Chapter 22

At 9pm, the live broadcast ended punctually.

After a busy day, the guests relaxed from their tense expressions in front of the camera, returning to their usual selves.

Qi MuShi paced around in his room, glancing at the door from time to time, as if waiting for someone.

Finally, footsteps could be heard approaching from outside.

Qi MuShi thought, here they come.

But just as he expected a knock on his door, the footsteps passed by his room and grew more distant, seeming to head towards the living room.

Qi MuShi was taken aback. What was going on?

He carefully opened the door a crack and sneakily stuck his head out of the room.

He happened to catch Shi Qing returning from getting water in the living room.

She glanced at Qi MuShi and said, "What are you sneaking around for so late at night?"

Qi MuShi touched his nose awkwardly. Feeling guilty, he said: "Oh, nothing. I was just about to go to bed. I need to use the bathroom."

"I see," said Shi Qing. "Then go ahead."

With that, she turned to go back to her room.

Qi MuShi became anxious and suddenly called out, "Mom, wait!"

Shi Qing's footsteps halted as she turned back to look at him, impatience showing on her face. "What is it? Speak up, don't waste time. I still need to video chat with your dad."

Qi MuShi twisted his lips. He couldn't help but feel bitter inside. Even though they were already an old married couple, they were still so lovey-dovey.

"It's about what happened tonight," he said. "Aren't you going to scold me?"

Shi Qing looked at him. "You knew you'd get scolded, yet you still did it?"

Qi MuShi immediately said, "That's different. Little Auntie was being bullied. How could I just stand by and watch?"

With that, he stuck out his neck righteously. "Even if I had to choose again, I would still do the same thing!"

Shi Qing chuckled softly. Little rascal, he really thought he was some gangster hero.

But he was quite loyal.

Ever since having Qi MuShi, Shi Qing and her husband had been very hands-off with raising him over the years.

But they had high expectations when it came to his conduct.

Even if he didn't amount to much when he grew up, he still had to become a decent adult.

Of course, Shi Qing genuinely disliked Jiang Kai and Jiang Yao.

She had been in this circle for decades and had seen all kinds of people. Jiang Kai and Jiang Yao's petty schemes were still too naive in her eyes.

As for warning Qi MuShi yesterday not to mention the gaokao in front of Jiang Yao, that was just to save the young auntie's face.

But Jiang Yao's behavior tonight was quite offensive indeed.

She had brought the humiliation upon herself.

Shi Qing waved her hand and said, "Alright, stop dawdling and go back to sleep."

Qi MuShi was stunned.

What did this mean? His mom was letting him off just like that?

Shi Qing saw through his thoughts with one glance. "Be more of a gentleman in the future," she said.

Letting a young lady lose face in public was no gentlemanly behavior.

Of course, tonight's situation could be an exception.

"Learn more from your dad."

Qi MuShi barely held back from rolling his eyes. He perfunctorily replied, "I know, I know. Of all the men in the world, only my dad is the best."

Shi Qing was too lazy to nitpick with him. She simply turned and left.

But Qi MuShi was in an unusually good mood. Humming a tune, he returned to his room.

He had stood up for Little Auntie tonight and didn't even get scolded by his mom.

What a great day!

Meanwhile, the two people in another courtyard were clearly not in such good spirits.

"Jiang Yao, are you brainless? How could you be so stupid!" Jiang Kai yelled at Jiang Yao, who was standing in the doorway.

Jiang Yao had just gotten out of the shower when she heard furious banging on her door. She was already unhappy, and hearing Jiang Kai scolding her like this immediately set her off.

"Jiang Kai, who are you calling stupid? What's with you yelling in the middle of the night?"

"What's with me?" Jiang Kai let out a cold laugh. "I should be asking you. How much more trouble are you going to cause for me?"

Jiang Yao thought he was referring to what happened at dinner and immediately became impatient.

"Didn't you already yell at me before? Why are you starting up again now? That's about enough."

Jiang Yao sneered inwardly. Don't think she didn't know - Jiang Kai was happier than anyone that she had embarrassed Song Anan.

