Chapter 49: Let's Go Fishing

Through a test of telepathy, the guests could go out on a date the next day as long as they sent text messages to each other.

They could choose the location of the date themselves.

All expenses incurred during the date would be fully covered by the production team.

For the dates of other guests, they basically locked in well-known large restaurants or major supermarkets in the surrounding area.

After all, this was a rural romance reality show, and there were really not many upscale places.

Moreover, since the production team said they would cover everything, the date came second; everyone was more than willing to use this opportunity to buy things they wanted to eat or use.

Only Xu Zhaozhao and Shen Mu were the opposite of the others. The two did not leave Ancient Tree Village, and instead carried makeshift fishing tools to a nearby natural lake.

Upon reaching the lakeside, Shen Mu gazed at the small hill nearby.

He asked, "Before fishing, would you like to go up the mountain to see the scenery around Ancient Tree Village?"

Xu Zhaozhao agreed without even thinking.

They had been in Ancient Tree Village for four days. While it was indeed full of antique charm, they had always been immersed in it without a chance to properly admire the full panorama of the village.

Since there was this opportunity, they might as well head up the mountain for a look.

The mountain was not high, and the two of them climbed up without much effort.

However, the accompanying cameraman suffered immensely.

Carrying a heavy camera, he struggled to keep up with the pace of Xu Zhaozhao and Shen Mu.

When they reached the summit, a wave of refreshing relief washed over his heavy chest.

The view here was vast and open; the distant mountain ranges and sea of clouds, alongside the village's green walls and red tiles nearby, were as beautiful as a painting.

[Ah, so pretty.]

[A place without industrial pollution is truly too attractive!]

[I want to go to the countryside!]

The scenery at the mountain peak touched the hearts of quite a few viewers.

Working in the city for too long, returning to pastoral life was the dream of many.

Xu Zhaozhao found a clean rock to sit down on and looked at the cameraman behind the lens, "Didn't you say the production team is treating us to food today? Where is it?"

The camera moved slightly, and the cameraman wore a helpless smile.

He explained, "Neither of you mentioned what you wanted to eat, so how could the production team prepare it?"

"Oh, oh," Xu Zhaozhao nodded, "So we need to order it ourselves? Why didn't you say so earlier?"

"Then I want to eat..."

She thought for a moment and reeled off a string of dish names to the camera: "Sweet and sour pork tenderloin, steamed pork with rice flour, glutinous rice chicken, spicy stir-fried crab, braised pork knuckle, and slow-simmered rich soup."

Hearing this sequence of dish names, inside the house where the Ancient Tree Village production team was stationed, the staff members all broke out in cold sweat.

These dishes did not belong to a single culinary style, and most of them could not be bought all in one hotel.

This was even worse than the other guests, who directly left Ancient Tree Village to date at high-end restaurants.

However, no matter what Xu Zhaozhao ordered, since the production team had promised to cover it, and she had said it so publicly in front of the camera, the production team had to fulfill it.

"Arrange some people to go pack it up and bring it back." Director Sun, the pillar of strength for the show, didn't mind at all.

When Extraordinary Construction invested in the show, they had made one request: to showcase more of the scenery surrounding Ancient Tree Village.

The other guests disliked the countryside and chose to date far away from here at the first opportunity. Only Xu Zhaozhao and Shen Mu constantly hovered around Ancient Tree Village.

They had successively used the camera to show the audience the ancient trees, the lake, the mountain springs, and the market scenery.

Showing things naturally by following the footsteps of the guests had a much better effect than the production team deliberately displaying them.

Therefore, whatever they wanted to eat, they would eat. This was much cheaper than paying endorsement fees.

Seeing that the director had spoken, the staff members stopped complaining and immediately called to place the order.

[Xu Zhaozhao is truly Xu Zhaozhao. Dating is not the goal; turns out she's still driven by her love for devouring food.]

[A working stiff labors hard all day. If they don't heal themselves with a good meal, what else can they use?]

[There's also sweet romance!]

[Are you talking about a one-way romance?]

