I'm a web novelist, and you want me to work in the entertainment industry?

Cheng Che and Tian Xiwei walked into the nearby farmers' market side by side.

Although it's called a vegetable market, it's more like a bustling open-air market selling local mountain produce.

Vendors lined both sides of a road, their colorful parasols forming a continuous expanse, beneath which lay freshly unearthed mountain produce—wild mushrooms, wild medicinal herbs, dried fruits and nuts, you name it.

The air was filled with the unique aromas of soil, dried fruit, and mushrooms.

"What do we do now?" Tian Xiwei took out her phone and glanced at the time. "There's still a little over an hour left."

There's a little over an hour left before the mission ends.

"Is it too late to go back to work now?" She felt a little uncertain.

"I didn't say we were coming here to work." This time it was Cheng Che's turn to shrug. "Working is out of the question."

"So what are you planning to do?" Tian Xiwei asked, looking bewildered. "Like last time, set up another magical stall?"

The last time she was referring to was naturally the time when Cheng Che used "Take Her Eyes" to set up a stall.

You know what, even though it's inhuman, the results are incredibly good.

"It's not that complicated." Cheng Che shook his head. "Do you remember the backup plan I told you about yesterday?"

"I remember, you specifically asked the production team if they would provide equipment, as a backup plan for picking mushrooms in the mountains," Tian Xiwei said.

"Actually, that's not the case." Cheng Che raised his index finger and shook it with a mysterious look. "I only said it was a safety net, but I never said that going up the mountain to pick mushrooms was the safety net."

"Then what do you mean?" Tian Xiwei was confused.

"My backup plan has never been picking mushrooms in the mountains, but rather the equipment!" Cheng Che grinned, revealing his ultimate trump card.

"...?"

equipment?

Tian Xiwei blinked, her mind quickly replaying yesterday's conversation.

Then he remembered that this morning when they were putting on their gear in the yard, Cheng Che suddenly asked the production crew for an extra set of equipment and put one of them into his basket...

Equipment for mushroom picking in the mountains...

Very professional equipment...

Brand new equipment...

The locals here all go up the mountain to pick mushrooms themselves, so rain boots and other equipment are definitely necessary...

"Too, too evil," Tian Xiwei murmured.

No wonder Cheng Che refused when Nan Nan offered to help them take the baskets back.

She naively thought back then that Cheng Che simply didn't want to trouble them...

[...Scholars are all sly and cunning; this man is such a master of foreshadowing!]

What does this mean? Is there a Chinese-to-Chinese translation? We need a translator!

[The translator is here: Cheng Che (Demon Ball version) you requested is back online. He's been laying the groundwork since last night to ensure that today's mission will have a guaranteed minimum reward, and clearly, he's found the way to do so.]

【Aba aba aba doesn't understand smida.】

[Is the person upstairs a relative of Sister Xia? Let me tell you in the most direct way: your brother Che has already planned everything—if they can't pick all the mushrooms on the mountain, they'll take the equipment provided by the production team and barter for other things at the market!]

The poor production team was completely manipulated by Cheng Che.

Seeing this situation, the PD felt that as a member of the production team, he should speak up to stop Cheng Che, this "outsider".

But as you know, photographers can't just talk in front of the camera, so I'm sorry, Director Wang, I'm powerless to help.

This is definitely not because he is afraid of being labeled again.

He was willing to vouch for Cheng Che's character!

……

Inside the director's monitoring room.

"Director Wang, have we been tricked again?" the assistant asked, looking at the comments mocking their production team.

"Actually, that's not the case." Wang Zheng said calmly.

"I guessed Cheng Che's plan this morning, but I deliberately didn't expose it to create entertainment value—didn't you notice that in the previous episodes, the audience was quite happy to see the production team suffer losses?"

Assistant: "Oh~"

"I'm telling the truth!" Wang Zheng emphasized.

The assistant blinked: "But I didn't say what you said was false!"

