Chapter 41
Pushing open the door, the office was already filled with many people, all looking over with smiles hinting at watching a good show.
Shen Tang found an empty seat unconcernedly and sat down.
Seeing everyone staring at her, she said, "What are you looking at me for? Do I have something on my face?"
Many people's faces showed shock. Shen Tang did seem to have a somewhat reckless attitude.
"Now that Shen Tang is here too, who wants to manage her?"
President Zhou sat in the middle. Seeing Shen Tang, the spot he got injured last time started hurting again.
Several agents remained silent, showing no intention of managing Shen Tang.
The room became very quiet all of a sudden.
Everyone's gazes inadvertently looked over.
Shen Tang was unconcerned, as if no one wanting her was not about her.
"Ahem, no one wants to manage her?" Even President Zhou was starting to feel embarrassed.
In fact, although Shen Tang had a lot of scandals, she also had high popularity, often trending on social media for free. This was a good thing.
In this industry, it wasn't scary if you had many scandals, it was scary if you had no popularity.
However, Shen Tang's recent behavior had become more and more unrestrained.
Especially what happened with Brother Wang last time. Everyone was very afraid of following in Brother Wang's footsteps.
Shen Tang put down her phone. "Hmm, then just forget it if no one wants to manage me."
"How could that work?"
"Then who do you see managing me?"
President Zhou was rendered speechless. No matter who he looked at, they avoided his gaze.
Finally, a girl wearing black-framed glasses weakly raised her hand, timidly saying, "Can I...can I manage her?"
Everyone looked over. The girl normally had a very low sense of existence in the company. Many didn't even know who she was.
The man beside the girl glared at her fiercely. "This person is a new intern agent."
President Zhou's eyes lit up. He immediately clapped the table saying, "Okay, it'll be you. Shen Tang is now yours. No more interning, you're officially hired."
His eagerness to toss this hot potato made people want to laugh.
People gradually left, until only Shen Tang and the new agent were remaining.
The girl walked over, boldly reaching out her hand, completely different from her shrinking violet manner earlier.
"Nice to meet you, Sister Shen Tang. I'm Pei Kesong. From now on I'm your agent. Please guide me well."
Shen Tang raised her brows with interest. She'd thought it was a little white bunny, but it turned out to be a big bad wolf.
She reached out and shook Pei Kesong's hand. "Hello, just call me Shen Tang."
"You seem a bit different from just now..."
Pei Kesong smiled. "You also seem a bit different from before."
The two looked at each other and laughed out loud together.
"Let's work happily together."
"Let's work happily together."
Shen Tang had thought that since Pei Kesong had just been hired, she probably didn't have many resources. But unexpectedly that night Pei Kesong sent her a WeChat message:
I found a variety show for you, get ready
Shen Tang hurriedly called her.
"What variety show?"
"That farming variety show. You'll guest on it for one episode."
Shen Tang: "???"
Could it be that farming variety show she had invested in?!
After confirming with Pei Kesong, it really was!
Shen Tang's expression was complex. Was this considered finding work for herself?
Moreover, wouldn't a portion of her pay still get taken by the damn company as a middleman fee?
Ah! So annoying!
Shen Tang didn't know how Pei Kesong obtained the resources, and she didn't ask. Instead, she contacted Luo Chen to inquire about the variety show situation, as she had been too busy lately and hadn't paid attention to it.
Thinking of how she had been indulging in pleasure recently without checking on the show, she felt a bit guilty.
Although it was just a tiny bit of guilt.
After searching online, in the original book the female lead's reputation rose sharply because of these two shows, attracting many fans.
One suitor had stubbornly chased her from the romance show to the farming show. Many netizens were shipping their CP.
Shen Tang watched some fan edits and also got a bit obsessed.
As expected of the female lead, her looks were just too good.
Thinking of meeting the female lead soon, Shen Tang felt a bit nervous. She even secretly ate a serving of spicy crawfish in the middle of the night, and kept running to the bathroom afterwards.
In the morning, Shen Tang came down the stairs with a ghastly pale complexion, giving Taoye a fright.
"Tsst, Madam what's the matter with you!"
Shen Tang felt a bit guilty. How could she say she secretly ordered takeout in the middle of the night and got diarrhea?
"Didn't sleep well..."
Taoye supported her. Shen Tang had just sat down on the sofa when a burst of intense pain came from a certain unspeakable place. She painfully sucked in a breath.
"What's wrong?"
Shen Tang said with a twisted expression, "My hemorrhoids are acting up."
Taoye awkwardly smiled. "Do you need to go to the hospital?"
"No need, no need..."
Shen Tang secretly changed to a more comfortable sitting position before finally relaxing.
The next two days she had to eat plain food. Her mouth was completely bland.
Soon it was the day for the show's filming.
Shen Tang brought two heavy suitcases and headed to the location.
To prevent netizens from saying the guests were fake, the production team had also adopted a fully live broadcast model.
That meant the livestream started as soon as she got in the car.
"Shen Tang, here is your mission card."
Shen Tang took the card, eyebrows slightly raised. "This mission... You guys are really a**holes."
She seriously suspected the production team had added this mission temporarily just to prank her.
Too f**king sly.
Her attitude made the netizens watching the livestream anxious.
[What's the mission? Say it, say it!]
[It better not be fake hype...]
Shen Tang looked at the camera and waved the card in her hand. "Want to know? I won't tell you."
[...]
[So aggressive. My fists are clenched.]
[Can the production team change people? Shen Tang is spoiled rotten, what can she do?]
"Alright, I'll tell you if you compliment me once."
[Emmm...nevermind, I don't want to know anymore.]
[Shen Tang you're the prettiest!]
[Where's your integrity, person above?]
[Can integrity be eaten? Don't you want to know what's on the card? Also, I'm not lying. Shen Tang's face is truly flawless.]
With this, the bullet screen comments all turned into praising Shen Tang. Outsiders coming in thought they had entered some cult gathering.
Praising Shen Tang? Are they crazy!
Shen Tang grinned from ear to ear, looking very punchable.
"Since you have sincerely asked, I will benevolently tell you—the mission is—"
Chapter 42
"The task is - let the guests make a luxurious dinner for themselves, ps: ingredients self-provided."
It's hard to say whether this task is difficult or simple.
The key is that this is a rural variety show, and everyone is already exhausted from working in the fields, and when they get back they barely manage to get a meal in them to fill their stomachs, let alone have the energy to make a fancy dinner.
Not to mention they have to provide their own ingredients too.
【???】
【Damn it! We've been tricked!】
【Shen Tang, don't you feel guilty at all?】
It turns out Shen Tang not only doesn't feel guilty, but is laughing happily.
Upon arriving at the destination, there aren't many people in the small courtyard.
Shen Tang says admiringly: "You guys went to the fields this early huh."
Carrying a suitcase in each hand, she walks through the door, examining the small courtyard - it has to be said, it looks pretty nice, with a rustic farm stay kind of feeling.
After putting her luggage inside the house, Shen Tang looks towards the camera, "What should I do now?"
"Hmm, breakfast was a bit late, and lunch is a bit early."
"Oh right, where's my room?"
Shen Tang goes upstairs, and just after turning the corner bumps right into a man, nearly falling down.
"Oof!" Her nose!
Luckily it's the original!
"Tsk!"
The man rubs his eyes, "Sis Shen Tang? You're a guest this season?"
Shen Tang looks up, the man is none other than Ao Ziping, still in his "blackened" form after being tanned dark from the sun multiple times.
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm a regular guest!"
"No, what I mean is why are you still here?"
Ao Ziping makes an "ah" sound, carefully asking, "Then...should I leave?"
"Che, what I mean is why aren't you guys in the fields? You're still at home at this hour."
Ao Ziping's face instantly falls, "Don't mention it, yesterday the director made us work overtime to do tasks and earn ingredients. But we didn't get any ingredients and we're dead tired, we nearly didn't get up this morning."
"Oh right, sis Shen Tang, your room is here."
Ao Ziping moves to help carry her luggage, but Shen Tang blocks his hand, "I'll get it myself thanks."
"It's no problem, you're a guest, I'll help."
"I'm afraid you can't lift it."
A man can't admit he's not up to it, so Ao Ziping subtly flexes the muscles in his arms, "Don't worry, I'm Ao Ziping now."
