After wandering around the market, the three troublemakers—Xie Tangning, Xie Changyu, and Liang Zhou—decisively picked a restaurant that looked elegant and quiet, and expensive enough to make your wallet hurt just by looking at it.
By then, the two old hands, Liang Jiaqing and Wu Weixiang, had already figured out that the trio had probably secretly called in reinforcements behind Director Zhang’s back.
That was the only explanation for why they were so confident—and why they had immediately chosen the most expensive restaurant.
Su Xiaoye and Xie Wanwan, however, had no idea what was really going on. They tugged at the already-hyped-up Xie Tangning, afraid that she might get carried away and blow the entire team’s budget.
It wasn’t that they didn’t want her to have fun. They were just worried that uninformed viewers might judge her for it.
Su Xiaoye said, “Tangtang, why don’t we go somewhere else? We’ve only got five hundred yuan. We probably can’t afford a place this fancy!”
Xie Wanwan said, “Monkey Bro, you too! Could you stop corrupting Xie Tangning all the time? We’re filming a show here!”
“If you really want to go wild, I can take you to Mount Emei after we finish filming, okay?”
Liang Zhou: “…”
Did that sound like something normal people said? How had they decided that Xie Tangning was a sweet little kitten instead of a Demon Pills?!
While Liang Zhou was still internally screaming, Xie Tangning had already started laughing mercilessly.
“Hahahahaha! Admit it, Monkey Bro! You’re obviously related to one of the monkeys from Mount Emei!”
“Unlike me, a sweet, adorable golden monkey baby~ That’s why our two pretty girls favor me!”
After finishing her round of mockery, Xie Tangning turned around and patted Su Xiaoye on the head.
“Don’t worry. I said I was treating you, so I’ll pay!”
“If I can’t afford it, I’ll just go back and drag Director Zhang here to work off the debt!”
Liang Zhou chimed in righteously, “If Director Zhang isn’t enough, we can put the assistant director up as collateral too!”
Su Xiaoye: “…”
She was seriously at a loss sometimes trying to follow the logic of these people!
Was it because she wasn’t unhinged enough yet? Looks like she needed to work harder to keep up with them!
Director Zhang and the assistant director, who had been watching the livestream the entire time: “#*！⁸νδØÛ؟＃”
Xie Wanwan thought they were just being abstract again. Before she could say anything else, a masked waiter suddenly came out of the restaurant.
“Oh~ Welcome, esteemed guests~ Welcome to our humble establishment~”
“It’s truly our honor~ to have such breathtakingly beautiful ladies and handsome gentlemen dining with us~”
The “waiter’s” syrupy, almost deranged voice left Xie Wanwan staring in confusion.
Was this really a proper waiter?
Xie Tangning and Liang Zhou watched their acquaintance put on the act and nearly burst out laughing.
Qin Zhe was seriously insane!
What kind of waiter greeted customers with that kind of unhinged voice and tone?
Qin Zhe the Waiter watched his two friends struggling to keep straight faces. Even his nostrils flared beneath his mask.
Clearly, he was the kind of person who found it impossible to hold it together whenever he ran into people he knew.
He quietly congratulated himself for wearing a mask, which meant no one else could see anything strange on his face.
Since he didn’t know the waiter, Xie Changyu had no trouble keeping a straight face. He began playing along as well.
“Oh~ Handsome, has anyone ever told you that you look like a yellow sponge?”
“You’re so enthusiastic about your job. Is there something wrong with your brain?”
Qin Zhe really wanted to roll his eyes. He had known for a long time that Xie Tangning’s brother had a vicious tongue, but experiencing it firsthand still made him want to punch him.
“What a sense of humor, sir. May I ask who would like to enter the restaurant first?”
Hearing something clearly suspicious in those words, Wu Dacheng stammered, “W-Wait, what? Are you asking us to go in one at a time so it’ll be easier for you to kill us and dispose of the bodies?”
