Maybe it was because of yesterday’s chicken—in any case, it was quite dedicated, screeching its heart out early in the morning as if taking revenge on society.
Song Xiyuan came out holding a cup, squatting by the door to brush her teeth, and the livestream had already begun.
“Capturing a dazed little Xi~”
“Ah! My Xixi looks so beautiful without makeup!”
Song Xiyuan smiled and waved at the camera, but only Lin Dang knew that this girl had gotten up before dawn to apply her “no-makeup” makeup.
Qin Dehua couldn’t stand wearing his mink coat anymore. Dressed in a tank top, he sat by the door with his legs crossed, interacting with viewers on his personal livestream.
“You’re asking about that girl from yesterday? Pretty, really pretty, even prettier than on TV. And she’s not like what you guys said, you know? She’s actually quite nice!”
When Ge Yan came out, even the cameraman was taken aback for a moment.
“This sister is something else, wearing an axe headband!”
“I have the same headband—it’s great!”
“The white lotus sister really knows how to make her presence felt everywhere.”
Ge Yan, wearing an axe-shaped headband, wandered around the yard. It seemed she had just washed her face, her skin fair and glowing.
She had no intention of putting on makeup.
Mainly because her makeup skills weren’t up to par, and with the limited number of makeup artists in the crew, she told them to focus on taking care of the others.
Lin Dang had been up for a while, holding the task card and starting a group voice chat.
“After breakfast, gather at the field. There’s a new task.”
Song Xiyuan finally received her first piece of good news.
Because the house she was assigned to was right by the field…
Today’s task was hauling corn.
The tool: tricycles.
Three of them, three teams competing.
Song Xiyuan’s smile, which had just brightened, faded again.
Qin Dehua, on the other hand, was delighted—wasn’t this his specialty?
But… glancing at his partner, the scholarly Shen Yan, his chances of winning weren’t exactly high.
Song Ruan’s little face was full of despair. She tentatively sat on the tricycle, screaming with every step she tried to take. After a while, she jumped off in fright.
Ge Yan estimated that it would take at least six trips to haul all the corn.
“This part is a bit boring—started strong but fell flat.”
“No, no, I think Qin Dehua is funny no matter where he is.”
“Besides Dehua, who here can even ride a tricycle? Isn’t this just a joke?”
“Sister Ruan knows how to ride a bike—using voice control (heart).”
Lin Dang added, “From now on, every meal will depend on your team’s performance. As mentioned, whoever finishes hauling the corn first today gets the privilege of not cooking lunch.”
Song Xiyuan jumped onto the tricycle, hoping to steal the spotlight today and create a trending topic that would overshadow Ge Yan. She cheered into the camera, “It’s okay! Hard work will definitely pay off!”
Song Ruan was still struggling when she suddenly heard from behind: “Reversing, please be careful! Reversing, please be careful!”
Turning around, she saw Ge Yan operating the electric tricycle with fierce precision, moving as smoothly as flowing water.
She finally understood what Ge Yan meant when she said her good fortune was yet to come.
She could catch geese in an iron cage and drive a tricycle with ease!
Qin Dehua also jumped onto his tricycle, chasing closely behind.
Only Song Xiyuan ended up crashing headfirst into the field…
“Catching geese could be an act, but when did Ge Yan learn to ride a tricycle?”
“Song Xiyuan is supplying all my laughs today, hahahahahaha!”
“Why do I suddenly feel like Ge Yan and Song Ruan make a better pair? Ahhhhh! (Dark, twisted, crawling, biting the internet cable)”
“Dehua throwing corn looks like a groundhog… Northeastern men are both handsome and funny—I want to marry one!”
Song Ruan tried her best not to hold the team back, but she was still struggling. Ge Yan told her to take it slow—one meal wasn’t worth risking her life for.The first cart was already full. Shen Yan sat crookedly atop the corn, while Qin Dehua accelerated the three-wheeled cart toward the destination. As they passed Ge Yan, he let out a few strange shouts as if to mock her, like a crazed gorilla.
Bullet comments:
“Big fool! What are you doing?!”
“This is the last time I’ll help you all. Qin Dehua is from our Zhejiang…”
“I actually liked him when he kept his mouth shut.”
Song Xiyuan also loaded her cart faster than Ge Yan, but she couldn’t drive the electric three-wheeler. After wobbling a few steps, Ge Yan caught up.
Not one to admit defeat, Song Xiyuan pushed all three carts to their limits.
After two and a half hours of hard work, the piles of corn were finally all transported to the granary.
Everyone slumped exhaustedly on the electric carts. Qin Dehua, allergic to corn, was itching all over and feeling miserable. Only Ge Yan remained unfazed, her face not flushed, her heart not racing.
Don’t ask—it was because she used to harvest all the crops at home.
But with the camera pointed their way, she had to put on an act. Ge Yan leaned weakly against Song Ruan’s shoulder, pretending to be half-dead.
