Arriving at the Chen household, Observing firewood chopping

Shi Yun hadn’t even reacted when a strong hand reached out from behind and yanked him forcefully inward!

He had barely steadied himself, still shaken, when he heard a low, cold scolding without even turning around: “Do you have a death wish?”

Shi Yun looked towards the source of the voice—

An Huaixu was holding the end of the pink rope in one hand and pulling his arm with the other, his brow slightly furrowed, a hint of impatience flashing in his eyes as he pulled him to the inside of the path.

“Can’t even walk properly, so clumsy.”

Shi Yun just took it as his awkward way of showing concern, and happy little bubbles floated up in his heart, making him unconsciously use the tone he would with children to praise him: “You really are a great person!”

An Huaixu: “…”

Did that sound like he was scolding him?

[‘Really’? An Huaixu, tell me, if they weren’t close, why would he say ‘really’!]

[I think I’ve figured out how to get along with An Huaixu, is there an An Huaixu out there who’ll let me experiment on him!]

[Why is An Huaixu scolding people in such a girly way? When has he ever spoken so indulgently, my ears!]

The three teams separated at the crossroads.

Shi Yun was worried about the younger students, so he followed them towards Chen Duoduo’s house.

Chen Duoduo learned about going to help her father halfway there, and was very happy, skipping ahead to lead the way.

The road was relatively easy to walk, and the group arrived at Chen Duoduo’s house in just over ten minutes.

The carpenter Chen was standing outside waiting, and when he saw Duoduo’s figure in the distance, his eyes lit up with a smile.

He held his hand to his mouth and called out, “Watch your step, honey!”

Chen Duoduo giggled, ran over in big strides, and threw herself into carpenter Chen’s arms with a bear hug: “Daddy!”

Carpenter Chen ruffled her hair and greeted the others who had arrived: “Hello, I’m Chen Duoduo’s father, you can just call me carpenter Chen!”

He tried his best to speak in a not-so-standard Mandarin, holding Chen Duoduo’s hand, his smile simple and sincere.

Actually, even without knowing beforehand, you could tell at a glance that the man in front of them worked with wood.

He was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt, with black trousers covered in patches, and a brown apron covered in sawdust tied around his waist. Even his messy beard had wood shavings on it.

Chen Duoduo looked a lot like him, both with standard drooping eyes, big noses, and a lovable appearance.

An Huaixu looked past Chen Mu Jiang towards the house—

A standard main house with two small rooms on the side, similar to Shi Yun’s house in structure.

The only difference was that Shi Yun’s house was clean and tidy, while Chen Mu Jiang’s house was full of clutter, with a chicken coop on one side and wood materials placed haphazardly on the other.

There were at least twenty chickens in the chicken coop, clucking in groups, blinking their little bean eyes at them.

Carpenter Chen invited everyone inside, Shi Yun didn’t want to interfere with their task, so he followed closely beside the cameraman.

The cameraman frequently looked back, feeling a little awkward, as if he had grown a little tail.

And the ‘little tail’ himself was unaware, one after another pulling back the children who ran towards him, putting his hands on his hips, and using his eyes to intimidate them.

An Huaixu, noticing their little actions, coughed lightly. Lucky and An Shuqi instantly stood up straight, stiffly turning their heads and walking back.

[Stand straight, you little brats.]

[The person outside the camera didn’t say anything, but it must be Teacher Shi!]

[Aiya, are they really not close? It looks like it’s about to be revealed?]

[To be honest, even if the rice isn’t cooked, it’s still delicious~]

Director Lin watched the various comments flying across the screen, silently covering his face.

How did he not know before that An Huaixu was so good at stirring up CP (romantic pairing)?

In the live broadcast, the three teams had successfully met with the NPC villagers and, after a few casual chats, began their tasks according to the instructions.

An Huaixu and Jiang Song arrived at the wood-chopping area.

A pile of wood was stacked in the corner, with an axe that didn’t look very sharp placed beside it.

“My back hasn’t been feeling great lately, so I’ll have to trouble you with these things!”

