The next day was the eve of the Lunar New Year.
As a star chef at a luxury hotel, Zhong Dad always prepared an abundant reunion dinner every year with dishes from various cuisines, and he had also learned to make Western desserts to improve his skills. He got up early in the morning to go grocery shopping, and had been busy cooking in the kitchen after coming back.
Zhong Ruanxing and her mom helped to decorate the house by putting up window stickers, Spring Festival couplets, and hanging lanterns. They also went downstairs to set off some firecrackers.
Lunch was already sumptuous, but the highlights were still at dinner. Zhong Dad tried to serve every signature dish he could make. Zhong Ruanxing took pictures from various angles to capture the table full of food, and first posted a photo on Weibo to wish her fans a happy new year. She also sent the pictures to the WeChat group with her, Song JinXing and Song Shuling.
Recently, Song JinXing had been very busy and was inactive in the group chat, with only Song Shuling chatting actively.
The Song family was also having a reunion at their ancestral home. Song Shuling secretly took a photo of Grandpa Song and Granny Song and sent it to Zhong Ruanxing: "Grandpa and Granny are very spirited and healthy. They even gave me a big red envelope."
Zhong Ruanxing smiled and sent her a red envelope too.
Song Shuling immediately returned it to her: I didn't mean to ask for an envelope from you!
Zhong Ruanxing replied: I also gave one to Youyou.
Song Shuling accepted it right away, with an emoji expressing obedience: Thank you sister!
It wasn't until watching the Spring Festival Gala that Zhong Ruanxing received a message from Song JinXing:
- Happy New Year.
Zhong Ruanxing asked:
- Busy with work? Had dinner?
He didn't reply immediately. After a while, he called with a voice message: "Hello?"
His low and clear laughter came through: "Happy New Year. What are you doing?"
Zhong Ruanxing stood by the window watching children playing with sparklers on the street: "Watching the Gala. What about you?"
Without a word, Song JinXing held his phone farther away, pointing it ahead. Very soon, Zhong Ruanxing could hear the sounds of waves and seagulls.
She was a bit surprised: "You're at the seaside?"
Song JinXing laughed: "Yeah, there are a lot of seagulls here."
Zhong Ruanxing grumbled: "And I was worried about you, turns out you're quite relaxed." Although she spoke like this, knowing he was by the sea put her in a much better mood. "You haven't grabbed the red envelope I posted in the group chat. Shuling already took it, the rest is all yours."
Song JinXing made a sound of acknowledgment, his voice tilting up slightly in a questioning tone of interest. He opened WeChat to see the remaining amount in the red envelope from the group, and laughed: "It seems my luck is good."
Zhong Ruanxing had given a 6.66 yuan red envelope. Song Shuling snatched 3 cents, Zhong Ruanxing got 27 cents herself, leaving the rest all for Song JinXing.
It really was preposterous.
Then Zhong Ruanxing saw him take the red envelope, and he leisurely sent one back in the group chat. She hurried to click in, only to find it wasn't a random amount red envelope this time. She and Shuling each got 10,000 yuan.
Zhong Ruanxing glared and shouted at the man on the phone: "What's with you sending red envelopes like this? I'm returning it to you!"
Song Shuling accepted it without hesitation, sending a sticker expressing gratitude.
Song JinXing's voice was gentle: "Consider it my wishes, to buy some new year gifts for Youyou and uncle and auntie."
Zhong Ruanxing then felt too embarrassed to insist on returning it. "When are you coming back?"
He contemplated for a moment: "Still needs some time."
Zhong Ruanxing felt a little stifled inside, but didn't show it: "I'm leaving the country on the 7th to film a variety show. It starts airing on the 8th. The crew has to gather in advance. I heard it's on an isolated island, and guests won't be able to contact the outside world."
Song JinXing's voice was calm: "I know. Be safe and take care of yourself."
Zhong Ruanxing pouted to herself: "I'm going back to watch the Gala with dad and mom." After a pause, she said softly: "Happy New Year."
The voice on the phone laughed: "Go on."
Knowing they wouldn't meet before she left, Zhong Ruanxing felt a little down. When she returned to the living room, a popular actor was singing on TV. Her dad said: "I know this actor. You acted together with her before."
Zhong Ruanxing looked: "Yes, she played the female lead and I had a supporting role."
Zhong You nibbled on a fruit jelly while asking: "Sis, can I see you on the Gala next year? My classmates all know you're a celebrity. They asked why you didn't go sing on stage."
Zhong Ruanxing ruffled her hair: "Sis will try her best next year and get on the Gala stage, to save face for our Youyou."
Zhong You got excited: "Awesome!"
...
During the holidays, Love Instinct continued to generate hype online.
Ever since announcing the four guests, the fervor had never died down. The audience was too interested in the theme of this variety show. Although they knew it would start airing on the 8th, they still went to the official Weibo every day to ask for the show to be released sooner.
The other four guests, two celebrities and two civilians, were kept under wraps by the crew, who said their identities would only be revealed on the live broadcast day. The public wasn't interested in the civilians, and kept guessing which other two celebrities would participate.
Seeing the high popularity even before airing, Love Instinct's executive producer and director Yan He laughed in his dreams every day. Although ad deals had been secured, more sponsors had come to invest recently, even starting to book sponsorship rights for the second season.
It was all roses for the director. If not for wanting to cause him some trouble, Heaven wouldn't let him get too complacent. One day while drinking tea in his office, his assistant rushed in holding some documents.
"Director Yan, the island we rented to film the show has been resold by the owner!"
Yan almost spit out his tea and jumped up: "Resold? What happened?!"
To maximize filming effects, the location was set on an island in the Southern Hemisphere, where it would be summer now unlike the winter in China, making it more conducive to the desired atmosphere. The crew spent a full six months just to find a suitable island for filming before finally locating Ai Ou Island.
Overseas islands could be bought and sold. Ai Ou Island belonged to a French tycoon and was his private vacation island. The island had abundant resources but was also very safe as a vacation spot, with only the owner spending a month there each year while remaining deserted for the rest of the time.
With both safety and rich resources, as well as a survival environment, it was simply their dream location!
The crew went through great pains to rent Ai Ou Island, and spent a fortune to obtain one month of usage rights. After settling everything with such difficulty, and being about to head to the island for filming after the New Year, the owner actually resold the island???
Yan almost wanted to dig up this foreigner's ancestral grave. "Who did he sell it to? Is our rental contract still valid?"
Mainly because, who would have thought the guy would sell the island before renting it out! The contract was handled by another department so he didn't know the specifics. If they really couldn't use Ai Ou Island anymore, where could they find another suitable island on such short notice?
The assistant quickly calmed him down: "Don't worry, our contract to rent the island is still legally binding. And the island, he sold it to a Chinese."
Yan heaved a sigh of relief: "A compatriot? That's great, it will be easier to communicate then."
The assistant said: "Chen just contacted the new owner, who agreed to our filming as scheduled. However, his intention in buying the island was to spend the Lunar New Year there. He will be staying on the island the whole time, and hopes we don't disturb him when we arrive."
He bought an island just to spend the holidays there?
Rich people these days really were rich!
Yan felt quite sour inside: "Of course. We'll just add a rule for the guests forbidding them to disturb the island owner, and mark the area around the owner's vacation villa as off limits, prohibiting guests from entering. That should work."
Thus, the crew quickly came up with new rules and modified some show content to avoid offending the island owner later on. They couldn't afford to cross someone rich enough to buy an island on a whim. If anything went wrong and they got kicked off halfway, it would be too embarrassing.
Finally, everything was settled. On the 8th day of the new year, Love Instinct officially started airing.