On the day of the recording for ‘Gui Yuan Tian Ju,’ the assistant from Li Jing sent Qi Shejiang over; he himself was too busy as Xia Yiwei’s concert tour was still ongoing. They all thought this wasn’t Qi Shejiang’s first time recording a variety show. Since departure, there had been a cameraman filming them. Qi Shejiang already knew the other guests participating in the recording; besides him and the Guanshan Band, there were six other people who would be grouped into three teams, a total of four groups staying in different houses in the same village. Upon arriving at the village where they would stay for the next five days, they first went to the village chief’s house, where, under the director’s supervision, they drew lots to determine their accommodation and companions for living together. Qi Shejiang had been subtly informed by Li Jing beforehand that it was highly likely to be the Guanshan Band, so he was not surprised when he saw the results. The other groups had gender-mixed pairs responsible for generating romantic sparks, and pairs of friends who were best buddies… but they were likely to be a group of rivals.
After selecting the members, the director asked, “Do you have any thoughts on the companions you’ll be living with in the future?” Qi Shejiang jokingly replied, “If the rooms are not enough, can we not let Zhang Yue come to serve?” The director: “Pff.” With such a big joke, could Qi Shejiang not know? Li Jing had already laughed and told him. The director was actually quite satisfied with this response; otherwise, why would they invite these two groups? The draw was merely a formality; even the audience knew the show was scripted.
The members of the Guanshan Band had not yet arrived, so Qi Shejiang went to their accommodation first. He thought the place was not bad; it was a courtyard house, while he had heard that some guests had to stay in tree houses. The residents of this village are scattered in a crescent shape, with Qi Shejiang’s accommodation right at the corner, surrounded by fields. Looking inside the house, the facilities are quite good for Qi Shejiang—there is water, electricity, firewood, and a stove. However, there are relatively few beds, only two beds, so someone might have to sleep on the sofa. The place isn’t particularly dirty, but Qi Shejiang remembers Li Jing’s instructions to appear a bit more diligent, so he tidied up again.
To the director and the photographer, this added another layer of meaning: a pampered child is somewhat dissatisfied with the environment and feels it’s not clean enough, prompting him to clean up once more.
After cleaning, Qi Shejiang leaned on the table and dozed off. The sunlight poured in through the windows, illuminating his face, with his eyelashes casting long shadows and dust floating in the air. The photographer quickly seized the opportunity to capture his sleeping pose from various angles. Just then, a commotion outside broke the tranquility, and Qi Shejiang groggily woke up, getting up from the table. Coincidentally, the members of the Guanshan Band walked in at that moment, bumping into him face-to-face.
There was a moment of silence. Xiao Xiaowei was the first to speak, breaking the awkwardness, “Hello, you got here first.” Qi Shejiang smiled in return, “Hello. I arrived a little early.” Zhou Dong and Xie Qing also started chit-chatting with Qi Shejiang, while Zhang Yue remained silent, striding over to sit on the sofa.
Qi Shejiang slowly said, “Well, this sofa…” The previously silent Zhang Yue abruptly raised his head, highly sensitive, “What?” Qi Shejiang looked innocent, “I just wanted to let you know, there are only two beds and one sofa, so someone might have to sleep on the sofa.”
You all are a combination, sharing a bed together; I’ll take the sofa.”
Zhang Yue: “…” Zhang Yue replied with annoyance, “No need, I’ll sleep here.” Qi Shejiang was surprised, “You’re so tall; can you fit?” “Of course, I can’t fit. Lao Zhang, don’t be polite. Don’t argue; I’m the shortest, so I’ll sleep here,” Zhou Dong said, pushing Zhang Yue aside and starting to push the sofa against the wall to “make a bed.”
At crucial moments, it’s always reliable to rely on your own brothers. Just as Zhang Yue was about to say something, Xiao Xiaowei and Xie Qing jumped up and tightly embraced each other face-to-face, saying in unison, “We’re sharing a bed!” Zhang Yue: “……………”
It seems like everyone from the production team to the members is hell-bent on making Zhang Yue succeed in his quest for a partner. Zhang Yue sulked as he packed his belongings, realizing he would be sharing a bed with Qi Shejiang for the next five days.
By the time he stepped outside, Qi Shejiang was already chatting with Xiao Xiaowei and the others. They treated it as entertainment for the audience, unnecessary to take too seriously, especially since they needed to cooperate now. Moreover, after interacting with Qi Shejiang himself, the three of them found him quite likable—ironically, it was Zhang Yue who instigated the conflict first.
They couldn’t fathom how someone like him nearly clashed with Zhang Yue.
By this time, it was approaching lunchtime. Zhou Dong and Xiao Xiaowei both knew how to cook—of course, it was quite simple. To their surprise, although Qi Shejiang couldn’t cook, he was quite good at starting a fire. This was immensely important.
Here they had an old-fashioned stove; when they said they didn’t know how to use it, an elderly man strolled in, hands behind his back, and in a heavy dialect, explained to them how to do it. They understood only partially, yet Qi Shejiang truly managed to start the fire.
At first, they didn’t think much of it, but when the food was ready, guests from other teams strolled over, saying they saw their cooking smoke and were curious about how they managed to start a fire. Only then did they realize that other teams had struggled for half a day, failing miserably, leaving them in dire straits.
“Wow, buddy, you are a fire-starting genius!” guests from other teams exclaimed. “You have to come help me, I know your mom, and you must call me uncle, right?” Instantly, the hierarchy shifted in their banter.
With one helping another, by noon, Qi Shejiang was running around helping everyone start fires, and his own meal ended up being hurried. In his heart, Qi Shejiang thought, if they were using modern cookers, he would’ve wasted his efforts. But they just happened to use a dirt stove, which left him—a guy who previously only knew how to start a fire and boil water—suddenly becoming some kind of genius.
By the afternoon, it was time to get to work. There were several plots of land in front of the house that needed to be harvested. A few people stood by the field, and Zhou Dong asked, hands on his hips, “Are we starting now? Do you all know how to farm?” After a few seconds of silence, Qi Shejiang spoke up, “I looked up materials beforehand. Let’s divide the work. First, we’ll cut the rice. Use sickles to cut these down; those without much strength can cut the rice, while the stronger ones can thresh the rice and carry the rice buckets—ah, we need to find the rice buckets first before we can thresh the grains.”
“Sounds a bit tiring,” Zhou Dong murmured. Qi Shejiang thought for a moment, then replied, “Yeah, a bundle of rice weighs at least twenty to thirty pounds. You have to make sure to thresh all the ears clean…”
The members of the Guanshan Band, hearing him mention he did research and speaking so confidently, thought he might have gotten program materials through family connections, wondering if he seriously knew what he was talking about.
The director, Jingjing, turned pale at this; what was going on? Had Qi Shejiang’s research come from fifty years ago?! He spoke in such detail, but the thing is, this is the countryside, and since power was connected, there have been electric threshers for quite some time now.
