The program crew piled up 1,000 kilograms of sweet potatoes on the drying dam before telling the guests the bad news: the program crew would not help them transport the sweet potatoes to the city, and they had to figure out everything on their own.
"Most of the villagers here who go to the city to sell things carry their own goods to the county town. The county town is much closer to where you are, only ten kilometers away at most." The host smiled sympathetically: "Of course, if you can think of a way, you don't have to carry your own goods. By the way, I want to remind everyone not to use your own money to call a taxi."
"One thousand kilograms of sweet potatoes, if we divide it equally among each of us, it would be a little over 166 kilograms..." Xiang Zhen shook his head vigorously on the spot: "No, no, I'm a middle-aged uncle. I can't walk ten kilometers with so much stuff."
Among the guests, the youngest were Zhang Kui and Li Zhao. They exchanged glances tacitly and refused to speak even if they were beaten to death.
"Brothers, let's think of a solution." Xiang Zhen glanced at Li Zhao, who was wearing a worn-out coat borrowed from the village. He looked like a delicate child who had been trafficked to the mountain village. He patted his shoulder solemnly and said, "Xiao Li, as the face of our team, it's time to use you."
After saying that, he took off the borrowed coat from Li Zhao and said, "Brothers, carry him to the main road. In case a female truck driver takes a fancy to his face..."
"No, no, no, I sell my art but not my body!" Li Zhao turned around and hugged the millstone beside the drying dam, screaming, "I won't go, I won't go."
The other guests rushed over to help Xiang Zhen lift the person, but... they failed.
Program team: “…”
How many kindergarten children did they invite?
The director whispered behind the monitor, "It seems that Teacher Xiang Zhen likes this kid Li Zhao very much."
Li Zhao joined the program recording halfway through. He was a newcomer in the circle and was not familiar with the other guests. Xiang Zhen's move not only filled the program with jokes, but also helped Li Zhao speed up his integration into the guest team.
"This kid is honest and very enthusiastic when doing things." The assistant director came over with a bowl of rice and said, "Director, I think with Li Zhao in this episode, there will be a lot of wonderful material."
The director sighed, "It's him who has ruined the reputation of our editing and directing team."
"Hi." The assistant director took a bite of a big steamed bun and said, "When did our editing and directing team ever have that?"
director:"……"
Is this assistant of his a traitor sent by the guest group?
After all the laughter and joking, the six guests sat cross-legged on the cement floor of the drying dam without any celebrity baggage, scratching their heads and trying to think of a solution.
"How about I go and ask around, who in the village has a truck?"
"It's already half past eight. If we go door to door to find out, it will be too late. The program must have informed the villagers in advance and they can't just tell us this information casually."
"What should we do?" One of the guests was so anxious that he even spoke in his hometown dialect.
"I have a plan." Li Zhao slapped his thigh and said, "Adults can't just tell us casually, but children can help."
Having seen how Li Zhao fooled children, Zhang Kui had some expectations in his heart: "Why don't we give it a try?"
Soon they found some children playing by the field. Before the other guests could speak, Li Zhao took the lead and said, "My two heroes, we meet again."
When the two children saw Li Zhao, they immediately surrounded him and asked, "Brave man, why are you here?"
For children of this age, parents are working outside and have no time to accompany them. Therefore, they easily develop a liking for young people who are willing to play with them.
"I'm short of money lately, and I want to go to the city to sell some goods, but unfortunately I don't have a transport truck. Do you two know who has a transport truck?"
"What does it mean to be short of money?"
"Hero, were you distracted during class?" Li Zhao squatted in front of the two children and took out two lollipops from his pocket with a smile. He bought them from the store at the entrance of the village. "Being short of money means I don't have money. I can't go home without money. Do you think I am pitiful?"
"It's really pitiful." One of the children looked at Li Zhao sympathetically: "Do you live far away?"
"Very far away." I used to live alone and didn't know what it felt like to miss home. Ever since he had Yan Ting, a friend who even made him worry about his meals, he began to develop a homesick habit.
"My parents work so far away, they can only come back during the Chinese New Year." The child was a little sad: "Is your family waiting for you to come back too?"