Carpenter Chen had been walking briskly just now, so this sudden statement didn’t sound very convincing.

An Huaixu glanced at the camera, his eyes filled with suspicion.

Director Lin, who was watching him on the monitor, coughed softly: “…”

Why was this kid still so serious?!

On the screen:

[An Huaixu’s look makes me feel like I’ve been called an idiot for no reason…]

[No, hahaha, why is this so funny, An Huaixu is more and more surprising!]

An Shuqi had never seen a real axe before and was very curious, taking a few steps forward.

An Huaixu reacted quickly, grabbing him and quickly retreating, throwing him into Shi Yun’s arms, who was talking to Chen Mu Jiang.

“Watch him.”

Shi Yun’s brain hadn’t even reacted yet, but his hands had already instinctively adjusted An Shuqi into a comfortable position to stay in.

He and Jiang Song exchanged glances, looking at An Huaixu with confusion.

An Huaixu then pulled a few children away: “Stay away, or you’ll be chopped up like firewood.”

Shi Yun understood what he meant, and smiled helplessly: “You’re soft-hearted, just say you’re worried about the kids getting hurt, aren’t you Shuqi?”

An Shuqi was playing with his hair, and agreed without thinking: “Brother is right!”

Jiang Song walked to Shi Yun’s side and said softly: “Xiao Shi, I finally understand what you meant by ‘very obvious’.”

Shi Yun’s smile widened, and he tilted his head and whispered: “Right, right!”

An Huaixu, weighing the axe in his hand, seemed to sense something and looked back, his brow furrowing instantly as he shouted: “Teacher Jiang, take the children away.”

This was the first time Jiang Song had worked with An Huaixu and been called by him, so he was slightly surprised and hummed in agreement, going over to gather the children.

Shi Yun put An Shuqi down and helped Jiang Song lead the children to the yard to look at the chickens.

An Shuqi and Jiang Nianyu had never seen so many chickens, staring with wide eyes, looking back and forth.

An Shuqi held tightly to Shi Yun’s clothes, half a meter away from the chicken coop, reaching out his little chubby hands and beckoning: “Cheep cheep, cluck cluck…”

Shi Yun was about to be melted by his cuteness, holding his shoulders and squatting down: “Shuqi, the teacher is here, try getting a little closer.”

An Shuqi tentatively moved two steps forward, observing the ‘cheep cheep’ up close.

Most of the chickens in the coop were hens, which were gentle, with smaller combs and bodies, and feathers that were white or brown.

Some were pecking, some were strolling around, and some were sleeping in their nests.

In short, there were all kinds, which was very novel for An Shuqi and Jiang Nianyu, who were city children.

However, the smell of the chicken coop was ultimately unpleasant. Jiang Nianyu didn’t watch for long before the novelty wore off, and she wrinkled her little face at the smell and went crying to Jiang Song.

An Shuqi’s sense of smell hadn’t successfully sent a signal to his brain yet, and he was happily wiggling his little butt, playing.

Shi Yun left Jiang Song in charge here, intending to leave the filming area, but when he glanced back, he saw Lucky pulling a little boy, peeking at An Huaixu.

They seemed to admire An Huaixu very much, their eyes sparkling.

An Huaixu’s wood-chopping movements were very skillful, the axe raised high, quickly chopping down, the blade skewed to the side before cutting into the wood, then—’clang, clang’!

The wood split in two and fell to the ground.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead with one hand, his arm muscles tense and powerful, looking very reassuring.

Shi Yun came behind the two little boys and pushed them forward two steps.
“Can you see clearly from so far away?”

Lucky stammered: “Teacher An won’t let us go over.”

Shi Yun: “Do you know why?”

Lucky and the other little boy, Fang Yuan, exchanged a look and shook their heads: “I don’t know.”

Shi Yun touched their little heads, without answering, instead telling them: “Go, go ask your Teacher An if there’s anything you can help with.”

An Huaixu looked over.

The two children were still hesitating, but when they met his gloomy eyes, they turned to run.

