Realizing why Zhao Xingjian was excited, Chu Minghe paused for a moment, then quickly pulled his phone out from under his pillow to show Zhao Xingjian. “I was just looking at my phone for a second!”
Only then did Zhao Xingjian withdraw his suspicious gaze. “Go to sleep.”
…
Chu Minghe hesitated for a moment, got out of bed, grabbed the mosquito repellent from the drawer, and walked over to the sofa, looking at Zhao Xingjian, who had his eyes closed. “I left it on the table for you.”
Without waiting for Zhao Xingjian to reply, he hurried back and turned off the lights. This time, he fell asleep within a few minutes, but Zhao Xingjian still woke up once in the middle of the night to spray around the sofa twice.
The next day, their alarms went off at 5:30 AM. After yesterday’s ordeal, the two of them had slept for less than four hours, and they were both in poor spirits when they woke up.
To ensure they looked good on camera, Chu Minghe specifically urged Zhao Xingjian to wash his face with cold water.
Once everyone was dressed neatly and had appeared downstairs, they headed together toward the old man’s cowshed.
The place the old man mentioned wasn’t far. Walking straight east from the road in front of the small villa, they arrived in less than ten minutes.
Upon seeing them, the old man immediately began teaching them how to milk cows without stopping, giving each person a bucket.
“Since you’re beginners, I understand, you can milk less, but absolutely do not slack off. Absolutely do not slack off.”
The few of them agreed obediently, and the old man walked away carrying a bucket of feed for the cows.
Chu Minghe came back to his senses and looked at the bucket. “There won’t be a penalty, right?”
Lin Dingshi had sharp ears and could hear clearly across two people. He leaned back to look at Chu Minghe. “A penalty?! The show didn’t say there was a penalty, Minghe-ge.”
Zhang Qing: “You’re too naive, little baby. Just because they didn’t say it, does it mean it doesn’t exist?”
Lin Dingshi: “That’s true. I also didn’t see the show saying they’d invite a young lady over.”
“…”
Lin Dingshi and Zhang Qing’s regular mode of conversation was like this picking at each other whenever they had the chance. Chu Minghe watched for a moment, then turned his gaze to Zhao Xingjian.
“Do you mind being penalized?”
“I do. Do you have a way out?”
He had just said it offhandedly, figuring that even if he minded, there was nothing to be done. None of them had ever milked a cow before, and who milked more depended purely on luck; maybe it would just be a matter of a few extra grams.
Who knew Chu Minghe would smile and say, “I have a way.”
In the past, when he quit the entertainment industry to fry dough sticks, he had done many other part-time jobs before that, including milking cows and delivering milk on a dairy farm. Right now, he might not be extremely practiced, but he would definitely have an advantage over the others.
Zhao Xingjian looked at him and frowned. “Add water?”
“How could we add water? Don’t say it out loud.” Chu Minghe turned off his microphone. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you yesterday remember what I said before coming about ‘watching your words and actions’? This is the second time. Stop talking nonsense.”
Normally, he wouldn’t dare to “lecture” Zhao Xingjian like this, but the situation was special. If he didn’t stop him now, who knew what other trouble he might cause. Just that single phrase “add water” might get him labeled as an unscrupulous merchant in the future.
Zhao Xingjian didn’t turn off his microphone; he stared at him for a moment and gave a very cooperative “Mm,” indicating he understood.
Chu Minghe made his promise first, but who knew that Zheng Yuan would suddenly muscle in with increasingly practiced techniques and a super-strong learning ability.
Lin Dingshi stopped rushing to work; after sitting for a bit, he ran over to see how much Chu Minghe had milked, went back to report secretly to his husband, and was determined to surpass Chu Minghe though most importantly, to avoid a penalty.
He had watched the previous season; because they lost a fire-starting competition, the two couples had to chop wood outside for half an hour in the dead of winter. Seeing the situation now, it probably meant helping the old man clean the cowshed.
“Ten more minutes, Minghe-ge has half a bucket,” Lin Dingshi leaned over. “Can we win?”
The middle couple, Zhang Qing and Zhang Congsheng, had long since given up trying. For every three pumps, two were empty, and halfway through, a cow even kicked their bucket over.
Seeing Lin Dingshi running back and forth, Zhang Qing snorted. “Maybe winning just gets you extra points.”
What he said was indeed possible; after all, on the very first day, Chu Minghe had earned an extra point. Now it was the second day, and though the scoring situation hadn’t been announced by the director, it really could be for extra points.
Chu Minghe heard this and turned to ask Zhao Xingjian, “Do you want the reward?”
“…”
[The CEO is speechless]
[Quickly say you want it!]
Zhao Xingjian: “Don’t want it.”
Chu Minghe let out an “oh” and went back to milking the cow.
Half a minute later, Zhao Xingjian spoke up: “If there is one, I want it. If not, I don’t.”
Chu Minghe didn’t reply. Zhao Xingjian turned his head to glance at him and noticed Chu Minghe wasn’t putting as much drive into milking as before. After a pause, he asked again, “What kind of reward?”
“Probably prize money, I guess.” Chu Minghe said.
Zhao Xingjian had plenty of money and wasn’t interested in prize money, but once he participated in a competition, he had to break away from his usual identity at least maintaining a competitive spirit.
So Zhao Xingjian gave it a try, forcing himself to get into character, which ultimately ended in failure.
Yet he still kept asking: “Do you want it?”
“I don’t want it either,” Chu Minghe said.
After all, Zhao Xingjian already gave him more than enough after the divorce.
Chu Minghe: “I was just thinking that if you wanted it, I’d try a little harder.”
Zhao Xingjian found those words awkward, much like that line from a few days ago, “I’ve paid attention to you.” Yet surprisingly, he didn’t react as strongly as before, as if he were slowly getting used to Chu Minghe’s way of speaking.