Li Zhao smiled, peeled the lollipop and gave it to the two children: "After you finish eating this, remember to rinse your mouth with water when you get home, otherwise your teeth will become ugly."
"We know, the teacher told us." The two children ate the candy and became happy again: "Come with us, we know whose family has a car."
Li Zhao held their hands on both sides and chatted with them as they walked.
"Zhuangshi, did your parents also go out to work when you were a child?"
Li Zhao paused and said, "They are very busy."
"You're not going home for the New Year?"
"Yeah, I won't be back during the Chinese New Year."
"You are so pitiful." A child rummaged in his pocket, took out a small red flower sticker, and stuck it on the back of Li Zhao's hand: "This is for you."
"Little red flower!" Li Zhao looked at the child in surprise: "So beautiful."
"I got 100 points in both exams, and the teacher rewarded me." The child blushed a little at the praise.
"It turns out you are a great warrior who is both civil and military." Li Zhao sighed: "You are really amazing."
"I also got 100 points in both exams last time." Another child was not convinced.
"So you are all masters who have hidden their abilities. I am so sorry for your disrespect." Passing by a muddy path beside a field, Li Zhao bent down and picked up the two children, one on the left and one on the right.
The two children lay on Li Zhao's shoulders and laughed, innocently and contentedly.
The cameraman filmed this scene and couldn't help but take close-ups of the two children's smiles.
The world of children is always easy to satisfy.
Many of the houses in the village are built side by side, but most of them have been abandoned for a long time and there is no sign of habitation.
Seeing that the two children were very happy, Li Zhao did not let them go. Instead, he began to teach them some stories about what to do when encountering scammers or bad guys, and not to talk to strangers.
"Also, you must not eat things given by strangers." Li Zhao said with a smile: "Next time you meet a handsome guy like me, don't eat anything he gives you."
"We only met a handsome guy like you."
"You two heroes have good vision!"
With the help of two children, Li Zhao finally found a wealthy family with a small truck in a two-story building.
The owner of the car was a middle-aged man in his forties who usually made money by transporting short-distance freight. After listening to Li Zhao's purpose, the uncle was very straightforward and agreed without much hesitation.
However, the uncle gathered the whole family and took a group photo around Li Zhao. He happily said that he would print out the photo and hang it in his living room.
After solving the transportation problem, the six people shamelessly got on the program crew's car and rushed to the county town.
After arriving at the county town, they found the vegetable market with the largest flow of people in the county town, each occupied a piece of land to set up a stall, and Li Zhao also displayed the playing cards that he had secretly hidden.
After the program crew saw the words on the sign clearly, they felt that their reputation seemed to have been damaged again.
Several of the guests are experienced people who have been trained by the program crew. They can shout with ease even in a busy vegetable market.
Li Zhao held up the sign he had made early in the morning in front of him: "Don't miss out on these delicious sweet potatoes if you pass by. Not 8.8 yuan, not 1.8 yuan, just 80 cents, all for 80 cents. Authentic red sweet potatoes, young men will look more handsome after eating them, young girls will look prettier after eating them, old people will live longer, and children will be strong and smart after eating them."
"Young man, this is false advertising. We can report you to the Market Supervision and Administration Bureau." An old lady saw a fair-skinned young man wearing old-fashioned blue cloth clothes and was amused by his appearance. She walked over and asked, "Sweet potatoes are not a rare thing here. Why are you selling this?"
"Big sister, you don't know that I was originally an actor." Li Zhao sighed, "Unfortunately, I was tricked here by the bad guys who were recording the show. They said that if I didn't sell all these sweet potatoes, I wouldn't get paid."
Program team: “…”
Who invited this guest? How could you vilify someone's innocence in broad daylight?
"You kid, I'm older than your mother, why do you call me sister?" The old lady was so pleased with the word "big sister" that she smiled like a flower and started to bend down to pick sweet potatoes.
"A woman's beauty lies in her soul, not her appearance." Li Zhao diligently brought a plastic bag and helped the old lady open the bag: "You have a young mindset, that's what a sister is."
"Really?" The aunt laughed even more happily: "As a person, you need to have a good attitude to look young."
