Chapter 22: The Program Team That Treats Human Life Like Grass

Lin Jingyi: "..."

"Teacher Chi, later, later you come out with me."

The Old Buddha blinked her peach-blossom eyes, which shimmered with the light of wisdom: "Let's sneak out together!"

Chi Ye: "?"

"Sneak out? To do what?"

He discovered that there really was a strong sense of "sneakiness" about the Old Buddha.

Lin Jingyi was dissatisfied with the lack of rapport from Teacher Chi: "Does that even need asking? Obviously to go out and buy delicious food!"

She made a grand little wish: "When the time comes, you can take me to eat more things I haven't tried before... Hmm, it's not good to be out for too long, so we'll just sneakily buy them and hide them to eat."

Chi Ye: "...Aren't the additives enough? You just have to taste gutter oil and eat lymph-node meat?!"

Lin Jingyi was pleasantly surprised: "There's food even better than additives?"

Chi Ye: "..."

The two reached a little secret regarding this outing.

But they never expected that on the first day Teacher Huang came to *See You*, before he even cooked a meal, he would drop a massive bombshell on everyone.

Half an hour later, inside the house.

The chief director of *See You* looked at everyone with a solemn expression and announced the first "outdoor activity" for the *See You* family's initial gathering today.

"I believe everyone came to our program wanting to show their most authentic selves, so the program team's procedures must be followed."

The chief director glanced at Teacher Huang, who awkwardly scratched his nose.

The chief director of *See You* was no ordinary variety show director; he was a big shot registered at Mango TV. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to greenlight the *See You* project and gather so many monsters and freaks all at once.

Naturally, he was confident in his ability to control the scene.

"So, according to the program team's procedures, after the *See You* family's first assembly, in order to let everyone get familiar with each other as quickly as possible, we have decided to take you all on a special 'outdoor exercise' today."

After the chief director finished speaking, he offered no further introduction.

Li Dao took over the work and began organizing everyone to pack their luggage and board the *See You* bus that had driven into the courtyard.

"Where is this going?"

Lin Jingyi was pleasantly surprised rather than alarmed, poking her little head out to look at the scenery outside the window, then looking at Teacher Huang not far away, her charming peach-blossom eyes full of inquiry.

Teacher Huang sensed her gaze and turned his head away to avoid looking at her.

That moment just now really was... a little bit embarrassing.

He hadn't expected to encounter obstacles during his first "ranking by seniority" on *See You*.

"Teacher Huang is quite fond of cleanliness."

Seeing this, Chi Ye couldn't help but shake his head.

"Oh?" Lin Jingyi beside him came back to her senses and asked curiously: "How do you know?"

"He just arrived and already lost all face, what do you think?"

Lin Jingyi: "..."

"Also, stop staring at Teacher Huang."

Seeing the Old Buddha still couldn't curb her curiosity, Chi Ye said speechlessly: "Teacher Huang is an old bag of bones; you've made him shy."

Lin Jingyi turned back, dissatisfied: "Teacher Huang fought for a good outcome this time too. Even though we couldn't go out to eat, going outdoors to play is also very interesting."

Hearing this, Chi Ye felt there was nothing wrong with that logic.

As a result, after they sat on the bus marked with the *See You* logo and arrived at what the program team called the "outdoor location," they were all instantly dumbfounded.

Because the place they arrived at wasn't the ski resort or amusement park they had imagined, but a large expanse of open ground.

The area was extremely large, at least the size of a soccer field, with several "little golden mountains" piled up on it.

"Is this... corn?"

Yang Zi had already put on a pair of gold-rimmed glasses and was wearing a precious luxury watch; his temperament was elegant and refined, and one look told you he was no good.

"Welcome to 'Corn Mountain'."

Li Dao, who had taken over the chief director's work, coughed lightly and introduced it using the program team's megaphone: "Winter is the season for farm leisure, but around the *See You* cabin, many villagers have stored dried corn in their homes."

"Every winter, they use the oldest corn threshers to strip the kernels off the dried corn to sell in the coming year."

"As friendly neighbors to the villagers, you have readily agreed to help them complete this arduous task..."

Looking at the dried corn piled as high as several mountains in front of him, Yang Zi felt dizzy: "Who readily agreed on our behalf? We didn't receive any news!"

"Aren't we in a village-in-the-city? Are there really neighbors around?"

Lin Jingyi's face was equally pale.

They didn't have any neighbors; the program team was clearly doing this for traffic and was intentionally messing with them!

Chi Ye nodded: "We have painfully agreed to it."

Program team: "..."

Li Dao coughed lightly and continued the roleplay: "To thank everyone for your 'help,' the villagers have prepared various fruits, vegetables, rice, flour, and cooking oil for you. You can exchange the total weight of the corn you shell today for the vegetables you like to eat."

After speaking, he signaled the camera.

The drone camera swept over, giving a close-up of the many fresh vegetables and fruits placed in front of the wide open space.

They even had "labels" stuck on them, representing how much weight was needed to exchange for how many items.

