69novels Chapter 26 Too Much Sugar Will Make Your Teeth Fall Out
Chapter 26 Too Much Sugar Will Make Your Teeth Fall Out
(After this chapter ends, this variety show will also end; there will be sweet moments later.)
Zhang Dulian was the first to stand up, striding to the table and staring at the two eggs in the plate.
"challenge!"
Sun Changyu pressed the timer, and the 60-second countdown began.
Zhang Dulian picked up the egg on the left and cracked it against her forehead. The shell shattered, and the yolk dripped through her fingers.
Raw eggs.
The surrounding staff let out a hushed chuckle.
Zhang Dulian wiped the egg liquid from his forehead with his sleeve without changing his expression, urging FD to hurry up and put the next batch of eggs on the table.
FD quickly switched to a new set of props. Zhang Dulian took a deep breath, picked up the egg on his right, closed his eyes, and smashed it against his forehead.
The eggshell cracked; this time it's cooked.
She quickly grabbed one of the two sushi pieces next to her, stuffed it into her mouth without even looking at it, chewed it a couple of times, swallowed it, and her eyes lit up.
In the third round, she was lucky enough to choose a Coke and drank it all in one go.
"Ten seconds."
Sun Changyu calmly announced the time.
Zhang Dulian immediately rushed to the spinning wheel, flicked it hard, and the pointer spun between "Value for Money" and "Price-Performance Ratio," drawing everyone's attention to that tiny pointer...
The pointer finally stopped in the "heart value ratio" area.
"success!"
As soon as Sun Changyu finished speaking, Zhang Dulian turned around and raised his hands towards the two of them.
Zhao Meiyan was the first to rush forward, jumping up and hanging on her neck. Narsha pounced from the side and hugged both of them. The three of them huddled together, almost knocking over the table next to them.
"Unnie! We did it!" Zhao Meiyan shouted happily.
Zhang Dulian put her off him, wiped the egg yolk from his forehead, and smiled:
"Don't be too happy yet, you and Narsha unnie still need to succeed."
Narsha raised her chin slightly, took a step forward, and looked at the props that had been rearranged on the table.
"Leave it to me, I need a good place to stay tonight!"
She had just finished talking about the challenge when she crashed three times in the same spot.
On her fourth attempt, she finally passed the first two rounds, but when it came time to choose a drink, only one minute had passed.
With Sun Changyu's cry of "Failure!", Narsha was defeated.
She looked down and smelled the paper cup in her hand, her face scrunching up in disgust. It was fish bream sauce again...
Am I really that unlucky today?!
She slammed the paper cup on the table, cursed, and took the towel handed to her from the side, vigorously wiping the egg yolk from her forehead.
Jang Do-yeon stepped forward, glaring at Son Chang-woo: "PD-nim! You're laughing way too hard!?"
Sun Changyu shrugged and nodded calmly.
Narsha grabbed Jang Do-ryeon's sleeve and pulled her back, removing the towel from her forehead to reveal a pair of eyes that had resigned themselves to their fate for the day.
"It's pointless to talk to the production team about this; they'd love for us to keep failing!"
She draped the towel around her neck and turned to look at Zhao Meiyan, who was standing beside her and was starting to get nervous.
"Miyeon, the rest is up to you."
Zhao Meiyan blinked blankly, then raised her finger and pointed at herself.
"Me?"
"Miyeon, we believe in you!"
Zhang Dulian placed his hands on her shoulders and said to her earnestly:
"Let the production team see what we're really like after we succeed!"
Zhao Meiyan swallowed hard, glancing at the table behind Zhang Dulian, which was covered with "murder weapons"...
He glanced again at Jiang Yongtai standing on the sidelines; the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned, and his eyes were full of self-encouragement.
"Yes, unnie... I can do it!"
She nodded heavily and stood in front of the table with a "death-defying" air.
"challenge!"
As soon as Sun Changyu pressed the timer, she picked up the egg on the left, closed her eyes, and smashed it on her forehead. The egg white dripped down her nose, and sticky egg liquid clung to her eyelashes.
She cried out "Ah!" and, without bothering to wipe her face, FD immediately handed her two more eggs. She picked up the other egg and smashed it, the yolk splashing onto her bangs. She could only open one eye and close the other.
"ah!"
She stomped her foot, took the towel handed to her by the production crew, wiped her face haphazardly, and started again.
This time she finally found the ripe one, and immediately turned to get the sushi, muttering to herself:
"This one or this one?! This one is fine, this one!"
