Chapter Twenty: Everyone's Task

With Lin Ze’s singing abilities, he had barely sung a few lines before the people around him began to feel deeply moved. Some uncles and aunties, who had been preparing for their square dance, stood there wiping away tears. Coins clinked into the stainless steel basin, quickly filling it up. Large teardrops fell onto that dirty, tattered book. Su Zitan threw herself onto the book, crying so hard she could barely breathe. Lin Ze’s singing turned his face crimson, veins bulging on his neck.

“When you return to that home, someone will brew hot tea for you.”
“When you lie on that hospital bed, someone will shed tears for you.”
“When you smile, someone will blossom with joy!”
“Ah, ah, that person is mother!”
“Ah, ah, that person is mom!”

[I just finished arguing with my mother… I was wrong!]
[You’ve made me cry twice, Lin Ze! You have to take responsibility!]
[Hey, hey, everyone, look at Sister Xue’s livestream.]

Across the street, Zhao Funing wiped away his tears and handed two freshly fried portions of rice to Pei Xue.

“Give these two portions to them first. I’ll cook some more…”

“Mm…” Pei Xue sniffled, her eyes red, carrying the fried rice across the crosswalk.

“Sweetheart! Sweetheart! Don’t cry, don’t cry.” Pei Xue choked back her tears, stuffing the fried rice into Su Zitan’s hands. “Everything will pass. Just focus on your studies, and everything will get better!”

Su Zitan wiped her eyes, recognizing the familiar voice. Looking up, she almost broke into sobs again.

“Mm…” Pei Xue sighed.

They had little money themselves, so the cost of this fried rice would be deducted from today’s wages. It was just too pitiful.

After Lin Ze finished his song, Pei Xue lingered nearby, her gaze fixed on the two portions of fried rice.

“Thank you! Thank you, kind soul!” Su Zitan took one and handed it to Lin Ze.

Lin Ze tore open the lid, paying no mind to appearances, shoveling food into his mouth with a spoon, chewing only two or three times before swallowing. Su Zitan’s mouth twitched, then she opened her own portion and quickly ate a few mouthfuls.

Seeing the way Lin Ze ate, some kind-hearted people nearby couldn’t bear it and went to a nearby shop, buying two bottles of water and handing them over.

In less than five minutes, the two of them polished off the meals completely.

[With Brother Lin’s eating habits, I can’t believe he’s never gone hungry before.]

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[The gaze of Aunt Xue.]
[Aunt Xue probably won’t sleep tonight, realizing she was so close to this group.]

A round-bellied man with reddened eyes pulled out a wad of cash from his small leather bag. It looked to be several thousand, maybe ten thousand.

He tried to force it into their hands.

[What a genuine guy.]
[You can’t accept it, right? If you take it, isn’t it fraud?]

“No, no, we can’t take it, it’s already enough, we really can’t.” Lin Ze and the man pushed the money back and forth; fifty yuan in the bowl was plenty, they really couldn’t take more.

Finally, after much persuasion, the man put his money away.

“Let’s go, let’s go,” Lin Ze whispered to Su Zitan.

Su Zitan quickly pushed Lin Ze through the crowd.

Lin Ze pressed his hands together, thanking the people around him. When he saw a couple, he paused. That couple had given a ten yuan note earlier. Turns out, they already had a child—sleeping soundly in the man’s arms, wearing new shoes and socks.

…

In the blink of an eye, it was already past eight in the evening.

In the marketplace, an elderly couple, like the other vendors, began packing up their stall for the day.

Nearby, a staff member tapped the calculator.

“Mr. Chen, today’s profits are calculated—five hundred sixty-two yuan. Half is two hundred eighty-one yuan, that’s your earnings for today.”

“Five hundred plus?” Chen Weiguo was surprised.

“A lot of people watched us today,” Bai Qiong said, smiling. “Maybe some old fans came to support.”

Chen Weiguo bowed toward the camera, “Thank you all for today.”

[Humble bow/No need to thank.]
[Humble bow/humble bow/humble bow/no need to thank, we’ll always help if we can.]
[The vegetables are fresh, the owner is wonderful! Smiley face/]

“We haven’t completed today’s task yet, we need to make sure they eat our vegetables.” Zhao Weiguo frowned at the produce left on their stall. It was after eight; everyone must have eaten already. Bringing vegetables home now might seem a bit forced.

Bai Qiong picked out some tomatoes, weighed and paid for them.

“How silly, just take some tomatoes home for Xiaolin and the others to eat as fruit.”

…

“The father and daughter’s singing was good, nearly moved me to tears,” Lin Chunshui mused. “If it weren’t for filming, I’d want to buy the rights.”

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“After this week’s shoot, let’s reach out to them,” someone replied.

Two adults and a child left the commercial plaza.

“So, does this mean we’ve completed our task?” Ji Chen glanced at his wife, who was holding the hand of an eight-year-old girl, feeling helpless. Whether at home or out, they were always taking care of children. The task was odd—they had to pick up and drop off the niece for the original host.

“As long as we send her home, it should be fine,” Lin Chunshui said, face a little strange. The little girl wasn’t afraid of strangers at all, which was odd.

“Little one, you aren’t someone the crew hired, are you?” Ji Chen asked, lowering his head.

“No,” the girl replied sweetly. “But I know you’re Uncle Ji Chen. My mom and dad really like you.”

“Oh?” Ji Chen glanced smugly at Lin Chunshui. “Looks like I haven’t gone out of style!”

“They said that since you married Aunt Lin, you must be a good person. So before I came, my mom asked me to get Aunt Lin’s autograph.”

“Hahaha!” Lin Chunshui rubbed the girl’s head.

They took the girl to her doorstep.

Opening the door, the place was neat and cozy—not like a recently rented apartment.

Ji Chen caught a glimpse of a photo on the coffee table and froze.

“Goodbye, uncle and aunt!”

The girl waved happily then closed the door.

“Did you notice…” Ji Chen started as they walked downstairs, “the photo on the coffee table?”

“What?” Lin Chunshui asked, a bit puzzled. “You recognize it?”

“No, but I think… it looked like a photo of the two of us.”

“Haha, are you crazy? Why would someone have our photo in their house?”

…

The four groups gradually returned to the villa.

After a tiring day, Director Zhang showed some compassion—he had brewed tea for all eight.

Everyone had changed back into the clothes they’d worn that morning.

“Now is the Q&A session, everyone may ask questions,” Director Zhang said, smiling.

“These are some tomatoes we bought on the way back, please try them,” Bai Qiong said, bringing out a plate of washed tomatoes.

At the same time, Zhao Funing took out a box of peanuts and edamame.

“These are what I bought on the way back… ahem.”

The two exchanged glances, awkwardly frozen.

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