After Transmigrating as a Scumbag Alpha, I Ended Up with the Movie Queen - Chapter 22

Gu Nan held a large winter melon in her left hand and a large pumpkin in her right, carefully walking downstairs.

Lu Xuehai followed behind her, holding some potatoes and carrots.

After the previous experience of a whole group going upstairs and making the staircase sway, this time, the six of them went down in groups of two, afraid they might really step hard enough to collapse the stairs.

Gu Nan and Lu Xuehai, who were holding the ingredients, went first.

As Gu Nan walked, she arranged tonight’s menu. “With these ingredients, we can stir-fry winter melon, stir-fry shredded carrots and potatoes, make winter melon soup, and use pumpkin pancakes as the staple food. What do you all think?”

“That works. That arrangement is amazing. You’re our team’s head chef.”

“We originally thought we’d just make do with whatever, but this is too sumptuous.”

Tang Ling and Peng Yushu deliberately spoke loudly, as if afraid the production team would not hear.

The production team did not stop them either, letting the guests freely imagine their upcoming dinner.

In any case, once they arrived, they would learn how cruel the world was.

The chief director smiled faintly, fully displaying his “grace.”

On the way to the kitchen, they even specially went to look at the bathroom they would have to use often later.

The result was that the guests, who had never lived in the countryside before, turned even darker in expression.

“Let’s hang one hurricane lamp here,” Gu Nan said. “Otherwise, at night, if someone needs to come…”

Gu Nan’s unfinished words were full of room for everyone’s imagination, and because of their own imaginations, everyone’s expressions grew even darker.

Shen Zhibei had already lit the hurricane lamp Bai Rui silently handed over, then hung the one in her own hand on the small hook on the doorframe.

“Let’s go. Since this place is like this, the kitchen probably won’t be much better. Let’s hurry over and figure out how to use those kitchen tools.” Peng Yushu called for everyone to leave quickly.

When they arrived at the simple kitchen, Shen Zhibei lit another hurricane lamp so there would be enough light while they cooked.

Under the illumination of the two hurricane lamps, everything in the kitchen clearly appeared before everyone’s eyes.

The cameramen lying in ambush were crouched in the corner, recording their every move.

A firewood stove made of brick and earth stood there quietly, waiting for everyone’s favor. Beside the firewood stove stood a chopping board, and on the wall hung commonly used kitchen knives, spatulas, and so on.

There was also a wooden cabinet standing off to the side, though no one knew whether it would bring them any surprises.

Next to the cabinet, there was a lidded water vat and a large wooden bucket.

Along the wall, there was also a full pile of firewood, sparing them the embarrassment of having to go out and chop firewood at night.

And judging from the surface, the entire kitchen, like the small building, had no electrical appliances whatsoever.

“I can cook, but I don’t know how to start a fire. I need to study it a bit.” Gu Nan scratched her head while looking at the pile of dry firewood stacked to one side.

Shen Zhibei immediately checked what was inside the cabinet.

She discovered that apart from bowls, chopsticks, plates, and basins, there was nothing else in the cabinet. And the way the whole cabinet was empty was simply outrageous.

When she reached out and touched it, she could still feel it. Some areas had a thick layer of grease, while places that should previously have been covered by seasoning boxes, rice bags, or flour bags had no grease.

“There’s no rice, no flour, and not even seasoning. They were probably all just taken away by the production team.”

Everyone’s tiny bit of hope was completely shattered.

Just as the six of them rolled up their sleeves and prepared to find the director team and fight them to the death—

The chief director who had followed them over smiled once again and said, “So, does everyone want to play a little game? A small game where you can obtain seasonings and staple-food ingredients.”

[To make the guests play the game, the chief director really took great pains. Didn’t you say you wouldn’t eat meat? Then I’ll take away all the seasonings too. Let’s see whether you play the game or not, hahahaha.]

[This season’s guests are too miserable. I remember the first two seasons really were relaxing countryside life. Why did this season turn into a transformation reality show?]

[These guests were probably tricked here by the first two seasons.]

[Seeing their expressions, I’m really laughing so hard my stomach hurts.]

[I suddenly discovered a problem. From what Gu Nan said, among this season’s guests, the one cooking is Gu Nan?]

[Can that food still be eaten?]

“We’re not playing. Absolutely not!” Peng Yushu waved his hand and said firmly, “Tonight, we’re dieting too!”