Zhao Meiyan picked up the one on the left and took a bite. The spiciness of the wasabi instantly rushed into her nasal cavity, and she took a step back as if she had been electrocuted. Her eyes suddenly reddened, and her shoulders hunched over.
"Miyeon! There's still time!" Zhang Dulian shouted from the side, clenching his fist.
Zhao Meiyan jumped up and down twice, trying to alleviate the impact of the wasabi. She picked up the reset egg again and smashed it on her forehead. It was cooked.
Her eyes lit up, and she picked up another sushi and stuffed it directly into her mouth. This time there was no wasabi. She excitedly looked behind her, trying to share her joy with her teammates.
Zhang Dulian and Narsha jumped up anxiously, urging her to continue.
She quickly swallowed the sushi in her mouth, turned around, grabbed the third cup of paper, and decisively drank it down.
The bubbles in her cola made her burp, but she smiled and put the cup down on the table before heading towards the final turntable.
The countdown has only a few seconds left.
"Meiyan, hurry up! Hurry up!" Zhang Dulian shouted, stamping his feet.
"Come on, Miyeon!" Narsha's voice was so urgent it was almost cracking.
Zhao Meiyan hurriedly reached out and grabbed the edge of the turntable, giving it a sharp turn. The pointer spun rapidly, once, twice... and then the speed gradually decreased.
The countdown also jumped to zero.
The pointer stopped steadily in the red area – “cost-effectiveness”.
"fail!"
Sun Changyu clapped his hands in satisfaction, his smile widening even more than when Narsha had failed.
Zhang Dulian put his hands behind his head, looked up at the sky, and muttered angrily.
Narsha bent over, placed his hands on his knees, and let out a long sigh that was even heavier than when he had just failed.
"...I knew it."
She looked up at Zhao Meiyan, her eyes filled with resentment.
"Miyeon, it seems you and I are equally unlucky today..."
The camera zoomed in on Zhao Meiyan's face, cutting to a close-up.
She stood in front of the turntable, her hair covered with small pieces of eggshell, her bangs plastered to her forehead in strands of egg yolk, her lips turned down, and she looked extremely sad.
The script supervisor walked into the frame expressionlessly, raised his hand and clapped the clapperboard. The VJs turned off the cameras, the lighting crew started winding up their cables, and the FD also began packing up the props.
Sun Changyu smiled and clapped his hands at the three of them:
"You three have worked hard. Take a rest first. We'll pack up the props and then take you to your guesthouse for tonight."
Zhang Dulian and Narsha stepped forward and patted Zhao Meiyan, who was still standing there in shock.
Zhang Dulian gently brushed aside the strand of bangs that were covered in egg wash from her forehead and comforted her tenderly:
"Let's go, Miyeon, you did a great job."
Zhao Meiyan snapped out of her daze, looked up at them, and her lips twitched down.
"Unnie, I'm sorry..."
"It's okay, it's very effective, just one night."
Narsha patted her on the back, then looked up and glanced at the staff who were packing up props on the sidelines.
"I'll go ask PD Kang about Joo-hyun's situation."
"Together."
Zhang Dulian grabbed Zhao Meiyan's wrist and led her behind.
They were both shocked when they heard from Narsha that Seohyun had been sent to the hospital in the afternoon, but because filming was still ongoing, neither of them could go to the hospital to visit her.
Jiang Yongtai was helping FD move props into the equipment box when he heard footsteps and looked up.
"PD-nim, is Joo-hyun alright?"
Narsha spoke hastily, her face betraying her worry.
Jiang Yongtai straightened up and smiled at them.
"Don't worry, Narsha-ssi, Seohyun-ssi is fine. The doctor said she just needs to rest for a couple of days."
Narsha let out a long breath, and his shoulders relaxed.
"So, Joo-hyun won't be able to participate in tomorrow's filming?"
Zhang Dulian crossed her arms and confirmed the remaining filming schedule with Jiang Yongtai.
Jiang Yongtai nodded.
"Well, I can't participate. We'll have a meeting later to discuss it, and I'll tell you what the plans are."
Zhang Dulian pursed his lips and nodded, without asking any further questions.
"Okay, PD-nim, thank you for your help. We'll get in the car now."
She tugged at Zhao Meiyan's sleeve. "Meiyan, let's go."
"……oh."
Zhao Meiyan glanced hesitantly at Jiang Yongtai. Since leaving the airport that morning, she hadn't said a single word to this PD-nim.
While playing the game, she secretly glanced at him several times and noticed that he was standing next to Sun Changyu the whole time. For a moment in the game, she felt like he was cheering her on...
But Zhang Dulian had already pulled her forward, so she had no choice but to turn around and follow Zhang Dulian to the nanny van.
