Chapter 25: 25 Fried Grasshoppers

25 Fried Grasshoppers

After Bai Yu had taken the seat at the back of the bus and sat down, the male director from earlier also got on the bus and plopped down in the seat next to him.

Bai Yu glanced at the camera, saw it was off, and asked the male director, "Director Liao, I don't see any segment for drawing a hidden card in the script either."

Director Liao laughed and explained, "Seeing the comments shipping you two, I added it temporarily for the show's effect, you know."

Bai Yu frowned, a bit angry, "Why wasn't I notified about this temporary addition?"

Director Liao patted his shoulder, "Teacher Bai, don't be angry; not telling you was meant to capture your genuine surprise, adding mystery to the teammate swap."

Since it's come to this, and Director Liao has said as much, Bai Yu has nothing more to say.

There's no need to make things unpleasant with him in the final episode.

After all, Liao Wu is also a very famous variety show director in the entertainment industry, and we'll still have to work together in the future.

When the production team arrived at the final filming location, the sun had just set.

The venue and game props had already been set up, the equipment was ready, and they were just waiting for the guests to arrive and prepare to go on air.

The group got off the bus and then began chatting, pretending to be enthusiastic.

The camera followed the group all the way to the designated spot, and the final game began.

The final game consists of three parts.

When the guests saw the first game rule, they let out a chorus of wails.

"Because the first game rule turned out to be 'eat bugs' again!"

"No way, again this?"

"I guessed it long ago; Director Liao's favorite pastime is making guests eat bugs, then filming our pained expressions to add laughs."

"This is literally building laughs on our pain—what kind of bug is it this time?"

"When the staff brought it over just now, one fell, and I saw it—looks like fried grasshoppers."

"Holy cow, I'm terrified of that thing!"

Of course, this bug isn't a live bug; it's fried grasshoppers.

At this point, Director Liao didn't care about their resistance, hurriedly had the cameraman capture the footage, and began loudly announcing the rules.

"Team members must blindfold themselves, one feeds, the other eats; within the set time, the team that eats the most wins. Note: anything that falls on the ground doesn't count."

Unlike the others' disgusted expressions, Bai Yu was indifferent and even proactively picked up the blindfold handed by the staff.

He hadn't eaten in a while and was really looking forward to this bite.

Foxes are omnivores with a wide range of food sources.

Grasshoppers are among them, not a staple, just like a snack for humans.

So his eagerness is purely because he's craving it.

But Yin Qing doesn't know that.

Seeing Bai Yu put on the blindfold without a word, she immediately did the same and stood on the side to eat the grasshoppers, her eyes lighting up.

"I didn't expect him to be so proactive; this makes the 'task' much easier."

After moving her somewhat stiff fingers, she also walked over and put on the blindfold.

"Get in position, ready, three‑minute countdown, game start!"

At the director's command, several groups began blind feeding.

Bai Yu precisely ate each grasshopper that Yin Qing fed him.

Moreover, he ate them with relish.

This formed a stark contrast to the pained expressions of the other teams' guests.

Yin Qing's fingers were already a bit stiff, and she could barely keep up with Bai Yu's eating speed.

With two seconds left, Yin Qing fed the last grasshopper on the plate to Bai Yu.

He still precisely ate it into his mouth.

But as soon as he chewed a bit, his brows furrowed; nevertheless, he chewed and swallowed it.

He thought: Did the props team fry this grasshopper too long? It's damn bitter!

Because he was blindfolded and didn't know that was the last grasshopper on the plate, he opened his mouth again, waiting for the next one.

Meanwhile, Yin Qing, as if knowing the plate was empty, stopped her grasshopper‑picking motion.

The director grabbed the loudspeaker and shouted, "Time's up! Please have the counters announce the numbers......"

As expected, the winning team was Bai Yu and Yin Qing's.

The first round ended, and the second round began shortly after.

Only after the early hours of the morning did the recording finally wrap up completely.

Bai Yu returned to the hotel arranged by the production team.

Tomorrow they have a unified interview and farewell ceremony; only after that will the show be considered fully recorded.

After arriving at the hotel and separating from his manager and assistant, Bai Yu went straight to his room.

He's a bit of a neat freak; usually the first thing he does upon returning to a hotel is go to the bathroom to shower.

But today he rushed to the bathroom not to shower, but to vomit.

On the way back he already felt something was off.

His stomach felt as if he'd eaten something dirty, constantly churning.

This made him feel strangely uneasy.

His intestines weren't ordinary—they were those of a fairy.

Getting gastroenteritis from eating something bad simply doesn't happen.

Getting gastroenteritis from eating spoiled food is something that simply does not exist.

But he now had no energy to wonder why, because he had vomited to the point of doubting life.

Because fairies turn food into energy instantly, he couldn't vomit anything at all—only the bottle of water he'd just drunk on the way back to ease his nausea.

After vomiting everything, he immediately went to flush the toilet.

Suddenly his motion stopped; there was a black bug the size of a pinky fingernail floating in the toilet water.

Bai Yu paid no attention, thinking it was just a mosquito that had fallen into the toilet, so he unhesitatingly pressed the flush button.

With a whoosh, the bug and the toilet water were flushed away.

He straightened up, preparing to rinse his mouth.

Just then, someone suddenly knocked on the room's door.

"Teacher Bai! Are you in there?"

That voice was Yin Qing's.

Bai Yu frowned; he felt awful right now and didn't want to deal with her at all.

Besides, there were no cameras filming anymore, so there was no need to save face for her.

But before he could reply, the knocking outside grew louder.

Thump thump thump, thump thump thump.

"Teacher Bai, Teacher Bai, you're clearly inside—why aren't you answering me?"

"Teacher Bai, are you okay? Open the door—I have medicine for stomach ailments; take it and you won't vomit anymore."

Bai Yu's brow furrowed tighter and tighter—how did she know he had vomited?

"Bai Yu, open the door."

The knocking continued.

Bai Yu irritably took out his phone, preparing to call his agent to have her get rid of the person.

But just then, the knocking outside suddenly stopped.

Bai Yu clicked his tongue lightly, then tossed his phone onto the bed, preparing to change clothes and take a shower.

Suddenly, the sound of the door lock turning came from the doorway.

"Click—" the door opened.

Bai Yu's eyes widened.