Chapter 62 - Borrow Money

“Yo, are you here?” Zhang San and Xiang Zhen were in the same team. Once Li Zhao and Zhang Kui came over, they asked gleefully, “I heard you got third place?”

Seeing that Zhang Kui and Li Zhao were silent, they laughed and pointed to a s.p.a.ce in the distance. “Go, there are rivers and mountains that you need to plant.”

“It’s fine, don’t be depressed.” Li Zhao patted Zhang Kui’s shoulder comfortably. “We are young and physically fit. It is good to plant more trees.”

Young and physically fit?” Zhang San’s laughter came to an abrupt end as he remembered he was more than 10 years older than these two men. He lamented that the years weren’t forgiving.

Once the guests arrived, there were professional teachers who taught them how to plant trees. The actual process was much more complicated than they imagined. It wasn’t just digging a pit and burying the tree.

The program group prepared a deck chair and parasol for the host, allowing him to sit and supervise the six guests planting trees.

“It used to be a desert here but after years of continuous governance, the desert has become an oasis.” The host held a megaphone and drank something while telling the guests about the difficulties encountered while trying to increase vegetation over these years.

After he finished, he slowly took a sip of juice. “Everyone, refuel. I believe you will complete the task.”

There were two gla.s.ses of juice on the host’s table, one of which hadn’t been touched yet. The gla.s.s looked very tempting.

“Brother, planting trees is right but I think the focus should be on whether the juice can be shared.”

“Of course not.” The host took another sip of the juice. “It is delicious and quenches thirst. The most delicious thing on Earth.”

Zhang Kui called out, “Devoid of all humanity!”

Xiang Zhen added, “Insensitive!”

Zhang San said, “Heart as cold as iron!”

Li Zhao shouted, “Deranged!”

Finally, Qian Duoxi said, “A human face and heart of a beast!”

Li Shi, “…”

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to scold the host but he couldn’t think of anything. This was the disadvantage of not reading well when he was a child. He couldn’t even think of an idiom to curse the host.

“You can scold me. Even if you scold until your throat is sore, no one will come to save you.” The host posed as the villain. “Hurry up and complete your task. Don’t you want to sleep tonight?”

“Really?” Li Zhao stared at the untouched gla.s.s of juice out of the corner of his eye. Then like a thunderbolt, he quickly ran to the host, took the cup and drank it. The host saw the juice in the cup entering Li Zhao’s stomach and couldn’t recover for a long time.

Did this person need to fight so hard for a gla.s.s of juice? Before his senses could return, the other guests swarmed up and ‘abducted’ the host, negotiating with the program group. If they didn’t provide juice to the guests then the guests would ‘tear the ticket.’

“We are recording a rural variety show, not a compet.i.tion, right?” The director group was speechless by the operation of the guests. Even if their program didn’t deliberately have a script, the guests shouldn’t be too shameless.

They had a good fight with the crew for a few sips of juice. This was really profitable…

Due to the ‘hostage’, the director’s team had to offer each guest a drink. There were so many variety shows with guests yet there was none as shameless as these guests.

After a drink, the guests didn’t take the opportunity to stop working and continued to plant the trees. They sang, shouted, sang the opera and made a scene.

Not long after, the village chief ran over with a few young people in a panic and asked anxiously, “Just now, some villagers said they heard wild animals on the mountain so we came over to take a look. Are you okay?”

These were big stars shooting a show. The village couldn’t afford to pay if something went wrong. However, it was strange. No ferocious monsters had appeared here for a long time. Why was there such big noise today?

The guests asked, “beasts? What beasts? There are no beasts.”

The village chief asked them, “Really? Just now, the villagers told me they heard beasts humming on the mountain. It might’ve been the wind blowing through the valley that made them mishear.”

The guests, “……”

Once the village chief left with the villagers, the host and cameramen couldn’t help laughing.

“Wail like ghosts and howl like wolves.”

“The demonic voice pierces the brain.”

“It is hard to hear.”

The host ruthlessly gave them three idioms.

“I’m on a TV show and my singing level is a bit bad.” Xiang Zhen immediately shifted the blame.

“Yes, I’m an actor as well.” Li Zhao followed in shifting the blame.

