Chapter 167: Unfair

"Now that the garbage weight for all families has been tallied, the current first-place winner is Su Wanning's family with forty-seven pounds. Therefore, they will also receive an additional reward of three seashells!"

As Wang Zan spoke, a photography assistant handed a heavy little bag of seashells over to Su Wanning.

Looking at the other families, none of their bags were even half full—not even close to half of Su Wanning's amount.

Seeing this, it was inevitable for some to feel envious, though while some were good at masking it, others felt the urge to vent their dissatisfaction right on the spot.

Feng Rui had been picking up trash all morning, the scorching sun making her head feel as though it were about to steam, and her mood was already volatile. Seeing Su Wanning receive so many seashells that could be used for trading naturally left her feeling displeased, so she voiced her discontent right in front of everyone.

"Director, I think this game is completely unfair. Why should first place get an extra reward of three seashells? The amount first place has is already way more than enough!"

Before Wang Zan could respond, Yu Xin glanced sideways at her and scoffed mockingly, "If the reward isn't given to first place, should it be given to last place instead? That's not a reward, that's a consolation prize."

Yu Xin's remark was dripping with sarcasm.

After all, among all the participating groups, the one that collected the least amount of garbage was Feng Rui's group. She herself had only gathered five pounds of trash, which was even less than the young Mingming.

Mingming, who had long been annoyed with Feng Rui, plopped straight down onto the sand.

"It's all your fault, you bad woman, for only picking up that tiny bit of garbage! That's why we ended up in last place. I think you're the real piece of garbage here. Director Uncle, can you throw this bad woman out?"

Mingming spoke with the uninhibited innocence of a child. Hearing such harsh words, Feng Rui's mouth twisted in anger, but constrained by the nearby cameras, she couldn't throw a direct tantrum and instead redirected her hostility toward Su Wanning.

"But I'm right, aren't I, Director? Su Wanning's family has President Qin helping out, and they also have one more child than us, so the weight of their garbage is naturally higher. Things shouldn't be calculated this way, right?"

[Actually, Feng Rui isn't wrong this time. Su Wanning's side definitely has an advantage in numbers.]

[Even if you compare it on an individual basis, Feng Rui's total weight is still pitifully low.]

[The face of jealousy couldn't be any more obvious.]

[Jealous? Then why don't you get your husband to come help out too!]

A number of fans in the live stream chat had already spontaneously stepped up to defend Su Wanning's image, though it was unclear whether their loyalty was directed at Su Wanning or Qin Jinchen.

"This... the rules of the show's game indeed have a few flaws. I've received everyone's feedback, and the director's team will make improvements in the upcoming episodes."

Wang Zan's tone was somewhat hesitant as he found himself caught in the middle.

He couldn't admit directly on camera that the setup was unfair, as that would be equivalent to a public slap in the face to both Qin Jinchen and Su Wanning, yet the rules indeed had problematic aspects.

Right at the start of the game, Wang Zan had calculated that everything had to be organized by family units to make it easier to market the romance between Su Wanning and Qin Jinchen.

He just hadn't expected it to backfire.

Even though Wang Zan had stepped forward to take the blame, Feng Rui remained unsatisfied.

"That won't do. This matter can't just be let go so easily. You need to make things clear today. We're going to the market to buy things later, and their family has so many people and collected so many seashells, giving them a clear advantage. This is completely unfair."

Just as Feng Rui's voice trailed off, Yin Shanshan chimed in softly, "Director, actually, what Feng Rui said makes some sense. Everyone picks up trash for the sake of environmental protection, right? You shouldn't show favoritism when it comes to rewards."

Yin Shanshan always liked to muddy the waters, passing the trouble onto others while keeping the benefits for herself.

With these words, it was blatantly obvious she wanted Wang Zan to redistribute the seashells.

"This..."

Wang Zan's gaze drifted hesitatingly toward Qin Jinchen, carefully observing his expression. With this formidable big shot standing right beside them, he didn't dare make a rash decision, plunging him straight into a dilemma.

At that moment, Su Wanning suddenly stood up, took three seashells directly from her own bag, and handed them to Wang Zan.

"I think what everyone is saying makes sense. The rules of this game are indeed unfair. Since we've already taken the most seashells, we shouldn't accept the extra reward."

An uproar swept through the crowd at her words, and even Yin Shanshan was caught off guard, never expecting Su Wanning to compromise this time.

Yu Xin stepped forward and whispered to advise her, "Don't act out of spite. You earned this through your own labor; why give it up?"

[Is this really the Sister Su we know?]

[Sure enough, once a person falls in love, the thorns on them soften right up.]

[Boring. I thought Su Wanning would start a shouting match with them.]

[Did the sun rise from the west today? Why is Su Wanning suddenly being so gentle?]

[It's probably because President Qin is here, so she doesn't want to argue with anyone, right?]

"I'm not acting out of spite. I just think people have a point. However, as for the rest of the seashells—"

As she spoke, Su Wanning turned her head, her gaze sweeping calmly across the faces of Feng Rui and Yin Shanshan. Though she wore no particular expression, it still sent a jolt through their hearts.

"I'm sorry, but we cannot hand those over. After all, these were earned through the hard work of ourselves and the children. It's true that our family has a numerical advantage, but our material needs are also greater—our headcount is right here, after all. So while we agree that this specific rule was unfair, don't forget that everyone else also put in labor."

[What Su Wanning says makes complete sense.]

[Other families only need to buy one portion of things, but her family needs to buy two or even more. What's wrong with taking a few more seashells?]

[It's already generous of them not to demand special treatment from the director. They exchanged seashells using garbage they picked up themselves, so why are people still finding reasons to nitpick?]

[As expected, Sister Su is still your Sister Su.]

[I support Su Wanning! This is the only fair way!]

Su Wanning's words left everyone completely speechless. Feng Rui was clearly unconvinced and wanted to say more, but she couldn't squeeze out a single word after a long hesitation.

Mingming scrambled up from the sand all of a sudden and poured fuel on the fire, shouting, "Give all the seashells to Auntie Su! Auntie Su is the best! Don't give a single one to this bad woman!"

Feng Rui took a deep breath, unable to quell the fury raging inside her. Glaring down at Mingming, she wished nothing more than to raise her foot and kick him straight into the nearby ocean.

"Alright then, we'll settle it this way. From now on, first place will no longer receive extra rewards, and as for Su Wanning's family, considering their larger household size, the seashells they earned will remain theirs. Now, everyone follow me to check out the island's self-service store!"

"A store?" Feng Rui's heart skipped a beat, and Fang Wei beside her also wore a puzzled expression.

The director led everyone toward the woods behind the house.

In the daylight, the forest didn't appear eerie and terrifying like it had that night. Instead, with the tree canopy providing shade, the temperature inside the woods was noticeably lower than down on the beach.