How Great Is the Huo Family, Anyway?!

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

Even when the Xie Family finally came looking for him, they had never thought of obstructing his reunion with them, much less using their years of raising him to emotionally bind Xie Ran.

The rural couple had merely sincerely wished for him to get better and better, hoping that he would come back to visit them when he had time. Unfortunately, they had never received even a single visit...

So, when Xie Ran lied about often doing farm work, he was actually overtly and subtly exploiting his tragic childhood persona to win the public's sympathy.

As for whether it would drag his adoptive parents into public scrutiny, 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—wasn't Xie Ran trying to build a persona? Then he would give him plenty of room to perform!

"Oh? Weren't you pretty enthusiastic? And weren't you especially familiar with farm work?" A wicked curve lifted at Xie Chen's lips. "What's wrong with helping Luo Mingyu? Aren't you great at helping others?"

"I—" Xie Ran was rendered speechless. He shot 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, would it?"

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

Unfortunately, Director Li most wanted to see the guests turn on each other. That 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 only one working while the other guests sit around doing nothing?!

Wasn't this blatant tolerance of bullying?!

Seeing through Xie Ran's expression, Xie Chen sneered. "What? Regretting it already? You were the one who claimed you were good at farm work. Now you can't do it?"

"Who said I can't?!" Xie Ran forced himself to say, "I'll do it myself, then!"

It was a livestream anyway. If he got bullied on the show, the viewers would definitely be unable to stand it and would condemn those villains. Then he could take the opportunity to gain 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 fiercely lashed the ox on its rear.

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

Unprepared, Xie Ran was knocked over by the momentum. He cried out uncontrollably, "Ah—what the hell is this thing?!"

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

[Didn't he say he was really good at farm work? Why can't he even drive an ox cart?!]

[He grew up in the countryside, and this is his level? He's screaming in fright?!]

[I originally felt pretty sorry for him, but now it looks like my first judgment was right. Isn't he just a pretentious scheming bitch?!]

[I remember that when Xie Ran was found by the Xie Family, cameras followed the entire process. His rural parents were there too. They looked like they were holding back tears, but you could tell they were truly reluctant to part with him. They probably didn't abuse him as a child, right?]

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

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

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

After finishing a merger-and-acquisition meeting, eldest brother Xie Zhenting had been thinking about the variety show and wanted to see how Xie Ran was doing on it. He opened his tablet and entered the livestream, only for comment after comment to fill his sight.

Scheming bitch?!

Pretentious?!

Couldn't do farm work?!

Were all of these people 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 Xie Ran?! Was he just letting these keyboard warriors insult Xie Ran however they pleased?!

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 confirmed one thing: he had really been blocked!

Heh, Xie Chen actually dared?!

It seemed that without giving him some punishment and a setback, Xie Chen would never see his own situation clearly!

Thinking this, Xie Zhenting dialed another number. After waiting for a while, 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 got straight to the point, though his tone carried a trace of respect and apprehension.

Although he and Huo Wenye had some acquaintance, the Huo Group behind him wielded power strong 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 on the 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 say slowly, "Xie Ran has suffered a lot out there. I don't want him to suffer any more grievances, so..."

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

The sharp retort left Xie Zhenting speechless.

He had never expected Huo Wenye to speak up for Xie Chen. The two clearly had little interaction beyond inevitably running into each other at a few necessary banquets...

"Xie Chen enjoyed superior conditions and abundant resources in the Xie Family. If we hadn't adopted him, he might still be working to earn money now. Even if he suffers some grievances, isn't that only right? Consider it repaying our kindness." Xie Zhenting took a moment to compose himself. He did not think he was wrong at all; instead, he sounded completely 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 been better off than he is now."

"As for Xie Ran," his voice grew even 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."

"What did you mean by that?!" Xie Zhenting grew angry as well, his voice rising without his realizing it.

After several seconds passed without a 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 only intensified, churning in his chest with nowhere to go.

Meanwhile, the livestream on the tablet continued. Xie Ran had already gone door to door collecting farm manure.

Covering his mouth and nose with a look of disgust, he finally finished loading up at the third house, then ran to the roadside and vomited impatiently.