Ao Ziping confidently takes the suitcase, but his arms instantly drop down heavily, "Damn!"
"Should I take it instead?"
"I've got this!"
Ao Ziping's expression doesn't change much, but the veins in his arms bulge out.
【Those arms, I love them, hehe】
【Sisters commenting above, go put your panties back on!】
Carrying it upstairs, Ao Ziping breathes a sigh of relief, and pushes the case to a room doorway, "Sis Shen Tang, this is your room."
Shen Tang opens the door to take a look - the room isn't big, but it's clean and tidy with its own bathroom.
"Thanks, oh right, are the other guests still sleeping?"
"They're also dead tired, they'll probably get up soon."
Hearing this, after Shen Tang finishes unpacking her things she heads downstairs to wait, since they still have to do the task after all, best to make a good first impression.
Hmm, maybe I should make breakfast!
Arriving in the kitchen however, she finds it completely empty inside.
"How is it empty?"
Shen Tang seriously suspects she's got the wrong place.
"We ate it all, that's why the director made us do tasks yesterday to win supplies." Ao Ziping says, scratching his head.
"Then where are the supplies?"
Shen Tang and Ao Ziping stare at each other speechlessly in the kitchen.
"So what do we eat today?"
Ao Ziping looks at the camera lens, "Director, what are we eating today?"
After a little while, a staff member comes running in, handing over a card with today's tasks written on it.
"Trade 100jin of corn to get 1jin of rice, sell 100jin of watermelon to get one whole watermelon, clean the pigsty properly to get 1jin of pork."
Shen Tang looks up in disbelief, "Are you serious about this ratio? It's more exploitative than capitalists."
"Cough cough!" Ao Ziping hurriedly coughs to try to gloss over her words.
【Hahaha laughed to death, Shen Tang sure dares to speak】
【Look she scared the poor guy, his face has gone pale】
【What Shen Tang said isn't wrong, this director really is quite exploitative】
"But it's not bad, the tasks aren't too difficult." After all she participated in designing them too, *cough*.
"Wait, sis Shen Tang, we have to do all these tasks after finishing up in the fields."
"I know, so here's the plan - I'll go make breakfast first, you go wash up, then go wake them."
"What are we eating?" Ao Ziping scratches his head again, he really is starving.
"It's a secret."
After Ao Ziping returns to his room, Shen Tang also heads out for a bit, and comes back carrying some rice, vegetables and eggs.
The bullet screen comments are all asking the same question - where did she get that from?!
Shen Tang makes egg fried rice and stir fried greens.
She had wanted to make porridge at first, but figured fried rice is more filling since they'll be doing physical labor.
Soon the guests start coming down one by one, this is Shen Tang's first time meeting the female lead in person.
The female lead looks just like a typical female lead - hasn't tanned one bit despite the sun, standing out amongst the other pale guests.
"Hello everyone, I'm Shen Tang, breakfast is ready, come eat!"
"Wow wow wow!"
The guests instantly rush over and sit on the chairs, staring yearningly at the food, mouths watering nonstop.
"Did you make this Shen Tang?"
"Where did you get this stuff from?"
Not just the guests want to know the answer to this, the audience is also very curious.
Shen Tang just smiles, "I said I'll go help trade 100jin of corn later."
"Huh? Since when did the director become so generous?"
Shen Tang shakes her head, "It's not the director, it's granny from next door."
"I knew it."
"But those 100jin of corn...won't it interfere with our own farming progress..."
"Don't worry, I can handle it myself."
The male guest who just spoke waves his hands nervously, "I, I didn't mean it that way...don't overthink it..."
Shen Tang indeed didn't overthink it. She meant exactly what she said.
But judging from their reactions, even if she explained they still wouldn't believe her. So Shen Tang doesn't continue explaining.
They'll understand soon anyway after they see.
After waiting a bit, the rice is finally cooked. The guests wolf the food down voraciously, not even bothering to pretend for the camera.
Ao Ziping even sheds a tear from the corner of his eye.
Shen Tang is rather shocked: "Is it that serious?"
"Mm mm!" Ao Ziping nods heavily, he can't even spare a moment to speak, or it'd mean one less bite to eat.
Because of this one meal, the guests' goodwill towards Shen Tang rises exponentially, including the female lead.
【Waa waa waa, thank you Shen Tang, my daughter finally got a meal!】
【I don't know if I should say this, but Shen Tang coming does seem to be useful】
【Wait, did you guys forget that this is technically Shen Tang borrowing in advance? Anyone could go borrow it, later they all have to go pay it back together right?】
【...I nearly forgot about that, as expected of a famous green tea b*tch, Shen Tang sure knows how to handle people, 666】
After the meal, the male guest voluntarily washes the dishes.
They grow late rice in the south, so it'll be ready for harvest in a few months.
Right now they're harvesting spring corn, after harvesting they'll plant autumn corn.
After the meal, the guests voluntarily bring up going to help granny next door together.
Shen Tang says there's no need, but everyone disagrees.
Granny next door is already over 80, but moves very nimbly, seeming healthier than some young people even at her age.
"Granny, we're here! Let's go harvest corn now!"
"Oh my, so many good kids..." Granny was originally just giving the ingredients, but Shen Tang refused to take advantage, and insisted on helping out.
"No need, no need, we just drank water, let's head to the field now!"
After rejecting her offer several times, granny brings the guests out to the field.
On the way there, the female lead voluntarily teaches Shen Tang some corn harvesting techniques, while Shen Tang smiles and nods without mentioning that she already knows how.
After all it's just the female lead's good intentions.
Chapter 43
"Huh? Where's Shen Tang?"
"She should be at the front..."
A few guests looked towards the front where some rustling sounds were coming from, all somewhat shocked.
"Shen Tang?"
"Yo!" A voice answered from far away.
"How did you finish so quickly!"
"Speedy girl!"
Shen Tang's hands kept moving. She had a lot of experience in her previous life. Shucking corn and sprinkling water was nothing to her.
Before long, the corn that was owed from breakfast was all shucked, and it could be said that the vast majority was done by Shen Tang.
The few guests were so shocked their jaws nearly dropped.
"Are you even human?"
"Of course I am. I just have some experience. Practice makes perfect. Let's go plant the fields!"
Ao Ziping swallowed his spit. "Sister Tang Tang, aren't you tired?"
"How could I be? Anyway, the sooner we finish, the sooner we can end."
"I guess..."
After being praised by Granny, the few set off with armfuls of stuff Granny gave them and changed direction to go plant the fields.
The fields were currently at the seedling transplantation stage.
Because of the uneven terrain of staggered paddies in odd shapes, large transplantation machines could not be used. They could only transplant by hand, and progress was very slow and tiring.
But although the guests were tired, they never complained or slacked off. Despite the slow speed, they kept seriously working.
This was also one of the reasons the show was so popular.
With Shen Tang added, many anti-fans flocked to the livestream, not optimistic at all.
[I bet this wannabe can keep up her act for how long]
[Why do I see Shen Tang wherever I go, so annoying]
[My family is rural, let me say this. Shen Tang's corn shucking actions were pretty standard]
[How much do you water army get paid per post? Make some money and bring your sisters in]
Shen Tang didn't know about the barrage of attacks on the screen.
If she knew, she'd probably applaud and cheer, since the more people scolded her, the more people were watching, the hotter the show, and the more money she earned.
After all, getting scolded doesn't make you lose any meat.
Shen Tang looked at the ground and heaved a long sigh. Having great strength didn't mean she couldn't get tired.
In her past life, she had transplanted rice too, but only during her school breaks when she did part-time work. She could earn a good 200 yuan a day. Working a few days a month was enough for her monthly living expenses.
Now looking at the rice seedlings, she strangely felt a sense of intimacy.
Shen Tang opened her arms wide and took a deep breath. "Little seedlings, here I come!"
The other guests: "......"
They quietly distanced themselves a bit from Shen Tang.
[Haha dying, every guest's face clearly says "we're not close"]
[Shen Tang's acting is too much, when will her acting be as little as your brain]
[Can we have less screen time of this attention seeker, so annoying to watch]
Whether it was on purpose or not, it seemed Shen Tang's screen time increased.
Transplanting seedlings also relied on practice. Shen Tang worked nonstop at lightning speed, quickly moving to the front.
Ao Ziping stood up straight and massaged his waist. He discovered Shen Tang was getting faster and faster.
"F*ck!"
