Chapter 13 Why are you being so fierce?

While eating, Su Tangtang looked up and asked, "How is it?"

She tasted it herself and thought it was quite delicious.

Huo Yizhou paused slightly, then nodded. "Well done. I underestimated you before."

Upon hearing this, Su Tangtang immediately raised her chin, her tone carrying a hint of smugness, "I don't usually say things I don't know."

Huo Yizhou looked at her bright and lively face and nodded slightly, "I understand."

Su Tangtang laughed and turned to the photographer, "Brother photographer, don't you think it's delicious?"

The photographer gave her a thumbs up.

Su Tangtang chuckled, a warm sense of satisfaction spreading through her heart.

In the afternoon, Su Tangtang looked at the seeds that were germinating; the white sprouts were larger than when she had seen them in the morning.

These tiny seeds are changing almost every moment. Watching them for a long time evokes an indescribable tenderness and anticipation in one's heart.

In the evening, everyone gathered with the director, briefly reported on their progress, and then listened to the director's instructions for the next steps.

Before leaving, the director called everyone back and added, "You all need to take some time to review the questions for the first part of the harvester driver's license test the day after tomorrow."

After responding, everyone dispersed.

Shen Yingying and Gu Qingke, along with their photographer, went in a different direction.

Su Tangtang watched the two figures disappear into the distance, a hint of curiosity flashing through her mind, but it was only for a moment. She quickly looked away, turned around and followed Huo Yizhou back together.

Having no money on hand and unwilling to ask Su Tangtang and the others for a loan, Shen Yingying and Gu Qingke went to the village chief together in the afternoon, cautiously inquiring about whether there were any places nearby where they could do hourly work. They had to earn some money, at least to solve their food problem.

They actually managed to find out.

There was a family in the village who ran a skewer hot pot restaurant in town. They often needed help skewering the food in the evenings, and they were paid by the piece, two cents per skewer.

The price was a bit low, but after working all night, I could at least earn enough for food the next day. I experienced a kind of hardship that I had never felt before in my life, but I truly tasted it in this variety show.

Before long, the three of them arrived at the boss's house.

As soon as the owner saw them, he greeted them with a smile, "Hello, are you two here to order some skewers?"

Gu Qingke and Shen Yingying nodded quickly, "Yes, boss, thank you for your trouble."

The boss already knew they were there to record a program, so he was exceptionally enthusiastic, since they would be appearing on television afterward.

"The village chief should have explained it to you, right? Two cents a string, the more you wear, the more you earn," the shopkeeper said in a honest and straightforward voice.

Shen Yingying smiled slightly, "Everything has been explained clearly, we understand."

She was already strikingly beautiful, and her smile made several middle-aged women in the courtyard, who were busy skewering food, look up and glance at her a few more times. Some of them even huddled together and whispered among themselves.

The boss arranged a table for them and carefully demonstrated how to skewer the meat; both of them learned very diligently.

This job isn't technically difficult; you can learn it in no time. After the boss finished teaching me, he went to do other things.

An enthusiastic middle-aged woman approached Shen Yingying with a smile and said, "My son really likes you; his room is covered with your posters!"

Shen Yingying was pleasantly surprised, "Really?"

The woman nodded repeatedly. "What a pity, he works in the city now and can't see you in person." She then asked, "Could we take a picture together later? I'll send it to him!"

Shen Yingying smiled gently, "Of course."

The older women were quick and talkative. Shen Yingying and Gu Qingke originally thought the party would be long and boring, but they were surprised to find that it was the opposite.

They always have endless stories to tell about family matters.

"In the next village, a woman was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her husband refused to treat her and divorced her, even taking the children with her."

Shen Yingying frowned. "This guy is such a jerk!"

“Who says otherwise!” The woman slapped her thigh and continued, “What they did was really outrageous. They were worried about the woman getting sick, so they threw out all her belongings.”

“Breast cancer is not contagious,” Gu Qingke explained, then pressed on, “What happened afterward?”

"Later, it was the woman's family who pooled their money and effort to finally cure her illness," the old woman lowered her voice, her tone carrying an ambiguous meaning. "I don't know if the woman was angry or what, but not long after she recovered, she actually married that old bachelor next door to her ex-husband, who happened to have a pretty good relationship with her ex-husband."

Shen Yingying was speechless for a moment: "..."

She had only one thought in her mind: This older sister is really ruthless.

"Then...aren't they awkward meeting now?"

"What's so embarrassing?" The middle-aged woman laughed heartily. "It doesn't matter who you live with, right? You know what, this bachelor is much better to her and her child than her ex-husband. Now the young couple is living a wonderful life."

Gu Qingke laughed and interjected, "The two families live so close, they see each other every day. Your son calls someone else 'Dad' every day. Your ex-husband must be kicking himself."

The woman nodded happily, "That's right! I heard that every time he hears a child call someone else's dad, he gets so angry that he slams the door and smashes the bowls."

