An hour later, Bao Ruanruan finally finished sharing her safety tips for living alone just as director Zheng Mingchang was about to break down.
During that time, she drank two glasses of water.
Finally, she concluded, "This is my summary of the precautions I've devised recently. Feel free to add anything I have missed—self-protection is a never-ending journey."
"Thank you."
"Ah, it's getting a bit late. I'm going to take a 10-minute nap now~"
At last, she left behind a fleeting glimpse of her back.
She covered the show's camera with a cloth in her bedroom and left a greeting.
"Good afternoon."
[555📹, good afternoon.]
[I took a whole page of notes—who else can relate?!]
[Just placed an order—let's go!]
[I have a question: That door stopper only works on doors that open inwards, right? What about doors that open outwards?]
[I also have a suggestion! Can Ruanruan start a self-defence class? She's so athletic—I refuse to believe she doesn't know any!]
[Emergency contacts are actually useful—I've set mine.]
[Am I the only one curious about who Ruanruan's emergency contact is?]
"It's me."
Director Zheng Mingchang looked helplessly at the scrolling comments.
"Before every shoot, she comes to me and says: '*We're in the middle of nowhere, and you're the only person I know here. You're close by, and you can call the crew for help'. So she sets me as her emergency contact whenever she's on the show."
[Makes sense—Distant water can't put out a nearby fire1!]
[Oh no, does this mean that my dad, who is in Nancheng, won't be of much help to me when I am in Jiangcheng?]
[Ahhh, I just left a comment on Ruanruan's Weibo, asking her to do a second course!]
Something happened during Bao Ruanruan's ten-minute nap.
That was when Bao Ruanruan's Weibo followers shot up by 200,000.
When she finally woke up: "!"
She must be seeing things wrong.
She almost went back to sleep because of it.
The filming of Chasing Dream was officially wrapped up on the same day.
Villagers visited the five half-finished 'Dream Houses', imagining themselves as tourists experiencing a new life in Hengshan. They explored each house and enjoyed the unique experiences it offered.
Each visitor was given one vote to choose their favourite house.
The contestant whose house received the most votes would win a special reward from the show.
In the end, as expected—
Lu Wenhao's study room won 80% of the votes.
For the first time in his life, Lu Wenhao was rewarded for his actual work!
"Teacher Lu, congratulations."
"This is a blessing written for you by the village's longest-living elder, who is 103 years old—'May you live as long as the Southern Mountains'."
Lu Wenhao: "!"
What a completely useless gift.
His mouth twitched, but he had no choice but to accept it from the white-haired elder respectfully.
Turning around, Lu Wenhao saw Bao Ruanruan staring at the calligraphy with such admiration that her eyes were practically glued to it.
It was as if he had just received a priceless treasure.
Something worth a fortune.
[Hahahaha!]
[She's about to drool—control yourself, Ruanruan~]
[She really loves that prize, Brother Lu, just give it to her!]
[Even her pyjamas have 'health and longevity' on them. If she gets this scroll, she'll probably hang it above her bed!]
[She might even pray to it every day~]
[OMG, I have to see this. Brother Lu, give it to her!]
"That is so nice… I'm so jealous." Bao Ruanruan took a deep breath. "Can I trade you for it? How about a life-saving card?"
Lu Wenhao gritted his teeth. "No way!"
That's right!
He wanted to see her sulk!
Sure enough, Bao Ruanruan's fair little face drooped in disappointment, looking utterly crushed.
Happy.
Lu Wenhao was very satisfied.
But as soon as he got on the bus home, he let out a long sigh.
Why didn't he trade?
What was he even going to do with this scroll?
Was he an idiot?
D*mn it, how was he going to save his brain now?!
At the Lu Family Home
Still fuming, Lu Wenhao stormed into the house, planning to have the butler stash the scroll away somewhere.
But as soon as he stepped into the living room, he spotted his old man sitting on the sofa, smiling at him with a look of... pride?
"You're back?" Father Lu's voice was as gentle as a spring breeze.
