Chapter 15: Zhou Yangze ruined the welcoming banquet...
Around six o'clock in the evening, three groups of guests arrived at the courtyard where Zhou Yangze and his friends lived. The courtyard was spacious and could accommodate guests, the village chief and villagers' representatives, as well as the program staff. There was also a small kitchen for cooking.
The first to arrive were Chen Ziyou and Ai Jia, as well as their family member Lao Zhao. They saw six large round tables placed in the yard, each filled with steaming farm dishes. Just the smell was enough to make people salivate.
Chen Ziyou gave a thumbs-up to the program's camera and said, "I take back what I said today about cursing Zhou Yangze. He still has a conscience."
Soon after, Wen Ni and Wei Jialang arrived with Grandma Li and Xiaodou, and finally Su Qiang and Jiang Lingfei arrived with Carpenter Chen and his wife. They were all amazed by the grand banquet and were all smiling.
After all the guests arrived, the director began the next process.
"First of all, welcome everyone! With the help of the villagers, we've prepared a sumptuous dinner for you today. Every dish on the table is made with ingredients sourced from Shiqiao Village. For example, the corn and tofu soup uses locally grown soybeans, ground on a stone mill. There's also the cold-mixed wood ear mushrooms and steamed mushrooms with chopped peppers, both freshly picked from the mountains this morning. And this firewood chicken has firm and tender meat, made with grain-fed, free-range chickens, with no added feed... Okay, now you can try it."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone couldn't wait to pick up their chopsticks. Su Qiang jokingly said as she ate, "The director has finally finished speaking."
The other guests all showed expressions that said "I understand you".
After they ate for a while, the director began to distribute the gift packages promised to new members today.
Jiang Lingfei asked with a smile, "Do we also have a new member gift pack?"
"This gift pack is given to the group. Every group gets one."
"Wow, Director Wang is so generous!"
Then the staff pushed up the gift packages, which mainly contained daily necessities such as towels, paper towels, fans, as well as common ingredients such as rice, bacon, and fresh eggs, divided into three portions of different sizes.
Under normal circumstances, they would just think it was commonplace and nothing special, but now every family is short of supplies, and these things are like timely help, so all three groups of guests are very happy.
"First up is Group A, Wei Jialang and Wen Ni. Your gift packs are the first."
Looking at the gift packs that obviously had the least, Wen Ni was dissatisfied. "Director, what is the basis for distribution? Why do we have the least?"
"I'll explain it to everyone after I distribute it."
Then came Su Qiang and Jiang Lingfei. They had the most gift bags, and they showed off happily like they had won the championship. "Oh, we have too much stuff, Director, you guys have to borrow a car to help us take it back later."
This statement immediately attracted a wave of hatred.
The remaining gift packages naturally belonged to Chen Ziyou and Ai Jia. Although they received slightly less than the second group, they were still quite satisfied.
At this point the director explained, "The distribution is based on everyone's performance after entering their respective homes. You can see it on the big screen next to them. Group A mainly helped sweep the floor, Group B helped clean inside and out, and also went up the mountain to chop bamboo and cook, so they received the most gift bags; Group C also helped clean and cook."
Wen Ni saw this and quickly defended herself: "Didn't they say we should rest? I thought they just wanted us to pack our bags and take a rest."
Wei Jialang also said, "Yes."
Director Wang shrugged as if to say we just said that on purpose.
Wei Jialang and Wen Ni: "..."
After distributing the gift packages, today's task is over. All that remains is to collect some more materials. The director is also eager to finish early so that he can eat.
Zhou Yangze and his friends sat at the same table with the village chief, and they talked about the publicity direction of Shiqiaozhai. After all, they had to do something practical for Shiqiaozhai next.
"Village Chief, tomorrow I'll arrange for someone to photograph Shiqiao Village's specialties. Let's start with some mountain products. See if you can find an experienced villager to take us up the mountain and introduce us."
"No problem, I'll find one for you. Xiao Yang can come with you too. We are all young people and maybe he can help." Xiao Yang is a local college student village official who has been in Shiqiaozhai for three years.
"Okay, thank you, Village Chief."
While chatting, Zhou Yangze paid attention to Du Ningyou next to him. Seeing her eyes light up after trying the steamed mushrooms with chopped peppers, he smiled and picked up some more for her, as well as other meat and vegetables. She couldn't eat as fast as someone else could add more dishes.
Finally, after piling up another small hill, Du Ningyou stopped Zhou Yangze and said, "That's enough. You can't eat any more."
"It's okay, we can go out for a walk later."
"That's enough."
"Okay."
Then Zhou Yangze asked, "Tomorrow we plan to shoot some footage of Shiqiaozhai's specialties. We'll go to the mountains to shoot mushroom and wood ear mushroom picking. Do you want to come with us?"
"Yes, I must go."
"Okay, I'll call you in the morning."
The three groups of guests were still in the camera. After eating for a while, they moved to chat with the villagers. Those were the villagers who helped cook and provide ingredients today. Of course, the program team paid them.
After socializing for a while, Chen Ziyou came to Zhou Yangze's table and chatted with the village chief with a smile, "Village Chief Feng, the food here is really good, authentic, and natural and pollution-free. I'm going to buy some more for my family when I leave."
"No, no, you guys have already helped a lot in promoting Shiqiao Village. I'll prepare some local specialties for each of you to take back."
"No, I have to buy it with money, otherwise I don't want it."
