“Teacher Huang, you’re joking, right!”
Yang Mi questioned.
She had done her research before coming.
This “Back to Field” only had three mu of land in total.
Making them do two mu of farm work in one go—how was that any different from making them do all the work?
They were really just being squeezed dry, huh.
He Jiong also felt things were going south, so after hanging up the phone, he quickly tried to smooth things over: “Mi Mi, don’t worry. Teacher Huang is just joking with you guys. If you did all the work, then what would we do? Right, Teacher Huang?”
He Jiong kept shooting glances at the other man, trying to ease the awkward atmosphere.
But Huang Lei was dead set on giving Jiang Nian and the others a show of power.
So he directly ignored He Jiong’s hints, leisurely holding the teacup lid and sliding it across the rim.
The lid made a soft “clink clink” sound against the cup as Huang Lei said slowly: “Is two mu a lot? When I was a kid doing farm work at home, I’d often do four or five mu by myself. Young people these days.”
He shook his head and blew on the tea in his cup.
He was just about to bask in everyone’s shocked gazes.
But then, just at that moment.
“Bragging much?”
“Four or five mu a day? Who do you think you are, a production team’s donkey?”
A voice came out of nowhere.
It stunned everyone.
They turned to look and saw Jiang Nian with his arms crossed, wearing an undisguised look of disdain.
“???”
Seeing this, the room fell dead silent.
Huang Lei was dumbfounded. He looked at Jiang Nian in disbelief, never expecting that this person who had only debuted less than a year ago would refuse to give him even a shred of face and embarrass him like this!
Instantly, his expression darkened, and he looked at Jiang Nian with unfriendly eyes: “Are you questioning me?”
Jiang Nian took a sip of tea, reset his cooldown, and said: “Yeah, can’t you tell?”
“You’ve bragged so hard you’ve reached the heavens. If I don’t question you, should I kiss your ass instead?”
“If you think I’m wrong, then prove it.”
“You don’t even need to do four mu. Two mu. If you can do those two mu by yourself, I’ll apologize to you.”
“If you think that’s not enough, then let’s compete. Just for the show’s entertainment value. We each take two mu. I’ll work alone, and you can bring whoever you want. We’ll see who finishes faster and better. If you can beat me, I’ll apologize too. How about it?”
Jiang Nian’s fighting spirit was intense.
You, Huang Lei, want to put on airs and make things difficult for them.
Then Jiang Nian was determined to make sure you don’t get even a shred of dignity.
If this were any other newcomer, they naturally wouldn’t dare. If it were an old veteran, they’d have high enough emotional intelligence not to flip out directly.
And although Jiang Nian didn’t have the seniority, his personality was reckless and unruly—he’d turn his back on anyone and never catered to anyone’s whims.
A transcendent being—did some entertainment industry punk think they could talk down to him?
And his reasoning was solid too: creating entertainment value for the show.
You, Huang Lei, came to film a variety show, and you’re a regular cast member no less. Surely you can’t refuse to create some entertainment value, right?
If you do, then you’re a real stubborn bastard.
“Director, should we step in?”
Watching through the monitor as Jiang Nian and Huang Lei suddenly became confrontational.
Outside in the yard, the assistant director was sweating nervously and asked Director Wang of “Back to Field.”
On the first day of filming, a guest clashing with a regular cast member—that wasn’t good.
Especially since this was a farmhouse-style variety show, overall leaning toward a slice-of-life, low-key vibe.
Making it this confrontational didn’t quite match their theme.
Hearing this, a mysterious glint flashed in Director Wang’s eyes. He looked at the monitor and shook his head:
“No, just keep filming.”
“Conflict, clashes—that’s what makes it interesting.”
“Worst case, we edit it in post. Cut out the harsher words, add some warm and cheerful music. As long as the audience doesn’t feel like they’re watching a confrontation, it’ll be fine.”
“Uh… is that really okay?” The assistant director hesitated.
“Stop yapping. Just watch. Don’t overthink it.”
“Okay…”
The assistant director shut up and sat obediently beside Director Wang, watching the monitor.
