After Becoming a Scummy Alpha, I Became a Slave to My Beloved Wife (GL) - Chapter 8

Jiang Nian didn’t even hesitate before agreeing to appear on the dating reality show—all to help boost Qiao Wenyu’s public exposure.

Everything for the show was arranged, and Qiao Wenyu’s manager had already handed over the filming schedule. The preparations were organized down to the last detail.

But just a week before filming began, Jiang Nian received an invitation—to attend a high-level fashion industry conference. Her presence was mandatory.

Her secretary tried reworking the schedule over and over, but there was no way to perfectly separate the meeting from the show’s filming dates.

Faced with this dilemma, Jiang Nian gritted her teeth and decided to handle both responsibilities herself.

“President Jiang, are you seriously still going on the show?” Lu Renbing was concerned. The conference alone would be exhausting. Taking a red-eye flight straight to the filming location afterward? It sounded like madness.

“I’ll go to the meeting first. I’ll join the reality show two days late, just in time to appear before the end of the first episode,” Jiang Nian said firmly. “I’ll have Jiang Fenyun explain the situation to the production team.”

“Understood, President Jiang.”

“Oh—and while Wenyu and I are apart, assign someone to keep an eye on things. If anything unusual happens, I want to know immediately.”

“Got it.”

With everything arranged and her flight booked, Jiang Nian flew to the conference on the show’s opening day.

At the same time, Qiao Wenyu and Tong Yunyao arrived at the filming location, ready to begin the shoot.

This season of the reality show was being filmed at a coastal garden villa. Unlike the more confined environment of Season 1, this season would feature an open-world format, with a variety of unlocked task locations each day. The dynamic structure promised high ratings.

The participants included two currently popular omega singers, a male beta film star, a female alpha film queen, two mystery guests, and the girl group TQ.

The mysterious guests, according to rumor, were top elites specially invited by the production team—one from the business world, and the other from the medical field. Both were said to be rare, high-profile alpha figures.

Before agreeing to the show, Qiao Wenyu’s manager had only told her it was a variety program. It wasn’t until she arrived on set that she realized—this was a dating reality show.

“Wenyu-jie, I thought you wouldn’t be the type to join something like this,” Tong Yunyao said meaningfully. “President Jiang seems to treat you very specially, after all.”

Qiao Wenyu’s brows curved into a soft, helpless smile.
“We’re just friends. I honestly didn’t even know this was a dating show.”

“No worries. It’s fine to just make friends,” Tong Yunyao giggled sweetly, naturally looping her arm around Qiao Wenyu’s and sticking close to her.

By lunchtime, most of the invited participants had arrived. The two mystery guests were written into the script as late arrivals who would join during later tasks.

The production team first filmed short individual introduction clips for each cast member—brief self-intros to be used in the show.

That evening marked the official start of Episode 1. Everyone was brought together for the first challenge: starting a fire on the beach using only primitive tools. Contestants were grouped into pairs and given props by the show. The first teams to successfully make fire would earn better food supplies; the slower teams would have simpler ingredients to cook with.

Everyone drew lots to determine their groups. Qiao Wenyu was the last to step up and open her slip—it read “2.”

Following the cameraman’s cue, everyone revealed their numbers to the camera.

The two omega singers both had 1. The actor and Tong Yunyao drew 3. That left the film queen, Ye Lan, and Qiao Wenyu paired as group 2.

The groups were now clearly set.

Qiao Wenyu walked over to Ye Lan and introduced herself politely.
“Ms. Ye, I’m Qiao Wenyu. It’s a pleasure to work with you.”

“Mm.”
Ye Lan glanced at her sideways with a cool, detached expression.

After the groups got familiar with one another, the fire-starting task began.

Qiao Wenyu received a materials kit from the crew and carefully laid everything out.

“Ms. Ye, do you know how to do this?” she asked, half-squatting on the ground as she examined the tools.

“No.”
Ye Lan stood with arms crossed, offering no further input.

Inside the kit were two wooden sticks, a rotating rod with a string, and a bundle of dry grass.

“I’m not too sure either. Let’s check the instructions.”

Qiao Wenyu pulled out a simple illustrated guide. Following the steps, she placed one flat stick on the ground and inserted a small vertical stick into a pre-carved hole. The ignition point was in the center of the wooden board. The final step required patience—looping the string around the stick and pulling back and forth to generate heat and create sparks.

As Qiao Wenyu placed the dry grass at the ignition point, she noticed it felt a little damp—like it had been soaked and then hastily dried.

But since every group was using the same materials, she had no grounds to complain.

She looked over at the other two groups. They were carefully following the instructions and had already built their fire-starting setups. Everyone was bent over, heads lowered, repeatedly rubbing the sticks to generate heat.

