Chapter 6: The production team kicked things off bright and early. Ming Huai knew they wouldn't come up with anything easy. Last year it was picking watermelons to earn money; this year, it was cutting sugarcane in exchange for daily necessities. Director Gao is notorious in the industry for his high standards. In any variety show he produces, there's no room for pretense; scripts are kept deliberately loose, leaving ample space for genuine improvisation. By late morning, Zhao Manman was the first to reach her limit. Unable to cook and unwilling to hold everyone back, this delicate girl had spent the entire morning wielding a machete in the sugarcane field—a truly grueling ordeal. Seeing her pretty face flushed red from the heat, the two of them found a spot to sit down right there among the stalks, paying no mind to the dirt. They were utterly exhausted, but fortunately, the tall sugarcane provided solid shade from the sun.

Ming Huai handed Zhao Manman a wet wipe, whispering, "Take a break over there; I'll handle this."

Zhao Manman accepted the wipe with delighted surprise.

"Ming Huai, you're so kind! You even have wet wipes?"

Ming Huai smiled, explaining that his assistant had packed them into his bag yesterday. Having checked the weather forecast this morning and seen temperatures could reach thirty degrees Celsius, he'd figured they might come in handy and casually slipped them into his pocket. Zhao Manman wiped her face with the cool cloth.

Just then, a breeze swept through, bringing immense relief. Only because her skin was naturally resilient did she dare apply the wipe directly to her made-up face; otherwise, smudged makeup would have ruined the filming entirely. Ming Huai glanced up at the sky. The sun was nearly overhead; he guessed lunchtime was approaching. However, their task for the day required cutting three hundred stalks of sugarcane. Lacking the proper technique, he and Zhao Manman had managed only seventy or eighty stalks after a whole morning's work.

"Manman, rest a bit longer; I'm going back to it," Ming Huai said, rising with his sickle.

He felt it wasn't right for Zhao Manman, being a girl, to keep enduring the scorching sun. But after just a short rest, Zhao Manman regained her energy. Wiping her face, she insisted she didn't need a break, grabbed her sickle, and joined Ming Huai for another round of harvesting. No guest stars were scheduled for the first day; the focus was purely on labor to secure supplies needed for tomorrow. Chen Jun and Wang Lun also had their tasks, cutting sugarcane in another section of the field. At noon, Ming Huai and Zhao Manman met Chen Jun and Wang Lun in the courtyard. All four were covered in dust and sweat; catching sight of each other, they couldn't help but burst into laughter. There was well water in the yard; splashing their faces with its coolness instantly refreshed them. Ming Huai and the other two rested for a while lying under a makeshift shelter erected in the center of the courtyard.

Chen Jun, however, had no time to relax; he immediately picked up some vegetables and headed to the nearby cooking station. Smiling, Chen Jun joked with the production staff, "You actually showed some conscience this time—preparing a stove for us!"

Everyone immediately recalled the hardships of filming the first episode. The production team, full of tricky ideas, hadn't even provided a stove; they'd ended up building one themselves. Feeling sufficiently rested and mindful that seniors shouldn't bear all the burden alone, Ming Huai got up promptly to ask Chen Jun if he needed any help. Since Ming Huai's cooking skills were merely passable, Chen Jun assigned him only the task of washing the vegetables. Cool well water flowed through his hands, making Ming Huai smile involuntarily. Filming this kind of show was actually quite enjoyable. Everyone was authentic and easy to get along with; it was rare to find guest stars who were all such genuinely good people. On the second day, guests arrived: three singers, both male and female. Their visit certainly wasn't meant for leisure. Chen Jun and Wang Lun enjoyed excellent relationships within the entertainment industry; these newcomers were old friends of theirs.

Thus, spurred on by Chen Jun and the others, they too pitched in with numerous chores. For them, such occasional rural life served as relaxation. After a satisfying meal, beneath a sky filled with starlight, they chatted about old times, thoroughly content and at ease.The guests' stay in the courtyard is indefinite, depending entirely on the director's arrangements. In short, as soon as the next group arrives, the current one must depart. Ming Huai recalled that during the previous recording, six episodes took a total of fifteen days; he assumed this season would be similar. When the topic occasionally came up in conversation, everyone else shared roughly the same expectation. After three groups of guests had already left, the fourth group arrived after only eight days. This trend puzzled Ming Huai. Some things, however, couldn't be said openly in front of the cameras, so he quietly counted the days, wondering if the production team intended to allocate more time for the final two episodes.

If so, those last guests must be major stars—big names among big names. The thought stirred something within him, and certain hidden desires began to grow uncontrollably. That evening, while everyone was chatting over sugarcane juice, a phone call came in. Conversation halted immediately. Zhao Manman rushed to answer, glanced toward their table, flashed an "OK"

sign, then put the call on speaker. From the first words, it was clear the caller was using a voice changer; gender was impossible to determine.

"Hello," Zhao Manman asked with a smile,

"how many of you are there?" The other end chuckled.

Distorted by the voice changer, the laughter sounded comical and absurd. The caller played coy: "Guess."

Zhao Manman let out an "Ah?"

then turned求助fully toward the table. Chen Jun mouthed silently for her to ask whether the callers were male or female. She did as instructed, but still learned nothing. Clearly confident that no one could guess correctly, the caller made demands without hesitation, simply stating there were many people and requiring large portions of food—essentially declaring their intention to eat the hosts into bankruptcy. By the time the call ended, neither Ming Huai nor the others had uncovered a single clue. Ming Huai pondered aloud, "From the tone, it felt as though they're very close to some of us."

