How Can a Construction Foreman Be the Public Girlfriend of a Top Celebrity? - Chapter 31
Chapter 31
At this moment, Shu Xuan really wanted to pretend she didn’t know Zheng Ling, but the viewers online found Zheng Ling absolutely adorable.
They hadn’t expected her to have such a personality—it was genuinely entertaining.
Qi Zhi’s group had started setting up their tent first, yet still hadn’t finished. Meanwhile, Zheng Ling was working alone and was faster than the two of them combined.
Shu Xuan just sat nearby supervising while Yang Yin struck up some idle conversation.
“Teacher Shu, I actually knew about you back in high school.” The camera was aimed at the two of them, and Yang Yin peeled an orange as she spoke.
Comments scrolled by:
This influencer is clearly trying to ride on her fame.
Let’s see what this is about.
Wait, were they in the same high school?
“Were you and Zheng Ling close back then?” Shu Xuan asked instead of responding directly.
Yang Yin nodded. “Not exactly close-close, but we were on better terms than just regular classmates.”
“Mm.” Shu Xuan pulled two pomegranates from her bag. “Here, these are homegrown.”
“Homegrown?” Yang Yin was a little surprised.
Shu Xuan thought about the tree that had recently been transplanted into their villa in Jiangcheng. That could count as homegrown, right?
“Boss Zheng grew them,” Shu Xuan said with a slight smile.
“Oh, then that’s not so surprising. Zheng Ling’s always been into that kind of stuff.” Yang Yin peeled her orange and offered a segment to Shu Xuan.
“Actually, I have a story with Zheng Ling.” Yang Yin lowered her head as she spoke, so her expression couldn’t be read.
Shu Xuan paused slightly. What did she mean by “story”? Was it what she was thinking?
The comments buzzed with curiosity:
No way, is this going to be a love triangle?
A backstory? I’m invested.
Didn’t this influencer say she’s straight? There’s no way she had a thing with the contractor, right?!
Yang Yin ate a segment of orange and winced from the sourness. “Back in high school, I was bullied. It was Zheng Ling who stood up for me and fought back on my behalf.”
“It’s kind of embarrassing in hindsight. I was so timid back then that Zheng Ling ended up taking the blame. She had to write a public apology under the flagpole.”
Yang Yin sighed as she threw the orange peel into a trash bag and dusted off her hands. “But Zheng Ling has always had a warm heart. She’s nothing like the internet made her out to be. If she hadn’t stood up for me back then, I might already be six feet under.”
Shu Xuan gently patted Yang Yin’s back in comfort. “It’s all in the past.”
Oddly, it was that simple and gentle tone from Shu Xuan that touched something soft inside Yang Yin—tears immediately welled up.
Only then did many netizens understand what the online “black history” about Zheng Ling had actually meant.
Comments exploded:
So that’s what it was.
I think this influencer is just creating drama. That bullying story sounds fake.
This is way too convenient. It feels scripted—like a PR stunt to whitewash the contractor. Even fiction wouldn’t be this bold.】
Waaah, Shu Xuan is so gentle. I want her to pat my back too.
Some people felt the drama was over the top, especially considering Yang Yin’s influencer status, which made it hard not to suspect her intentions.
After the tents were set up, the production team stirred the pot again: they brought out some ingredients and asked each couple to cook a dish for their partner.
Everyone stared at the pitiful ingredients—some spicy cabbage, tofu skin, mung bean sprouts, and a few leafy greens. There clearly wasn’t enough for six couples, and everything was vegetarian.
Zheng Ling couldn’t help but complain, “Seriously? Are we filming a wilderness survival show?”
Yang Yin chimed in, “Is this military training or what?”
But Director Li smiled and said, “Everyone lives too comfortably nowadays. True love grows stronger through hardship! Time to cook a delicious meal for your partner—good luck~”
Everyone: ………
Comments flooded in:
Hahahahahaha
This director is insane.
Zheng Ling took the initiative, picking spicy cabbage and tofu skin. Just as she reached for more greens, Director Li called her out.
“Uh, Boss Zheng, everyone only gets two ingredients each.”
He even stood guard over the rest of the food.
Yang Yin and Qi Zhi’s groups got the remaining greens, and a few others only managed to grab some bean sprouts.
Shu Xuan wasn’t picky—she could eat whatever.
Zheng Ling looked at the ingredients. Honestly, you could grab better weeds off the side of the road.
“Director Li, this is way too stingy. This amount wouldn’t even cover a 0.99 add-on in a takeout order. What’d you do—train at a Korean university cafeteria?” She started washing the tofu skin while muttering nonstop.
Shu Xuan, who had peeled the orange earlier, brought it over to Zheng Ling.
Zheng Ling had her hands in water, so she pursed her lips, hinting for Shu Xuan to feed her.
