Li Xunxi was stunned, nearly losing her composure and shouting in disbelief.
“What? You’re seriously not raising? Gu Zhaoping, weren’t you trying to challenge us? Now you’re backing down?”
Li Xunxi’s mood crumbled.
This outcome was completely unexpected.
If Gu Zhaoping didn’t follow through, then Li Xunxi would be the one left looking like a fool.
Their team had planned to rent either the office space or the storefront, both of which were expensive.
Now that they had bet 30,000, they’d be operating on a tight budget!
And with Gu Zhaoping not taking the bait, Li Xunxi felt humiliated, like a complete joke.
Even as she tried to provoke Gu Zhaoping again, her words were no longer spontaneous but laced with deliberate manipulation:
“So this is the kind of fiancée Shen Yifeng has? Everyone was right. The only mistake he’s ever made in his life is choosing the wrong person to marry.”
Gu Zhaoping replied with a calm voice, not bothering to play word games:
“Well, if he made a mistake, then so be it. Anyone he chooses isn’t much of a person anyway.”
Her words stunned everyone.
This didn’t sound like something Gu Zhaoping would normally say.
Even Li Xunxi looked like she’d seen a ghost—Gu Zhaoping was actually talking about Shen Yifeng like that?
Li Xunxi’s face turned green.
Was Gu Zhaoping going insane?
Saying something like that about Shen Yifeng?
Was this bitterness from love?
Or a desperate attempt to regain dignity by saying shocking things?
Chu Yanze and Liang Zhiwei were shocked as well.
They had always known Gu Zhaoping to be composed and dignified.
This was the first time they saw her speak so bluntly.
Chu Yanze, who had met Shen Yifeng before, knew what kind of person he was.
Their expressions immediately turned serious as they began to speak out against the opposing team:
“You said you’d raise the stakes, so now you have to own it. Don’t tell me you’re regretting it after we matched your bets? Worried you’ve spent too much now?”
Chu Yanze frowned, usually cold and indifferent, but now his tone was sharp and biting.
“If you can’t afford the stakes, don’t talk big. You’ve been putting on a show, but now you don’t want to spend the funds? For a so-called elite family, this kind of business ethics is just shameful—laughable, even.”
Liang Zhiwei, usually gentle and soft-spoken, didn’t stay silent either:
“I thought your team was determined to win. If you’re so confident, what’s a little more money? You’ll earn it back anyway, won’t you? And your team has two elite family members with formal business training. With such an advantage, why worry? Worst case, cut costs. Didn’t the program provide options for that?”
Her tone was much softer, but no less pointed.
One played the bad cop, the other the good cop—between the two of them, they completely backed Li Xunxi into a corner.
And just then, the director, unfortunately, chose this moment to speak up, cautiously asking:
“Miss Li, should we go ahead with your added bets?”
Go ahead?
Could she say no now?
Li Xunxi had never backed down from a challenge like this in her life—especially not against Gu Zhaoping.
She couldn’t afford to lose face.
Gritting her teeth, she said, “Fine. Raise the stakes. It’s not a big deal. We can easily cut some costs. Let’s move on.”
Gu Zhaoping chuckled lightly.
Even Ruan Nian began to panic.
She kept fiddling with the chips, counting again and again.
They only had 70,000 left in capital, and whichever storefront they chose would eat up a significant portion of that.
Just the store costs would be 20,000 to 40,000.
And ingredients wouldn’t be cheap either.
She quietly suggested:
“Let’s pick the street stall option. It’s convenient, and we don’t need time to renovate. We can start business quickly. Plus, with my fame, it’ll be easy to draw in customers…”
But Li Xunxi looked at her like she hadn’t even considered that option:
“I’ve never eaten from a street stall.”
Ruan Nian: …
She was speechless.
You’ve never eaten from one?
Fine.
But what does that have to do with completing a challenge on a show?
You’ve never eaten pork, but you’ve seen pigs run, haven’t you?
They barely had any capital left, and she still didn’t want the lowest-cost option?
Was she seriously considering that 40,000 storefront?
That would leave them with only 30,000.
Forget operating costs—she doubted they could even afford ingredients and decor for the first day!
And looking at the three of them, it was obvious only she could cook.
What kind of restaurant operates with only one chef?
No—Ruan Nian looked at Li Xunxi and Li Xunwen, both excitedly discussing whether to choose the office building or storefront, and she suddenly felt dizzy.
They didn’t even seem like they could handle being servers.
Was she going to have to do everything?
Cook, serve, run the register, and wash dishes?
She couldn’t believe it.
She had been a top celebrity for years—and now she was expected to be treated like a lackey?
Suddenly, she deeply regretted joining this team.
If she had known earlier, she would’ve picked the third group instead.
