Chu Xi is more self-conscious and sensitive than most people; sometimes a casual remark from someone can trigger her overthinking. Now, she was even more convinced that Sang Ning was mocking her.
"Mr. Sang Ning, I really want to be friends with you. Why do you always show such hostility toward me?"
Sang Ning's face revealed no emotion, while Chu Wei broke into a nervous sweat on Chu Xi's behalf. Sang Ning was notorious in the circle for her bad temper—if she started a fight with Chu Xi, how could they break it up?
The atmosphere inexplicably grew tense. At this critical moment, Sang Ning suddenly reached out toward Chu Xi. Chu Wei quickly intervened: "Sang Ning, what are you trying to do?"
Almost the moment her words fell, Sang Ning grabbed Chu Xi's shoulder, pulled her closer, and handed her a sickle.
"It seems my previous concerns were completely unnecessary. I thought Miss Chu didn't want to be friends with me. But since you've expressed your sincerity, we're now officially good friends. To quickly build our revolutionary friendship... could you help us weed the yard?"
Sang Ning's lips curled into a smile, her eyes forming crescents, while whatever Chu Xi wanted to say suddenly got stuck in her throat. Sang Ning was acting strange; normally, she would have lost her temper by now.
Now, holding the sickle became a dilemma—she couldn't accept it, nor could she refuse.
In the end, she was forcibly compelled to take the sickle and, through gritted teeth, smiled brightly as she replied, "Mr. Sang generously treating me as a friend is truly wonderful. Then don't call me 'Miss Chu' anymore—it feels too distant."
"Sure thing, Xixi—is this better?"
Sang Ning wrapped her arm around Chu Xi and headed toward the courtyard. Chu Xi maintained a facade of smiling composure, but inwardly, she was biting down so hard her teeth nearly shattered.
Goddamn Xixi. She underestimated Sang Ning—acting all innocent before the live broadcast cameras was quite the performance.
"Weiwei, Brother Kai, aren't you leaving? Were you planning to join us in weeding too?"
Halfway along the yard, Sang Ning spun around and addressed them. Chu Wei and Qin Kai froze simultaneously. Were they close with Sang Ning? As far as they recalled, they hadn't interacted before filming the show.
A few minutes later, all the guests were gathered in the courtyard, weeding. Sang Ning stood to the side cheering, "Thank you to everyone for your wonderful support! Being able to make friends with all of you makes my life feel complete."
At that moment, Chu Xi's mood was indescribable. Chu Wei and Qin Kai were starting to question their very existence. Weren't they here for entertainment? How did they become the entertainment?
Watching Chu Xi's reluctant demeanor, Sang Ning nodded with satisfaction. When dealing with little schemers like her, the more you reason with them, the more they twist it into illogical arguments. If that's the case, why not kill hostility with kindness and join her game?
Half an hour later, Chu Xi straightened up her sore and aching back.
Even back at the Sang Family estate, she had never done such heavy labor. Who would have thought she'd be duped into this mess by Sang Ning just for a variety show?
She turned her head toward Sang Ning, her eyes filled with resentment. This particular look happened to be caught by eagle-eyed live-stream viewers, who began analyzing it in real-time via bullet screen comments.
[Chu Xi: Being friends with Sang Ning is exhausting; is it too late to regret now?]
After finishing the weeding, everyone felt a bit worn out and sat cross-legged on the ground.
Sang Chuan wiped the sweat from his forehead, used his hand to fan himself, and asked Sang Ning, "Sis, now that the weeds are gone, what's next? We're not really going to sleep on the ground tonight, are we?"
"Just wait a little longer; someone should be delivering some samples shortly," Sang Ning reassured Sang Chuan, then paced to the entrance and surveyed the surroundings.
Chu Xi quietly scooted closer to Shen Yi and extended an invitation to him: "Senior Shen Yi, I feel like Sang Ning is really unreliable. How about I ask my mom and the village chief to help find you all a place to stay?"
Leaning back against a large stone, Shen Yi turned the brim of his baseball cap forward and pulled it down forcefully, covering most of his face. "Thanks, but I already broke a sweat. Staying in the cow shed seems fine to me."
Chu Xi: "..."
The plan got derailed by Sang Ning and Chu Xi. Director Sun was busy discussing the next tasks with the staff, but advertisers kept calling nonstop, including two major furniture companies.
He couldn't afford to offend anyone, so he finally resorted to invoking Hai Chuan Group: "Apologies, but Hai Chuan Group is already the exclusive sponsor for our program's home renovation and furniture segments. We're not accepting other ads in this category for now."
The caller seemed skeptical: "Director Sun, if you don't want to work with us, you can just be direct. Does Hai Chuan Group really need a small variety show like yours to advertise?"
Unable to argue, Director Sun was racking his brains for rejection strategies when he noticed several helicopters in one of the camera feeds.
"Look at the sky!"
"No, open Sang Ning's livestream and look at the sky!"
Director Sun was already too excited to speak coherently. He quickly ended the call and led several staff members toward Sang Ning's location.
Above, the thundering sound of rotor blades prompted everyone in the cow shed to lift their heads and look up. A fleet of helicopters hovered overhead, each emblazoned with the bold logo of "Hai Chuan Group."
Mr. Shen glanced at the helicopters and exclaimed with heartfelt admiration, "As expected of Hai Chuan Group—truly wealthy and powerful. Where are they headed? Why are all six helicopters arriving at once?"
Li Sulan, lounging in the village chief's recliner, squinted against the rumbling noise. Spotting the prominent "Hai Chuan Group" logo, her eyes widened in disbelief, and she bolted upright.
Wasn't this the same Hai Chuan Group that even the Chu Family couldn't network with?
Sang Ning was a "transmigrator," and Hai Chuan Group hadn't been mentioned in the original story. Observing the crowd's mesmerized reactions to the helicopters, she couldn't resist asking, "Is Hai Chuan Group really that impressive?"
Sang Chuan rolled his eyes at her. "Sis, you don't even know Hai Chuan Group? It's the largest corporation in China!"
"Oh."
Sang Ning nodded lightly, appearing thoughtful. Could the commercial giant with 1.5 billion Weibo followers from the original story actually be Hai Chuan Group's CEO?
"Then do you know who Hai Chuan's CEO is?"
"How would I know? Hai Chuan has never revealed its senior executives publicly. But whoever they are must be amazing—just their Weibo handle as 'Hai Chuan CEO' has gained 1.5 billion followers."
So it *was* that big shot. If she could snag even a billion of those followers, she'd survive this farce with her neck intact.
Though she was filled with envy, why did it seem like the helicopters were heading toward the cow shed?
Her gaze followed the descending helicopters until all six landed directly at the cow shed's entrance.
A refined middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses stepped out of the first helicopter. Striding toward the shed's yard, he respectfully asked the crowd, "Is Miss Sang Ning here?"