After finishing this gossip, the auntie started rambling on about other strange and interesting stories, one after another, leaving Shen Yingying and Gu Qingke stunned and their hands moving a little slower.

Before I knew it, I was busy until 11 p.m.

After all the skewers were finished, the owner came over to count them and settle the bill for everyone one by one.

After working for several hours, Shen Yingying and Gu Qingke made a total of 600 skewers. At 20 cents per skewer, they earned 120 yuan.

At least I'm covered for food for the next two days.

-

The first thing Su Tangtang did after waking up the next morning was to check on their seeds.

The buds are sprouting exceptionally well; nearly 70% of the seeds have already shown white sprouts, with tender shoots protruding more than 0.2 millimeters and huddled together full of vitality.

She jumped for joy and turned around to share her happiness with Huo Yizhou, only to remember that he had gone out for a run early that morning.

Suppressing her excitement, she turned and went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. She ate a simple breakfast, boiling eggs and sweet potatoes. Just as she finished cooking, Huo Yizhou returned.

As usual, his forehead was slightly damp, and his sportswear was soaked with sweat.

Su Tangtang looked at him and said, "We have to go plant the seeds today."

Huo Yizhou nodded. "Okay."

"I made breakfast."

He responded softly, "I'm going to take a shower, it'll be quick."

"Go."

As soon as Huo Yizhou left, Su Tangtang quickly finished her portion and then neatly organized the tools and seeds needed for sowing.

Eight acres of land—the two of them certainly couldn't finish planting it in a day.

After Huo Yizhou returned and cleaned up, Su Tangtang suggested that they ask a few more workers for help.

Huo Yizhou had no objection.

The two of them found the same workers they had worked with before. With many hands and a lot of people, they worked all day and finally managed to sow all the cucumber seeds that had been germinated into the ground.

By the time I finished, it was already completely dark.

After settling their wages, everyone dispersed, and they dragged their weary feet back home.

-

The day of the exam arrived quickly.

The production crew took the few people who needed to take the exam to the county's examination hall early in the morning.

On the bus, everyone was chattering about their mock exam results, creating a somewhat restless atmosphere. Su Tangtang and Huo Yizhou sat quietly to the side, not joining in their conversation.

At this moment, Zhao Zhiyi suddenly turned his head and looked at Su Tangtang, asking, "Su Tangtang, how did your mock exam go?"

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone in the car turned their gazes toward him.

Su Tangtang shrugged, her tone relaxed, "It's alright, I should pass."

Zhao Zhiyi chuckled, his tone laced with mockery, "So confident?"

Su Tangtang was speechless for a moment: "..."

Then, she flashed Zhao Zhiyi a big smile, deliberately showing her two pointed little tiger teeth, making her look both playful and a little sly. "Of course!"

Zhao Zhiyi sneered inwardly, but didn't reply.

The vehicle arrived at the examination site quickly.

There aren't many people taking the harvester driver's license test, so it's considered a relatively unpopular license, and the test center was rather empty.

The production team communicated with the examination venue in advance regarding the filming arrangements, and the photographer was granted permission to record at the entrance of the examination venue to document everyone's examination process.

The exam has a time limit of 45 minutes and consists entirely of multiple-choice questions, totaling 100 questions.

The examination room was unusually quiet, with only the crisp clicking of the mouse audible.

Time passed by, and people began to finish their papers, hand in their answers, and leave.

Su Tangtang looked up and caught a glimpse of Huo Yizhou walking calmly toward the door. Her heart tightened, and she answered the questions even faster.

Before long, she had finished answering all the questions.

After submitting the exam, a "pass" message immediately popped up on the screen. Although she didn't get a perfect score, she was very satisfied with the score of 95, since she had passed.

She walked out of the examination room with ease.

A few minutes later, Gu Qingke, Qiu Nan, and Qu Xian also came out one after another.

The director stepped forward and asked, "Is everything approved?"

The group nodded in agreement. "Passed."

The first part of the driving test isn't very difficult; as long as you practice the questions diligently, you should be able to pass.

Su Tangtang looked around and noticed that Zhao Zhiyi hadn't come out yet, so she casually asked, "Where's Zhao Zhiyi?"

The director checked the time. "Let's wait for him a little longer."

Nearly half an hour later, Zhao Zhiyi finally came out with a sullen face.

Seeing his expression, Su Tangtang couldn't help but ask, "You didn't... fail, did you?"

Zhao Zhiyi stiffened and glared at her irritably. "My computer kept freezing and I just couldn't submit it! I finally managed to submit it successfully, but it showed that I failed."

For a moment, no one knew what to say: "..."

Qu Xian reminded him from the side, "Aren't there two chances?"

Zhao Zhiyi's expression turned even uglier. "Many of these questions I've never even seen in the question bank before!"

In short, he genuinely failed the course and also complained about a bunch of reasons.

The director glanced at him and said, "It's okay, you didn't pass, so be it. You can take the test again in a few days. You can practice driving while you're at it."

Zhao nodded.

It was almost noon, so the director and his team hurried back.

