Chapter 73
Labor duty time began, and problems popped up in every group.
Xiao Jingxi, wearing five layers of masks, stood in front of the cesspit and still couldn’t stop gagging. He stayed far away, unable to start.
Xu Shuangrong and Liu Woxing stared helplessly at the ground full of weeds — clearly a knowledge blind spot.
Meanwhile, Shen Yanqing and Yu Jinzhe, tasked with receiving visitors in the front hall, were so handsome that the guests who came to renounce worldly desires instantly wanted to return to secular life, causing a commotion.
Lai Bingxuan stood in front of the vegetable garden, frowning so hard that she seemed ready to protest on the spot.
It proved that making a bunch of rich kids do this work was pure torture.
And of course, that was exactly what the production team intended.
But unexpectedly, an anomaly appeared.
“What? If we don’t finish by four o’clock, we don’t get to eat?!”
Hearing this news, Xie Mi was horrified. She immediately grabbed a hoe and dashed into the vegetable garden, hacking away furiously.
“Damn production crew! If you dare keep me from eating, I’ll shove a hairdryer up your ass and switch between hot and cold!”
At her words, every staff member clenched tight in unison and silently stepped back two paces.
[Big foodie, just eat, nobody can out-eat you anyway]
[The temptation of dinner]
[Other people joke about butt-stabbing, but when Sister Xie says it, she really means it]
While Xie Mi crazily dug, Lai Bingxuan still hadn’t moved from outside the garden.
Her face was full of disgust. “What kind of joke is this? You really expect me to dig the soil?”
The production team knew perfectly well Lai Bingxuan wouldn’t cooperate. They had already prepared to record the conflict. But to their shock, she cursed under her breath, picked up a hoe, and entered the plot.
Production team: “?”
“Let’s be clear first. I’m only doing this because I don’t want to miss dinner. Don’t get any wrong ideas.”
Squatting beside Xie Mi, hoeing stiffly, her tone was awkward and stiff.
Xie Mi looked at her, confused. “Wrong ideas about what?”
“…Nothing!”
[If I’m not mistaken, Lai Bingxuan is being tsundere right now?]
[She wouldn’t even make her own bed before, and now she’s digging? If that’s not love, what is??]
[Aaaahhh this Xia–Bing CP, I’ll ship it first!!]
[Okay okay okay, you guys even have a CP name ready]
To add difficulty, the crew also set up “incidents” to delay the groups’ progress.
Xu Shuangrong & Liu Woxing encountered a lost child crying for his mother.
Xiao Jingxi’s group met a heartbroken young man crying and threatening to jump into the cesspit.
Shen Yanqing & Yu Jinzhe came across a quarreling couple.
Xie Mi & Lai Bingxuan faced an elderly lady with mobility issues urgently looking for her husband.
Each group’s work was delayed, but if they didn’t finish by four o’clock, no dinner. The real test began.
“You got separated from your husband here in the temple?” Lai Bingxuan frowned as she questioned the old lady.
But the old woman was hard of hearing. Out of ten words, she only caught one. Communication broke down.
As the minutes ticked away, Lai Bingxuan grew impatient and shouted, “I said!! Do you remember where you and your husband got separated?!!”
Old lady: “Huh?”
[The déjà vu is strong]
[Old Shen, is that you?]
[When you’re in a hurry and encounter this, you really wanna die. The production team really knows how to torture]
Just as Lai Bingxuan was on the verge of a breakdown, Xie Mi made her dramatic entrance. She tossed the hoe aside, scooped up the old lady, and ran off — but not without leaving a line for Bingxuan.
“Stay here and don’t move, I’ll ride the old granny to find her husband!”
“What ride?”
“Escort the old granny to find her husband.”
Since the lady couldn’t explain clearly, Xie Mi stopped asking and simply ran around the entire temple with her.
Passing the front hall, she saw the quarreling couple, paused to watch for a bit of drama, then immediately broke them up.
Passing the back garden, she found the lost child, enthusiastically pointed him to the meditation room entrance where she saw his mother, then walked away in style.
Passing the cesspit, she found the suicidal youth. She almost shoved poop in his mouth to gross him out, successfully talking him down.
Finally, in the dining hall, she found the granny’s husband waiting for dinner. Mission accomplished, the two elders reunited, and Xie Mi triumphantly returned to the garden.
The entire crew fell into deep thought.
This Teacher Xie…
Where the hell does she get all this brute energy!!!
[Hahahahaha I’m laughing like crap]
[Looks like she finished one task, but in reality she finished four]
[The crazy girl can really run [rose emoji]]
[So basically she did all four groups’ tasks]
[Production crew: Excuse me, what??]
With her help, all groups finished before four without obstacles.
At that moment, Qiu Chengye was also found and brought back. He didn’t look ashamed of failing to escape — on the contrary, he looked smug.
Xiao Jingxi, who had carried dung all afternoon, suddenly realized the truth.
This guy never planned to escape. He just wanted to avoid the dung-hauling shift!
So the whole suffering had fallen squarely on him!!
From that moment, Xiao Jingxi held a grudge against Qiu Chengye.
Seeing this, Xie Mi couldn’t help but sigh.
In the original story, Xiao Jingxi and Qiu Chengye had become good brothers. Later, when Xiao Jingxi pursued Xu Shuangrong, it was Qiu Chengye who helped him again and again.
Now the plot had gone way off track.
After an afternoon of labor, dinner was still plain vegetarian fare. Phones were confiscated at 8 p.m., lights out, and wake-up was at 5 a.m. sharp the next day.
Breakfast: vegetarian.
Morning: meditation.
Lunch: vegetarian.
Afternoon: more labor.
Dinner: vegetarian.
Lights out at 8.
This hellish schedule lasted two whole days. The guests were utterly miserable.
But the audience loved it.
[The Stars’ Suffering Journal, love it, can’t stop watching]
[Someone please do a before-and-after comparison, they visibly look haggard now hahaha]
[The crew really went hard — two days of complete gender separation, zero interaction. A dating show turned into a monk-life documentary]
[It’s fine, I’ll find sugar myself. Nobody else noticed Old Shen Yanqing has been secretly staring at Old Xie? Forbidden glances under a no-interaction rule, forbidden love is even sweeter ahhh]
[They really aren’t sneaking off for private dates?]
At 9 p.m., the temple was silent.
To match the temple’s schedule, the production team had shut down cameras and gone down the mountain by 8 p.m. to rest.
But at the dining hall door, a sneaky figure appeared.
Having formed a midnight-snacking habit at the villa, Xie Mi was true to form.
But she was stopped short by the heavy chain locks on the door.
Xie Mi: “?”
She only stole a few steamed buns last night. What’s with ten locks today?
“Pfft—”
A cool, clear laugh rang behind her, mixed with the rustling of leaves in the wind, sounding especially nice.
Xie Mi turned around.
Shen Yanqing was leaning lazily against a pillar, wearing only a thin sweatshirt, eyes smiling beautifully.
“Teacher Xie is truly disciplined — sneaking food every night without missing a day.”
Xie Mi put on a serious face and spouted nonsense.
“Some people get hungry at midnight because, in ancient times, there were always guardians watching over the tribe at night, constantly needing energy to fight off predators.”
“So, midnight snackers aren’t just gluttons. It’s the awakening of a hero’s bloodline.”
