After getting his answer, the villager drove his water buffalo onward.
Next, Xu Wang and the others saw an old-fashioned bicycle and an old-fashioned tricycle.
Neither Xu Wang nor Pei Yanchuan chose to get on.
Not until a big vehicle came driving toward them from nearby.
A red tractor pulled up in front of the three of them.
Xu Wang counted. Three means of transport had already passed, so this fourth one should be the last.
Pei Yanchuan was thinking the same thing as Xu Wang.
"Need a ride?" The villager driving the tractor was a friendly middle-aged man. Before he even reached them, he was already waving and calling out enthusiastically.
"Yes, sir. If we take your tractor, is there anything we need to do?" Xu Wang asked with a smile as the vehicle stopped in front of him.
"Of course. Here's the thing: we keep a lot of geese, and they laid a whole lot of eggs today. But for some reason, Big Yellow got into a fight with our king goose, so if you ride with me, you'll need to help me collect the goose eggs." The man looked at the three of them with a smile.
"This sounds a little easier." Yun Xi looked thoughtful. Compared with cleaning the cowshed, catching fish, and picking corn, collecting goose eggs seemed a little easier.
Hearing Yun Xi's words, Xu Wang gave him a complicated look. "Do you know who Big Yellow is?"
"Who?" Yun Xi looked puzzled.
"A dog."
Yun Xi's expression froze.
"Do you know what geese are called in villages?" Xu Wang asked again.
"What?"
"The village bullies." Xu Wang smiled and spread his hands.
Yun Xi swallowed.
[My god, just hearing that man's description, I can already imagine how terrifying that scene must be.]
[This is straight-up a war between two village kings.]
[Collecting goose eggs is already pretty hard for beginners, and now there's a big yellow dog in the way too.]
[Growing up back home, I got nipped by geese, pecked by chickens, and bitten by dogs. Pretty much anything you could run into, I ran into it.]
[Same here. I got bitten so much as a kid that I'm scared now. If I see a dog on the street, I really will take a detour (total coward).]
Meanwhile, Pei Yanchuan had already loaded both suitcases onto the tractor.
"Time to get on." Pei Yanchuan walked over to Xu Wang and took his hand.
"Okay." Xu Wang held Pei Yanchuan's hand in return, interlacing their fingers.
After the two of them got on the tractor.
Only Yun Xi remained where he was, thinking. The later the vehicles came, the better they seemed to get. Maybe there would be an even better one after this?
In the end, Yun Xi chose not to get on. He wanted to wait for a better means of transport. Maybe there would even be a car.
The villager gave Yun Xi a long look but said nothing more. He turned, climbed into the driver's seat, and drove off.
It had to be said that it lived up to its status as the best means of transport. In no time, the tractor caught up with the ox cart ahead.
Sitting on the ox cart were Zhong Ran and Leng Yifan, who had been the first to set off.
Leng Yifan looked terrible, his right hand pressed tightly over half his face.
Although Zhong Ran could still force a smile, a closer look revealed the irritation in his eyes.
When they saw Xu Wang and Pei Yanchuan sitting on the tractor, both their expressions fell.
The two watched the tractor pull farther and farther away.
Leng Yifan finally could not take it anymore. He pulled his phone from his pocket and called someone.
Far away in the village, the director had just gotten off an electric tricycle when he suddenly received a call from the higher-ups.
"What? Get the one from the Leng Family a different vehicle?" The director looked utterly baffled.
After saying their piece, the person on the other end hung up.
The director stared at his phone in bewilderment. "Fuck! I hate these guys who buy their way onto a show and then make a million demands!"
"Then how are we going to explain it, Director?" The assistant director had a headache too. This variety show was jointly funded by the Pei Family and the Leng Family.
"He's already flouting our rules. Do I still need to spare his feelings? Just say he's sick. Worst comes to worst, I quit." The director took off his baseball cap and flung it onto the ground.
The director was not afraid of the Leng Family either, because he had the Pei Family backing him. The top dog had not even started breaking the rules, yet the runner-up was already taking the lead.
"Understood!" The assistant director was about to go deal with it.
"Wait. Since their vehicle's changing, their task changes too. Have them collect goose eggs as well. Each team gets half." The director stopped the assistant director just as he was about to turn away.
"Will do." The assistant director chuckled to himself at that.
Zhong Ran and Leng Yifan's livestream suddenly went black.
By the time the livestream resumed, the two were already on the tractor.
Xu Wang narrowed his eyes at the pair who had boarded halfway through the journey.
"Sorry, Mr. Xu, Mr. Pei. Mr. Leng suddenly had a medical episode, so they have no choice but to share your vehicle. But please rest assured that, to keep the show fair, their team will be given the same task as yours." The assistant director's voice came through loud and clear in both livestreams.
[What's going on? Young Master Leng is sick?]
[I knew it. Ranran wouldn't be a sore loser for no reason.]
[But isn't the timing of this medical episode a little too convenient...]
The livestream chats instantly erupted into arguments.
Hearing the assistant director's words, Leng Yifan was about to fly into a rage, but remembering his father's warning over the phone just now, he could only swallow it for the time being.
"It's fine." Sitting beside Pei Yanchuan, Xu Wang did not even look at them.
For a while, the whole tractor was silent.
Zhong Ran looked at Pei Yanchuan a short distance away and smiled. "Big Brother Pei, what made you suddenly decide to join this variety show?"
...A flock of crows flew overhead...
Pei Yanchuan turned, took out a bottle of mineral water, unscrewed the cap, and gently brought it to Xu Wang's lips. "Wet your throat."
"Thanks." Xu Wang took a sip from the bottle in Pei Yanchuan's hand.
Watching this, Zhong Ran clenched his hands tightly together.
"Big Brother Pei?"
"Sorry, my husband isn't used to talking to people he doesn't know well. Of course we joined this show because we wanted to have some fun after getting married. Isn't that why you two came too? Oh, I saw something trending before..." Xu Wang stopped halfway through, as though he had realized he had said something he should not have, and looked nervously at Pei Yanchuan.
With a smile on his lips, Pei Yanchuan reached out his right hand and soothingly stroked the ends of Xu Wang's jet-black hair.
[If wifey hadn't brought it up, I would've almost forgotten this bit of internet history. Didn't Young Master Leng and Zhong Ran first get exposed for getting a hotel room together?]
[It was super juicy. In that video, they were all over each other before they'd even entered the room.]
[Holy shit, it was that juicy? How did I miss that video?]
[Let me explain, person above: that's the power of money. Gone in seconds.]
[Someone send the video!]
[Everyone, don't make it sound so nasty. Ranran said he and Young Master Leng have been dating for two years.]
[Then being Zhong Ran's fan is pretty sad. Didn't Zhong Ran say he was single at a fan event for one of his dramas a year ago?]
That single remark riddled a small portion of Zhong Ran's fans, who had only just managed to reassure themselves, with holes all over again.
Before you continue