Chapter 24: Two Old Men Debating Who's the Father

"Alright, do you really think I could poison you to death in broad daylight?"

Mr. Huang was somewhat dissatisfied with Yang Zi's performance and his dismissive attitude.

Hearing this, Yang Zi remained silent.

Chi Ye nodded: "I could."

Yang Zi: "..."

Mr. Huang glanced over here with dissatisfaction, then suddenly smiled: "You actually got that right."

Everyone: "..."

Chi Ye couldn't hold it in either: "Mr. Huang, are you not even going to pretend anymore?"

Mr. Huang pursed his lips, putting on an innocent face.

"..."

Just as Chi Ye was about to continue the interaction, he felt Shi Daifu beside him pause.

He looked over in surprise and saw that the boxing champion remained expressionless, yet the corners of her lips, which had been pressed together, were slightly curled upward.

Clearly, the boxing champion was also holding back laughter now.

"If you want to laugh, just laugh."

Seeing her like this, Chi Ye couldn't help but say: "Actually, it's quite good to smile more."

Shi Daifu panicked, the smile on her lips vanished, and she lowered her head to avoid looking at him.

Mr. Huang, in the distance, heard this and nodded in agreement, taking a jab: "That's right, she's a young girl, it's good to smile more."

After saying this, he glanced at Yang Zi again and added casually: "You child..."

Yang Zi: "?"

"Wait... what did you call me?!"

Yang Zi was completely bewildered, thinking for a moment he had misheard.

Chi... child?

"Uh..."

Mr. Huang also realized he had addressed the wrong person.

"Fun fact." Chi Ye watched from here, clearing things up for everyone: "Teacher Yang Zi didn't used to have the surname Yang, it was Child!"

"..."

Shi Daifu, who had been burying her head in working the "wind-fire wheel," paused again; the smooth rotation of the wheel suffered a brief stutter.

Yang Zi: ...Chi Ye, you won't die a good death!

He ignored Chi Ye, looked at Mr. Huang with displeasure, entered his professional field, and began to turn up the intensity: "How old are you this year?"

Mr. Huang: "?"

Feeling slightly guilty: "I'm 51!"

Yang Zi sneered: "I'm 52!"

Mr. Huang: "..."

Oh no, this is a real old-timer!

Yang Zi paused, raised his voice, frowned, and scolded: "Little Huang, you big chubby boy, you're just so naughty..."

"Pfft..."

Director Li, who had just taken a sip of tea behind the camera, instantly spat out a mouthful of water.

"?!!"

Mr. Huang was also instantly shocked to his core by Yang Zi's "big chubby boy" remark!

Big chubby boy?

Your whole family are big chubby boys!

He wanted to retort, but since he had "initiated the jab" first and Yang Zi was older than him... it really wasn't easy to use "age" to counterattack.

No, wait, how is this old lamp older than me?!

"Look, this is the true meaning of *Seeing You*. Who would have dared to imagine it, family? Mr. Huang actually has a day where he gets jabbed... how does that saying go..."

"The youngest son is untalented and has not gained the favor of his father!"

As Chi Ye put down corn, he turned back to the PD camera, acting like a live-streaming host: "Family who want to keep watching, get a fan badge and open a VIP pass. Next, I will provide everyone with a VIP viewing seat for the *Seeing You: Battle of the Fathers*!"

"Hhh, laughing my head off, witnessing a legendary scene."

"Who gets it? Yang Zi's 'Little Huang' made me laugh so hard my period was delayed."

"I get you hhh, the ex-wife Little Huang is gone, and Old Huang has arrived!"

"Is this streamer Little Chi? You're really playing games, kid."

"Hurry over, Wild, we want to watch up close!"

The audience in Chi Ye's live stream burst into laughter, while Yang Zi was still frowning and "scolding": "You tell me, you're just supposed to be cooking, why do you have to lecture me? As for my age..."

"Your age isn't right, is it?"

Mr. Huang actually took out his phone on the spot to verify, "ranking by seniority": "Your encyclopedia entry shows you're 49 this year!"

Yang Zi didn't change his expression: "Buddy, I also like to tell little lies."