The other guests hurriedly asked, "What's wrong?"
"Quick look!" Ao Ziping pointed ahead.
Then they saw Shen Tang's speed getting quicker and quicker, almost like a robot.
"No way...did she secretly get trained somewhere?"
"Sister Tang Tang, doesn't your waist hurt?"
"You guys chat slowly. I'm going to catch up!"
The guests raced one another to keep up, even the female lead.
Many old fans started wondering if this was still the same show they watched.
The ones who previously sighed and groaned, why were they suddenly so energetic today like chicken blood was pumped into them?
In the end, less than half a day's tasks were finished in a day.
Ao Ziping clapped his muddy hands. "As expected, human potential is unlimited. If you don't push yourself, you'll never know what you can achieve."
Shen Tang glanced at him. "I want to eat a big meal."
"Huh?"
"Do you want to push yourself more and earn more ingredients?"
That's right, today's ingredients were still up in the air. Not to mention whether they could have a big meal, having enough to eat was an issue.
Ao Ziping immediately slapped his chest, "Sure! Sister Tang Tang, wait for me. Today's big meal is my treat!"
The female lead came over too, "Anyway, the tasks are finished. Why don't we all work together, to be honest, it's been so long since we had a good meal ourselves."
Shen Tang didn't decline, however——
She lowered her voice and said, "The production team is too nasty. We can help the villagers like this morning and get ingredients in exchange."
The others didn't immediately decide. Apparently they knew what their own work output was like, and in the end it was still Shen Tang who did the most.
Shen Tang grabbed the female lead's hand. "Come on, the earlier we finish the earlier we can eat!"
She couldn't help but squeeze. Tsk, the female lead's hands were so soft.
It was a busy farming season, and there were still quite a few families that needed help. Moreover, they only wanted ingredients instead of money, which was advantageous for both sides.
After a simple lunch, the few found a family that needed help. They agreed that after finishing work, they would get a big goose.
Big geese were precious goods. Braised goose especially was superb.
The guests hadn't enjoyed a good meal for a long time, just thinking about it made their mouths water.
"Work work work!"
"Sister Tang Tang, you're good at cooking, you make dinner tonight?"
"Sure!"
Shen Tang didn't mind cooking. Her junior was quite lazy usually, but could buckle down when needed.
Moreover, these others weren't very good at cooking either.
She had speed-watched the livestream replay overnight. She could only say it was pretty impressive they hadn't poisoned themselves with their cooking yet.
Flavor was not even a priority anymore. As long as the food was cooked it was good enough.
That afternoon, everyone worked hard, with no intention of cutting corners whatsoever.
By night when they finished, not only did the other family give them a big goose, but also a lot of side dishes.
It was just that the goose was alive, and Shen Tang didn't dare kill it.
She held the knife to the goose's neck, aiming here and there, but ultimately didn't dare put it down.
"I don't think I can do it. Anyone else want to try?"
The few guests all shook their heads and backed away.
"I don't dare either..."
"I've never killed anything before..."
In the end they all stared blankly at each other.
Ao Ziping scratched his head, "So what now?"
He was really hungry, and also craving meat.
Alright, not craving, extremely craving.
Shen Tang tentatively asked, "Why don't we...not eat it?"
She really couldn't do it. You have to know, when she cooked in the past, she used pre-slaughtered meat bought at the market.
If she had known earlier, she would've asked the owner to kill and clean the goose first before taking it back.
But she also felt a little bad about asking that. Slaughtering geese was probably troublesome too, and the busy villagers should properly rest at home after work, without extra tasks.
Ao Ziping painfully swallowed his saliva. "Okay, then what about the goose?"
"Let's keep it..."
And so, the first small animal joined their small courtyard——the big white goose.
If you ignored its constant honking while craning its neck, it was still pretty cute.
At least it wasn't casually biting people like in online jokes.
Chapter 44
After a day's work, everyone was extremely tired, but deep down they really wanted to eat something nice. However, no one objected to killing the goose.
Shen Tang pondered for a while. Since the goose couldn't be killed, they'd have to find some other food. She suddenly remembered that when they came, there seemed to be a small river at the foot of the back mountain, where there should be fish.
After getting permission, Shen Tang took some crude equipment and went to the riverside. One of the male guests was a little skeptical: "Can you really catch fish like this?"
Without waiting for Shen Tang to answer, Ao Ziping directly said, "Don't worry, as soon as Sister Tang Tang makes her move, we'll know if there are any or not. These fish, we're definitely eating them tonight."
The female lead nodded along, "I've also seen that show, Sister Tang Tang can definitely do it."
Actually, Shen Tang didn't even know if she could do it herself.
"You guys should be careful. If your hopes get too high now, the disappointment will be even greater later. This is my first time trying this too." She had only heard some fishing tips from other people before, she hadn't tried them herself either.
Now she was clutching at straws. What if she did manage to catch some?
"Sister Tang Tang, I believe in you!" Hearing Ao Ziping's words, Shen Tang made an "ok" gesture.
The sun had already set. It would be dark soon. Whether she succeeded or not, she had to hurry.
When Shen Tang got to the riverside, she found a good spot, cast the fishing hook, and everyone watched with bated breath, already thinking of eighteen ways to cook the fish in their minds.
After a while, it seemed like a fish had taken the bait. Shen Tang sharply tugged on the line and pulled up a broken shoe.
"Don't worry, try again," everyone comforted.
Shen Tang silently cast her line again to keep fishing. She already had a bad feeling.
After a while, the hook shook again. Shen Tang thought, this time I must have caught one...
She sharply flicked the fishing pole, and a torn pair of pants flew up.
Everyone: "..."
"I heard that fishing enthusiasts can catch anything except fish. Seeing it today, it is indeed true."
"Pfft!"
【Hahaha I'm laughing to death, is Shen Tang going to suffer a crushing defeat? 】
【Get ready to screenshot this!】
Unwilling to admit defeat, Shen Tang tried a few more times, and successively fished up a safety helmet, trash bag, and finally a sanitary pad.
That's right, a sanitary pad.
【Oh gross...why would there be something like that in the river...】
【How disgusting...】
【To be fair, I've caught those things while fishing too, it really is nasty...】
【Ugh don't remind me, last year when my dad went fishing he pulled out a corpse, he was scared half to death and still hasn't recovered to this day, he doesn't dare to go fishing anymore】
【!!!!!! Damn】
Looking at the "catch" before her, Shen Tang suddenly lost her appetite.
"Um...I don't really feel like eating fish anymore..."
"Me neither..."
"Yeah, let's uh, head back..."
The group returned empty-handed, with everyone looking rather dejected.
Well, not exactly empty-handed, they were carrying a lot more bags now.
The anti-fans in the livestream chatrooms were extremely delighted though, especially Shen Tang's haters, they were as happy as if it were New Year's.
Before they even got home, they saw a figure wandering at the entrance to their little courtyard from afar.
When the few of them walked over, they realized it was the granny who had helped them this morning.
Seeing them return, Granny smiled and handed over the ceramic basin in her hands.
"My family cooked too much for dinner, so I brought some for you. Don't turn your noses up at it!"
How could they understand that feeling of being cared for by someone? It was indescribable, extremely comforting.
"We would never, thank you Granny!"
"Why would we turn our noses up, thanks Granny!"
After sending the old woman off, Shen Tang lifted the lid. To her surprise, it was a whole pot of stewed chicken.
"This is..."
No one expected that Granny had brought them such a huge pot of chicken meat.
In the countryside, chickens were not usually casually slaughtered except for festivals or important family occasions.
What's more, Granny's family conditions were not good, and she lived alone.
"Maybe we should...send the food back..."
Shen Tang shook her head in explanation. "Granny must have specifically made this for us. Sending it back would be inappropriate. Let's go help her more over the next few days, to repay her kindness in other ways."
Everyone agreed this made sense and consented to do so.
Shen Tang stir-fried some vegetables to go with the chicken. With full bellies, the meal tasted delicious.
Ao Ziping ate mouthfuls of chicken and rice, tears of excitement streaming down his cheeks.
"It's so tasty!"
"Mm...the vegetables Sister Tang Tang stir-fried do taste good..." said the female lead.
Shen Tang sighed. What technique was needed to stir-fry vegetables? Didn't they all taste the same?
"People only say everything tastes great when they're hungry."
