Chapter 18

Shen Jinfeng vaguely heard Qin Ye calling the others to go beachcombing, but he only spared a few glances before turning his attention back to his work.

He Erwang was boisterous, Gu Shengsheng was as weak as a chicken, and Qi Xiu was a master of flattery. Mo Fan, whom Qin Ye had left for him, was indeed the type to work silently without complaint and with high efficiency. However, he only let Mo Fan assist him by placing the wood in fixed positions; he handled all the delicate work and technical construction himself.

This busyness lasted from the scorching midday sun until the setting sun dipped below the horizon. For several hours straight, he barely stopped. The viewers in the livestream watched as a wooden house rose from the ground. To be honest, this house wasn't exactly exquisite, and its shape was even a bit peculiar. But the fact that two people—or strictly speaking, only one person doing the real work—could build a house from scratch using gathered wood in a single afternoon stunned the inexperienced netizens.

"Is Shen Jinfeng a carpenter by trade before his debut? He must have been a carpenter!"
"Pfft, don't be ridiculous. Earlier, someone said he must have been a phone repairman before his debut! Why don't you two fight it out?"
"Yesterday, people were saying he was the 'God of Fish' or the heir to an ancient martial arts family—the prestige was so high, but today he's suddenly so grounded."
"By the way, is he using the legendary mortise and tenon structure? He didn't use a single nail the whole time! (Amazing!) (Star-struck eyes)"
"Flying eaves, brackets, and bird-shaped supports—why does it look so much like the illustrations in the high school history elective textbook on cultural heritage? This is amazing! Aside from the lack of intricate carvings, it's identical! No, it's even more vivid and realistic than the pictures."
"It's incredible. You can't see any trace of modernity; it's antique, just a bit plain. If he carved patterns onto those pillars and brackets, it would be a museum-grade heirloom!"
"And Shen Jinfeng is really something. He didn't stop for a second in several hours, and even though he was soaked with sweat, he didn't complain once. Honestly, based on his performance now, I don't believe he would be a diva on set, refusing to use a harness or losing patience over a few retakes."
"Exactly. Before, the internet was flooded with hate. Shen Jinfeng has a good persona on the show, but this show has been running for several seasons. I can only say a leopard can't change its spots. If he were truly a bad person, could he do all this? Maybe he just offended someone powerful before?"
"Well, let's keep watching. It's only been a few days, right? If Shen Jinfeng is innocent, I believe that with the long-tail effect of the 'What Kind of Person Are You' show, netizens will eventually clear his name!"
"Let's focus on the show for now... I'm speechless. Is there anything he can't do? Are these personas really assigned by the production team? Or is Shen Jinfeng actually a genius who learns everything effortlessly and can embody any persona given to him?"
"I really want to ask the production team: what other skills does Shen Jinfeng have? Can you give us a mental heads-up?"

Sun Xinping watched the barrage of comments, the corner of his mouth twitching. He also wanted to know what went wrong with the personas the equipment team had assigned to Shen Jinfeng. Is this even an assigned persona? You might as well just call it creating a "genuine" big shot from a template.

"Director, what level of storm should we set for tonight? Looking at how simple that wooden house is, would an orange alert be too harsh?" the head of the equipment team asked, feeling a bit of pity. An orange rainstorm alert meant rainfall would exceed 50 millimeters within three hours. In some mountainous or rural areas, this was the level where one needed to guard against flash floods, landslides, and mudslides. The guests were huddled in that small wooden shack; what if it wasn't sturdy enough and just fell apart?

Sun Xinping looked at him with an expressionless face. "Goat, let me ask you, what is the original intention of our show?"
The equipment team leader looked confused. "What?"
"Isn't it to uncover the true faces of the guests and explore human nature?"
Sun Xinping choked for a moment, then said with righteous indignation, "How can you see human nature without going through risks, sharing hardships, or walking through the brink of life and death?"

Xiao Li, standing to the side, secretly curled his lips. *Give me a break.* That sounded high-minded, but in reality, he just couldn't stand seeing the guests live comfortably. However, Sun Xinping felt he was being merciful; it was just a rainstorm, not a typhoon.

The equipment team leader felt something was wrong, but it also seemed to make sense. His technical brain couldn't handle too many twists and turns. "Alright, I'll calibrate it after six o'clock."

On the other side, the four-person group led by Qin Ye to go beachcombing also shocked the audience. Qin Ye casually circled an area not far from where Shen Jinfeng had caught fish earlier and began digging into the sand with a military knife. He squatted down to explain to the others: "Finding mud snails is the simplest. Just look for these fish-scale-like sand pits. On the surface of the wet sand pits, step on the hard parts, and dig in the areas with water—you'll see them." As he spoke, he flipped the sand with his knife. Luck was on his side; one dig revealed over a dozen mud snails. Gu Shengsheng and Qi Xiu hurriedly squatted down to help pick them up.

"Damn, they look so plump!"
"I want to eat mud snails now!"