Moreover, she still had a bellyful of anger.

Qi MuShi had publicly humiliated her in front of everyone, yet she could only swallow the insult silently.

She didn't see Jiang Kai say a word in her defense then. He only knew how to scold her, clearly intimidated by Qi MuShi's powerful parents.

Seeing Jiang Yao's attitude, Jiang Kai knew exactly what she was thinking. He became even angrier.

He had seen stupid people before, but never someone so stupid as her.

She wanted to drag Song Anan down, which he was happy to see. But she didn't have a shred of tact. Just like now, every emotion showed on her face.

Hah, she could dream on about entering the entertainment industry in the future.

Jiang Kai was too lazy to waste words with her. He simply handed his phone over and revealed his reason for coming.

"Take a look at what this is. Mom just called you but you didn't pick up, so she sent it to me instead."

Jiang Yao dismissively took the phone. "What's this all about? Why are you showing it to me?"

Jiang Kai gave a cold laugh. "Congratulations. You've been sued. This is a court summons. It's already been delivered home."

"A summons!" Jiang Yao enlarged the photo on the phone and immediately became serious.

When she figured out what had happened, disbelief covered her face.

She really was being sued!

The people suing her were none other than Song Linchuan and Song Anan.

As for the reason, it went back to when Song Anan was defamed online some time ago.

The person who first spread false rumors about Song Anan being a delinquent was Jiang Yao.

Her reason for doing so was quite simple.

Jiang Yao's gaokao results had come out and were unsatisfactory. Just then, Jiang Kai said there was a family-themed show he could bring her on.

Jiang Yao was disdainful at first, thinking there was no way it could be a good opportunity with her brother's level of fame.

But upon finding out it was the variety show "Dear Us", Jiang Yao was thrilled.

What did it matter if she couldn't get into a good university? Getting on this show meant she practically had one foot in the entertainment industry already.

So Jiang Yao secretly decided that she must perform well on the show.

But just when she was full of anticipation, Song Anan suddenly appeared. Moreover, she immediately became hugely popular.

Jiang Yao was a veteran of fan circles and knew very well - when the show aired, netizens would definitely compare her with Song Anan since they were around the same age.

But with Song Anan making such a strong debut, she was unwilling to be overshadowed. Thus, she schemed to defame Song Anan and stand on her head.

"Jiang Yao, I really underestimated you. I didn't think you mixed so deeply in Song Linchuan's anti-fan circles," Jiang Kai said mockingly.

Jiang Yao guiltily looked away.

It was precisely because she was originally a Song Linchuan anti-fan and had some influence in those circles that she succeeded in defaming Song Anan back then. Jiang Kai suddenly recalled something and looked at Jiang Yao. "Didn't you use to be Song Linchuan's fan too? You were crying and begging me to take you to see him."

Hearing this, a flash of hatred went through Jiang Yao's eyes.

She certainly wouldn't mention this.

"Brother, don't think I don't know you had a hand behind the scenes back then too," Jiang Yao said. "I heard your phone call with your agent."

"So don't gloat. If I'm sued, you can't get away either."

Jiang Kai was instantly angered into laughter. His good little sister was still trying to drag him down now.

"I'm not as stupid as you to use my own phone number to register the Weibo account I used as a black fan," said Jiang Kai.

Jiang Yao was directly rendered speechless.

Jiang Kai mercilessly twisted the knife further. "If this gets exposed, you can give up on your dreams of entering the entertainment industry."

Jiang Yao finally panicked.

If she was sued, the monetary compensation would be minor. But if this got exposed, there was no way to hide that Weibo account.

She had held nothing back on there, spewing all kinds of filthy words.

With this kind of black history, what company would dare sign her? Her future entertainment prospects were ruined.

"I only became Song Linchuan's anti-fan because of you. It's your fault for always trash talking Song Linchuan at home. I was influenced by you."

The bickering siblings bit at each other, both equally shameless.

After arguing for half the day, Jiang Kai still retained some reason.

He knew that at this critical juncture, if something happened to Jiang Yao, it would certainly affect him too.