Lu Wenhao instantly got goosebumps.
What's going on?
He had been gone for two days—what had he done wrong this time?
He knew nothing!
Holding the scroll in his hand, he walked over, his scalp tingling, ready to flee at any moment.
The second his father stood up and reached for him, Lu Wenhao instinctively stepped back, raising his hands in a defensive gesture.
"Hm? Is this for me?" Father Lu looked surprised.
Lu Wenhao: "???"
He glanced at his own hands—somehow, he had naturally lifted the scroll towards his father.
"…Oh."
His face turned red as he tried to sneak away.
But just as he turned, Father Lu unrolled the Longevity as the Southern Mountains scroll—and in an instant, his old face was visibly moved.
"You little brat, your dad's birthday isn't for another two months."
"And you actually prepared a gift this early?"
Lu Wenhao: "......!"
"You went on a show, had fun, and that would have been enough—but you just had to win first place and bring back a blessing from a hundred-year-old elder for me?" The more Father Lu spoke, the higher his cheekbones rose in an unstoppable grin filled with pride and emotion.
"Seriously, you brat."
Lu Wenhao: "!"
Huh?
Wait a second!
"Dad, you watched my show?!"
Didn't he think all this was a waste of life?
Father Lu smiled warmly. "I was busy, so I only watched a little bit."
But you already know that this was an award written by a hundred-year-old elder!
Lu Wenhao was utterly taken aback.
All his years of rebellion—were they a joke?
So the old man had been paying attention to him.
So he had been quietly supporting him?
Dazed, Lu Wenhao headed upstairs—just as his eldest brother, Lu Wenyao, came down.
He blurted out, "Brother, did you watch my variety show?"
Was the whole family watching?!
Lu Wenyao had been ordered to secure an endorsement deal for Bao Ruanruan within a week.
His mood was already terrible, and work was piling up.
"Xiao Hao, I'm really busy right now. If you have questions, talk to Assistant Liu first."
With that, he hurried downstairs,
leaving only his retreating figure behind.
Lu Wenhao's smile froze.
The father, who didn't support him... was watching his show.
The brother who always supported him…
It felt like they hadn't even spoken more than three sentences lately.
As soon as Lu Wenyao stepped outside, he called his secretary. "The chairman wants Bao Ruanruan to endorse a brand—handle it."
"Pick the overseas company we acquired—ZhiZhi Milk Tea. That one."
"Pay her the influencer rate for the endorsement."
Everyone left after the filming in Hengshan Village had wrapped up.
Bao Ruanruan, dragging her suitcase and carrying a hiking backpack, trudged towards the van, looking utterly dejected.
It was as if she had lost 100,000 followers overnight.
And that the whole world had abandoned her.
But in reality—
Over the past two days, thanks to the show being on, a police-verified trending topic, and her solo-living safety videos, her follower count had rocketed by almost 500,000.
She was now approaching 1.5 million followers on Weibo!
Any other rookie would have been thrilled.
Chen Feng's mouth twitched. "Xiao Baozi, drop the act. If you want to smile, just smile."
Who didn't want to get famous in the entertainment industry?
Wuwuwu, the daytime doesn't understand the darkness of the night2.
You wouldn't understand.
Bao Ruanruan listlessly got into the van, fastened her seatbelt, took the alcohol disinfectant from Chen Feng's hand, and wiped her hands.
Then, as an afterthought, she grabbed her hiking backpack and sprayed the antibacterial disinfectant on it as well.
"Once, there was a precious treasure right before me, but I didn't cherish it."
"If I had another chance, I would say... Hand it over!"
Chen Feng: "..."
Bao Ruanruan regretted it. "I should have used two life-saving cards to trade with Lu Wenhao. Awoo~ my heart hurts so much!"
What are you crying about now?
"Ahem, well... no need to be sad. A new job is here."
"That's true. People should look forward. Being sad will only harm the body."
Bao Ruanruan reached out and touched her soft cheeks.