“Cut this part, cut this part.” Both Zhang Kui and Zhang San depended on their voices to eat. “It isn’t our fault. They sing so badly that they brought us into the ditch.”

“I think the survival rate of the trees you planted won’t be high.” The host shook his head. “Do you know why?”

The guests ignored him.

“It is because your songs are so hard to hear that you scared them to death.”

“I think they will grow exceptionally strong. If they don’t experience rain and wind then how will they see the rainbow?” Li Zhao was righteous. “The trees that have experienced setbacks will have a strong desire to survive. In fact, our singing is very beautiful but in order to grow these trees, we abandoned our images. This is our strong love for Mother Earth.”

The guests clapped. “Zhao Zhao is right.”

“Trash program group, we’ve all sacrificed so much. Shouldn’t you give us a pay rise?”

“It is impossible to get a pay rise but tonight, you’re allowed to watch two hours of television and talk to your family for 10 minutes.”

“Stingy.”

“Mean.”

“Grandet.” (From the novel Eugenie Grandet. Grandet was known for his parsimony)

Today was another day when the guests and program group hurt each other.

By the time they finished planting the trees, it was already dark. The guests were so tired that they couldn’t speak. They took a bath, changed their clothes and huddled together to watch TV after dinner.

The next episode of Qingxi Village was on tonight.

The last episode ended when they brought the sweet potatoes to the market. The audience was very concerned over whether they could see it or not. Therefore, the program hadn’t started broadcasting yet and there were already many viewers rushing to the official Weibo to urge the episode to start.

“I’m telling you, once you see Zhao Zhao selling sweet potatoes, you will know why he can sell things so fast.” Zhang Kui was the one with the stall closest to Li Zhao. When he couldn’t sell sweet potatoes, he would secretly run to see Li Zhao’s situation. As a result, every time he went, he saw Li Zhao making the buyer laugh and making them willing to pay for a big bag of potatoes.

The episode opened to a bustling market filled with chicken and fish, fruits, vegetables and various ingredients and seasonings. Then the program group zoomed in to the ‘black-hearted program group’ sign. Paired with Li Zhao’s worn coat, it could almost be called human tableware.

Caption: The program group can’t afford this blame.

“Hahahahahahaha.” The other five guests clapped and laughed, giving the highest praise to the card made by Li Zhao. Li Zhao winked at the camera and smiled innocently and purely.

“Let me read a few popular comments for everyone.” The host stood up with his mobile phone. “The comments from the netizens are very interesting.”

“First, I would like to say that although my family’s Zhao Zhao looks good in anything, he had to fight hard in order to sell sweet potatoes. Program group, be nice to my child.” The host put down the phone and protested. “Audience members, you should speak with a conscience. You should tell Zhao Zhao that Zhao Zhao isn’t easy on the program group and he should be better to them.”

“Hahahahaha.” The guests laughed again.

“Second, Little Sunflower secretly went to see how many sweet potatoes Li Zhao sold. It is like me who wanted to copy the answers from my desk mate during the exam.” The host shook his head. “This cla.s.smate, cheating is wrong. What’s more, even if the answer is copied, as long as you don’t study hard then you can’t pa.s.s the exam. Do you see how Zhang Kui’s ability to sell sweet potatoes is compared to Zhao Zhao?” (Sunflower is kuihua in pinyin so this is their nickname for Zhang Kui)

“Hahaha.” The guests laughed until they could barely breathe.”

“No wonder why the show divided us into a team. It is to let you, the school tyrant, save me, the academic sc.u.m. Zhang Kui covered his face, not wanting to see his sneaky appearance on the TV.

“Brother Zhang, you’re thinking too much.” Li Zhao ruthlessly moved his stool to the side. “You are like this and I can’t save you.”

“Master, you are too ruthless.” Zhang Kui hid his face. “Later, remember to add an erhu background sound to me.”

Although it was a variety show that they partic.i.p.ated in, the guests watched it with interests. At the same time, they felt that the five other guests except for them were big fools. In particular, after they saw the two aunts arguing over who would buy Li Zhao’s sweet potatoes while the other five were still full of sweet potatoes, they couldn’t help laughing. Later, a small red circle appeared in the crowd watching the fight. It was Mr Zhang Kui who was eating melons.