Li Dao continued: "The vegetables and fruits you exchange for will become the 'granary' for the *See You* cabin, and will also be the source of ingredients for Teacher Huang to cook for you today."

"?!"

Hearing this, everyone's expressions changed in unison.

Don't, you mustn't!

What kind of torture is this?!

"I finally understand now."

Chi Ye realized with a start: "So the program team doesn't just want us dead, they want us to walk to our own deaths!"

"This way they don't have to take responsibility, right? Truly bloodless, isn't it?"

He turned back to his own PD camera and said: "Family, if I'm gone, remember to burn some incense for me next year."

"Hhh."

"The *See You* directing team is the most 'fan-pampering' I've ever seen!"

"The program team knows what we like to watch; they have to ruthlessly torture this group of monsters and freaks."

The audience in the livestream clearly wouldn't burn incense for Chi Ye; one by one, they celebrated, very satisfied with this arrangement by the *See You* program team.

——What do you come to *See You* to watch?

Isn't it just to torture this group of "malignant tumors" plaguing the entertainment industry?

Only then is it satisfying!

On this side, after the program team announced the rules, they had professionals come over to teach everyone how to use the corn threshers.

The corn thresher is a very common thing in rural areas; it's the most ancient kind where you stuff the corn in, then manually turn the handle, using your strength to strip the kernels from the cob.

To be honest, it's manual labor.

"Come on, children."

Teacher Huang smiled kindly: "Get moving, labor is the most glorious. I just checked, the poisonous green beans are the cheapest; they only require five catties of corn kernels to exchange."

Chi Ye: "Yes, human life is just that worthless."

Everyone: "..."

Everyone exchanged glances, everything understood without words.

Among all the monsters and freaks, except for Jingyi who loves eating history, no one else had that hobby.

The program team announced the start of the timer, and everyone appeared busy, but in reality, each was showing off their own unique skills.

Chi Ye stood in front of his "machine," pretending to put in a cob of corn, then slowly turned the handle.

Lin Jingyi, who was right next to him, saw this and was puzzled: "Teacher Chi, why are you being so perfunctory? If we don't turn out enough corn kernels, we won't have ingredients to cook!"

Chi Ye glanced at her and discovered that the Old Buddha was putting thick cotton gloves onto those fair, jade-like hands. After putting them on, she seemed to feel the protection wasn't enough, so she added another pair, making her whole hand swell up like a tumor.

"What? If I'm not perfunctory, should I be like you and not even bother acting?"

Chi Ye exclaimed in admiration: "Once these hands of yours come out, who would dare let you do any work?!"

"Genius, discharge from the hospital!"

Lin Jingyi: "...Teacher Chi!"

"Alright, alright, let's work."

Chi Ye waved his hand, but his movements still didn't speed up.

——Look at the others, Yang Zi and Teacher Lü, two of the so-called "Three Know-It-Alls" of *See You*, are currently pretending not to recognize the corn thresher and are still over there studying the machine!

Him doing it himself was already very conscientious!

Of course, among the seven guests, the most conscientious was Shi Daifu, who had had very little presence ever since Teacher Huang and the others moved in.

She was seen taking a hairpin from somewhere, nimbly pinning up her waterfall-like long hair into a simple high ponytail, then putting on the thin gloves prepared by the program team. She casually picked up two large buckets of corn and began throwing them into the machine one by one.

Her other seemingly slender arm turned the handle without any effort.

In an instant, only the sound of "clack, clack, clack" could be heard, and batch after batch of golden corn kernels quickly piled up into a mountain.

"Woc...!"

Chi Ye and the others watched, dumbstruck.

"Hmm?"

Dai Fudai noticed everyone's gaze, stopped her arms that were moving like a whirlwind, turned her head to look at them, and said, slightly nervous: "Th-that... did I do something wrong?"

Everyone: "......No problem at all."

"Oh."

Dai Fudai nodded, her almond-shaped eyes landing back on the rusty corn sheller, a glimmer of hunger deep within her gaze.

The more corn kernels she shelled, the more ingredients there would be, and the more she would have to eat...

To be honest, ever since she moved into the cottage, she had been in a state of semi-starvation; after experiencing the "health tea" incident yesterday, she felt even more ashamed, so she hadn't dared to eat much for breakfast.

But she usually had a high metabolism and a hearty appetite, and now she had reached the limit of her endurance.

If she shelled more, she could eat her fill!

Thinking this, Dai Fudai's pair of slender, soft hands had already turned into a whirlwind, and sparks were faintly flying from the corn sheller.

Buzz buzz buzz buzz.

Click click click click...

Chi Ye listened, his heart jumping in alarm, and unable to bear it any longer, he hurriedly shouted: "Teacher Dai, Teacher Dai, stop turning it, you're spinning sparks out of it!"

"What kind of grudge or grievance do you have that you want to harm the five of us like this?"

"Uh...!"

Dai Fudai hurriedly stopped her "whirlwind," her oval face turning bright red: "I... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to harm everyone."

Chi Ye: "......"