Sure, they weren’t famous, but at least they seemed normal.
And there were four people in that team—they could at least share the workload
Ruan Nian really regretted it.
Group 3 on the other side had been watching the conflict unfold here from the sidelines.
After witnessing the whole scene, they turned back around and sighed in relief like survivors of a disaster:
“Good thing there’s no conflict in our group. We really have to work together and keep costs under control!”
Among them, a young man with refined features and light brown eyes looked up and glanced in the direction of Gu Zhaoping’s group.
He had the clear, gentle demeanor of someone from the water towns of Jiangnan, and even his voice was tender like a young boy’s.
When he spoke, there was a scholarly elegance to it, like someone who had read many books and was soaked in the fragrance of ink.
It seemed like he wanted to say something, but in the end, he looked away.
“Su Yubai, come and join the discussion. Any ideas?”
His voice was gentle and clear:
“Coming.”
But during the rest of the time, his gaze kept drifting lightly toward Gu Zhaoping’s group.
A few times, it even seemed like he made eye contact with her from across the space — but Gu Zhaoping never once looked his way.
Su Yubai was earnestly discussing which store location to pick with his team, but his mind drifted, unable to help himself, his heart no longer in it.
A sinking feeling gradually settled in his chest.
Zhaoping-jiejie…
Do you really not remember me?
Why won’t you even look at me?
Is it because there are too many young guys around you?
I’m just one of the unremarkable ones.
The most unremarkable one.
In Gu Zhaoping’s group, the first to notice his strange gaze was Chu Yanze.
While talking, he casually looked up and locked eyes with Su Yubai.
But Su Yubai quickly nodded politely and looked away.
After withdrawing his gaze, Chu Yanze turned to Gu Zhaoping and said seriously,
“Zhaoping-jie, you make the decision. We’ll all follow your lead.”
“Alright.”
Gu Zhaoping responded courteously, but truthfully, she always believed she should be the one making decisions.
Most of the time, she had a strong desire to take control.
And once she made a decision, no one else could come up with any objections or meaningful alternatives.
Earlier, when she wanted to bet their capital, the two others didn’t object either — clearly, she was the core decision-maker in the group.
“Have all the guests decided which storefront to choose?”
Su Yubai’s group had just finalized their choice.
Then the director added more rules:
“Our rule is that each of the three teams must choose a different location. If two teams choose the same location, there will be a bidding competition.”
The bidding starts now?
Everyone began discussing again.
Only one team made a decision without much hesitation:
“We’ll pick the street-facing shop.”
Everyone else looked up in surprise — it was Gu Zhaoping who had made the decision!
The director quickly raised a microphone and asked,
“Ms. Gu, your group has already spent 10,000 yuan of your capital and has 90,000 left. That’s not the most out of all the groups. If you choose the street-facing shop, the cost might be higher — are you sure?”
“Any decision I make doesn’t need to be questioned. If I say I’m sure, then I’m sure.”
Gu Zhaoping calmly put down the envelope, and the others immediately fell silent.
Over in Group 2, the Li siblings had been worried that Gu Zhaoping would pick the lowest-cost mobile stall and drag down the market price — they were sweating over it.
But to their surprise, Gu Zhaoping directly chose the most expensive option.
They instantly burst out laughing, the pressure on them suddenly lightened by several degrees.
“We’ll take the office building,” Li Xunxi decided.
That left Group 3, whose original plan had been to choose the mobile stall anyway.
They leaned toward caution, and now that no one was competing for it, they were both shocked and relieved.
Thank goodness.
They had run into two rich heiresses, neither of whom even considered the option of a mobile stall — maybe they just didn’t like being too exposed.
So the bidding segment that had been planned didn’t happen at all.
Even the director didn’t expect the selections to go so smoothly.
He scratched his head and continued:
“Next, please use your remaining funds to choose the kitchen equipment you need.”
The props team brought out the kitchen tools.
The moment they saw the prices, the Li siblings’ expressions changed again.
Wait, what is the production team thinking?
Why are these props so expensive??
Are they messing with us?
Even so, when they remembered that Gu Zhaoping’s group had chosen the even pricier street-facing shop, and now also had high costs, their frustration quickly faded.
But Li Xunxi never expected Gu Zhaoping to raise her sign again and say:
“Our group forfeits this round — we’re not buying.”
Everyone was stunned.
At that moment, Liang Zhiwei finally couldn’t hold back her laughter.
She almost burst out laughing.
During the shooting of the teaser episode, the production team gave them some living funds to buy supplies for moving into the manor.
Back then, everyone else had bought daily necessities — beauty products, wellness items, and various consumables.
But their group?
They had followed Liang Zhiwei’s idea and bought a whole load of kitchen tools!