Yangyang, with a sulky little face, unwillingly went to work. Because he was small, he could only carry a little bit of rice at a time. Jiang Lai wasnât in a hurry; he just put the straw hat from his own head onto Yangyangâs and cheered him on while sipping a Wahaha drink.
"Wow, Yangyangâs so amazing; he can carry so much at once!"
"Awesome! Heâs practically mommyâs little man!"
"How in the world is there a child as excellent as Yangyang? Grandma, how did I get so lucky to have such a good son?"
The old lady grinned along with them.
"A good mother surely has a good son, you two are both incredible."
Jiang Lai blushed, feeling like he could harvest another two rows of wheat.
Yangyang, flattered and blushing, ran back and forth with ears of wheat, without slacking or complaining about being tired.
[Poor child gradually getting lost in his motherâs praises]
[Silly child, your momâs overclocking you!]
[Yangyang, perhaps you need legal assistance]
[Hahaha, Iâm dying of laughter in this live stream, Iâve been watching for four hours]
[This is too funny; I havenât been able to stop watching since the stream started in the morning]
[No one can leave this baffling mother-son live stream without a smile]
Just as Jiang Lai was leisurely enjoying the view of the rice fields, a few villagers who were cutting rice nearby gathered around.
"Young lady, what did you use to cut the rice just now, can we take a look?"
Jiang Lai nodded and happily handed over the homemade sickle.
"Havenât you seen this before?"
"Never seen it; first time, what an interesting thing."
At that moment, Jiang Lai deeply felt the primitive and backward nature of this village. It seemed the internet had just been connected here before the program arrived, and even phone calls had to be made from a small shop at the foot of the mountain.
Watching the villagers discuss the sickle with curiosity, Jiang Lai dusted off her clothes and stood up.
"Go find some sturdy sticks, similar to this one, and Iâll make a few more for you."
"Great, Iâll go get some sticks right now!"
A few villagers surrounded Jiang Lai, watching her make the sickles. Jiang Lai deliberately slowed down, explaining as she worked, and patiently made a dozen sickles.
With handy tools, the harvesting speed significantly increased. The village was built on a mountain, and the scant rice fields were the entire villageâs food supply for the year. Everyone used the new tools to finish harvesting, and when they heard Jiang Lai wanted ten pounds of rice, they all rushed home to get some.
The old lady, afraid others would be quicker, directly pulled Jiang Lai home and scooped a whole pot of rice from the rice jar.
It was very heavy, but Jiang Lai was strong and could easily carry a pot weighing a dozen pounds.
"Thatâs enough, grandma. Youâve given too much; we donât need all this."
"Thanks to you, we saved so much effort. Before this, weâd be collecting these in the fields until the end of the month. Now itâs done in a day, and our backs donât hurt, our legs donât ache. Thank you and Yangyang."
As she spoke, the old lady took a bunch of smoked meat hanging from the beam and placed it on top of the rice pot.
"I donât have much to offer, here, take the smoked meat; itâs delicious."
Jiang Lai didnât know whether to laugh or cry. She only wanted ten pounds of rice, and now there was an extra pound of smoked meat.
The village wasnât well-off, and meat was a rare treat. The old lady, reluctant to eat it herself, generously offered it to Jiang Lai.
"Take it. I was saving it for my grandkids when they come back, but theyâre too busy working this year. Iâm just an old lady and canât finish it alone. Itâs perfect that youâre here for the program."
"Thank you. Yangyang, say thank you."
Seeing the pot full of rice and meat, Yangyang instantly thought of the hard work carrying rice today and directly kneeled with a thud.
A solid one, which startled Jiang Lai.
"Thank you, grandma!"
Jiang Lai hugged the pot and looked at her silly son, explaining helplessly to the equally startled grandma.
"Heâs seen too much nonsense on TV; donât mind him."
"Hahaha... what an amusing little child, so sturdy, so clever, very nice, very nice indeed."
The bullet comments had already gone wild with laughter, the screen flooded with "hahahaha" completely covering it up.
The popularity kept soaring, and the viewership was approaching two million, on par with top celebrities.
The director never expected the group he had the least faith in would now be the most discussed and popular one. Both Jiang Lai and Yangyang were loved by the majority of the audience, and the few disparaging comments from haters were quickly drowned out by more passerby fans.
Even the official social media of the program had gained followers.
"Let Jiang Lai handle the next few ad segments. Negotiate with her beforehand, and give them more screen time during tomorrowâs group activities."
The assistant director suggested.
"Itâs best not to. Jiang Lai has too much dirt on her; the audienceâs current impression is an illusion. If she becomes popular and her scandals are exposed, our program will be affected too."
The director pondered for a while and decided to be cautious.
"Then give her just one ad segment and slightly more screen time. Keep an eye on online reactions."
"What about the rest of the ad segments?"
"Still give them to Mo Wanwan, her broadcasting skills will have a better effect."
The assistant director, having achieved his goal, got up and made a phone call.
"Rest assured, Iâll handle what I promised. Jiang Lai wonât cause any waves. Wanwan, Iâll take good care of her; just focus on filming."
After hanging up, the assistant director checked Mo Wanwanâs live stream. The mother and son duo were diligently picking corn in the field. The atmosphere in the live stream was good, and the popularity was okay, second only to Jiang Lai, but it lacked hotspots and buzz, quite ordinary.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Lai seemed to know how to act fake in front of the camera, deceiving so many viewers.
Need to think of a way, or this program might really make Jiang Lai famous. The initial intention of bringing her on was to serve as a stepping stone for Mo Wanwan. The investorâs wishes matter more than the audienceâs; somehow, Jiang Laiâs true self must be revealed.
Meanwhile, Jiang Laiâs live stream was lively, resembling a New Yearâs Eve gala, with a dozen villagers blocking her way with all kinds of items.
"We donât have much, but please accept it if you donât mind."
"These apples are home-grown and very sweet; take them and try."
"These eggs arenât many, but let the child eat them for some extra nutrition."
The aunt carrying the eggs looked at Yangyangâs yellow hair with pity and handed the eggs over.
Such a good child, yet city kids are actually malnourished. He should definitely eat more eggs to supplement.
"Come, come, these vegetables are just freshly picked, tender and crisp."