62 Catch Them and Raise Them

Lin Wan leaned against a tree. She wondered if she could pretend to be asleep and skip this entirely.

The livestream room was in an uproar when they heard about the new task assigned by the Festival Group. The people watching the show couldn’t wait for them to come up with more tricks.

[Nannan was a dance teacher before she opened her shop. She certainly doesn’t lack talent.]

[Songsong and her makeup! Show me your makeup tricks.]

[Xu Xiaoxiao is an internet celebrity. I don’t think I’ve heard of her having any special skills. All internet celebrities know how to sing and dance, right?]

[Xia Mo’s a dessert chef.]

[Lin Wan…]

[What will Lin Wan do?]

[Xu Xiaoxiao didn’t receive a gift yesterday, just like Lin Wan. At least then she had someone like her. But today, Lin Wan is all alone and talentless.]

[It’s good for Li Yanchen to see who he actually married.]

[I’m secretly looking forward to it.]

The other families weren’t surprised at all when they heard about the task. Since they were invited to participate in this program, they were well-prepared.

In the Li family, Li Zexin sighed. “Is it really necessary?”

“Yes.” The staff nodded.

Li Zexin suddenly felt sympathy for Lin Wan. He felt that they were both in the same boat. He and Lin Wan were the only ones in the family who didn’t have a talent.

Xiao Yi also underestimated him like the others underestimated Lin Wan. In the afternoon, when all the “mothers” would showcase their talents, Lin Wan would be left behind. ‘Will Xiao Yi despise him even further after that?’ Li Zexin wondered.

“Brother, let’s do a three-hour guitar lesson. Maybe Ms Lin can surprise everybody!” That was the only thing Li Zexin could think of. Lin Wan could play a little bit of guitar. It was hardly a talent because she didn’t play well at all but at least, it was a start.

Li Zexuan narrowed his eyes. “We can do that. But the problem is Ms. Lin is not willing to learn.”

After five days here, Li Zexuan had a good grasp of Lin Wan’s temperament. She was someone who did things only when she felt like it and had no big ambitions. She changed with her mood.

“But she does have a sense of collective honor. She didn’t want to participate in that competition, but she still did it. When we were fighting, she was the one who stopped us.” Li Zexin felt that they could still spur Lin Wan into action at the critical moment.

“Where is she anyway?” Li Zexin looked around. He realized that he hadn’t seen her for a while. “Also, where is dad? He went out in the morning. He still isn’t back yet?”

“Sense of collective honor? She doesn’t even care about her own reputation.” Li Zexuan thought about last night. He had wanted to give the scarf to Lin Wan, but she hadn’t even waited. She had gone straight to Song Jing’s. In the end, he had hidden the scarf.

“Then why didn’t you stop me from accepting the mission?” asked Li Zexin. When the Festival Group had asked for everyone’s opinion, the children had been the only ones present so they had voted in favor of the sudden task.

“It would have been useless to refuse anyway. All the other families already agreed to it, so they would have carried out the mission regardless. You can just think of it as a silly game. The outcome isn’t important.” Li Zexuan placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I didn’t expect you to care so much about winning.”

Li Zexin pushed his brother’s hand away. “Alright, let’s go and study, then.”

Upon hearing about a new mission, Li Yanchen did not care if there were enough fish in the basket for lunch. He climbed onto the shore and prepared to go home.

‘A talent show for mothers… What will Lin Wan do?’ Li Yanchen thought.

[Why is Li Yanchen all wet? Was he catching fish?]

[T-shirt sticking to the chest. Is this something that ordinary viewers like us should be watching?]

[How does he maintain his figure?]

[It’s over, it’s over! Why am I fascinated by old men?]

Seeing that his father had returned, Li Zexuan stepped forward and took the basket from his father’s hands. After fumbling for a long time, he took out two small fish that were less than ten centimeters in length.

“Is this for lunch?” In the morning, when his father had said that he was going to catch fish, Li zexuan had been excited. Two days ago, at Guoguo’s house, they enjoyed eating the big fish that Guoguo’s father had caught. Li Yanchen had confidently told them that it was easy to make fish soup and even instructed them to wait for his return.

“Even cats wouldn’t eat this.” Li Zexuan held the tiny fish from the tail and shook it.

[Sisters, is there a problem with my camera? Xuanxuan just said that they wanted to have fish soup for lunch. But the fish…]

[It’s so close to the camera, and it’s only the size of a palm. This fish will probably only fill the gaps between my teeth.]

[Shouldn’t they be released?]

[I remember there are a lot of big fish in the pond. I even saw fish bubbling in the water in the previous live broadcast. They couldn’t all have been caught in a few days, right?]

[It’s already a very nice thing that a rich man like him is willing to be humble and offer to fish. The hand that only signs contracts might not really be able to catch a fish. Don’t be so harsh. Give him some credit for trying.]

[That’s right! At least Li Yanchen is trying to be a good father!]

“Catch them and raise them, more like. We definitely can’t make soup with these.” Even in front of so many fans, Li Zexuan didn’t hold back the harshness of his response.

Li Yanchen had no choice but to regret saying he would make delicious fish soup for everyone. After all, the livestream wasn’t on at that time, and no one knew that he had put up a front.

“Where’s Lin Wan? Is she still sleeping?” Afraid that his son would expose him, Li Yanchen immediately changed the topic.

“She’s out. Give her a call.”

[So they weren’t caught to be eaten.]

[Is Li Yanchen looking for Lin Wan to prepare a talent for her?]

[Everyone, don’t worry. You’ll know at 3 P.M. Even if she doesn’t have any talent, she might not be that bad.]

[Previous poster, you are Lin Wan’s side account right?]

[I’m just a passer-by. If I have talent, I can show off. If I don’t have any talent, it’s not a big deal anyway.]

[Is there really such a thing as Lin Wan’s fans? Why can’t I believe it? It must be Lin Wan’s own account that is commenting in support of her. Why did she participate in the reality show if she didn’t know anything? Was she just trying to leech off other people’s popularity?]

The bullet screen was filled with comments again. Li Yanchen looked at his phone. It wasn’t even the afternoon yet, and the fans were already criticizing Lin Wan brutally based on their assumptions. If Lin Wan really doesn’t know anything to showcase in the afternoon, she might receive negative attention and end up in the hot search again.

He remembered elder Lin had said that Lin Wan had learnt music for a while before high school. In the photo album, there were photos of her winning awards in music competitions. However, after high school, Lin Wan had never participated in any activities or graduation parties.

He avoided the camera and called Lin Wan.

When the woman who was still lying down in the orchard saw Li Yanchen’s name on the phone screen, her brows furrowed. She then placed the phone on her stomach and turned the speaker on.

“You’re outside?” he asked. He thought that Lin Wan might have gone to Song Jing’s house again.

“Yes.”

“Did you hear about the new mission? I remember you singing very well.” Even though many years had passed, Li Yanchen still believed that Lin Wan could still sing.

After high school, Lin Wan had never shown off again because she knew that her appearance and grades had already made her the scapegoat against bullies. Being outstanding was not a sin, but prejudice and jealousy were. In the past, Lin Wan was attacked by a group of students because she was too outstanding. She had no choice but to put away her talents and try to turn invisible. But now, it is different. No one would dare harm a single hair on her body.