“Sunflower student, you can’t sell sweet potatoes yet your still in the mood to see this liveliness?”

“Zhao Zhao, if you’re not in the performing arts circle then you can go to the neighbourhood committee to act as a mediator. This is really like a mediator.”

“Zhao Zhao, how sweet is your mouth? You not only stopped two aunts from arguing but also made them follow you to your brother selling sweet potatoes.”

“No wonder why there are so many who like you. This mouth and face are really rare.”

“Speaking of which, I haven’t congratulated Zhao Zhao that the movie he partic.i.p.ated in has entered the top five in the domestic box office rankings.” Xiang Zhen took the lead to clap. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you.” Li Zhao was straight-faced. “This movie could be successful thanks to the efforts of the entire crew. I was fortunate to be able to partic.i.p.ate in this movie.”

“You don’t know but at the end of the movie where you looked back with a smile, I got gooseb.u.mps.” Zhang Kui patted Li Zhao’s shoulder and gave a thumbs up. “I shouldn’t say that you are an idol actor. In fact, you’re an idol.”

“Yes, at first sight, Zhao Zhao was in the same category as me.” Xiang Zhen raised a toast for Li Zhao. “Come, let’s toast to our face value and strength.”

“These two men are too shameless.” Qian Duoxi shook his head. “Idol-like comedians disdain to brag.”

The program group, “…”

None of these guests had any idea.

The broadcast time of Seclusion Mountain Forest almost coincided with the broadcast time of Love. If the barrage and comments area of Seclusion Mountain Forest were mostly ‘hahahahaha’ then the Love program had a fan battle between all parties.

Some scolded the female guests, some scolded the male guests for being a straight male cancer and some scolded the program group for giving their artist fewer shots. The official Weibo was all fan reviews and quarrels.

Meanwhile, under Seclusion Mountain Forest, all their fans were blackening them and not giving their artists any face at all.

“A man’s mouth, a deceitful ghost, my baby is a big pig’s hoof.”

“Little sunflower, what’s wrong with you? You let your younger brother take you home when it was dark. Where is your dignity?”

“What dignity is needed for someone to accompany him at night?”

“I’m sorry sisters, I’m a bit above these two.”

“Sister upstairs, I too…”

“I’m sorry, my Zhao Zhao is only three years old so he will argue with the dog.”

“Hahaha, arguing with the dog and even winning the fight. Baby, you’re a good dog.”

“I opened the data of the people upstairs to check if they really are Li fans.”

“I’m sorry, I haven’t seen the market. This is the first time I’ve seen fans calling their own artist a dog.”

It was probably because the atmosphere between the six guests was too harmonious. No one in the audience had any plans or thought someone was deliberately targeting their artist. After watching the episode, the entire process was full of ‘hahahaha.’

“Strongly urging the program team to release the unedited behind-the-scenes as well!”

“If that doesn’t work then it’s okay to sell it. We can buy it.”

“The program group, making money when you can make money. You don’t have to save money for us.”

“Every day, work is very tiring and frustrating. After watching Seclusion Mountain Forest, my mood will be much better. Presumably, it is because I see a star who is worse than myself and my mind becomes balanced.”

“A program next door can even insinuate that this silly program is stealing their ratings. Don’t look at who the broadcasting station is. The national channel’s programs might be a bit rigid and the content too positive but they will never buy ratings.”

“I’m afraid that someone bought it themselves so they will think everyone has bought it.”

“This show is so good that the audience has a say. My grandmother, who is in her 80s, is Zhao Zhao’s fan. The other day, she asked me to show her Overbearing Female President. Seeing that Zhao Zhao was suffering on TV, she asked me to buy food and send it to Zhao Zhao.”

“My mother even learned to use Weibo for Zhao Zhao. She signs in every day.”

“In order to put Li Zhao on the list, my mother set an alarm clock.”

“Why do I feel that Like has more aunt and mother fans than girlfriend fans?

“Thank about it, if you have a disobedient son who looks ordinary and doesn’t listen to what you say, then you turn on the TV and see someone who looks good and has a sweet mouth. He is cute and coincides with the perfect son in your mind. Wouldn’t you like him?”

