Chapter 25 Leaving

"How could it catch fire?" someone in the crowd exclaimed in surprise.

Zhao Zhiyi's heart sank, and he wondered to himself: Could it be that the cigarette butt he had carelessly tossed away earlier caused this? Just as he was feeling uneasy, he looked up and met Gu Qingke's gaze, which made him even more guilty.

Wu Xiaojia slapped Zhao Zhiyi hard and said urgently, "That's our land!" Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhiyi was almost certain that he had started the fire.

Gu Qingke shouted, "Put out the fire first!"

The villagers were heartbroken as they watched the raging flames.

Everyone was afraid the fire would spread to their fields, and anxious shouts rang out, "Help! Put out the fire!"

The fire was too fierce, and the heat was intense. No one dared to approach easily. Everyone stood on the edge of the field, watching helplessly as the fire raged.

Huo Yizhou calmly took out his phone and quickly dialed the fire department. However, looking at the ever-spreading flames and thinking about how the villagers' hard work over the past six months was about to turn to ashes, he felt extremely heavy-hearted.

At this moment, Su Tangtang suddenly spoke up, "Let's go and harvest the wheat around here that hasn't been burned yet, otherwise it will all be ruined, the fire is spreading too fast."

Huo Yizhou hesitated for a moment, "It's a bit dangerous, what if the fire spreads over?"

After a moment's thought, he said, "I'll go."

Su Tangtang insisted, "I'll go with you; it'll be faster that way. I'll be careful."

Seeing her resolute attitude, Huo Yizhou had no choice but to nod, "Okay, remember to stay far away from the fire."

Su Tangtang responded, and the two quickly got to work.

They deftly boarded their respective harvesters, started the engines without hesitation, and drove to the edge of the wheat field, where the flames had not yet engulfed it, to begin harvesting as quickly as possible.

Seeing this, Zhou Yan nudged Qu Xian beside her.

Qu Xian immediately understood and quickly ran to another harvester, following closely behind as it drove into the field.

The three men, driving a combine harvester, carried out the rescue operation in a tense but orderly manner under the firelight.

Gu Qingke watched the three figures rushing headlong into the fire, her brows furrowing slightly.

That's really reckless.

But since they all went, he was afraid he would be criticized to death by netizens if he didn't go. After hesitating for a moment, he finally got on the harvester, started the engine, and drove towards the edge of the fire.

The fire remained raging, showing no signs of abating.

Su Tangtang and her group started from the outer perimeter, quickly harvesting the wheat around the flames, and then gradually moved closer to the fire source, trying their best to salvage more harvest from the raging inferno.

On the ridge of the field, the villagers were both nervous and moved, their voices filled with gratitude:

"They're so great... Oh my god, if it weren't for them, our whole wheat crop would be ruined!"

"Yes, it's all thanks to them!"

"But how did this fire start? It's terrifying..."

"I don't know..."

The fire department arrived quickly; within ten minutes, the fire trucks were already there. They swiftly began firefighting operations, spraying water at the flames and suppressing the raging fire.

The raging fire was quickly extinguished.

Thick black smoke filled the sky, and the air was thick with the acrid smell of burning straw, mixed with the earthy and damp scent, weighing heavily on everyone's hearts.

Just as everyone was calming down from the fire, a police siren sounded, and soon two police cars arrived.

Four police officers then came down from inside.

One of the police officers asked, "What happened? How did the fire start?"

Everyone looked at each other, but none of them knew the answer.

Zhao Zhiyi shrank back into the crowd, not daring to show his face.

Seeing that no one spoke, the police officer looked at the people filming and then asked, "What are you doing here?"

At this point, the director came out and negotiated with the police.

After exchanging only a few words, the director called the cameraman away.

Zhao Zhiyi was panicking inside, but she still tried to appear calm on the surface.

Looking at the charred wheat field before her, Wu Xiaojia felt a tightness in her heart. Eighty percent of this land belonged to her family. Her eyes stung, and she could almost hear her own heart breaking.

I was hoping that selling the wheat would allow me to pay back the money I owed Su Tangtang and the others, but now it's too late.

She turned to Zhao Zhiyi beside her, gritted her teeth and whispered, "I wonder which bastard did this."

Zhao Zhiyi's expression changed slightly, but he did not respond.

Wu Xiaojia was furious and completely oblivious to the subtle change in his expression. She leaned close to Zhao Zhiyi's ear and whispered, "Could it be that Su Tangtang and the others started the fire?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhiyi immediately came up with a plan, intending to take the opportunity to frame Su Tangtang and the others for the fire.

But then Wu Xiaojia muttered to herself, "But something doesn't feel right. I've been sitting with them the whole time, and they haven't had a chance to make a move."

She paused, then suddenly seemed to remember something, abruptly raising her head and looking sharply at Zhao Zhiyi.

Zhao Zhiyi felt a little uncomfortable under her gaze, and finally leaned close to her ear, speaking in a very low voice, "When I was smoking just now... I accidentally threw the cigarette butt on the ground."

