Chapter 51
Ordinary people can have no camera time and no appearance fees—but they have wives.
Lu Xiao finalized a spot on a farming variety show with the director. He would still farm the land, get fewer shots, and—satisfied—hung up the phone. The show would start filming in two days; he still had time to level up.
Farming isn’t just physical labor—it’s a technical skill.
The clanspeople of Baihua Village are all good at farming; he could observe and learn.
Since he was determined to have no secrets from his wife, after coming out of the bathroom, Lu Xiao took the risk—before the contract was even signed and could still be blocked—and said hesitantly, “Yuan-yuan, I also signed up for the farming variety show.”
Meng Xueyuan had already received the director’s WeChat message and deliberately shook the two marriage certificates in his hand. “What if I don’t agree?”
Lu Xiao clenched his teeth and steeled himself. “Even if you divorce me over this, I’m still going.”
He finally understood: the meaning of marriage wasn’t the formality, but that it gave him the legitimate right to shield Meng Xueyuan from wind and rain.
If Meng Xueyuan wouldn’t let him hold the umbrella, he’d rather step back into the position of a friend—covering the sky with one hand, doing as he pleased: pulling weeds when he wanted, transplanting rice seedlings when he wanted.
Lu Xiao said stiffly, “Think it through. If I get divorced, all my good qualities will disappear. Very scary.”
Meng Xueyuan blinked. Honestly—how could anyone make divorce sound so cool?
“Congratulations. Your habit of swallowing your pride—losing teeth and blood and still gulping it down—has been cured.”
“Cured?” Lu Xiao froze, then scooped Meng Xueyuan up and lifted him high. “Wife, have you forgiven me?!”
Held higher than Lu Xiao, Meng Xueyuan instinctively pressed his hands on Lu Xiao’s shoulders and said, “I wasn’t that angry to begin with. I just wanted to fix your problem.”
Lu Xiao completely forgot the agony of being threatened and lavished praise. “My wife is truly a miracle healer!”
“From now on, whatever problem I have, you treat it—hit me with the strong medicine, treat me hard. Just leave me a breath.”
Meng Xueyuan was speechless. “Like when you go to a Chinese medicine clinic and ask for the strongest prescription?”
Lu Xiao: “Chu Hao told you?” His brother had actually betrayed him.
Meng Xueyuan said, “I guessed you two are kindred spirits—he must know some inside details.”
One question and the other side confessed.
Since deciding not to be an idiot, he was very smart now.
Lu Xiao said, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to let him know.”
Meng Xueyuan said, “I’m not blaming you. It’s normal to confide in friends when you’re hurting—doesn’t Chu Hao complain to you too? But next time, come to me first.”
“I was also at fault this time. I didn’t anticipate slipping up in time and made you misunderstand.”
The hidden cost of calling a full assembly was high. Meng Xueyuan had planned to do it during the New Year—it was still too late.
“Your secret involves hundreds of people. Being cautious is the right thing,” Lu Xiao said, struck by a sudden idea. “Wife, since you like bees so much, let’s keep a hive in the apartment.”
A small hive stuck to the balcony—how cute.
Meng Xueyuan: “…Forget it. I’m afraid the neighbors will complain.”
Lu Xiao: “Then I’ll go back home with you more often. Stay there a couple more days. You get some proper rest; I’ll take the chance to learn farming techniques.”
The director had just said that farming on the show was continuous—from start to finish it would be the same area. If the previous guest planted peanuts in the field, they would inherit that peanut field and continue caring for it: weeding, pest control, irrigation.
Lu Xiao suspected that the guest who made the production go dark had simply grabbed a bucket and run off.
“Peanut fields? We have those in our village,” Meng Xueyuan said, handing Lu Xiao a salted egg yolk zongzi to fill his stomach. “I’ll take you to see.”
Following the angle of the fields, Lu Xiao saw working figures almost everywhere.