Jiang Yongtai looked at Narsha, who hadn't taken a step yet.
"If Narsha is really worried, you can go with the car to deliver Seohyun's suitcase later."
Narsha's eyes lit up, and she nodded.
"Thank you, PD-nim. I'll go tell Do-ryeon and Mi-yeon, and we'll go together."
She bowed slightly, then turned and caught up with Zhang Dulian and Zhao Meiyan.
Jiang Yongtai watched the three figures get into the van, then bent down to continue helping FD move the props into the equipment box.
Once everything was put away, Sun Changyu clapped his hands and directed the production crew to disperse.
The car carrying Zhao Meiyan and the other two left first; they were going to the hospital to deliver Xu Xian's luggage.
Sun Changyu, Jiang Yongtai, the two VJs, and the main writer Park Soo-bin got into the same car, and a small car equipped with lights and recording equipment followed behind them.
The other staff members went back to the hotel that the production team had booked to organize the equipment and rest. Tonight, there were only a few shots left to film at the guesthouse where Zhao Meiyan and the others stayed, so not many people were needed.
The night sky over Jeju Island unfolded from both sides of the car window, and the streetlights receded one by one.
Sun Changyu turned to the side, took out his notebook, and looked at Jiang Yongtai.
"Yongtai, I heard about what happened this afternoon from Chengyu. It was an accident."
He first clearly defined the nature of the afternoon's incident, not wanting to put any psychological burden on Jiang Yongtai, the newly hired PD who had come specifically to help.
Jiang Yongtai nodded, understanding his meaning.
"Brother Changyu, I know."
Sun Changyu smiled and turned a page of his notebook.
"You don't need to be too nervous. When we filmed the show before, there were times when guests joined or left at the last minute."
Back then, the guest lineup usually consisted of five or six people, which allowed for more flexibility in making adjustments.
Although there are fewer people now, it's not that difficult to handle. I discussed it with Xiubin this afternoon.
He gestured to Park Soo-bin, who was sitting in the passenger seat, "Soo-bin, come and talk to Young-tae."
Park Soo-bin opened his phone's memo app, swiped his finger across the screen twice, and pulled up a draft outline he had hastily written that afternoon.
"Our original plan is no longer feasible."
She turned her phone towards Jiang Yongtai, where several lines of key points were densely written on the screen.
"Now that Seohyun has left, we can't separate the people, so Narsha will be the team leader tomorrow."
It's easy to explain to the audience that Seohyun withdrew today due to health reasons, and the other captain automatically took her place.
The 300,000 won allowance for tomorrow will still be provided, but it will not be used for her to act alone; rather, it will be used as a travel fund for the entire team.
Jang Do-yeon and Jo Mi-yeon followed Narsha on the remaining itinerary, and the three of them joined together to complete the last day of their trip.
This way, there's no need to find replacements at the last minute, nor to cut out content that's already been filmed. A few minor adjustments to the script in post-production will suffice.
After listening, Jiang Yongtai went through the structure in his mind.
With the teams merged, the scoring process became obsolete, and the suspense surrounding the team leader shifted directly to Narsha.
Zhang Dulian and Zhao Meiyan are team members, and the interaction between the three of them is enough to support the weight of Tomorrow. There are no logical loopholes, and the editing is also easy to follow.
He nodded. "Soobin noona, I have no problem. Do we need to change the filming location for tomorrow?"
"No need for anything major." Park Soo-bin put his phone away.
"Tomorrow we'll switch to Olle Market in the Seogwipo direction and a tea plantation at the foot of Hallasan Mountain. These are backup options that we scouted before but didn't use."
Zhao Meiyan's team has already gathered enough footage from the Dongmen Market today, and they only need to film for half a day tomorrow; they have plenty of material.
Sun Changyu closed the notebook and tapped the cover twice with his fingers.
"Then it's settled. After we drop off the luggage at the hospital and film the check-in scene at the guesthouse, we'll go back and create a new version of the schedule for tomorrow based on this plan."
Outside the car window, Halla Hospital was already visible at the corner of the intersection.
Jiang Yongtai leaned back in his chair, watching the building get closer and closer, a sense of helplessness rising within him.
I came here to "put out the fire," but I ended up being the one who "started the fire." It's really...
……
Kang Young-tae pushed open the hotel room door, and the sound of rushing water came from the bathroom. Kim Sung-woo was belting out ITZY's debut song off-key. If JYP heard him, they would probably sue him for copyright infringement.
Jiang Yongtai didn't interrupt him. He took off his coat and draped it over the back of the chair. He walked to his own bed and lay down on his back.