Wu Xiaojia's expression changed drastically. She glared at him fiercely and muttered, "Are you crazy?!"

Zhao Zhiyi's voice rose a few decibels: "How could I have imagined it would turn out like this!"

Wu Xiaojia was so angry that she kicked him.

Zhao Zhiyi immediately got angry, "What are you doing!" This shout drew the attention of everyone around them.

Wu Xiaojia quickly made up an excuse and shouted, "So annoying! You stepped on my foot!" Everyone glanced at them speechlessly; even at a time like this, they were still fooling around.

Zhao Zhiyi realized what was happening and muttered an explanation, "I didn't do it on purpose..."

Su Tangtang, who was standing not far away, narrowed her eyes slightly.

She didn't think it was just a simple scuffle. The fire was too suspicious. They had only been back from smoking for a few minutes when the wheat field caught fire. Her gaze swept back and forth between Gu Qingke and Zhao Zhiyi, and she became more and more suspicious.

Gu Qingke naturally noticed her gaze, and her heart tightened: Could it be that she suspects me?

Just as everyone was still wondering, the director suddenly came over and called Gu Qingke and Zhao Zhiyi away.

Su Tangtang and the others were not oblivious people. When they saw the two of them being called away separately, they roughly guessed what was going on.

Shen Yingying's face paled slightly. If it was really Gu Qingke who accidentally lit it, it would probably have a significant impact on his future acting career. She subconsciously looked at Wu Xiaojia, who was also looking at her.

Wu Xiaojia quickly walked to her side and whispered in her ear, "What should we do, Sister Yingying?"

Hearing her question, Shen Yingying inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief, then softly asked in return, "What's wrong?"

The director just called all the cameramen away, and not long after, he called Gu Qingke and Zhao Zhiyi away separately. Obviously, one of the cameramen must have captured something.

Thinking of this, her heart began to race.

“The photographer must have captured it,” Wu Xiaojia whispered. “Zhiyi told me that he accidentally threw his cigarette butt into the wheat field.”

Upon hearing this, Shen Yingying frowned immediately.

She gently patted Wu Xiaojia's hand and whispered comfortingly, "It might not have been caused by that cigarette butt. Don't worry, let's wait for them to come back."

Wu Xiaojia nodded, but inexplicably felt that the cigarette butt was the culprit. The two huddled together and talked quietly, while others around them occasionally cast inquiring glances at them.

Lin Lang quietly leaned closer to Zhou Yan and whispered, "Based on my long understanding of Zhao Zhiyi, I think he's probably the one who did this."

“I also think so. He doesn’t seem like a good person,” Zhou Yan said, her tone filled with dissatisfaction as she recalled the time he deliberately kicked her medicine tub when Zhao Zhiyi was mentioned. “I actually hope he did it, so he can learn a lesson.”

Su Tangtang listened to their conversation and couldn't help but smile softly.

This Zhao Zhiyi is really a handful.

In the original story, Zhao Zhiyi and Wu Xiaojia were always jealous of Shen Yingying and Gu Qingke, since the two were the most popular and the most prominent on the show.

Although they might occasionally cause some minor trouble, they usually do it discreetly and are difficult to detect. Ironically, the original owner of this body had a bad personality, and many times their underhanded actions ended up blaming the original owner.

-

Gu Qingke and Zhao Zhiyi followed the director to the police. Without saying a word, the police pulled up the surveillance video and pointed it at the two of them. Then, staring at Zhao Zhiyi, they asked, "Is this you?"

Zhao Zhiyi panicked immediately. Looking at the footage of himself throwing a cigarette butt into the wheat field, he stammered, "I didn't mean to..."

The police officer asked sternly, "You call this not intentional?"

Zhao Zhiyi continued to argue, "I just tossed it away... a tiny cigarette butt, just a few sparks, I didn't think it would catch fire."

"Even a three-year-old knows not to litter cigarette butts, and you, an adult, don't know that?" the policeman said sarcastically.

Zhao Zhiyi was a little embarrassed, but still stubbornly insisted, "I really didn't mean to! Besides, it was my own land that was burned."

He vehemently denied it.

Then, the police turned to Gu Qingke and asked, "You were there when he threw the cigarette butt. Tell me, did he do it on purpose?"

Gu Qingke was speechless for a moment.

He did try to persuade Zhao Zhiyi at the time, but the other party not only refused to listen, but also argued vehemently.

Zhao Zhiyi also stared intently at him, her eyes filled with warning.

“I saw it, but I’m not sure if he did it on purpose,” Gu Qingke finally said.

Zhao Zhiyi was taken aback, then immediately became angry. "What do you mean? You're not going to help me, are you?"

Gu Qingke said helplessly, "The video is right here. I tried to persuade you before, and you said it would be fine."

Zhao's expression grew increasingly grim, yet he still insisted that he had not done it intentionally.

Ultimately, with the coordination of the director and the police, Zhao Zhiyi was fined 100,000 yuan, part of which was used to compensate the villagers affected by the fire.

