“I’m going to eat three big bowls at lunch, and in the afternoon I’ll haul three carts all by myself!”
Zhou Chong made his bold declaration.
Shan Qingshan: “You don’t need to do that much.”
“If I do more, then you can do less.”
Shan Qingshan was momentarily stunned, then kept his eyes straight ahead as he drove the tractor home.
Zhou Chong sat on the tractor, radiating the aura of a beauty in a luxury car.
One moment he looked at the mountains, the next at the fields, and then at his Qingshan Xiaobao beside him.
Under the warm winter sun, fine beads of sweat glistened on his pert nose, sparkling like crushed diamonds catching the light. A faint flush spread across his exquisite, flawless face, extending to his ears and then seeping into the pale skin of Qingshan Xiaobao’s neck.
The tractor was no luxury car.
But Qingshan Xiaobao was certainly a beauty.
Zhou Chong stared for two seconds, utterly bewitched, then realized something was off about himself and silently shifted his sitting position.
He covered his face.
He was a pervert.
Qingshan Xiaobao suddenly asked, “What does ‘affectation spirit’ mean?”
“That voice she just used—we call it an affectation voice. I can do it too.” Zhou Chong laughed and called out to Qingshan Xiaobao in a cutesy voice.
Shan Qingshan’s face showed disgust. “Not as nice as hers.”
Zhou Chong stopped smiling.
???
“You think hers sounds good?”
“Better than yours.”
“…”
Zhou Chong suddenly realized something. He leaned closer and lowered his voice so the livestream couldn’t hear.
“Qingshan Xiaobao, do you like girls?”
Shan Qingshan found his question strange.
“Obviously. What else?”
Zhou Chong was dumbfounded.
“Do you have some misunderstanding about yourself?”
Shan Qingshan: “What are you talking about?”
Zhou Chong looked at him carefully.
Looked at his expression, looked at his eyes, looked at his confusion and bewilderment.
…
Some people are reborn, seemingly alive, but in truth they’re already dead.
Some people don’t get reborn, seemingly dead, but they can still stab another person’s heart again and again.
Shan Qingshan didn’t understand why Zhou Chong had suddenly fallen silent.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing.”
Zhou Chong clutched his chest.
Just a fatal wound.
The cabbages were carried home and needed to be chopped for the pigs.
Zhou Chong volunteered, chopping vegetables and feeding the pigs.
Shan Qingshan stood on a small stool to cut a section of sausage, sliced it up and put it in the rice to steam, then started stir-frying.
Before long, the room was filled with fragrant aromas.
Zhou Chong still hadn’t recovered from the shock of Qingshan Xiaobao liking women.
Every time he washed his hands, he sighed. Every time he set down a bamboo basket, he sighed. Every time he took out the braised beef he’d smuggled in from his suitcase, he sighed.
How could he like women?
How was that possible?
Zhou Chong looked up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, questioning his existence.
Shan Qingshan: “Where did you get that braised beef?”
“I brought it.” This was a favorite of Qingshan Xiaobao’s.
“You brought that? Didn’t the production team say it wasn’t allowed?”
Zhou Chong let out a derisive snort. In his bad mood, he looked rather fierce. “Who would dare stop me? Even if the suitcase sat right in front of them, without my nod, no one would touch it.”
The production team, crouching in the livestream room watching and listening.
They were angry but didn’t dare say a word.
If this young master would just stay put and behave, they’d be thanking their lucky stars.
Zhou Chong walked to the side, cut a piece, and fed it to Shan Qingshan’s mouth.
“Try it.”
Shan Qingshan ate it. “Delicious.”
Zhou Chong ate a piece himself, and suddenly everything clicked.
His relationship with Xiaobao in his past life wasn’t fake.
This actually proved that Qingshan Xiaobao chose to be with him because of Zhou Chong himself—regardless of gender.
Zhou Chong was thrilled, absolutely over the moon.
It didn’t matter that Qingshan Xiaobao was straight right now—he’d bend him!
Premise: Reborn and reunited with his wife, but he’s straight.
Question: How to bend him?
Answer: Make him lose interest in women and spark an interest in men.
Zhou Chong leaned close to Shan Qingshan, whispering like a devil, “Have you ever watched a porno? The kind that can’t be broadcast?”
Shan Qingshan slowly turned his head, his eyes filled with alarm.
A faint blush crept across his handsome face, revealing the flustered innocence of his age.
Zhou Chong: “Want to watch one together?”
Big brother will open the door to a whole new world for you.
No.
A whole new universe.
After watching man-and-woman, I’ll show you man-and-man.
Shan Qingshan shot him a cold glare and walked off carrying the vegetables.
Even a gold miner couldn’t dig up nerves this bizarre, and one had moved into my house.
Zhou Chong’s mind was consumed with schemes to trick Qingshan Xiaobao into watching porn. He was thinking about it while harvesting cabbages, while hauling cabbages, and even while exchanging money with the production crew.
“Director, I think this is unfair.”
Zhuozhuo suddenly spoke up.
