Nearly became an heir to the deaf

The moment Xu "Persecution complex" Su heard that he could save his own life by serving as an assistant for just one week, he pressed his palms together and bowed devoutly. "Whatever you say!"

Since Xu Su's "poor driving skills" had left the young master "seriously injured," the production team decisively canceled their electric scooter transportation and switched them to a car.

For Xu Su, this counted as a blessing in disguise.

Just before they got into the car, they ran into Zhuang Luo and Lu Jing, who were heading to their destination in a nostalgic old mule cart.

The moment the latter spotted Xu Su, he was like Xiaoqing seeing Bai Suzhen after more than twenty years apart.

"Boohoo, Xu Su, my life is so miserable!"

His face was filled with anguish and his eyes brimmed with tears, as though his next words would be, "Guanyin Bodhisattva of great suffering and sorrow, please save me!"

Xu Su sympathetically supported him as he hovered on the verge of dropping to his knees, soothing him with seasoned composure. "It'll pass. Everything will get better."

Lu Jing wasn't comforted in the slightest. He wailed vehemently, "Better, my ass! It's almost noon, and I'm not even halfway there! Do you know how bumpy this road is?! Do you know how disobedient this mule that should've retired is?! Do you know what I've been through these past two hours?! Do you know how badly I want to puke with my stomach full of watermelon juice?! Do you know..."

After seven or eight consecutive roars of "Do you know," Xu Su nearly became an heir to the deaf.

With his ears buzzing, he couldn't help looking toward Huo Yuchen.

There was actually no particular meaning behind this slight shift of his gaze, but somehow, Huo Yuchen instinctively took it as Xu Su seeking some kind of support from him.

So the young master stepped forward decisively and reached out to take Xu Su's slender, smooth wrist. "Let's go."

As those lightly spoken words fell, Xu Su was dragged away by a force that allowed no resistance.

Lu Jing was left alone, disheveled in the wind.

[Hahahahaha I laughed so hard I peed the bed.]

[Holy shit, how does this not count as protecting his wife?!]

[Lu Jing, don't be sad. At the very least, you still have an old mule cart. They don't even have a mule cart, just a lousy Lexus.]

[Beautiful. You didn't spare him either.]

On the old mule cart, so dilapidated it could take center stage in a museum, Zhuang Luo watched Xu Su and Huo Yuchen get into their car. His expression remained unruffled, even carrying a slight smile.

But in his hands hanging before his knees, his thumbs dug uncontrollably into the joints of his index fingers.

He had noticed something was wrong.

Both he and Xu Su had only met Huo Yuchen after coming on this show, yet he could clearly sense, with almost no doubt, that Huo Yuchen treated Xu Su differently.

That difference made him deeply uncomfortable.

I'm clearly better than Xu Su, so why is Xu Su the one Huo Yuchen favors...

If I were the one Huo Yuchen saw in a different light, could today's awful situation have been easily resolved through Huo Yuchen's influence...

Perhaps I should try finding a better partner...

Lu Jing wiped away his tears and climbed onto the cart. Zhuang Luo immediately gathered his wandering thoughts and comforted him considerately. "It's all right, Lu Jing. We'll work hard together. The result might not be ideal, but what matters is participating."

He presented an image of gentleness, kindness, and positivity, as though he possessed such a pure and strong inner self. Lu "Sherlock Holmes" Jing, however, had seen through everything and wasn't buying it.

"Cut the crap!"

Lu Jing glared at him, his face full of anger.

"You ate that watermelon like a kitten nibbling its food! And you're talking about working hard together?!"

"Did you work hard?!"

"Like hell you did!"

The accusation came suddenly, but it was by no means undeserved.

Looking back at the watermelon-eating contest, Zhuang Luo had seemed anxious, but in reality, he hadn't managed to finish a single slice in ages. He had exuded an unspoken determination that said, "I can lose my head or shed my blood, but my image must stay intact." He would clearly rather finish last than let the audience see an ugly shot of him wolfing down food.

That had left his teammate Lu Jing very dissatisfied.

Still, he hadn't intended to blame him at first.

After all, the outcome had already been decided. No amount of complaining would make the production team provide him with a Bugatti Veyron.

But with Zhuang Luo putting on such a phony, insincere act, no matter how much patience he had, he couldn't be bothered to endure it anymore.

After all, your twenties were precisely the age when you loved telling on people.

Zhuang Luo probably hadn't expected Lu Jing to blame him in front of a nationwide audience. After a moment of surprise, his face instantly filled with hurt.

"Lu Jing, I already did my best. Please believe me. I always eat slowly. I really gave it everything I had just now..."

His fingertips clutched the hem of his clothes, his pearly teeth lightly bit his lip, and a watery sheen flickered at the corners of his eyes. He had pulled out every stop to look innocent.

Utterly speechless, Lu Jing looked at this delicate little flower about to shatter in midair. "Do you think I'm that easy to fool?"

Did he take me, Lu Jing, for an idiot?

Anyone with eyes could damn well tell that this little flower hadn't tried at all.

The unanimous opinion of the online audience proved that point nicely.

[Does Princess Zhuang think we're all blind?]

[No, he thinks his acting is so good he's fooled everyone.]

[Can someone go in there and slap him a couple of times to help him finish the "shattering" part? I seriously can't watch this anymore.]

[Xu Su: I told you his family lived by West Lake, but nobody believed me.]

[Viewers who didn't believe him before: We've learned our lesson. Believers till death!]

Lotus Village.

"In the blazing sunshine of your south~ heavy snow swirls~"

"In the muddy mountain hollow, I'm drenched in sweat~"

Beneath the fierce sun, Xu Su's clear, melodious (wretched and woeful) singing drifted over the mud concealing a wealth of lotus roots.

Looking toward the sound, one could see his lower body firmly planted in the pitch-black mud, his lean, delicate arms buried deep inside it, working nonstop. His teeth clenched now and then, his lips occasionally pressed tight, as though he were a veteran lotus-root digger hard at work.

But a closer look revealed that he was actually...

"Can somebody come over here?! These waders tore! My fucking waterproof boot broke off in there!"

[...I was wondering what he'd been huffing and puffing over all this time.]

[So he couldn't pull his boot out hahahahahaha.]