He was extremely unwilling, but fearing things would escalate, he had no choice but to obediently pay the money.

Zhao Zhiyi felt very aggrieved because he hadn't earned any money from the show and had instead lost a lot of money.

But he still didn't think he had done anything wrong.

The director led Zhao Zhiyi back to the recording studio in a dejected manner, while Su Tangtang and the others had already begun their work.

Originally, after harvesting the wheat from Gu Qingke's group in the morning, they were supposed to harvest the wheat from Zhao Zhiyi's group, but now that the wheat fields have all been burned, there is naturally no need to harvest anymore.

That evening, everyone gathered together, and the director explained the whole thing to them.

Zhao Zhiyi couldn't help but ask, "Director, could we not air this part?"

The director scoffed, "Why not air it? It has to be aired so everyone can see it and it can serve as a warning."

Zhao Zhiyi's face darkened. "This is too embarrassing! We can't broadcast it!"

The director glanced at him. "Now you realize how shameful you are? Why didn't you think about it when you carelessly tossed your cigarette butt away?"

Zhao Zhiyi gritted her teeth and insisted, "I said you're not allowed to broadcast it!"

The director replied casually, "Why don't you try trending on social media first?"

Upon hearing this, everyone opened Weibo.

The top trending topic: #Zhao Zhiyi caused a fire by throwing away a cigarette butt#

Second on the trending list: #ZhaoZhiyiHasNoManners#

Several more related topics followed, all concerning him.

Clicking on any of the comments, the comment section was filled with insults:

"My God, is Zhao Zhiyi brainless?"

"This is unbearable, this person is outrageous!"

"He has absolutely no manners. Doesn't he understand basic principles that even a child should know?"

"Although I don't know Zhao Zhiyi, I have a feeling this person has a lot of problems..."

"Is his family the owner of a hot pot restaurant? I'm never going there again. If the owner is so rude, then the ingredients they provide for their hot pot restaurant must not be fresh either."

"Don't even mention it. I found a cockroach in my food at his hot pot restaurant before."

"I found a fly in my food last time, it was disgusting, and I've never gone there since."

"They praise it so much, but actually their hot pot restaurant is terrible and unhygienic."

"Zhao Zhiyi, you should quit the show right now!"

There were even more harsh comments.

Zhao Zhiyi stared at his phone, almost wanting to smash it.

Just then, Zhao Zhiyi's phone rang. He checked the caller ID, turned around, and walked out.

Seeing this, Wu Xiaojia followed them out.

The director gave everyone a few more instructions, reminding them not to litter cigarette butts in the fields, before letting everyone who had been busy all day go back to rest.

As everyone left one by one, the director couldn't help but sigh. Zhao Zhiyi was simply a menace. If the show was to continue smoothly, he absolutely could not be kept.

Back home, Su Tangtang said to Huo Yizhou, "Zhao Zhiyi really went too far this time. Farming is so hard, and he just threw a cigarette butt and ruined the villagers' harvest of half a year's hard work."

Huo Yizhou replied calmly, "He couldn't stay any longer."

"Will the director let him go?" Su Tangtang asked.

"We won't keep him," Huo Yizhou said firmly.

Su Tangtang nodded, "It's good that he left. It saves us from having to be on guard against him playing some underhanded tricks every day."

At this point, she suddenly remembered something, "But what about the money he owes us if he really leaves?"

Huo Yizhou seemed to have already thought about it, saying, "I'll talk to the director about it when the time comes."

Su Tangtang nodded in agreement.

The next morning, the director announced that Wu Xiaojia and Zhao Zhiyi were withdrawing from the show.

Moreover, the two of them had already left last night.

The director had originally planned to talk to Zhao Zhiyi and Wu Xiaojia about their withdrawal today, but unexpectedly, they brought it up first. It seems that Zhao Zhiyi's family intervened, otherwise she wouldn't have left in such a hurry.

A few days later, all the wheat in the village was finally harvested.

The production team settled everyone's wages, and then the director announced with a smile, "A new couple will be coming tomorrow."

Everyone looked at each other, and began to speculate in hushed tones.

Su Tangtang spoke first, asking, "Director, are they a celebrity couple or an ordinary couple?"

The director smiled mysteriously, "Guess what?"

Zhou Yan was the first to speak, "Are you a celebrity couple?"

The director shook his head.

Su Tangtang's eyes lit up, "So they're an ordinary couple?"

The director nodded, then added, "And he's a friend of one of you."

"A friend of one of us?" Lin Lang repeated softly, thinking about her friends. Some were single, some were busy with their careers, and none of them seemed to be in a relationship. She subconsciously glanced at Qiu Nan next to her, wondering if she was a friend of hers.

Zhou Yan was a bit older, and most of her relatives and friends were already married. She muttered to herself: Could it be someone I know?

Shen Yingying laughed and replied, "That's a very broad range. Whose friend could it be?"

The director, still maintaining a mysterious demeanor, smiled and said, "You'll find out tomorrow."