Along the way, how many clanspeople would they meet and greet? Lu Xiao patted his pockets—cleaner than his face. No money, no cigarettes—oh right, cigarettes wouldn’t do anyway; bees fear smoke.
From social butterfly to social anxiety only takes one step.
Lu Xiao said awkwardly, “I didn’t bring anything.”
Meng Xueyuan laughed. “It’s fine—you came, that’s enough. You’re the Flower King; people will like you just seeing you. Besides, didn’t you transport several truckloads of home appliances here?”
“Right.” Lu Xiao felt better for about a second. Empty-handed still felt wrong, though. He spotted a small shop across the way. “I’ll buy a case of herbal tea and hand it out along the road.”
In this heat, everyone was working hard.
Meng Xueyuan: “Alright.”
Lu Xiao strode into the shop, spotted a full case of 24 cans of Wanglaoji (Chinese Chilly Sauce) at once, and carried it up. He pulled out his phone to pay, only to be surprised that he couldn’t find a payment QR code anywhere.
Cash only?
Did that mean he’d have to ask his wife to pay? Oh no—Meng Xueyuan probably didn’t have cash either. Then they’d have to go home and ask Father Meng for money.
Lu Xiao closed his eyes. Help—would he ever recover his standing in front of his in-laws?
Meng Xueyuan: “Let’s go.”
Lu Xiao said awkwardly, “I didn’t pay.”
Meng Xueyuan: “Oh, no need. Food and drinks—take whatever you want. Do you see anyone watching the shop?”
Lu Xiao: “Huh?”
Meng Xueyuan explained, “There’s something I haven’t told you yet. I share property with the clanspeople. Everything here is communal, so of course the shop doesn’t charge.”
When Lu Xiao had been researching bees, he’d vaguely suspected something like this—but he hadn’t expected it to be carried out so thoroughly. He suddenly experienced the joy of living off someone else. “You share property with the clan, I share property with you—rounding up, I can take things for free.”
Meng Xueyuan: “Yes. Free.”
He didn’t bat an eye donating home appliances worth over a million, but picking up a case of Wanglaoji made him beam.
After finishing the zongzi, Lu Xiao opened the herbal tea case and cradled it against his chest with one arm. He really liked the packaging of those red cans.
Meng Xueyuan held her husband’s hand and walked a short distance. “This is the clan doctor—Uncle Hua.”
Lu Xiao: “Hello, Uncle Hua.” He handed out a bottle.
Meng Xueyuan: “This is Third Uncle-Grandfather.”
Lu Xiao: “Hello, Third Uncle-Grandfather.” Another bottle.
Meng Xueyuan: “This is Bai He—you know him.”
Lu Xiao: “Secretary Bai—”
Did his big brother know that Secretary Bai, who had ditched him abroad, was back in the village with his pants rolled up transplanting rice seedlings?
The entire Lu Group would never imagine Bai He planting rice. Lu Xiao suddenly believed that Meng Xueyuan hadn’t reluctantly agreed to join the farming variety show at all.
“Long time no see, Secretary Bai.” Lu Xiao handed him a bottle.
Bai He wore a straw hat and was helping his father transplant seedlings. This paddy field lay in a mountain hollow where machines couldn’t operate. His father couldn’t bear to see land go to waste, so he had to do it himself. Bai He took the tea, his voice calm and polite. “Mm. Long time no see, President Lu.”
Lu Xiao said sincerely, “I had some misunderstandings about you before. I’m very sorry. Thank you for taking care of Yuan-yuan.”
Bai He: “It’s what we should do.”
Feeling a pang of conscience, he asked on behalf of his brother, “When are you returning to your post?”
Bai He: “Tomorrow.”
Worried it might sound like heartless capital, Lu Xiao added, “I’m not rushing you. In the future, feel free to take leave. If my brother won’t allow it, come work in my business group.”
Meng Xueyuan nodded beside them. Since the queen bee had a seat in the Lu Group, he naturally had to look after his subordinates.