Mr. Huang: "..."

You've learned it all, haven't you?!

Everyone else around heard the conversation, each of them pursing their lips tightly, but still unable to hold back the sounds of laughter.

Chi Ye had even laughed out loud.

"What are you all talking about? Speak up, I can't hear you!"

In the distance, the Old Buddha, who was still happily in the "storeroom" waiting for other guests to bring corn kernels so work could begin, frowned in displeasure at the commotion.

Chi Ye replied: "Nothing, just two old men debating who's the father, they started fighting. It's not worth watching, don't look."

Jin Xia: "?!"

"Ahem, everyone, time is precious, please continue working."

Director Li rubbed his face, stopping the "firefight" between this group of monsters.

Goodness, it's hard for this show not to be a hit; gathering this group of "people" together really makes for great television.

Once the production team spoke up, everyone realized what was happening.

Although the current list of victims only included Yang Zi, shelling more corn kernels meant they could get high-quality ingredients like beef, mutton, or even seafood first; the last place... would probably only be left with poisonous green beans.

Naturally, no one wanted to eat poisonous green beans.

"Teacher Shi, let's put in some effort and take first place!"

Chi Ye "borrowed the tiger's might," and Shi Daifu nodded slightly without a word. Without even seeing her exert much effort, the wind-fire wheel had already evolved into a "Storm Nebula Split."

The "clack-clack-clack" sound was so intense that Chi Ye worried the machine wouldn't be able to withstand such violence at some point.

Before long, he actually found that his speed of feeding the corn couldn't keep up with the speed at which the kernels were falling off!

"Done."

Half an hour later, a "small golden mountain" had already piled up under the machine of Chi Ye and Shi Daifu's team.

Shi Daifu said softly and let go of the handle; a "creak-creak" sound rang out, and the wooden piece wrapped around the handle seemed to have developed a crack.

"How many pounds is this?!"

Chi Ye glanced at it, his eyelids twitching.

With so many corn kernels in front of them, in addition to what they had shelled in this half hour, there were also the ones they had shelled before being grouped; after combining, all the kernels from both of them were added together.

Even so, isn't this a bit too much?

Can it be moved?

The "storeroom" is a long way from here.

Shi Daifu looked at him, unsure: "Should we save up more before sending it?"

Chi Ye: "...Send what? Send me away?"

Shi Daifu: "..."

"Let's send this batch over first. Looking at the time, we can probably send another batch later."

Chi Ye rubbed his arm; handing over the corn seemed easy, but after a long time, his arm was already a bit sore.

Looking at Shi Daifu, she didn't seem affected at all.

—Sister, are you a real-life Popeye? How are you this tough?

Shi Daifu didn't know what Chi Ye was thinking, but upon hearing him say "we can send a second batch," her eyes became bright and sparkling.

That's right, the first batch was about thirty kilograms of corn kernels, and the second batch would be a bit less, but they could still exchange them for more food.

Enough to eat!

The two stood up and clumsily gathered the plastic sheet on the ground, which contained at least thirty-plus kilograms of corn kernels.

Next, they needed to coordinate to carry the corn kernels to the "storeroom" for Jin Xia to count.

"Let's do it like this: each of us grabs two corners. I'll step with my left foot, you step with your left foot, then the right foot..."

Chi Ye directed.

Shi Daifu nodded slightly and handed two corners of the bag to Chi Ye.

Chi Ye took them, his body sinking, and then looked at Shi Daifu's small hands gripping the other two corners, feeling as if she hadn't used any effort at all.

Chi Ye: "..."

"Hmm?" Noticing Chi Ye's gaze, Shi Daifu was surprised: "Is it very heavy? Then give it all to me."

"No need."

Chi Ye spoke the truth: "Having you share the load is fine."

"Okay."

Chu Luanyu felt Chi Ye was right, and the two began to walk forward with small, shuffling steps.

But they hadn't walked for long before a problem arose.

Because the two were wearing a jumpsuit, and Chi Ye kept maintaining a distance from Chu Luanyu...

