CH 56.2

Oh, it’s already the end of March. As promised, I’ll change the posting schedule of this series from April onward. It’s now two chapters per upload, still on Mondays and Thursdays!

Also, thank you Candycorns for the ko-fi donation! We have two chapters update today.

Next ko-fi donation for bonus chapter (0/2)

Shen Xingsui was low-key, so once he pulled an out-of-nowhere skill like this, it was always a delight for the audience to see. The youth looked slender, but he had a surprising amount of physical strength. He easily brought Shen Xingchen along, pedaling at a top speed. It was only when he reached his destination that sweat started to pour in. 

Shen Xingchen got off the vehicle first, then entered the store, “Instructor Li, we are here to buy flowers!”

The said instructor came as he was called in. He didn’t expect that the customer would be a fellow guest. He put on his usual polite customer service smile.”How much do you want? Our top flowers each cost 10 yuan.. “

Shen Xingchen said as he examined the flowers around him, “This flower is quite beautiful.”

“That’s right, I just picked it. Plus, I’ll give you a free packaging service!” Instructor Li sounded very proud of his work. “Let Ranran introduce it to you.” 

Although Shen Xingchen wasn’t the type of person who spends money like breathing air, he never bought flowers by himself. He didn’t know the correct price for this kind of item.  Anran’s introduction was very positive, “This kind of rose costs 10 yuan a piece. While this one is more expensive, and it costs 15.”

Shen Xingsui came from behind, and after looking at the flowers, he said softly:,”Ranran, give us this kind of common rose. If we buy 50 of them, can we get it for a cheaper price?” 

Anran didn’t know how to properly respond to this offer, “This price is not expensive.”

“But we buy a lot at once.” Shen Xingsui bent down to look at the flowers as if he was bargaining in the vegetable market. He said as he pointed to each flower, “Look, this flower is a bit wilted, so the price should be lower. And as for this one, it’s obviously much smaller than the others, so it’s not appropriate to sell it at the same price.” 

Anran was actually choked by his words. He couldn’t refute this, so he had to relent, “Okay, okay, I will give you a discount.” 

Shen Xingsui was satisfied now. He smiled politely. “Thank you.”

After helping Shen Xingsui to place the flowers on the tricycle’s compartment, Shen Xingchen felt it was fair for him to be the one who pedaled this time. His younger brother must’ve been tired. “I’ll pedal this time, ‘kay?” 

Shen Xingsui looked at him hesitantly and said, “Can you?

“You look down on me!” Shen Xingchen patted his chest, “Heh, do you think this will be difficult for me?” 

Facts have proved that although Shen Xingchen sometimes has a simple head, he has a good learning ability. He really knew how to pedal a tricycle. 

However, when they arrived at their fruit stall, both of their energies had been drained dry. They were even too tired to stand up straight. 

The audience also have different opinions on Shen Xingsui’s behavior:

[He’s too stingy.]

[Small-hearted.]

[Hey, I think Ranran’s temperament is far from good also.] 

[Xingsui, are you short of money?]

[Mr. Li’s team must be so tired, and compared to Xingsui’s team, they didn’t make much money today. Don’t you think it’s only fair to purchase them at the given price?] 

When the flowers arrived, they distributed all the flowers, because all the fruits in the stall had been sold. As for the grandpa supplier, he actually was around during this time. Never in his wildest dream his fruits could all be sold out like this. This was the first time in his life he saw this empty stall. 

He wasn’t dreaming, was he? 

Fu Jinxiao handed over the recorded account to him, and said, “Today’s total turnover is here, about 6213 yuan1about 900 USD. That’s like, my university semester tuition.. You can collect the account, and later our program team will withdraw the cash from the bank and send it to you.” 

“It’s… so much?” The old man took the account book with his rough hand, all dirty and full of calluses from working all year around. It was still trembling as he carefully ran over his finger on the book. “”Thank you, thank you so much, young man. I can’t take all the money, you sell things for me, I’ll give you half of this…”

Shen Xingchen gave the old man a reassuring smile. “It’s okay grandpa, this is all voluntary work for us. Besides, this was actually a task assigned by a program director, and we are paid salary for doing this! In fact, you are already doing a favor by lending us the fruits to sell!”

The old man didn’t know much about program directors or tasks.

He was very stubborn, though. He still took out a piece of cloth from his pocket. The cloth looked very worn out. He carefully opened the folded cloth one by one, revealing the money inside. There were two 100 yuan bills. He took it out tremblingly, and what left him was 5 yuan, 10 yuan, and a few scattered coins. They all looked old and worn out. 

He put the 100 yuan bill into Fu Jinxiao’s hand, and then lowered his head to get the smaller 5 yuan and 10 yuan bills. His voice was quiet but full of sincerity, “This is what I saved from selling my harvest. You take this money as a payment first, and for the rest, I’ll give you later when the money arrives today.” 

The old man has no savings in banks. All he had was 215 yuan2about 31 USD… cash. 