The old lady was so pleased with Li Zhao's coaxing that she bought ten yuan's worth of sweet potatoes on the spot and even said she would introduce her poker friends to come and buy some.
The old lady carried more than ten kilograms of sweet potatoes without any difficulty. When she smiled happily, she still had some of the beauty of her youth.
Before the other guests opened their shops, Li Zhao had already sold more than ten kilograms. Xiang Zhen touched his face and said with emotion: "For more than ten years, I have also been a handsome young man in the hearts of the older sisters and aunts."
Just as he finished speaking, he saw Li Zhao was already receiving the second customer, an old man who was buying sweet potatoes.
"Uncle, you really know how to maintain your health. Eating whole grains every now and then is good for your health. Judging from your appearance, you are probably in your early fifties this year?"
"What, you're sixty-five? I guess I need to learn from you and focus on keeping healthy."
Li Zhao's sales were booming, but the other guests were being picked on by the uncles and aunts who were buying vegetables.
What is too small, too big, too round, too flat...
"Sister, why are you buying here?" An old lady who bought sweet potatoes from Li Zhao came to Zhang Kui's stall and whispered to the only buyer: "The sweet potatoes from this stall are not good. There is a young man in front who sells very good sweet potatoes, and they are weighed by the pound."
"Really?" The buyer ruthlessly threw the half-picked sweet potato back to the stall, turned around and followed the old lady to find the reliable young man.
Zhang Kui watched the two middle-aged ladies walk through the crowded crowd and finally stop in front of Li Zhao's stall.
The sweet potatoes were all shipped from the same truck, so why were his not okay?
Auntie, please speak with conscience!
You can't think that a young man's things are the best just because he says a few sweet words to him. Open your eyes and look carefully. What’s wrong with his sweet potatoes? !
At Cang Huan headquarters, the employees in the assistant department were particularly serious today.
Wei Tian put down her bag and whispered to her colleagues, "What's going on today? Everyone seems so serious."
"Hush." The colleague said, "Today is the quarterly report meeting. The general managers of the branches will come to the meeting. You haven't completed your internship yet, so don't go to the president's office today. If something goes wrong, you won't be able to handle it."
Wei Tian nodded quickly.
After a while, when everyone started talking, she asked carefully, "I saw a news report a few days ago. I didn't expect that the senior executives of our company would also have a favorite actor."
"You mean Li Zhao?" The colleague laughed, "He's good-looking and has good acting skills. I like him too. Even Special Assistant Qin is secretly watching the dramas filmed by Li Zhao. This is an open secret in our department."
Wei Tian nodded and distributed the snacks he brought to his colleagues.
The quarterly report meeting ended and Yan Ting sat in his seat without moving.
Qin Xiao saw that he didn't seem to be in a bad mood, so he asked in a low voice: "Sir, is there something wrong with the content of the meeting?"
Yan Ting shook his head: "My child is going to sell things at the stall, and he is very excited. How can I make him have fun?"
"Arrange someone to pretend to be the buyer?" Qin Xiao said, "Children are particularly interested in things they have never done before. If you are worried that Mr. Li will not have a good time, you can hire someone to pretend to be the buyer so that Mr. Li can have a good time."
Yan Ting nodded: "I'll arrange it right away."
Not long after, Qin Xiao came back with a strange expression: "Sir, after the arrangements were made, an accident occurred."
"What's going on?"
"When the people I arranged arrived at the market, Mr. Li had already sold all his goods. Two middle-aged women started quarreling over the last few kilograms of sweet potatoes. The place was full of people watching the fun, and our people couldn't even squeeze in." In order to comfort Yan Ting, Qin Xiao deliberately added two sentences: "Mr. Li is quite talented in doing business. He can even conquer picky uncles and aunts."
"He's excellent at everything he does." Yan Ting adjusted his sitting position, feeling inexplicably... proud.
Li Zhao himself did not expect that the two aunties would quarrel over the sweet potatoes he was selling. He wanted to go up and mediate the quarrel, but the two aunties yelled at him: "Adults are quarreling, young people, stay away."
