CHAPTER 440: CHAPTER 440 WHAT SIGNAL ARE YOU GIVING?

Wei Lan blinked her eyes, clearly skeptical of Sang Ning’s words.

With Lu Yujing here, can Sang Ning really have a proper conversation?

Earlier, when shopping for clothes, Wei Lan noticed that Lu Yujing and Sang Ning were not getting along. To avoid Lu Yujing suddenly throwing out some passive-aggressive remarks targeting Sang Ning, she simply walked ahead with Lu Yujing.

When you’re out having fun, the most important thing is to be happy. If you can avoid trouble, then always try to avoid trouble.

Once the shopping was done, it was time to head back to New Island. They would be returning to New Island by helicopter again.

The guests hadn’t livestreamed when they left New Island by helicopter in the morning, but now the livestream was on. The viewers watching were in shock to see the guests traveling to and from New Island by helicopter.

[Is this season of the show really this rich? I still remember how, in previous seasons, there were instances when the guests were so down bad that they had to ride donkey carts. Now they’ve suddenly jumped to traveling by helicopter. I feel a bit disoriented.]

[This isn’t a vacation; this is indulgence. I want to experience this kind of treatment too. Can you invite me next season? I’m great at eating, awesome at playing, totally perfect for a travel show.]

[Seems like this season has no shortage of sponsors. Can you let us have a taste of this luxurious travel experience too?]

The helicopter was parked on a vast grassy field, and just as the guests were preparing to board, the roar of vehicles echoed from the asphalt road in the distance.

Following the sound, they saw three black luxury SUVs speeding toward them. The design of the cars was sleek, and the paint gleamed with a premium finish.

Once the three vehicles came to a stop, someone got out of the first car.

It was a blond, fair-skinned elderly man, dressed impeccably in a full tailcoat suit despite the sweltering heat.

He stepped out, pressed his hands—one on his lower abdomen, the other on his back—and bowed formally toward the guests, exuding elegance and charm.

When the guests turned to look at him, he suddenly jumped up on the spot, waving his hands wildly in the air and shouting, "Wait a moment! Wait a moment!"

He was speaking in flawless, accent-free Mandarin.

Since arriving on New Island, Sang Ning had often felt like she hadn’t left China at all. That feeling intensified when she heard a blond, blue-eyed old man speaking perfect Mandarin.

"So, the world really is just one giant China Village, huh? No matter how remote a corner of the world you go to, you can always hear familiar Chinese spoken," Sang Ning sighed to her friends, who all nodded in agreement.

The tailcoat-wearing blond man motioned toward the other vehicles, and seven other men dressed identically in tailcoats with bow ties at their collars stepped out from the cars.

The seven men lined up neatly in a row, holding beautifully packaged small boxes at chest level, each looking like professionally trained high-end attendants.

"Ready, go!"

At the blond man’s command, the seven attendants lifted their legs high and marched forward in perfect sync until they reached Sang Ning and her group, where they came to a halt.

"What’s going on here? Director Zhou, is this a surprise arranged by the production team?" Sang Ning asked towards the camera, feeling like the program was about to prank them. She instinctively took a step back.

Seeing Sang Ning step back, the others unconsciously followed suit.

As they retreated, the seven men advanced. After a few back-and-forth steps of this stalemate, the blond man ran over with a smile and greeted them, "Esteemed guests, hello! I’m Louis, your dedicated butler for this trip. You can call me Xiao Lu."

Sang Ning’s eyelid twitched. The scale of this trip had officially gone overboard. She frantically exchanged glances with Zhou Rui behind the camera. Zhou Rui, equally perplexed, spread his hands in confusion.

"Open!" Louis commanded again.

The seven attendants simultaneously opened their gift boxes, and Sang Ning quickly scanned them from left to right. Inside each box were sunglasses—in various designs—that looked exactly like the luxury ones they had seen at Belis Optical Center earlier.

"Esteemed guests, this is a small appetizer for your journey. We hope you won’t find it too humble," Louis said with a graceful bow.

The guests immediately recognized these sunglasses as the ones they had seen at the mall earlier. They exchanged baffled glances. What was going on? They had been rudely turned away earlier, and now someone was personally delivering gifts—was this a trap?

Wary of Louis and the mysterious origins of the sunglasses, none of them dared to take a pair, except Li Haidong. Without hesitation, he picked up the one he had his eye on earlier, put it on, and said with satisfaction, "Nice, Xiao Lu. I’m impressed."

[The production team really delivers, huh? I just mentioned wanting to see some luxury travel, and bam—they give me this. Look at the sunglasses Uncle Hai is wearing—those aren’t cheap; they’re over twenty thousand yuan! The show’s flexing hard now.]

[Two... twenty thousand? What kind of gold-plated sunglasses are these?]

[Forget the sunglasses; now there’s even a dedicated butler for the trip. Production team, I see you reaching for the stars!]

Given the robbery incident from before, Zhou Rui now had a knee-jerk reaction whenever strangers approached the guests; his paranoia kicked in as he discreetly called Louis over off-camera.

Once Louis was near, Zhou Rui immediately wore a stern expression, purposefully adopting an aggressive tone: "So, what kind of organization are you from this time? I’m warning you—I have connections in Belis. Heard about what happened last night? My friends helped wipe out that group. If you know what’s good for you, leave now. Don’t mess with us."

Louis wasn’t fazed in the slightest. He winked at Zhou Rui and replied, "Young man, don’t get worked up. This was arranged by the sponsors; just accept it."

Following Louis’s gaze, Zhou Rui saw Li Haidong taking off his sunglasses, nodding his chin at him while winking quickly, then flashing an OK gesture.

It was only then Zhou Rui relaxed, though he couldn’t help muttering internally.

Just who exactly was Li Haidong? His resume had merely said he was an experienced travel enthusiast—it hadn’t mentioned he was secretly a wealthy bigwig, right?

Seeing how guarded the other guests were toward Louis, Zhou Rui figured Li Haidong hadn’t clued them in beforehand. It looked like he’d have to step in himself.

Zhou Rui ordered Louis to return to his spot, then explained to the guests off-camera, "Attention, everyone. I forgot to tell you—since you all look and carry yourselves so well, New Island has specially appointed you as the local Tourism Ambassadors. Starting today, you’ll have a dedicated travel butler for the next two days, so feel free to relax and enjoy yourselves. Everything will be covered by New Island!"

The baffled guests collectively let out a sigh of relief, followed by joyful cheers. After all, what’s better than free food, drinks, and fun?

Only Sang Ning sensed that something wasn’t quite right. Narrowing her eyes at Li Haidong, she asked him curiously, "Uncle, what secret signals were you and Director Zhou exchanging earlier?"