Chapter 240 Finding the Cow
Zhao Xiaohui and Yao Yao couldn't be as carefree as Xia Mian, fearing that the audience would criticize them for not being gentlemanly enough. After Yu Xingtong worked for twenty minutes and wiped her sweat five times, they still helped Yu Xingtong complete the task.
Seeing the two male guests looking frustrated, Xia Mian felt a pang of sympathy.
In the workplace, family background is important, but it doesn't play a decisive role; one's own hard skills are the most important.
For example, Zhao Xiaohui and Yao Yao, who can get top-notch variety show resources, must have companies or capital backing them up, and they will still be wary of public opinion.
He's different.
When he's being scolded, Zhou Pingchuan can't help him; instead, it becomes a stain on his reputation. Only cotton is his true support.
From humble beginnings to stardom, from being universally criticized to turning the tide, after each storm, only his die-hard fans remain. If he's criticized, as long as he hasn't made a mistake, his fans will definitely rush to his defense immediately.
Ah, my fans are so kind.
Xia Mian became more and more touched as she thought about it, so she opened the Orange app and bought a lot of little things, such as bags, perfumes, dolls, hand creams, and so on, as well as gift boxes and greeting cards, which she planned to give to her fans as gifts.
Finally, all the guests completed the tasks assigned by the production team. As the top two performers, Xia Mian and Zhang Yuno received a feast provided by the production team—a hot pot meal!
After a long day of farm work, the guests were already hungry, and their eyes lit up when they saw the spicy and fragrant hot pot.
"Why are you all crowding around here?" Xia Mian swaggered to the table and said, "We're about to eat, make way."
"Xia," Zhao Xiaohui's eyes were fixed on the succulent mutton and tender kidney slices, "Can I have a bite?"
Xia Mian: "I won't lend it."
Zhao Xiaohui: "Eek."
Xia Mian: "But we can eat it at the table, everyone come on over."
Yu Xingtong: "I'm not feeling well, I won't eat."
The other guests didn't even glance at her, and swarmed around the table: "We knew you two were kind, hehehe!"
To look good on camera, the guests had all done some body management before joining the crew, eating a light diet every day and not having eaten heavy-flavored food for a long time. This hot pot meal was probably the best meal they had eaten recently.
After dinner, Zhang Yuno went to wash the dishes. Xia Mian wanted to help, but she and Liang Qiuhong pushed her out of the kitchen.
After such a sinful dinner, if he just lay there like a corpse, he'd be a lot fatter tomorrow. Xia Mian didn't dare rest, so he decided to go out for a walk to digest his food. Just then, he ran into the village chief, who brought him two more pieces of cured meat.
He was too embarrassed to accept it and quickly refused, "Thank you, but I don't want it. If you like me, please take me for a walk around the village."
"That's easy, come with me."
The reason why Nanye was chosen by the program team is not only because of its beautiful scenery, but also because of its long history and many strange and wonderful stories that have happened there.
The village chief walked slowly, stopping frequently, explaining each point to Xia Mian with great patience. Xia Mian gestured to the cameraman to take good pictures, as capturing this scene could attract tourists interested in history.
"...I don't know if it's true or not, I'm just listening for fun...Hey, Mrs. Tan, where are you going so late at night?"
The village chief was having a pleasant chat with Xia Mian when he suddenly saw an old woman walking unsteadily towards the edge of the village on the path ahead.
The old lady must be in her seventies or eighties. There are no streetlights in Nanye. If she accidentally falls and there is no one around, the consequences could be disastrous.
Old Mrs. Tan is hard of hearing. The village chief called her again before she finally replied, "What are you shouting for? I'm going to find the cow!"
The village chief was angry: "It's so dark, what if someone falls into the ditch! Just leave them on the ridge, it'll be warm at night, they won't freeze to death."
Mrs. Tan: "I'm afraid I'll be bitten to death by wolves."
Village chief: "Where did these wolves come from? The last wolf infestation was ten years ago!"
Mrs. Tan shook her head, stubbornly insisting, "No, we must find the cow. If it dies, how will Xiaoxue pay his tuition next year?"
"Alright, you can go back now," the village chief sighed helplessly. "I'll go find it and bring it back to you intact."
The old lady didn't speak. Seeing her hesitation, Xia Mian suddenly said, "I'll go with the village chief. I'm young and have good eyesight, so don't worry."
The village chief grew anxious: "You..."
Xia Mian shook her head at him, indicating that she was fine. After much persuasion, the old lady finally agreed and went back to her room to wait for news.
Finding the cattle was their priority, so the two of them weren't in the mood for a stroll. The village chief led Xia Mian towards the area where the villagers usually grazed their livestock.
The village chief felt quite embarrassed. He had originally intended to show Xia Mian around, but he had inadvertently become her laborer. He kept apologizing to Xia Mian along the way: "Her husband died of illness many years ago, and her son works outside and doesn't care about the family or give them any money. She raised her grandson single-handedly. In recent years, her mind has been getting worse and worse. She often leaves the livestock on the mountain. The villagers have all helped her look for her chickens, ducks, and cows. She's a poor woman. Sigh... It's just that I'm sorry to trouble you, having to accompany us through all this late at night."
"Where we go is where we go, right? Let's go, many hands make light work." It's just finding a few cows, how hard can it be?
Once they reached the top of the mountain and saw the small mounds of earth, Xia Mian realized that things were far more complicated than she had imagined.
Because crematoriums are not well-developed, villagers in remote rural areas still retain the custom of burial. Those small mounds of earth contain... fragments of the people.
And then I thought about the story Zhao Xiaohui and Yao Yao told last night...
Summer's legs started trembling uncontrollably, but thankfully the village chief was there, preventing her from falling on her bottom.
“Let’s split up and search, that’ll be faster. I’ll go to the other side of the mountain.” With that, the village chief turned and left.
aestivation:"......"
Okay.
Suppressing his fear, Xia Mian muttered to himself, "Passing by, I have no intention of offending you, passing by, I have no intention of offending you..." as he searched for the cow's shadow.
As they walked through a patch of grass, a large, pale-faced person with red lips suddenly appeared in front of them. Xia Mian sat down again, and then realized that it was a paper figure used for sacrificial purposes.
In the dead of night, a cemetery, paper figures—it's not much better than a ghost story. It's no exaggeration to say that if it weren't for youthful, robust kidneys, Xia Mian would have peed his pants from fright.
Not to mention that this place has been plagued by wolves in the past.
Even so, Xia Mian insisted on standing up, patting the dirt off her bottom, and continuing to walk forward.
As the saying goes, perseverance pays off. After half an hour of nerve-wracking searching, Xia Mian finally found the old yellow oxen standing on the grave mound eating grass, and together with the village chief, they took them back to the old woman.
Fortunately, this was the most thrilling part of the first episode's recording. After that, the production team didn't make things difficult for the guests. The guests spent their days strolling around the village, chatting, and seemed to be having a comfortable time.
For the last two days, the guests were a bit strapped for cash. Taking advantage of Xia Mian's frequent help with farming for villagers who lacked able-bodied men, they managed to get free food and drink, thus solving their basic needs.
Soon, it was the last day of this period.
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