Shen Zhibei and Lu Xuehai, who were already dieting, agreed unconditionally.

Bai Rui did not care whether she ate or not, but since Peng Yushu had already said it, and someone else had also expressed agreement, she followed along and said she agreed too.

Gu Nan and Tang Ling did want to eat some staple food, because they felt that without staple food, they would easily get hungry, and hunger was a very uncomfortable feeling.

But at a time like this, they still had to stand on the same front as their own people, so they also said they would not play the game.

Moreover, they silently thought: The chief director couldn’t possibly really let them go hungry, right? If they all refused to play the game, it should still be fine… right?

With this uncertainty, the chief director stepped back and went to look at the phone of the staff member monitoring the show’s livestream room. He prepared to see how the real-time bullet comments were reacting before making adjustments.

[The director is dumbfounded too, hahahaha.]

[Amazing. They’d rather not eat than play the game, making the production team’s tricks completely useless.]

[As long as I lie flat enough, the production team can’t drag me into their schemes, hahaha.]

[If they don’t want to do anything, why come record a show? You still like watching this?]

[I like watching it, I like watching it. It’s so anti-routine. If you don’t like watching, no one is forcing you to stay here.]

Seeing the chief director fall silent, Peng Yushu asked the team’s “head chef,” “Gu Nan, is there anything we can eat directly without adding seasoning?”

Gu Nan looked around at the ingredients on the ground. “How about we steam pumpkin? Once pumpkin is steamed, it can be eaten directly, and it can also count as a staple food.”

“That’s good.”

“Then does anyone know how to start a fire?”

The moment Gu Nan asked this, the surroundings instantly fell silent.

Seeing that no one answered, she could only continue talking to herself. “All right, if no one knows, I’ll study how to start a fire myself. Originally, I wanted to make several dishes, but now it’s become steamed pumpkin. One pumpkin won’t be enough for the six of us. Who’ll go bring some more?”

“I’ll go,” Bai Rui said.

She felt that her position in this team was unclear, so she wanted to do more things.

“Then I’ll go help everyone move the luggage to the second floor first,” Lu Xuehai also said.

“Brother Lu, I’ll go with you to move the luggage.” Tang Ling felt that he still had enough strength and could carry suitcases with Lu Xuehai.

“Perfect. I’ll go help Bai Rui get pumpkins.” Peng Yushu first stated his own task seriously, then smiled ambiguously and said, “Zhibei, you and Gu Nan can stay in the kitchen and study how to start the fire and cook. Remember, the soundproofing here isn’t very good.”

Shen Zhibei did not understand. “Teacher Peng, what are you talking about?”

Peng Yushu had sharp eyes, and he was also an Omega, so he noticed the pheromone-suppressing patch on Shen Zhibei’s nape gland and knew she was probably close to her heat period recently.

On top of that, her Alpha was right beside her, and they seemed to have a good relationship, so he teased them a little.

But seeing Shen Zhibei’s confused expression, he changed the topic.

“I saw you and Gu Nan holding hands the whole way. At a time like this, when the two of you are alone in the kitchen, if you want to whisper something to each other, remember that it isn’t soundproof here, and there are still so many people around.”

This time, Shen Zhibei’s face really turned red. Then she fiercely pinched the waist of the culprit, Gu Nan.

Gu Nan was caught off guard and was pinched squarely. She let out an “Ow~” in pain.

She turned and looked at Shen Zhibei in disbelief. Although she did not say anything because of the cameras, her eyes clearly revealed: “Why did you pinch me?”

“Don’t you know yourself?” Shen Zhibei gave Gu Nan a look in return.

Seeing the silent exchange between the two, Peng Yushu did not say anything more. Wearing an expression of having gotten his CP treat, he went to meet up with Bai Rui and prepare to return to the small building to move pumpkins.

The chief director also took a group of cameras and followed Peng Yushu, because she felt Peng Yushu was the most likely to stir things up, so she had to follow the whole way to prevent it.

[Don’t ask. If you ask, it’s your fault. (doge)]

[Miserable. Too miserable. Their family status is clear at a glance.]

[Sister is so beautiful, especially when her face is lightly flushed. Such a beautiful sister—how did Gu Nan, that scumbag Alpha, get her?]

[The two of them are openly flirting with their eyes!]

[Teacher Peng’s expression of having gotten a CP treat—isn’t that me?]

[I hereby declare Teacher Peng the on-site CP-shipping expert.]

