Chapter 50

The next day, the wind was clear and the air was bright. Zhan Mu woke up early and felt in a good mood. White clouds were floating in the sky, and even the birds flying by were singing a cheerful tune.

Zhan Mu turned on the stereo and was about to listen to two songs when he saw his grandmother calling him several times, half an hour ago. Seeing her, Zhan Mu remembered his mother's nagging.

Could it be that he was talking about giving her money to repair her old and dilapidated house?

Zhan Mu could have ignored her; after all, he hadn't been raised by his grandmother. But he still called back, putting on a friendly smile and saying, "Hey, grandma, what's up?"

Grandma: "Your third father said that you don't have any business in the afternoon, so it's not fun. So, Boss Gao's grapes are ripe. Why don't you come and help him pick the grapes as a temporary worker? You can earn 80 yuan an afternoon."

"An? Why is he paying attention to me?" Zhan Mu was shocked. He thought that Zhan Sanba was the kind of person who would trip him up behind his back.

"Are you coming? Boss Gao even provides lunch." Grandma Zhan said, "He also said he asked you to make an advertising banner last time. You did a good job."

"Well, okay." Zhan Mu replied, "I'll come."

After hanging up the phone, Zhan Mu looked out at the brightly sunny sky. He knew the ultraviolet rays were strong today, and he regretted agreeing to it. Looking up, he saw Lu Chao approaching with a basin filled with his clothes from last night.

He straightened the clothes, took the hangers and hung them out to dry as usual.

——Virtuous, so virtuous!

"..." Zhan Mu felt guilty watching this scene and muttered, "Well, Chief of Staff Lu, it's the same if you leave it to me to wash."

"I want to go too." Lu Chao answered without any hesitation.

For him, Zhan Mu is the only shortcut to completely regaining his human rights, because only Zhan Mu is willing to help him, protect him, and respect him sincerely.

Zhan Mu looked at Lu Chao, who was just tidying up his clothes and hanging them on the railing outside the window. He replied, "Boss Zhan, don't treat me as just a parasite. You should know that while you were busy on your way, I was always watching and cheering for you."

Zhan Mu tilted his head to look at him, smiled, and said, "Yes, yes, Chief of Staff Lu, I can't run this little shop without you."

The morning passed by in a flash, with no business. However, Zhan Mu went online to pay attention to what happened yesterday. Qiqi had lost nearly 700,000 followers, while he was gaining some popularity, with an astonishing 25,000 followers. The comments section was full of discussions about Lu Chao.

Zhan Mu asked, "I asked you to appear on the live broadcast, will you do it?"

Lu Chao was standing at the counter, cutting a watermelon. He cut the watermelon into small pieces, saying meaningfully, "Actually, back when I was in college, a talent scout asked me if I wanted to be a model or enter the entertainment industry, but I refused."

"Why?" Zhan Mu expressed his incomprehension.

"I don't like that industry, and I don't think relying on youth is a good thing," Lu Chao said. "Although I can be glamorous and popular, I don't like people commenting on my appearance and figure. What's more, being an actor means having intimate scenes with many of my colleagues. One day I kiss this one, the next I hug that one. Hmm, after thinking about it, I'm still not happy about that. I always feel that it will make the people I like sad."

"Wow, you're a breath of fresh air." Zhan Mu sighed and said, "Young people nowadays are eager to reap the benefits of good looks. As expected of Staff Officer Lu, who comes from an educated family, this understanding is unique!"

Zhan Mu gave him a thumbs up with a smile in his eyes.

"But my family has never been short of money." Lu Chao stood elegantly, leaning against the counter, picked up the glass and took a sip of iced candied pear drink.

"There's a call. Let's go pick some grapes." Grandma Zhan's phone vibrated. Zhan Mu picked up a nearby sun hat and put it on Lu Chao. He carried a small bag filled with sunscreen, moisturizer, and hydrating spray.

Lu Chao: "If you need sunscreen, apply it now. Bring plenty."

"I brought this for you. What if you get sunburned?" Zhan Mu winked at him and opened the parasol to cover himself and Lu Chao.

"It's so hot, the soles of my feet are burning." Lu Chao complained.

"..." Zhan Mu was a little speechless when he saw his delicate skin and tender flesh. He thought to himself, "Man, when I was doing physical training, I could do 800-meter frog jumps under the scorching sun. This little bit of sunburn is nothing."

So Lu Chao made a prompt decision, and the next second he turned into a small cube lying in Zhan Mu's hand.

"We can only share happiness, not hard times." Zhan Mu snorted twice, put her boyfriend in her pocket and walked forward without caring.

-

Under the intersecting green vines, there are grapes of several colors, including purple, green, black and red. Farmers from the same village shuttle among them, holding small bamboo baskets. They are all yellow and thin old women with dark skin, silver hair and wrinkles.

Our boss Zhan and staff officer Lu, the only two young faces, seemed out of place.

"Sure, your fourth child's grandson?" a neighbor asked. "I saw him on the street earlier. He opened a shop to take photos, right? He's very capable."

Grandma Zhan nodded. She had previously disliked Zhan Mu's shop, but when she heard someone flattering it recently, she immediately raised the corners of her mouth with pride.

Here, work had just begun, but Lu Chao was already listless, with a pale face and a delicate look that couldn't do any rough work.

