Night seemed peaceful and quiet, but in reality, currents surged beneath the surface.
In the blink of an eye, dawn broke and morning light illuminated everything.
Golden light covered the impoverished village, and as it was captured by the cameras and broadcasted live, it gave viewers a rustic, aesthetic beauty far removed from the hustle and bustle of the city.
Of course,
perhaps people would have been more fond of and immersed in it if not for the gong-beating and drum-playing at the crack of dawn.
Director Li looked at Xie Chen, who was holding a small hammer and outputting a fierce barrage of blows, wishing he could find some cotton to stuff in his ears.
Finally, in less than a minute, he could not bear the noise anymore, opened his mouth, and shouted, "Hey, hey, hey, hey, Xie Chen, stop for a second!"
Xie Chen paused his movements, turned his head, and blinked with an innocent and blank expression, "What's the matter, Director Li? Didn't you tell me to wake everyone up?! If I don't finish the task, do I not get any food?!"
Director Li's facial features quickly scrunched up into a meme, matching his expression.
I just want to ask you one thing, is there anyone in the entire internet that you care about?!
With your image thrown to the winds like this,
let alone skyrocketing to fame, even finding a partner would be difficult!
"Hey, don't you say," the corners of Xie Chen's mouth curved up, revealing a bright smile, "there really isn't!"
As his voice trailed off, he continued to swing his small hammer and went back to pounding away at the bronze gong.
Li Jingfei on the first floor was the first to rush out, "Who, who, who, who, who is it?! Disturbing my beauty sleep?!"
She was wearing cartoon pajamas, with her sleep mask pushed up onto her hair and annoyance written in capital letters across her cheeks. When she looked closely and saw it was immediately Xie Chen, her temper flared up at once, "Are you crazy?! What are you doing at the crack of dawn?"
"Time to eat, time to eat, come down to eat!" Xie Chen ignored her and continued shouting toward the upper floor.
Li Jingfei was so angry she was tearing her hair out, "Who wants to eat breakfast? You stop right now."
Crying out, she lunged to snatch Xie Chen's bronze gong.
Relying on the advantage of his height and long legs, the latter circled around the courtyard while the small hammer never stopped.
When the other getting-up-challenged individuals rushed down, they caught sight of the comical scene before them.
"What is Sister Jingfei doing?" Luo Mingyu was still somewhat dazed.
Li Sifan's expression was sluggish, "Are you blind? She's catching Xie Chen!"
"You're the blind one!" Luo Mingyu did not forget to snap back with an insult.
Wei Mingqi anxiously said, "What are you standing there for? Go together and chase Xie Chen! If we don't snatch that gong away, none of us will even think about sleeping!"
Thus, to understand just how powerful the allure of a pillow was, one only needed to take a deep look at the scene in the guesthouse's front yard.
One person clutched a bronze gong and jumped up and down, while several people behind chased relentlessly. In a flash, the courtyard seemed to turn into a vaudeville stage, bustling and chaotic.
Director Li stood in front of the camera, grinding his teeth as he asked, "Whose idea was it to give that gong to Xie Chen in the first place?!"
Viewers who had just entered the live stream were shocked and dumbfounded, flooding the screen with bullet-comments:
[Did I take the wrong turn? Is this Transform, Freaks!? Are you sure this isn't a circus or a parkour site?! What are these villains doing?!]
[Hahaha, pfft, I raise my hand to answer the question. I watched the whole process. Xie Chen was the first to get up and accept the program team's task, being told that if he woke up all the guests, breakfast would be a reward of mutton soup and paomo flatbread. For the sake of food, Xie Chen really tried his absolute best and went straight to the village chief's house to borrow the gong used for summoning villagers!]
[Right, right, right! And then he just hammered away wildly. Hahaha, fuck, this deafening clang-clang-clang sound could wake up a hibernating bear!]
[I'm literally dying of laughter! No wonder everyone was chasing Xie Chen and beating him! And yet they couldn't catch him! Even surrounding and blocking him didn't work! His movements are truly way too agile!]