"No no, it's really different, the dishes you make taste exceptionally flavorful," the female lead insisted, puffing out her cheeks.
Shen Tang badly wanted to reach out and poke them to see how cute she looked.
【Does Shen Tang's cooking actually taste that good?】
【It's all pretense and grandstanding, if you take it seriously then you've already lost】
【Give the kids some decent stuff to eat, even stir-fried veggies get called tasty】
【Maybe she actually is a good cook...】
The bullet screen comments defending Shen Tang were instantly drowned out by a sea of mocking messages.
Night falls swiftly in the countryside.
After the meal, everyone lay back on recliners in the yard, blowing in the breeze and gazing at the night sky, extremely comfortable.
The female lead took a deep breath, "The country air really is fresh..."
"To be honest, I used to be a night owl. Since coming here, my biological clock has practically adjusted itself."
"I'm different, my agent said I lacked exercise in daily life and sent me here to train."
"Oh, I get it, you're just too lazy," remarked Shen Tang.
Male Guest: "......"
"Fine, you can say it is what it is."
"By the way, why did you guys come here anyway?"
Frankly, this was a variety show about doing farm labor. Generally people didn't like watching it, especially actresses who didn't want to get tanned skin that would be hard to whitewash later.
The female lead gave a charming smile. "I feel it's quite meaningful, it's my first time seeing a show like this."
Shen Tang secretly nodded, as expected of the female lead, she had broad perspectives.
"What about you, Sister Tang Tang?"
"Me? I came for the money."
To be precise, it was for two sources of money - the income from appearing on the show, and investment returns. Teehee...
"Sister Tang Tang, you really are...pure and unpretentious!"
Shen Tang burst into laughter. The flattery here was just too pleasant-sounding, she could almost float to heaven from all the praise.
They didn't chat for long before everyone returned to their rooms to rest.
After washing up, Shen Tang took out her phone and started replying to messages, most of which were from the twins.
Glancing at the time, she knew they were already asleep, but Shen Tang still conscientiously replied to each one without cutting corners.
She was quite surprised to see a WeChat message from Gu Huai'an.
Because all he had simply asked was if she had adapted yet or not.
Shen Tang really wanted to say, what difference would it make whether she adapted or not?
But he did mean well. Replying like that would sound sarcastic.
【Passionate Monkey Mom: Still okay, just a little tiring】
Unexpectedly, the status instantly changed to "Gu Huai'an is typing..." Shen Tang was very puzzled. Was this guy staring at his phone the whole time?
Chapter 45
Shen Tang waited for Gu Huaian to reply, but he just edited his message over and over again and finally only said "Go to sleep early".
Shen Tang said she had something to say but didn't know if she should say it or not.
She angrily threw her phone aside and prepared to sleep.
After lying with her eyes closed for a while, she laughed, she simply couldn't fall asleep.
Shen Tang felt it was necessary to take revenge, there is a saying "an eye for an eye".
So Shen Tang opened WeChat and said to Gu Huaian: "Actually—"
Then she turned off her phone and went to sleep.
On the other end, Gu Huaian did wait for a while as Shen Tang expected, but did not get the rest of the sentence. His heart felt hooked, extremely uncomfortable.
However, he soon reacted and laughed softly.
Perhaps even he himself didn't realize there was affection in his voice.
The next morning when Shen Tang woke up, she only felt back pain, probably because she was usually too lazy, and suddenly did too much work yesterday, her muscles couldn't take it.
"Ow!"
She simply stretched and then washed up and went out.
The others were still not awake.
When Shen Tang came back, everyone had already prepared breakfast.
【Where did Shen Tang go so early?】
【Where else could she go, slacking off, not wanting to cook right】
【Is Shen Tang bare-faced? She looks pretty good】
【The above person, don't think too much. That's a pseudo no make up look. I've seen Shen Tang, she looks so ugly in real life and has bad skin too】
More and more people also gradually entered the live stream room. Even passersby couldn't help but exclaim, Shen Tang's antis are so hardworking!
"Sister Shen Tang, where did you go? I thought you hadn't gotten up yet." Ao Ziping said.
The female lead handed her a bowl of porridge, "Sister Shen Tang, try my porridge and see how it tastes."
Shen Tang touched her nose, "I've eaten."
"Huh?"
【It's clear now, Shen Tang woke up so early to go out and eat by herself!】
【Isn't that going a bit overboard? Everyone else waited for her to eat, but she went out and ate alone】
【How selfish!】
Before Shen Tang could explain, the big white goose in the yard stretched its neck and honked.
A few people looked over and saw Granny standing at the door.
"Can this big white goose also guard the house?"
"Granny, why did you come?"
"Shen Tang, you forgot to bring the candy I gave you."
Granny opened her handkerchief, inside were some loose sugar cubes, some were even stuck together.
You could tell they had been kept for a long time.
"Granny, you should keep them for yourself to eat."
【I bet 1 mao (a Chinese currency) spicy stick, Shen Tang is looking down on them】
【Hehe, the beggar definitely won't eat them】
"Granny doesn't eat them. Shen Tang, you should take them."
Shen Tang was a little helpless. She finally walked over and put a piece of candy in her mouth.
"Is it sweet?"
"Sweet."
Shen Tang couldn't help but think of her previous life. The orphanage she was in could barely survive.
The director would hide candy and only give them one candy each during new year.
I wonder if Director is still doing well...
Shen Tang looked away, wiping away the tears at the corner of her eyes.
She took a candy and fed it to Granny's mouth, "Try it yourself and see if its sweet or not."
Granny didn't have many teeth left. Her face was wrinkled. But at this moment, a sweet smile blossomed.
"So this is what candy tastes like..."
Hearing that, everyone felt a little sad.
The older generation were frugal, "Diligent and thrifty" was almost ingrained in their bones.
The female lead thought about it and walked over to hold Granny's hand, "Granny, have you eaten? We just finished making lunch, why don't you come in and eat too."
"I've eaten. Shen Tang came and helped me with chores and made breakfast earlier. You all eat. I'm going back first."
For a moment, the bullet screen quieted down.
【Hehe, where are the people scolding just now? Why aren't you coming out to apologize?】
【So what if she did it on purpose to gain attention? 】
【Regardless of motivation, did she do it or not?】
The guests also didn't expect Shen Tang to get up early and do chores. They felt a little guilty.
"It's all my fault for getting up too late..."
"No no, don't overthink it. I just couldn't sleep so I got up and went for a walk. I happened to see Granny busy so I went to help."
To tell the truth, Shen Tang had planned to not do anything and drag people down when she first came.
She didn't know why things turned out this way, now she had become the most hardworking one instead.
If it was someone petty, they probably would have been angry already. Fortunately these guests were very nice.
Today everyone finished chores faster than yesterday. Then they started the program team's task - shuck corn and sell watermelon.
However, Shen Tang had other plans. She didn't plan to follow the show's routine.
She whispered to the female lead. The female lead looked shocked, "Is that really ok?"
"The program team didn't say you can't. So that means you can."
"You have a point."
So when the guests went to sell watermelons, they used some watermelons to barter for ingredients instead of selling them.
Afraid of a repeat of yesterday's fiasco, they specially bartered for ingredients that were already prepped so they didn't need to slaughter animals.
Although they didn't complete the task and earn a reward, they got ingredients.
【Damn! You can do that!】
【Isn't that exploiting loopholes in the rules? And they took other people's things in exchange for ingredients, isn't that not good...】
【Come on, how can people still sympathize with capitalists!】
Shen Tang was responsible for shucking corn. The shucked corn was given to the program team directly. They didn't want rewards for completing tasks, it was used to pay off the money for the watermelons.
Although the program team was unwilling, they couldn't do anything about it since the previous rules didn't say you couldn't do that.
However, the director immediately modified the rules overnight to close loopholes. Future guests won't get to exploit loopholes anymore.
That night, everyone made a big meal. This counted as Shen Tang completing the task she came to do.
Shen Tang was in charge of cooking while the female lead helped out. The others were responsible for cleaning up after the meal.
After returning to the room, Shen Tang replied to the twins' WeChat messages one by one, and discovered these two rascals hadn't slept yet.
"Sister Shen Tang, play some King of Glory with me!"
"Ok, log in!"
Shen Tang hadn't played games for a number of days either. After logging in she discovered Gu Huaian was online, and he had already reached the King rank, though she didn't know if he got there himself or if he got someone else to boost his account.
