Mo Wanwan continued working in frustration and helplessness, clenching her teeth and holding her breath, simply not wanting to appear worse than Jiang Lai. But when she had only managed to move less than one-third of her field, Jiang Lai not only finished tilling but had also planted the chili seeds.
As Jiang Lai passed by Mo Wanwan again during watering, Mo Wanwan could feel her glance, instinctively feeling that Jiang Lai must be planning to offer help for the cameras.
Mo Wanwan hesitated but ultimately decided to let Jiang Lai help her. Since she wanted to play the good person, she might as well let her do all the work. After all, she had no talent for farm work, and no one would have demanding expectations of her.
Thinking of this, she struggled to lift her head, ready to speak to Jiang Lai. Who knew the other would simply look away indifferently, without any intention of speaking to her?
At this moment, Mo Wanwan gripped the hoe tightly, the pain in her palms unable to cover up the bitterness and anger in her heart.
Why did Jiang Lai look at her with such a condescending gaze?
Wasn’t it all because of mimicking her that Jiang Lai got to where she was?
If not for her connections, how could Jiang Lai even get on this variety show?
Mo Wanwan held a grudge inside, neither wanting to argue with the likes of Jiang Lai nor unable to stop dwelling on the popularity and attention that should have been hers now all going to Jiang Lai.
In the next second, there was a "bang" followed by a scream from the field.
"Quickly, someone come help, Wanwan fainted!"
Mo Wanwan had fainted from heatstroke, and her name soon trended, right after Jiang Lai’s plan to sue for defamation.
The chili planting activity had to be temporarily halted, and on the other side, the peanut-picking activity was in chaos. Yangyang and Dandan were fighting fiercely, and eventually, the two children had to be forcibly separated.
The live broadcast was cut off, and the anxious audience flooded the official blog with messages.
[Doesn’t Yangyang have some emotional control issues? So aggressive even as a child, it’s only going to get worse as he grows!]
[But I think it was Dandan who pushed Yangyang first, Dandan struck first.]
[Obviously, Yangyang was the first to act, right? Dandan wasn’t even looking to hold a grudge, and he just pushed the kid to the ground.]
[I really can’t stand the show inviting such a troublesome kid, truly vexing.]
[Stop arguing, trust that the production team will give us a reasonable explanation.]
[What does it have to do with the production team? Yangyang, this brat needs to come out and apologize!]
Now it was a mess, Jiang Lai’s task progress reset directly to the beginning due to Yangyang’s fight, almost completely zeroing out.
By the time Jiang Lai arrived, a strict reprimand echoed from the crowd.
"It was you who hit him! And so arrogant even after hitting someone! You think no one can deal with you here?"
It was the assistant director’s voice, and as for whom he was scolding, Jiang Lai saw upon getting closer: surrounded by adults was Yangyang, lifting his head stubbornly, eyes red and trembling lips pursed, listening to everyone in silence with a pitiable yet detestable look.
Seeing Jiang Lai, the tight face of the brat suddenly showed a hint of grievance, followed by a layer of tears appearing in his red eyes, yet he held back from letting them fall.
Jiang Lai frowned, walked forward, and directly pulled Yangyang to her side, looking up at the assistant director.
"Where’s the video recording? Let me see before you say anything."
"What’s there to see? Look at Dandan after being beaten by him! Hengheng is hurt too! How am I supposed to explain to their parents!"
The assistant director was a middle-aged, fat man with a booming voice and swollen eyes flashing a fierce light when scolding. The staff feared his temper, let alone Yangyang, just a child.
Jiang Lai felt him trembling and her face darkened.
"You’re scolding my son without distinguishing right from wrong or considering the cause, Director Wang. It’s not your place to meddle in disciplining children."
The assistant director, hearing Jiang Lai’s audacity to speak to him like that, vented his past frustrations with Mo Wanwan altogether. He pointed at Jiang Lai’s nose, raising his voice.
"Better clean up your own mess before you manage him! Moreover, do you really think you’re his mother? Here, I get to discipline him! Here, it’s my authority! He hit someone and made a mistake, so he must be punished! You, get out of..."
Before the assistant director finished, Jiang Lai suddenly reached out, firmly clutching his finger that wouldn’t stop pointing at her and calmly bent it sideways.
A crisp "crack" accompanied by the assistant director’s piercing scream ensued, causing him to clutch his finger bent at a ninety-degree angle in pain, almost rolling on the ground. Yangyang, scared, quickly hugged Jiang Lai’s waist, trembling.
Jiang Lai reached out to gently pat his head for comfort, then bent down to softly ask.
"Who hit first?"
"It was Dandan; he pushed me and bit me."
"Okay, mommy believes you."
Yangyang looked dumbfounded at Jiang Lai, and for a moment, bright determination burst from his eyes, erasing fear, leaving only courage and confidence from having someone stand by him.
The assistant director kept cursing, while Jiang Lai grabbed his collar, lifting him up with a chilling gaze that stopped his curses momentarily.
"I’m telling you, Zhang Bao, since I joined this show, Yangyang is my son for these fifteen days. Here, besides me, no one else has the right to boss him around. You were rude to us today, I break your finger; if tomorrow you’re audacious again, I’ll break your leg! After all, I’m just a small-time artist, you see if I would dare!"
The assistant director was trembling with pain, his bent finger looking shocking to anyone who witnessed it.
At this moment, Little Buding whispered something to Jiang Lai.
"That’s enough, the director is here."
Upon hearing this, right when someone in the crowd said "the director is here," the assistant director, like finding reinforcement, cupped his hand intending to shout out, but before he could, Jiang Lai once more bent his finger back.
Another "crack," another scream, the director frowned approaching, the assistant director barely shouted a plea.
"Call the police! Jiang Lai broke my finger, call—"
"Where’s the evidence? Without evidence, are you falsely accusing people out of thin air?"
The director, impatiently looking at his unharmed hand, rebuked.
"Shut up! You don’t even look like a director!"
"Look at my hand, then you’ll know, what more evidence... my hand!"
The assistant director, seeing his restored finger, subconsciously moved it; it was flexible and intact, not only unbroken, but not even painful, without a trace left.
And at this moment, Jiang Lai beside him suddenly choked back sobs.