The Supporting Male Characters Who Died Alone All Those Years Later

Once onshore, they began weighing the fish. They had caught a total of 49 fish, weighing 165 pounds. At a price of 9.09 yuan per pound, their catch was impressive.

The production team made some transitional comments as the group packed up to return to the villa. They stopped by other guest teams and observed for a while.

“Did you finish so early?” The muddy little celebrity asked enviously, his shoulders slumped and his eyes looking particularly pitiful.

Fang Nanxing responded with a smile, “Hehe, Brother Dongchen is a fishing expert, and I’m just enjoying the benefits~”

Nearby, Bei Er, who overheard, felt envious. She wished for a partner who was as skilled at fishing as Dongchen! Jiang Wei had chosen a good pond but was only average at fishing and kept a close eye on her work!

She lamented that she hadn’t drawn He Dongchen during the lottery.

Feeling weary, Bei Er sighed.

***

Back at the villa, everyone chatted and laughed. They each went to their rooms to freshen up and then prepared for the final segment of the shoot; a fish feast. Each of the four teams had to contribute two fish dishes, preparing everything themselves, including killing the fish.

While the other guests were still working, He Dongchen and Fang Nanxing decided to prepare their ingredients first. He would handle the fish, and she would prepare the side dishes, with each of them making one dish.

He Dongchen decided to make a tomato fish dish. He deboned the fish and sliced it into thin, translucent pieces that let the light through.

Seeing this, Fang Nanxing exclaimed, “Brother Dongchen, your knife skills are amazing!”

He Dongchen put down the knife, turned his head to look at her, and said, “Fang Nanxing, line one: Brother Dongchen is amazing. Line two: Brother Dongchen is great at fishing. Line three: Brother Dongchen’s knife skills are superb.”

He leaned in slightly, approaching her, “So, tell me, did the production team give you a script to praise me?”

Fang Nanxing leaned back slightly, blinking as she replied, “Did you figure it out? Brother Dongchen is great!”

The surrounding staff burst into laughter.

“Make sure to put ‘Brother Dongchen is amazing’ on the screen.”

After the laughter subsided, the atmosphere became more relaxed and casual. Fang Nanxing secretly popped a piece of tomato into her mouth, wincing from the sourness.

The manager watching from behind couldn’t help but cover her face, thinking; Oh no, another odd expression for the expression stickers.

Fang Nanxing noticed the manager’s reaction and understood. She hesitated for a moment, then decisively handed the tomato to He Dongchen, with a mischievous smile saying, “Brother Dongchen, try this. The tomato is very sweet.”

He Dongchen saw the cunning glint in her eyes, raised an eyebrow slightly, took a small bite from the cutting board, and nodded seriously, “It’s really very sweet.”

Fang Nanxing was taken aback. Seeing that He Dongchen didn’t even flinch, she looked at the tomato on the cutting board in disbelief. How could this be?

Just then, she saw the little celebrity, now refreshed, coming downstairs and waving at her. “Try the tomato~”

They had previously worked together on a drama where they played siblings, so there was no need for awkwardness.

The young celebrity, starving after a long day, eagerly approached, finding the pieces on the cutting board too small. He picked a whole tomato from the nearby basket, washed it casually, took a bite, and beamed, “So sweet! It’s nice to know Sister Nanxing is thinking of me.”

Fang Nanxing: “…”

Speechless.

He Dongchen, glancing at this scene, found it amusing. He licked his teeth; the tomato was indeed sour.

***

The other two teams returned one after the other, finishing up and beginning to film the segment where they weighed the fish.

For Team Dongnan, the pond rental was 1,500 yuan, and they caught 49 fish totaling 165 pounds, making the price per pound 9.09 yuan.

The team with the little celebrity had a pond rental of 300 yuan, catching 7 fish totaling 22 pounds, with a price per pound of 13.63 yuan.

Bei Er’s team had a pond rental of 2,300 yuan, catching 52 fish totaling 200 pounds, making the price per pound 11.5 yuan.

The last team had a pond rental of 800 yuan, catching 22 fish totaling 45 pounds, resulting in a price per pound of 17.77 yuan.