Bai He: “Alright.”
Lu Xiao felt he should also formally apologize to Lin Xilan—and to the forensic doctor.
His second brother, with that elegant, precious germophobia, probably couldn’t imagine that the hand Lin Xilan used to pass him a pen when signing contracts was currently cutting watermelon to feed pigs.
The forensic doctor was helping the village slaughter pigs.
Lu Xiao quietly learned the techniques.
In short, everyone’s lives were rich and varied. If his current urgent task weren’t recognizing people, he’d want to show off a bit too.
“Aunt Taohua,” Meng Xueyuan said as they reached the edge of a peanut field and stepped down into it. “Please teach Lu Xiao how to plant peanuts.”
Aunt Taohua straightened up. “Oh my, this Lu Xiao kid already looks handsome on TV—up close he’s even more likable.”
Blessed by his ancestors, Lu Xiao said modestly, “You flatter me, Auntie.”
Aunt Taohua immediately asked, “Do you have any rich lady fans who like pretty boy types?”
Lu Xiao: “?”
Meng Xueyuan laughed and explained that Auntie was worried about the marriage prospects of the male bees.
Lu Xiao did know some single CEOs who wanted to keep a ‘canary,’ but these were his wife’s clanspeople—he wasn’t suicidal enough to play matchmaker.
“Sorry, Auntie, I don’t have connections like that.”
“Oh, that’s normal.” Auntie didn’t mind. “Let me teach you how to plant peanuts. You have to make the ridges clear, one bed at a time. Dig the drainage ditches deeper in the middle to prevent waterlogging… Can you use a hoe?”
Of course Lu Xiao could. Every year during tomb-sweeping, he rotated through all kinds of tools.
He immediately demonstrated, easily shoveling up a patch of soft soil and evenly covering the pits where peanut seeds had been sown.
He didn’t dig a single hole in place with the hoe; instead, he scraped a thin layer of soil, making sure with every stroke that the furrow between the two beds stayed smooth and wouldn’t collect water.
Auntie: “You’re really good at farming—born with the touch.”
“Aunt Taohua—” someone called from afar, making a gesture.
Aunt Taohua returned the gesture.
Lu Xiao couldn’t understand it. Meng Xueyuan said, “Bees communicate through dance; we have some simple hand signals too. They’re saying you’re amazing, and that Aunt Taohua is lucky to have your help.”
Hmm? Lu Xiao raised his brows—so others wanted his help too? Everyone here had voted to support him; he couldn’t play favorites.
So next, Meng Xueyuan silently watched as Lu Xiao chopped firewood for someone one moment, fed pigs for another the next… chatting all the while, eager to trace farming techniques all the way back to the age of Shennong.
After watching for a bit, Meng Xueyuan decided to go back for a nap.
Even when he wanted to help, the clanspeople wouldn’t let him. After all, the queen bee’s only task was the nuptial flight. Pseudopregnancy made him sleepy; watching made him drowsy.
By the time he woke, it was completely dark.
Lu Xiao sat at his bedside reading a book—compiled by literate elders in the clan—A Complete Guide to Bee Posture Language.
It differed greatly from real bees; it was something humans had made up themselves.
Lu Xiao then opened a webpage to compare real bee dances—sorry, still an unsolved mystery.
He didn’t see scientific dances; instead, he accidentally wandered into some anthropomorphic bee animation fan works.
Lu Xiao glanced at them, then at Meng Xueyuan, pressing his lips together.
When Meng Xueyuan woke up, he happened to see Lu Xiao looking like that and instinctively said, “Say whatever you’re thinking.”
Lu Xiao: “You’re the one who told me to say it.”
Meng Xueyuan: “Mm.”
Lu Xiao said earnestly, “Bees are really good at shaking their butts. Can you?”
Meng Xueyuan: “……”
No need to say horny thoughts! He wouldn’t ask again.
