Qiao Peipei watched as Nian Suian set fire to the draft paper they had been working on earlier, tossing it into the fireplace. She clapped her hands together and remarked,
“You sure don’t leave any traces.”
Once everything had been reduced to ashes, Nian Suian patted her hands together and stood up.
“Exactly, I’ve eliminated all possibilities of it being seen by others.”
The directorial team seemed to be playing coy, giving no tasks since the first day and leaving the guests to their own devices. The viewers of the live broadcast had clearly cooled off, most of the casual viewers had already left the chat.
Casual viewers came for entertainment, with nothing exciting to see, they naturally didn't want to stay.
But traffic was not what Nian Suian cared about, her main reason for joining the show was to spice things up. If she couldn't do that, she wouldn’t coerce herself. She'd consider it a vacation.
“Why don't we take a stroll through the village? It’s kind of boring staying in here all day,” Nian Suian suggested.
“Sounds good. Let’s call Qiao Yan and Gu Zhijing along.”
Five minutes later, the four of them were out the door.
“Do they really have to follow us around?” Gu Zhijing turned to glance at the cameramen trailing them. He still wasn't used to the constant filming.
“That’s their job,” Qiao Peipei reassured him, “Don’t worry, just pretend they're not there.”
They wandered aimlessly. It was afternoon, and most villagers were working in the fields, so they didn't encounter many people.
The busiest place they found was the village activity center, where a number of elderly men and women were seated. Some played chess or cards, while most were engaged in conversation.
Nian Suian turned to the group and asked, “Do you know where we are?”
“The activity center. Isn’t it written over there?”
“Not quite,” Nian Suian wagged her finger, cryptically stating, “This place, according to tales, is the village information center. All the gossip from this and neighboring villages converges here!”
The live stream chat started requesting Nian Suian to join the gossip, an idea she was already considering.
“Shall I join them? Are you coming?” Nian Suian asked the group.
“I'm in!" Qiao Peipei was curious. She hadn’t heard of any 'information center' before and wanted to see what the fuss was about.
“I'll pass,” Qiao Yan decided. Being a CEO of a listed company, sitting around to gossip with elderly folks seemed inappropriate. If his employees saw him, he'd lose credibility.
“Zhijing, let's play some basketball.” Qiao Yan saw a nearby basketball court with kids playing. That seemed more fitting than eavesdropping on gossip.
"Ah, Brother Qiao Yan, but I want to listen," Gu Zhijing hesitated. It doesn't matter where you play basketball, isn't it more exciting to play in school? Listening to gossip is not something you can do anywhere.
"Tch, just go play basketball with your idol burden." Qiao Peipei huffed at her brother, then said to Gu Zhijing, "Ignore him, come with us."
Even the comment section was saying: "President Qiao is confused, playing basketball at this time!"
"President Qiao hasn’t realized how interesting and melodramatic the gossip in the village is!"
There had been talk for several days among the villagers about the arrival of a film crew. Some had gone to observe, but it seemed the crew was made up of strangers, and eventually, the villagers lost interest.
But now that they saw those three there with a camera following, the elders felt it was still quite fresh, and they found their way into the local gossip network quickly.
"Grandpas, grandmas, could we chat with you all a bit?" Qiao Peipei asked with a smile.
"Chat? What's there to chat about with us old people?"
"Just carry on with your chat; we'll sit by and listen."
The elderly folks found these city kids rather strange. "But we're just talking about daily household trifles, you want to listen to that?"
"That's right, we've never heard such things before, we're curious!" Gu Zhijing spoke, his smile beaming at the elderly woman.
"Well, if you want to listen, take a seat." She reached into her pocket and took out a handful of peanuts for Gu Zhijing. "You're a handsome lad, have some peanuts."
"Grandma, you should say ‘handsome’ for a boy" Gu Zhijing corrected her. How could she describe him as 'pretty'?
"Being so fair and clean, how could it not be ‘pretty’?"
Everyone burst into laughter, even Nian Suian and Qiao Peipei joined in.
〈Grandma is right, he is ‘pretty’〉
"You two girls are also ‘pretty’, do you have boyfriends?"
The live stream audience also started laughing.
〈Traditional skill, asking if someone is taken〉
〈This scene is so realistic, hahaha〉
Qiao Peipei openly said, "We all have boyfriends, Grandma."
"What does your boyfriend do?"
Nian Suian was a bit stunned. They came to hear the gossip, but how did they become the subjects?
"My boyfriend is an entrepreneur, he runs his own company," Qiao Peipei said while munching on a peanut.
Unexpectedly, the grandmother frowned, "Starting a company is not good, it's unstable. Did your man graduate from university? Let him take the civil service exam!"
The other elderly folks echoed, "Yes, yes, Granny Qian has a point."
Thinking of Shen Huaizhi, and his efforts to prepare for the civil service exam, Nian Suian laughed out loud.
"Stop laughing! Isn't your husband an entrepreneur too?" Qiao Peipei insisted.
"Yes, but my husband can no longer take the civil service exam, he's over thirty-five," Nian Suian said, laughing.
"Oh my, your husband is so grown up, do you guys have any children?"
"Granny, this is my son!" Nian Suian pointed at Gu Zhijing.
"Nonsense! My eyesight isn't failing in my old age, where did you give birth to such a grown-up son? You're pulling my leg."
"Hahahaha, I was just teasing you, granny. He's my younger brother, I'm planning to have him take the civil service exam in the future." Nian Suian didn’t mention that she was his stepmother, otherwise, the conversation would never end. So, she reluctantly referred to Gu Zhijing as her younger brother for the moment.
The elders, hearing this, were very pleased. They all began to offer Gu Zhijing food, saying, "You must study hard! It will be good for your sister if you pass the exam!"
〈Hahahahahaha〉
〈This is hilarious, a civil servant〉
〈35 years old and taking the civil service exam, what a joke hahaha〉
〈Why doesn't Nian Suian say she's his stepmother? Is she embarrassed?〉
〈To the person above, if she was really embarrassed, she would not have come on the show. Believe me, if she said she was his stepmother, they would talk about nothing but that for the rest of the afternoon.〉
〈The person above is correct...there's a girl in our village who married a divorcee. Even after more than ten years of marriage, she's still the talk of the town〉
"Granny, why are we only talking about us? You should also share some stories about the village.”
Nian Suian hadn’t forgotten why she was here and tried to steer the conversation back.