“Since you’ve assigned me the task, can I at least choose the location myself?” Chi Yan clearly realized how difficult the mission would be.
The cameraman holding the video camera nodded slightly up and down.
Instantly, the livestream chat filled with comments.
“She wants to choose the location herself? Hopefully somewhere with fewer people!”
“The way the camera bobs is so cute. Chi Yan’s ‘I’ve lost all will to live’ expression is hilarious.”
“Still gotta say—the show’s being too harsh. Making the contestant earn money to buy a cake this late? A little too much!”
Chi Yan searched up a location and handed her phone to the staff member driving. “Can we go here?”
Knowing she was still on livestream, she didn’t say the address out loud.
After a while, she changed her mind and said, “Cut the stream now. I’ll end up being exposed if we keep going.”
“Alright,” the cameraman replied after contacting the director, “but when you’re earning money, I’ll film from a distance.”
“Hold this thing and everyone will know what’s going on. Do you have a smaller camera?”
After getting the go-ahead to pause the livestream, the cameraman added, “Don’t worry. A colleague of mine is bringing a compact setup.”
Chi Yan finally relaxed and leaned back again to rest her eyes.
She kept thinking—how should she make money?
The most traditional way would be performing on the street, like singing or playing an instrument, to get tips. But the show required her to stay anonymous, and performing would be a risk.
A cake would cost at least 200 yuan, and it was already past 8 p.m. It would take half an hour to get back to the dorm, so she needed to buy the cake by 9:30 at the latest.
Before she could think of a plan, they arrived at the underground parking lot of a mall.
“Stay in the car and get ready. I’ll go grab the gear from my colleague,” said the cameraman, stepping out of the car.
As soon as he left, Chi Yan quickly put on the fox mask.
There was a small mirror in the car. She used a hair tie to pull her hair into a bun and checked her reflection.
“With this much covered up, no one should recognize me now.”
“You’re good to go. Follow me,” the cameraman said when he returned. They took a freight elevator up to the 10th floor. “The front entrance is packed, so we had to come this way.”
“Thanks, that helped a lot.”
Sure enough, the mall was jam-packed. The shops around them were swarming with people.
“It’s Saturday,” Chi Yan suddenly remembered. “Of course everyone’s out shopping.”
“We have no choice. Take a minute to get ready. Once you’re good to go, signal me with an ‘OK’ sign—we need to go live in ten minutes. I’ll be filming from a distance.”
“Alright.”
Chi Yan tightened the straps of her mask. As people passed by, she stepped aside and gave the cameraman the “OK” sign.
She calmly walked forward. With the crowd, she had to stop and observe frequently.
This floor mostly had clothing, cosmetics, and accessories shops. The customers were mainly groups of young women. Chi Yan walked straight into a cosmetics store.
Before entering, she noticed a sign at the door that said they were hiring makeup artists. She figured maybe she could make money doing makeup for customers.
Inside, the shop was bustling. Girls were packed in, checking out shimmering eyeshadows and lipstick shades.
Chi Yan stood awkwardly in a corner, clearly out of place.
A gentle-looking store assistant approached and said, “Miss, welcome. I’ll guide you in. Sorry it’s so crowded today.”
“Are you still hiring makeup artists?” Chi Yan asked directly. “Just for an hour.”
The assistant looked surprised and a bit hesitant. “Um, I’ll have to ask the store manager. Could you wait here a moment?”
Chi Yan nodded. “Thanks for the help.”
A short while later, the manager came over with the assistant.
“I heard you want to work as a makeup artist for just one hour? Why only an hour?” the manager asked, sounding cold and skeptical.
“I want to buy a cake for a friend, but I don’t have any money right now.”
The manager frowned, staring at her for a moment. “This isn’t a charity.”
“But, I’ll give you a chance. If the customer is satisfied, I’ll pay you 200 yuan. If not, you get nothing.”
Chi Yan thought she was out of luck, so she immediately accepted.
“Take off your mask and change into a uniform,” the manager said.
Chi Yan placed a hand on the mask and replied, “Sorry, I can’t take it off. If I do, your business might get affected.”
The manager assumed she meant she was ugly under the mask and responded with an “Oh, alright then. Keep it on. We’ve got a promo going on anyway.”
“Thank you, manager.”
The assistant helped her change and said softly, “Don’t mind how our manager acts—she’s actually the softest-hearted of us all.”
“I can tell,” Chi Yan replied.
The assistant hesitated and added, “Your voice sounds really familiar… I feel like I’ve heard it somewhere before.”
Chi Yan tensed—was she really about to be recognized this quickly?
“Really? Maybe I just have a common voice. You’ve probably heard someone similar.”
The assistant seemed convinced. “Yeah, that makes sense.”
“New girl,” the manager called from outside the changing room. “Ready? We’ve got a customer waiting for makeup.”
“Coming!”
Wearing the staff uniform, Chi Yan followed the manager to the makeup counter.
