My Fiancé's Scandals Never End, So I Married His Uncle Instead-Chapter 152: Borrowing Money from an Ex

The "water" was proper tea.

And high-quality tea at that.

But if anyone had said that out loud, it would have invited all sorts of speculation and doubt from netizens. The show’s entertainment value would have plummeted. Worse, it could have made him collateral damage, an innocent bystander caught in Silas Norwood’s orbit. The online masses would have fabricated a prominent background for him out of thin air and painted him as someone who threw his weight around.

He wasn’t the only one who understood this; everyone present did.

Amid a round of banter, the topic of the drinks was tacitly dropped. The host had the tea set cleared away and moved on to the next segment:

"The production team has bought three free-range chickens from the villagers. Each team will draw lots to kill a chicken, build a stove, and stew a soup. Whether or not you get to enjoy a big pot of delicious chicken and mushroom stew is all up to you."

Some ten minutes later, a large group of celebrity guests and Celia Sterling gathered around an enormous iron pot. The firewood burning beneath it lit up the darkening sky. A large lid covered the pot, from which faint wisps of steam escaped.

Celia Sterling’s eyes widened with curiosity, and she even took the initiative to add firewood a few times.

"You’ve probably never seen this kind of authentic, rustic cooking before, have you?" Chloe Chambers said with a faint smile. "I used to film a lot of martial arts dramas, so I was around it all the time. After a while, the novelty wore off."

"You all seem so capable," Celia Sterling sighed with genuine admiration. Just now, the teams, all composed of incredibly wealthy stars, had killed chickens, chopped vegetables, built stoves, and stewed soup with practiced ease. Even Faye Sinclair, the popular young actress who seemed so arrogant, had been surprisingly fierce when plucking the chicken feathers.

"You wouldn’t be so amazed if you’d seen our previous seasons," supermodel Liam Langdon chimed in. "In the first season, we didn’t even know how to wash rice and cook it. Director Coleman’s show is brutal. It looks like a relaxing vacation, but it’s packed with mini-challenges like jungle exploration and survival scenarios. We all had to overcome our psychological hang-ups and slowly build up our skills. It was tough, but my family life actually improved. During the third season, my wife and I were talking about divorce. But after being forged in the fires of Director Coleman’s show, I could occasionally lend a hand in the kitchen. Just last month, our second child was born."

For a travel variety show, while watching the teams’ hilarious competitions was entertaining, this kind of quiet moment—chatting about life and gossip around a fire with good food—also drew in viewers. Fans have an irresistible curiosity about celebrities’ lives. There had even been many cases where a star crafted an outstanding persona during these chats, gaining countless fans and breaking through the rigid hierarchy of the entertainment industry.

Supermodel Liam Langdon had opened the floodgates, and the others joined in, sharing life experiences of dubious authenticity with carefully polished words.

One celebrity spoke of his romantic history with his wife, who was also his manager, carefully cultivating his "devoted husband" persona. He threw in some dramatic breakups and makeups, getting the livestream audience all choked up.

Next, another star shared some secret stories about her ex, an award-winning actor, drawing gasps of shock and sighs of regret from both the cast and the livestream audience.

The popular young actress Faye Sinclair spoke cryptically about a certain benefactor, praising him to the heavens. She told several tear-jerking stories of his kindness and her gratitude. Most people on set knew she was just sucking up to her "sugar daddy" sponsor and building hype for his arrival in two days. The netizens, however, were mostly oblivious, all sighing over how grateful, kind, and beautiful Faye Sinclair was.

Music King Scott was more reserved. He was a musician who relied on his solid creative talent, so he mostly shared memorable stories from his songwriting process and mentioned some friction he’d had with other stars over song requests. It was all quite interesting to listen to.

As the most senior and highest-ranking celebrity present, the immensely popular award-winning actress Chloe Chambers couldn’t avoid this ’heart-warming’ chat, even if she didn’t try to steal the spotlight. After the others had finished, they tacitly turned the conversation to her.

"Sis Chambers, you and Mr. Young have been in love for so many years. You must have some deep insights into the subject of love. Why don’t you share some of your wisdom with us?"