Since things had already come to this, they had to quickly come up with a solution.

"When you see Song Anan tomorrow, try your best to get on good terms with her."

Jiang Yao looked at him incredulously. "You want me to suck up to Song Anan?"

Jiang Kai glanced at her. "What else can you do?"

From his observations these past two days, Jiang Kai felt that perhaps due to Song Anan's young age, she was quite naive.

At least she would be easier to deal with than the tough nut Song Linchuan.

As long as the victim Song Anan forgave her, everything after would become much easier.

"I received word that for the incident of Song Anan being defamed, those who meet the criteria for prosecution are all being sued. Song Linchuan is suing so many people that it should be standardized handling. They probably haven't discovered your identity yet."

They should take advantage of this time for Jiang Yao to get on Song Anan's good side.

Even if she did get exposed later, Jiang Yao could say she was young and ignorant, play the victim, and coupled with the victim already forgiving her, there would still be room for maneuvering.

Although Jiang Yao was unwilling, she had no better options. She could only grit her teeth and agree.

The scheming siblings had made one misjudgment.

Song Linchuan already knew about this matter.

It turned out to be a coincidence. Handling the lawsuits against anti-fans was left to their company's legal team.

With nothing to do today, Jiang Han happened to glance at the list of anti-fan names, and discovered Jiang Yao among them.

At first he thought it was just a coincidence, but still had his assistant verify.

Unexpectedly, this Jiang Yao really was Jiang Kai's sister.

So as soon as the livestream ended tonight, he called Song Linchuan.

"How do you want to handle it?" asked Jiang Han.

Song Linchuan didn't hesitate one bit. "Find an opportunity to expose it publicly as soon as possible."

He didn't want tonight's situation to happen again.

Jiang Kai's side didn't have enough evidence yet, so they couldn't make a move against him for now.

This was a good chance to kick Jiang Yao and Jiang Kai off the show and stop them from bothering his little aunt.

Jiang Han replied, "Got it. I'll take care of this. Tomorrow I'll have someone publicly release the list of sued Weibo accounts."

Then, they could covertly maneuver behind the scenes and expose Jiang Yao as the defamatory anti-fan.

Song Linchuan came out of the room and saw Song Anan sitting in the yard, resting her cheeks in her hands as she spaced out.

She must be feeling wronged.

His little aunt had never suffered this kind of grievance before!

Song Linchuan sat down beside Song Anan and patted her hand. "Little Auntie, it's not your fault. Don't be upset."

"Huh?" Song Anan looked confused. Upset about what?

"Weren't you just feeling upset?" asked Song Linchuan.

"No ah." Song Anan still looked confused.

She pointed at the grape trellis in front and said, "I was just thinking, there are so many grapes here. Should we make some wine?"

Earlier, the show's production team said they could handle the grapes in the yard themselves.

Song Linchuan: "..."

He lightly coughed and said, "I think we could try it."

Song Anan nodded.

Actually, she had already realized what Song Linchuan was referring to.

Jiang Yao's malice towards her tonight, she could sense it, but she didn't care.

They didn't have any relationship to begin with. Whether the other party liked her or not, what did it matter?

If Jiang Yao didn't like her, she could simply keep her distance.

Song Linchuan sighed inwardly. His aunt was still too naive. Some people couldn't be avoided just by staying away from them.

*

The next day, following the shooting arrangement of the program team, the guests were divided to help the villagers.

In this village, many farming households planted melons, fruits and vegetables, supplying supermarkets in the city directly, which was also a considerable income.

It was the ripening season of watermelons in July. Many villagers' families planted watermelons and sweet melons. The shooting task given to the guests by the program team was to help villagers pick watermelons.

The five groups of guests were then divided into five households.

Song An'an and Song Linchuan were assigned to a family where there was now only an elderly couple. Their son and daughter-in-law had gone to work in the city, and usually the old couple took care of their seven-year-old grandson at home and planted a few acres of land. At this time, the son and daughter-in-law could not rush back either.

With the old and the young at home, Song An'an and Song Linchuan came to help relieve the burden on the elderly.