She tried to lift the corners of her lips, which had been drooping, forcing a smile that looked worse than crying.
"What new job?"
Chen Feng turned his head, "......"
He had a strange feeling that he had become Zhou, the exploiter.
Help!
"It's a livestream. Your Weibo has surpassed one million followers, so you're doing a live stream to give something back to your fans."
When celebrities hit milestones such as one million, two million, or ten million followers on Weibo, they often host giveaways, post beautiful photos, sing, or do live streams to interact with fans.
"Boss has chosen a theme for you—'Celebrities Behind the Scenes'.'"
"Huh?"
*
Xue Jing was a top-tier manager known for turning the ordinary into the extraordinary—not just by luck.
His keen eye could instantly spot market trends, understand fan psychology, and grasp public preferences.
Many people were curious about what artists were doing behind the scenes—how they communicated with their studios and managers, dealt with trending topics, auditioned, and so on.
This livestream, Celebrities Behind the Scenes, would run for a full four hours, capturing an entire Monday morning and showing Bao Ruanruan's real-life activities as an artist.
"The livestream will start at 8 am tomorrow when I pick you up," Chen Feng explained.
"It will cover me driving you to the commercial shoot, your make-up prep, interactions with the make-up artist, script reading, private rehearsals for auditions... basically, everything fans and the public don't usually get to see."
Bao Ruanruan understood.
"Perfect timing. You need to reshoot some scenes for Pengmai's commercial, so we'll use that as part of the livestream." Chen Feng continued. "I've coordinated with Pengmai, and they're fine with it."
Qian Hongyi was easy to talk to.
Her livestream would also serve as early publicity for Pengmai's commercial.
"Do I need to prepare anything?"
"Just get a good night's sleep and be in top condition tomorrow~"
"OKK~"
Bao Ruanruan understood—what they wanted was authenticity.
She was already very good at this.
Early the following day, Chen Feng arrived to pick her up as promised.
The night before, the Bao Ruanruan Studio Weibo account, which he had registered and managed, had already posted the announcement:
—Celebrating 1 million followers with a special live stream, starting at 8 am sharp. Don't miss it!
On Monday at 8 am, Chen Feng knocked on Bao Ruanruan's door as scheduled.
The moment he stepped into the entryway and opened the livestream, he was stunned.
Viewers online: 1,929,293.
Viewers online: 2,939,498.
…
Viewers online: 5,853,904.
Five million? No, almost six—no, wait, it's still going up!
As Chen Feng stood there, frozen, the number had already jumped to seven million.
?
??
???
Wait, didn't she only have barely 1.5 million followers on Weibo?
The live stream is flooded!
Are these all bots pretending to be viewers?
Unbelievable! This Jiangcheng Live APP is so dishonest for creating such fake engagement.
But in the very next second, an avalanche of donations poured into the stream, causing Chen Feng to nearly jump out of his skin.
[Little Bee gifted 10 trains to Bao Ruanruan's live stream.]
[Qu Duo Duo gifted 1 aeroplane to Bao Ruanruan's livestream.]
[You're Right About That gifted 5 skyscrapers to Bao Ruanruan's livestream.]
[Loquat Candy gifted 10 spaceships to Bao Ruanruan's live stream.]
Chen Feng: "!"
[I'm here! I've got to donate first—thanks, Bao Ruanruan, for yesterday's security tips. It saved me from doing a lot of research!]
[I've always had decision paralysis, but following Xiao Bao cured me. Take my donation, take it!]
[I'm just a casual viewer, but I'm super curious to see what Bao Ruanruan's home looks like! Time to check out her V2 solo-living setup.]
[Thank God I have the day off today. A four-hour stream? Count me in! Will she talk more about safety tips and health? Looking forward to it.]
Chen Feng: "!!"
What kind of magnet was she?!
In the blink of an eye, the live stream had surpassed seven million viewers.
Many Chasing Dream fans, still craving more, had flooded her stream.
Her popularity was skyrocketing—almost rivalling the top e-commerce streamers.
He—he was getting nervous now.