"Tsk, did you enter the office with your left foot first today?"

Assistant: "¿"

……

The two walked along the stone path, looking at the mushrooms on the stalls while also searching for a suitable person.

After walking around for a long time, they found their target at a corner.

The stall was run by an elderly man in his forties or fifties. He mainly sold mushrooms, including chanterelles and the porcini mushroom that Teacher Yan had drawn.

The stall owner was frowning, fiddling with his rain boots.

The boots looked quite old; the soles were coming unglued. The old man was wrapping tape around the heels and occasionally stood up and stomped his feet.

Judging from the old man's expression, he didn't seem to be feeling very comfortable.

Cheng Che squatted down in front of the stall.

The old man glanced at him, noticing where his gaze was directed: "Want to buy chanterelle mushrooms?"

"These are all fungi, no doubt about it!" the old man said, picking up a small chanterelle mushroom and tearing open its cap in front of them.

Tian Xiwei was a little confused: "Fungi? Could there be fake ones?"

The old man sized them up and understood: "Are you two from out of town?"

Cheng Che and Tian Xiwei nodded.

"That's normal. There's a fake type of chanterelle that will give you a stomachache if you eat it," the old man explained. "The fake one will leak milk when you tear it open, but the real one won't."

"I see……"

Live and learn (Guan Gu's magical voice)...

"Grandpa, did you pick these mushrooms this morning?" Cheng Che asked.

"I picked them all up on the mountain today, they're wild, absolutely fresh," the old man assured him. "Look, the mud on my boots isn't even dry yet!"

As the old man spoke, he stretched out the foot that wasn't wrapped in tape.

The shoes were indeed still covered in wet mud, and the anti-slip treads on the soles of the rain boots were almost worn down.

As luck would have it, the boot seemed to have a performative personality; the moment the old man stretched out his foot, the heel suddenly came unglued and dropped a large section of it.

The old man was a little embarrassed and silently withdrew his foot.

"Grandpa, your rain boots must be quite old, right?" Cheng Che said, seeing that the time was right.

"It's been several years, and I haven't been able to bear to change it." The old man nodded.

"Do you go up the mountain to pick mushrooms every day?" Cheng Che continued.

"Not every day, but pretty much. Besides mushrooms, I also look for other things," the old man said.

"And your boots..." Cheng Che only got halfway through his sentence.

The old man scratched his head: "It's time to change them. I'll go buy a new pair after I close up shop."

"Grandpa, how about this?" Cheng Che took out a pair of rain boots from his basket. "I happen to have a brand new pair of rain boots here."

"I'll trade these boots for some mushrooms. I don't need much, just a little bit of chanterelles and porcini mushrooms will do." He finally revealed his true purpose.

The program only said that we needed to find the corresponding mushrooms, but did not specify the number, so finding even one mushroom counts as finding one.

The old man paused for a moment, took the pair of rain boots, and held them up to his feet.

It looks a little bigger than the shoes he's wearing, but only by a tiny bit, so it doesn't really matter.

"Sure, I'll trade with you then," the old man readily agreed. "But aren't your boots quite expensive?"

These boots look much more high-end than my old ten-yuan "buddy" boots; I bet they'd cost at least twenty or thirty yuan to get them...

"Oh, that's not important, don't worry," Cheng Che said with a smile. "To be honest, we're filming a show right now, and these boots were given to us by our director."

"He's a beast in human form. It was his idea for us to come here. If we can help you, he'll be happier than anyone else."

[666 Che-ge, you're a really nice guy, you even helped Wang Zheng gain some good publicity!]

[A beast in human form... I'm about to burst out laughing.]

[First give him the big stick (to rip off a set of equipment), then give him the sweet treat (praising Wang Zheng's kindness). Che-ge, you really understand CPUs!]

……

Inside the director's monitoring room.

Wang Zheng's lips twitched.

I'm so damn grateful for the compliment!