Kids who grew up in the city even find the countryside fun. Next year when it's wheat harvest time, we can lure them over by saying they can experience wheat harvesting for 100 yuan a day. That way, we'll have free labor and even make a profit.
That's some serious business acumen!
"Son! Dinner's ready!" Mother Song called from downstairs.
Upon hearing this sound, Song Shi'an suddenly remembered seeing a video on social media of a pig farm worker calling the pigs to eat.
He shook his head to banish the rebellious thought and rushed downstairs.
The table was laden with dishes: braised chicken pieces, steamed fish, sweet and sour pork ribs, garlic-flavored bok choy, and a pot of old hen soup with a layer of golden oil floating on top, looking very appetizing.
He picked up the bowl and started eating, stuffing food into his mouth while listening to Mother Song chat about everyday matters.
Just as we were finishing our meal, a strong, resonant voice came from outside. " Old Song, are you home?"
Father Song stood up and glanced outside. " Old Liu, what brings you here?"
Song Shi'an quietly asked his Mother Song, "Who is this?"
"This is our village chief." Mother Song put down her chopsticks. "It's normal that you children don't recognize him."
Old Liu strode in, and when he saw Song Shi'an carrying a bowl, he paused. " Old Song, are your relatives visiting? Should I come later?"
" Old Liu, your eyesight isn't what it used to be," Father Song said with a smile as he stood up. "This is my son."
"The child has grown up, I didn't recognize him for a moment." Old Liu smiled awkwardly, then turned to Song Shi'an and said, " Shi'an, do you still remember your uncle? I used to hold you when you were little."
"Of course I remember Uncle Liu." Song Shi'an put down his bowl and nodded politely.
Old Liu looked him up and down, then clicked his tongue twice. "The kid is really handsome, how come he doesn't look like Old Song at all?"
"Hey, what nonsense are you spouting!" Father Song raised his hand as if to hit him. "Who else would my son be like but me!"
"Just kidding, just kidding." Old Liu quickly became serious. "I just came to say that some TV crew is filming something in our village and they want the villagers to cooperate as some kind of NPC... NPC. Each family can get three thousand yuan. Filming will last about a week. I'm asking for your opinions."
"We don't need it," Old Song frowned. "It's inconvenient."
"Tsk, everyone in the village agreed. We shouldn't pass up this three thousand yuan." Old Liu slapped his thigh. "Besides, it's almost Chinese New Year, and many young people are coming back. They're saying they'd be very happy to be on TV."
Old Song glanced at his Mother Song, then at his son, and was about to refuse again.
"It's alright, Dad, there's nothing inconvenient about it," Song Shi'an said, turning to Old Liu, " Uncle Liu, whose house are these people filming staying at?"
"Stay at my place!" Old Liu slapped his thigh, his face beaming. "I won't lie to you, if we ask for an extra week's rent, they'll pay us off right away, more than I'd earn working outside."
Song Shi'an thought for a moment. The village couldn't refuse to film the whole thing just because of their family, and it would easily offend people. At worst, they could just stay home for a week. "Alright, our family has no objections."
"Alright! If there's no problem on your end, then there's no problem. I'll go and tell them over there right away." Old Liu said, and left as fast as the wind, without even taking a sip of tea.
Mother Song looked at her son with concern. "Son, is this filming okay for you?"
"Don't worry, Mom, I won't go out for those few days," Song Shi'an said with a smile. "Besides, they can't film me since they haven't signed a contract with our company."
Father Song. and Mother Song. Song breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good, that's good."
"Our scenery here is so beautiful, filming it on TV could boost tourism, right? It's actually a good thing." Song Shi'an picked up another piece of pork rib and stuffed it into his mouth. "This can stimulate development. If it becomes popular, Mom and Dad, you could open a shop and start a business, that would be great."
Mother Song took it as her child joking, smiled helplessly, and got up to clear the dishes.
Song Shi'an quickly took the empty plate and followed him inside, standing by the sink to start washing the dishes.
Watching Song Shi'an's retreating figure as he washed the dishes, Mother Song nudged Father Song with her elbow and said in a low voice, "The child has grown a lot this year; it seems he's suffered a lot."
Father Song gently patted Mother Song's hand, looking at the figure diligently washing dishes in the kitchen. "He has his own path to walk, and the only thing we can give him is our full support."
After tidying up, Song Shi'an took a shower, flopped onto the bed, and happily began her holiday.
They played the game in complete silence, one game after another, until finally they were so sleepy they could barely keep their eyes open, and the sky outside the window was already beginning to lighten.
He tossed his phone onto his pillow, closed his eyes, and sank into the darkness.
When the rooster crowed in the morning, he was so startled that he almost jumped out of bed. Why was there a rooster crowing?
Then he remembered that he was at his hometown, not in the villa in Capital. He turned over, pulled the blanket over his head, and fell into a deep sleep again.
The production team of the variety show " The Countryside Never Closes " came to scout out the location the day after receiving the news.
Several staff members looked around the village chief's house and then spent the whole day walking around the village, taking several photos of the small river and the big banyan tree.
The liaison staff explained the details to Old Liu: "In the next few days, staff will come to scout the location, work on the script, and finalize the NPCs. We will also adjust the room layout; this part will be paid extra. After filming, we'll restore it to its original state for you."
"No problem, no problem!" Old Liu grinned from ear to ear. "Leave it to me. I've already talked to everyone in the village; they'll definitely cooperate!"
The staff member added, "Village chief, do we have any unique local crafts? Like making tofu, weaving bamboo baskets, or pounding glutinous rice cakes? We'd like to include these experiences in the program."
Old Liu slapped his forehead. "Yes! Old Song's wife makes the best fermented tofu! And Old Li Li's family at the east end of the village can weave bamboo baskets, and Old Zhang at the south end of the village can make glutinous rice cakes. You can have whatever you want!"
The staff quickly jotted it down and handed it over to the director that evening to be compiled into a script.
At this moment, Song Shi'an was fast asleep, completely covered by the blanket, still arguing with his teammates in his dream, "Don't feed! Wait for me to respawn!"
The rooster crowed again at the top of its lungs outside the window. He pulled the pillow over his head and muttered, "Could this rooster be sent to a talent show? It's a shame it doesn't have such a loud voice and can't be a singer."
He scratched his head and forced the computer to turn on, then opened the window, his hair standing on end, and squinted at the blinding sunlight.
While watering the flowers downstairs, Mother Song looked up and saw her son standing at the window with his hair a mess. She couldn't help but laugh, "Get up and tidy yourself up, some relatives are coming later."
Song Shi'an said "Oh," squinted, opened the suitcase that hadn't been touched since he came back last night, and found a clean set of clothes to change into.
If it weren't for relatives visiting, he would have spent the rest of his holiday in his pajamas.