Chloe Chambers smiled faintly. "Old Man Young and I were childhood sweethearts, but by a strange twist of fate, we missed our chance and lost contact for over a decade. That all changed after my scandalous affair with Director Shepherd ended in a huge, ugly mess. That was the darkest period of my life. All my projects were shelved, roles that were set in stone were recast overnight, and I was facing massive financial penalties. I was standing by the river and swallowed my pride to call Old Man Young. I’d originally planned to say goodbye, as a friend, and then jump. But I never expected that single phone call would bring us back together..."

"Back then, the trending topics were all about the scandal between you and Mr. Young," Nolan Scott remarked with a smile. "They were saying you sold yourself to Mr. Young to cover the astronomical termination fees. Who would have known you were childhood sweethearts who had been in love for so long?"

"Well, the part about borrowing money was true," Chloe Chambers admitted, not shying away from the topic. "When he picked up, I smiled and asked if he could lend me eighty million. His own company was in a precarious state back then, and he wasn’t doing well himself. He basically liquidated everything he had to scrape together over sixty million for me. It was everything he could give."

"No wonder there were rumors later that you took on so many acting jobs to pay off debts. They also say that Mr. Young’s current success is inseparable from you, his capable wife," Celia Sterling added softly. There had been a period back then when Chloe Chambers was in a staggering number of shows of varying quality. Looking back, that must have been the difficult time when she was struggling to earn money.

"A husband and wife are a single unit. Once you’re married, there’s no such thing as one helping the other. You go through life together," Chloe Chambers said, concluding her story with a smile.

The scene fell silent for a moment.

"What about our non-celebrity guests?" Faye Sinclair asked, whether intentionally or not, putting Celia Sterling and Silas Norwood on the spot. "You two are such a perfect couple, the envy of everyone here. Would you mind sharing your story?"

Celia Sterling said nothing.

Silas Norwood replied coolly, "It was a natural progression. Perfectly logical, with no complications."

He clearly had no desire to elaborate.

Everyone: "..."

The host coughed several times before quickly changing the subject. "Mr. Norwood and Miss Sterling are a match made in heaven, and for them to get together so smoothly is the most perfect ending for any couple. It’s truly enviable. Since we were just talking about borrowing money, shall we play a little game?"

The routine game segment was another guaranteed way to pull in viewers.

Everyone cooperatively turned their attention to the host.

The host casually produced two boxes. The green box contained random numbers from 1 to 100. The red box contained much larger amounts, ranging from ten thousand to one hundred thousand.

"Everyone, open WeChat. The number from the green box determines which friend on your contact list to call, and the red box determines the amount of money you have to borrow from them."

The production team had used this game several times before, and it always produced plenty of laughs. For the people present, the sums of money weren’t sensitive, making it a safe game that could attract viewers without exposing any real privacy. It was also a conservative activity that the host and Director Coleman had privately agreed upon, specifically chosen with the big shot Silas Norwood in mind.

Everyone readily agreed.

The celebrity guests went up one by one to draw their numbers. They placed their phones in the center with their contact lists open for everyone to verify, then humorously switched to speakerphone and began their own memorable "borrowing money" scenes.

The reasons for borrowing money were varied, and the ways their friends refused were just as bizarre. Occasionally, some juicy gossip would be revealed, drawing exaggerated wails from the celebrity on the phone.

Celia Sterling found it all very amusing and wore a delighted expression the entire time. Silas Norwood wasn’t interested in any of it, but seeing the cute micro-expressions on Celia’s face as she listened intently to the gossip, he patiently waited with her amidst the slowly intensifying aroma of the stew.

Once everyone else had taken their turn, the host casually asked, "Miss Sterling, Mr. Norwood, would you two like to play?"

The non-celebrity guests were still guests, and according to the rules, they had to play.

Celia Sterling didn’t mind. Whether they were friends or clients on her contact list, or even employees of Delia Caine, borrowing a few tens of thousands was no big deal, assuming they knew who she was.

She casually drew two slips of paper.

The host announced with a smile, "Alright then, Miss Sterling, please open your contact list and ask your ninety-eighth friend for ten thousand."

Ten thousand. What was the big deal?

Celia Sterling nonchalantly placed her phone where everyone could see and scrolled down to the ninety-eighth contact.

The next moment, the smile slowly faded from her face.

On the list, the name ’Declan Norwood’ practically glowed.