The manager was chatting with the customer. After a brief exchange, she pointed at Chi Yan, and the customer said, “Okay, let her do it.”
The manager was about to say something else when another customer called her over. She rushed off, only tossing a quick, “Do a good job” behind her.
“Hello, what kind of makeup would you like today?” Chi Yan asked.
The customer explained her preferences, and Chi Yan nodded confidently.
Ten minutes later, she had done the customer’s eyebrows and base makeup. Then she held up an eyeshadow palette and lipstick. “Which colors would you like?”
After more work, she finished the highlights and contour.
“How’s this?”
The customer looked in the mirror, nodded, and said, “Pretty good. Not bad at all. When does this event end? I want to bring my friends next time.”
“I’m not really sure—you’ll have to ask our store manager.” Although Chi Yan didn’t know what the customer was referring to, it was easy enough to dodge the question.
The store manager happened to be done with her previous task and came over, asking, “So, are you satisfied?”
Chi Yan stood to the side listening to their conversation, feeling confident that she’d secured the money.
Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced around the store and was surprised to see the cameraman inside as well.
What Chi Yan didn’t know was that the livestream chat had already exploded.
“Oh my god! Our girl’s makeup skills are insane!”
“Chi Yan’s proving with actions that even if she can’t act, she could totally be a makeup artist. I’m impressed.”
“Which chain store is this? I’ve been staring at it trying to figure it out but still can’t. Anyone know?”
“Wait… why do I feel like I’m in this store right now???”
The store manager finished talking to the customer and handed Chi Yan 200 yuan in cash.
“You did pretty well today. If you ever want a long-term job, feel free to come work here.”
“Thank you, manager, but I don’t think I’ll need a long-term job.”
Chi Yan handed the money to the cameraman and quietly asked, “Does this mean I’ve completed my mission?”
“There were some unexpected hiccups, but I’ll give you a pass.”
“What happened?” Chi Yan pressed. “Did I get exposed?”
“Your fan, who was watching the livestream, realized she was in the same store as you.”
Chi Yan’s mind went blank for a second. She had never experienced being surrounded by fans in her past life, but she’d witnessed the frenzy that followed other high-profile celebrities. She knew she wouldn’t be able to handle that kind of chaos.
“What do we do now?”
“The director has already cut the livestream. As long as we’re cautious, we’ll be fine. But you still have to go pick out the cake yourself.”
Chi Yan quickly bid farewell to the store manager and staff. “My friend’s been texting me to hurry up. I’ve gotta run, see you next time!”
The cameraman had already figured out the route. He led Chi Yan to the freight elevator, which thankfully had few people around.
“Moon Dew is a few floors up. Let’s go buy it there.”
Thankfully, no one recognized her during the cake-buying process—it was a close call.
“Next time, please don’t spring a mission on me out of nowhere. It’s exhausting,” Chi Yan said to the cameraman in the elevator, cake box in hand.
The cameraman didn’t respond—this wasn’t something he had control over.
Chi Yan understood their position and didn’t bring it up again.
As they were walking back to the car, she overheard two girls chatting nearby about her.
“I’m certain that was Yanyan! But I didn’t dare go up to her. If she got recognized, her mission would’ve failed! I almost screamed.”
“I’m so mad—I wasn’t even looking that way! Who knows when I’ll get this close to her again?”
“This is too hard. We’re suffering.”
She turned around and saw that the two girls looked like students.
“There aren’t many people around now,” the cameraman remarked.
Chi Yan suddenly said, “Can you hold the cake for a second? I want to take a photo with the fans. I’ll be quick.”
The two girls were overjoyed when they saw her and couldn’t hold back their excited squeals.
“Shhh.” Chi Yan took off her mask and held a finger to her lips. “Mind taking a photo with me?”
After taking the photo, the two fans were left in a daze, overwhelmed by the sudden happiness.
Chi Yan said goodbye to them, “I have to get back to the production crew. Take care on your way home.”
The girls nodded wildly and watched her get into the car.
Back at the apartment, Chi Yan brought the cake to the dining room. Most of the contestants were already there.
“That was close. You almost got exposed—it was so intense,” Han Feifei said, looking up from her phone while seated at the table.
Chi Yan placed the cake in front of her. “Happy birthday. You open it yourself later. Where’s everyone else?”
Han Feifei smiled. “Everyone else had missions today too. The ones who haven’t finished theirs haven’t come back yet.”
Chi Yan spotted Ye Jiawen and walked over. “What was your mission? You look so miserable.”
Ye Jiawen replied, “I’ve never seen a kitchen disaster with destruction on this level.”
“Who?”
“Me.”
The production team had arranged the missions because the show’s ratings were dropping. They used Han Feifei’s birthday as an opportunity to give the contestants some tricky—but not too difficult—tasks to draw the audience’s attention.
After hanging out with everyone for a while—and having practiced dance all day—Chi Yan took a shower and fell into a deep sleep.
