Nian Suian and his companions were the first to return, as Fang Min told them that the others hadn't come back yet.
As soon as Nian Suian came back, he headed towards the kitchen, whereas Gu Zhijing rushed back to his room to check on his cat.
"Pei Zhi, are you feeling better now?" asked Nian Suian, noticing she was feeding the fire.
"Yes, I drank some brown sugar water, and I feel much better," blushed Pei Zhi in reply.
"This child! I told her to rest but she insists on helping me with the fire."
"If you're not feeling well, you should rest for a while. I can take care of the fire," Nian Suian suggested, taking a seat next to her.
"No need, I've recovered," Pei Zhi pursed her lips, "I'm sorry, Miss Nian, for leaving you alone to carry out the task today."
"No problem. The task wasn't that difficult anyways," Nian Suian smiled confidently.
"Your clever strategies are probably why we did so well. I bet the others are going door-to-door." Upon Nian Suian's return home, they had discussed strategy, causing Fang Min to praise his cleverness.
"What method they used, we'll know by watching," commented Nian Suian as he opened the live stream on the phone provided by the show, curious about the progress of the other teams.
Ren Man and Yue Qingchi seemed to be doing well. They were seated in a courtyard with a few elderly people; Yue Qingchi was explaining something while Ren Man showed the grandparents how to operate a mobile, and there were occasional exchanges of glances between them.
If Nian Suian was watching this alone, he would have sent messages saying: “Hit it, it’s so sweet” like other viewers.
He suspected the directorn had set up this scene for this supposed couple to reconcile.
Nian Suian even showed the scene to Fang Min who seemed very happy and even her stir fry movements seemed joyous.
It was evident that these two had a past relationship and it did not seem to end due to some irreconcilable issue, but rather looked like a peaceful breakup which puzzled everyone.
The Xiao family siblings and Qiao Peipei, Qiao Yan had numerical advantage in the team.
Let alone now, in the live broadcast, Pei Sheng was standing right next to Xiao Mo.
Nian Suian needed extreme control not to look at the expression of Pei Zhi, feeling that Pei Zhi had suffered enough and another glance would shatter her.
Nian Suian could only pretend to be indifferent and continue watching.
"Why is Pei Sheng in this group? Wasn't he supposed to be in the group of Nian Suian and Gu Zhijing?"
"The layman and the film emperor, who would you choose to be in a group with?"
"But the groups were arranged by the show. One should follow the rules when participating in a show."
"Why are some people thinking of a conspiracy? Didn’t you see it just now? They met halfway, and they were completing the task on the way back. Why can’t they be together?"
The netizens were arguing incessantly, and a highly praised comment appeared - "He is not famous, but likes to cling to others."
Nian Suian clicked on the screen for a while… Damn this show, they can't even turn off the bullet screen…
"Grandma Fang, could I use the kitchen to heat up some soup for my kitten?"
At this moment, Gu Zhijing's voice was like a sweet melody in Nian Suian's ears. She stood up, turned off her phone, and took out the soup left from yesterday from the refrigerator.
"Yes, Aunt Fang, we only served a little yesterday, and the rest was put in the fridge for the kitten today," she explained.
Fang Min glanced at the bowl in Nian Suian's hand and said, "Oh dear, this soup is so plain, it's not good for the kitten."
Nian Suian clarified, "We don't have anything else to feed it. It's too small, so it can only drink this."
"But don't we have fish? I'll mince some for it - guaranteed no bones!"
Finally, the task to chop the fish was given to Gu Zhijing. Perfect for a kid with lots of energy.
"Aunt Fang, you're so smart. This minced fish is just like fish-flavored cat strips."
"What's so smart about it? It's just like making fish balls, without the molding."
Many in the live chat were excited to learn the trick.
'I've learned something new! Now I can make homemade fish strips for my kittens.'
'However, it does seem tiring. Look how exhausted our little brother is.'
'Just use a meat grinder! Who would do it by hand? I have four tabby cats at home. If I did it manually, I could be amputating my arm.'
"We're back!" Qiao Peipei's voice came from the entrance, "It smells so good! I'm going to eat half a pot of rice by myself today."
Nian Suian, upon hearing this, left the kitchen to find that everyone had returned together. Qiao Peipei was in front, with Xiao Yan and Xiao Zheng following behind – and Pei Sheng was engaging Xiao Mo in what seemed like an exciting conversation.
Of course, the biggest surprise was Ren Man and Yue Qingchi, who were walking in with a child between them!
Isn't this what a complete family looks like!
The live chat was exploding with reactions: a moment of cheer for ship fans and silence for independent fans.
Nian Suian quickly glances back at the kitchen, thankful that her little fanboy Gu Zhijing was still busy with the fish strips, temporarily distracted.
'From the looks of it, our guests are getting along well today. I wonder when the conflict will start...'
'With today's task, there doesn't seem to be a need for conflict. Plus, the program is advertised as a "life variety program".'
'Is it possible that the director didn't plan any conflict? How about everyone happily getting along?'
'I declare, this show is exclusive relationship content for Ren and Yue! Other guests are only certified witnesses.'
'Support!'
Since last night, when the director announced the task, he has not shown up again. He did not mention rewards or punishments, and everyone was unsure about the completion criteria.
"Can we please discuss this after we eat?" asked Qiao Peipei, who was more interested in filling her stomach than the tense atmosphere. "We're all starving!"
"At least we should finish sending the phones, right? I don't know how many are left." Nian Suian suggested when everyone was almost finished eating.
"No need. There are no phones left."
"!" Nian Suian looked aghast at the nonchalant Qiao Yan.
"Before I started, I went to the village committee and asked the village head for a list of elders over 60 years old in the village, excluding those who are very old or have poor health, the rest are our targets." Qiao Yan explained to Nian Suian as he put down his chopsticks, "Then I had the head arrange for a kid on holiday to guide us around, this was a charitable mission for the villagers, naturally the head wouldn't object. Later I counted the remaining phones and invited the elders to the village committee for a collective training session."
“6.”
Other than this, she didn't know what to say, she thought that her decision to go to the activity center to find people was already impressive enough, she didn’t expect there were more impressive people.
"No wonder, no wonder we've visited lots of houses but found only a few people." Ren Man finally realized.
Everyone in the bullet screen is also brushing 666
"Sorry, I am a little flattered by Boss Qiao and Sister Suian. I feel guilty."
In the office, Gu Junxing who was watching the live broadcast silently reported this bullet.
"Mr. Gu, are you planning to go to Chunshui County in two days?" The assistant asked Gu Junxing's schedule after finishing the work report, "Do you need me to accompany you?"
But Gu Junxing shook his head, "I will go tomorrow. The factory premises have already been finalized, my visit is largely procedural, I have personal reasons too for going there, you don't need to accompany me."