Because the watermelon field was relatively remote and the trolley could not get in, it could only be stopped not far from the field entrance.

The grandfather, grandmother and the little grandson of the family were responsible for picking watermelons, then putting them into snake skin bags. Song Linchuan and Song An'an were responsible for carrying the snake skin bags to the trolley at the field entrance.

The aunt and nephew had basically rested very little that morning, and finally picked most of the watermelons in the field.

At noon, the program team did not prepare lunch for the guests either, and they ate whatever the villagers offered.

"Little auntie, little guy, there's nothing good to treat you with, just some coarse tea and light meals, don't dislike it." The grandmother said kindly to the two of them.

Song An'an smiled sweetly, "Granny, you are too polite. The meal is very delicious."

Although Song Linchuan didn't say anything, he proved it with practical actions that he ate with great relish.

There was no way. After working hard all morning, he was really hungry.

The live studio audience saw Song An'an and Song Linchuan eating the most ordinary farm meals as if they were the finest cuisines.

Especially Song An'an, her plump cheeks chewing so fragrantly were particularly healing.

【Haha, this is much more down-to-earth than someone who can eat caviar】

【She has a noble status, eating caviar makes her feel superior, laughable】

【I actually wanted to say it yesterday. Song An'an's table manners, it feels like it's not that Song An'an can't afford it, she just doesn't like eating it】

【After watching the livestream all morning, Song An'an and Song Linchuan really worked hard, they hardly talked at all, just kept working】

【Yes, the other guests were also very good, they were really helping sincerely, except for the Jiang siblings】

【That's right. I was bored this morning and went to visit their livestream room, Jiang Kai and Jiang Yao didn't seem to be doing anything, they always seemed absent-minded, didn't do much work, and smashed many watermelons】

...

It had to be said that netizens have keen eyes. Jiang Yao and Jiang Kai were indeed absent-minded that morning. The reason was simple. At 10 a.m. that morning, Song Linchuan's studio suddenly released the list of Weibo account names to be sued.

Jiang Yao's Weibo account was among them, and it was the first one.

They didn't know if Song Linchuan had noticed that the account belonged to Jiang Yao, but they felt vaguely uneasy.

In the afternoon, their uneasiness finally became a reality.

A "netizen" exposed Jiang Yao's identity.

Although Jiang Yao had hastily cleared Weibo last night, Song Linchuan's side was well prepared, screenshots were saved, and then released by water armies.

My gosh, the young auntie's curses were quite dirty!

The Internet was raging for a while.

Many netizens and fans swarmed into the Jiang siblings' livestream room, shouting in the barrage for them to get out of the show.

With such negative news, the director team had no choice but to immediately suspend their livestream.

As for Jiang Kai and Jiang Yao, they slipped away gloomily from the program team that afternoon.

At 5 p.m., the guests were finally allowed to stop working.

Dragging their weary bodies, everyone came to the program team’s assembly point.

By then, Jiang Kai and Jiang Yao had left. But everyone tacitly didn't mention them, as if they had never been there.

【Fuck! It feels so much more harmonious now】

【I've always wanted to say, there really was no need to add Jiang Kai and Jiang Yao to this group, I don't know why the program team suddenly wanted them in】

【Speaking of which, I was really shocked when I saw the hot search in the afternoon. I can't believe Jiang Yao turned out to be the leader of Song Linchuan's antis, and even spread rumors about Song An'an, really unpredictable】

【Still waters run deep】

【I just want to say Song Linchuan is really awesome this time, some people need to understand that the Internet has never been a lawless place! 】

【But Song Linchuan really surprised me. So many people blacked him before, and he never sued anyone. But this time, he sued them without warning, not even a lawyer's letter, just directly filed a lawsuit】

【Song Linchuan: You can black me, but absolutely not my auntie!】

...

Everyone thought they could have dinner when they arrived, but unexpectedly the program team made trouble again, saying they had to draw lots to decide on the food.

Each group of guests sent a representative for rock paper scissors guessing game, the winner picked first.

The division of labor between Song An'an and Song Linchuan was that Song An'an did the guessing game while Song Linchuan drew the lots.