The last team had only small fish weighing over 2 pounds each, resulting in a significant loss. Their choice of pond hadn’t been very good.

The group gathered around several large fish barrels, chatting away.

The team with the lowest price per pound won, so He Dongchen and Fang Nanxing emerged victorious for this round!

Everyone applauded and gave another round of praise to the sponsor. The scene then shifted to the next segment of filming. As for the fish they had worked so hard to catch, there were too many to eat, and many were still small. The production team ended up returning some of the fish and compensated the fishermen for the losses.

The camera shifted indoors, where He Dongchen took over the unfinished fish and asked Fang Nanxing what dish she planned to make so he could cut accordingly.

“I’m preparing a fish ball soup, so could you please remove the bones for me, Brother Dongchen? I’ll take it to the machine to grind,” Fang Nanxing said.

He Dongchen nodded, deftly deboning and removing the bones, and placed the clean fish pieces into a separate bowl.

Busy and bustling, 2 hours passed with various unexpected events occurring. By the time all four teams finished their dishes, it was already 10 at night, with stars dotting the sky.

The dishes made by He Dongchen had long since cooled, so he reheated them.

The dining area was set up in the small garden in front of the villa. The night breeze was cool, and the sound of insects was continuous. If only there were fewer mosquitoes, it would have been perfect.

Everyone had woken up around 5 in the morning and had been busy all day, feeling exhausted both physically and mentally. Now, sitting at the table, their eyelids felt heavy.

The schedule had been tight, but there was nothing to be done. The people present were either very famous or rising stars, with time being incredibly precious. For example, the young celebrity would be leaving soon to catch a flight to another city for a promotional event.

The director said a few words to warm up the scene, and the filming officially began. Everyone forced themselves to stay alert and put on smiles, except for Bei Er, who was lounging in her chair, dozing off.

The director, feeling tired, chose to ignore her. Originally, this show had been pushed onto the schedule because of Bei Er’s connections, and her lack of cooperation was evident. The director signaled the cameraman to avoid filming Bei Er’s sleepy moments to save on editing later.

He Dongchen’s tomato fish received unanimous praise, while Fang Nanxing’s fish ball soup, with its creamy white color and a few sprigs of cilantro on top, looked very appetizing.

As everyone enjoyed the food and exchanged comments, they tried to create a warm and harmonious atmosphere.

Suddenly, someone exclaimed, “Aren’t there supposed to be two dishes per team, making a total of eight dishes? I only see seven! Who slacked off?”

Everyone paused, looking at the table. Jiang Wei cleared his throat and presented a small dish of steamed fish from the corner, consisting only of the middle part of the fish; essentially a fish with its head and tail removed, simply scaled and steamed with a bit of soy sauce and cooking wine.

That seemed a bit too half-hearted, everyone thought.

The little celebrity, looking at his own carefully prepared but messy fried fish, suddenly felt a deep sense of professionalism and was moved to tears.

Jiang Wei explained, “The fish prepared by Bei Er actually tasted quite good.”

Everyone then glanced at Bei Er, who was dozing off in the corner, awkwardly complimenting her before quickly changing the subject to reminiscing about their rural childhoods.

With the meal concluded, the filming came to a temporary end. The group immediately showed signs of fatigue, exchanging a few weak goodbyes before dragging their tired bodies back to their rooms to sleep.

***

The night passed uneventfully. The next morning, the villa was much quieter, with five out of the eight guests having already left.

He Dongchen, whose schedule was relatively free, took his time. Upon going downstairs, he saw Fang Nanxing wearing a white linen dress with a braided hairstyle, holding a lace-trimmed dark green sun umbrella. Several assistants were carrying cameras and light panels, indicating that they were planning to head out.

Hearing the footsteps, everyone looked up and, seeing it was He Dongchen, Fang Nanxing spoke politely, “Brother Dongchen, I think I saw a patch of wild chrysanthemums in the village yesterday and was planning to take some pictures. Would you like to come along?”

“I’m not going.”

Everyone thought to themselves that it was probably for the best; they were working together for the first time and still hadn’t become familiar.