For many people, this amount was just pocket change. The money you recharge for your game account to buy that character skin you like. But for this grandpa, this “insignificant” amount was their whole life savings. 

Shen Xingsui handed over the money to the old man, and said with a smile, “Don’t worry, we don’t need this money. The director will pay us a salary, and you already paid us by your service.” 

The grandpa hesitated, “I just… don’t really understand. But, you mean that you already got your pay?” 

Fu Jinxiao smiled gently. “Yes, that’s correct. This money is what you deserve. No need to worry about us.” 

“That’s right.” Shen Xingsui carefully helped the old man put the money back into the cloth pouch and folded it carefully. His movements were careful and his voice was gentle. “It’s too hot now, you can wear a sun hat or something when you go out. I checked it just now, a sun hat sold in that store is on sale recently. It’s 20 yuan now. And, you usually walk a lot, so you should change those shoes…” 

The old man was quietly listening carefully. All of his children were all working in the city, and they only see him once a year. Listening to this young man’s gentle instructions reminded him of his children and grandchildren. He nodded while his eyes slowly turned red. 

Standing in this sunlight, the old man’s back was slouching, framing a very lonely figure. 

The audience in the live broadcast room were deeply moved:

[There are really too many sufferings in this world.]

[“Xingsui, stop being stingy”?, now it’s clear that Suisui saves that money because it’s for that grandpa.] 

[Truly, only people who have lived a hard life will understand.]

[He just wants to save some money so that grandpa can buy more things. Instead, he was criticized for being petty. Please, stop running your mouth before you understand the full story.] 

The next day—

Everyone gathered in the courtyard early in the morning, and the director team began to count yesterday’s results. In the end, Fu Jinxiao’s team of four surpassed the other team by at least 500 yuan. They were the first place finishers. 

The staff brought three password boxes and said, “Congratulations on completing yesterday’s task on time and reaching the target. These three password boxes contain clues about the assassin and your mission. Everyone can open the box and get the hint card.” 

Shen Xingchen took the box and said, “Where’s the password?”

The director team began to do their usual inhumane operations, “The password is the number of breakfast items that appeared on the dining table yesterday, plus the combined number of you and your teammates’ chosen breakfast items. If you combine them, it’s the password. On top of that, only the guests who know the password could get the hint cards.”

“????” 

Question marks might as well have popped up on top of the four men’s heads. They stared at the staff in pure disbelief. 

Shen Xingchen held back for a long time, and choked out a sentence, “Director, are you kidding me?”

The number of barrages in live broadcast rooms doubled:

[Hahahahahaha!]

[I knew it! This director is too foxy to give them “free” breakfast! They really use that for passwords!] 

[God, I’m rolling on my bed, laughing until I wheezed.]

[I got the hint card, but this is not that different from not getting it.]

Just when everyone was dumbfounded, Shen Xingsui stepped forward silently and said, “I think I remember.”

“?” Everyone looked at him in unison.

Being stared at like this, Shen Xingsui smiled shyly and said, “My memory is not bad. I remembered the total quantity because I had difficulty choosing them. There should be 12 breakfast items, right?” 

The staff nodded. “Correct.” 

“!!!” The guests’ eyes widened. 

Shen Xingchen leaned over and said, “But it’s useless for you to only remember that. We also need to combine the number of items we chose right? Do you remember Fu-ge’s?”

Fu Jinxiao opened his lips: “Our combined total should be 16.”

The staff quickly nodded again. “Correct.”

Shen Xingchen: “…?”

The director team took two password boxes and handed them to Fu Jinxiao and Shen Xingsui. “Congratulations, you have completed the test. These two boxes belong to you.”

Shen Xingchen next to him was stunned, he seemed to be screaming inside like an insane person. ‘Did you cheat?? Did you actually get a secret script?? Damn you! How on earth do you remember the number of breakfasts!! Foul!’ 

Li Xu’an could only be silent. 

These two reactions greatly amused the audiences: 

[What kind of treasure program is this hahaha.]

[Fu-ge and Suisui are too strong!]

[Baby Xingchen, I’ll light you some candles.]

[I’ll screenshot Li Xu’an’s speechless expression for later usage~]

The staff probably could sense the visible murder intent and couldn’t stand it anymore. They finally decided to spare these two. “Actually, it doesn’t matter if you really forget. Because you have completed the sales task, we can make an exception and give you two this last password box.” 

Shen Xingchen was about to breathe a sigh of relief when he heard the director added, “However, you two won’t get your breakfast today.” 

The young master felt like he was being choked to death. By his own irritation. 

Other guests decided to participate this a little bit of schadenfreude: 

“Xingchen, you can be content, at least you have one box.”

“That’s right, we don’t have breakfast either.”

“Let’s starve together, dear comrade.”

Shen Xingchen just thought of protesting. Who knew that the director took out another mobile phone and slyly said, “But it doesn’t matter. Now we will add a challenge. It is 5:30 in the morning. Please call your family and ask if they would help you by coming here to Taohuawu Town and bringing breakfast. If they agree, you will get the breakfast we provided. If they refuse, then you can continue going hungry.” 

