Is the Huo Family Really That Great?!

Although Xie Ran had been abducted by human traffickers, he had actually been quite fortunate. His adoptive parents were simple and honest people. From childhood to adulthood, they had never made him do any hard labor and had encouraged him to devote all his energy to his studies.

Even when the Xie Family eventually came looking for him, they had never thought of preventing him from reuniting with them, much less using the debt of raising him to manipulate Xie Ran.

The rural couple had merely sincerely wished for him to keep doing better and better, and hoped he would come back to visit when he had time. Unfortunately, they never received a single visit...

So when Xie Ran lied about frequently doing farm work, he was openly and covertly exploiting his tragic childhood persona to win the public's sympathy.

As for whether it would drag his adoptive parents into public scrutiny and pressure, Xie Ran did not care in the slightest.

Having lived another life, Xie Chen understood this all too well. He might as well go with the flow—didn't Xie Ran want to build a persona? Then he would give him plenty of room to perform!

"Oh? Weren't you so enthusiastic? And weren't you especially familiar with farm work?" The corner of Xie Chen's lips curled into a wicked smile. "What's wrong with helping Luo Mingyu? Aren't you great at helping others?"

"I—" Xie Ran was rendered speechless. He cast a disgusted glance at the ox cart loaded with manure, gritted his teeth, and said, "Fine, I'll help. But I can't be the only one doing it, can I? That wouldn't be fair, right?"

As he spoke, he looked toward the director, his eager gaze seeming to hope that someone would stand up for him.

Unfortunately, Director Li most wanted to see the guests turn on one another. It would make managing their transformation much easier, so he turned a blind eye to Xie Ran's request and even added fuel to the fire.

"The task is right there. Whether one person completes it or a group completes it, the production team won't interfere."

Xie Ran: "..." What did that mean?!

Why should I be the one working while all the other guests lounged around?!

Wasn't this openly allowing bullying?!

Seeing right through Xie Ran's expression, Xie Chen sneered. "What? Want to back out? You were the one who volunteered that you were good at farm work. And now you can't do it?"

"Who says I can't?!" Xie Ran forced himself to reply. "I'll do it myself, then!"

Anyway, this was a livestream. If he got bullied on the show, the netizens would definitely not stand for it. Then they would condemn these villains, and he could use the opportunity to gain some traffic and followers...

It was still not a loss!

With that in mind, he walked over to the ox cart, grabbed the whip beside it, and viciously lashed the ox's rear.

The old ox bellowed and raised its hooves, charging forward.

Xie Ran was unprepared. The momentum knocked him over, and he cried out uncontrollably, "Ah—what the hell is this?!"

The netizens waiting in front of their screens frowned at the sight, and the comments quickly began flooding in.

[Didn't he say he was great at farm work? How does he not even know how to drive an ox cart?!]

[He grew up in the countryside, and this is his level? He got so scared he started howling?!]

[I originally sympathized with him, but now it looks like my first judgment was right. Isn't he just a pretentious little green tea?!]

[I remember when Xie Ran was found by the Xie Family, cameras followed the whole process. His rural parents came too. They looked like they were holding back tears, but it was obvious they genuinely couldn't bear to part with him. They probably didn't abuse him when he was little, right?]

[No matter what, buying and selling are equally guilty. They should all be punished by law! Trying to whitewash them now is useless!]

[What's wrong with your brain?! Didn't the media report it already?! That couple weren't buyers. They only took in Xie Ran after he got lost again!]

The livestream chat erupted into an argument, pushing the topic to new heights.

Having just finished a merger meeting, Xie Zhenting was thinking about the variety show and wanted to see how Xie Ran was doing. He opened his tablet, entered the livestream directly, and comment after comment filled his screen.

Green tea bitch?!

Pretentious?!

Didn't know how to do farm work?!

All of this was belittling and insulting his precious little brother?!

Wasn't Xie Chen filming the show too? What the hell was he doing?!

Didn't he know to protect him?! Was he just going to let these keyboard warriors insult Xie Ran however they wanted?!

Anger rushed to his head. Xie Zhenting grabbed his phone and called Xie Chen, only to find that the line was constantly busy.

With all his accusations lodged in his throat and impossible to swallow, he finally became certain of one thing: he had really been blocked!

Heh, Xie Chen actually dared?!

It seemed that without teaching him a lesson and giving him a blow, Xie Chen would never see his own situation clearly!

Thinking this, Xie Zhenting dialed another number. After waiting for a moment, a lazy voice finally came from the other end. "What is it?"

"Wenye, I heard you went on Transform, Freaks! as an observer?" Xie Zhenting asked bluntly, though his tone carried a hint of respect and wariness.

Although he had some acquaintance with Huo Wenye, the Huo Group under his control was powerful enough that the Xie Family could not ignore it. They even... needed to curry favor with or rely on it.

Sitting before the monitors, Huo Wenye pressed his pale lips together. "So what if I did?"

The distant voice made Xie Zhenting hesitate. After a second's pause, he continued, "My younger brother is participating in the variety show too. Wenye, could you..."

Before he could finish, Huo Wenye abruptly interrupted him. "Which younger brother?"

"Of course..." Xie Zhenting nearly blurted it out. Only after realizing his lapse did he steady himself and slowly say, "Xie Ran has suffered a lot outside. I don't want him to suffer any more grievances, so..."

"So you plan to let Xie Ran step on Xie Chen to climb upward?!" Huo Wenye interrupted him again. "Because your biological brother has suffered, the younger brother with no blood relation has to pay the price and endure every grievance?!"

Such a sharp retort left Xie Zhenting choking on his words.

He had never expected Huo Wenye to speak up for Xie Chen. The two clearly had little contact, aside from inevitably meeting at a few necessary banquets...

"Xie Chen enjoyed a privileged environment and abundant resources in the Xie Family. If we hadn't adopted him, he might still be working to make money now. Even if he suffers some grievances, isn't that only right? It counts as repaying kindness." After composing himself, Xie Zhenting did not think he was wrong at all. Instead, he sounded entirely righteous.

Huo Wenye gave a derisive laugh. "As far as I know, aside from bringing him home, your Xie Family didn't spend a single cent on him. If you hadn't adopted him, Xie Chen might have lived better than he does now."

"As for Xie Ran," his voice grew colder and colder, "since he chose to join the variety show, he shouldn't expect special treatment. If he can't take it, he can choose to quit directly."

"What do you mean?!" Xie Zhenting was angry too, and his voice unconsciously rose several degrees.

After waiting a few seconds without any response, he frowned and looked at his phone. Huo Wenye had actually hung up!

"Is the Huo family really that great?!" Xie Zhenting slammed his fist onto the desk. His earlier anger intensified, churning in his chest, impossible to digest.

Meanwhile, the livestream on his tablet continued. Xie Ran had already begun going door to door collecting farm fertilizer.

Covering his mouth and nose in disgust, he finally finished loading up at the third house, then ran to the roadside and began vomiting impatiently.