"Nope." Hu Zhi gently shook her head. "Just a couple of close friends came over to play some mahjong, but they all left because they had things to do."
Sang Ning furrowed her brows, puzzled—could it be that the program crew had wandered off into another alley?
After all, the alleys in the urban village twisted and turned unpredictably. First-time visitors really might struggle to find their way.
So Sang Ning asked Hu Zhi for her phone, intending to check the livestream's progress and, incidentally, inform her about the crew coming to their house to film.
Once Hu Zhi handed the phone to Sang Ning, she suddenly remembered she had come out chasing someone. At this moment, a flash of realization hit her—those strange men from earlier... They must be from the program crew!
Oh no, those guys were definitely the crew members!
The signal in the stairwell was bad, and the wifi at home wouldn't connect. Sang Ning lifted her head and asked nonchalantly, "Mom, can we go inside to talk? The wifi here is awful."
Hu Zhi fumbled in her pockets, looking a bit awkward. "I think I forgot to bring the key..."
Sang Ning replied indifferently, "Is Dad or my brother not home? Let them come open the door."
Hu Zhi clenched her fist and lightly tapped the door as if scratching an itch, then whispered in barely audible tones, "Open the door... Open the door..."
"Are you giving the door acupuncture or what?" Sang Ning, who had been focusing on her phone, finally looked up, her face filled with confusion as she glanced at Hu Zhi. "Let me do it."
She stepped forward, clenched her fist, and banged on the door with force, raising her voice as she shouted inside, "Dad, Sang Chuan, are you home? It's me, Sang Ning—open the door, quick!"
The only response was silence hanging in the air. Sang Ning turned her head to glance at Hu Zhi expressionlessly. Hu Zhi gave an awkward smile. "Maybe those two are sleeping and didn't hear it."
At that moment, the neighbor from next door opened their door, poked their head out, and snapped, "Can you keep it down? My mom, who's been hard of hearing for thirty years, couldn't stand it anymore!"
After shouting, the neighbor slammed their metal door shut.
Sang Ning looked at Hu Zhi and sneered, "Even a hard-of-hearing old lady heard you, but my dad and Sang Chuan still didn't—are they dead asleep or what?"
Faced with Sang Ning's doubts, Hu Zhi was at a loss for words and could only smile apologetically to cover her guilt.
Sang Ning became certain at this point—Hu Zhi definitely had the key on her, but she just didn't want to open the door.
She took a step back, fixed her piercing gaze on Hu Zhi, and said coldly, "Mom, either you open the door for me, or I'll kick it open. Your call."
"No—don't!" Hu Zhi hurriedly stopped Sang Ning, pulled out the key from her pocket, and gritted her teeth. "Let me open it for you!"
With a loud clang, the metal door swung open, and Sang Youming and Sang Chuan both turned abruptly towards the door.
One was cleaning up broken liquor bottles on the floor, while the other was picking up scattered mahjong tiles. Their actions froze the moment they met her fierce glare.
The atmosphere was beyond awkward—it was suffocating.
Sang Ning, for her part, ignored the mess entirely, focused solely on the livestream, and walked straight to the couch to sit down.
Seeing her absorbed in her phone, Sang Youming and Sang Chuan hastened their cleaning efforts.
Because the program crew had fled in a panic, the livestream had been interrupted. When Sang Ning clicked into it, the stream had already ended, with the replay awaiting processing.
But some quick-handed netizens had already uploaded earlier recordings of the stream online. As soon as Sang Ning downloaded Weibo using Hu Zhi's phone, a push notification popped up on the home screen.
#Shocking! Private footage leaked from Sang Ning's house—her whole family secretly going behind her back…#
What the hell was this?
Sang Ning, making the signature "overwhelmed subway old man" face, clicked on the notification. When she saw the video content, she felt like she was going to implode.
Hu Zhi's phone was a knockoff model with four oversized speakers. As soon as the video played, the booming sound startled everyone in the living room. The first voice that rang out was Hu Zhi's—
"Wow, Cuihua really outdid herself—said she'd find some company for us, and ended up bringing us a bunch of handsome young guys!"
Then came footage of the program crew being forcibly dragged into the Sang Family's house and what transpired afterward.
Sang Youming and Sang Chuan, caught in the act of cleaning, raised their heads in shock and confusion. Who could explain what was happening?
Meanwhile, Hu Zhi's face turned ashen—she was beyond humiliated.
Pulling Sang Youming and Sang Chuan to a corner, she gave them the rundown of everything that had happened.
On the other side, after watching the video, Sang Ning immediately called her agent.
The agent, on the brink of tears when they picked up, nonetheless forced composure as they analyzed the situation for Sang Ning.
"Sis, I believe in you. Sure, public opinion is overwhelmingly negative right now, but the netizens don't have solid proof that the people in the stream are actually your family. As long as you show up tomorrow with your real family, the rumors will naturally be debunked."
Sang Ning responded calmly, "No, they are my real family."
...
The agent was floored, falling silent for a moment before cautiously suggesting, "Sis, maybe we can hire some actors?"
Sang Ning retorted decisively, "No, tomorrow I'm bringing them with me."
Agent: "Sis, then what's the point of you calling me?"
Sang Ning: "The show originally said we could only bring one family member, remember? I'm calling to notify you—I'm bringing all three of them tomorrow."
"What?" The agent was outright unraveling. "Sis, I'm begging you, please don't stir up trouble..."
Before they could finish, Sang Ning hung up and immediately phoned the director next.
When the director answered, he didn't recognize the number, but the voice on the other end was so familiar it sent a shiver down his spine.
"Director, you've seen the trending topic, right? The people in the video really are my parents and my brother. Let's talk—can I bring all of them to tomorrow's shoot?"
The director was beside himself, bolting upright from his couch. "Sang Ning, this is a variety show, not a family road trip!"
"Oh?" Sang Ning leaned back lazily on the couch. "Then I guess we need to hash out this livestream mishap. Now everyone across the country knows exactly what kind of family I have, and my personal image has taken a massive hit. Who's going to be held accountable for this? I'm not in a great mental state right now—can't guarantee I won't snap anytime..."
The director, suddenly panicked, gave in immediately. "Fine, fine, fine! I'll agree to anything!"
Sang Ning was deeply troubled by the Sang Family's behavior.
Drinking, playing mahjong, gaming—these were all ordinary leisure activities, but the Sang Family seemed to have developed full-blown addictions. And if it was an addiction, it had to be fixed!
Joining the show was the perfect opportunity. "Encounter in Countryside" would be live-streamed, featuring six celebrity families living together for 30 consecutive days under constant surveillance.
She refused to believe they'd dare act out under such scrutiny.
Besides, forming a new habit only took 21 days. A 30-day timeframe should be plenty to cure them of their vices.