“So LI Zhao is like another family’s child in the mind of mothers?”

“Who doesn’t love the nice little prince in the castle?”

The nice little prince in the castle?

Xu Bei sneered. Li Zhao was a poor dog from an orphanage. Was he worthy of such a beautiful description?

After watching the program, the guests had 10 minutes to call someone.

“You can call your friends or your loved ones.” The host smiled. “However, we have a request. You have to ask your relative or friend to say ‘I love you’ over the phone or have them promise to lend you money.”

“Brother, this has been used up in other variety shows.” Li Zhao raised his hand to protest. “I think our show is different and there is no need to follow the routine.”

“This routine isn’t old and it is fun.” The host ruthlessly dismissed Li Zhao’s protest. “ Come here and prepare. Teacher Xiang, you are a person of good moral standing and reputation, come here first.”

“What good moral standing and reputation? Isn’t it just because I’m the oldest?” Xiang Zhen was a powerful actor who didn’t care about age. He immediately called his wife’s number.

“Wife, when I get up in the morning, what do I like to tell you?”

The phone was silent for a few seconds before a reply was heard. “Wife, what are we eating this morning?”

“Hahahahaha!”

“Be quiet, be quiet.” Xiang Zhen waved his hand in the air and had the other five people shut up. “You think again. When we leave and embrace each other, what will we say?”

The voice of the phone was much smaller. “I love you?”

“Yes. Wife, I love you.” Xiang Zhen’s eyes were full of tenderness and he talked to his wife on the phone for a while before hanging up. The guests clapped.

“Brother Xiang and his wife have a good relationship.”

“A model couple.”

Li Zhao thought that if he was married and at home with his lover, he would probably be the same? However, why was the room background from Ting Ting’s house? Even the person sitting on the sofa with him was Ting Ting. No, there must be something wrong.

The other guests finished their phone calls and it was Li Zhao’s turn. “Zhao Zhao, do you have someone who will say ‘I love you’ or do you want to borrow a million yuan?”

“Borrow money.”

Apart from the fans, no one would say I love you to him. However, he didn’t have the contact details of his fans. He called Yan Ting’s phone number. It had just started ringing when the other end was connected.

Zhang Kui whispered to Zhang San, “Out of all of us, this person answered the phone the fastest.” It was like the person at the other end of the phone was waiting for the call.

“Hey, have you finished your work?” Li Zhao asked.

“Soon.”

“I have something to ask you.”

“What is it?”

On the other side of the phone, the person’s talking speed started to increase. “Are you in any trouble?”

“I want to borrow a million yuan from you.”

The phone was silent.

The atmosphere in the room became awkward due to the silence on the phone. Zhang Kui couldn’t bear to see Li Zhao be embarra.s.sed in front of the camera and was about to open his mouth to ease the deadlock when the strange man’s voice was heard.

“I have arranged for people to transfer the money. They used the express channel and it should enter your account soon.” The man was silent for a moment. “Zhao Zhao, you aren’t a person who spends money arbitrarily. Have you encountered any problems?”

Thinking about how Ting Ting would be worrying, Li Zhao regretted it and quickly explained. “Don’t worry, there’s nothing. In fact… I’m recording a show.”

“As long as everything is fine.” The man’s speech slowed down again. “Take care of yourself.”

“Yes.” Li Zhao had many things to say to Yan Ting but they were in front of the camera and he didn’t want to expose his private affairs. So after a few chats, he hung up.

Yan Ting looked at the screen showing the end of the call and rubbed the name gently with his fingers. No one knew better than him that Zhao Zhao wouldn’t easily borrow money from him. He just wanted everyone to know there was such a person around Zhao Zhao. As long as Zhao Zhao was willing to speak, this person was willing to give it. There was someone behind Zhao Zhao, this child wasn’t alone. No one should bully his child.

After hanging up the phone, Li Zhao received a text message prompt that money had arrived in his bank card.

“Two million?!”

Zhang Kui accidentally saw the content of the text message and immediately screamed. “You wanted to borrow one million and your friend didn’t say a word. He actually transferred you two million?!”

“The world owes me such a good friend!”

The author has something to say:

Baby Ting Ting: I want to let the entire kindergarten know that Zhao Zhao is protected by someone.