He walked over and pulled Dai Fudai away: "Have some pity on the machine; look at what you've done to the 'neighbor's' property, the machine is about to fall apart."

Dai Fudai was stunned. She looked over and sure enough, she discovered a deep scratch had been rubbed between the machine's handle and its arm.

"I... I didn't do it on purpose, maybe my operating method is wrong..."

"That's not important."

Chi Ye's eyelids were also twitching wildly. This broken machine took a lot of effort for a normal person to use properly; how did Dai Fudai manage to do it effortlessly while grinding against other parts every time?

Looking at her delicate physique...

Could it be that she is a cultivator?!

"Sister Fudai, you have so much strength! That's amazing!"

Jin Xia looked at the empty space under her own machine, then looked at the small mountain of corn kernels piled under Dai Fudai's machine, and admired her even more.

But after hearing the words "so much strength," Dai Fudai was so embarrassed she wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into, and she hurriedly waved her hands: "No, no... I don't actually have much strength..."

"Yes, not much strength, but a lot of luck."

Jin Xia was confused: "What does that mean?"

Chi Ye sighed: "Most people wouldn't dare to 'provoke' Teacher Huang like this."

Everyone: "......"

"I'm sorry everyone... I... I will be slower."

Dai Fudai lowered her head to apologize; she wasn't completely oblivious and already understood what everyone meant.

"Why are you apologizing? It's fine. In the future, I'll give you all the food Teacher Huang makes for me; you won't go hungry," Chi Ye comforted her.

Jin Xia: "......Teacher Chi, you are so vicious."

"Ah... no, no, I'm not hungry, my appetite... my portion size isn't actually that big..."

Dai Fudai didn't pay attention to that; she hadn't expected Chi Ye to see through her thoughts, and her face turned even redder, feeling utterly mortified.

Chi Ye: "......"

How exactly was this personality formed, where she suppresses her own needs and subconsciously says "I'm not hungry" even when she is?

After this little interlude, without Dai Fudai, the honest one, the group of veteran artists had reached a tacit understanding; on the surface they were working, but in reality, they were all goldbricking.

Half an hour passed, and Yang Zi and Teacher Lü hadn't even figured out the machine!

You call yourself a know-it-all, but he doesn't know anything either!

Jin Xia had gained nothing at all.

It wasn't that the Old Buddha was doing it on purpose; it was because she really had never used this thing before, and besides... those gloves of hers, wrapped up like tumors, couldn't do any work anyway!

Chi Ye took a look and discovered that among the group, besides Teacher Huang, he was the one who had shelled the most.

For a moment, he wanted to say to Teacher Huang: Who is the real hornet?!

Of course, the production team was certainly not satisfied with this unsightly work efficiency.

Li Dao was in charge of this outdoor recording, and when he discovered that all the monsters and demons were secretly goldbricking, he frowned a little.

He had expected everyone to stir up trouble, but he hadn't expected the guests to really be unwilling to "eat Huang's rice." What's wrong? Are they really trying to be their "authentic selves"?!

He paused and gave a look to the assistant beside him.

The assistant immediately handed the megaphone to Li Dao. Li Dao took it and shouted through the megaphone: "Everyone, stop for a moment. Next, I will announce some news."

The "busy" crowd looked up. Yang Zi pretended to support his waist and habitually started acting: "What? More bad news? My old waist can't take it anymore!"

Chi Ye: "You're acting like you can't take it."

Yang Zi: "?"

He glared: Whose side are you on?!

Chi Ye apologized: "Sorry, I'm used to it."

Yang Zi: "......"

"In view of everyone's 'work attitude,' the villagers hope that everyone will finish the work within one hour."

"?"

Yang Zi immediately shouted: "The villagers hope?! Where are these villagers? Isn't it all just you guys from the production team!"

Chi Ye: "Why do these villagers have so many damn issues?"

Production Team: "......"

Li Dao ignored the two of them and continued: "If you cannot finish the work within one hour, you will not be able to obtain ingredients and will not have lunch."

"!!"

Upon hearing this, everyone was not alarmed but happy!

There's such a good thing?!

"If we don't eat, we don't eat!"

"Then we just won't eat."

"It's too tiring, we can't finish it at all. It's a pity we can't eat Teacher Huang's food," Teacher Lü said with high emotional intelligence.

"Ah, I still wanted to eat it!" Lin Jingyi said with regret.

Hmm, it was clear she was truly regretful.

What innate calamitous poison body?!

"......!"

"Hey, how can that be."

Over here, Teacher Huang listened to everyone's "regretful" words, furrowed his brow, and began his habitual lecturing: "You still have to eat. People are iron, rice is steel, after all. You kids just haven't suffered enough."

As he spoke, he happily pointed to the iron pot he had brought: "Children, don't worry about lunch."

"Even if you don't finish by noon, it doesn't matter."

"I've discussed it with the production team; even if we have to set up a temporary stove here, I will make lunch for everyone!"

"Rest assured, I guarantee I won't let anyone go hungry!"

Everyone: "?!"

Chi Ye: "Not a brother, are you chasing us to kill us?!"