"Ahem, Xiao Baozi, are you ready? Let's head out. First stop: the ad shoot."
"Okk~"
Bao Ruanruan appeared on the screen.
Now, live stream viewers truly understood what having a naturally beautiful face without make-up meant.
A close-up of her face showed that she was completely bare-faced.
Her milky-white skin, rosy lips, and delicate, misty eyes carried a fragile charm that tugged at the heartstrings.
With just one glance that felt like an eternity, she instantly evoked everyone's protective instincts.
[Ahhh, I really have fallen into the pit.]
[Me too, +1! I really can't help it anymore. What's with those little helpless eyes? She's hitting me right in my maternal instincts!]
[Aaaaahhh! After watching so many episodes of this show, I *still can't find a single flaw in her! On the contrary, she's gorgeous, kind, and even encourages girls to stand together and protect themselves! I'm obsessed!]
[She's practically tailor-made to be my daughter!]
[Move aside! Do you even know the mom-fan group chat number? You're late—there are already 981 moms in there.]
[What?! Shock! That many already?!]
[There's also a sister-fan group—fewer people there~ only 921~]
[Hand over the group number! Now!]
Chen Feng glanced at the barrage of comments on his other phone.
The more he read, the more surprised he became.
[Bao, you're naturally beautiful, but I still need to ask—what sunscreen do you use when you go out?]
[Yes, please drop the skincare routine! Your girl is kneeling here waiting for the wisdom.]
Bao Ruanruan first checked that her security camera and window lock app were functioning properly before stepping out of her room. As a precaution, she wedged three strands of her hair into the door frame.
When she heard Chen Feng's question, she raised an eyebrow.
"Hm? Sunscreen?"
"I work indoors—I don't use any. Physical sun protection is safer and more reliable."
As she spoke, she put on a mask and sunglasses.
Then, she pulled up the hood of her sweatshirt.
She walked all the way to the van while holding a parasol to ensure that not a single inch of her skin was exposed to the harsh sunlight.
[Ah, got it—taking notes!]
[No wonder her skin is so good! Give the bag a shake, and there's always something valuable that falls out3.]
Once inside the car, Chen Feng took the driver's seat.
"I'll give you a brief overview of the reshoots for Pengmai's ad."
"The first shot is the moment when you jump onto the rooftop—they want to tweak the special effects, so we need to reshoot it."
[Wait, the ad has rooftop jumps?!]
"There's also a scene where you run from the second rooftop to the third. They're worried that kids might try to copy it, so they're adjusting the stunt to make it safer..."
As he gripped the steering wheel, Chen Feng continued reviewing the key points of today's shoot.
The theme to be showcased in today's live stream:
—He would go over Bao Ruanruan's daily work, organising the key points for her in advance so that she could be well prepared.
—Normally, he wouldn't say this much, but today's livestream was all about making an impression!
But—
"Stop."
Bao Ruanruan cut him off mercilessly.
"When driving, focus. Accidents bring tears."
Chen Feng: "!!!"
[Hahaha, Safety Monitor Bao may be late, but she's never absent.]
[This is hilarious.]
Feeling awkward, Chen Feng muttered, "Fine, whatever."
The car turned a corner and merged onto the highway.
"You can talk now," Bao Ruanruan blinked at him.
Chen Feng: "? I can talk again?"
"Yep. The traffic is light, and the road conditions are stable. The intersection earlier was a high-risk accident zone—many trucks pass through, and their rearview mirrors have blind spots. The risk of an accident while chatting there was significantly higher than average."
Bao Ruanruan unscrewed the lid of her insulated tumbler.
"But now, we can have a casual conversation—to prevent you from getting bored and sleepy while driving in a straight line on the highway."
"...!"
[Pfffft!]
[I've just learnt something new again!]
[Xiao Bao's Classroom—you need this in your life.]
[I'm so sorry to ask, but is there any way this livestream could be a daily thing?]
[Brother Manager is forced to attend class every day, hahaha.]
