The sky outside was as dark as the bottom of a pot, without a single ray of light.

Uncle Ge drove seven people, bumping along the way, towards the pond.

It was Chai Fei's first time riding an electric tricycle. She gripped the handrail tightly, her heart pounding with fear as she looked at the dark shadows around her.

"This area is all desolate wilderness, pitch black everywhere, there isn't even a single streetlight around. Aren't you scared?"

After waiting for a while without any response, she turned around and saw that all six people were asleep, slumped over her knees.

What's going on here?

Chai Fei gently nudged Chu Yang's shoulder and asked, "Why are you all asleep?"

Chu Yang remained motionless, his head resting on his knees, his voice muffled as he spoke:

"Gossip Girl, it's still a half-hour drive from here to the pond. Why don't you take a nap and save your energy? You still have a whole day of work to do today."

The thatched gate stood bewildered in the wind for a while, then, after thinking it over, decided to "do as the Romans do," and fell asleep with its head on its knees.

Uncle Ge parked the electric tricycle at the intersection and woke up the people on the vehicle one by one.

"We need to catch fish from both ponds today. Divide the work among yourselves and hurry up. The fish vendors will be here on their motorcycles by 8:30."

"I, Chu Yang, Xi Mei, and Gossip Sister are in one group, while Shen Yingyu, Xie Wanyi, Yu Xiangwan, and Uncle Ge are in another group."

After Yan Jie finished dividing the group into teams, he didn't forget to tell Xi Mei, "You mentor the newcomers."

Jiang Hexi nodded solemnly. After Yan Jie and Chu Yang went into the water, she handed half of the bottom net to Chai Fei and carefully instructed him:

"Follow in Yan Wang's footsteps, drag the bottom net forward until you reach the other side, then follow Yan Wang's instructions to haul in the net."

Chai Fei took the dirty fishing net and said incredulously:

"Xi-mei, this fishing net, this pond, this silt—how can you do this kind of work?"

As a seasoned farmer, Jiang Hexi has a responsibility to give some guidance to the newcomers:

"Sis, what did Director Chen say to you before you came?"

"He told me to use my expertise and also to experience authentic rural life."

Haven't you watched the previous three episodes?

Seeing that she suddenly stopped talking, Jiang Hexi emphasized, "This is a reality show about working in the fields. Director Chen invited you to come here to do farm work, not to come here for interviews and gossip."

Chai Fei's face immediately turned extremely ugly.

Jiang Hexi reminded her, "The last person who was ridiculed online for being arrogant and not doing any work—"

"Stop!"

Chai Fei hurriedly called out to her, and said in a conciliatory tone, "Xi-mei, I'll go into the water with you right now."

[Hahaha, Xi-mei knows how to handle newcomers!]

[Gossip Girl went too far last night, offending six guests single-handedly. How is she going to survive farming from now on?]

[Nan Xi is already being bombarded with criticism, and she's constantly being dragged out as a scapegoat!]

[It feels like this hurdle is insurmountable. Whenever a newcomer who doesn't want to work arrives, Xi Mei will recite this mantra: The last Nan Xi who was ridiculed online for being arrogant and not working has already been kicked out of the entertainment industry.]

The two teams split up and successfully joined the nets to collect the fish at 8:10 a.m.

The six people watched the grass carp repeatedly flying into the mesh of the net, but they felt no joy at all.

Jiang Hexi asked in bewilderment, "How come there's such a big difference in the quality of fish raised in free-range conditions?"

Chai Fei stood panting in the mud, so exhausted he was about to collapse.

"What difference?"

"The total number of free-range fish in our two ponds is at most four hundred."

Jiang Hexi looked at the clear pond next door with envy in her eyes:

"The village bully caught nearly four hundred fish from one pond, and most of them were plump and delicious, unlike the skinny fish we have here, which look much worse."

"Li Youtian is a well-known large-scale fish farmer in the village."

Uncle Ge picked a handful of wild grass and vigorously scraped the mud off his waders, saying:

"He has a secret fish-raising method that he doesn't share with outsiders. Don't be fooled by his lazy attitude. He just leaves the fish in the pond and doesn't care about them. When it's time to harvest the fish, he always manages to catch the most fish in his pond, and they look the best."

“Uncle Li is truly,” Jiang Hexi said admiringly, “a role model for us all.”

Yan Jie noticed the glimmer of light in Jiang Hexi's eyes and encouraged her, saying:

"Xi-mei, find an opportunity later to properly exchange fish-raising techniques with Uncle Li."

"must."

Jiang Hexi readily agreed.

Finally, the fish were weighed, and a total of 1,760 catties of grass carp were harvested from the two ponds. They were sold at a wholesale price of 6.5 yuan per catty, resulting in a net profit.

Uncle Ge drove the group back.

As they passed a wheat field, Chu Yang suddenly called out, "Uncle, stop the car—"

Uncle Ge slammed on the brakes and stopped the car. He turned around and saw Chu Yang and Jiang Hexi jump out of the car and walk into the wheat field.

"What happened? What's going on?"

Jiang Hexi stood in the wheat field, pointing to the wheat in the field and said:

"Uncle, is there something wrong with the seeds? Why are all our wheat plants half a meter shorter than the others?"

Uncle Ge thought something serious had happened and was startled for no reason.

“Your wheat was the last batch planted. Everyone else has already been fertilized and grown taller, but you haven’t even gotten any fertilizer yet. How can your wheat not be short? Stop looking and come up here. I’ll take you back to your place for a nap.”

Both of them were devastated by those words.

After Jiang Hexi got into the car, she muttered to Chu Yang:

“Our wheat was born with congenital deficiencies. We planted it later than other people’s wheat, and it also developed slowly. If we miss this topdressing, it will be difficult to harvest it in the future.”

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!