Shu Xuan hesitated for a moment in front of the camera. After a bit of mental prep—pretending it was just acting—she popped a slice in Zheng Ling’s mouth.
Yang Yin, still washing vegetables, looked over with a face that screamed she was “shipping” them hard.
Qi Zhi’s group was much more lowkey. Everyone was stressing over how little food they had. They might as well graze in the grass.
Comments gushed:
OMG, Shu Xuan is blushing, isn’t she?!
I’m dying from laughing. Contractor Zheng roasting the cafeteria like that—she’s gold.
These two are adorable.
Ugh, that influencer is so annoying. Stop trying to steal screen time. Nobody cares.
When everyone finished cooking, the result was… tragic. The limited ingredients were barely warmed up, and no one felt like eating.
Everyone sat at the table, staring at the food. No one picked up their chopsticks.
Zheng Ling had cooked the tofu skin, then wrapped it around the spicy cabbage like sushi. It wasn’t terrible.
The crew brought out a rice cooker, but most people didn’t even bother serving themselves. They had no appetite.
But Zheng Ling wasn’t like them. She ran back to her car, rummaged through her luggage, and found some hot pot base cubes—something she’d taken from home before leaving Jiangcheng.
“Zheng Ling, what are you up to now?” Yang Yin couldn’t help asking.
Shu Xuan sat quietly among the others, watching Zheng Ling fondly. Whatever she did, it seemed to make Shu Xuan happy.
“The production didn’t tell us there’d be rice. So now’s the perfect time to make a rice stew.” Zheng Ling melted the hot pot base in some water, tossed in leftover veggies and tofu, then added the cooked rice and stirred.
She served Shu Xuan first. “Here you go.”
“Thanks.” Shu Xuan accepted the bowl.
“Try it, tell me how it is.” Zheng Ling’s eyes sparkled.
“It’s good.” Shu Xuan took a small bite.
Comments:
These two are way too sweet. Seriously, how is hot pot rice even good? It’s just Shu Xuan’s love that makes it tasty.
Hot pot rice is actually legit delicious!
Only Shu Xuan would say that’s good. It looks like pig slop.
But in reality, the rice stew tasted much better than the sad veggie dishes. Everyone went back for seconds.
Director Li regretted not confiscating the luggage. It made the whole show feel like it had a bug.
After dinner, it started to rain by the river, and everyone ducked into their tents.
To protect privacy, the crew couldn’t film inside the tents—only the rain-soaked canvas tops outside.
Inside the narrow tent, Zheng Ling and Shu Xuan were huddled together. There wasn’t much room, so even a small movement brought them shoulder-to-shoulder.
“Boss Zheng, do you regret coming here?” Shu Xuan asked while resting her eyes.
“Why would I? This is fun, and I get paid—win-win,” Zheng Ling replied, stretching because her leg was starting to cramp.
Just as Shu Xuan was about to say something, Zheng Ling suddenly cried out, “Teacher Shu! Ah! It hurts!”
“What’s wrong?” Shu Xuan propped herself up. Zheng Ling’s face was scrunched up like the East African Rift Valley.
“Leg cramp.” She was biting her cheek, her brows furrowed so tightly you’d get lost in them.
Shu Xuan saw it was still raining and decided it wasn’t worth trying to step outside. She leaned over to massage Zheng Ling’s leg.
“Teacher Shu! Be gentler! It hurts so bad!” Zheng Ling was nearly in tears.
Comments:
Wait… did I misjudge who’s the top here?
What the hell—this is being recorded!
I swear that sound came from their tent.
In another tent, Yang Yin heard the noises too. She asked her husband, “Did you hear a donkey braying?”
“That wasn’t a donkey. That was Zheng Ling screaming,” he replied.
Yang Yin didn’t have Zheng Ling’s current contact info, so she logged into her long-abandoned QQ and found their chat.
She sent a message:
Keep your voices down. I’m already imagining the whole scene.
Just as Zheng Ling’s leg finally felt better, her phone chimed. She’d kept QQ logged in to play mobile games, so the message came through instantly.
Reading the text, her face froze.
“Teacher Shu, was I… that loud just now?” Zheng Ling asked with an awkward smile.
“Mm.” Shu Xuan, still slightly out of breath from massaging her, nodded. Her chest rose and fell, and her ears were red from the heat and closeness inside the tent.
A flood of unspoken images flashed through Zheng Ling’s mind. The rain, the tent, the two of them alone… it was easy to let your mind wander.
No, Zheng Ling, stop right there!
Director Li, meanwhile, was clapping with excitement. He immediately told the PR team to push this scene to the trending topics.
Datuo nearly fainted when she saw the hashtags.
One of the top ones read:
#ShuXuanWifeWifeTentPlay#
She clicked in and saw the tent actually shaking. It was almost too much to believe.