Lu Chao said weakly, "I really can't do it. It's too sunny. My skin feels so hot that it's hard to even think."

"If I had known what you were doing here, you might as well have stayed in the store." Zhan Mu mocked him, but put all the grapes he had cut into Lu Chao's basket, and looked around, afraid that others would see them.

So Zhan Mu took out the cooling tools in his pocket, from sunscreen spray, to moisturizing spray, to homemade ice packs, and applied them all to Lu Chao's face, not stopping until his entire face was wet.

"Ahem." A clear reminder sounded, and Zhan Mu turned around to see the boss, Gao Qiang, with a big belly. He was also holding tools, a pair of scissors, and a bamboo basket. He asked, "If you two want to earn a salary, be diligent."

"Hey, it's Boss Gao." This made Zhan Mu feel very nervous.

Lu Chao's temperature dropped a little, and he smiled immediately, forcing himself to work despite his discomfort, and put on the image of a hardworking and good boy.

"Hey, how come you, an electronic data person, are so obedient?" Zhan Mu continued to pick fruits, but Gao Qiang whispered in his ear, "I want to buy one too. How much is yours?"

"It seems to be worth hundreds of thousands." Zhan Mu forced a smile. The more he thought about it, the more it seemed to be wrong. If it was such a luxury item, why did An Jing give it to him for no reason? - They were clearly just casual acquaintances.

Gao Qiang: "Can you make it into a baby's face?"

"Ah?!" Zhan Mu was shocked and said with difficulty, "This... is to register the household registration with the ID card, right?"

Gao Qiang: "Oh, don't think too much about it. My wife wants a child, but I... I'm not very good at it. Anyway, we don't want to adopt. Seeing this electronic data person, buying it is like adding a family member."

"Oh, I see." Zhan Mu breathed a sigh of relief and immediately took out his phone. "Is there a boss who added you? Well, I'll share this with you. It's also a must-read for beginners."

"Thank you, thank you, Boss Zhan." Gao Qiang patted his shoulder affectionately and asked some irrelevant questions, such as IQ, clothes, whether he ate or had bowel movements, and Zhan Mu answered him evasively.

It's finally time to break.

Under the blue shed, several large round tables are placed in a square shape, plastic stools are stacked together, and large black fans are blowing hot air. Although the venue is simple, it is not exposed to the sun, and it can be considered a farm stay after all.

"Oh my god, I never thought that I would become a farmer one day in my life." Lu Chao looked tired after sitting down, expressing his feelings about the fickleness of the world.

Gao Qiang: "You mean you did something else before?"

"..." Zhan Mu's hair stood on end at this statement. He immediately rushed over, took out the hydrating spray and pressed it on Lu Chao's face, explaining, "No, how could it be possible? He's just a digital data person, right? How could he have any memories?"

Lu Chao then shut his mouth, feeling frustrated and having no place to vent.

Not far away, a three-wheeled motorcycle truck made a beeping sound. It was Sister Hong and a fellow driver. They were carrying a truck full of hard plastic baskets and soft nets specially used to protect grapes. It seemed that they were going to pack the grapes and load them onto the truck.

"Are we going to do these later?" Zhan Mu asked.

Gao Qiang nodded and simply agreed. He then busied himself with calling on the other women and said, "Hurry up! All 300 kilograms of grapes must be packed this afternoon. The boss in Qingzhou needs them delivered to all parts of the country by express tomorrow morning. We can't be late."

"Hey, Sister Zhou! Sister Zhou! You can't drop it! The grapes can't be dropped. You have to handle them with care. I've told you so many times! Not even a scratch or a bump on them is allowed. The boss won't want them."

Gao Qiang's wife, Hong Jie, also got out of the car, but the driver did not. At the same time, another Mercedes-Benz drove over. The two people who came were a man and a woman, who were dressed simply and homely, and did not look arrogant.

"Have you started packing yet?" The man rubbed his hands and said, "Boss Gao, let's start ordering the goods."

Peasant woman: "Do you want to pick again like last time?"

Zhan Mu: "You don't want it? That's normal."

"The problem is that the boss wants 300 kilograms. If the good ones we pick are not enough, we have to go to the fields to pick more. If we keep going like this, we will be late getting off work today." Grandma Zhan sighed, rubbed her sore neck, and said, "You know, kid, being a farmer is not that easy."

"Yeah, the boss can't make any money, so we're not doing it either." The short old lady who was with Grandma Zhan pouted at Zhan Mu and said, "You don't know, in the past, half a day was only 50 yuan. That boss Gao was really doing a lot of evil. You see the glory."

Lu Chao murmured, "80 for half a day, 160 for a day, a month..."

"You're dreaming," said Grandma Zhan. "How many grapes are there in a year? How can we make a living paying bills every day? It's not like we're working. Boss Gao still owes us the rent for our land."

"No wonder this small mountain village can't develop." Zhan Mu said: "Without a business tycoon who can single-handedly boost GDP, where there is no money, everything is scarce."

Lu Chao slowed down and finally returned to normal temperature. He said with a smile: "I think our Boss Zhan has the ability. Come on, no matter what you do, I am optimistic about you."

As she said this, she imitated Wking and winked at him.

"Then I wish you good food and good fortune soon." Zhan Mu smiled.