Chapter 732: The Incident

After seeing Nana off, the happy atmosphere was gone for the rest of the journey. Nana didn't speak; she just leaned against the window, staring blankly outside. Xu Hongdou was on the other side, also looking out, enjoying the cool breeze.

Sitting in the front with his hands tucked into his sleeves, Hu Youyu had the heart to say a few words to ease the atmosphere. This silence made him feel as if a kitten's claws were scratching at his heart; he truly couldn't stand it. But thinking of Nana's bad mood and fiery temper—having been snapped at all morning—he could only shut his mouth in frustration. Fiddling with the center console's screen to play music, he hummed along unconsciously.

In this silence, they returned to the bustling, noisy Yunmiao Village, entering another world.

Hu Youyu waved his hand with a smile: "Wang Laoshi, don't blame me for not being a good friend. I'm going back early to edit videos; you can wait here yourself."

Wang Yan nodded with a smile, saying nothing.

Xu Hongdou got out of the car and walked around to the driver's side, giving Wang Yan a happy kiss: "Park the car and go to the small restaurant first. I learned a new fruit juice recipe these past two days; you have to taste it and see how it is."

Because she and Nana had to see Dama off, they were going to the restaurant later that morning, but they still had to continue working; it was impossible to take the whole day off.

"Alright. Walk carefully, there are so many people." Wang Yan gave a word of advice, watching them leave with a smile. Alone, he listened to the music and slowly waited in line to park.

Yunmiao Village was incredible now. The road to and from the village was just an ordinary two-way, single-lane asphalt road. Barriers were set up at the intersection; except for buses, taxis, and the cars of local villagers, outside vehicles were let in according to a plan. However, since it was controlled manually, precise control was impossible, so parking spaces here were hard to find.

Because of this, the entire road into Yunmiao Village was filled with people who had driven from near and far. They would rather park their cars in a row outside and walk several kilometers just to see Yunmiao Village; they were all people who loved a crowd.

In truth, Yunmiao Village didn't deserve the enthusiasm of the swarming tourists, because it didn't have that many good attractions. What was here could be found outside, and the architectural style here was much the same as elsewhere; there really wasn't much to see, and it wasn't worth so many people coming for it. But they couldn't help but want to join the fun, wanting to take photos and check in at certain places.

After dawdling for a long time, it was noon by the time he parked the car. Mixing into the flow of people, he walked toward the village entrance.

It was lunchtime, and Yang Guanjun's barbecue stall was surrounded by many people. Now, his whole family did nothing else but focus entirely on keeping the stall running. His parents were there skewering meat on the spot, which let people see it was clean and hygienic, allowing them to eat and drink with peace of mind. His wife was there recording customers' orders and packing them up, while Yang Guanjun was busy grilling. This was a fixed stall; they had a business license and a food business permit from before, and this was their own property, so there was no trouble.

The other restaurants were also packed with people, noisy and bustling. The owners were exhausted, with the whole family pitching in; some even called over relatives living nearby to help. They were so tired their backs couldn't straighten and their hands were cramping, yet they were smiling.

Not far away, the Youfeng Small Restaurant was just as noisy. Inside, people were sitting and eating, while outside, others were queuing for food. Xie Xiaochun was the busiest, washing dishes one moment, making pre-made dishes the next, then helping to make drinks, serving items, and having to go to the door to count the people waiting in line to see what they wanted to drink. Xu Hongdou was behind the bar skillfully making drinks; having done it so much, she was very proficient, working for free with great energy.

Wang Yan walked along saying, "Excuse me, excuse me, sorry," and then, without ceremony, very easily pushed a path through the crowd blocking the door. The crowd was slightly dissatisfied, but he didn't explain further, nor did he care.

"You're here." Xu Hongdou, who was busy, saw Wang Yan as if she had seen a savior: "You finally came. Quick, quick, quick, wash your hands and help me cover for a while."

"Didn't you ask me to come and taste your new milk tea? Why are you making me work?" Wang Yan didn't quite understand.

"Nana is in trouble, I have to go back and check on her. Or you can go check on her too; anyway, you're good at talking, you have a way with words."

"Forget it, what would it count for if I went? It's better for you women to talk." Wang Yan waved his hand and asked instead, "What happened?"

Of course he knew what happened; after all, he had been thinking about it that morning. He had only returned after seeing Dama off, and Nana's incident had broken out. This, of course, didn't fit the trajectory of the original drama, but it was because his rural promotional documentary had made Yunmiao Village so popular that it naturally exploded ahead of time.

Still, the same saying goes: even when an internet celebrity is at the height of their fame, not many people might know them, let alone a has-been. But Nana had been recognized, so she had been recognized.