Fang Nanxing continued courteously, “That’s really a shame.”

“Then I’ll go.”

Everyone: “?!”

What was going on! Could it be that the reserved and scandal-free He Dongchen was interested in their artist? They exchanged glances, their imaginations running wild.

Fang Nanxing gulped nervously, gripping the handle of her umbrella tightly.

He Dongchen walked down the stairs step by step, revealing a Bluetooth earpiece in his right ear. Noticing everyone looking at him, he apologized with a smile, “Sorry, what were you talking about just now? I didn’t hear because I was on the phone.”

Everyone: “…”

They felt like fools.

“Oh, it’s nothing, haha,” Fang Nanxing said with a forced smile and motioned for the team to head out, dismissing the pleasantries.

As the group gathered their things and prepared to leave, a loud yawn came from upstairs. Then, Bei Er, dressed in loose clothing and looking half-asleep, descended the stairs with a dreamy gait, looking as though she might fall at any moment.

Fang Nanxing muttered, “Why does she still look like she hasn’t woken up?”

“Who knows? Don’t get involved,” Fang Nanxing’s manager replied quietly. Bei Er had a bad reputation before, known for stirring up trouble with male celebrities and criticizing female ones. Even though she seemed well-behaved this time, who knew if she was plotting something?

Once outside, Fang Nanxing suddenly noticed someone walking beside her. Turning her head, she saw He Dongchen strolling casually with his hands in his pockets.

“Why are you…?” Fang Nanxing asked, surprised.

“Just taking a walk,” He Dongchen said. The weather was much cooler today compared to the sweltering heat yesterday. The white clouds moved swiftly across the sky, casting shadows on the ground and bringing a refreshing coolness. He Dongchen embraced the breeze, his tousled hair giving him a rugged charm.

Fang Nanxing thought about how Bei Er was the only one left in the house and figured that He Dongchen might have come out to avoid any awkwardness.

She discreetly avoided pressing further, handing a blue-and-white checkered umbrella to He Dongchen.

Though the sun was intermittent, everyone needed to protect their faces, given their public image.

He Dongchen accepted the umbrella without hesitation, resting it on his shoulder.

At the edge of the village, there was indeed a large patch of wild chrysanthemums, their golden blooms competing to open in the wind. Fang Nanxing told the others and carefully followed the existing path, holding the umbrella as she entered the flower patch, striking various poses for the pictures.

Perhaps because someone was watching, Fang Nanxing’s smile appeared a bit forced, and her poses looked somewhat unnatural, particularly the more demure and artistic ones.

The cameraman shouted, “Be more enthusiastic!”

Fang Nanxing sneaked a glance at a certain figure and carefully revealed a smile with eight teeth showing.

***

Meanwhile, after Bei Er came downstairs and sat on the sofa, she grabbed a piece of sponsor’s bread from the side and began to eat it with great enjoyment. Her manager, who had been busy handling things with the production team, returned to see this and felt her blood pressure rise.

“Weren’t you supposed to be controlling your diet? Did you take my words for nothing?”

“It’s just this one, it’s fine. This is the sponsor’s bread,” Bei Er replied dismissively while continuing to scroll through her phone, occasionally smiling to herself.

The manager was exasperated; “Given your performance this episode, there’s little to show. With a partner whose popularity is average, there probably won’t be many shots of you.”

Bei Er shrugged nonchalantly, “If there aren’t, there aren’t. As long as the money is still there.”

The manager was infuriated and threatened, “If you continue with this attitude, I might just bring in new artist instead.”

Upon hearing that, Bei Er immediately sat up straight.

The manager felt satisfied, but the next moment, Bei Er excitedly said, “Go ahead, bring in new artist quickly!”

This way, no one would be nagging in my ear. Perfect!

The manager felt a chill inside. In the past, whenever Bei Er’s behavior was unsatisfactory, she would threaten with bringing in new artists; but now Bei Er didn’t seem to care! Did she really want to remain idle forever?

The manager couldn’t understand it. After all the effort and disdain, she had endured to reach this point, how could Bei Er just give up so easily?