-

Zhao Zhiyi was already harboring a nameless anger, and when he returned to his residence and saw Wu Xiaojia leisurely lying on the bed playing on her phone, his anger flared up even more.

Because the photographer was closely following behind him taking pictures, he managed to hold back his outburst.

Seeing him return, Wu Xiaojia quickly sat up and asked expectantly, "How did the exam go?"

Zhao Zhiyi's face instantly darkened. Everyone else had passed, but he was the only one who failed. It was incredibly embarrassing.

He retorted irritably, "Didn't pass."

Wu Xiaojia's smile froze, but she still held onto a sliver of hope as she pressed on, "How many people didn't pass?"

She secretly hoped that Su Tangtang hadn't passed the exam either.

But her expectations were immediately dashed.

“Just me,” Zhao Zhiyi replied curtly.

Wu Xiaojia was speechless for a moment: "..."

She frowned slightly, a hint of reproach in her voice, "What did you do?"

Zhao Zhiyi's already volatile temper flared up instantly, and he roared, "How would I know!"

Wu Xiaojia was taken aback by his shout and said aggrievedly, "Why are you being so fierce?"

Zhao Zhiyi snapped out of her daze, took a deep breath, and quickly lowered her voice to apologize, "I'm sorry."

Wu Xiaojia stepped forward, reached out and hugged him, her tone softening, "It's just an exam. If you don't pass, you can take it again next time. It's no big deal."

Zhao nodded sullenly, "Okay."

-

Su Tangtang returned home happily.

Huo Yizhou looked up and saw her barely concealed smile, and couldn't help but ask, "So happy?"

Su Tangtang nodded vigorously, "Of course!"

Passing the exam was something to be happy about, but thinking of Zhao Zhiyi's dark face made her want to laugh even more.

It was past midnight when I got home.

The production team is really heartless; they didn't prepare any food at all.

So they have to cook for themselves.

-

A few days later, everyone's vegetable seeds were planted in the ground.

The show has already aired three episodes.

Su Tangtang looked at the comments section and saw that there were still many people criticizing her.

"She's so dramatic!"

"Ugh, Su Tangtang is so selfish! She won't even help my Yingying!"

"Isn't Su Tangtang a shrew? She charges such high interest rates. My poor Xiaojia is in trouble."

"Su Tangtang has withdrawn from the program."

"The photographer and her fake boyfriend are so fake. The food they cooked was terrible, but they said it was delicious."

...

In short, no matter what she does, netizens can find something to criticize.

But a small number of people praised her, and Su Tangtang was very happy to see that.

"Don't scold me, don't scold me, I really think Su Tangtang is really interesting!"

"Add one! Add one!"

"Her cooking looks really delicious!"

"Does Su Tangtang suspect that Zhao Zhiyi and Wu Xiaojia are thieves?"

"That's what I think too!"

"Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that Zhao Zhiyi twisted his leg the very next day!"

These comments quickly disappeared into the void, overshadowed by comments from Gu Qingke and Shen Yingying's fans.

"My heart aches for my precious Yingying."

"Me too. After finishing farm work during the day, I still have to skewer meat at night."

...

After reading the comments for a while, Su Tangtang turned off her phone.

It turns out that they had been working part-time these past few days.

They kept it a secret very well, not revealing anything to them. They wouldn't have known if the show hadn't aired.

That evening, the director gathered everyone together again.

He held up a megaphone and spoke loudly, "The vegetables have already been planted, and everyone is relatively free for the time being. Now we have two new tasks."

Lin Lang looked at the director and couldn't help but ask, "What kind of task? It's not another one of those exhausting jobs, is it?"

The director smiled and said in a relaxed tone, "Not tired at all, not tired at all."

Everyone: "..."

Anyway, whatever the director says, there's never any "tiring" work.

"Starting tomorrow, we will split into two groups: one group of boys will go to the orchard to pick blueberries; the other group of girls will go to the town's weaving factory to learn how to weave."

"Weaving?" Wu Xiaojia interjected, her tone hesitant. "It sounds like it's quite difficult..."

The director waved his hand, "Don't worry, you'll have mentors to teach you."

Su Tangtang's eyes darted around, and she looked at the director, "If we go to weave cloth, will we get paid?"

The director raised an eyebrow and nodded with a smile, "Yes."

Zhou Yan chimed in, "That's alright, otherwise the family wouldn't have any income at all."

The director continued, "Blueberry picking is paid by weight, 5 yuan per jin. The more you work, the more you earn. As for weaving, since no one knows how to do it yet, you'll start at 20 yuan a day. Once you're skilled, you'll be paid 100 yuan per meter of cloth."

Lin Lang looked down and counted on his fingers, his eyes lighting up. "It feels like a pretty good deal!"

Shen Yingying nodded and smiled, "That's right, if you knit ten meters a day, that's a thousand yuan."

The director watched with a smile as everyone discussed amongst themselves, without interrupting.

Su Tangtang looked up and met his smiling eyes, which held a hint of cunning, making him seem like he was up to no good.