“…”

This dog director!

Numb expressions almost appeared on everyone’s faces.

But there were still people who were happy. Instructor Li tried to be positive as he said, “Okay, at least we got a chance! At least it is better than nothing.”

“Bring me my phone.”

The staff had long been used to this young master’s temper, so they quickly handed him the mobile phone, but then repeated the rules. “It must be your own family.” 

Shen Xingchen nodded, “Don’t worry!”

The young master dialed the phone confidently. He decided to dial Shen Minglang’s number first. After the phone rang for a while, it was finally picked up. The eldest Shen brother answered with a rough, hushed voice, “Hello?”  

Shen Xingchen spoke quickly, “Hello, ge, it’s Xingchen.” 

Shen Minglang: “What’s the matter?”

“I’m participating in a show, so… can you come here and bring me breakfast?”Shen Xingchen had a smile on his face.

Shen Minglang was silent for a long time. Then, he answered with a gloomy and terrifying voice, “I had a scheduled meeting all night yesterday, and I just fell asleep for less than an hour. Shen Xingchen, are you itchy for a spanking?” 

Shen Xingchen: “Hey… That’s not–” 

The call was hung up with a click. 

The cold wind blowing in the yard. It felt desolate. 

The other guests couldn’t hold back their laughter. While Shen Xingchen looked at the director and said, “Director, this doesn’t count, can you let me  make another call?” 

How dare the director say no.

If this young master got angry, no one could stop him.

Shen Xingchen quickly made another call to his mother – his family member with the best temper. After dialing the phone for a while, Xu Enzhen’s voice sounded over the phone, soft and gentle, “Hello?” 

Shen Xingchen answered, “Mom, it’s me, Xingchen.”

“Shen Xingchen?” As soon as Xu Enzhen heard that it was his son, a slightly pungent voice came out, “What are you doing up until five o’clock in the morning? Don’t tell me you are having nightmares!” 

Shen Xingchen: “…No! I’m recording a show, can you come over and bring me breakfast?”

Xu Enzhen fell silent. She then subconsciously answered, “Breakfast? I’ll give you a slap, do you want it?”

Shen Xingchen wanted to cry but had no tears, ” Mom, I’m serious!”

However, the audience in the live broadcast room were all amused:

[Hahaha, it’s so funny.]

[So this young master’s family is so funny?]

[Though, it’s clear they still love him despite their words. The eldest Shen brother stayed up all night, but he still answered the phone when he saw it was his di. His mother was also still sleepy, but she still answered it, and didn’t hang up after talking about the breakfast thing. Maybe she was thinking about whether or not letting him suffer a bit of hardship, hahaha!]

[Yes, yes, it’s a really enviable familial relationship.]

Shen Xingchen argued with Xu Enzhen for a long time, but in the end, his mother reluctantly and perfunctorily agreed to the request for breakfast, which was regarded as a reluctant pass.

The director team looked at Shen Xingsui and the others next to him and asked, “Are you guys going to call?”

Shen Xingsui was a little surprised. “We can call too? Haven’t we already cleared the task and cracked the password box?” 

“For fairness’ sake, we’ll give everyone a chance.” The director was mostly a very fair person. “If you call and get a yes, you can get a chance to ask our staff for help later.” 

After hearing this, Fu Jinxiao thought it was okay to try. He nodded to the offer. “Let us try then.”

Shen Xingsui hesitated for a moment, and agreed.

Shen Xingchen handed the mobile phone to Shen Xingsui and said, “Here, then you can call your mother. If you get beaten by your brother, then it will prove that he’s the most fiercest and rudest.” 

Most of the people present, including netizens, didn’t know whether Shen Xingsui had already been recognized by his birth family. They were all curious about their identity. However, after hearing what Shen Xingchen said, they felt very strange.

When they saw that Shen Xingsui was about to make a call, they became very excited. They wanted to know the truth! 

[Arghhh I can’t wait!]

[Think about the Zhang couple before, no matter what activities there are in “Starlight”, they didn’t care about him. So miserable…]

[I hope his biological family treats him well!]

After Shen Xingsui got the phone, he hesitated for a moment, and still dialed the number. He waited for a while, because it was the same number, and Xu Enzhen came from the other end with an annoyed voice. “Didn’t I agree just now? What’s more you want? Shen Xingchen, do you want a beating or what? What time is it? Even if I bring you breakfast, I have to wait until dawn…” 

Shen Xingsui hesitated. After a while, he cautiously said, “Mom, it’s me.”

“…”

There was a suspicious silence on the other end of the call.     

Everyone was also holding their breath, not daring to disturb this scene. 

However, the barrage exploded: 

[What’s going on? What’s the situation?]

[Did I hear it wrong?]

[Wait, isn’t that the same number??]

[Sisters, I’m so excited!]

[It’s this early in the morning, but I’m no longer sleepy!]