“Qingshan Xiaobao is a local. He’s done farm work for a long time, his home is right here, and he can handle everything. Unlike us, who have no life experience and can’t do anything right. And Young Master Zhou is always following him around—the two of them are sticking together. Doesn’t that violate the show’s fairness? And I’m not the only one who thinks so.”
At noon, everyone was exhausted from harvesting cabbages, and they’d earned barely any money—just enough to trade for a few ingredients.
They choked down a meal and came back in the afternoon.
Tired and hungry.
The production crew looked at Zhou Chong and Shan Qingshan.
They had no intention of intervening—conflict meant good content.
Zhou Chong’s expression turned sour. “Who told you to call him Qingshan Xiaobao?”
Zhuozhuo: ?
That’s the point you’re focusing on?
[Actually, Zhuozhuo has a bit of a point]
[What the hell is she talking about? Just because others can do it, she calls it unfair? And about sticking together—you all ate lunch in a circle together, why didn’t you mention it then?]
[The word “hard work” coming out of her mouth is a joke]
[The two of them did the tasks the crew assigned. Zhou Chong followed Shan Qingshan, but he wasn’t just freeloading—he fed the pigs, boiled water, washed dishes. If you count it up, they did more work than the rest of them]
…
Zhou Chong draped his arm over Shan Qingshan’s shoulder, his posture lazy but his eyes cold.
“Now I’ve seen everything. You’re the perfect match for my stereotype of the entertainment industry.”
“By your logic, you can’t do it and others can—that’s unfair? You enjoy the prosperity and convenience of the city, you’re a big star with a huge income, while Qingshan Xiaobao grew up in this place cut off from the world. Why don’t you call that unfair? You just want someone to carry you, but no one who could is willing. It’s because of idiots like you that the domestic entertainment industry is going to hell.”
“How about this—if you want Xiaobao’s life skills, stay here for three or five years, and you’ll learn everything. Xiaobao can debut in your place instead. He’s handsome enough, and the audience will definitely buy it. What do you think?”
[I’m all for it! I’m all for it!]
[Zhou Chong, you’re not in the industry, so you’ll say anything]
[The moment it involves Qingshan Xiaobao, look at that mouth of his—blabbing on and on]
[Who’s loving this? I won’t say]
[That Zhuozhuo is so annoying. She only picked six cabbages all morning. At noon, Qian Wei spent her own money to share some food with her. In the afternoon, she didn’t learn her lesson and didn’t even think about paying Qian Wei back—only picked half a cart. She did the least on the whole show but complained the loudest]
…
Shan Qingshan: “Zhou Chong did a lot of work at my place, brought food, and gave things. If any of you want to come to my house, do the same as him.”
Shan Qingshan turned and left.
Zhou Chong was stunned for a moment, then chased after him. “No way, your bed can’t fit any more people. Don’t let them come—isn’t having me enough?”
Qian Wei counted her money, then chased after them.
“I want to come eat… and help at your place. I love doing work. I still want to work.”
Zhou Chong: “Just say you want to freeload.”
Qian Wei made a miserable face. “I want to eat at your place.”
The eggs she had finally traded for at noon were boiled half raw, half cooked.
She herself had no idea how she managed that.
Shan Qingshan: “The work at my place isn’t light.”
Qian Wei: “That’s fine, I’ve got endless strength like an ox.”
Shan Qingshan nodded.
Qian Wei was overjoyed. She ran over to the production crew, set aside money for her breakfast, and exchanged the rest for ingredients—she wouldn’t go empty-handed.
Dong Hailan could cook.
Fang Rong was around her age, so the two could pair up and manage fine.
Pan Yingzhe didn’t want to finish farm work only to go do chores for a civilian, so he followed Fang Rong and Dong Hailan.
Besides, both were seniors in the industry, which would help his future career.
Zhuozhuo stood still in place.
Dong Hailan went over to comfort her. It would’ve been better if she hadn’t—the moment she did, Zhuozhuo burst into loud sobs, as if she had suffered some tremendous injustice.
Even Zhou Chong, who had walked far away, could hear her passive-aggressive whining.
“I didn’t mean it that way. I’m just a little clumsy and can’t do the work well—it’s not that I don’t want to work… I know I can’t compare to Shan Qingshan. He’s so outstanding, so capable, and he can even keep Young Master Zhou wrapped around his finger. I only said one thing, and Young Master Zhou was already rushing to defend him…”
When Zhou Chong heard her bring up Qingshan Xiaobao, he was furious.
The dirty tricks and underhanded schemes of the entertainment industry—he knew them all too well and held them in contempt.
But if even a speck of that mud splattered onto Qingshan Xiaobao today, he’d be heartbroken.
Zhou Chong turned back.
When Zhuozhuo saw his murderous gaze, she stopped crying, froze, and fear crept into her heart.
Zhou Chong: “I protect whoever I like. Who are you to interfere? You’re crying here—are you trying to show your sugar daddy in front of the cameras? Your sugar daddy, from this moment on, is no longer your sugar daddy. Pack your things and get the hell out of the entertainment industry.”