Chapter 18: Moral Blackmail
First place really did come with perks: a clean brick house, complete with a courtyard.
If they had ingredients, they could even barbecue there.
But the group that drew the straw hut, led by Yuan Yaya, wasn’t nearly so lucky.
Yuan You’er’s shrill cries echoed down the street. She kept demanding that Yaya find a way to change houses—she refused to live in a latrine.
Out of sight of the cameras, Yuan Yaya’s expression darkened. “Cry again and I’ll tell Dad.”
“Go ahead! Dad will definitely take my side. Just try it!” Yuan You’er couldn’t care less.
Yuan Yaya’s head throbbed with anger, but she was helpless. Finally, she went to Chi Qian.
“Little sister Chi Qian, my younger sister has always been frail and spoiled. Could you maybe talk to your uncle and switch houses with us? I’d be so grateful.”
Chi Qian crunched down on her lollipop and lazily shook her head. “Nope. Not interested in your gratitude.”
Yuan Yaya: “My sister is two years younger than you. She needs this place more. If anything happens to her, you wouldn’t want to be responsible, right?”
Moral blackmail, huh?
Chi Qian: “If you, as her sister, can’t meet her demands, that just means you’re incompetent. You should reflect on whether you’re even qualified to be her sister. Cutting ties is the best cure.”
Gu Hua overheard and walked over. “Qian Qian, how can you say that? Yaya only cares for her sister. What’s the harm in switching?”
Chi Qian shot back: “Whether I switch or not is my business. Who are you to spew Gatling-gun crap here? Even a cow’s dung couldn’t plug your mouth, huh?”
Gu Hua regretted it immediately—the words brought back the memory of the roadside excrement, and she felt nauseous again.
Yuan Yaya’s face flushed red. “Chi Qian, and to think you’re Brother Chi’s niece—how can you be so heartless? Aren’t you afraid of embarrassing your uncle?”
“What about my niece?” Chi Fengxiao appeared, carrying a bucket of water in one hand and a pot in the other. His sharp gaze bore down on Yaya. “Where exactly is she heartless? Speak.”
Yuan Yaya froze. “N-no, Brother Chi, I was only trying to teach her a life lesson.”
Chi Fengxiao’s face was like stone. “And who the hell are you?”
“I was just—”
With a splash, he poured the water at her feet, his handsome face filled with thorns of hostility.
“Who the hell are you? I’m still alive, and you think you get to preach at my niece?!”
Gu Hua was too frightened to make a sound.
Yuan Yaya’s face went pale. She stumbled back, slipped on the water, and landed on her backside.
“I—I’m sorry…” But seeing the cameras still rolling, her eyes instantly filled with tears.
Chi Fengxiao hurled the bucket aside. “If you want to cry, do it somewhere else. Don’t wail in front of me!”
Yuan Yaya forgot all about the house switch and bolted in tears.
Chi Fengxiao glanced at Gu Hua, who was still frozen. “You still here?”
Not even calling her by name.
Gu Hua bit her lip, realizing this wasn’t the time to reconnect. She left too.
The courtyard fell quiet.
Chi Fengxiao clicked his tongue. “Why didn’t you call me just now? Letting her morally blackmail you?”
Whether or not he liked Chi Qian was one thing. But she was family. Outsiders couldn’t bully her.
Chi Qian blinked innocently. “She can’t blackmail me. I don’t have any morals to begin with.”
Chi Fengxiao: “…” Right, he’d nearly forgotten—this girl’s mouth was lethal.
Livestream comments:
[Yaya was only thinking of her sister. Did Fengxiao really have to be that harsh to a girl?]
[Chi Qian has no manners. Hua Hua was being nice, and she still cursed her out.]
[Funny, but didn’t your Hua Hua just get saved by Chi Qian earlier? Why aren’t you kneeling in thanks?]
[A zombie approached the brains dropped by Yuan’s and Gu’s fans, opened them up, and walked away disappointed.]
[But the dung beetle nearby lit up.]
[Upstairs, leave some for the pandas, will you? Hahaha!]
By the afternoon, the production crew stirred things up again.
Dinner ingredients could only be earned by doing chores for the villagers. Otherwise—no food.
The crew had coordinated with the locals, and the jobs they offered were tough ones.
Chi Fengxiao told Chi Qian to come along to get tasks, but she refused.
He didn’t push her, just let it be.
[Comments in the livestream]
[Chi Qian’s slacking off is way too obvious. Poor big bro, working himself to death while dragging around a freeloader.]
[Gu Hua is way more hardworking, she even carried two buckets of water for the villagers already]
[Don’t speak too soon, maybe sister Qian has other plans?]
And then… Chi Qian just went back to her room and slept.
Lying on the kang covered with a bamboo mat, she slept soundly.
Livestream audience: …
So lazy, caught red-handed.
But after just two hours, Chi Qian woke up—hungry.
She got up and headed for the back mountain.
The audience had already lost hope in her. Waking up and running outside, not caring about her family still working in the fields.
… Huh??
What was Chi Qian doing??
Before they even figured out how she’d launched herself like that, the screen froze again—and suddenly, she was holding two gray wild rabbits.
[What just happened??]
[Let me describe it for you: Chi Qian did this and that and like that—and caught the rabbits]
[Wow, great description. Don’t you ever “describe” again]
[Those rabbits didn’t even run. Too dumb to eat, better send them to me first to test for poison]
Chi Qian returned to the hut, carrying not only two wild rabbits but also a big bunch of wild vegetables.
She washed her hands and sprawled onto the lounge chair in the yard.
The cameraman asked: “Chi Qian, aren’t you going to process the ingredients?”
“I’m tired.” Chi Qian put her hands on her stomach, closed her eyes with a serene face. “I’m just a freeloading extra, something this difficult should obviously be left to my uncle.”
She was a salted fish, and salted fish ought to act like salted fish.
[Redefining the meaning of ‘lying flat and waiting to die’]
[At this point, I feel like my bro is actually the extra—totally carried by his niece]
[Yes, looking at you, Film Emperor Chi, who worked two hours just to earn two corncobs]
Film Emperor Chi trudged back with his two corncobs, only to be stunned by the surprise in the yard. Delighted, he rushed to prepare the rabbit meat.
The Chi family had been forced into independence for years—this little thing was no problem.
“Chi Qian, where’d you get all this?” Chi Fengxiao asked while stir-frying the rabbit.
“The back mountain’s full of it.” Chi Qian lay on the lounge chair like a retired grandpa, the contrast with her baby face maxed out.
Chi Fengxiao was silent for a few seconds. “Then why didn’t you tell me earlier? Made me waste two hours on farm work.”
“You’re the one who insisted on your three rules.”
“…”
A bitter fruit of his own making—no matter how painful, Chi Fengxiao had to swallow it himself. He wished he could go back a few hours and slap his loudmouthed self.
But the smell of fragrant rabbit meat quickly soothed him.
Next door, Yuan You’er was driven to tears by the aroma, crying and whining for a taste.
Yuan Yaya patiently coaxed her, but this time she didn’t dare provoke Chi Qian again.
Other families were suffering under the same delicious torture, but they had too much pride to come over.
As Chi Qian was eating, she spotted a small shadow at the doorway. She walked over: “What are you doing here?”
“I…” Yuan You’er twisted her fingers nervously. “I’m hungry, so I came to smell it. Did I disturb you?”
Chi Qian raised her brows in surprise. This polite little girl didn’t look at all like the brat who had just been throwing tantrums.
