessary speculation.
Director Zhang did have a slightly sadistic fondness for putting his guests through all kinds of ordeals, but deep down, he was also fiercely protective of them.
Under normal circumstances, he did his best to look after his guests.
Before they reached Sayram Lake, Xie Tangning and Xie Changyu were enjoying one of their rare sincere moments.
“It’s so beautiful. It would’ve been wonderful if Big Brother, Mom, and Dad were here too. I really wish they could see this scenery!” Xie Tangning sighed as she gazed at the snow mountains in the distance.
Because of the high altitude, the temperature here was much lower than in Haicheng.
But with the weather so clear, the sunlight felt especially warm and comfortable on their skin.
Xie Changyu glanced sideways at her, his eyes glimmering with flecks of light.
“Then we can come again when they have time! We’ve got plenty of time ahead of us!”
“Go over there and give me a peace sign. Big Brother will take your picture!”
As he spoke, he pulled a Biki the Starfish plushie from his bag and stuffed it into her hands. Then he produced a pair of sunglasses and perched them on her face.
After admiring his handiwork for a moment, Xie Changyu patted Xie Tangning on the head and gestured for her to walk over.
Xie Tangning was perfectly obedient. She obediently came to the lakeside, struck a pose, and Cool Little Xie the model made her debut.
After taking several sets of photos of Xie Tangning, Wu Dacheng—the number-one solo fan—came over as well. He stood beside Xie Changyu and helped him adjust the filters, all so he could make his Boss look even cooler.
“Put on those sunglasses, and no one stands a chance! Boss, you’re so cool!”
“Absolutely irresistible—you’ll have people crying over you!”
The chubby boy’s sweet talk came tumbling out as if it were free.
He flattered Xie Tangning until she practically melted into a puddle, and she immediately began praising the improvement in the chubby boy’s Chinese skills.
Wu Weixiang watched from the side as Wu Dacheng’s metaphorical tail rose higher and higher with pride. He could only smile bitterly and rub his forehead.
His Chinese was terrible—truly terrible, okay?
And yet the little girl could actually bring herself to praise him!
No wonder he got to be the Boss!
At that moment, Xie Wanwan came over with Su Xiaoye in tow. Looking at Xie Changyu, she asked eagerly, “Can we take a group photo too?”
“Beautiful scenery!” Xie Wanwan pointed at Sayram Lake behind them and the snow mountains in the distance, then pointed at herself and Su Xiaoye. “Beautiful women!”
“The standard photo package!”
The corner of Xie Changyu’s mouth twitched.
“Does Xie Shen know that you’ve learned so much from my Xie Xiaoning?”
Her narcissistic little mannerisms were so familiar that for a moment, he almost thought his little sister had changed skins and appeared in front of him.
Su Xiaoye instinctively added, “This proves that we were born to be friends, because friends are always on the same wavelength!”
Xie Changyu thought that made quite a lot of sense. He nodded unconsciously, then began threatening them with complete justification.
“Then hurry up and get into position. I’m about to press the shutter~”
“If anyone’s too slow and misses the timing, don’t blame me if you end up with an unflattering photo!”
Xie Tangning had already struck her pose, steady as a rock. She grinned happily, completely ignoring the two girls hurriedly sprinting toward her.
After the picture was taken, Su Xiaoye and Xie Wanwan angrily shook their fists at her in mock threat.
But neither of the two devoted fans could bring themselves to hit her. They couldn’t even bring themselves to give her a light tap just to vent their frustration.
Xie Tangning laughed delightedly.
King Kitty had returned!
“Come on, spread your arms wide and enjoy the freedom of the wind!”
Xie Tangning physically turned Su Xiaoye around so that she was facing the lake and could enjoy the free wind blowing in from Sayram Lake.
When Su Xiaoye saw the radiant smile on Xie Tangning’s face, she could feel the light in her eyes even though the sunglasses hid them from view.
So she nodded, spread her arms, tilted her head slightly upward, and surrendered herself to the embrace of nature, enjoying this brief moment of peace.
Xie Wanwan took out her phone and captured the beautiful moment.
Then she joined Su Xiaoye in enjoying the freedom of the wind.
As for Xie Tangning, she grabbed Wu Dacheng and ran off to stir up trouble for Liang Zhou, while our Monkey Bro was currently being commandeered by Ms. Liang!
Liang Jiaqing scrolled through the photos on her phone one by one, her brows furrowing deeper and deeper.
“Liang Zhou! Have you ever seen a person take a picture before? Are these even photos a human being could take?”
“Or have you been a monkey for so long that you’ve stopped considering yourself human?”
“I could scatter a handful of rice across the screen and let a chicken peck at it, and it would still produce better photos than you!”
Ms. Liang launched into a relentless tirade. She genuinely couldn’t understand how anyone could take a woman who was 170 centimeters tall and make her look barely 130 centimeters.
And was she some kind of alien? Why had her face been distorted into such a hideous mess?
Even when her rivals deliberately edited ugly photos of her, she had never looked this terrible!
She now had every reason to suspect that Liang Zhou was secretly the head of her anti-fan club.
“My technique is perfectly fine! You just look like that in real life!”
Monkey Bro snatched the phone away and compared the photo with Liang Jiaqing herself before delivering a classic line.
There was no doubt about it—he immediately earned himself a stinging smack from Ms. Liang.
Liang Jiaqing gave a couple of cold laughs.
“Your technique is perfectly fine? How did you even manage to say that with a straight face?”
“Take a good look at this stunning face of mine and tell me—do I look like the person in that picture?!”
“With photography skills as atrocious as yours, how did you dare to order me around and make me strike all those poses?!”
“I even thought you’d really gone and improved your photography skills! How could you betray my trust like this?!”
Liang Zhou was clearly guilty, but he remained stubbornly unrepentant.
“That’s exactly what you look like! If you don’t believe me, ask Brother Shen Lin!”
Liang Jiaqing felt her blood pressure shooting straight up. After another cold laugh, she brought out her trump card.
“Fine, fine, so this is what I look like, huh?!”
“Liang Zhou! You’re cut off from your allowance for the rest of the month!”
Liang Zhou: “!!!”
“Liang Jiaqing, you’re such a sore loser! You have no sense of fair play!”
His allowance was his lifeline, and Monkey Bro was determined to protest to the bitter end!
“Brother Shen Lin, come settle this for me. Doesn’t she look exactly like the picture I took?”