He trembled with fear after being yelled at, and squatted back to his original position, holding his chin and listening to the two aunts quarreling.
“I saw the thing first!”
"I was the first one to take it! If you see it first, it's yours. I also think this guy is handsome. Can he be my eldest grandson?!"
Li Zhao's hand that was supporting his chin turned into covering his face.
Seeing that the two aunties were arguing more and more fiercely, Li Zhao was worried that they might have health problems, so he went to the nearby shop to borrow two plastic stools so that they could talk slowly, and also bought two bottles of water for them.
"Aunties, please take your time. You are so pretty, and you can't let your anger affect your looks." After the two aunties drank a few sips of water and their anger subsided, Li Zhao dared to approach them and said with a smile, "There are so many vendors selling sweet potatoes in the market. Aunties are willing to buy from me. It's obvious that you sympathize with my situation, right?"
The two aunties didn't say anything. How could they say anything when such a handsome young man was talking to them with a smile? They were not kind-hearted. They just came to join in the fun because they saw others were buying things.
"You are good-looking and compassionate, you shouldn't be unhappy over such a small matter." Li Zhao kicked his hands and acted like a mediator of the village committee: "It is a blessing for these sweet potatoes to be valued by you. How about this, I will divide these sweet potatoes and give them to you for free."
"Young man, Auntie is not one to take advantage of young people."
"Haha, am I?"
Seeing that the two were about to quarrel again, Li Zhao quickly interrupted them and said, "I am giving it to you because you are kind, of course not because you are taking advantage. One look at your temperaments, I know that you are from wealthy families with good qualities, how could you be greedy for this, right?"
The two ladies looked a little better.
Li Zhao took two plastic bags and packed the sweet potatoes separately: "You two take a rest for a while. I have a cousin who is also selling sweet potatoes at the market. I will help him watch the stall."
"Where's your cousin? I'll go buy it!"
"I'll buy 20 kilograms!"
"I'll buy twenty kilograms, too."
"Auntie, it's not easy to carry so many sweet potatoes. Just buy a little to keep." Li Zhao led the two aunties and the onlookers to Xiang Zhen's stall.
Many people in the market ran to Li Zhao's stall to watch the fun. In front of Xiang Zhen's stall, there was not even an old man or old woman who was willing to look at him.
Xiang Zhen, who claimed to be a talented actor and a killer of both uncles and aunts, finally fell into disgrace amid the ruthless disgust of uncles and aunts.
When Li Zhao came over with two aggressive middle-aged ladies, he was shocked. Did Li Zhao offend the most untouchable person in the market?
When the two aunties bought more than 20 kilograms of his sweet potatoes in one go, and other onlookers also bought a lot of sweet potatoes in twos and threes and left, Xiang Zhen was so busy that he almost didn't have time to collect the money.
After seeing off the last customer, Xiang Zhen finally breathed a sigh of relief and squatted on the ground to start counting money.
He didn’t think that one dollar and fifty cents were so valuable before, but today he feels that it is not easy to earn even a dime.
"Xiao Li, how did you convince these uncles and aunts to buy your products and bring them to me?" He just saw an uncle who, an hour ago, complained that his sweet potatoes were not authentic red-heart sweet potatoes, but when Li Zhao came over, he happily bought five kilograms and left.
"These uncles and aunts are very lovely. As long as you greet them warmly, they will be very generous." Li Zhao put away the five-yuan, ten-yuan and one-yuan bills separately: "I wonder how Brother Zhang and his friends are doing with their sales?"
He and Xiang Zhen are teammates, and the mission is considered completed only when both of them have sold everything.
cute? !
Xiang Zhen doubted his ears. Buying him two big sweet potatoes and asking him to give a small one as a gift could be considered generous and cute. He thought Li Zhao might have some misunderstanding about these two words.
"Zhao Zhao, Teacher Xiang, this is your next task."
The staff handed the task cards to the two people.
"Without using the proceeds from selling sweet potatoes or personal money, we can solve the problem of food and clothing." After reading the content, Xiang Zhen said: "Isn't this asking us to beg for food? The program team deducted so much money that they didn't even cover the guests' meals. If this gets out, we will be laughed at by others."
