After everyone settled in and rested for a while, the small courtyard named Camellia Yard—a name given by Hu Bo—welcomed its first task: preparing lunch.
For the first meal, the production team had already provided ingredients.
Everyone split the work. Song Wenxi and Huang Shibei helped out, while the other three showcased their cooking skills.
Hu Bo and Ye Qing were both experienced people with a strong sense of life; cooking for them felt more like an enjoyable activity. Lin Mo also seemed quite skilled—she stir-fried a dish of greens quickly and neatly.
Song Wenxi and Huang Shibei handled serving plates and arranging tables and utensils.
The simple meal of two meat dishes and four vegetable dishes was enjoyed by all the guests, who kept praising each other while chatting casually about life.
Song Wenxi tasted each dish. As she was eating happily, Ye Qing casually asked about her cooking skills.
Song Wenxi put down her chopsticks and answered honestly:
“I can barely cook something until it’s edible.”
When she traveled alone in the past, she would often be starving outdoors. As long as food was cooked—even without salt or oil—she would eat it. Most of the time, though, she didn’t make things difficult for herself: if she had money, she’d eat at restaurants; if not, she’d rely on instant noodles. Occasionally, kind locals would even invite her for dinner.
Compared to Lin Mo, who only ate half a bowl of rice, Song Wenxi finishing two bowls made a striking contrast.
“Poor kid must’ve been starving,” Ye Qing said jokingly after finishing her meal, leaning back in her chair and drinking water.
After eating her fill, Song Wenxi felt fully revived. She drank half a cup of water and responded a little embarrassedly:
“Yeah, I was really hungry.”
Seeing Ye Qing initiate conversation with Song Wenxi, Lin Mo’s eyes flickered. She casually shifted the topic to the afternoon schedule.
In the afternoon, they would inspect the vegetable garden, flower garden, and tea garden, so everyone dispersed to rest briefly.
Song Wenxi and Huang Shibei took the initiative to wash the dishes. Though inexperienced, they worked slowly but carefully.
After finishing, Song Wenxi returned to her room. Lin Mo was removing her makeup. The two of them didn’t speak much, making the atmosphere slightly awkward.
Song Wenxi climbed onto her bed and casually said:
“Hey Lin Mo, your cooking is really good.”
Lin Mo paused slightly while carefully removing her false eyelashes in front of the mirror. She casually responded with an “Ah?” while continuing her routine.
In the afternoon, the group went out together.
Lin Mo walked at the front with the two senior guests, chatting and laughing. Song Wenxi and Huang Shibei walked behind, chatting casually on their own.
Surrounding Camellia Yard were fields of flowers. At the foot of the mountain ahead was a vegetable garden, and about a kilometer away on the hillside was the tea plantation.
Endless tea fields stretched across the slope, forming the village’s main agricultural resource and primary source of income.
During filming, the guests’ main task was to help local villagers manage the tea fields.
To earn “support points” for dinner ingredients, they had to work.
Lin Mo spoke first:
“I think young people can just work in the fields to earn enough points. The two senior teachers can rest and enjoy the scenery here.”
Ye Qing joked that she was energetic, and Hu Bo agreed that the vegetable garden didn’t need so many people. Both nodded in approval.
Lin Mo then handed Huang Shibei a lighter bamboo basket:
“Xiao Bei, you take this basket. I’ll take the hoe.”
Meanwhile, Song Wenxi put on gloves, casually picked up a rake, and slung it over her shoulder. She felt it suited her more.
The three arrived at the vegetable garden to weed the fields. Each person was assigned two rows.
Lin Mo occasionally chatted with Huang Shibei about music and reminded him to be careful not to scratch his hands.
Song Wenxi, working a row apart, pulled weeds based purely on instinct.
Director Zhang couldn’t help but quietly remind her:
“Ahem… that’s actually chives. Also, if you don’t pull the weeds out by the root, they’ll grow back quickly.”
Song Wenxi gave him a thumbs-up:
“Lesson learned.”
From then on, whenever she hit a knowledge gap, she would ask the director. She worked steadily and quickly finished a whole row.
By the time she finished another row, Lin Mo and Huang Shibei had also completed theirs.
Song Wenxi sat on the ridge to rest first, leaning back with her hands on the ground, looking up at the sky. The clouds looked delicious—like cotton candy.
Lin Mo noticed Ye Qing and Hu Bo approaching in the distance and raised her voice:
“Xiao Bei, let’s work harder! Almost done!”
Hu Bo and Ye Qing, seeing Lin Mo and Huang Shibei working diligently while Song Wenxi rested nearby, exchanged glances and frowned slightly.
They called out from afar to check progress. Lin Mo waved and said loudly:
“We’ve finished the task. The road is hard to walk, so please head back.”
Hu Bo and Ye Qing waved in response and turned back. They were quite satisfied with Lin Mo’s initiative and even praised her in front of the camera.
In the evening, Lin Mo and the two senior guests had a pleasant and heartfelt conversation during dinner.
Song Wenxi ate only one bowl of rice and sat listening quietly, occasionally responding.
Huang Shibei enthusiastically answered the seniors’ questions.
Under the dark night sky, the atmosphere in the courtyard was peaceful. Stars were bright, frogs croaked in the distance, and crickets chirped nearby.
Song Wenxi leaned back in her chair, arms crossed, head slightly raised, quietly enjoying the calm.
Her thoughts drifted—wondering what the father and three children were doing right now.
Lin Mo secretly observed her, eyes narrowing slightly.
“I’m a bit sleepy, I’ll head back first,” Song Wenxi said suddenly, standing up. “You all continue chatting. Oh, and you can leave the dishes—I’ll wash them tomorrow morning. Good night.”
After she left, Ye Qing shook her head and chuckled:
“Xiao Song doesn’t do much work, but she’s the first to get tired.”
Lin Mo smiled lightly, stretching her arms:
“The night here is really comfortable.”
Huang Shibei drank some water, then suddenly spoke up a little awkwardly:
“Not really, Teacher Ye…”
Lin Mo’s expression froze slightly.
Ye Qing looked at him, confused.
Huang Shibei continued:
“Sister Wenxi actually did work. She worked pretty fast—each of us had two rows of weeds, and she finished hers early and went to rest.”
“Oh? Really?” Ye Qing was surprised. Hu Bo also opened his eyes.
Huang Shibei laughed:
“She didn’t say much, just quietly worked. And she even mistook chives for weeds—it was really funny. Director Zhang had to remind her, or she might’ve pulled them all out.”
“Hahaha, that’s actually kind of cute,” Ye Qing laughed.
As night deepened, everyone returned to their rooms.
When Lin Mo came back, Song Wenxi had just finished washing up. They exchanged a glance but said nothing.
Lin Mo took her clothes and went to shower.
Song Wenxi glanced at her back. Unlike the original owner, she was observant—and Lin Mo’s hostility in the afternoon had already become obvious.
Deliberate ignorance, superficial friendliness, subtle isolation… all carried a sense of “I’m not doing anything on purpose.”
According to the information, Lin Mo came from an ordinary background with no backing, yet she had managed to rise in the entertainment industry and become one of Huang Qi Entertainment’s cash cows. She clearly had some ability.
Given Lin Mo’s intelligence, there was no need to show such obvious hostility toward her. Lin Mo was more popular in the circle than “Song Wenxi” anyway, and Song Wenxi herself wasn’t exactly a likable person.
Logically speaking, she shouldn’t even be a threat.
“Could it be… because I’m too beautiful?”
Thinking this, Song Wenxi casually took a selfie.
Yep. She really was pretty.