Without even creating a room, she was pulled into Gu Huaian's room.
"Together?"
"Wait, let me pull some people in first."
After waiting a while, Gu Huaian saw Shen Tang pull in the twins who should have been sleeping.
"You slept?" As soon as Gu Huaian's voice sounded, the twins who were chattering away instantly quieted down and silently played dead.
Fortunately Gu Huaian didn't pursue the matter further. He only said "Play two rounds then sleep".
"Ok ok! We'll sleep after!"
"Uncle you're the best! Muah!"
After waiting a while longer, Shen Tang pulled another person in.
"Huh? Who's the second slot? The avatar looks kind of familiar." Miao Miao said, slightly surprised.
"Ah, he's my...friend."
Shen Tang glanced at Gu Huaian's avatar. Nothing special, just a moon - probably a random picture off the Internet.
"Huh?" Gu Anran sounded puzzled, "Shouldn't it be 'husband'?"
Miao Miao was very surprised, "Sister Monkey, you got married?!"
She was even planning to play matchmaker for Sister Monkey and her brother!
Chapter 46
Shen Tang hadn't expected this matter to be exposed by Anran, but she didn't intend to hide it in the first place.
The only reason she hadn't talked about it was that she didn't really like exposing her private affairs.
"Ah yes, I got married," Shen Tang didn't want to discuss this matter much. She changed the topic and said, "I'm starting the game!"
At first, Shen Tang was still a bit worried about Gu Huaian's gaming skills, after all, he had been a complete novice last time they played together.
Unexpectedly, this time she was completely carried by him.
She couldn't help suspecting that there was a professional eSports player on the other end of the phone instead of Gu Huaian.
"Gu Huaian, did you hire someone to boost your account?"
"What?!" Meow Meow's voice unintentionally went higher in pitch.
She couldn't help wondering if she had misheard. Otherwise, how could she hear her cousin's name?
Shen Tang was also a bit nervous. Gu Huaian was quite famous, could Meow Meow know him? ...
She weakly asked, "You know him?"
Meow Meow stammeringly explained: "No, no, I don't know him. It's just that this name sounds so familiar. Could he be that tycoon Gu Huaian..."
On the other side of the phone screen, Gu Huaian's mouth curved into a smile.
He still remembered that when he first visited the family mansion, Shen Tang and her cousin didn't get along well.
He had just wondered how the two were now close enough to play games together. Now it seemed like they still didn't know each other's real identities.
He suddenly felt a bit curious to know what their reactions would be once they found out the truth.
Logically, any smart person would have figured out his identity already. But her cousin did seem to have some mental issues.
Also, the twins had spent most of their years abroad, and even when they returned to China, they didn't interact with the rest of Gu's family.
So up until the end of the game, they still didn't know they actually knew each other.
After the game ended, Shen Tang still couldn't resist asking that question:
"Gu Huaian, how did your gaming skills improve so quickly?"
"I hired a professional coach. If I'm going to play, I must strive to be the best."
No matter what he did, Gu Huaian had to be the best at it.
He used to think gaming was a waste of time and not a proper career, but now he suddenly appreciated the charm of eSports.
What Gu Huaian didn't say was that he was also planning to invest in a gaming club to surprise Shen Tang.
The two chatted for a while longer before Shen Tang unknowingly fell asleep.
In the next few days, Shen Tang's performance on the variety show gradually changed many people's views of her. After all, one can only pretend for so long, it's impossible to fake it forever.
This kind of variety show where they did nothing but livestream except for sleeping was almost like an exposé of the entertainment industry, there would always be people who couldn't persevere.
Shen Tang was gaining more and more fans, and her fan club was also growing rapidly. There were now people in the livestream comments speaking up for her.
As for the antis, they only chose to believe what they wanted to believe.
A few days passed swiftly, and it was time for Shen Tang to leave.
The female lead hugged Shen Tang's waist and cried, her face full of reluctance, "Sis Tang, I really don't want you to leave."
"Are you going to miss me or my cooking then?"
The female lead was silent for a moment. "Why can't I miss both?"
【Hahaha, I'm starting to believe Shen Tang's cooking must be delicious!】
【I'm suddenly quite curious, just how tasty is Shen Tang's cooking?】
【Am I the only one envious of Shen Tang's monstrous strength? One punch and she could send someone flying】
【The clout-chaser is finally gone, seeing her everyday was such an eyesore】
The other guest stars were also very reluctant to part, but she had to leave eventually.
When Shen Tang left, the big white goose ran over, craning its neck and honking twice, seemingly very reluctant to see her go as well.
Shen Tang stroked the big white goose's head, "Big White, I'm leaving now. Be good and watch the house, or I'll stew you in an iron pot."
Big White's honking stopped abruptly.
【Hahaha, even Big White gets bullied by Shen Tang】
As she walked out, the granny from next door came over. She handed Shen Tang a basket full of vegetables.
"They're all vegetables from my own garden, don't look down on them."
"How could I, I don't even have time to thank you yet."
Shen Tang happily accepted the basket, and in return, stuffed the granny a tightly-tied bag, its contents unseen.
"Granny, this is a gift for you. Remember to open it when you get home."
"What a good child, thank you..."
Shen Tang quickly got in the car and left. The guest stars felt somewhat lost.
"Is the next guest star coming tomorrow already?"
"Yeah, wonder if they can cook well too."
"Are they very strong as well?"
【Why do I feel like the next guest is going to be Alexander the Great? It'd be disastrous if they don't perform as well as Shen Tang】
【Shen Tang performed well? What joke is that?】
The livestream comments quickly descended into chaos again.
Not long after Shen Tang returned home, she received a message from her agent. It was a Word document, recording both the good and bad parts of her performance on the show.
Shen Tang was surprised that Pei Kesong had reviewed it so seriously. It was just a variety show, yet she had prepared such detailed analyses.
She suddenly felt a tinge of regret - someone like her probably didn't deserve an agent as diligent as Pei Kesong. With Pei Kesong's attitude, she could have easily brought an Oscar-winning actor or actress under her wing instead.
She suddenly wanted to meet up with Pei Kesong to talk things through.
Just then, she received a WeChat message from Meow Meow.
【Sis Monkey, are you free to meet up?】
She immediately gave her a call, which got picked up almost instantly.
"What's the matter? Did something happen?"
"I..."
Meow Meow sounded a bit hesitant over the phone.
"Just tell me straight out if you have anything to say." The two had known each other for quite some time already. Shen Tang considered herself quite familiar with Meow Meow's personality - she was an adorable girl. But Shen Tang herself was a public figure who knew many people, so she didn't dare take any risks with her identity.
"Nevermind, it's nothing much. Just that my cousin has the same name as your husband."
Shen Tang: "???"
"Your cousin?"
"Yeah. My cousin is also called Gu Huaian. He always wears a long face every day, with nothing but work on his mind. And he recently married some Z-list celebrity hated by everyone. I was so pissed."
Now Shen Tang was finding this more and more familiar. She suddenly recalled that she and Meow Meow had mocked her cousin's on-screen romance before. To think that she would become the gossip target herself, what an ironic joke.
Wait... Gu Huaian has more than one cousin? Could Meow Meow be that girl at the family mansion who seemed to have some major illness...
Shen Tang sucked in a breath of cold air.
"Sis Monkey, what's wrong?"
Shen Tang awkwardly laughed. Her mind was filled with just one thought - she must not expose her identity.
"Nothing much. You're probably overthinking it. My husband is just an average office worker - he has a huge beer belly, acne all over his face, and even a bald head. He's completely different from that Gu Huaian, it's like heaven and earth."
As Shen Tang turned around, she met Gu Huanian's eyes directly.
Her heart thumped. When did this guy get here?!
Ahhhhh, I'm so dead!
Chapter 47
Gu Huaian's appearance gave Shen Tang a fright, and she hurried to hang up the phone.
"Big belly?"
"Pimples all over his face?"
"And bald?"
As Gu Huaian got closer, his three quick questions made Shen Tang feel very guilty. She weakly raised her hand and said, "Um, I can explain."
"Oh?"
Shen Tang stammered an explanation, "I didn't mean to say that. I just heard you have a White Moonlight and wanted to get some information from her..."
