Chapter 180: A God-Tier Plot Twist

Hearing this outside, Qin Jingchen paused for a moment before turning his look toward Su Wanning. Before the two of them could exchange words, the door beside them was suddenly pulled open from the inside. Yin Shanshan stepped out looking furious, her complexion frighteningly dark. Wang Zan followed right behind her with an equally grim expression, the atmosphere between the two charged like a drawn bow.

Outside, quite a number of the program crew's staff and cameramen were gathered around, seemingly watching the spectacle.

No one paid them any mind at first glance, but a closer look would reveal that quite a few staff members did not wear expressions of worry or fear, but rather harbored a faint sense of anticipation and excitement.

[What is going on? Why would a female guest suddenly want to quit the show? She must have been bullied!]
[Everything was filming just fine, why are they suddenly arguing?]
[I've felt something was off since yesterday. Yesterday's broadcast content seemed a lot shorter, this probably has something to do with it.]
[It sounds like Yin Shanshan was unwilling to cooperate with the show's arrangements.]
[Yin Shanshan's dedication is famously well-known in the industry, okay? Don't go splashing dirty water on people without figuring out the whole story first; watch out for lawyer's warning letters!]

After coming out of the room, Yin Shanshan did not leave. Instead, she walked straight over to Fang Wei and sat down, keeping a cold face throughout and remaining completely silent. The living room fell into a pin-drop silence.

Su Wanning observed that after Yin Shanshan sat down, Fang Wei did not speak to her either. There wasn't even any eye contact between the two; they simply sat side by side in silence, giving off the distinct impression that Fang Wei was comforting her.

This was too bizarre. Su Wanning felt none of the tension of a standoff, but instead had a lingering sense that something smelled of a conspiracy.

The rest of the children were all staying by their respective parents' sides, with only Suyu and Niannian nowhere to be seen.

"Do you want to go back to the room and rest for a bit first?"

Qin Jingchen's expression was the calmest among everyone present. He seemed completely unconcerned about whatever conflict had arisen between Yin Shanshan and the director's team, looking only at Su Wanning as he asked softly.

Su Wanning opened her mouth, but before she could speak, she saw the director hurrying in from outside.

"Is everyone here? Nobody is allowed to leave, I have something to announce!"

This single sentence directly blocked Su Wanning's intended departure.

Everyone's eyes turned toward Wang Zan, waiting for him to explain the reason for his dispute with Yin Shanshan. However, he merely glanced at Yin Shanshan and said, somewhat stumbling over his words, "Today's filming might need to be temporarily suspended. Of course, the live broadcast will not end."

"Why is that, Director?" Yu Xin asked aloud.

Wang Zan glanced at Yin Shanshan once more.

"Well... as I believe everyone just heard, some friction has arisen between the production team and Yin Shanshan—"

"Friction? Far from it, Director. Why don't you dare speak the truth right in front of viewers nationwide?"

Yin Shanshan suddenly spoke up again, her voice loud enough to startle even Wang Zan.

"I... what do I have that I dare not say!"

Wang Zan hesitated for a moment, then puffed out his chest as if suddenly finding his momentum.

"You refuse to cooperate with the program's content. I announced that we would be doing games today, but you kept stalling and making excuses. If this goes on, how can our show continue filming, and what are the viewers supposed to watch?"

[This... I listened for a long time and still don't understand what they're actually arguing about.]
[What kind of game could possibly make Yin Shanshan go on strike like this?]
[Honestly though, if there's a conflict, it should be resolved in private. Why not turn off the live cameras first instead of forcing negative emotions onto the audience?]
[I bet they're just putting on a show together to drum up hype.]
[Blindly guessing this will trend on hot searches today, I bet a dollar.]
[Fight, fight! The livelier it is, the more I love watching it!]

The audience in the bullet comments was sharply polarized. Some were asking about the cause of the incident in relatively mild tones, while others were simply watching the drama unfold, hoping for an even bigger mess.

Taking advantage of the gap while everyone else was arguing, Su Wanning quietly took out her phone, opened a social media app, and took a look. Sure enough, the matter had already climbed to the top of the trending search list, and its popularity was still steadily rising.

Oddly enough, matters like this usually prompted netizens to piece together the context from even the flimsiest rumors, yet after browsing through the comment and repost sections, Su Wanning failed to find any credible narrative.

The consensus among most viewers was simply that they had no idea why a sudden argument had broken out.

By this point, Su Wanning had basically confirmed that the entire spectacle was staged. She just couldn't figure out why it was happening at this exact moment, nor what their ultimate objective was.

"Aren't you going to try and persuade them? It's no solution for them to keep arguing like this, how are we supposed to shoot our show?"

Yu Xin suddenly walked over to Su Wanning's side and offered a low-voiced reminder.

Su Wanning had never had any interest in such affairs, and furthermore, sticking her neck out without figuring out the origin of the dispute would only invite trouble for herself. Therefore, she shook her head decisively.

"I'm a bit tired. I'm going back to my room to rest for a while, just notify us once the matter here is settled."

With that, Su Wanning turned around, preparing to take Qin Jingchen and leave.

Right at that moment, Su Wanning's arm was grabbed from behind by Yu Xin, and Wang Zan's anxious voice rang out.

"No one is allowed to leave until we've reached a conclusion on this matter!"

That was the last straw for Su Wanning's patience.

"Then why don't you spell it out clearly for us—what on earth has happened?"

Now it was Wang Zan's turn to stumble. Seeming to harbor some unspeakable difficulty, he stammered for a long time without managing a complete sentence. Instead, Yin Shanshan chimed in from the side.

"Actually, it's nothing major, Director. We were supposed to play games this morning, but the temperature here is far too high, and my skin was already sunburned yesterday. Moreover, Yangyang isn't feeling well either, so I suggested switching to an indoor activity instead."

"And then?"

Yin Shanshan cast a glance at Wang Zan. "There's nothing more to say. I feel that Director Wang and I have irreconcilable differences in our views, so it's best to suspend our cooperation. I've decided to withdraw from recording the show."

As soon as these words dropped, the bullet comment section instantly exploded.

[Why would she want to quit?]
[Don't they consider the guests' physical health when shooting the show? They're stars, not oxen working in the fields!]
[The director really used to treat people like beasts of burden anyway,呵呵.]
[How can they bully someone like this? We support Yin Shanshan in quitting such a trashy show!]

The comments had tilted almost entirely in Yin Shanshan's favor, and the related hashtags quickly climbed the trending charts, populated largely by her fans and passing netizens voicing grievances on her behalf.

"Um, I've listened this whole time and it doesn't seem like things have gotten bad enough to warrant breaking a contract, right? Besides, the penalty fee for breach of contract is... quite hefty."

Su Wanning muttered this offhandedly, but upon hearing it, Wang Zan's eyes suddenly lit up, and he inexplicably snapped his fingers.

Immediately afterward, the door to Tian Boyu's room on the other side was pulled open from within, and the two children, Suyu and Niannian, slowly pushed out a cart.