Chapter 14 He dares to be a gigolo, yet he's afraid of what people will say…
After breakfast, Su Tangtang and her group went to the director's office on time to meet up.
After the director reiterated the arrangements, he specifically reminded everyone, "Those who have registered for the harvester driver's license test, please return here at 4 PM today. We will organize everyone to go to the harvester driving school in town for practice."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Afterwards, led by staff arranged by the director, the boys went to the orchard, while the girls went to the town's weaving factory.
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Soon, Su Tangtang and her group arrived at the weaving factory.
Upon entering, everyone was surprised. They had assumed it would be machine-woven fabric, and all they would need to do was learn how to operate it. However, when they arrived at the site, they were surprised to find that it was the most primitive method of hand-weaving fabric.
Sure enough, earning 100 yuan a month isn't so easy.
The driver, whom they had contacted in advance, greeted them warmly upon their arrival and then led them to the work area.
There are quite a few people here, and everyone has a clear division of labor.
Upon seeing this group, especially the one carrying a video camera, the workers cast curious glances at them, and unconsciously slowed down their work.
"The first step in weaving is to turn the fluffy, short cotton fibers into strong, continuous yarn," the craftsman explained as he walked. "Let me first give you a general overview of the process."
They arrived at a work area where cotton was piled up like a mountain.
Su Tangtang noticed that most of the people busy here were elderly.
“The cotton that has just been harvested from the field has seeds in it,” the worker said, pointing to a machine. “The function of this cotton gin is to separate the cotton fibers from the cotton seeds.”
Su Tangtang and her group listened attentively as their master explained.
“Since we’re going to learn how to weave, we need to start from the beginning. At least we need to know how cotton thread is made,” the master continued to explain. “After the cotton seeds are separated, we need to clean out the impurities from the cotton.”
At this moment, Shen Yingying pointed to a roller covered with steel needles and asked, "Master, what is this used for?"
The technician looked in the direction she pointed and said, "This is a carding machine, it combs the cotton neatly." He demonstrated the machine as he spoke.
In the blink of an eye, the originally messy cotton was stretched into a flat cotton strip.
"After the cotton is combed, we need to combine and stretch several cotton slivers to make the fibers straighter and more uniform, thus improving the quality of the subsequent spinning," he explained as he skillfully performed the operation.
"After processing, we will slightly thin the cotton strips and add a slight twist to make them into 'coarse yarn' with relatively low strength, which will make them easier to use later."
The craftsman was very skilled; in no time, cotton was transformed into a thin cotton thread in his hands.
"Wow, that's amazing!" Wu Xiaojia couldn't help but praise her master.
The master smiled and continued, "That's how the whole process from cotton to thread works. Your main job is weaving. Now I'll teach you how to use the loom."
The master sat down in front of a loom and explained to everyone what each part of the machine was and what its function was before starting to operate it.
As he demonstrated, he explained, “We first secure the warp roller to our waist with a belt, then we use our feet to brace the warp roller and taut all the warp threads by leaning our bodies backward.”
Zhou Yan couldn't help but exclaim, "My God, this feels so difficult."
Lin Lang nodded in agreement, "It seems like I can't learn it at all..."
The group muttered a few complaints quietly, then continued to watch the instructor's demonstration intently. Half an hour passed by the time the instructor finished showing the entire process.
Seeing everyone's blank expressions, the instructor smiled and comforted them, "It's okay, everyone is like this at the beginning. You'll get used to it after practicing a few more times."
Su Tangtang chimed in, "This requires entirely manual labor; every step needs perfect coordination between the hands, feet, and waist, right?"
The master nodded, "That's right, hand-eye coordination is extremely important. If one step goes wrong, everything else will fall apart."
Suddenly remembering something, Su Tangtang asked, "Master, how many meters of cloth can a skilled weaver weave in a day?"
The craftsman replied, "Even a skilled worker can only weave a few dozen centimeters, or at most a meter, of cloth a day."
A moment of silence fell over everyone, and the thought that "the director tricked us" arose in their minds at the same time.
Su Tangtang pressed on, "Then why not use modern weaving machines?"