After speaking, seeing Gu Huaian's expression seem a bit strange, Shen Tang thought he didn't believe what she said, so she supplemented,
"Don't worry, I don't have any other ideas. It's just that the official has returned, and I as an imitation product should give way..."
If White Moonlight really came back, this contractual marriage might end prematurely. Preparing in advance would prevent her from rushing around when moving out.
Also, ending early should mean more compensation, hee hee...
Gu Huaian's face instantly darkened. He squeezed out a few words from between his teeth, "This is your explanation?"
Shen Tang awkwardly realized that Gu Huaian seemed even angrier.
"Um... if you need it, I can also help take care of the postpartum care..."
With so much money every month, forget postpartum care, even if he wanted her to help wash his feet or wipe his butt, she would do it.
Gu Huaian: "..."
"Stop talking."
Shen Tang still wanted to speak but Gu Huaian covered her mouth. "Anyway, I don't want to hear anything else you say."
Shen Tang looked at him innocently with wide eyes.
Gu Huaian took a deep breath and told himself not to haggle with Shen Tang, or he would be the one to get angry to death.
He pinched his brow and said, "There is no one."
Shen Tang made a few "hmm" sounds.
Gu Huaian removed his hand. Shen Tang asked, "No what?"
"No White Moonlight."
"Huh?"
Shen Tang was a little confused. Could what her cousin said be false?
That couldn't be. She seemed very sincere, not like she was lying.
Wait, why was Gu Huaian explaining this to her?
But it could not be denied that there was a trace of secret delight in her heart.
Shen Tang lightly coughed and said in a low voice, "I don't have one either."
If she had to say there was one, it would be money.
Suddenly, her head was rubbed. Shen Tang looked up to see Gu Huaian's mouth hooked up in a shallow arc.
"Don't randomly speculate in the future."
"Oh."
...
Even after sleeping and waking up again, Shen Tang still didn't react to how things had developed this way.
Thinking about it now was still a bit embarrassing.
She looked at the time. It was after 10 o'clock already. Gu Huaian should have left...
Shen Tang went downstairs. Besides Tao Sister, there was no one else.
"Madam, you're awake. Do you want to eat now?"
"Sure, where is everyone else?"
"The Mister went to work. The young misses and young master went to school."
Shen Tang suddenly felt a little guilty. Somehow, it seemed like she was the only one in this family with nothing to do.
No, she had just gotten off work.
Thinking this, Shen Tang's back straightened again.
After Tao Sister brought up plates of food, she looked at Shen Tang with distress. "Aiyo, eat more, just watching that show looks exhausting."
"It's fine."
"Look, your skin seems to have darkened two shades. Tsk, your hands are even injured. Let me put some medicine on them!"
Before she could recover from the concern, Shen Tang heard the bad news.
Shen Tang touched her face. "Did I really tan that much?"
"One day in the sun, how could you not tan. It will be better after nourishing for a couple days." Tao Sister grabbed Shen Tang's hand. "This medicine is very effective. Thickly applying it for a day will heal the wounds..."
Tao Sister's chatter was endless as she talked and worked at the same time, quickly smearing medicine on Shen Tang's few injured fingers.
To be honest, these wounds were very small, just scratches that broke the skin without bleeding.
In Shen Tang's eyes, if she didn't apply medicine, these wounds would have automatically healed.
But she had to admit, this feeling of being cared for felt very warm.
"Done. Remember not to get them wet."
"Thank you, Sister Tao."
Shen Tang first drank some soup, then took out her phone to meet up with her friends for some skin care.
When Shen Tang arrived at the mall, the others hadn't yet arrived, so she lined up at a milk tea shop.
Suddenly, there was a commotion not far away.
"Let me go! I don't know you!"
"Wife, stop messing around. There are so many people here. Let's go home and talk, okay?"
Shen Tang looked over. She saw a beautiful girl with an angry expression on her face. Beside her was a helpless looking man, his eyes full of indulgence.
"What nonsense are you talking about! I don't know you at all!"
The woman struggled violently but was held tightly by the man. "Alright, alright, I was wrong. In the future I'll give you all the money and won't spend it on games..."
"Help! I don't know him!"
"Wife... you can hit or scold me, just please don't say such hurtful things..."
The two looked just like a bickering couple, the girl being unreasonable and the boy very tolerant.
Others just shook their heads with a smile and walked by. But the more Shen Tang watched, the more she felt something was off.
The man's clothes looked tidy at first glance but were actually quite sloppy, and there was mud on his shoes as if he had stepped somewhere dirty.
The woman had exquisite makeup, and the jewelry on her neck and wrists started at six digits. No matter how you looked at it, the two did not match.
"Hello, would you like to order something?"
Hearing the clerk's voice, Shen Tang quickly waved her hands to refuse. "Sorry, something came up. I'll order later."
Shen Tang rushed over to the man and woman.
With the great difference in strength between men and women, despite the woman's constant struggling, she was still controlled by the man and pulled forward.
The crying woman pleaded for help, but the kind-looking man deceived the passersby who wanted to help.
"Sorry, my girlfriend is throwing a tantrum with me..."
The two walked further and further away, eventually turning onto an empty side road.
The man's face changed and he slapped her hard. "F*ck, shut up!"
The woman crashed into the wall at once. As she got up to run, several brawny men suddenly rushed out and tied her up in no time.
Shen Tang suddenly felt she had been rather rash.
But as soon as she took a step back, something poked her waist. "Don't move!"
Shen Tang hurriedly raised her hands and trembled, "I won't move, don't hit me!"
"Heh! Quite sensible." Warm breath brushed past her ear and Shen Tang felt afraid and disgusted.
In front were five or six people, and behind were unknown numbers. As the saying goes, those who know the times are outstanding. She was no match for them, and resisting may lead to injury.
Furthermore, Shen Tang couldn't just ignore someone in mortal danger.
She very cooperatively allowed her hands to be tied.
"Um, Boss, could you tie a bit gentler... I won't run."
"Heh. Quite delicate."
Whether it was excessive arrogance or Shen Tang's show of weakness was effective, in any case, only her hands were tied, and not too tightly.
Just then, a scarface walked over. His rough big hands gripped Shen Tang's chin, looking left and right. "Not bad goods."
Someone said, "She looks like some female celebrity..."
"I don't care if she's some female celeb. In my hands, she has to listen to my words."
"Yes, Boss." Shen Tang tactfully responded.
Scarface: "..."
That was a bit too tactful.
Chapter 48
Shen Tang's overly compliant attitude initially made Knife Scar Face Man hesitate, even suspecting that there might be some conspiracy at play.
In the end, the desire for money prevailed.
After all, finding someone as attractive as Shen Tang was like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Shen Tang and the other girls had their eyes blindfolded.
They had no idea how long the car ride lasted, but it finally came to a stop.
The two of them were pushed out of the car and locked inside an abandoned warehouse.
Apart from the two of them, there were over ten other beautiful girls, but they all had a vacant look in their eyes and appeared extremely exhausted.
Fortunately, most of them didn't seem to be injured, except for one girl who seemed to be in a serious condition.
She was in a disheveled state, with torn clothes and a ripped mouth, clearly having gone through something terrible.
If it weren't for the slight movement of her chest, one might believe she was dead.
Shen Tang whispered, "How long have you all been here?"
No one answered.
Shen Tang asked again, "Do you know who these people are?"
Still, no one answered.
Suddenly, a girl looked up and said, "Don't bother. There's no way to escape. That's our fate."
She glanced at the girl who was barely alive, her expression filled with despair.
"Well, that's not necessarily true," Shen Tang muttered under her breath.
Their phones had been confiscated, cutting off their contact with the outside world.
But Shen Tang wasn't too panicked. She touched her ring, a high-tech device newly developed by the Gu Corporation, which had a built-in tracker.
Shen Tang didn't understand its workings, but she believed in Gu Huaian.
Ironically, he had given it to her last night, and today it was already proving its worth.
She just wondered when he would realize she was missing.
The warehouse was large, with only a small window that had been boarded up.
Sunlight seeped through the cracks, casting beams of light where countless specks of dust danced.
Outside the door, there was a clamor of voices, indicating that those people were drinking and chatting.
As the sky grew darker, Shen Tang's confidence started to waver. Could it be that Gu Huaian hadn't noticed her disappearance?
If that were the case, it would be disastrous!
But there's always something worse than the worst.