"I'm not too sure, it's just that a few people asked if Nana was the Nana-jiang who loves to sing. Nana said no, those people said yes, and then Nana ran away in a panic. That's why I'm going to check on Nana's situation. Oh, hurry up."

Seeing that Wang Yan was about to speak again, she picked up a manual from the table: "It doesn't matter if you don't know how to do it; everything on the menu is here, all with instructions. Just follow the steps."

Wang Yan nodded in resignation, letting Xu Hongdou tie the apron on him. Seeing her about to run off, he said: "You can search on Baidu first; celebrities have information online, you can find out what's going on."

Xu Hongdou paused, then rolled her eyes: "Do you think I don't know? Work hard, I'll add a chicken leg to your dinner."

After speaking, she ran out, looking embarrassed.

Wang Yan shook his head, picked up the order on the table, saw it asked for two cups of taro boba milk tea, and flipped through the manual to get to work. Don't mention it; although he had opened milk tea companies for several women, he had never actually done it himself, but he didn't find it particularly novel or fun. After all, making one or two cups for fun was fresh, but dozens of cups? That was meaningless.

However, his memory was strong. Even without actively using photographic memory, just passive memory was enough; he remembered each cup as he made it, and by the second cup, he was very proficient and fast.

After a while, Xie Xiaochun, who was busy, walked over. Seeing Wang Yan there, she was very surprised: "Oh my, Wang Laoshi, why are you doing this?"

Wang Yan shook his head, working skillfully while speaking: "Hongdou said Nana is in trouble, so she went back to the courtyard to see what's going on. You don't have enough hands, and she couldn't leave, so she pressed me into service here."

"Sigh, I don't know what's wrong with Nana, she suddenly ran off. We're so busy, we don't have time to care about her, it's fine for Hongdou to go back. It's just troubling you, Wang Laoshi. Don't mention it, you're doing quite well, even better than me."

"I have to say what needs to be said, Xiaochun, this can't go on, you still need to hire people; you can't keep up at all. This wave of popularity, who knows how long it will last."

"My brother is hiring people; I guess he's too busy and forgot about it. I'll remind him again. Then I'll trouble you to cover for the day, Wang Laoshi. Tonight we'll eat something good and see what's going on with Nana."

Xie Zhiyao was now an unofficial member of the Yunmiao Village Committee, working with Huang Xinxin and others, mainly responsible for communicating with the government, discovering deficiencies and solving them, while also doing ideological work with the villagers so they wouldn't do things that damaged Yunmiao Village's image. In addition, he had to research how to open up more experience projects so tourists could have a good time and they could earn more money. He was so busy all day he didn't know which way was up, and he couldn't even take care of his own businesses.

Wang Yan nodded, saying nothing, and focused on his work.

In the face of the massive torrent of tourists, Yunmiao Village was just a small sampan. To cooperate with the promotion, whether it was milk tea or coffee, the Youfeng Small Restaurant had white-based, black-letter paper packaging on the cups that said "Dali · Yunmiao." Not to mention people being thirsty, just this "check-in" milk tea was enough to make this group of tourists chasing hot topics queue up to buy it.

Now that it was Wang Yan alone making various drinks, it was one cup after another, one cup finished, another one, as if there was no end, always unable to finish. This was physical labor without any technical content, always mechanically repeating; his mind was muddled, and in the blink of an eye, the day was gone.

Although Wang Yan's mind wasn't muddled, under the boring repetition, the day passed without much meaning; it was extremely boring and dull. And the most troublesome thing was that he was also somewhat famous to a certain extent.

Because the promotional documentary was, after all, his work, although he didn't accept interviews later, there were side interviews about him. Many people knew that the guy who caught the thief and became popular nationwide was him, and he was also the one who filmed the promotional video. And when he caught the thief before, there were three layers of people inside and outside pointing their phones at his face. So, riding on the popularity of Yunmiao Village, he was naturally dug up on the internet again and became popular once more.

Therefore, many people who came here recognized him. Even if they didn't recognize him, there were always others to remind them. Although he had already returned to simplicity and could return to the masses, he couldn't help that when looked at under a magnifying glass, his temperament couldn't be hidden at all.

Some people recognized him, so naturally they wanted a group photo. Although he refused, he couldn't stop others from taking selfies with their phones pointed at him from outside the bar, which made him feel somewhat helpless...

By eight o'clock, the tourists finally visibly decreased. By nine o'clock, it was completely quiet. Except for the mess on the ground, it returned to its previous peaceful and harmonious appearance.

It was also at this time that Xie Zhiyao, Huang Xinxin, and Hu Youyu, who had returned from singing, arrived at the shop carrying a pile of things. Xie Xiaoxia, who was a few steps behind, also followed them in; he was relatively free at the wood carving workshop across the street. Because everything in the wood carving workshop, except for a few pieces worth ten thousand, had been sold out. So his master was shipping goods in the back, and he was holding down the fort in the front; except for the noise of many people, they weren't busy.

