I was criticized on a dating reality show, but I retaliated and became an internet sensation.

As Shu Zi listened, she nodded unconsciously, as if... there was some truth to it.

Fang Ran then asked, "How many points have you added to his score now?"

Shu Zi answered honestly, "Out of ten points, he has six."

"Six points?!"

Fang Ran's voice rose eight octaves, "When was it added? It's already six points?! How come I didn't know it was progressing so fast!"

Shu Zi shrank her neck and spoke even softer: "...Just today, he... added two points."

Fang Ran remained silent for a full two seconds, then let out a long hiss, her tone complex:

"Well, Gu Yan's efficiency... it seems he's quite skilled. I underestimated him."

"but!"

She immediately perked up again:

"Remember what our master said: take the initiative! Touch me if you want, kiss me if you want... well, use your discretion! In short, don't wrong yourself!"

"Also, report any new developments to me immediately!"

"Especially if Gu Yan were to come up with some kind of advanced bathroom tutorials or one-on-one bedroom tutoring programs..."

Shu Zi quickly interrupted her when she heard the conversation about to escalate again:

"Oh, never mind me! I heard He Yuzhuo recently bought an island to appease you?"

"Wow, you're pretty well-informed."

"Of course!"

"Let me tell you..."

The conversation smoothly shifted to Fang Ran.

Finally, they talked until the early hours of the morning, and the sky outside the window was getting grayish before Shu Zi felt her eyelids were too heavy to lift.

She mumbled into her phone, "I'm really sleepy, I'll talk to you tomorrow..."

Fang Ran yawned loudly on the other end of the line, and the two finally hung up the phone.

As a result, the next morning, Shuzi was woken up by a series of regular knocks on the door.

She struggled to reach out from under the covers, groped around on the bedside table, finally grabbing her phone. She squinted and strained to look at it—

Damn it! It's only 7:50!

It feels like she just closed her eyes!

With her hair disheveled and a heavy heart, she got up, staggered to the door, and opened it a crack.

Gu Yan was already dressed and standing outside the door.

His gaze fell on her face, and seeing her detached, almost imperceptible, eyebrow twitched slightly.

"Time to get up, meet downstairs at 8:30."

Shu Zi nodded haphazardly, mumbled an "Mmm," and almost instinctively slammed the door shut, throwing herself back onto the bed and burying her face in it.

After groaning silently for a few seconds, she resignedly got up and drifted into the bathroom to wash up as if in a dream.

She sat in front of the dressing table, looking at the obvious dark circles under her eyes in the mirror—circles that were impossible to miss despite applying concealer repeatedly—and closed her eyes in despair.

I wish I could turn back time and strangle the version of myself who chatted with Fang Ran until dawn last night.

Finally, with a look of utter dejection that seemed to say, "Sleep deprivation, keep out of reach of strangers and acquaintances alike," she staggered downstairs.

Everyone else was already in the living room on the first floor.

Director Liu stood at the front, looking very energetic, holding his signature megaphone. Seeing Shu Zi come down, he gave a wicked smile:

"Oh, our teacher Nuonuo is downstairs? Judging from her complexion, she must have had quite a bit to enjoy last night, right?"

Shu Zi paused, glared at Director Liu with annoyance, and listlessly slumped down in the empty seat furthest from Gu Yan, showing her unwillingness to speak.

Director Liu chuckled, stopped teasing her, cleared his throat, and raised the megaphone:

"Alright, alright, everyone's here. I have two things to say!"

"First of all, last night's truth or dare segment was absolutely amazing!"

He spoke in an exaggerated tone, glancing several times in Shu Zi's direction, "It's trending on several hot searches, and the live stream's popularity is soaring. All the teachers deserve a lot of credit; thank you for your hard work!"

Shu Zi continued to look down, her eyes closed, pretending to have developed a strong research interest in the material of the sofa armrests.

"The second thing, and the highlight of today!"

Director Liu raised his voice, successfully attracting everyone's attention:

"Remember our beach photo shoot yesterday afternoon?"

"The photographer's amazing photos have been available for voting in our live stream and on all our partner platforms since 8 PM last night. The Best Reproduction Award and Best Creativity Award are up for grabs!"

Voting closes at noon today!

"Before the new task begins this afternoon, we will announce the voting results on the spot! The winning team will receive a mystery reward carefully prepared by the production team—a super practical and absolutely surprising prize!"

"So, pay close attention and do your best in this morning's tasks. You might even be able to garner votes for your group at the last minute!"

"Alright, enough chit-chat, let's get to the tasks for this morning!"

Director Liu picked up the task card:

"This morning's task is: You'll arrange her/his half-day!"

"Each pair will design a half-day itinerary for the other, write it on a small blackboard, and then simultaneously display it five minutes later. Then, they must follow along! It must be feasible and within the rules!"

"Listen carefully," Director Liu added, "You can't write vague options like 'whatever,' 'anything', or 'whatever you say.' They must be specific!"

"Now I'll give you five minutes to think about it. Write it on the blackboard."

The staff quickly distributed two small whiteboards and pens to each group.

[Only five minutes! Don't be stupid, think fast!]

[It's time to test our teamwork or just hurt each other (doge)]

What will Zizi arrange for President Gu? I'm so curious!

She probably didn't even hear the question clearly (laughs helplessly)

Shuzi's mind was still in a semi-dormant state, with waves of drowsiness rising, and she could only vaguely catch a few keywords such as "arrangement" and "half a day".

Her brain cells are only capable of managing one thing right now: sleeping.

Almost instinctively, she grabbed a pen and, without even looking, scribbled two large characters on her whiteboard: Sleep.

After finishing writing, I casually slammed the whiteboard onto the coffee table next to me, and my head started bobbing up and down. My eyelids began to droop wildly, and I was about to fall asleep again.

On the other side, Gu Yan also took over the whiteboard.

He held the pen, thought for only a moment, then his gaze swept across the living room and landed on the figure who was slumped over in sleep, covering his mouth and yawning for the nth time.

He smiled almost imperceptibly, then picked up his pen and, without much hesitation, wrote two words on his whiteboard before putting it down.

Five minutes passed in the blink of an eye.

"Alright! Time's up! Now, let's reveal the secrets and see what kind of surprises and love-filled half-days everyone has prepared for their partners!"

Director Liu rubbed his hands excitedly, "Let's start with... Jiang Yunyou and Su Yanhuan's group! Show them the questions!"

The two of them flipped the whiteboard over at the same time.

Jiang Yunyou wrote to Su Yanhuan: "Go to the beach and loudly recite 'The Stormy Petrel' ten times! Make sure it's done with great feeling!"

Su Yanhuan wrote to Jiang Yunyou: "Stand upside down on the beach for ten minutes and sing 'Conquer' in its entirety!"

The living room fell silent for a moment, then erupted in Jiang Yunyou's pig-like screams and Su Yanhuan's furious curses.