Soon, the door was opened from the outside, and Knife Scar Face Man walked straight towards Shen Tang.
Shen Tang nervously stepped back. "Brother, what brings you here so late?"
Knife Scar Face Man let out a drunken belch. "You... you're a celebrity. Come and perform a... a show."
Shen Tang breathed a sigh of relief, barely noticeable. "Sure, what would you like to see? I can sing and dance."
"Start with a... a song."
Shen Tang was dragged outside, only to realize that there were over a dozen men, all looking menacing and possibly involved in criminal activities.
Shen Tang felt a shiver down her spine. "Hello, everyone. What song would you like to hear?"
"Anything."
"Hey, isn't that that famous star? I heard she's had dozens of boyfriends."
As soon as these words were spoken, Shen Tang noticed that many people's gazes shifted towards her.
She felt a cold sweat trickling down her back and hurriedly explained, "No, not at all. It's all just the company's publicity. They don't allow us to date."
"Really?"
"Of course, it's true," Shen Tang sighed. "To be honest, I've never even touched a guy's hand in all my life."
As soon as she finished speaking, someone reached out and touched her hand, their rough touch feeling like sandpaper.
"Now you've been touched," the person said.
Shen Tang: "..."
Do I even have to thank you?!
But as soon as she said that, the gazes of those people became less intense.
Shen Tang felt a little scared. If it weren't for her quick thinking earlier, her fate might not have been any better than that other girl's.
Shen Tang took a deep breath and began to sing a performance.
After a while, the men covered their ears in agony.
Shen Tang immersed herself in her singing, oblivious to the outside world, until a bottle was smashed, snapping her back to reality.
"Shut the hell up!"
"So damn awful, my ears are ruined!"
"This is a female celebrity? Damn, so terrible."
Shen Tang: "..."
"Was my singing really that bad?"
"Yes! Shut the hell up!"
Shen Tang pouted, feeling a bit aggrieved.
"Maybe it's because there's no accompanying music. Otherwise, I can dance for you guys."
In her previous life, she was a square dance leader and even participated in square dance competitions with the aunties, winning championships.
This was something she could boast about.
"Which one of you guys can play some music?"
She cleverly didn't ask to borrow a phone.
Although she wouldn't be able to borrow one, it showed her obedient and cooperative attitude.
An older bald-headed man played a song called "Drunken Butterfly," and Shen Tang danced to the music, starting her square dance performance.
Except for that bald-headed man, the expressions of the others were difficult to describe.
"Stop, stop, stop!"
Shen Tang was a bit confused. "What's wrong?"
"Don't you know those girl group dances?"
Shen Tang awkwardly smiled. "Sorry, I haven't learned them."
"What about street dance or Chinese dance?"
Shen Tang shook her head in embarrassment. "I can't do those either. Those who know me should know that I was an orphan before, and I didn't know anything. My debut relied solely on my looks."
The youngest man in the crowd nodded, "That's right, just a vase with a pretty face."
The others were also shocked. It was their first time being in such close contact with a celebrity, and they didn't expect her to be different from their imaginations. How could she not know anything?
Shen Tang felt a little nervous, silently praying that these people hadn't seen her variety shows and didn't know about her strength.
But since they hadn't found out until now, they probably hadn't seen them.
Knife Scar Face Man impatiently rubbed his face, "What the hell are you good at then?"
"Can I cook?" Shen Tang noticed that all these people were eating takeout skewers and beer, and there were many empty instant noodle cups in the corner. It seemed like no one knew how to cook.
Sure enough, as soon as she said it, everyone looked at each other, speechless for a moment.
"Let's talk about that later."
And then Shen Tang was locked up again.
Two girls looked over with disdain and contempt in their eyes, clearly looking down on her for what she had just done.
But when you're under someone else's roof, you have to lower your head. Now, confronting them head-on would be the most foolish thing to do.
Shen Tang didn't explain.
The night grew darker, and the sounds outside gradually faded, replaced by the intermittent sound of snoring.
The door was opened once again, and a disheveled figure with a strong smell of alcohol sneaked in quietly.
Shen Tang felt that this was her chance.
Chapter 49
Yellow Hair Man groped towards Shen Tang, suddenly belched alcohol, the stench making Shen Tang almost throw up last night's dinner, hurriedly holding her breath.
"Hehe...a f*male celebrity huh, let me try what it feels like to f*ck a celebrity... *burp*..."
After Yellow Hair Man spoke, he started groping Shen Tang's clothes.
Shen Tang frowned, clenched her fist about to punch him, only to hear a banging sound, the man was smashed in the head, instantly fainting to the ground.
In the moonlight, Shen Tang discovered the person who hit him was the girl who earlier disdained her obsequiousness.
Seeing Shen Tang look over, the girl disdainfully twisted her lips, "What are you looking at, I despise you, but I won't stand by watching you get humiliated."
Shen Tang revealed a sincere smile, "Thank you."
"Hmph."
The girl let out a cold humph then returned to her previous spot lying down.
It's worth mentioning that, possibly because there were many people, or perhaps they were overly self-confident, hence everyone wasn't tied up.
Shen Tang turned around and tied up Yellow Hair Man, using a smelly sock to gag his mouth.
She walked to the door, gently opened a crack.
Most people outside were already asleep, only two night guards remained, watching short videos.
Shen Tang softly closed the room door, walked to the window across, in the moonlight, she could see the surroundings were all dense woods.
In this kind of place, if they hid well, it would be very difficult to find them.
Shen Tang shook the sleeping girls awake one by one.
"Do you want to escape?"
The girls didn't react.
"It's better to live as a coward than die a hero, follow me and you'll still have a ray of hope, do you think there'll be any good ending staying here?! This is clearly a transit station, next you'll either be sold to brothels or become trafficked brides."
A few girls raised their heads to look over, hesitation surfacing on their faces.
This was a good thing.
"Alright, watch my demonstration first."
Shen Tang walked to the window, grasped the wooden boards with both hands, then slowly started using force.
Afraid of making noises, Shen Tang's movements were extremely careful.
Soon, a wooden board was successfully dismantled, the sounds made were negligible, perfectly masked by the night guards' video watching sounds.
Shen Tang looked back triumphantly, "What do you think? Do you believe me now?"
Other than the fainted girl, the rest were extremely shocked, lowering their voices to softly ask: "You're so awesome!"
"You're so strong!"
"Does this mean...we can really escape?!" Hope suddenly blossomed in a girl's eyes.
"Of course you can, but you all have to listen to me." Shen Tang said.
"Listen listen!"
"We'll all listen to you!"
The previously despairing girls were now extremely excited, all cleverly controlling themselves to not make any sounds.
Just as Shen Tang continued dismantling the boards, someone asked, "What about her?!"
That most miserable girl was skinny, but probably still weighed 80-90 pounds.
If they were well-fed, perhaps they could carry her along.
But after being locked here for two days without food or water, even running was difficult for them.
That one sentence successfully quieted everyone down.
Abandoning someone here, they couldn't do that, but they also couldn't carry her...
The girl lying on the ground suddenly spoke, her voice extremely hoarse: "Don't mind me..."
"You're awake?!"
"How can we not care?!"
"Yeah, why don't two of us carry her in shifts?!"
"You don't need to mind me..." the girl repeated.
She opened her eyes staring at the ceiling, revealing despair.
She was already like this, even if she went back what use would it be, her entire life was ruined.
She couldn't even walk, bringing her would only become a burden...!
With several creaking sounds, Shen Tang had completely dismantled the boards, it was fortunate they were nailed from the inside, otherwise it might not have been possible to open them.
Gently pushing, the window opened, moonlight spilled in, shining on Shen Tang seemingly like a moon fairy, ready to ride the wind and depart at any time.
She looked back, rosy lips parting: "We won't leave anyone behind, I'm strong, I'll carry her."
Upon closer inspection, the girl's injuries were more severe.
Shen Tang found a hemp rope, preparing to tie the girl onto herself.
"Your leg is injured, it might hurt more, endure it."
"You don't need to bring me, I'm already dirty..."
Shen Tang looked into her eyes, speaking earnestly: "You're not dirty, consider it just a dog bite. Humans only have endless possibilities when alive, don't you want revenge? Don't you want to see them punished?"
The girl froze.
With everyone's help, Shen Tang tied the girl onto her back, testing the weight, she felt featherlight.
"You're too skinny, you need to eat more in the future."