Song An'an won all the way through and became the first place.

So Song Linchuan became the first person to draw lots, and others followed the order of winning at rock paper scissors to draw lots in turn.

After the draw, the program team announced the content on the cards.

The Shi Qing and Qi MuShi mother and son got two portions of braised chicken rice.

The Jiang QiuBai and Jiang An brothers got home cooked dishes with one soup.

The Li Yu and Guo Xiu couple got two bowls of tomato egg noodles.

Finally, it was Song An'an and Song Linchuan's turn.

Everyone craned their necks to see what they got.

As a result, the card turned over, revealing the words: Raw ingredients!

Song Linchuan was a little confused. "What does it mean?"

A staff member from the director team handed them a bag in a timely manner, "These are the ingredients you drew. You need to process them yourself."

Song An'an/Song Linchuan: "..."

【Fuck! The program team is too much. At this time they make trouble, they are tired after a day, and still have to cook for themselves?】

【I go! Song Linchuan and Song An'an, two kitchen killers, just happened to draw the only group of ingredients. How can this be done】

【I just feel Song An'an is quite wronged. She kept winning at rock paper scissors, who would have thought she was tripped up by Song Linchuan's stinky hands in the end】

【Laughing to death, he was the first to draw but directly drew the worst, such awful luck】

【Hahahaha, the goldfish auntie and her unlucky big nephew】

Qi MuShi mercilessly ridiculed Song Linchuan, "Hahaha, brother Linchuan, you have such bad luck."

Li Yu looked at Song An'an sympathetically, "Let me give you a bowl of noodles."

Shi Qing and Jiang QiuBai also said they could share their food.

But the problem was the program team was really dog-like. When everyone's food was delivered, they found that it was all rationed portions.

That is to say, their food was only enough for themselves.

After working all afternoon, everyone was starving. Song Linchuan and Song An'an could only decline their kindness and took the ingredients back with them.

Back in the yard.

The first thing Song An'an and Song Linchuan did was take out the ingredients and put them on the table, then stared at them sullenly.

The aunt and nephew had the same expression, gloomy brows and solemn faces.

【Hahaha, the program team is too much. Why did they give a bag of flour? Noodles would have been better】

【Laughing to death, it's so hard on the children】

Song Linchuan hesitated and said, "Should I try to make noodles?"

Song An'an looked up at him, "Can you knead dough?"

Song Linchuan shook his head, "It shouldn't be too difficult, right? Just add some flour and some water."

Just as the two were at a loss, the sound of the door opening suddenly came from behind.

The two turned around at the same time and saw a familiar figure.

Pei Kuang was pushing a suitcase in.

Song An'an blinked. Why did he come?

Song Linchuan seemed to have seen a savior and asked directly, "Pei Kuang, can you cook?"

Pei Kuang was stunned for a moment, "A little."

Song Linchuan's face showed delight, "That's great. We were just worrying about what to cook for dinner. Come join us."

After saying that, he went up and pulled him over.

Pei Kuang was stunned for a moment.

Looking at the piece of beef, the onions, the small bag of flour, he still didn't react for a moment.

"What are you guys planning to do?" He asked.

Song An'an and Song Linchuan were both completely at a loss.

Obviously they had no plans at all.

Song Linchuan lightly coughed and said, "You look and cook. We’ll help with anything."

Song An'an obediently nodded in agreement.

Pei Kuang: "???"

What does that mean?

From their attitude, it seemed they were going to let him cook this meal!

Pei Kuang pointed to the ingredients on the table, "It’s said that guest should be served as royalty."

It was not very appropriate to let the guest cook, right?

Song An'an shifted her eyes guiltily.

Song Linchuan scratched his nose and explained, "My auntie and I are not very good at cooking."

Pei Kuang paused for a moment, probably understanding something.

The three looked at each other for a while, no one speaking first.

After a long time.

Pei Kuang looked at the ingredients on the table and asked hesitantly, "Do you like dumplings?"

"Dumplings?" The aunt and nephew looked at each other and said in unison, "Love them!"