He closed his eyes, pinched and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers, and a bitter smile that only he knew appeared on his lips.
Here's what he's accomplished in his first stint at tvN. What will Head Manager Nam Seung-ho think of him?
He knew better than anyone that this so-called "firefighting" was essentially an exam without a test-maker.
If the show doesn't meet the requirements, the cast for "Love by Transfer" won't be replaced, but the position of main PD will likely be given to a more senior actor.
Seohyun… He knew she didn’t do it on purpose, but she was definitely not innocent either.
I've really learned a lesson!
He sighed, took out his phone from his pocket, and planned to go through tomorrow's schedule again to find a place where he could contribute.
As soon as the screen lit up, a Kakao message popped up.
"Young Miss".
Jiang Yongtai raised an eyebrow, thought for a moment, and then clicked on it.
"Yongtai-san, how did today's filming go?"
His finger hovered over the screen, staring at it for a while before he started typing.
"Nan-chan, I think I'm about to be fired."
"???"
"Did Yongtai-san eat the memory card containing the footage today?"
Jiang Yongtai smiled; she was still quick to pick up on jokes.
"No, we just took one guest offline."
"Oh, that's acceptable."
Following this was a penguin wiping away sweat with relief emoji.
"Nan-chan, isn't this serious enough?"
"Yongtai-san didn't do it on purpose; it must be the guest's own problem."
Jiang Yongtai looked at the words and his eyebrows twitched slightly.
Without explaining any background in the previous sentence, Mina jumped straight to the conclusion—it's not your fault.
"Nan-chan trusts me that much?"
Minami lay on her side on the bed, holding her phone up to her eyes, staring at the sentence in silence.
This idiot, suddenly saying something like that, how are we supposed to respond?
She buried half her face in the pillow, her gaze sweeping over the rainbow candies he had bought for her on the bedside table.
Got it!
She pulled out her photo album, picked out a picture, and sent it over.
Jiang Yongtai clicked on the photo.
Mina wasn't in the picture; only her legs in sweatpants were visible on the practice room floor. Next to her feet was a bag of rainbow candies, the bag open and empty.
In the background, Sana Minatozaki, exhausted from practicing, sits cross-legged on the floor, holding a chocolate cookie in her hand and putting it into her mouth, her cheeks puffed out like a hamster.
He looked at it for a while and then typed a reply.
"Did you finish eating so quickly, Nan-chan? Your teeth will be so sensitive."
Mina was still waiting for him to see his ex-girlfriend's adorable eating habits and "break down," but instead, he asked about the empty candy bag?!
She paused for a moment, wrinkled her nose, and tapped the screen with a little more force than before, her lips unconsciously curving upwards.
"Dancing is tiring, so what's wrong with replenishing your sugar levels! Oh right, Yongtai-san is a dance fanatic, so I forgive you~"
"Yes, I'm a dance fanatic, but will my teeth really not fall out, Minami-chan?"
Mina puffed out her cheeks, forcefully poked out the word "can't" with her finger, and then stopped before sending it.
She deleted those two words, held the phone directly above her face, lay back, grinned, and pressed the shutter.
Jiang Yongtai originally thought she had left because he had angered her, and was about to switch to check the process sheet when the photo popped up.
She had just dyed her hair a light platinum blonde, which was spread out on the pillow, making her skin appear even whiter and more translucent.
Looking up at the camera with a smile in his eyes, his mouth stretched wide, revealing a row of neat teeth, as if telling him with facts—
My teeth are fine, you don't need to worry about them!
Jiang Yongtai was stunned, his lips slightly parted, staring silently at the screen.
This is so sudden! This photo will definitely go viral online, right?
The thought suddenly popped into his head. His fingers hovered above the keyboard, typed a few words, then deleted them, unsure of what to reply.
Perhaps because he had been silent for too long, another message popped up.
"Is there something wrong with my teeth, Yongtai-san?"
Jiang Yongtai thought for a moment and then typed.
"No, this hair color suits you very well."
Mina frowned, feeling inexplicably embarrassed, and then suddenly realized that her behavior seemed to have crossed a line, so she quickly typed and sent the message.
"I know, that's all, goodnight."
She thought for a moment, then added, "Yongtai-san won't be fired."
Jiang Yongtai looked at the message that she had ended the chat and tapped the screen a few times with his finger.
"Okay, thank you for your trust, Nan-chan. Good night."
After replying, he closed the chat window with her, opened tomorrow's shooting schedule, but the corners of his mouth remained slightly upturned, a smile he couldn't suppress.