And on the monitor.
As soon as Jiang Nian said those words, Huang Lei’s face turned the color of pig liver.
He was silent for a moment, then forced a smile: “I’m the cook. What would I compete with you for? If I compete with you, who’s going to cook for everyone?”
“Then just compete after lunch. And I can cook too. If you can’t do it, I’ll do it. You don’t need to worry about that.”
Jiang Nian was making it clear: don’t give him that crap.
First of all, with your shitty cooking skills, you’ve got the nerve to be head chef.
And secondly, what you just did.
Showing off in front of him, making things difficult for him, and then wanting to come out looking good?
Did you really think Jiang Nian was like other entertainment industry artists—a soft persimmon with no temper?
Seeing Jiang Nian being so aggressive.
Yang Mi was stunned. She knew Jiang Nian was straightforward, but she hadn’t expected him to be this straightforward.
Damn, from just now until now, he hadn’t stopped firing!
He was just short of grabbing Huang Lei by the head and saying, “If you don’t have the skills, why are you showing off?”
He Jiong was staring with wide eyes, completely dumbfounded.
Based on how Jiang Nian had interacted with him earlier, he could tell Jiang Nian was someone with emotional intelligence who knew how to talk.
So why was he now turning his back on everyone?
“Uh… um…”
He Jiong wanted to say something to ease the atmosphere.
But nobody paid him any attention.
Jiang Nian’s gaze was sharp as a torch, fixed on Huang Lei.
Huang Lei was now stuck in an awkward position.
But after all, he’d been in the entertainment industry for decades.
Seeing that Jiang Nian was dead set on going after him and that he couldn’t gain the upper hand, he steeled himself: “Fine, let’s do it then. A competition. But for something like this, there should be a stakes, right? Makes it more interesting.”
Jiang Nian shrugged, looking indifferent: “Sure. What stakes do you want?”
Hearing this, Huang Lei originally wanted to propose something humiliating.
But considering they were filming a variety show, he changed his tune: “Didn’t you say you can cook? In that case, the loser has to prepare a custom dish for the winner, and the loser has to finish every last bite of the winner’s dish.”
The moment those words came out, Jiang Nian’s pupils contracted.
Finish the other person’s dish?
Good, good, good. This bastard Huang Lei was playing big!
He’d only refused to give him face, and this guy wanted to poison him.
But…
“Deal!”
Jiang Nian agreed.
He refused to believe it—there was no way Huang Lei could beat him!
And just as the two were talking.
Outside the door.
“Anyone here? Guests have arrived.”
A loud, booming voice rang out, interrupting the tension between Jiang Nian and Huang Lei.
It was the other group of guest stars.
Hearing this, He Jiong hurried out to welcome them.
Jiang Nian and Yang Mi also stood up and walked outside.
Although the two of them already knew who the other party was.
For the sake of the show, they still had to act like they didn’t know.
“Oh, it’s Teacher Song! You actually came too.”
Seeing Song Dandan at the door, Yang Mi put on a surprised expression and went to greet her.
Song Dandan did the same: “Isn’t this Mi Mi? What are you doing here too?”
“Of course I’m here as a guest. The directing team really knows how to play—inviting two groups of guests in one episode. They’re really afraid it won’t be lively enough.” Yang Mi said with a full smile, politely addressing Song Dandan.
“Tell me about it.” Song Dandan said, then turned her gaze to Jiang Nian behind Yang Mi: “Oh my, this must be Jiang Nian, Teacher Jiang, right? So handsome.”
Unlike Huang Lei, who had been full of malice toward Jiang Nian from the start—giving him a show of power and making veiled jabs at him.
Song Dandan was very warm.
Her eyes were full of an old artist’s appreciation for a junior.
Such an attitude made Jiang Nian instinctively smile slightly. He extended his hand and shook hers: “Teacher Song, you’re too kind. I’m just a rookie who just debuted. How could I be called a teacher? Just call me by my name.”
“Haha, okay, Jiang Nian. Your Yu Huatian was so good. Even someone my age couldn’t help but go to the theater and watch it several times.”