The craftsman explained with a smile, "Some customers specifically request cloth woven using the original methods, which fetches a higher price, but it is indeed very labor-intensive."
“So that’s how it is…” Shen Yingying replied softly.
The instructor nodded and encouraged them, "You can try it out yourself. Ask me anytime if you don't understand something."
Everyone responded enthusiastically.
There were only two looms available, so the five people took turns practicing on them.
Su Tangtang sat down to operate the machine, but after only a few steps, she forgot about it. She smiled and looked at the instructor, "Instructor, what's the next step?"
The craftsman patiently explained, "Insert the weft insertion knife vertically into the shed and rotate it 90 degrees to make it horizontal, so as to open and hold the shed open."
Su Tangtang nodded and followed her master's instructions.
She vaguely remembered the following steps, so she didn't ask her master again.
Before long, she actually figured it out on her own, but she was still not very skilled and kept forgetting some steps, so she had to think for a while before she could continue.
On the other side, Shen Yingying was also operating a loom.
Compared to Su Tangtang, she found it more difficult to get started. No matter how she tried, it didn't feel right, and she became increasingly frustrated.
The worse she did, the more unwilling she became, especially seeing that Su Tangtang could already handle the whole process smoothly. If she couldn't do it, wouldn't she have lost to her? The more she thought about it, the more anxious she became, and her work became even more chaotic.
The master reminded her from the side, "No, this part should be like this..." and then demonstrated it to her again by hand.
Since the number of looms was limited, Zhou Yan took over after Su Tangtang finished practicing once. However, she didn't remember many of the steps and kept asking Su Tangtang questions, which gave Su Tangtang a good opportunity to review them.
Time flies, and the morning was over in the blink of an eye.
At noon, the chef took them to the cafeteria for lunch.
"Is our meal here included with the meal plan?" Su Tangtang asked.
The chef replied, "There's a meal allowance of 200 yuan per month; you'll have to pay for anything over that."
The canteen was some distance from the work area, and it took them seven or eight minutes to walk there. The canteen manager gave each person a meal card.
Everyone lined up to get their meals, holding their meal cards.
The workers hadn't finished work yet, so they got their food quickly.
After sitting down, Su Tangtang looked at the food in front of her, took out her phone, took a picture, and sent it to Huo Yizhou.
As for why she posted it, she didn't know. Maybe it was because they were a "fake couple" and she had to maintain appearances.
Huo Yizhou had just filled a basket with blueberries when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He took it out and glanced at it. It was a message from a user with the screen name "Keep it up today." He hadn't changed the nickname since adding Su Tangtang.
When I opened the message, there was a photo of a meal: three dishes and a soup, all neatly arranged.
He stared at it quietly for a few seconds, then replied, "Eat."
The other person quickly asked again, "Have you eaten?"
Huo Yizhou typed: "Not yet."
Let's cheer each other on today! "Okay, I'll eat first!"
He replied with an "Mm".
The chat ended, but Huo Yizhou stared at the screen for a long time before putting away his phone and continuing to pick blueberries.
Zhao Zhiyi glanced at him, then leaned close to Gu Qingke and whispered, "Look at him, he's incredibly aloof, he hasn't said a word all morning."
In fact, Zhao Zhiyi also disliked Huo Yizhou.
On the one hand, he felt that instead of looking for a job, this grown man was becoming a gigolo; on the other hand, he was still upset about the money he had borrowed a few days ago, not to mention that Huo Yizhou always talked back to him, and every word he said made him want to hit him.
“That’s probably just his personality,” Gu Qingke glanced at Huo Yizhou and replied in a flat tone.
In truth, he didn't have a good impression of Huo Yizhou either; he was only being arrogant because of Su Tangtang. He really didn't know what Huo Yizhou was so proud of.
As for Su Tangtang, her unusual behavior during this period also puzzled him. He didn't know what she was planning, but no matter what she did, he still disliked her as always.
Zhao Zhiyi deliberately raised his voice, "Maybe all gigolos are like this."
The words were spoken loud enough for everyone around to hear.
Huo Yizhou acted as if he hadn't heard anything, continuing to bury himself in his work as if it had nothing to do with him.
Zhao Zhiyi hated his indifferent attitude the most.
