Although there were some minor hiccups, nothing serious happened in the end, and Xia Zhiyi and the others naturally went back to continue preparing the big lunch.
The bamboo tubes had been thoroughly cleaned. Xia Zhiyi only made a small opening at one end of the tube to make it easier to put rice or other ingredients inside. With all the ingredients already prepared, he didn't need to do the remaining steps by himself.
Whether they were genuinely curious or simply couldn't sit idly by in front of the camera, everyone present found something to do.
Xue Ranran was initially very interested in packing the ingredients, but she later discovered that this task... required some physical strength.
So after a brief attempt, the women quickly gave up and found something else to do.
Unbeknownst to Xia Zhiyi, while he was busy, Xue Ranran, Qin Yue, and several other women were sitting in a corner of the lobby, experiencing the hand-peeling corn activity while chatting about him.
Wang Kaiqi: " Xia Zhiyi looks so young. If I hadn't watched the live stream, I probably would have doubted that he was even an adult if I were meeting him for the first time."
Qin Yue said gently, "You just turned eighteen, you've only recently come of age, it's not surprising."
Xue Ranran: " Teacher Xia's face is indeed very youthful. If it weren't for his youthful appearance, I would have almost forgotten several times that he is younger than me."
Upon hearing this, Wang Kaiqi asked Xue Ranran curiously, "I watched some of your live streams before, and I noticed that you and Wang Chengran seem to like him a lot, but it doesn't seem like you treat him like a younger brother or anything. What's going on?"
Xue Ranran: "Oh, Teacher Xia?"
" Teacher Xia Teacher Xia truly amazing. He's so capable. I simply can't treat him like a younger brother or a child."
Wang Kaiqi: "But his face is so tender, with a baby face and a bit of chubby cheeks, he looks so cute."
Xue Ranran: "But he's very capable; he can do everything."
Wang Kaiqi: "Is that so? I only caught a glimpse of it a few times because of my family. I know how Wang Chengran made stupid mistakes on the show, but I don't know much else about him."
So it doesn't feel very real.
Qin Yue then said, " Sister Qi must be very busy usually, the kind of busy that she doesn't have much time to surf the internet."
Wang Kaiqi did not deny it. "Yes."
Qin Yue: "Then it's not surprising."
Then, Qin Yue waved to a staff member not far away. "Lend me a tablet. The show is almost over now, there must be some highlights of Teacher Xia online, right? Show them to Sister Qi."
Staff: "..."
Although your tone is as gentle as ever, Teacher Qin, you seem to be developing into a kind of bossy older sister without us even realizing it.
Why is that?
Was it because of the hardships of raising two and a half children?
The staff couldn't just agree, so they turned around and asked Director Gong.
Director Gong waved his hand. "Let's see. If the reaction is interesting, we can keep it as material."
Then Wang Kaiqi felt her values were crumbling.
She was still a little hesitant. "This airport... did they use special effects or some kind of technology? Can people really fly that high? And he's carrying a grown man with him..."
Xue Ranran, standing to the side, said with some surprise, "Huh? You were already blown away by the beginning? I thought a lot of people had already seen this by now, since it's really amazing."
Wang Kaiqi: "... I know he knows martial arts, he's very skilled, and he has a calm personality, even more so than Wang Chengran, but that's about it."
Little did she know that the so-called martial arts were real martial arts.
These aren't even in the same dimension anymore, are they?
She began to wonder if she was living in a technological age.
Seeing this, Qin Yue smiled and continued peeling corn.
These ears of corn were picked from the field during their previous missions. Picking corn was part of their daily tasks, while husking corn was a side quest, which they could choose to do or not.
Peeling corn earns more points than picking it—it's double! At first, everyone thought the show was being generous, since peeling corn isn't difficult, right?
Then, when I actually sat down to do the work, I realized that very few jobs done by working people are easy.
Basically, to complete the task, they have to sit there peeling for hours. By the time they finally finish and get up, their backs are aching, their fingers feel like they don't belong to them anymore.
The village has machines that can replace manual labor, but the production team won't allow it.
Since the task of peeling corn is in the [Remembering the Bitter Past and Appreciating the Sweet Present] list, it means that according to the task requirements, it can only be peeled by hand.
When Xue Ranran and Wang Chengran jumped up as if they wanted to hit Director Gong. Although they didn't end up hitting him, they took every opportunity to tease him.
Not swearing might be the last vestige of their civility.
Xu Zixu, who had been silent all along, suddenly said, "I'm preparing to release a new album, a traditional Chinese style album, and I'd like to invite Xia Zhiyi to record the music video."
The group fell silent.
Then, Qin Yue looked at her and asked, "Because of his skills?"
Xu Zixu had a lollipop in her mouth, though she looked more like she was smoking. Her voice was a little muffled, but the others could still hear her clearly. "Yes, it's mainly about the story of a young swordsman. He's perfect in both age and temperament."
Xue Ranran: "Ah, that's great."
Wang Kaiqi remained silent.
This was outside her area of expertise, and she declined to comment.
Xu Zixu gave a faint "hmm," and continued, "I came here specifically for this matter. I originally intended to observe the situation for the next three days, but..."
Qin Yue: "But?"
Xu Zixu's expression became very subtle, and he looked up at the group of people.
Everyone: Huh?
Xu Zixu's expression became even more subtle. He put down what he was holding, took the lollipop out of his mouth, and remained silent for a while before saying, "Just now, I saw Xia Zhiyi fly up from behind without using anything."
She had just come back from the restroom and was still somewhat disgusted by its condition. She was wondering if it was worth it to go through all this trouble just to be the lead in a music video when she looked up and saw a scene that shocked her speechless.
The boy who, after her arrival, didn't seem any different for the time being, just like that...
It floated up so lightly, like a graceful white bird.
Xu Zixu: Stunned.
Xu Zixu had been silent for a while because she was still a little dazed.
The feeling of seeing it in the video is completely different from seeing it in person.
Seeing it in a video can create a sense of unreality, because such things can be easily accomplished in modern times using various techniques, the simplest being wire work.
But seeing it in person makes it even clearer that Xia Zhiyi is truly flying.
Without any auxiliary means, and without the wire hidden in an inconspicuous place that Xu Zixu vaguely suspected, it just... just flew up.
Then, after Xu Zixu came to his senses, it was...
My heart fluttered.
My heart is pounding!