The two sides pushed and pulled each other for a while, and finally the village chief saw Chen Ziyou's firm attitude and had to agree with a smile.
Then Chen Ziyou brought a bench and sat down next to Zhou Yangze and Du Ningyou, and asked quietly, "Brother, what are your plans for tomorrow? Considering our friendship over the years, please let me know a little bit."
"Go away, don't try to get close to me during the recording of the show. I'm very fair and just."
Chen Ziyou snorted, then turned to ask Du Ningyou, "Little Ningyou, you must be different from this black-hearted person. Tell your brother a little."
"Tomorrow..." She paused for two seconds under Chen Ziyou's expectant gaze, and finally said, "I don't know either."
“…”
"Little Ningyou, why have you become like this? You've been led astray by Zhou Yangze." Since he couldn't get any information, he started to have bad intentions. "I'm telling you, you should stay away from Zhou Yangze from now on. You don't know that he actually treats you... uh uh."
Before Chen Ziyou could finish his words, he stuffed a chicken leg into his mouth. Zhou Yangze immediately drove him away, "Stop standing there. You're a guest, pay attention to your distance. Get back to the camera."
Chen Ziyou bit off a piece of meat, held the chicken leg and stood up slowly, "Little Ningyou, after the show, come find your brother and have a good talk with you." Then he walked away with a smile under Zhou Yangze's warning eyes.
Du Ningyou looked at Zhou Yangze in confusion, "What did you want to say just now, Brother You? Are you saying bad things about me behind my back?"
"How is that possible! Am I that kind of person? Don't listen to his nonsense and eat quickly."
"oh."
At this time, Wen Ni came over with a teacup, ignoring Du Ningyou and looking at Zhou Yangze, "Mr. Zhou Er, I'm Wen Ni. This is the first time we meet today. Since we don't have wine, I can only offer you a cup of tea instead."
Zhou Yangze said indifferently, "You're welcome." Then he clinked glasses with hers and drank it before it even touched her cup.
Wen Ni didn't leave after finishing her drink. The stool Chen Ziyou had just brought was still there, so she sat down and said with a smile, "Second Young Master, I've actually met you many times before, at Zhou's events and some charity dinners, but there were so many people greeting you back then that I couldn't squeeze in. I feel very lucky and happy to be able to be on the show you're leading this time."
"Thanks."
Wen Ni didn't care about his indifferent attitude and continued to speak, "Come to think of it, I just happened to run into Sister Yue Wei a few days ago. She was so envious when she heard I was here to record your show. She also praised the Second Young Master, saying that you are considerate and attentive to girls. This is your first time in charge of a variety show, so I will definitely do my best. Let me record it well, and the show you are in charge of will definitely be a hit."
After hearing this, Du Ningyou silently moved the stool away. She knew Bai Yuewei, the female celebrity who had previously had an affair with Zhou Yangze.
Zhou Yangze noticed her movements and reached out to pull her and the bench back to their original positions. He then looked at Wen Ni expressionlessly, "I don't know the Yue Wei you're talking about. Miss Wen, the material collection isn't finished yet. Could you please cooperate and continue recording for a while?"
“…Oh, okay.”
After they had almost finished eating, Zhou Yangze took Du Ningyou for a walk, and the staff took care of the rest.
There are no street lights in Shiqiaozhai Village, only a little light coming from the houses next door. However, the moon is very bright tonight, and they can see clearly ahead without a flashlight.
Zhou Yangze took Du Ningyou's hand and said nonsense openly: "It's getting dark, I'll hold you so that you don't step into the pit."
Du Ningyou brushed his hand aside and replied sarcastically, "Master Zhou is indeed considerate and attentive to girls."
He smiled softly, moved closer and put his arm around her shoulders with a little force, not giving her a chance to shake him off. Then he tilted his head and asked, "What? Are you jealous?"
"Why should I be jealous? It has nothing to do with me."
"Why is it okay? You said this morning that you'd consider marrying me."
"I'm not considering it. Being your wife is too awful. I have to listen to gossip about you and other women every day."
Hearing this, Zhou Yangze was silent at first, then he said "Oh" and let her go, walking away by himself, looking very lonely.
Du Ningyou was confused. She wasn't emo at all, so why did this guy become emo first?
After walking a little further, she couldn't help herself and went over to tug at someone's clothes and whispered, "Zhou Yangze, what's wrong with you?"
He stopped and looked up at the sky, then let out a long sigh.
"I thought after all this explanation and the changes I've experienced, you would have more confidence in me, but I didn't expect that... Well, forget it. Ultimately, it's all my fault. I don't even have one person who is willing to believe in me."
“…”
Du Ningyou felt something was wrong, but he still said apologetically: "I was just joking, I didn't disbelieve you."
"So, are you still considering marrying me?"
“…”
Seeing her silence, Zhou Yangze brushed her hand away and continued walking forward. Du Ningyou quickly caught up with him, "Think about it, think about it, okay?"
Someone suppressed the upward curve of his lips, paused, and turned to look at her, "Really?"
“Really, really.”
"Okay then." He bent down and hugged the person in his arms, because if he didn't hide it, he would be unable to hold it in any longer.
The recording on the other side was almost finished. After saying hello to the director, Wei Jialang walked out of the yard with his agent and found an open place to chat.
The agent asked, "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"There's no other way. If I don't solve this problem, I'll miss it. I have to find a way to seize this opportunity to turn things around."
"Okay, be careful. The Zhou family is an existence in the entertainment industry that neither you nor I can afford to offend."
"I see."
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