#Shocking! A rice harvester can actually be used like this# Exploding
#Wen Jiu, the man who turned a rice harvester into a flying car# Exploding
#Is Shen Huaian okay now# Exploding
#Wen Jiu, a remarkable man born with superhuman strength# Boiling
Before everyone had even returned to Peach Blossom Spring House, trending topics about the show were already all over the internet.
Village Chief Liu looked down at the concrete slab Wen Jiu had moved back over the ditch and couldn't help swallowing. "This..."
"I'll leave it for you to use from now on. With this slab, you'll be able to drive machinery in here."
Wen Jiu climbed onto the rice harvester before remembering something. "I'll tell Old Wang when I get back. If he doesn't want to, I'll haul it back for him."
No, Old Wang should be more than willing, Village Chief Liu thought. After all, he probably never would have imagined that unused slab could be this badass.
Wen Jiu started the engine and called down to everyone, "Anyone want a lift? If not, I'm heading back first!"
Everyone looked at Shen Huaian, who was being supported by the director.
The boy's complexion was normal, but his soul seemed not to have returned to his body yet. Even the engine's puttering only made him twitch reflexively, his eyes vacant.
Hmm... maybe we'd better walk.
Walking was healthier.
[Didn't President Feng want to get on? Why isn't he saying anything this time?]
[Imagine President Feng hanging off the rice harvester with an icy expression as he's putt-putted away]
[Handsome Feng and the rice harvester [doge]]
[President Feng: It's not that I won't go with you, but walking is better value]
"All right, then." Wen Jiu waved and sent the bulky rice harvester skidding around a turn on the field ridge. Amid everyone's instinctive gasps, he narrowly missed the ditch, rolled onto the road, and puttered away.
On camera, all they could see was the boy's hand sticking leisurely out the window.
Clearly, even the cameraman who would go anywhere was unwilling to risk himself and his precious equipment with Wen Jiu.
After lunch and a short rest, the director cheerfully announced the rewards and punishments for the guests' morning activities.
"The first-place team will receive a selection of premium aged peach blossom wine, a specialty of Peach Blossom Spring Village. In addition, they'll have first choice of farming households for this afternoon's activities."
Wen Jiu & Shen Huaian: "Wow~"
"The last-place team... ahem!" Zhang Guozhong couldn't hold back and turned his head to laugh.
"We originally planned to have you cook, but gave that up because the risk factor was too high. You've all worked hard all morning, so we won't bother with anything else. We'll get it over with in a few minutes, okay?"
Wen Jiu asked curiously, "What is it? What is it?"
Just then, the assistant director brought a bag of some unidentified powder in from outside and motioned for everyone to come out.
Lin Shuheng nervously leaned in for a look. He had intended to act pitiful to get out of it, but the assistant director turned the packaging toward him, revealing-
A bag of flour.
Zhang Guozhong huffed. "It's just a bag of flour, nothing weird. Taking the guests' tolerance into account, this punishment is already very mild. None of you are getting out of it."
As he spoke, he even deliberately turned to ask Lin Shuheng, "Shuheng, you're feeling all right now, aren't you?"
Embarrassed, Lin Shuheng braced himself and said, "I'm fine."
"Very good. Here are the rules. It's windy in the courtyard, so the assistant will toss flour from upwind. You'll stand there without moving and take it, then wash your faces at the hand pump. You can't avoid the cameras at any point."
"You can manage such a mild request, can't you?"
His disdainful tone stopped just short of pointing at Lin Shuheng's nose and calling him incapable.
Lin Shuheng gritted his teeth. "Yes."
Wen Jiu whispered into the ear of the man beside him, "Why do I get the feeling the director's being a bit of a green tea?"
A flicker of surprise crossed Feng Chi's eyes. "You can actually tell now?"
Wen Jiu: ...What's that supposed to mean?
Lin Shuheng went first. The remaining guests watched the fun from under the eaves, while the cameraman shoved the lens right up close.
A gust blew, coating his entire face.
Lin Shuheng: "Cough, cough, cough!"
Wen Jiu: "Hahahahaha!"
Wen Jiu helpfully went over to work the pump for his sworn enemy. Watching him gradually wash off all his makeup and clean his face, he burst out laughing. "Hahaha, your face!"
Flustered, Lin Shuheng scooped up another handful of water to wash, thinking there was still something dirty on his face, only to hear Wen Jiu solemnly announce beside him:
"Welcome, everyone, to the spectacular live on-air disaster of Peach Blossom Spring Secluded Living Diary. You're watching: Metamorphosis."
"Pfft!" Yu Qing couldn't hold back and turned aside to laugh.
