Don't Drag Me Down, I Warn You!

Xie Ran had to chase him several meters before he finally stopped Xie Jinran.

The latter spun around sharply, wearing an expression Xie Ran had never seen before as he carefully examined the younger brother they had only recently found. "Xie Ran, are you really sure the farm fertilizer had finished fermenting?!"

If he had really been trafficked, would he not know something like this?

For the first time, Xie Jinran began to have doubts.

"I..." Xie Ran lowered his head in shame. "Sorry, Third Brother. I wasn't sure."

"Then why..." The moment he heard his younger brother admit his mistake on the spot, Xie Jinran could no longer keep up his harsh attitude.

A biting cold wind suddenly swept through the area, making Xie Ran sway unsteadily as his body trembled faintly. "I admit it. I was just too jealous of Xie Chen. He's better than me, prettier than me, more loved than me, and gets more of Dad, Mom, and our brothers' time than I do. I..."

The cameraman following them, who had been overjoyed at the thought that these two idiots might leave the variety show, "..." If I've done anything wrong, may God punish me instead of sending idiots to torment me.

[No way, no way, Xie Jinran is actually going to believe such crude green tea acting?]

[That's right, that's right, Xie Jinran really does believe such crude green tea acting!]

[Ugh—smashes keyboard.jpg]

[Whoa, these two brothers are hugging again. This is so freaking awesome!]

[Switch feeds, switch feeds. Why am I torturing myself here?!]

[Can't you all be a little kinder? Look at me—I'm only starting a boycott poll to get those two kicked off the show!]

Father Xie rarely paid attention to the entertainment industry. The group had been handed over to his eldest son, and he usually just boxed, drank tea in the villa district, and occasionally joined a WeChat group to enthusiastically arrange a round of golf.

That was right. These retired "old cadres" from wealthy, powerful families had a small social circle of their own.

The group owner was the Huo family, the most prestigious family in the capital's social circle.

Father Xie had applied for a long time before being accepted. Ever since, he had stayed in the background and rarely spoken.

Only when he occasionally saw people discussing finance would he offer a small opinion.

The Huo family had never appeared since creating the group chat, but their place was there for all to see, like a Buddha statue being worshipped—its mere existence was intimidating.

That day, someone suddenly sent a message.

[Paper Is Expensive in Luoyang: A variety show has been quite popular lately. It's helping boost the rural economy, and its sales figures are very impressive. Have you all watched it?]

[I Don't Li-nderstand: Its traffic is good, and its sales model is good too. It's worth taking as a reference.]

[Yiling Elder Wei: Even the name is pretty eye-catching. It achieved its goal of drawing attention. Everyone in the company is watching it now. I'm considering whether to place an ad.]

[...]

Father Xie had just finished boxing. He opened the WeChat group, hoping to pick up some news, and saw this conversation.

He was extremely curious and vaguely thought of something, so he replied, [Xie Yongan: Is it Transform, Freaks!?]

The WeChat group fell silent for a moment.

Just as Father Xie found that strange, he saw a new message.

[Paper Is Expensive in Luoyang: Elder Xie, you really don't pay much attention to the entertainment industry, do you? I remember all three guests are connected to the Xie Family, and their reputations vary quite a bit. How did that happen?]

Father Xie failed to detect the sarcasm in the message. He thought the differing reputations referred to his two biological sons standing out as villainous foils, so he replied with a smile.

[Xie Yongan: Don't praise them like that. The two children will get cocky. They only went on as guest participants.]

[I Don't Li-nderstand: Old Xie, that son your family just found is quite something. You can tell at a glance that he's never lifted a finger in his life. He must have been spoiled like a treasure, right?!]

Spoiled like a treasure?

What did that mean?

Just as Xie Yongan was puzzled, another new message appeared.

[Yiling Elder Wei: After all, he's the biological son. Blood is thicker than water. Look at the adopted one—he just won't do. He needs to recognize his place.]

Xie Yongan finally realized something was wrong. Out of caution, he said nothing more, exited the WeChat group, and went onto Weibo instead. After looking through the trending topics from beginning to end, his face immediately darkened.

Burning with rage, he called his eldest son directly. The moment the call connected, he snarled, "Something this huge happened to the Xie Family, and you didn't tell me?! Do you even still see me as your father?!"

Xie Zhenting rubbed his temples with a headache. "Dad, I..."

Before he could finish, the old chairman impatiently cut him off. "No need to explain. My eyes aren't blind. No wonder the stock price has fluctuated so much these past few days. So this kind of scandal happened! And you found Old Qin to take the blame?! Is the company's legal department useless?!"

"Dad, calm down first," Xie Zhenting said in a restrained voice. "I've already asked someone to contact Professor Smith from Harvard Law School abroad. He'll give me an answer soon."

"Smith?" Xie Yongan paused.

He knew that name.

Smith had become famous for successfully overturning several cases that had already resulted in convictions.

And he was the youngest professor ever appointed by Harvard.

Although he had become well-known long ago, he never accepted interviews or recordings. He had always kept a low profile and remained extremely mysterious.

If they could really bring him in, it would also serve as publicity and advertising for the group...

"Are you sure he can represent our group in this dispute?" Xie Yongan's attitude softened considerably.

Xie Zhenting nodded. "Yuchen said he knows Professor Smith well. It should be manageable. He'll give me a reply within the week."

After hanging up, Xie Yuchen came over with a bitter expression. "I don't know him well!"

"Bullshit, as if I didn't know you don't know him well?!" Xie Zhenting rolled his eyes at him. "Do you want Dad to find out that you changed majors while studying abroad?!"

Xie Yuchen froze. "Big Brother, you knew all along?"

"Heh." Xie Zhenting snorted coldly. "You don't know the first thing about law. Even an idiot could have guessed."

As he spoke, he lowered his eyes to the screen, then abruptly changed the subject. "Third Brother really is something. He couldn't keep his cool at all. We would've been better off not letting him go. He's only made things worse!"

The village chief had the villagers carry back the farm fertilizer that had not fully fermented and replace it with several new buckets. To take care of the kids, he had even specially brought hats and white towels.

Luo Mingyu unceremoniously snatched one, covered his face with it, and tied it behind his head. He immediately felt much better. At least the smell was not so overpowering that it made him want to throw up.

The other guests copied him, but Xie Chen alone remained composed as he picked up a blue bucket and began fertilizing the fields.

Luo Mingyu stared blankly at his back and muttered to himself,

"Why do I keep feeling like Xie Chen is the one who got trafficked?"

It was like he was used to this kind of farm work. His movements were so practiced that they made Luo Mingyu's heart ache a little...

Just then, Xie Chen suddenly stood up and turned around. "What are you standing there for? This is a group task. If we don't finish by eleven, there'll be no lunch!"

"I'm warning you, don't drag me down!"

"Otherwise, I might start spewing profanity and call you useless!"

Luo Mingyu, "..."

Why the hell was I feeling sorry for him?

Am I fucking sick?!

[Hahahaha, someone calculate the area of poor chatterbox Luo's psychological trauma!]