“I can’t believe my luck! We’ve walked straight into a murder restaurant?!”
Qin Zhe: “…”
Where had Xie Tangning found this lackey? Why was he so dumb?
This was a society governed by law, thank you very much!
Although he was speechless, Qin Zhe put on a perfectly standard smile.
“Young guest, you’ve misunderstood.”
“It’s just that there are so many of you. But the first person among you to enter will have the great honor of becoming our ninety-ninth customer of the day!”
“You’ll receive a one-percent discount~”
His smile was indeed perfectly standard and completely normal—but he had forgotten that he was wearing a mask, so nobody could see it.
Wu Dacheng immediately jumped backward.
“I knew this was a murder restaurant! You don’t look like a good person at all!”
“You’re not even wearing a uniform, and you’ve got a mask on! Anyone can tell you’re up to something!”
Looking at the little fat guy’s intense reaction, and at Qin Zhe’s visibly stiff expression despite the mask, Xie Tangning and Liang Zhou had to think of every sad thing that had ever happened to them before they could keep from laughing out loud.
Qin Zhe couldn’t help glaring at the two of them. Then he simply grabbed Liang Zhou and pushed him forward to serve as the lucky customer.
“You! In you go!”
Monkey Bro was shoved forward without warning, but he didn’t seem to mind. He strolled into the restaurant at a leisurely pace.
Wu Dacheng, the utterly guileless child, still hadn’t realized anything was wrong. He tried to rush forward and stop his silly Brother Zhou.
Wu Weixiang grabbed him by the arm.
“Come on, come on, let’s go in too!”
“This is a stroke of heavenly luck—a one-percent discount! An opportunity like this won’t come twice!”
By then, Wu Weixiang had already figured out that this strange-looking “waiter” was probably one of the trainees they had encountered during the deserted-island survival program.
He could only identify him by his build. He had no idea what the man actually looked like.
During that show, everyone had been fully disguised, with their faces smeared black from head to toe. They could barely tell that one another were human, much less recognize anyone’s features.
So whether this waiter wore a mask or not made no difference. Who could possibly recognize him?
As expected of a kid trained at the summer training camp—his caution was truly extraordinary!
The moment she thought about what was going to happen later, Xie Tangning nearly lost control and laughed. She took two deep breaths before finally calming down.
“Oh my~ The waiters at high-end establishments really do have such distinctive personalities~ As emperor, I absolutely must sample the dishes and see just how delicious this restaurant’s food is!”
“How dare they treat such distinguished guests like this~”
Xie Changyu played along perfectly, instantly adopting the air of a gullible rich customer.
“A restaurant with this much personality? Even if they serve me crap, I’ll still have to taste it and see how salty it is!”
“Come on, we’re going in!”
The brother and sister walked inside, singing each other’s praises. Liang Jiaqing and Shen Lin exchanged a glance before following them in, ready to enjoy the show.
To the viewers, the scene looked exactly like a group of helpless lambs being led to slaughter without realizing they had been duped.
Su Xiaoye tilted her head and watched Xie Tangning’s cheerful retreat. She couldn’t help letting out a soft laugh.
So it was a friends-only setup after all~
Tangtang was so naughty, keeping it a secret from her and Wanwan.
Xie Wanwan frowned at her foolish grin and nudged her.
“What are you laughing at? Is there really something supernatural about this restaurant?”
“Have you been possessed too? We’ve got cameras and microphones pointed at them from every direction, and someone still dares to run a murder restaurant?”
Su Xiaoye smiled and pushed her toward the entrance, mischievously trying to scare her.
“That’s not necessarily true~”
“That’s why we have to go in and protect Tangtang. We can’t just stand by and watch her get swindled!”
Xie Wanwan let herself be pushed along, all the while grumbling and cursing. How had Xie Tangning become such a hopeless glutton?
She was so desperate to eat that she didn’t even care if the place was a den of thieves—she just had to go in and wolf down a meal. She must have been starving out of her mind!