It wasn't that he was avoiding anything, but he was afraid of being too close to the boxing champion; if the boxing champion got unhappy, she might knock him flying with one punch.

Life is important, after all.

But walking while tethered like this, while also carrying over thirty kilograms of corn kernels, was indeed too slow.

Not only slow, but a burden.

Soon, Chu Luanyu couldn't stand this "work efficiency" anymore.

In her eyes, this was a very simple matter.

"Teacher Chi, you... why don't you go behind me?"

She cautiously offered the suggestion.

Chi Ye: "?"

"Behind?"

"Mm."

Chu Luanyu nodded gently: "I'll carry you on my back as we walk."

Chi Ye: "..."

He looked around hesitantly: "This... isn't great, is it? And there isn't enough space behind; I might not be able to get around."

He was already muttering to himself, I'm not afraid of others, I'm afraid of you!

Chu Luanyu seemed to know what he was thinking; she paused, lowered her head, and said in a voice as soft as a mosquito: "I'm fine... I'm not as... as exaggerated as you think."

She added in her heart: As long as you don't move around.

"Is that so." Chi Ye nodded, and sure enough, he didn't move.

Chu Luanyu was silent for a long moment: "Or I can just carry you."

"Huh?"

Chi Ye was stunned, bewildered: "What did you say?"

Chu Luanyu didn't speak again, but instead demonstrated with her actions.

She took the two corners from Chi Ye's hands, switched them to her other hand, and easily lifted the thirty kilograms of corn kernels with one hand.

The other arm, tucked inside the jumpsuit, wrapped around Chi Ye's waist.

Without even seeing her exert much effort, she just gave a light lift with her hips and legs, tightened the arm holding Chi Ye, and Chi Ye was lifted off the ground, "held" by her.

"Holy crap!"

Chi Ye watched this scene in disbelief, completely dumbfounded.

"Teacher Chi, this position might not be very comfortable... if you can't hold on, just tell me."

Chu Luanyu noticed the strange looks from the people around them, her pretty face flushed slightly, and she spoke as if her vocal cords were left at home, then strode out with her long legs.

*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.*

In the camera shot, one could see a slim, tall girl with a high ponytail, holding thirty kilograms of corn kernels in one hand while "holding" Chi Ye—who was a full 1.83 meters tall—in her other arm, suspending him in mid-air and walking as if flying, reaching the weighing area of the "storage room" in an instant.

"Woc...!"

Not far away, Yang Zi, Mr. Lu, and the others watched, dumbstruck.

"No way, isn't she just treating my Chi Ye like a figurine?!"

"Nonsense, that's clearly a keychain!"

"Sister Luanyu, you're so cool!"

"Teacher Chi, you're so funny!"

Chi Ye: "..."

He looked askance at Chu Luanyu, who was only slightly out of breath and hadn't even broken a sweat; the exclamation in his heart had turned into "terror."

Good heavens, that unlucky guy who wanted to take advantage of Chu Luanyu should be thankful for this law-abiding society!

It's too absurd!

On the other side.

Mr. Lu's group.

"Brother Xiaoming~ this is so romantic."

Seeing this wild move from Chi Ye's group, Lin Jingyi's large, tech-enhanced eyes lit up instantly, and she stole a shy glance at Mr. Lu.

"?"

Mr. Lu: "...Girl, you want to be held like that too?"

"Huh?"

Lin Jingyi was stunned, pouting in grievance, but not daring to be too "presumptuous," she could only say secretly: "Brother Xiaoming~ of course it's not me holding you... um... if you're tired, then forget it..."

The scene of Chu Luanyu carrying Chi Ye wasn't actually ugly; it looked a bit like a young couple embracing with one arm, even appearing a little romantic.

Plus, the camera highlights were numerous; if Mr. Lu held her, it might even trend, and she wanted that so damn much!

"..."

Mr. Lu was made to blush by Lin Jingyi's "forget it if you're tired," and then the "boss" attribute in his bones erupted.

"Tired? Girl, are you talking about a play?!"

Mr. Lu measured Lin Jingyi's petite figure, felt more confident, and smiled: "If you like it, I'll satisfy you!"