Qiao Wenyu was patient and took the initiative to start first. But after just ten minutes of drilling, her arms were already burning with pain.

In the other groups, when someone got tired, their partners immediately stepped in to help—kneeling beside them, gently saying, “Let me take over.”

In contrast, Qiao Wenyu was the only one doing all the work in her team. Even as her hands went numb, Ye Lan—the film queen—stood by with no intention of helping.

It wasn’t until the camera panned over to their group that Ye Lan finally bent down and forced a rare smile.
“Let me help you.”

Relieved, Qiao Wenyu passed her the tool. But the moment the camera moved on to another group, Ye Lan dropped the act. Her smile vanished, replaced by a scowl.
“You do it. I’ll come back and help later,” she said coldly, her tone full of disdain.

After forty minutes, the first group—the two omega singers—successfully started a fire.

As the sparks caught and flames flickered to life in their hands, everyone’s attention shifted toward them. The cameras zoomed in, capturing the moment.

One of the singers dropped to the ground, carefully blowing on the flame to help it grow.
“Ahhh! Look! We did it!” the other screamed with excitement, her voice echoing across the beach.

All eyes were on the tiny flame as it was carefully placed in the firepit. In the next second, the kindling caught—and a blaze lit up, the fire’s glow reflecting in the sky.

The two singers shouted in triumph and hugged each other. Everyone watching couldn’t help but wonder—was this how hard it was for ancient people to make fire?

As the first group to complete the task, they earned a bounty of barbecue ingredients: three trays of thick-cut wagyu beef, two trays of premium lamb, two trays of pork belly, three trays of marinated chicken, plus a mountain of fresh fruits and vegetables.

It was mealtime, and the singers wasted no time. They fired up the grill and started cooking.

Soon, the mouthwatering smell of barbecue filled the air.

In the third group, Tong Yunyao and the male actor were working in perfect sync to speed up their fire-making. Unable to figure it out on his own, the actor even ran over to the singers to ask for tips.

Meanwhile, Qiao Wenyu’s group made no progress at all. Ye Lan had no intention of participating—she only pretended to help when the cameras were on her. The rest of the time, she sat off to the side, perfectly still.

“Hurry up. Group 3 is almost done,” Ye Lan snapped, rolling her eyes. She despised these low-level idols leeching off her popularity. In her eyes, Qiao Wenyu’s looks were the only thing she had going for her.

Qiao Wenyu was exhausted. After traveling all the way to the filming site, her already-weak body was pushed even further by the physical effort. Her strength was quickly running out.

“Tch. Useless. Can’t even light a fire,” Ye Lan muttered. But as soon as she noticed the camera turning toward her, she plastered on a sweet smile.
“You’ve got this, Wenyu.”

Just as the cameraman was preparing to focus on Group 2, a shout erupted from Group 3.

“It’s smoking! Blow gently, don’t rush!”
Tong Yunyao clenched her fists nervously as the actor picked up the dry grass and gently blew on the smoldering bundle.

When the fire finally sparked to life, the two clapped excitedly and shared a high five.

Group 3 earned a decent food package—not as luxurious as the first group’s, but still quite substantial. The only difference was the quantity—roughly half as much.

Now only Group 2 remained unfinished.

Per the show’s rules, no fire meant no food.

Driven by hunger, Qiao Wenyu gritted her teeth and forced herself to keep going, ignoring her aching arms and overall fatigue.

After several more attempts, she finally noticed a thin stream of smoke rising. Excited, she slowed down, gently picked up the dry grass, and carefully tried to coax the flame to life.

But Ye Lan, clearly annoyed, shoved her aside.
“You’re too slow. Everyone else is already eating.”

She grabbed the stick and forcefully jabbed at the setup several times, trying to restart the fire.

But the sudden, violent motion snuffed out the tiny spark Qiao Wenyu had worked so hard to create. Watching the smoke vanish, she felt deeply frustrated.

How could someone act like this?

After a few useless attempts, Ye Lan kicked over the tools in frustration. Then, as if on cue, she dramatically collapsed to the ground, clutching her stomach.
“Ow… my stomach hurts so bad… Director, I have gastritis. Can I eat something first?”

“The rule is no food without fire,” the director replied calmly.

Ye Lan, hands on her hips, insisted,
“Group 1 has plenty of food. We’re supposed to support one another, right? I’ll eat first, and we can finish the task afterward.”

Qiao Wenyu hated people who disregarded rules. She stood up and said,
“Director, let her eat. I’ll finish the task alone.”

After a short discussion among the crew, the director relented under the pressure of Ye Lan’s popularity.

Raising a megaphone, he announced:
“Group 2 will continue the task. Due to health concerns, Ye Lan will temporarily rest.”

“I object.”

Before the director could say more, a sharp voice cut through the crowd—from the distance, Jiang Nian’s voice rang out.