Before he could say anything, the old man at the entrance walked in. The one hour was up. He looked at everyone’s buckets; the other four buckets combined didn’t even add up to half of what Zheng Yuan and Chu Minghe had in theirs.
“Didn’t slack off, did you?” The old man chuckled, looking quite satisfied. “All right, you can head back for breakfast. Tomorrow, half an hour just get here before six-thirty, don’t be too late.”
“No penalty?” Lin Dingshi was still puzzled that it had passed so easily.
The old man gave a “yo” sound. “Well, how would I know? I’m just a milk seller.”
They were still puzzled, feeling unreal as they accepted the three catties of milk given by the old man. Walking back like this, they still felt it shouldn’t be so simple—they hadn’t expected the production team to be so merciful, genuinely letting them come experience life, at most having them kill a chicken or feed a pig. This was much more blissful than the first two seasons!
As soon as they finished celebrating and wanted to go back for breakfast, the moment they stepped into the villa, they found the production team members already waiting inside.
[Screenshot saved, this reaction is too hilarious]
[Xiao Er walks an unconventional path]
[What’s going on, they aren’t even letting us eat!]
Director: “Breakfast can definitely be eaten, but these past two days, seeing that you haven’t been eating very well, we’ve come to give you an extra meal.”
If they really wanted to give an extra meal, they would have put it on the table earlier instead of waiting for them to return. This meant there were additional conditions attached.
Sure enough, the director pointed to the pomegranate tree outside the wall. “Pick pomegranates. Time limit: half a minute no, half an hour. As long as you pick fifty of them, we’ll provide you with free barbecue ingredients tonight.”
“So simple?” Lin Dingshi was delighted. “Just fifty?”
Director: “Yes, but you must ensure they are undamaged, and they must be fully ripened fruit.”
After saying that, the director walked away, leaving the group turning things upside down to find a ladder.
“Just fifty, so simple…”
Chu Minghe muttered while searching. Nearby, Lin Dingshi rummaged through boxes and pulled out a telescoping clothes rack, mistaking it for a folding ladder.
“This is a benefit, Minghe-ge. Look how hard we’ve worked these past two days! Though tonight’s barbecue probably won’t go too smoothly I watched the previous two seasons, and compared to that, having a house to live in, a fire to burn, and chicken to eat is already great.”
Lin Dingshi was thoroughly satisfied. Chu Minghe glanced at Zhao Xingjian outside the window and thought to himself: I wonder if our President Zhao feels great about this.
Before he could finish thinking, an assistant outside somehow procured a giant loudspeaker and shouted at them: “Twenty minutes left, current harvest—0.”
“What?” Lin Dingshi ran outside to shout back. “Does this count too? We’re still looking for a ladder!”
Nobody answered, but everyone understood the meaning. Chu Minghe stepped out of the small room’s door just as Zhao Xingjian called out to him, “Let’s go.”
Chu Minghe followed right after hearing that.
Lin Dingshi watched dumbfounded. “What does that mean?”
But there wasn’t time to stay dazed for long. He called out to Zheng Yuan, “Husband, let’s go too!”
Everyone had left. Zhang Qing slapped Zhang Congsheng on the arm. “What are you staring at? Keep up.”
…
Chu Minghe looked up at the pomegranate tree. It wasn’t tall, but standing on tiptoe still wasn’t enough to reach. They first picked the pomegranates hanging heavily within reach and put them in a basket; counting them up, there were eight in total.
Chu Minghe looked at the tree again, then at Zhao Xingjian, and asked in a low voice, “Should I carry you on my back?”
[?]
[Did I back the wrong ship?]
[Bizarre, I can’t accept this]
[No wait, the newly formed ship is sinking wuwu]
[We have a ship already? What are we searching?]
[+1 Please give me a home]
Zhao Xingjian gave him a strange look, didn’t reply, and simply squatted down. “Get on.”
Chu Minghe was still hesitating when the other two teams copied the method and got on. The small loudspeaker behind them followed up closely: “Fifteen minutes left, current harvest—8.”
[Just ride up, what are you afraid of? Isn’t that your husband!]
[What do you know, this is heartache!]
Chu Minghe felt like he had grown the guts of a leopard, not daring to move around wildly once he was up there. But once he really got into position, he even patted the top of Zhao Xingjian’s head.
He truly had done it unintentionally; his specific reaction was that even after patting it, he didn’t feel anything was amiss he genuinely hadn’t been conscious of it.
However, he had to admit that Zhao Xingjian’s height was really something else. Sitting up there, he felt a whole head taller than the other two people, making it convenient to pick pomegranates, except that he had to stick his head straight into the leaves, which was prickly.
Someone looked on with envy. “I also want to put my head into the leaves.”
Chu Minghe was bitterly parting the leaves up there. Seeing a cluster of three together, he nudged Zhao Xingjian with his lower leg, signaling him to obey his commands.
“To the left, left… stop for a second, a bit further forward. Too far forward, I can’t see anymore. Alright… none of these three are ripe.”
Zhao Xingjian’s response was to grip Chu Minghe’s ankle tightly he was threatening him.
Zhao Xingjian still hadn’t let go after a few minutes, and Chu Minghe hadn’t managed to pick a single pomegranate. He felt like the blood wasn’t returning to his foot. He tried to pull it back and couldn’t, so he parted the leaves, looked down at Zhao Xingjian, and shouted, “Husband, it hurts.”
[…]
If not for Chu Minghe’s earlier line “I’ll carry you on my back” before starting, and his truly docile behavior these past two days just as Cheng Zhou had described, Zhao Xingjian would have genuinely thought Chu Minghe was doing it on purpose.