Lifting a rock only to drop it on one's own feet

"Of course we have cured pork, but it costs one seashell more than regular pork."

Upon hearing this, Yu Xin immediately nodded, "Then I'll take one catty! Sister Shanshan, that's alright, isn't it?"

Yu Xin blinked, seemingly asking casually, but Yin Shanshan could not afford to lose face in front of the cameras, so she could only force a nod.

"Braised pork, braised pork, I want to eat braised pork!"

Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, Mingming shouted in dissatisfaction. In the end, Yin Shanshan had no choice but to tearfully purchase five catties of pork.

By this point, the seashells in Yin Shanshan's pocket had been completely depleted, yet they still fell short of gathering enough ingredients for even two dishes.

Even if they combined all of Fang Wei's seashells, they could only afford the ingredients necessary for bamboo shoot soup with salted duck and braised pork.

It was only then that Su Wanning spoke up, "However, since things are so expensive here, I'm afraid Sister Shanshan's seashells might not be enough?"

Yin Shanshan wanted to retort, but words failed her.

The next second, Su Wanning smiled slightly. Looking at this confident smile and her direct gaze, a sudden sense of foreboding swept through Yin Shanshan's heart.

What is she trying to do?

"How about we do this instead? After all, this is everyone's dinner and our very first meal after arriving on the island. Making a bet with the director's team was just a joke; if everyone contributes just a few seashells and pools them together, wouldn't we be able to buy all the ingredients for dinner? I'll go first, I'll put in ten seashells."

Su Wanning's tactic was an exact copy of Yin Shanshan's, intentionally waiting until the latter fell into a predicament before stepping in to play the good Samaritan and taking all the credit for herself.

Sure enough, Yin Shanshan's expression stiffened slightly as she glanced at the livestream comments, only to find that quite a few netizens had already started praising Su Wanning, while those mentioning her own name were few and far between. Even the viewer count in the livestream room was dropping rapidly.

Yin Shanshan's complexion changed, but it was already too late to stop it. As soon as Su Wanning finished speaking, Tian Boyu chimed in from the side, "I'll put in ten too!"

Hearing this, Yu Xin couldn't help turning to look at him. Tian Boyu had previously collected a total of thirteen catties of trash, leaving him with only thirteen seashells now.

"I'll put in eight."

"Then I'll contribute five."

……

Su Wanning's proposal won the unanimous agreement of everyone present. In the end, by pooling their seashells together, they had more than enough to purchase the ingredients. Beyond that, everyone used the remaining seashells in their own pockets to buy some necessities.

Mingming had taken a fancy to an Ultraman toy, but his own seashells were far from enough. Seeing him looking so pitiful, Daxi took the initiative to lend him two seashells.

[As expected, children are the most innocent; the adults almost started a fight over some food ingredients.]

The richest family right now must be Su Wanning's. After shelling out ten seashells, they still have plenty left over.

Why has little Niannian been staring at the cake the whole time?

Little Niannian stood motionless in front of the cake display counter, her eyes fixed intently on a cake adorned with pink decorations, staring blankly. Suisui stood beside her and asked succinctly, "You want this?"

"Mhm!" Niannian nodded without hesitation, for some reason holding such stubborn attachment to the cake.

"But we don't have money."

As soon as he finished speaking, Suisui turned around and walked away. Niannian's little face immediately drooped, gazing longingly at the cake in the showcase, but she had no choice but to turn and follow him.

[What an ultimate straight-steel-block of a big brother.]

[That made me laugh so hard I spat out my tea!]

[I thought Suisui would show off some brotherly power and take the initiative to say I'll buy it for you, but I never expected such a cruel reminder.]

[That cake costs sixty seashells, the two kids really don't have the money.]

[So pitiful, go find Dad quickly, Dad will definitely have a way!]

[Director, immediately and right now, send a cake into Niannian's hands, put it on my tab!]

Once free shopping commenced, Qin Jingchen followed closely behind Su Wanning, trailing her no matter which display window she went to.

After walking a few steps, Su Wanning found it strange, stopped, and turned back to ask him, "Why do you keep following me? Don't you have anything you want to buy?"

"You gave all your seashells to them to buy ingredients. I'll let you use mine."

Qin Jingchen's words were as sparse as ever, but his meaning was crystal clear. Hearing this, Su Wanning was taken aback, and the livestream chat exploded once again.

[Proof positive of a wife-pampering maniac.]

[When will this dog-food eating ever end?]

[All my money goes for my wife to spend, President Qin is so obedient.]

"No need, really. Just spend your own on whatever you want to buy. I see everything here is available, and you earned those seashells yourself."

Of course, Su Wanning couldn't possibly accept, otherwise she would be ruthlessly flamed by netizens once more. She hurriedly waved her hand, trying her best to put on a considerate expression.

Yet who would have thought that the more resistant she was, the more moved Qin Jingchen would feel in his heart. Without further ado, he pulled Su Wanning by the arm and led her straight to the snack counter nearby.

"You like eating chocolate, right? Is this one good?"

Seeing Su Wanning stand there in a daze without answering, Qin Jingchen simply reached out and took it down.

"And potato chips, cookies……"

Qin Jingchen furrowed his brows slightly as he earnestly studied every single snack on the shelf, his expression resembling someone meticulously verifying figures on a business contract.

[These are all my favorite snacks, President Qin understands women so well.]

[Stop buying snacks, President Qin, your daughter has almost gone crazy wanting a piece of cake.]

[He's completely not thinking about leaving anything for the kids……]

[Adults and kids can both eat snacks.]

In the end, before Su Wanning could even react, Qin Jingchen had already pocketed numerous cards depicting snack packaging, spending his seashells down until only a single one remained.

When everyone emerged from the general store, they saw that the production team had set up a table on the side. As each person walked over with their cards, the staff would magically pull the corresponding physical items out from beneath the table.

Everyone carried some amount of snacks, daily necessities, or toys in their arms, with the sole exception of Fang Wei and Yin Shanshan's families, whose arms were filled entirely with vegetables and meat.

Xiaotian kept holding Fang Wei's hand, while his eyes gazed longingly and enviously at Mingming nearby, who was holding his Ultraman toy and having the time of his life.

Yet, being timid, he didn't dare to take the initiative and go play with Mingming. The yearning leaking from his eyes made Fang Wei's heart ache, making her regret for the first time that she had stepped in to bail Yin Shanshan out.

Yangyang had always been sensible, helping Yin Shanshan carry things. However, upon seeing the snacks cradled in Su Wanning's arms and reading the discussions among netizens in the chat, Yin Shanshan still felt as though a massive boulder had been wedged into her chest, pressing down so heavily she could barely breathe.

She had originally thought that making a bet with the director would be a wonderful opportunity to showcase herself, yet she never expected that the limelight would ultimately be stolen by Su Wanning once again.

This woman was simply too scheming; one could not help but be on guard against her.

What everyone had purchased were dinner ingredients. When they returned to their little courtyard, the lunch prepared by the program team was already laid out on the table.

Scavenging for trash looked simple, but it was a massive drain on physical stamina. Sitting around the table together, everyone spoke very little and simply lowered their heads to eat.