As soon as Xie Zhiyao entered the door, he greeted Wang Yan, who was helping to clean up: "Wang Laoshi, thank you for your hard work. We bought a lot of food in the city; let's eat and drink well in a while."

Wang Yan waved his hand: "It's nothing, you need to hire people as soon as possible; these people now are holding on very hard."

"Yes, I'm thinking of hiring people too. I expect it will be in these two days; then everyone can be free."

Not far away, Xie Xiaochun let out a long sigh: "Before, I was thinking about when Yunmiao Village would become popular and earn money every day. As a result, now that it's popular, I miss the past a bit. You tell me, busy from morning till night every day, no time to take care of the family, no time to manage the children, rushing around every day. At night, when I finally go back, I have no energy to say any extra words; I lie on the bed and fall asleep in three to five minutes. The next day, when I open my eyes, it's another endless stream of people and endless work. Sigh..."

Xie Zhiyao couldn't help but sigh too. He said: "Persist a little longer, the popularity of our village won't last that long. At most, it will be until the New Year, and then it will slowly settle down, unlike now where everyone comes in a swarm."

He was also having a hard time now. The villagers had great opinions about him because many people hadn't been able to benefit from it, and they had lost their peace and quiet, gained annoyance, and various mixed feelings of envy, jealousy, and hatred, all of which were blamed on him. There were also villagers hosting tourists without business licenses or health permits, privately making food to sell for money. Some wanted to open restaurants, milk tea shops, and homestays; they wanted to borrow money, wanted the village to approve land, and there was a pile of messy things. If he blocked them, he would definitely be hated; if he didn't block them, it definitely wouldn't work. It was difficult.

"Yes, Xiaochun, as long as we persist for a while longer, then the bright road to the sky will welcome our Yunmiao Village in the future. And, there's good news to tell you: the government is going to allocate funds to our Yunmiao Village to further improve and enhance public construction. Also, there are many people who want to invest here recently, but they have all been blocked by us. What does this mean? It means our future is promising. Comrade Xiaochun, you must persist; suffer for two more months, and be happy for three to five years."

Huang Xinxin, who was also not relaxed, maintained great enthusiasm for work and life, grinning and showing her teeth, cheering people on and giving them the strength to persist.

Xie Xiaochun waved her hand lazily: "I hope so."

Instead, Wang Yan raised his eyebrows: "Xinxin, I hear from your words that you intend for Yunmiao Village to do it yourself in the future?"

"As expected of Wang Laoshi, I just said I refused investment, and you thought of this." Huang Xinxin gave a thumbs up.

Xie Zhiyao continued: "It's not that many people in the village haven't made money, and they are privately hosting tourists and making food to sell without licenses, which really affects Yunmiao Village's image. And they are collectively making noise and causing trouble, wanting to open this and that. They are not material for doing business. Even if they don't lack people, they might ruin the shop if they aren't careful. And now that there are many tourists, it's an illusion; no one knows how long it can be popular. So, after our discussion, we finally decided that the village collective will pay for construction to further develop Yunmiao Village, and after making money in the future, we will distribute dividends to everyone according to their household registration."

"Sigh, it's not that I'm saying cold words." Hu Youyu, who was behind, spoke up: "According to your method, there will be many troubles in the future. Isn't this the same as eating from the big pot before? If you lose money, it must be the fault of you, Xie Zhiyao, and the village committee; they definitely won't admit it. If you make money, then there will be noise about who eats more and occupies more, and who is unfairly distributed."

"It's just a preliminary idea now; the specific implementation must be written down in black and white." Xie Zhiyao waved his hand and asked instead: "What's wrong with Nana? What exactly happened?"

Before anyone else could speak, Xie Xiaoxia was the first to get anxious: "Nana? What's wrong with her?"

Hu Youyu was also a bit confused, not understanding what had happened.

Xie Xiaochun rolled her eyes and said to Xie Xiaoxia: "It's just that today, when someone was buying milk tea, they asked Nana if she was the Nana-jiang who loves to sing, and then Nana covered her face and ran away. Later, didn't Hongdou go back? She said..."

Nana told Xu Hongdou the whole story, Xu Hongdou told Xie Xiaochun the actual situation, and Xie Xiaochun now told everyone.

After telling it in detail, Xie Xiaochun sighed: "The internet is really developed now, and news is really fast. It's only been one day, and Hongdou sent me several videos, all newly released today, talking about how Nana is now working as a waitress in our Youfeng Small Restaurant, and all her past affairs have been dug up. I get angry just looking at those comments. Not only that, all afternoon, my phone hasn't stopped; there are people cursing, people asking us to fire Nana, all sorts of messy things. You tell me, why are people so bad now?"