"The director said that we are a black-hearted program group, so there is no need to prepare lunch for the guests." The staff member smiled evilly: "Two teachers, come on and find a place to eat. The program group has ordered a roasted whole lamb, and I have to hurry back to eat it."
Xiang Zhen swallowed his saliva. If he had known, he should not have sold all the sweet potatoes just now. He could still have a few bites when he was hungry.
"I have money." Li Zhao rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a crumpled thirty-five yuan.
When the staff member saw the thirty-five yuan, he seemed to recall some unpleasant memories and his face turned green.
"Where did it come from?" Xiang Zhen's eyes lit up.
"I didn't spend all the money the production crew gave me for travel yesterday."
Behind the monitor, the director slapped his thigh in regret, wondering how could he have forgotten this. Since the other five guests had used up their travel expenses, they actually forgot that Li Zhao still had thirty-five yuan left. They should have asked for the thirty-five yuan back earlier.
"When I came here this morning, I saw a noodle shop next to the market. The largest portion of vegetarian noodle soup is only eight yuan." Li Zhao put the money into his innermost pocket and buttoned up his coat: "Come on, Brother Xiang, I'll treat you to noodles."
Xiang Zhen was so moved that tears filled his eyes.
That was noodles, hot noodles, and I didn’t have to beg for food. It was really great.
It was lunch time at noon, and the noodle shop was full of villagers who came to the market. Li Zhao and Xiang Zhen did not mind the small size of the shop, and sat down in two empty seats.
"Besides us, which other guest on the show is so miserable?" Xiang Zhen thought as he smelled the noodles, wiping his face with sadness: "The production team said so well at the beginning, they would take me to experience the rural scenery and enjoy nature, but I didn't expect the routine to be so deep."
"The production team didn't lie to you. Many rural areas are like this." The noodles were served. Li Zhao pushed the bowl in front of Xiang Zhen and helped him break open the disposable chopsticks. "It's not the busy farming season yet. If it were, the villagers would get up at dawn and go home after dark."
"You know so much about rural life, have you ever lived in the countryside?" After drinking a mouthful of noodle soup, Xiang Zhen felt that he was finally alive.
"I spent ten years in the countryside when I was a kid." Li Zhao didn't elaborate. Just as his noodles were served, he lowered his head and started eating.
After a bowl of noodles, Li Zhao was not full at all. But thinking of the four hungry guests waiting for him, he bought a bag of vegetable dumplings and steamed buns, as well as four bags of soy milk, and went back to feed them.
When they found Zhang Kui, he was squatting on the ground with a look of despair on his face.
A child walked by, hesitated for a while, rummaged in his pocket, and put a bag of biscuits in front of him.
Zhang Kui looked at the biscuits, then at the child, and thought that this kind child might have misunderstood something.
"Hahahahahahaha." Li Zhao and Xiang Zhen saw this scene and laughed at him mercilessly.
“You guys…” Before Zhang Kui could finish his condemnation, he saw the food in Li Zhao’s hand and immediately changed his expression: “You must be good people who come to help the poor.”
Think about Zhang Kui, who used to be a star in the opera club and was picky about what he ate, until... he participated in this show.
For a few bites of buns, even face can be thrown away.
Soon several guests gathered around and squatted contentedly in the corner of the market, eating vegetarian buns that cost a few cents each and drinking soy milk diluted with water that cost one dollar a bag.
"See? If you don't study hard, you will end up like them, eating buns and steamed buns in the vegetable market, and you can't even afford meat." A mother passed by with her child, whispering to the child who didn't want to go to the tutoring class.
The guest who was eating steamed buns: "..."
They also want to eat Second Brother’s meat, but they have no money!
“Hahahahahaha.”
The staff of the program team laughed happily and evilly behind the monitor.
The whole room was filled with a joyful atmosphere.
The author has something to say: Baby Tingting is very worried. Zhaozhao went to the kindergarten charity sale, and he was worried that Zhaozhao’s toys and picture books would not be sold.
After thinking about it, he smashed his piggy bank, put all the coins in his pocket, and decided to support Zhao Zhao's career.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com