Bao Ruanruan quickly arrived at the ad shooting location.
This time, she had a new make-up artist—not the guy from last time.
She figured he must have had a life-threatening crisis while trapped in the make-up room, so he wisely decided not to come back.
A very wise decision.
The new make-up artist was a cute girl, and they got along well.
Today's reshoot was light—just a few quick shots.
Looking both happy and apologetic, the director greeted her warmly when she arrived. He waved at her enthusiastically. "Xiao Bao, you're here? Sorry for making you come again!"
"It's fine. Let me check the final animation effects first to see if there's anything tricky." Bao Ruanruan looked cautious.
"Oh wow, now you're being humble?"
The director chuckled.
"Your skills are solid—everyone trusts you. Even the unfinished version impressed the distribution team."
"To find another one like you? Impossible. Boss Qian is really lucky."
Everyone in the Pengmai advertising team had a great impression of Bao Ruanruan.
She was fast, and her performance exceeded expectations.
She had saved everyone's time.
Most importantly, watching her on set felt like witnessing real-life parkour—right in front of them.
It was absolutely thrilling.
As they filmed, the crew kept cheering.
"Clap, clap, clap!"
"That was amazing, Teacher Bao!"
"Holy sh*t, that one-and-a-half spin!"
"Ahhh, Teacher Bao is incredible!"
[!]
[?]
[The industry respects her that much? I'm shook!]
[Wait, what's a 'one-and-a-half spin'? Pengmai, I'm telling you—release the ad now!]
The reshoot wrapped up in record time.
Make-up and styling took 30 minutes. Filming? Only 15.
Before 10 am, Bao Ruanruan had already finished work ahead of schedule.
What should they livestream next?
Chen Feng was worried that Bao Ruanruan might go off-script and felt a headache coming on.
But just then, an unknown caller rang his phone.
"Hello, is this Bao Ruanruan's studio?"
"This is the marketing department of Zhizhi Milk Tea. We'd like to invite Miss Bao Ruanruan to be the first national brand ambassador of Zhizhi Milk Tea."
Chen Feng: "!"
A job offer!
He turned to see Bao Ruanruan removing her make-up.
"Xiao Baozi—"
But before he could finish, he saw a hint of hesitation and caution on her pale, rosy face.
"Disease enters through the mouth."
"I've never had Zhizhi Milk Tea before. Is it healthy?"
[!]
[Hahaha, ethical artist Bao—she didn't even ask about the endorsement fee?]
[A once-in-a-century gem, Bao Bao.]
[You can tell Ruanruan isn't a milk tea drinker. Zhizhi is a super popular influencer brand right now—their selling point is their high-quality ingredients, but they are pricey!]
"Do we need to reply to them right away?"
Bao Ruanruan thought for two or three seconds.
"As long as we reply within three days, it's fine. Should I buy a cup for you to try?"
"No need; I actually have time right now."
Her eyes lit up as she stood up.
"I can go to the Zhizhi Milk Tea shop and personally check their food hygiene and safety standards."
Chen Feng: "???"
?
What?
Say that again?
What are you planning to do?
[!]
[!!]
Author's Note:
Ruanruan: Please call me a food safety inspector today.
Footnotes Full List
- The phrase '远水救不了近火 (yuǎnshuǐ jiùbuliǎo jìnhuǒ)' conveys the idea that help or resources that are too far away are of no use in an emergency. It emphasises the importance of timely and accessible assistance.
- This proverb means that people who have never experienced hardship or suffering cannot understand the feelings of those who have. It is often used to describe the gap between the rich and the poor or between those who have never been sick and those who have.- Gemini
- The proverb 抖一抖包包,总有干货掉下来呢 (dǒu yī dǒu bāo bāo, zǒng yǒu gān huò diào xià lái ne) means that even the most seemingly useless things can have some value if you look closely enough. It is often used to encourage people to be resourceful and not to give up on things that seem worthless. It is also a play on Bao Ruanruan's family name, Bao (包). Baobao (包包) means bag.
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