How about I become your dad?

They were girls around Chi Shuran's age, after all. His gaze swept over Lu Wanqing and Li Nanyi, and Chi An sighed softly. "Stop scheming and get on with what you're supposed to do."

There was a hint of warning in his tone, making Lu Wanqing feel a little guilty despite herself. She kept feeling that, judging by their expressions, Chi An and Fu Yanci were not people with ordinary backgrounds.

"You should know that although Fu Yanci and I aren't in the entertainment industry, that doesn't necessarily mean we can't interfere in its affairs."

After that final warning, Chi An paid them no more attention. He had no idea why they were so good at stirring up trouble. Couldn't they just finish their tasks and go have a proper meal?

Drawing a deep breath, Lu Wanqing gripped Li Nanyi's hand tightly, ignoring her pained expression, and said in a trembling voice, "If you insist on seeing me as that sort of person, there's nothing I can do."

A trace of helplessness and grievance showed in her eyes, as though being misunderstood had hurt her deeply. Then she apologized again and turned toward the camera, feigning nonchalance. A smile curved her lips as she said, "Let's get back to weeding."

Everything returned to the way it had been, as though nothing had happened.

Chi Shuran was still standing there watching, while Fu Yanci remained planted upright with the same supremely arrogant air. Looking at him, Chi An couldn't resist reaching out and smacking him again.

This smack was just as loud, startling everyone present. Those who knew them knew they had been friends for five or six years; anyone who didn't might have thought they were enemies.

"Quit posing and get weeding. Once Song Wenjing gets back, you can get the hell out."

His disdainful gaze swept over Fu Yanci before Chi An walked back to the edge of the field and crouched down to dig up the weeds again.

Ignoring the spot that hurt from the smack, Fu Yanci casually glanced over the two women before his gaze settled on Chi An again. He eagerly trotted after him and crouched beside him. "Could I give the director some money to have us switched around? I could swap with your sister. How about I become your older brother?"

Chi An said, "How about I become your dad?"

Fu Yanci said, "I'm serious."

Chi An said, "So am I."

Standing in front of them, Chi Shuran studied their backs thoughtfully, looking from Chi An to Fu Yanci and back. Something just didn't seem right.

Chi An had attended university in M Country before returning to Z Country. She knew nothing about his university days, and he would never volunteer that information. If what Fu Yanci had said was true, they had attended the same university. But judging by how Fu Yanci had just hoisted Chi An onto his shoulder, their relationship could not possibly be that of ordinary university acquaintances.

What could it be...?

Chi Shuran thought for a while, feeling as though the answer was on the tip of her tongue, yet she simply couldn't put it into words.

Forget it. Fu Yanci was Song Wenjing's older brother anyway. I'll find a chance to ask Song Wenjing.

[They've gone way too far! Do they think our Wanqing has no one to stand up for her?!]

[What background? What background could they possibly have? They think they can interfere in the entertainment industry? Do they think this is H Country, where they can meddle whenever they like?!]

[They're even livestreaming, and they can't spare a thought for a girl's dignity. They don't deserve to call themselves men.]

[I think they're delusional! Who do they think they are? There isn't a single person named Chi on Z Country's list of famous people!]

[But there is someone named Fu...]

[Hilarious! Nothing to say now? So what if there's no one named Chi? There's someone named Fu. Even if Chi An can't do it, did you not see the way Fu Yanci looked? Do you think he could?]

[I'm honestly curious what kind of spell Lu Wanqing has put on you all. One shady stunt after another, all that fake-innocent talk and playing the victim. Does she think netizens still fall for that these days?]

[People don't hate manipulative flirts; they just hate not being the target. That kind is annoying enough, never mind someone like Lu Wanqing. She's playing everyone to protect herself. Where do fans of someone like that even come from?]

[The whole point of a livestream is authenticity. Do you think they can prepare a script for you in advance? Dream on. Don't you know who this director is? Offending people is the last thing he's afraid of. He has the ability to make every show he films a hit.]

Song Wenjing hurried off to find the female staff member and apologize, explaining Fu Yanci's condition to her. Then he ran back to the pile of envelopes to search for a task. Luckily enough, he found the same task after checking only a few.

On his way to the task location, he ran into Lin Yuxuan, who had come out to look for grass.

Both tasks called for grass: one involved finding weeds to feed cows, and the other involved pulling weeds. They complemented each other perfectly!

The three immediately hit it off and followed Song Wenjing to the household where he would be doing his task.

Only when they arrived did Song Wenjing discover that just one household stood between this place and Chi Shuran's. He cheerfully greeted the residents and headed into the backyard, only to discover that Lu Wanqing was right next door, with Chi Shuran and the others on the other side of her.

The awkward proximity made the camera operators quietly move a little farther away. One side had just had an unpleasant clash, while the other, unaware of what had happened, was cheerfully greeting everyone. It looked strange no matter how they viewed it.

Song Wenjing looked around at the silence. Everyone was busy with their work, except Chi Shuran, who stood in the shade to shelter from the sun. "Why's everyone so quiet? Trying to finish your tasks?"

He put down his tools and walked over to the outside of Lu Wanqing's fence with Lin Yuxuan, smiling. "Wanqing, do you still need those weeds? Lin Yuxuan happens to be looking for weeds to feed the cows. If you don't need them, give them to his group."

Seeing that it was them, Lu Wanqing smiled and shook her head. She reached down and handed them the weeds by her feet, saying gently, "No, we don't. Go ahead and take them." The corners of her mouth lifted slightly into a soft curve, and her voice was gentle and warm, very pleasant to listen to.

"Thanks, Wanqing!" Lin Yuxuan happily accepted the small handful of grass, his heart full of joy.

Then he followed Song Wenjing over to Chi Shu Ran's side. Chi An and Fu Yanci had their backs to them, focused on their work and completely unaware of their arrival. When Lin Yuxuan spotted the basket beside Chi An and saw that it was already piled with plenty of weeds, his eyes lit up. "Shu Ran-jie! Brother Chi, could you give me your grass?" he asked eagerly.

"I want to feed it to the cows!"

Pausing his work, Chi An reached back to thump his lower back and stood up. His gaze fell on the baskets on their backs, and he asked casually, "How many cows do you have left?"

"There's just one cow left without grass. Once I've fed it, I can go do my second task."

Chi An nodded thoughtfully. Something seemed to occur to him, and he beckoned to Lin Yuxuan. "Come here. I'll teach you a quick way to get grass."