He looked toward Chen Jun and Wang Lun.

"Teacher Chen, Teacher Wang, could these be friends of yours?" Wang Lun mused,

"Possibly."

While they continued speculating about the identity of these mysterious visitors, someone from the production team, perhaps taking pity on their utter confusion, interjected:

"Tomorrow's guests total four people. Three of them are acquaintances of the two teachers, and one has a connection with Ming Huai."

Ming Huai froze. People connected to him weren't exactly few, though certainly not countless either. This information felt almost useless.

"Huh?" Zhao Manman muttered,

"So I'm the only outsider?"

Her remark made everyone laugh, momentarily distracting them from their confusion. Then the production staff added, "Actually, you're slightly connected too."

Now everyone was even more bewildered.

"By the way,"

the production member dropped a bombshell, "this will be our final group of guests for the entire season."

Everyone was stunned. They all knew "Farmhouse Courtyard"

comprised twelve episodes. With such strong ratings, there was no possibility of suddenly cutting an episode. This meant one group of guests would have to carry two episodes. Originally, Ming Huai hadn't cared much about this matter, but after tonight's revelations, he couldn't help overthinking. Even after lying down in bed, his mind kept replaying the clues provided by the production team. After 11 p.m., the bedroom cameras would be turned off. The production team still respected the artists' privacy; Zhao Manman's room camera, for instance, shut down as early as 9 p.m. and wouldn't restart until 9 a.m. the next morning. Ming Huai reached for his phone, switched to his alternate Weibo account, which had one specially followed profile. He opened that homepage, scrolled downward, liking posts as he went, saving any particularly appealing images along the way.After saving a batch of photos, Ming Huai murmured softly, "Why is there still a watermark?"

The bright light from the screen illuminated Ming Huai's face, making his eyes sparkle. Ji Tingqian didn't post on Weibo frequently; a casual scroll quickly revealed content he'd seen before. Yet Ming Huai tirelessly scrolled through it again and again. Seeing Ji Tingqian's fans commenting "husband"

in the replies, Ming Huai struggled fiercely to suppress the urge to report each one of them. Since his comeback, Ji Tingqian had taken on far fewer roles, accepting only two film projects over the past two years. One of these films had earned Ji Tingqian the Best Actor title once more. Next, Ming Huai visited several major fan clubs dedicated to Ji Tingqian. After browsing through them all, he found no recent schedule listings for Ji Tingqian. Slightly disheartened, Ming Huai put down his phone. Gazing into the darkness filling the room, he blinked. Ji Tingqian was probably not in the country. He shouldn't have harbored such unrealistic hopes in the first place. Sleepiness gradually crept in. Ming Huai reached out and gently touched the ring hanging around his neck. Soon afterward, still clutching the ring, he fell asleep. The next morning, Ming Huai woke up shortly after six.

After washing up, he went first to feed the chickens. As he was about to leave, he suddenly spotted several eggs in the coop. Delighted, Ming Huai quickly gathered them. Adding these to the leftovers from previous days, breakfast was now secured. Ming Huai rinsed the eggs under running water, then placed them into a small pot set upon the stove. Country-raised native eggs were highly nutritious and tasted distinctly different; Ming Huai quite enjoyed them. While watching the fire, he thought about buying some native eggs to take home once filming wrapped up. One by one, everyone else got up. After finishing breakfast, they saw the guests off. Following lunch came what felt like an endless journey of cutting sugarcane once again. Zhao Manman had been exposed to the sun continuously for several days. For a female celebrity, this was no joke; even repeated applications of sunscreen couldn't fully protect her.

Since the three men naturally tended to be more considerate toward the girl, today Ming Huai and Chen Jun worked in the fields, Wang Lun took the sheep out to graze, while Zhao Manman stayed home to await guests. Having cut sugarcane for so many days, Ming Huai had picked up some techniques and found the task much smoother than before. His skin was fair, and he wasn't particularly prone to tanning. Moreover, since it was only April, the weather was considerably better than last year. Thus, after all these days, he remained just as pale as ever, much to Zhao Manman's envy. Around four o'clock, Chen Jun's phone rang. It was Zhao Manman calling. Her voice carried a barely suppressed laugh as she urged Chen Jun and Ming Huai to hurry back; the guests had arrived. In the small courtyard, Zhao Manman put down her phone and turned to Qu Mei with a bright smile.

"Teacher Chen will be back soon."

Qu Mei laughed, saying the little girl loved teasing her.

Meanwhile, Ji Tingqian stood nearby helping Wang Lun sort the freshly picked beans. A flicker of ambiguous light passed through Ji Tingqian's eyes. He wondered what reaction Ming Huai would have upon seeing him. He guessed the other man's expression would surely be quite spectacular. A gentle breeze drifted in, carrying a freshness entirely different from that of the city, mingled with the fragrance of flowers, effortlessly inviting relaxation. People in the courtyard chatted and laughed happily.

Suddenly, the courtyard gate swung open, and a clear voice called out, "We're back!"

As the door opened, Ji Tingqian looked over. Ming Huai's smile instantly froze on his face, leaving him staring blankly, looking utterly dumbstruck.