The cameraman brought the lens right up close. Lin Shuheng instinctively raised a hand to block it, but Wen Jiu caught it and pulled it down.
"Hey, the director said you can't avoid the cameras. Can't take a loss?"
Fuck, back when we debuted, you kept dragging my face into comparisons to put me down every single day. I finally got to vent some of that anger!
[Holy shit, I always thought he had the same cool, pale skin as wifey. Turns out he's darker than me]
[Where are those big Carslan eyes? Who is this squinty-eyed monster??]
[Those pores are big enough to plant rice seedlings in. So celebrities' faces are just like mine after all]
[I really want to know who Lin Shuheng's makeup artist is. Those skills are fucking amazing, the kind you put on your résumé]
[Can Wen Jiu's fans stop putting him down to prop up their fave? Are your parents dead, so no one taught you manners? So classless! Can't people look different? Does being ugly mean he deserves abuse?]
[That Lin Shuheng fan above, don't get triggered just yet. First, your idol was jealous of wifey's beauty and spent seven years editing ugly pictures to put him down;
Second, everyone knows who's notorious in the industry for being classless, so I won't name names. After all, the fact you can say something like that shows your own manners aren't much better;
Third, isn't the entertainment industry all about looks? Everyone says looks draw you in and talent makes you stay. Your fucking professional skills are already garbage, and you're ugly as shit too, but people aren't allowed to say it?
What? If you're insecure and constantly getting triggered, don't enter this industry. What's with always slinging mud at other people?
Finally, I'm just a crude woman who likes handsome men and beautiful women. Wifey's good-looking, so I'm happy to be his fan. Lin Shuheng's ugly, so I'm going to say it. Quit the industry if you've got the guts!]
[You're badass, sis. Liked]
[Hahaha, exactly. He's ugly and we can't even say it? Quit the industry if you've got the guts]
Feng, the executive president's office on the top floor of the Starlane Building.
After posting that comment, Cai Qing easily and forcefully steered the bullet comments toward the subject of Lin Shuheng leaving the industry, until the entire feed was flooded with it.
Having done that, he switched to another page in split-screen mode.
#Lin Shuheng is ugly as shit#, #Lin Shuheng's livestream disaster#, and #Lin Shuheng quit the entertainment industry# were already trending.
Cai Qing added more fuel to the fire, having people push those topics to around tenth place on the trending list before messaging the big boss to report.
"'Wifey's good-looking, so I'm happy to be his fan'... wifey?" A shadow suddenly fell over him from behind. Cai Qing's hand shook, and he nearly dropped his phone.
Xu Mingzhuo braced both hands on the armrests of the executive chair, rested his head on Cai Qing's left shoulder, and read from the computer screen on the desk, word by word.
After finishing, he turned his head and asked, "Who's wifey?"
"Aaah, stop reading!" Having his own comment read aloud on the spot made Cai Qing so embarrassed that even his toes curled. "It's, it's the big boss's wife!"
Xu Mingzhuo said, "President Feng has you doing this stuff?"
"What else?" Detecting the disdain in his tone, Cai Qing immediately bristled. "Managing public opinion is hard work too. If you don't understand it, stay out of it and go deal with your Li Family."
After all, the big boss was about to draw in the net.
Xu Mingzhuo raised an eyebrow. "How do you know whether I've succeeded?"
Cai Qing sucked in a breath. "Y-you did it?"
The man looked at him meaningfully, a hint of smugness showing.
Meanwhile, only after Wen Jiu had laughed his fill did he walk over and take the bag of flour from the young female assistant. "Let me throw it this time!" he said excitedly.
Zhang Guozhong naturally had no objections. "Go ahead."
Li Peiqi suddenly grew nervous.
Everyone watched as Wen Jiu set the bag of flour on the ground and scooped out a heaping spoonful with a large ladle. As if that wasn't enough, he added another handful to the little mound with his other hand.
Afraid the wind would blow some away, he cupped his hand tightly around it, raised his arm, and took his stance.
Li Peiqi: ...
Zhang Guozhong: It... it shouldn't kill anyone, right?
[Oh my, look at wifey's eyes. He looks so ruthless]
[I'm suddenly a little scared. Flour shouldn't count as a weapon, right?]
[Hard to say. Depends on how it's used and who's using it]
[Quiet, quiet, wifey's powering up!]
The fifty million viewers in the livestream and the dozen or so spectators on-site all held their breath, focusing on the two people in the courtyard. Wen Jiu's gaze turned fierce, and he raised his arm, flinging the flour in his hand forward with all his strength!
Li Peiqi instinctively closed his eyes.