“Then thank you for your appreciation, Teacher Song. Let me help you with your luggage.”
Jiang Nian said, reaching out to grab Song Dandan’s suitcase.
Song Dandan quickly protected it: “Hey, how could I let you do that? You’re a guest, and I’m a guest too. We’re equals here. How could I let you carry my luggage?”
“Alright, I can tell—Sister Dandan is calling me out.”
He Jiong joked from the side.
“Oh no, no, that’s not it. I just mean I can carry my own luggage. No need to trouble you guys.” Song Dandan clapped her hands, then quickly grabbed both suitcases, afraid that if she was too slow, He Jiong and the others would take them.
And with her there to mediate.
The originally tense atmosphere relaxed quite a bit.
The group chatted and laughed.
During the conversation, Song Dandan thought of something and looked at Jiang Nian: “Jiang Nian, I remember you’re currently playing Lin Pingzhi in ‘The Smiling, Proud Wanderer,’ right? How’s filming going?”
Jiang Nian took a sip of tea: “It’s going well. We’re almost past the halfway point. I estimate it’ll be ready to air around summer vacation.”
“That’s great. ‘The Smiling, Proud Wanderer’ is a good production too. With that plus ‘Flying Swords of Dragon Gate,’ you might even be able to compete for this year’s Best Newcomer.”
Song Dandan said.
Actually, she was being conservative.
Because just based on Jiang Nian’s portrayal of Yu Huatian alone, this year’s Best Newcomer Award was already all but decided.
And if you added “The Smiling, Proud Wanderer” on top of that.
Unless someone fell from the sky.
Or unless Jiang Nian got into some extremely terrible scandal before the awards ceremony.
Otherwise, no one else could touch that award.
Everyone else understood this too.
But.
“I wouldn’t be so sure.”
That’s right—it was Huang Lei again.
Seeing Jiang Nian so popular, with everyone chatting with him and completely ignoring himself, he couldn’t take it anymore, so he directly stepped out to contradict.
Hearing this, Song Dandan was taken aback.
She didn’t quite understand what Huang Lei was up to now.
He Jiong inwardly cried “bad,” and quickly stepped in to smooth things over, laughing: “Teacher Huang probably means that with Jiang Nian’s ability, he should be up for more than just this one award.”
“I didn’t say that.”
Huang Lei said.
“You’ve all filmed movies and TV dramas. You should know they’re not the same thing.”
“‘Flying Swords of Dragon Gate’ is a movie. The filming schedule isn’t as tight. Plus with Director Xu at the helm, and Teacher Li, Teacher Zhou, and others giving heartfelt performances, with all that repeated polishing, the final product was bound to be good.”
“‘The Smiling, Proud Wanderer,’ on the other hand—because it’s a TV drama, there’s a lot of content to film and the production schedule is very tight. This makes it hard for them to polish the plot, action scenes, and so on as finely as a movie.”
“Not to mention ‘The Smiling, Proud Wanderer’ has a lot of action scenes, and Lin Pingzhi is an extremely difficult role.”
“For a newcomer, it’s still quite hard to handle.”
Huang Lei spoke eloquently.
At first listen, it seemed like he was analyzing the differences between films and TV dramas.
But in reality, the implication throughout was that Jiang Nian, as a newcomer, simply couldn’t pull it off.
Everyone’s expressions shifted slightly.
They clearly hadn’t expected Huang Lei to just directly start firing like this.
They instinctively looked at Jiang Nian.
And found that Jiang Nian was already drinking tea.
Seeing this, He Jiong’s heart skipped a beat.
Because he could tell—drinking tea was Jiang Nian’s opening move!
Sure enough.
The next second.
“What the hell do you know!”
“You’ve been in the entertainment industry for so many years, and the only thing you can show for it besides Xu Zhimo is appearing on a couple of variety shows.”
“Relying on a teacher’s title to prattle on here.”
“You don’t act, you’ve never touched a wuxia film—what are you yapping about?”
“Do you really think your outdated ideas still work today?”