[Lmao, poor Shen Mu. He thought Xu Zhaozhao had finally agreed to his date invitation, but in reality, it was just Chen Sisisi weighing the pros and cons.]

[One must be fair: if the Best Actor hadn't sent a text to Xu Zhaozhao and there was only Shen Mu's text, Chen Sisisi definitely would have still supported Xu Zhaozhao in sending her text to the Best Actor...]

[To the user above, you've seen right through Chen Sisisi!]

[Good grief, a ten-day romance reality show, and the popular pure maiden successfully turns into a scheming green tea bitch.]

[Stop talking about the pure maiden; even the Best Actor's persona seems a bit compromised.]

[Our Best ActorKe is no master of balancing multiple boats; he just didn't want to make the other female guests feel embarrassed.]

[Didn't want to make the other female guests feel embarrassed, and ended up embarrassing himself instead. Is that it? Haha...]

[Hilarious, the Best Actor acting like this is being a bit overly emotionally drained!]

[What emotional drain? He's already a Best Actor, yet he's still willing to sacrifice himself in the show to fulfill others. This just proves that even after achieving fame and success, he hasn't gotten full of himself.]

While the bullet comments were engaged in a heated discussion about the personas of Xu Zhaozhao and Ke Hao, Xu Zhaozhao and Shen Mu had already descended the mountain.

A gentle breeze blew, sending ripples across the lake surface, and then Shen Mu's fishing rod was cast down.

As for Xu Zhaozhao, she picked up another fishing rod and began to fish, mimicking Shen Mu's posture.

After watching Shen Mu fish last time, she thought it looked quite interesting. Coincidentally, having the opportunity this time, she followed along to learn.

At first, her casting motion was still somewhat stiff and clumsy, so Shen Mu stepped forward to teach her hand-in-hand.

When the two of them drew close, a familiar scent drifted into her nostrils, and Xu Zhaozhao's heart gave a start.

Without a trace, she stepped out of his embrace.

"I'm not used to people teaching me hand-in-hand. Just let me practice on my own!"

A flash of disappointment crossed Shen Mu's eyes, but it quickly returned to gentleness.

"Alright, then try it yourself."

He retracted his arms and continued to guide her in a low voice.

"Put your thumb on the upper part of the rod handle, grip the rod tightly with your other four fingers, and keep your wrist straight..."

"When casting, straighten your arm and pull it backward, keeping the fishing rod parallel to the ground..."

[Ah, the atmosphere just then—I wanted to scream, but then it cut off abruptly!]

[Xu Zhaozhao simply doesn't allow herself to fall in love at all!]

[I've never seen someone practice such tight self-defense against romance!]

[Xu Zhaozhao, temporarily forget that you're at work. What's wrong with indulging in a brief moment of romance? I love watching it!]

[Ambiguity always leaves one thoroughly wronged~~]

[To the previous poster, you sang what's in my heart!]

Not to mention that Xu Zhaozhao couldn't see these bullet comments, even if she did, she wouldn't play along with the ambiguity with Shen Mu as the comments demanded.

In *Love in the Wilderness*, Xu Zhaozhao could engage in ambiguity with any male guest, except for Shen Mu.

They were a couple who had divorced in that manner; for her to eagerly go and play ambiguous games with him would mean her brain was thoroughly scrambled.

After swinging her arm a few hundred times, she gradually found the method for casting the rod.

Choosing a windless moment, she successfully tossed the fishhook into the target fishing grounds.

It was precisely at this moment that Shen Mu had already caught his first fish.

[Shen Mu is truly a master of fishing.]

[When I used to fish, the bait was clearly better and more abundant, and the fishing rod was also the best. Why wasn't my fishing as fast as Shen Mu's?]

[I think it has to do with the ecology. There are naturally a lot of fish in this small lake of Ancient Tree Village.]

[That's right. Water bodies around cities have a low fish population, so naturally, it takes much longer to fish.]

[Putting it that way, I want to go to Ancient Tree Village even more. Just pure fishing would be fine too!]