"They're just keyboard warriors; if you ask them to face you, they wouldn't dare say a word." Hu Youyu curled his lips, then suddenly realized: "I said before when Wang Laoshi suggested I live-stream making videos, and every time I talked about these things, Nana's performance was so unnatural; it turns out the root was here. Since we're done cleaning up, let's hurry back to the courtyard and persuade Nana."

"I've heard of cyberbullying before, but this is the first time it's happened around me. You tell me, a perfectly good girl was scolded so hard she ran from a city as big as Shanghai to this tiny Yunmiao Village to work for a year, for three thousand a month. Wang Laoshi, I finally understand now why you told me back then that I had to be able to endure it."

"It's a very normal thing; some people like to exaggerate small things, some like to turn black into white, and some like to take things out of context. As long as you are in the spotlight, these are things you have to endure." Wang Yan shook his head and smiled: "Let's go, let's go back first. Nana's side is one thing, but we've worked for a day, so we have to eat something; that's also a thing."

Xie Xiaochun laughed: "Don't mention it, Wang Laoshi works very efficiently. You don't know, in just one day, Wang Laoshi learned the production process of all the drinks in the shop, and he made them fast and well, working from start to finish all by himself."

"Sigh, Xiaochun, don't put me on a pedestal. I definitely won't come tomorrow. And Hongdou, I don't know how she worked so hard..."

Very quickly, they finished cleaning the shop, and the group went back to the courtyard laughing and talking. Although they were laughing and talking, in their words, the feelings of Xie Xiaochun and the others were quite complicated; everything happened too fast, and now they actually had to wait until night to find the Yunmiao Village of the past...

Returning to the courtyard, only Xu Hongdou was in the courtyard, lying on a lounge chair looking up at the stars. Hearing the movement, she said: "Finished? So many people came? Do you all know about Nana's incident? She cried for several hours, and she was tired, so she fell asleep after six o'clock."

Xie Xiaoxia asked: "Has she eaten?"

"How could she eat?"

"That won't do. If she goes on like this, she'll definitely get very sick. She has to eat something, and even more so, she has to talk to us. If she could digest it herself, she wouldn't have run away covering her face today." While speaking, Xie Xiaochun turned directly to Nana's room and pushed the door open to enter.

"Have you eaten?" Wang Yan walked up to Xu Hongdou, expressing his concern.

"I ate a little bread to pad my stomach, waiting for you to come back tonight to eat together." Xu Hongdou stood on tiptoe, struggling to wrap her arms around Wang Yan's neck: "I heard from Xiaochun that you worked for two, you're good."

Wang Yan hugged her: "Why didn't you go back? Did you feel that staying was good?"

"I was worried about Nana."

"You're just stubborn. Nana is in low spirits now, she might need to rest for a few days, or just quit altogether. You, this volunteer helping out of friendship, will have to suffer."

Xu Hongdou laughed: "Then you come with me, men and women working together, it's not tiring. Can you bear to see me there all alone?"

"You really are a spendthrift woman." Wang Yan said in a Shandong dialect: "It's not enough that you work for free, you want to drag me over too?"

"Hey hey hey, Wang Laoshi, you two have had enough." Hu Youyu waved his hand: "There's a bunch of single dogs here, is it appropriate for you two to show off like this?"

Xie Zhiyao laughed: "Wang Laoshi, don't worry, I will definitely try my best to hire people for the shop. Hongdou will have to work hard for these two days."

"We two are cultivating our feelings; you definitely have to hire people, don't think too much." Wang Yan shook his head and smiled: "Alright, don't just stand there, hurry up and eat."

Eating with many people is lively. Although there was Nana's troublesome matter, everyone at the table had worked, and even Hu Youyu, who was relatively relaxed, had been singing at the top of his lungs for several hours, so they were all hungry. Therefore, the group seemed unaffected, eating and drinking heartily, very sweetly.

After eating for a while, Xie Xiaochun helped the haggard Nana out and sat her at the table.

In terms of appearance, Nana was not outstanding in this drama; her bone structure was not very good, which affected her beauty. Now, her haggard and weak appearance made Nana, who was already lacking, look even worse; she lost her usual refinement and had more of a disheveled look.

Nana sat down, and the whole room of people talked one after another, counseling Nana in various ways. They encouraged her to face it bravely and not to escape; the more she escaped, the more others would push their luck. If it didn't work, they should sue them for spreading rumors, and so on.

There was no room for Wang Yan to speak, and of course, he didn't want to say much, happy to be idle, just eating and drinking by himself... ===== CHAPTER 733 =====