"Wow! Brother Xiaoming, you're so manly!"

Lin Jingyi had stars in her eyes.

Mr. Lu waved his hand and threw out an English phrase: "No ta tao~!"

Lin Jingyi was stunned; it took her a moment to react and understand what it meant.

Was Mr. Lu also copying Mr. Huang, using his own memes to whitewash himself?

"Let's go!"

Mr. Lu had already shouted; their group had now also accumulated five kilograms of corn kernels.

The two stood up and packed their bags; Mr. Lu imitated Chu Luanyu's style, wrapped his arms around Lin Jingyi's tech-enhanced waist, and gave a sharp lift—failure.

Then he tried having Lin Jingyi stick to his back; Lin Jingyi was small, so she could barely squeeze in.

"Up~!"

"Mm... cough cough!"

Mr. Lu missed a breath, but eventually managed to carry Lin Jingyi on his back.

"Brother Xiaoming is so great!"

Lin Jingyi shrieked in a very affected voice.

It drew side-eyes from everyone.

Chi Ye, who had already started "enjoying" it, was "sitting" in Chu Luanyu's arms, watching this scene, shaking his head and sighing: "Mr. Lu is trying too hard; at nearly fifty years old, he's letting himself be ridden like a donkey."

Chu Luanyu: "..."

"Ouch!"

As it turned out, the next moment, Mr. Lu hadn't walked many steps before he lost his strength and put Lin Jingyi down.

But he put her down suddenly, and Lin Jingyi was still kicking her legs in excitement; not paying attention, she stumbled and fell to the ground.

Mr. Lu was pulled by the jumpsuit and fell down too, landing on top of Lin Jingyi, giving everyone a scare.

"Are you okay? Mr. Lu?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine, the jumpsuit just gave a tug, I didn't fall hard."

Mr. Lu waved his hand, but a real "situation" had occurred on Lin Jingyi's side.

She covered her face and waved her hands in a panic: "Don't film me, don't film me yet~"

Everyone: "?"

Mr. Lu became nervous: "What's wrong, Jingyi?"

"It's nothing..." Lin Jingyi adjusted with both hands: "My nose got knocked crooked, just wait for me to pinch it back..."

Mr. Lu: "?!"

As she spoke, she had already lifted her head, and the nose on her face had indeed become a bit unaligned.

But she wasn't panicked; she reached out and pinched it carefully, and thanks to years of experience, it had already returned to normal.

Chi Ye happened to be "passing by," and seeing this, he couldn't help but be surprised: "Look at how Mr. Lu adjusted it for Jingyi, he's turned her into a Transformer!"

Lin Jingyi was furious: "Chi Ye!!"

Just as she wanted to say a few words, Chu Luanyu, perhaps unable to stand this awkward scene, quickened her pace and "clamped" Chi Ye, leaving the place in a flash.

"...What did she grow up eating?"

Lin Jingyi looked at Chu Luanyu, who was even more "delicate" than herself, unable to understand how the other's strength could be so great.

"This young girl..."

Yang Zi and Mr. Huang witnessed the whole thing and looked at each other in dismay.

It was different from the other two groups, which were "in full swing."

After the curtain fell on the first clash between the two fathers, both Yang Zi and Huang Laoshi had lost their tempers; their two fat bodies pressed together, lacking any motivation to work.

It was understandable; Yang Zi’s heart was already dead, and regardless of whether he won or lost, he was a dead man anyway.

So what was the point of doing anything?

Huang Laoshi was even more indifferent, and from this segment on, he had already begun explaining the origin and ingenious uses of the "corn sheller" to Yang Zi.

Yang Zi listened until he was drowsy, seizing every opportunity to counter-attack, and they fought with great delight.

At this moment, seeing so many "major events" happening on the field, the cameras were all focused over there, monopolizing the "spotlight," and Yang Zi grew anxious!

His eyeballs darted around, and he looked at Huang Laoshi.

Huang Laoshi: "?"

"Huang Laoshi, I also want to..."

Before he could finish, Huang Laoshi was overjoyed and picked up a pot: "You want to 'drug' me? Fine, I'll 'drug' you right now!"