He Erwang's eyes lit up. "Doesn't look hard." He tried to copy Qin Ye's method in a random spot, but his start was unsuccessful. It wasn't until he angrily dug in five different places that he found a small hole in the mud. He reached in and actually pulled out a large clam. Dramatically, after he pulled out the clam, he looked up and saw that the beach in front of him was densely packed with large clams!

He Erwang muttered with a confused expression, "Is this beachcombing? It's so easy!"
Viewers with beachcombing experience watching the stream were so frustrated they felt a heart attack coming on.
"Easy? He Erwang actually said beachcombing is easy! Fine, I guess it is easy mode for him (jealousy makes me look distorted)."
"Such a large patch of clams, all in one place? Did they come here collectively to repay a debt (or die)?"
"Good luck is good luck, but I won't allow you to say beachcombing is easy! This makes me, who has been beachcombing three times this year and hasn't even gathered enough seafood for half a plate, lose face!"
"Damn, even though I'm a fan, I have to say, He Erwang, your tone is so punchable!!!"

However, those watching multiple camera angles noticed that He Erwang wasn't even the most outrageous one. After Qi Xiu finished helping Qin Ye pick up the mud snails, he started acting on his own. He didn't pay any attention to the techniques Qin Ye had taught. The handsome young man on the screen, wearing a modern t-shirt and shorts, looked like a model student. This "model student" walked alone to an empty space and, in a very un-scientific and superstitious manner, formed a hand gesture.

Luckily, *What Kind of Person Are You* created a virtual world, so there was no need to worry about audio issues like a normal broadcast. Qi Xiu's mutterings were heard clearly by everyone: "Let me cast a divination first."

"That sentence suddenly left me silent."
"Bro, you know that spirits aren't allowed to transform after the founding of the country, right?"
"I went to a temple a few days ago, and right next to the fortune-telling stall was a sign: 'Please believe in science.' It's the same thing. Qi Xiu is divining again—let's all type 'Believe in Science' in the chat!!! (But I still got my fortune told a few days ago, so Qi Xiu, keep divining, I'll keep listening.)"
"Hahahaha, the results aren't out yet, so it doesn't count as promoting feudal superstition."

Qi Xiu moved his hands strangely and then walked about fifty meters to the right. He crouched down. A lively, big crab leaped out of the sand, as if saying, "Come catch me!"

"!!! No, wait, brother, are you for real?"
"Is the production team crazy to cooperate with this? Aren't they afraid the livestream will be banned?"
"Damn, this is scary. I have goosebumps. The production team better explain if this is just a show effect!"

Qi Xiu picked up the crab and put it into the leaf basket he was carrying. He even kindly scooped some water into it. The leaf basket had been distributed by Shen Jinfeng earlier that morning. He moved his fingers again, walked a few meters, crouched down, and picked up another big crab.

Sun Xinping, also watching the stream, felt a chill run up his spine. *What the hell?* He turned his head slowly to look at the equipment team leader and swallowed hard. "You didn't arrange this, did you?"
The equipment team leader shook his head, looking equally terrified. "Director, let me explain, this isn't a gimmick set up by our production team."
"Wait!" Sun Xinping stopped him immediately. "Don't explain, and don't respond. Let the netizens think what they want." If they really explained and denied it, the production team might clear their name, but wouldn't Qi Xiu then be truly labeled a practitioner of feudal superstition?

Fortunately, not everyone was that outrageous. Qin Ye, as the organizer of the beachcombing, clearly had some real skills. He didn't seem to struggle at all; a few steps here, a casual dig there, and he almost never came up empty. Mud snails, crabs, swimming crabs, razor clams, mantis shrimp... almost anything you could think of, he found. His air of confidence, ease, and precision was incredibly impressive.

"Even though 'God Ye' is so handsome I'm dizzy, I really, officially suspect that the production team is letting them win too much!"
"Same, dizzy and confused—is beachcombing really this easy?"
"Too much! This seafood lover is drooling!"

Qin Ye was now teaching Gu Shengsheng how to find sea urchins. "Look for reefs near where the sea hits; search the crevices. Sea urchins usually have half their body attached to the mud, with their sharp needles exposed. It's easy to tell." As he spoke, he pulled several sea urchins of considerable size from the crevices.

"Damn, Qin Ye isn't a CEO anymore, and earning money is still this easy?"
"I guarantee each of these sea urchins would sell for over a hundred yuan at a restaurant! That's five hundred yuan right there! And it's only been a little while!"

Gu Shengsheng nodded earnestly, but after finishing Qin Ye's lesson, he truly illustrated what beachcombing is like for a regular person. In stark contrast to everyone else's bountiful harvest, after more than three hours of busyness, Gu Shengsheng had become a mud person, his pretty face smeared with dirt. His final result: a sparse dozen mud snails and one tiny swimming crab, barely enough to be a snack. His dark, bright eyes looked through the layers of mud, appearing extremely confused, wronged, and utterly crushed.

"Does this beach have a grudge against me?"