[I’m obsessed with Nanbei CP! I’m crazy for Nanbei CP! I’ll bang my head against the wall for Nanbei CP!]

The other four people left, leaving only Gu Nan and Shen Zhibei in the kitchen.

The dim lighting fell on Shen Zhibei’s still faintly flushed face.

It finally made Gu Nan understand the meaning of the saying: looking at a beauty under lamplight and moonlight is ten times more intoxicating than in broad daylight.

Rubbing the soft flesh of her waist that had been painfully pinched, Gu Nan was dazzled by Shen Zhibei’s beauty at this moment and decided that since she was beautiful, she was in the right. She would no longer dwell on why she had been pinched.

“Let’s start the fire. I’ll first look up how to make one.” Gu Nan took out her phone and began searching. “The phone signal here is really bad.”

“Prepare flammable materials or kindling and light them, then use thin firewood to catch the flame, fan it strongly to make the fire rise, then add larger pieces of wood.” Gu Nan memorized these steps, then turned off her phone and put it away.

Seeing Shen Zhibei looking at her action of turning off the phone, she explained, “My phone’s almost out of battery. I need to save it.”

“Oh, right. How are our phones supposed to charge? Power banks probably won’t last three days either.” Shen Zhibei looked toward the production staff.

The staff stayed silent the entire time. None of them answered Shen Zhibei’s question. Only one staff member took out a phone and fiddled with it for a while.

“So we really have no way to charge our phones?” After Shen Zhibei said this, she immediately noticed the staff member who was clearly sending someone a message. “Did you message the chief director and get a reply? What did she say?”

The staff member looked at the phone and read mechanically, “We are also trying our best to create an environment without electronic devices for the guests, so the guests can properly enjoy the countryside scenery.”

Gu Nan had already found some old newspapers in the corner, taken down the palm-leaf fan hanging on the wall, and chosen some thin branches before returning to the stove.

Hearing the staff say this, she casually said, “Are you sure we can enjoy the countryside scenery? So far, it seems we only admired it for a little while when we entered the village. Then we’ve been stuck in physical challenges and small-building exploration the whole time. You’ve turned a countryside slow variety show into a survival program.”

“There’s still a big difference between us and survival programs.”

“For example?” Shen Zhibei asked.

“We have a house to live in, beds, and even brand-new bedding.”

“But what we’re filming isn’t a survival program. It’s a countryside slow variety show.” Shen Zhibei was shocked by the production team’s shamelessness and emphasized the words “countryside slow variety show.”

“We are indeed filming in the countryside, and the pace is also very slow.”

Not only did Shen Zhibei look at this staff member’s face speechlessly, even Gu Nan could not help stopping her fire-starting work to look at who exactly in the production team was so impressive.

They could actually say something so inconsistent with reality in such a righteous tone!

[This staff member is really strong. They talked Gu Nan and Shen Zhibei into speechlessness.]

[Is this what happens when you tell too many lies and finally even you believe them?]

[No, I think this is what it means to be invincible once you’re shameless.]

This topic really could not continue. Shen Zhibei directly turned to watch Gu Nan start the fire.

At this point, Gu Nan had already reached the step of using thin firewood to ignite the flame.

Shen Zhibei also wanted to do something, so she took the palm-leaf fan Gu Nan had placed to the side. Once the thin firewood lit up, she began fanning.

After fanning hard a few times, all the ash inside was blown out, directly covering both of their faces.

“Cough, cough, cough—pfft.”

The two of them immediately became somewhat dusty and soot-covered. Looking back into the stove chamber, the firelight flickered uncertainly, as if it was about to go out.

“Hurry, hurry, hurry! Fan it some more.”

Shen Zhibei could no longer care what her current image was and hurriedly began fanning hard again.

With another fan, even more smoke was stirred up, choking them until they could not open their eyes.

Gu Nan added more leaves and newspapers inside, finally saving that tiny little flame.

Looking at Shen Zhibei’s current image, she immediately found it somewhat unbearable to look at. She felt that if she allowed Shen Zhibei’s image to collapse like this any further, Shen Zhibei’s fans would pool their money to assassinate her.

What she did not know was that even if she had not caused Shen Zhibei’s image to collapse, Shen Zhibei’s fans still wanted to assassinate her.

Gu Nan quickly snatched the palm-leaf fan from Shen Zhibei and began fanning herself.