He wanted to continue his sarcasm, but Qu Xian stopped him, saying, "We're still recording a program."
Zhao Zhiyi didn't seem to care. "The director will definitely cut it if he sees it," he said, then scoffed. "Besides, if he dares to be a gigolo, why would he be afraid of what people say?"
After saying that, he deliberately burst into laughter.
However, Huo Yizhou still did not respond. After a moment, Zhao Zhiyi's laughter froze on his lips, and an inexplicable anger rose from the bottom of his heart.
He threw down the basket in his hand and stormed toward Huo Yizhou.
But as soon as he stood in front of Huo Yizhou and looked up to see his cold, handsome face, which was also half a head taller than his own, Zhao Zhiyi's arrogance immediately diminished. However, for the sake of his pride, he still forced himself to speak, "Huo Yizhou, didn't you hear me talking to you?"
Huo Yizhou raised an eyebrow slightly, his tone indifferent, "I didn't hear it, I thought it was a dog barking."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhiyi clenched her fist in anger and swung it at him.
Huo Yizhou reacted quickly, dodging to the side. Zhao Zhiyi missed his target and fell straight into the blueberry bushes next to him. With a "crash," a blueberry branch fell down.
The sharp branches scratched his face and arms, causing a painful pain.
Gu Qingke quickly stepped forward and helped him up.
As soon as Zhao Zhiyi regained his footing, he immediately accused her, "I only said a few words to you, why did you push me?"
Huo Yizhou remained silent, his gaze growing even colder.
Everyone around him thought he was completely unreasonable. He was the one who started the fight; the other person had only dodged, and he had fallen down on his own, yet he was still blaming the other person.
Huo Yizhou sneered, "Want to check the video footage to see if I pushed you or not?"
Zhao Zhiyi was speechless for a moment, and gave a guilty snort, but still retorted, "You just wait!"
Seeing the tense atmosphere, Qiu Nan looked at Zhao Zhiyi and said, "Everyone is here to record a show. It's really not good to make a scene like this. If it gets posted online, it won't do anyone any good."
Zhao Zhiyi suddenly turned her head and glared at him, her tone cold and hard, "Shut up."
Qiu Nan choked up, the words stuck in his throat, unable to utter a single sentence. He truly regretted saying that extra word; he had only made a fool of himself.
He gritted his teeth, turned around and left, ignoring the people behind him.
She's completely impervious to reason.
He wasn't like this when we first met. It seems that his initial politeness and courtesy were all an act. It hasn't been long, and his true colors can't be hidden anymore.
He actually thought Huo Yizhou was a good person, while Zhao Zhi was just making trouble for no reason from beginning to end.
At noon, the owner of the blueberry farm delivered food.
Let's all sit down and eat together.
Zhao Zhiyi was still angry. Looking at the simple meal in front of her, she couldn't help but mutter, "What is this?!"
Gu Qingke frowned slightly, reached out and tugged at him, then glanced at him, signaling him to speak less.
Perhaps because the two usually interacted a lot, Gu Qingke only gave Zhao Zhiyi a look, and Zhao Zhiyi stopped complaining and just ate in silence.
After a short rest, everyone continued their blueberry picking work.
When you're busy, time flies by.
Before they knew it, it was 3:30 p.m. Huo Yizhou's team finished picking, and the boss settled their wages according to the weight.
Huo Yizhou picked the most, a full 55 jin (27.5 catties), and earned 275 yuan.
Gu Qingke was almost the same as him, differing by only one jin (500g) and five yuan less.
But he felt a little uncomfortable. Although there was a difference of one pound between them, he still felt that he had lost to him.
Zhao Zhiyi picked the least, only 30 jin in more than five hours. Seeing that he received the least reward, his face was full of dissatisfaction, and his emotions were clearly written on his face.
After settling the bill, the group headed back to the production crew's accommodation.
Soon, we arrived at the production crew's accommodation. When we got off the bus, we saw that the girls had already arrived.
The girl stood at the door watching the boys get off the bus and walk towards them. Wu Xiaojia immediately noticed the injury on Zhao Zhiyi's face. Feeling sorry for him, she quickly walked up to him and asked with concern, "What happened to your face?"
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