The production team promptly delivered a new task card.
Lin Dang, panting, read it aloud: “The dining location is at the small wooden cabin. Please make your way there on your own.”
Ge Yan noticed two more cameras from the production team, and the crew had grown in number. Lin Dang leaned in and explained the reason to everyone.
“Two sponsors invested overnight. I heard one of them is even from the Shen family!”
Upon hearing this, Song Xiyuan glanced at Ge Yan.
Ge Yan acted as if she hadn’t heard, crossing her legs and teasing Song Ruan playfully.
Everyone squeezed onto one three-wheeler and headed toward Ge Yan’s cabin.
Halfway there, Song Ruan suddenly remembered something and felt a sense of dread.
“Last night, I searched everywhere for food, but there’s no kitchen in the cabin…”
Shen Yan nearly laughed in frustration, turning back to give a thumbs-up to the camera.
After searching the cabin upon their return, they confirmed there was indeed no kitchen.
Song Xiyuan looked around the cozy, well-decorated wooden cabin and immediately began making sarcastic jokes: “Sister Ge Yan, did the production team spend all their budget on your place?”
Ge Yan watched quietly as she pretended to be innocent and playful. Clearly a year older than Song Ruan, why act cute all the time?
“Really? I thought the production team’s budget was all spent on your appearance fees.”
Song Xiyuan’s expression stiffened, but she maintained a polite smile. “Not at all! I came here mainly to help farmers and support the poor!”
Bullet comments:
“What’s with Sister Ge’s sarcasm? Acting like she’s here as a favor!”
“Xixi is such a funny girl!”
“Is Sister Ge subtly mocking Song Xiyuan?”
Shen Yan, utterly exhausted, asked, “Then what are we going to eat?”
Lin Dang replied, “The production team provided some props. We have to figure it out ourselves.”
Qin Dehua glanced at the so-called “props” piled to the side: a tarp, a stack of bricks, a large pot, a pile of pots, pans, and utensils, and a big bag of vegetables…
It seemed the “no-cooking privilege” was utterly meaningless.
“Looks like they want us to build our own stove?”
Song Xiyuan took a step back. “I’m on a diet, so I’m not that hungry anyway.”
Bullet comments erupted in a frenzy of criticism.
But some argued that this kind of authentic show was more entertaining than celebrities playing house while earning hundreds of thousands in appearance fees.
Ge Yan frowned in thought and patted Qin Dehua’s shoulder.
“Brother Hua, the guys can set up the tarp, and the girls will build the stove.”
Qin Dehua looked at her in disbelief. “You know how to do that?”
The original host didn’t, but Ge Yan did!But she couldn’t be too obvious about it, her accent already skewed by Qin Dehua these past few days: “Just go all out, we can’t go without eating for three months.”
Seeing the girls being so tough, Qin Dehua couldn’t back down either. He immediately pointed at the bricks: “Let’s do it!”
Song Xiyuan was tired, but she felt too embarrassed to just sit aside and pretend to be dead.
The men’s side had it a bit easier—they found a few wooden poles, first securing them with wire to form a rough frame, then covering the wooden structure with tarp. Once the stove platform was built, they could move the frame over, dig a hole, and bury it in place.
Over on Ge Yan’s side, she had already mixed the mud and started laying bricks—one brick, one shovel of mud, one brick, another shovel of mud—flowing smoothly like clouds and water.
Bullet comments:
“Master craftsman, skilled technique (thumbs up)”
“Is there anything this sister can’t do? How many more hidden talents does she have that we don’t know about?”
“Emm… weirdly stress-relieving, kind of therapeutic.”
“It’s just practice makes perfect. I’ve been an electrician for over ten years—I can tell if there’s electricity just by touching it.”
“You six just focus on living your lives well, that’s what matters most. I’ll handle the entertainment industry myself.”
Even though there wasn’t much plot happening midway through the livestream, more and more people kept joining the stream.
The Director vaguely sensed someone behind him and turned to see Shen Yuanming in a tailored suit, who had arrived at some unknown time.
The man had changed into a lightweight black sun-protective jacket, wearing a baseball cap. Even with sunglasses, he couldn’t hide his noble, dignified aura.
Just as the Director was about to greet the sponsor, Shen Yuanming raised a hand to stop him.
Under the shade of a parasol, Shen Yuanming watched Ge Yan, who was carefully stacking bricks under the sun. Her fair face was dotted with mud, which Song Ruan gently wiped away, while Lin Dang helped pass bricks.
He felt that Ge Yan had changed too much—so much that it was as if she had become a different person.
The village was quite lively today.
Another black Rolls-Royce drove into the village entrance, looking completely out of place on the barren village road.
The man in the back seat glanced at the crowd and immediately spotted Ge Yan.
Then he withdrew his gaze and slowly rolled up the window.