In order to keep Shen Zhibei from having nothing to do and seeming like she was slacking off, Gu Nan specially said to Shen Zhibei, who was watching the stove and did not know what to do after having the fan taken away, “Help me move some wood over.”

“All right.”

Soon, several large pieces of wood were moved over.

Gu Nan picked two medium-thick pieces and threw them into the stove chamber. Feeling that they were burning fairly well, she watched as the two pieces of wood slowly caught fire before adding the remaining thicker pieces one by one.

The fire was finally started.

When the fire on Gu Nan’s side was developing promisingly, Shen Zhibei had already used a gourd ladle to scoop water from the water vat and add it to the large iron pot. After that, she found a large steamer grate and placed it over the iron pot.

Now all that was left was waiting for the water to boil, then placing the pumpkin on top to steam.

“You’re really amazing,” Gu Nan said. She also went to take the gourd ladle, then walked to the back door and called Shen Zhibei over. “Come here.”

“What for? You’re not going to make me drink water directly like that, are you?” Shen Zhibei asked warily, but her body had already moved toward Gu Nan.

Gu Nan’s head was full of question marks. She did not understand how Shen Zhibei could come up with such an outrageous idea.

“Do you have some misunderstanding about my thoughts? I wanted to pour water for you so you can wash your face.”

“Face?”

Shen Zhibei hurriedly touched her own face, and sure enough, her hand came away covered in black ash.

She immediately walked quickly to Gu Nan’s side, held out her hands to catch the water, and politely thanked her. “Thank you.”

“Now you know my thoughts are normal, and that I’m a very reliable person, right?”

Gu Nan slowly poured water, letting Shen Zhibei catch a handful and wash once before pouring the next handful.

“Who praises themselves like that?” Shen Zhibei laughed despite herself. “But your performance tonight really has been very reliable.”

Gu Nan immediately became happy. “Then since I’ve performed so reliably tonight, does that mean you won’t hold a grudge over what I did while we were climbing the slope earlier?”

Shen Zhibei, who had really already forgotten about that matter, once again had the memories and feelings of that scene that had destroyed her image surge into her mind.

[Sister’s expression changed, hahaha.]

[Another classic scene that can be watched repeatedly, hahahaha. Who still remembers what Shen Zhibei’s original image was? (doge)]

[I feel like Shen Zhibei had already forgotten, but after Gu Nan reminded her, she remembered again.]

[The memory buried deep in her heart has been awakened again. I’m going to look at Sister’s “I want to kill someone” reaction image again.]

[So many classic scenes that can be watched over and over. Thank you, Gu Nan, for your heartfelt performance regardless of the danger to your life. Lighting cigarette.]

Gu Nan watched helplessly as Shen Zhibei’s face, still dotted with water droplets, perfectly displayed the entire process from smiling to losing her smile.

“I—I was just asking. Zhibei, you should continue forgetting that boring old matter.” Gu Nan quickly blinked at her and smiled brightly.

Shen Zhibei shook the water droplets from her hands and glanced sideways at Gu Nan. “I had originally forgotten, but your words forced me to remember again.”

Gu Nan’s face turned bitter. Wasn’t this just asking for suffering?

But at that moment, her brain turned, and an idea popped up.

Gu Nan reached out to cover her own mic and leaned toward Shen Zhibei’s ear. “How about this? If you forget this matter, we’ll make a two-bag deal. What do you think? Two bags!”

After saying that, as if afraid Shen Zhibei would not believe her, she even held up two fingers to gesture.

Shen Zhibei was both embarrassed and annoyed. She raised her eyes and glared at Gu Nan, telling her not to keep talking.

But then she heard Gu Nan continuing to ask, “How about it? How about it?”

Finally unable to endure it, Shen Zhibei grabbed Gu Nan’s ear, pulled it to her lips, and gritted her teeth as she said, “Hurry and shut up. You covered your mic, but my mic can still pick up your voice!”

“Ah!” Gu Nan turned pale with shock. She had actually forgotten that.

“What are you two doing?”

Just then, Peng Yushu and Bai Rui returned with pumpkins.

The moment they entered the kitchen, they saw the two of them in an extremely ambiguous posture and immediately asked.

Gu Nan and Shen Zhibei were startled at the same time. One hurriedly let go and raised her head, while the other straightened her body.

In the midst of their hurried movements, Shen Zhibei accidentally brushed Gu Nan’s ear with her lips.

As if they had been electrocuted, the two immediately sprang apart.