[This variety show has really refreshed my understanding of Xie Chen. I used to think he was just a pushover, a background board quietly enduring everything. But looking at it now, holy shit, isn't this just a vaulting monkey?!]
[Daring to act with zero restraints on a villains variety show, it has to be Xie Chen, right?! Look at Director Li's face, it's as black as a piece of charcoal. Hahaha, there are precious few people who can make him suffer a loss!]
Xie Jinran was woken up by the external commotion, walking to the doorway with a face full of anger, with Xie Ran following behind him.
The two stood still and watched as the other guests stood in place, panting heavily with flushed faces.
Xie Jinran instantly understood what was going on, feeling that this was a good opportunity to win people over. Lifting his chin, he roared angrily, "Xie Chen, can you stop fooling around?! Everyone was exhausted from yesterday and is resting. How can you disturb other people?"
Xie Chen glanced back, treating Xie Jinran like air while casually tallying the headcount. He then walked over to Director Li, who had just lowered his hands from his ears.
"Everyone's here. The mutton soup can come out!"
Director Li: "..." Can I curse right now?!
His assistant gave him a look: "..." The camera is rolling, you can't curse!
When the round table was set with steaming-hot mutton soup, Xie Chen began reciting his lines in precise, well-rounded tones: "The morning of Bright Village begins with a bowl of mutton soup,"
"Whether in winter or summer, a piping hot bowl of mutton soup is what refreshes the mind and gladdens the heart the most..."
[Mhm, that vibe of A Bite of Hua Nation is really there. Xie Chen truly understands food!]
[No wonder Xie Chen went to such exhausting lengths to wake everyone up. Just looking at this mutton soup makes me want to eat it. I'm going to go order takeout right now!]
"Since you're waking everyone up, couldn't you use a gentler method? This kind of gong-beating and drum-playing is way too disruptive to the public, isn't it?" Xie Jinran, who had just sat down, also learned that Xie Chen had been doing a task just now, and he spared no effort in fanning the flames to provoke the other guests' anger.
"Gentle?" Xie Chen lazily lifted his eyelids, repeated those two words, and then turned to Wei Mingqi, "Was Xie Ran's method of waking you up gentle?"
Thinking of that basin of cold water poured over him, Wei Mingqi felt his anger flare right back up, "Gentle my ass!"
Hearing this, Xie Ran's expression turned somewhat awkward, the corners of his mouth curving into an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry, Brother Mingqi. I was too young and didn't know any better. Can you not be angry anymore?"
"What do I have to be angry about? I poured it back on him anyway!" Wei Mingqi curled his lip, clearly not wanting to bother with him, and picked up his bowl to start drinking soup.
[What should I do? I love how Xie Chen shuts people down so much?! He still complains that someone's wake-up call wasn't gentle—was pouring water gentle?!]
[I can finally see it now. The Xie family are textbook famous hypocrites!]
[If you're unhappy about being woken up, have the guts to get up yourself!]
Seeing his own dear younger brother wronged, Xie Jinran felt extremely displeased, but it was hard for him to act out. After all, their relationship with the guests was already tense, and continuing to cause unpleasantness would only make wedding dresses for Xie Chen.
He pressed his lips together, pondering what to say to help Xie Ran out of his predicament, when a dramatic voice suddenly came from across the table.
"Holy shit, is this actually this good?!"
Luo Mingyu, who had maintained a face of disgust and refused to touch his food, exclaimed in shock.
Li Sifan glared at him, "Can you stop making such a fuss over every little thing like you've never seen the world!"
"Heh," Luo Mingyu bit into a piece of paomo, sneering as he chewed, "You've seen the world, then have you eaten this? Do you know what this is?"
Li Sifan was stumped for a moment, and before she could think for even half a second, someone preempted the answer.
Xie Chen: "Inside here are a sheep's intestines, stomach, and lungs, commonly known as sheep's offal."
Luo Mingyu: "..."
Li Sifan: "..."
The two of them exchanged a silent glance, and then in unison: "Yue--"
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