Chapter Eight: The Tables Are Turned-Participando de um reality show de famílias ricas, fiquei famoso na internet inteira gastando dinheiro(É oito ou nove?)

After paddling for a while, Lai Bingfu was the first to regret it when he realized the lake was still seemingly endless. He turned to the camera and began pleading with the director: "Director, can we pay extra now to switch to a yacht?"

Yang Feng’s ruthless voice came through the drone hovering above: "No."

Those two words felt like a death sentence to them. "It's over. I don't have much strength left."

Hearing the rejection, Lai Bingfu was filled with regret. It was his own arrogance; he hadn't expected the lake to be so vast. If only he had chosen the yacht from the start.

In contrast to their despair, Rong Fan, who had someone else paddling his bamboo raft, remained completely unruffled. He sat like a noble young master, enjoying the scenery with ease—until he felt moisture at his feet. Looking down, he discovered that water was already seeping through the bamboo.

"Sir, I’ll pay you extra—can you paddle a little faster?" He felt that if he stayed on this raft any longer, his socks would be soaked through, and he couldn't stand that feeling.

The old man was a bit hard of hearing and didn't catch what he said, assuming Rong Fan was worried about his companions trailing behind. "Young man, don't worry about them. If they really can't make it, someone will go to rescue them."

Seeing the man was answering off-topic, Rong Fan realized he couldn't hear clearly. He had to stand up, carefully make his way to the old man, and raise his voice: "Sir, I’m asking if you can paddle faster!"

"I can't go fast on this raft; it’ll sink if I do."

Hearing that it might sink terrified Rong Fan, who immediately scurried back to his bamboo chair and sat upright, looking like a well-behaved student.

"Jiang Ke, do you have any energy left?" Li Jiale asked listlessly. She felt her legs were about to give out. Even though they were both pedaling, because they were women, they were only slightly faster than Sheng Ya and Zheng Jin.

"Almost out," Jiang Ke replied. She had originally been trying to keep up appearances, but eventually, she was pedaling the boat with all her might, completely abandoning her image. After this trip, not only would she be sunburned, but her legs would surely get thicker. If she had known, she wouldn't have listened to Li Jiale and chosen a pedal boat; a bamboo raft or even a kayak would have been better. Now, they were in a situation where they couldn't turn back and couldn't move forward.

After a short break, everyone had to pull themselves together and keep paddling. Because Rong Fan had the old man paddling for him, he was already some distance ahead of the others. Jiang Ke had been slacking off, but if she continued, they would end up in last place. She wasn't happy about that, so she had to pedal with all her strength as well.

"Keep going, everyone! I can see the finish line!" Just then, Rong Fan stood up and shouted to the group behind him.

He had spotted the sculling boat with a flag on it. The flag was waving, and they were almost there. Hearing Rong Fan’s words, a spark of hope ignited in everyone, and they found a sudden burst of determination. They paddled quickly to catch up to Rong Fan, but once they looked ahead, they realized the blurry flag was still at least half an hour away. Their hearts sank instantly.

For Rong Fan, it was hope, but for the others, it was nothing of the sort.

"That's you, not us!" Lai Bingfu couldn't help but retort. He felt that Rong Fan was speaking from a position of comfort; he had spent the whole time sitting on the bamboo raft like a lord, without lifting a finger.

Seeing they didn't appreciate his input, Rong Fan ignored them and kept his eyes fixed on the path ahead.

Having eaten and drank his fill, Jiang Xian poked her head out of the window. The sunlight hit her fair face, making it glow so brightly she looked like a luminous fairy. She enjoyed the warmth of the sun, with nothing but the soft sound of the lake water in her ears. Compared to the other female guests who were exhausted and struggling, Jiang Xian’s appearance made it hard not to feel she was a cut above the rest.

[What should I do? I think I’m starting to like Jiang Xian’s look.]
[At this moment, I don't seem to hate her as much!]
[Where does the hatred even come from? I don’t follow celebrities or the entertainment industry much. I just heard about this reality show for the wealthy and tuned in. What I saw was Jiang Xian spending one yuan for a yacht, and that money goes to charity in the mountains. She’s doing a good deed—it’s ridiculous that she gets bashed for it.]
[Maybe that’s just one of her schemes? You’re clearly being bought off by her, thinking she’s doing good.]
[People with dirty minds see everything as dirty. I’m a fan of Jiang Xian, so what?]

"Assistant Director Yang, should we call the director? It seems the guests can’t complete the mission," a staff member said, noting the guests' exhaustion and fearing dehydration as noon approached.

Yang Feng had the same thought, so he called the director and explained the situation.

"What? Only Jiang Xian chose the yacht?" Liu Shenghai’s voice was filled with shock. The sculling boats, pedal boats, and kayaks he’d prepared were just meant to be extra options. He thought that since they were all wealthy, they would at least choose between the bamboo raft and the yacht. How could it be that only Jiang Xian chose the yacht?

If the intern hadn't messed up and Jiang Xian had gone to participate in *Ultimate Escape* instead, there wouldn't have been a single person choosing the yacht. If things went on like this, the show’s content wouldn't match its title at all. The richer people were, the stingier they were—they were even worse than Jiang Xian!

Yang Feng could hear the frustration; Liu Shenghai clearly hadn't expected most guests to choose the kayaks and pedal boats. "Yes, only Jiang Xian chose the yacht, and Rong Fan chose the bamboo raft. Everyone else is either in a kayak or a pedal boat. Aside from Rong Fan, the others are about to collapse. Should we take some measures?"

Liu Shenghai looked at the screens before him, which showed the guests of *Ultimate Escape*. In truth, he wasn't sure which show would be more popular, but because the other show involved life-or-death scenarios, he was stationed there, leaving the *Extravagantly Wealthy* show to his assistant, Yang Feng. The *Ultimate Escape* livestream only had a few thousand viewers, never breaking ten thousand. The guests there were too concerned with money and their own safety to care about popularity; they just huddled together and hid, providing no entertainment value. Meanwhile, the *Extravagantly Wealthy* livestream had already reached over 500,000 viewers. But with the guests exhausted and listless, the viewers were getting bored.

Liu Shenghai pondered for a moment. "Tell them they can pay extra to switch to other transportation."

"Understood."

Hanging up, Yang Feng picked up his headset: "Everyone, if you really can't keep going, you can pay the difference to switch to another vehicle."

Yang Feng’s voice was like music to their ears. Upon hearing this, everyone shed their listless state and became full of energy.

"I want to switch to the yacht!"
"Me too, I want the yacht!"

As everyone clamored to switch to the yacht, Yang Feng used a drone to deliver the payment QR code to them, scanning them one by one. Their actions instantly drew mockery from the viewers in the livestream.