Jiang Hexi got out of bed before dawn, changed out of her pajamas, and went to the bathroom to wash up.
As she splashed water on her face, she suddenly came to her senses. She would never have to farm again. She looked up at herself in the mirror.
Her eyes and brows were captivating, her skin was pale and cool, and her lips were full and curved. She looked exactly the same as she did a year ago. It seemed that nothing had changed, yet everything had changed.
Jiang Hexi went downstairs early. It was rare for her not to have to go to work in the morning, so she took a long bench and sat at the door, swinging her legs leisurely and staring blankly at the fields in the distance.
The cold winter is shrouded in mist, and the distant mountains and wilderness are covered with moisture, making them look like an abstract ink painting.
The assistant director carried the camera into the courtyard, saw her sitting there, set up the tripod, and pointed the lens at her:
"Let's record a final video message, just like when we started filming. You can say whatever you want. Are we ready to begin?"
"Can."
Jiang Hexi looked directly at the recording camera and jokingly said:
"After the farming reality show ended, I became unemployed again."
"There was a year when I was unemployed, had no social life, and stayed at home all day, sponging off my parents, until I was sent here to farm."
"Watching the seedlings sprout from the ground, grow taller and taller, is like seeing hope take root and grow. Even if they are destroyed later, the seeds that were sown will sprout again and again."
"It's really therapeutic. When I go back this time, I will still go into the investment field, but I will no longer get involved in projects that are all talk and no action. I will focus more on industries that serve people's livelihoods, and look for entrepreneurs who are actually doing real work, and work together to move forward."
Her video ended there.
Concise and powerful, she is no longer the arrogant and funny young lady she once was.
The assistant director then approached Yan Jie and, as usual, had him make a summary video.
Yan Jie stood in the courtyard, basking in the thin sunlight of the cold winter. He paused for a moment and said:
"I used to be involved in racing, pursuing sensory stimulation and extreme speed."
"After driving tractors, graders, and electric tricycles here, I realized that there's a reason for going slow. Once you broaden your perspective, the world becomes different."
"I couldn't accept myself slowing down before, but now I'll do more meaningful things at a slower pace."
The five members of the chaebol group all gave an immersive VCR monologue, thus bringing the recording of the entire farming variety show to a close.
People gradually left the stone courtyard.
Yan Jie accompanied Jiang Hexi as they waited for their family to send a car to pick them up, and he hinted at something:
"When you return to Shenzhen and Hong Kong, when will you be free?"
"I'm never free."
"Why aren't you available?"
Jiang Hexi meticulously calculated the days and argued with him:
"After I get back, I need to prepare my speech, attend the Agri-Food Conference and speak on stage. That will take three days. Then I'll go home to buy New Year's goods, followed by the rehearsal for the gala. Not to mention the Spring Festival itself, I'll be running around visiting relatives and friends. I won't have any free time until after the New Year."
Yan Jie raised an eyebrow slightly: "Are you deliberately trying to provoke me?"
Seeing that he was getting angry, Jiang Hexi asked him directly, "So what do you want?"
"After the speeches at the conference, we'll go straight to Yicheng to prepare for the rehearsal. You and I will buy New Year's goods together, two sets each, to take back to our respective families."
Yan Jie pondered carefully and said, "I'll make sure to have at least two days free after the New Year. I'll visit your family to offer my New Year's greetings, and on the sixth day of the New Year, you can come with me to Yicheng to visit my relatives."
Jiang Hexi was taken aback by his meticulous arrangements.
She still thought of them as boyfriend and girlfriend, but he sped things up and jumped straight to discussing marriage.
She felt it necessary to reiterate their relationship:
"Um...we're just boyfriend and girlfriend—"
Who is that?
"King Yan"
"Say it again."
"husband--"
Yan Jie raised an eyebrow slightly. "Listen to what you're calling me. What's wrong with me coming to pay a New Year's visit?"
Jiang Hexi said, embarrassed and annoyed, "If you insist on saying that, then I won't call you that anymore."
Yan Jie cannot afford such a price.
He has always been flexible and adaptable, especially when it comes to pursuing her, where he has absolutely no bottom line.
“When we talked about the engagement last time, your aunt had no objection and tacitly agreed that I was your fiancé.”
He took two steps forward and gently comforted her, saying, "It's only right that we visit each other's relatives and friends during the Spring Festival."
Jiang Hexi was not fooled.
The progress bar was moving incredibly fast; she quickly dragged it to the bottom. She wasn't going to let him off so easily.
Did you ask me what I thought?
"did you mean?"
"disagree--"
Jiang Hexi yelled at him, "Don't think that just because you have my mother as your trump card, you can overpower me. In the Jiang family, I'm the one who acts like a tyrant, and here in your family, I'm the one who calls the shots."
A luxurious Bentley was parked outside the stone courtyard.
Jiang Wenjing slammed the car door shut and walked in. Seeing Yan Jie's expressionless face from afar, he beckoned Jiang Hexi over and asked:
"What happened to that kid?"
"He's just sad. He's been like this ever since the farming reality show ended. He seems so down, and no amount of encouragement from anyone can help him."
Jiang Hexi tossed ten strings of cured pork and ten strings of sausages into Jiang Wenjing's hands and urged him on:
"Don't worry about other people's business. Hurry up and put the meat in the trunk. I still have a lot of things to take home."
Jiang Wenjing, carrying twenty strings of meat, didn't leave, staring at her in shock:
"Isn't he your boyfriend? Why don't you do anything about him?"
"The one who tied the knot must untie it. He has to untie the knot in his heart himself. Does he expect me to be dragged down with him and become depressed too?"
Jiang Wenjing's lips twitched; he was stunned by her aloof statement.
“What you said makes a lot of sense. It’s not worth risking your own life for Yan Jie.”
Jiang Hexi filled the trunk to the brim and then stuffed the passenger seat to the brim to barely fit all her New Year's goods.
Jiang Wenjing smelled the mixed aroma of salted fish, duck eggs, honey, preserved meat, and pickled cabbage. He glanced at her with incredibly complicated feelings, hesitated for a moment, and finally shut his mouth without saying a word.
Jiang Hexi opened the car door to get in, but when she saw Director Chen come out of the stone house, she slammed the car door shut and went over to say goodbye to him.
"Director, I'm going home."
"Okay, have a safe journey."
Even though she already knew the outcome of some things, she still wanted to ask them in person:
Will you continue to film farming-themed variety shows?
He chuckled, a rare occurrence for him, and said, "What do you think?"
Jiang Hexi waved goodbye to him, "Director, I wish you great success in every documentary you make from now on, and that you win so many international awards."
Director Chen waved to her and said, "Then you should try your best and earn a small goal first."
They all need to move forward, towards their initial passion, and embark on their respective futures.
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