Chapter 18 - No Harm Without Comparison
After the game was over, Zhuo Yiyan led everyone to a bus specially prepared for the show.
In the bus, most of the contestants were discussing what the reward would be, while some were those who’d lost the game and were unwilling to admit defeat. There were also a couple of people who had good relationships with each other chatting together. Only a few people were sitting silently.
So, the bus was actually quite noisy.
Zhuo Yiyan didn’t say anything. The contestants had stayed in the villa for the last week, so it was understandable that they’d get excited over a rare chance to go out.
“Teacher Zhuo, where are we going?” the girl sitting near him asked.
“I’ll tell you when we get there,” Zhuo Yiyan answered with a mysterious smile.
“Why is it so secretive? Won’t you give us a hint?”
Zhuo Yiyan laughed, “It’s to do with the party tonight.”
“But, isn’t the party being held in the garden? Where else are we going?”
“You’ll naturally know when you get there,” Zhuo Yiyan cryptically responded.
Sheng Jiaoyang, sitting in the back, couldn’t help but chuckle.
Luo Yi, who occupied the sought after position next to Sheng Jiaoyang, asked, “Jiaojiao, you wouldn’t know where we’re going, would you?”
“You can think of it with just your big toe. We must be going to choose an evening dress.”
“Arghh, my big toe was shot!” Clasping her chest, Luo Yi displaying an expression of being unjustly attacked.
Zhuo Yiyan raised an eyebrow, and turning his body to look at Sheng Jiaoyang at the back of the bus, teased, “If I wasn’t so sure that we hadn’t told anyone about our itinerary, I would really think that you were one of the staff.”
“You mean, Jiaojiao guessed correctly?” Luo Yi asked, her eyes wide open in shock.
“Woah~ Choosing an evening dress? Really?” they all successively exclaimed in surprise.
“Jiaojiao really knows how to make an impact. She even gave you all a nice surprise,” Zhuo Yiyan sighed as he forced a smile.
“What can I do? I'm a straightforward person, after all,” Sheng Jiaoyang said calmly as she pushed her glasses higher up her nose.
“Jiaojiao, you’re constantly changing my view of you,” Luo Yi sighed. “From the first day of training, I had the impression that you weren’t an ordinary girl. You look soft and delicate, but you’re the complete opposite. I didn’t see you utter a single complaint during our bitter training days. Moreover, how did you train your brain to be so intelligent? Today’s freaking questions almost drove me crazy, but you easily answered everything.”
“Jiaojiao, in school, you were definitely a top student, right?” Pu Mingyu asked as she leaned towards Luo Yi and Sheng Jiaoyang from her seat across the aisle.
“Right, I keep forgetting to ask! Jiaojiao, you should still be in high school, right?” Luo Yi asked curiously.
“I just graduated,” Sheng Jiaoyang replied.
“Oh, so that means you just finished the university entrance examinations. Tell us, which university have you been admitted to? We might be future schoolmates!” Luo Yi inquired.
“F University.”
“As expected of a top student!” Pu Mingyu said in admiration while lamenting her own inadequacies.
“What will you be majoring in?” Zhuo Yiyan asked, his interest piqued.
Sheng Jiaoyang tilted her head, and uttered two words. “Wanna guess?”
Zhuo Yiyan was speechless.
Sheng Jiaoyang was in a good mood, and decided not to keep everyone in suspense. “I’m going to be majoring in English.”
“I think your English is very good. From the game before I can see that you’re quite familiar with foreign big-name brands. It seems that you usually spend time understanding other cultures.”
Sheng Jiaoyang smiled but said nothing. She couldn’t tell Luo Yi that it was only because she’d spent all her time shopping that she’d come to know those big-name brands.
Time passed quickly with everyone chatting, and the bus finally stopped.
“Everyone, follow me!” Zhuo Yiyan got up and walked off the bus first.
“Huh? Isn’t this Anyuan Plaza?” A few people noticed the sculpture in front of them.
Zhuo Yiyan didn’t say anything and grandly led everyone inside the shopping centre, heading straight to a brand-name clothing store on the third floor.
“What I’m going to tell you guys now is that since Luo Yi’s team won today’s game, their reward is that they’re allowed to select their dress, shoes, and accessories for tonight's party in this store. Take note that you must choose something that suits you. Tonight, there will be people judging how you style yourself, and this score will be added in your overall performance evaluation.”
Zhuo Yiyan explained everything clearly to the contestants.
Seeing all sorts of items in the store, those who were allowed to choose an outfit were naturally overjoyed. Meanwhile, Xiao Yang’s team that had missed this opportunity began to feel anxious.
They felt that something bad was waiting for them.
“Teacher Zhuo, what about us?” Xiao Yang asked anxiously.
“You’ll wait for the other team to finish picking their clothes, then I’ll take you to the next place,” Zhuo Yiyan replied.
“Our clothes aren’t going to be selected from here?”
“Why do I have an ominous feeling?…”
In the store, the contestants who were allowed to pick out clothes were elated, but the ones who’d lost the game were even more upset.
“It’s like watching others eating meat while not even getting soup to drink. This feeling is particularly unpleasant.” Xiao Yang’s team members were all wearing a mourning expression.
Sheng Jiaoyang went to Zhuo Yiyan, and said, “I want to go buy a pair of contact lenses.”
“We’ll only stay here for half an hour.” Zhuo Yiyan lifted his hand to glance at the time. “You must be back quickly.”
Sheng Jiaoyang didn’t move.
Zhuo Yiyan looked puzzledly at Sheng Jiaoyang. “What is it?”
“No money,” Sheng Jiaoyang answered boldly.
“…”
Zhuo Yiyan stared blankly for a second. He then turned around to ask the crew to watch out for the contestants before taking Sheng Jiaoyang to get contact lenses.
He’d suddenly remembered that the girl’s financial circumstances weren’t too good. In this large shopping mall filled with high-end products, perhaps she couldn’t even afford a pair of glasses.
However, when Sheng Jiaoyang had said that she had no money, she’d actually meant that she hadn’t brought cash or her ATM card along with her, and her phone had been handed over to the production team for safekeeping. Therefore, this became a beautiful misunderstanding.
Having Zhuo Yiyan along as a companion made it much faster, and in less than half an hour, Sheng Jiaoyang had gotten herself a pair of contact lenses.
When the pair returned to the contestants, the two garnered a lot of attention. Some people were speculating and gossiping behind their backs.
During this half an hour, Luo Yi’s team had chosen the items that they’d liked, and there were at least two bags in each person’s hand. The other team was unhappy and envious.
Zhuo Yiyan ignored their mood and just led everyone back to the bus so that they could leave for the next place.
Seeing that the buildings on the side of the road were getting smaller and older, the faces’ of Xiao Yang’s team members changed.
After arriving at their destination, Zhuo Yiyan explained the rules to Xiao Yang’s team. Some of the contestants’ eyes were already wet with frustrated tears.
No comparison, no aggrievement!
Compared with Luo Yi’s team, their treatment was simply intolerable.
Luo Yi’s team had gotten to choose high-end products from a brand-name store in a big shopping centre, while they had to choose the clothes they’d wear tonight from a wholesale market in ten minutes. Moreover, each person was only getting sixty dollars!
They only had ten minutes, ten minutes!!
What good items could you find in a wholesale market in ten minutes?!
Additionally, what could they buy with a meagre sixty dollars? Was that enough to outfit a person from head to toe?! Was. It. Enough?!!