The first task was anything but friendly.
Min Jeongbae put down the letter. "As if it wasn't little enough, now they want to steal from us? You people seriously have zero shame."
"How about we take turns standing watch?" Cai Jia suggested. "It's just a few hours, right? If everyone takes a 90-minute shift, we'll get through the night."
"Take turns... standing watch? I can't. I'm useless once I'm asleep," Zhang Ning waved her hand firmly. "I'm not as young as you all."
"Then the four of us can do it. Two hours each," Cai Jia replied, treating it like game strategy. For a gamer like her, staying up was just another weekday.
"Cough—staying up isn't the problem. I'm just not in good shape today," Min Jeongbae said awkwardly. "We just flew in, and I'm exhausted. I'm worried I'll fall asleep during my shift."
"I normally go to bed at eleven," said Luo Jianhui matter-of-factly.
No one seemed to support Cai Jia's plan. She looked annoyed, eyes darting to Chu Zhi in hopes that someone young would take her side.
"Everyone's tired from the flight," Chu Zhi said gently. "So we'll use one of our emergency tokens and ask the staff to watch the money tonight. Getting proper rest means we'll be ready when the show tries to mess with us tomorrow."
He knew full well it was unrealistic to expect someone older—or someone unused to staying up—to keep sharp for two hours in the middle of the night. More importantly, this was a golden chance to win audience favor, and he wasn't about to waste it.
"The captain's right. It's the best of both worlds," Min Jeongbae nodded.
Cai Jia bristled. "But we only get two emergency tokens! We're using one already?"
"They're there to be used," Zhang Ning replied. "We're all tired. If staying up ruins our energy for tomorrow, it's not worth the trade."
"I'm not tired. I can do it myself," Cai Jia blurted out.
"Rest up. Early to bed, early to rise—health first," Chu Zhi answered indirectly, but his tone made it clear the decision was final. "Staying up late is harder than you think."
"You people don't know how to play," Cai Jia muttered, furious. She stormed off to her room without another word.
The door slammed shut with a heavy "thud," making her feelings obvious. She immediately regretted voting for Chu Zhi as team leader. If she'd known this would happen, she would've nominated herself.
She still remembered her agent's endless warnings: don't start fights with Chu Zhi. Of all the guests, he was the one person she absolutely had to get along with.
But now? Her previous goodwill from the luggage help vanished. He was clearly bending over backward for Zhang Ning just because she was a senior. No spine. No conviction.
With that mindset, she didn't speak a single word to her roommate that night.
At first, Zhang Ning tried to keep the peace, tossing out casual conversation here and there. But Cai Jia's replies were so stiff and curt that she eventually gave up.
Zhang Ning wasn't someone to take it lying down either. Her face darkened immediately. Wow, so we're fighting already? The show's barely started.
All over one emergency token? She could've just stayed up and saved it. But no, no one listened.
"Hard to stay awake in the middle of the night?" Cai Jia scoffed internally. "The moon's awake and so am I. I'm the queen of late nights."
She removed her makeup, got into bed, and stared at the ceiling. Couldn't sleep a wink. She normally didn't even consider sleeping until two in the morning. Staying up was her thing.
So why couldn't she sleep now...?
Time: 1:30 a.m.
Location: Living room
Subject: Chu Zhi
Chu Zhi told Min Jeongbae he was going out for a smoke. He hadn't used the emergency token at all. Instead, he sat alone in the living room, head bowed over a copy of Annotations on Biographies of the Tang Poets.
That's right. As team leader, he stayed up to guard the money himself, saving the team's precious token. That was leadership.
And, incidentally—just incidentally—this would let the audience know he hardly slept. Two birds, one stone.
At 2:15 a.m., he heard the sound of the door lock turning. These mountain-side hot spring inns in Japan often retained old-fashioned key systems instead of keycards, likely to preserve their rustic charm.
"The most difficult hours for staying awake are around 2:30 and 4:30," Chu Zhi muttered, closing his book and focusing on the entrance.
A moment later, a figure crept around the corner. Dressed like a masked character straight out of a martial arts drama, only the eyes were visible.
The Gold Thief.
He tiptoed inside... and immediately locked eyes with Chu Zhi on the sofa.
"Uh—" The thief bolted.
"Round one, secured," Chu Zhi said, getting up and shutting the door. The locks had been modified so they couldn't be secured from the inside.
At 4:00 a.m., the thief tried again. Same result. He hadn't even managed to touch the money.
Chu Zhi was still wide awake. Earlier, the effects of a sleep aid he'd taken on the plane had left him in a deep slumber, so now he was fully refreshed and alert.
The room had excellent soundproofing, so he didn't notice that, in the southern bedroom, Cai Jia had stirred.
She'd fallen asleep around eleven without even realizing it.
"Huh? When did I fall asleep?" she blinked, confused.
Then it hit her. She could stay up late, sure—but only if she had a phone or game console. With nothing to do, the boredom knocked her right out.
If Chu Zhi hadn't decided to use the emergency token—if she'd been asked to stay up for real—she would've embarrassed herself in front of everyone.
She could accept online comments saying she was a bad actor, or that her line delivery sucked. Sure, she wasn't perfect. Whatever.
But "weak and still wants to play"? That one stung.
"Did the crew protect our wallet?" she wondered.
She climbed out of bed quietly, barefoot so she wouldn't wake Zhang Ning. Slowly, she opened the bedroom door.
And there he was—Chu Zhi.
"No way... Did he lie about using the emergency token so we could sleep peacefully, and then stay up alone instead?" The thought hit her hard. She felt like someone had dropped a sheer curtain over her heart. She'd been blaming him earlier.
Should she go out and join him?
But what would she even say?
Chu Zhi had chosen to "lie" so his teammates could sleep without worry. If she went out there now, wouldn't that ruin the gesture?
Caught between guilt and hesitation, Cai Jia lingered for half a minute before gently closing the door and returning to bed.
In the main building, far from the annex, producer and director Che Lun was already awake. He'd gone to bed at ten, and it was now five in the morning.
A deputy director had been assigned to monitor the night shift. Everything had gone smoothly.
"Did the Gold Thief succeed?" Che Lun asked, stepping into the monitoring room.
"Uh... no. Chu Zhi stayed up all night and caught them both times. He didn't even look tired," the deputy replied.
Che Lun raised an eyebrow. "No one can stay up all night without getting tired." The deputy had napped earlier. But one look at the table—coffee cups, cigarette butts—told the truth.
Curious, Che Lun asked for details. Upon learning that Chu Zhi had stayed up reading and even taking notes, he couldn't help but look up the book's title.
Biographies of the Tang Poets, compiled during the Yuan Dynasty by Xin Wenfang. The edition Chu Zhi read had been annotated by Master Fu, correcting numerous errors and tracing historical references.
"Savage," Che Lun muttered. "Who stays up reading classical Chinese all night?"
He had taken their phones away, subjected them to a long flight, and figured that would exhaust even the most enthusiastic idol. But instead of losing money or wasting a token, Chu Zhi—this absolute monster—held the line.
Even the deputy director had to admit it. No one could fake this. Reading Zhuangzi all night just for show? Who'd do that?
No phone. No distractions. Just a man and his book.
Brutal.