A drop of warmth suddenly landed on her neck, the girl choked out: "My boyfriend used to say I was fat too..."
"That was nonsense, what boyfriend, your ex-boyfriend, scum."
"Yeah, can't keep boyfriends like that."
The girl moved to Shen Tang's ear, softly saying: "If you get tired, just abandon me, I won't blame you..."
"Don't worry, that situation won't happen."
Unknown what time it was now, also unknown if those people would come in again at night, Shen Tang urged everyone to hurry, she took up the rear.
As everyone crawled out the window, Shen Tang kept worrying if there would be "bad teammates" like in novels.
Fortunately until the end no one made mistakes, the entire process completely soundless.
What awaited them outside were dense woods, no signs of humans having passed through here, also unknown if there were wild beasts about.
Pitch dark, everyone could only randomly walk in a direction.
Unknown how long they walked, no one complained of tiredness, no one yelled in fear, only increasingly heavy breathing sounds.
"Can we really escape?!"
"Definitely!" Shen Tang firmly said.
Encouraged by her, everyone gradually opened up, starting to talk about how they were captured.
As it turns out, the reasons were quite similar, those people either posed as boyfriend/girlfriends, fathers/daughters, mothers/daughters and openly brought them here.
"When I get back I'll expose this matter, don't let anyone get tricked again, this is too frightening..."
"You, are you Shen Tang?!"
Someone suddenly said, quieting everyone down.
"I am."
"You really are Shen Tang...umm, I used to be your anti-fan, sorry..."
A girl awkwardly blushed, fortunately it was dark now, unseen.
"Me too...but don't worry, from now on I'll be your loyal fan!"
Shen Tang lightly laughed, not minding this at all.
Strictly speaking, "she" didn't do well before either, having antis was too normal.
"Alright, then let me thank you in advance!"
Everyone's mood became increasingly relaxed, when suddenly noisy sounds and bright lights came from afar behind them.
"Crap! They discovered us!"
"Run!"
Everyone sped up running, but it was very troublesome sprinting in pitch darkness.
"Thud" a sound, someone tripped and fell, not minding the pain, hurriedly climbing up again.
Shen Tang knitted her brows, her expression extremely solemn.
"This won't do."
"What do we do?!"
Shen Tang looked back, clearly seeing traces on the path they ran past, continuing like this they would inevitably get caught up to.
She decisively put the girl on her back down, "You guys hide, I'll run ahead."
"We can't do that!"
"Don't argue, listen to me, I'm strong with self-defense capability, you guys differ. Also, the police should have been contacted, you only need to find a spot and wait till daybreak." Shen Tang spoke, revealing an easy smile.
Shen Tang brought the girls downhill, letting them hide under bushes, using branches to cover them.
As long as no one came down, they would absolutely not be discovered.
Shen Tang held up a finger: "Shh! From now on, don't make any sounds no matter what, see you tomorrow!"
She carefully erased all traces around the area before continuing ahead.
The path forward was obscured, actually she wasn't as nonchalant and relaxed as she appeared.
But this was already the best plan she could think of.
Girls, hang in there!
Chapter 50
Shen Tang continued to stumble forward, with many cuts on her face, arms, and very sore feet.
But she dared not stop.
She didn't know how much time had passed, but the lights and noise behind her were getting closer and closer. Did this mean they hadn't been discovered?
A smile appeared on Shen Tang's taut face.
The sky was gradually getting brighter, which was not good for hiding.
Shen Tang looked left and right, and all around were just trees.
Suddenly, she heard a snoring sound.
Anyone snoring here must not be human!
Shen Tang followed the sound and discovered a large boar with fierce fangs, currently sleeping soundly.
In no time at all, she thought of a good idea.
She quickly climbed up into the trees with several large rocks she found nearby and waited.
The trees here were tall with thick branches. Shen Tang's position was very high that no one would notice her if they didn't look up deliberately.
She didn't have to wait long before those people caught up.
Shen Tang was extremely nervous, her heart pounding as if it would jump out of her throat at any moment.
She hugged the rocks tightly, staring intently at the group, and swallowed.
"Damn it, when we catch those sluts back, break their legs!"
"Pah! You bunch of useless fools to let a group of women escape!" Knife Scar was furious that the ducks about to enter his mouth had flown away. What would they deliver tomorrow?
"I don't know how they managed to pry open the window..." Yellow Hair said.
Knife Scar was provoked seeing Yellow Hair and viciously kicked him. "Damn it!"
Yellow Hair stumbled to the ground, not daring to make a sound.
Shen Tang sat high up in the tree and watched them get closer and closer.
"What's that sound?"
"Who the hell is snoring?" Just as he finished speaking, the group realized something was wrong. Who would snore at this time?
At that moment, Shen Tang heavily smashed the large rocks towards the boar.
Bullseye!
The boar suddenly awakened and the first thing it saw upon opening its eyes was the group holding lamps.
The anger from being hit caused the boar to snort twice. After scraping its hooves twice, it charged towards them.
"F**k!"
"A boar!"
"Run!"
The group scattered in terror. Shen Tang breathed a sigh of relief on the tree. Her plan had worked!
A boar's power was fiercer than a tiger's. Soon afterwards, wailing sounds could be heard.
Shen Tang watched with wide eyes as some had their stomachs ripped open and intestines pulled out, covered in blood.
She closed her eyes in horror, extremely relieved that she had discovered this early.
But she did not regret it. These people had probably ruined countless girls. Their deaths were too light a punishment!
The sky was getting brighter. She wondered if the police had come and if Gu Huaian had discovered she was missing.
Shen Tang pinched the ring on her hand, lost in thought.
The sun slowly rose. Shen Tang's position was very high. Through cracks in the branches she could vaguely see the sunrise. The magnificent sight cleansed the gloom in her heart.
How nice, it's daylight.
She really lived to see the next day's sun. She wondered how the other girls were.
On the other side, Gu Huaian's people and the police had found the warehouse from last night but no one was there.
Gu Huaian had an extremely ugly expression. He deeply regretted working overtime last night and not noticing Shen Tang's disappearance sooner.
Yet he also felt relieved. Fortunately, he had given her the ring, otherwise who knows where they'd have to look. Maybe...
Thinking of a certain possible outcome, Gu Huaian's expression became darker.
"Evidence shows the victims seem to have run out by themselves."
"Definitely Shen Tang's doing." Gu Huaian firmly believed.
It must have been her. She was so smart and strong, she definitely would not have an accident.
Shen Tang, wait for me!
The team continued to search based on the ring's positioning.
Meanwhile, the girls had lain flat on the ground the entire night, unmoving even when crawled over by insects.
They relieved themselves on the spot. Now was not the time to care about dignity compared to their lives.
Until daylight, all their limbs had become stiff and cramped.
The most severely injured girl mumbled softly, "Shen Tang will be alright..."
"She will definitely be fine, she's so capable..." Another girl clenched her fists tightly, not knowing if she was trying to convince others or herself.
"Wah..." Someone started crying loudly first, and the rest immediately followed suit.
Suddenly, they heard footsteps approaching and the crying immediately ceased while they held their breaths.
Could it be them who found us...
"Over here!"
Hearing the voice, their hearts sank, it's over!
"Don't panic, we're the police!" The female officer slowly slid down and parted the branches.
Indeed this place was extremely hidden.
Now that it was bright out, plus her professional skills, otherwise they really wouldn't have found them.
When they saw the police uniforms, the girls instantly broke down again, unable to control the turmoil of emotions pent up the entire night.
"There are injured here!"
Gu Huaian had searched around and grabbed a girl asking urgently, "Where's Shen Tang?"
The girl he grabbed didn't care about crying anymore and quickly recounted everything from last night.
Gu Huaian felt a bit angry yet also proud. This was his Shen Tang!
The girl he loved.
The positioning from the ring was still further ahead and hadn't moved for a long time. He didn't know if Shen Tang was hiding there or if the ring had dropped.
This was an undeveloped deep mountain forest. Anything could happen. The longer it took to find her, the more danger she would be in.
The team split into two batches. One escorted the girls back and the other continued searching for people and to catch the criminals.
As the team moved forward, they discovered several dismembered corpses in succession. Gu Huaian could no longer stay calm.
Huge fear filled his heart as his limbs turned cold and his mind went blank.
Impossible. Shen Tang would definitely not have an accident!