Chapter 59: The White Lotus Must Leave the Entertainment Industry

Bailu spoke bluntly, “Let me be clear: I’m not going to pay Shen Xinluo’s cab fare. I need to eat. I’m already short, and if I go hungry for two more meals, I’ll never grow taller.”

Lin Ye, the youngest of the group and pampered by the older boys in the team, was especially straightforward. He was the first to jump in and support Bailu: “I don’t have money to pay Shen Xinluo’s cab fare either.”

Dijiaer didn’t say it outright, but his stance was obvious. “If we pool our money to pay Shen Xinluo’s cab fare, what are we going to eat, drink, or where will we stay for the next four days? We’re already living on a shoestring. If this keeps up, we’ll be living on air. Bailu is right—Shen Xinluo made the mistake. There’s no reason for us to cover for her.”

Zu Xinen looked at Huo Yanfang. “A-Sui, what about you?”

Huo Yanfang replied, “She has my money.”

By “she,” he naturally meant Bailu.

Zu Xinen nodded and picked up his phone. “Shen Xinluo, I’m sorry. After discussing it, none of us have any extra money to help you with your cab fare. I’ll send you the hotel address. Use a map to find your way here. Once you arrive, I’ll ask the hotel if they can send a car to pick you up.”

Shen Xinluo didn’t speak, just cried on the other end of the line.

Zu Xinen said, “As soon as I get to the hotel, I’ll ask for you.”

Then he hung up.

Following the navigation, it took everyone more than twenty minutes to reach the hotel. The location was remote, the rooms small and old, but they were clean and tidy, and the price was low.

Given their limited options, they couldn’t be picky.

Lin Ye and Zu Xinen got a standard twin room to share.

Dijiaer wanted to share a standard room with Huo Yanfang—it was much cheaper than single rooms.

Huo Yanfang frowned slightly, and Bailu stepped in to refuse on his behalf. “You should have your own room. A-Sui has a cold; if you catch it, that won’t be good. Wait until he’s better, then you can room together.”

Dijiaer could read the mood and smiled, making up an excuse, “True, if both of us get sick, it’ll be impossible to visit all eight attractions.”

So, the three of them all took single rooms.

Dijiaer stumbled through a conversation in Japanese with the front desk and came over to report, “The hotel said we can either pay to rent a car, or they’ll lend us a bicycle for free.”

Bailu asked, “How much is the car rental?”

Dijiaer replied, “Six thousand an hour, ten thousand with a driver. Renting cars and taxis here is expensive.”

Zu Xinen called Shen Xinluo to explain the situation and let her decide whether she wanted to rent a car.

Through tears, Shen Xinluo chose to rent a car with a driver and paid for it herself.

Dijiaer went to the front desk to arrange it.

Bailu sneered, “Ten thousand for the car, nine thousand for the hotel, that leaves her with only a thousand. I wonder what she’ll use to buy food.”

Lin Ye shook his head. “Sister Bailu, you forgot about the subway weekly pass. That’s fifteen hundred.”

So Shen Xinluo was still five hundred short for the hotel fee?

Bailu nearly burst out laughing.

Because the rules required the group to act together, they had to wait for Shen Xinluo to arrive before going to dinner.

They put their luggage in their rooms and sat in the lobby to wait for Shen Xinluo.

Zu Xinen, the oldest, was used to looking after the younger members and naturally stepped into the role of team leader.

Dijiaer was the guide, so Zu Xinen discussed things with him. “I can lend Shen Xinluo the five hundred she’s short for the hotel. But what about the next four days? How will she eat? The production crew won’t help her. In the end, it’s up to us.”

With the camera nearby, Dijiaer spoke cautiously, “Everyone’s just scraping by. Who has extra money to buy Shen Xinluo meals?”

Zu Xinen sighed. “I originally thought we could all eat together—it would be cheaper, and bringing Shen Xinluo along wouldn’t be a big deal. She’s a girl; she can’t eat much. But you’re right, no one has money to spare for her meals. I shouldn’t have brought it up. Forget it, I’ll figure something out myself.”

Dijiaer said helplessly, “En-ge, how will you manage? You’re sharing a twin with Xiao Ye, so you have a little more money left than I do. But it’s not much. If Shen Xinluo eats with you, and the money runs out, what will you eat?”

Zu Xinen replied, “We’ll deal with it when the time comes. We can’t really let her starve. If we weren’t filming together, to be honest, I wouldn’t bother.”

“Forget it, let’s just let Shen Xinluo eat with the two of us,” Dijiaer relented. “En-ge, I only feel sorry for you. It’s not that I want to help Shen Xinluo.”

Zu Xinen said, “Thank you, Jiaer.”

Dijiaer waved him off, signaling it was nothing.

Bailu, sitting nearby as she cared for the ailing Young Master Huo, heard all this and gently asked Huo Yanfang, “A-Sui, should we help En-ge and Jiaer?”

Huo Yanfang replied, “It’s up to you.”

“En-ge, Jiaer,” Bailu turned around, “A-Sui and I will also chip in for Shen Xinluo’s meals. It’s not for her sake—just because I feel bad for you two!”

Meanwhile, Shen Xinluo was already in the hotel car, but still sobbing.

The trailing VJ was at a loss. “You’re already in the car, what are you crying for?”

Shen Xinluo looked up, her eyes swollen from weeping. “I was terrified. I called everyone, but no one answered. When I finally got through, no one cared about me…”

The VJ had held back for a long time but couldn’t help himself. “If no one cared, how did you end up in this car?”

The VJ’s words perfectly echoed the feelings of the live stream audience.

There’s a one-hour time difference between Osaka and back home.

Even though it was already ten at night, there were still hundreds of thousands of viewers in the live stream.

But no one was paying attention to Shen Xinluo’s side.

A scant few hundred viewers lingered, most of them flooding the comments to berate Shen Xinluo in unison, chanting, “Shen Xinluo, get out of the entertainment industry.”

[This woman is unbelievable. No one’s helping her? Zu Xinen and Dijiaer are practically going hungry for her!]

[Jiaer bargained with the hotel for ages to save Shen Xinluo some rental fees! How’s that not helping her?]

[Utterly ungrateful, just like Qiao Xianyi, thinking the world should revolve around them!]

[They shouldn’t help her at all, let her starve!]

[Has Shen Xinluo forgotten she’s the manager? She’s supposed to take care of the guests! Now look, she’s become a burden, and the guests are looking after her!]

[Bailu scolding Shen Xinluo at the airport was so satisfying, every word was right on target.]

[Little Bailu is amazing, why didn’t she just tear Shen Xinluo to shreds?]

[Don’t let it get to you, just go watch Bailu and the handsome guys next door!]

[There are so many good-looking people, I don’t even know where to look!]

[The visuals on this show are off the charts.]

[Just watching the six of them sit there without speaking, I could feast my eyes all day.]

[The guy in the mask only showed his eyes and I’m already smitten.]

[Give me ten minutes, I need to know everything about the masked guy.]

Gradually, the focus of discussion shifted to Huo Yanfang.

The all-powerful netizens had spent the whole afternoon digging, but couldn’t find a single clue about the masked man.

Until the show’s official account finally released the list of guests’ names.

The netizens were stunned.