Shi Yun pulled them back, one on each side: “What are you afraid of, he’s your teacher, he won’t eat you, will he?”

Lucky said weakly: “An Shuqi said that Teacher An throws disobedient children to the wolves, I, I’m very obedient, don’t throw me to the wolves!”

Shi Yun burst out laughing, so that’s where their fear of An Huaixu came from.

He explained: “Teacher An is very gentle with good children, you can ask him.”

Lucky and Fang Yuan both looked up at An Huaixu from Shi Yun’s grasp.

An Huaixu met their eyes, hesitated for a few seconds, and nodded in agreement at Shi Yun’s urging.

“See!” Shi Yun proudly let go of the two kids.

“Teacher An, you really won’t throw us to the wolves?!” Lucky perked up, looked at An Huaixu and asked again.

An Huaixu threw away the wood under his feet, and said casually: “No.”

Fang Yuan was very cheerful: “To the bears?”

An Huaixu: “No.”

Lucky began to test the dangerous boundaries, saying all the animals he knew: “Sharks, tigers, leopards… and, and won’t you feed us to dinosaurs either?!”

An Huaixu’s eyebrows furrowed into a frown: “…If you say another word, I’ll throw you out.”

Okay, he won’t feed them, but he will throw them.

Sniffle.

The two children instantly shut up.

Shi Yun held back for a long time, but the moment he met An Huaixu’s eyes, he finally couldn’t hold back and burst into laughter.

An Huaixu: “…”

After that, with Shi Yun’s demonstration, Lucky and Fang Yuan began to help An Huaixu pick up firewood.

The two children were very enthusiastic, puffing and panting, carrying a piece of firewood back and forth, stacking the firewood pile on the wall, making it longer and longer.

[It’s reasonable to suspect that the two children are only putting it to the side because they’re not tall enough.]

[Teacher Shi squatting on the side watching An Huaixu work looks so domestic!]

[This is the first time I’ve known that Not-Close Bro is so amazing… He doesn’t seem to have learned, he just started doing it, he must have something we don’t know about!]

An Huaixu was fast and strong, and by the time Chen Mu Jiang finished his work in the house and came out with a pile of small peach wood swords, he was so surprised to see the stacks of firewood that he stuttered, blurting out a dialect: “My old heavens, teacher teacher, that’s enough, I won’t be able to burn this much in months!”

An Huaixu chopped the last piece of wood, stuck the axe in the ground, looked at the woodpile, then looked at Chen Mu Jiang.

Chen Mu Jiang didn’t understand.

Shi Yun reminded him: “Teacher An is asking if you’re sure it’s enough?”

Chen Mu Jiang: “…Oh, so that’s what he meant!”

[So that’s what he meant +1]

[If you’ve been a fan of An Huaixu for two years, you can know everything about his little actions.]

[But as far as I know, Teacher Shi just met An Huaixu…]

“That’s enough, definitely enough, you’ve worked hard, I’ve prepared some small gifts for you!”

Chen Mu Jiang waved and called Jiang Song and his group over, took out the small peach wood swords from his pocket, and distributed them to the boys one by one.

An Shuqi was very happy, the small peach wood sword was held in his hand, just the right size.

Lucky’s big eyes sparkled, and he had already started waving the little sword, calling An Shuqi and Fang Yuan and others to play!

The girls also wanted them, especially Jiang Nianyu, who blinked her eyes and looked at them, making Chen Mu Jiang’s heart itch.

“Don’t worry, yours are even better looking!”

With that, Chen Mu Jiang took out a few wooden flower butterflies from his pocket.

The butterflies were lifelike, vividly colored, and looked just like real ones.

He squatted down and pinned a flower butterfly to Jiang Nianyu’s hair, making her look even more cute and beautiful.

Jiang Song thanked him sincerely.

Chen Mu Jiang was pinning a butterfly on Chen Duoduo when he heard this and smiled: “Hey, I only have this little skill to show off. If I had this much energy back then, Duoduo’s mother wouldn’t have…”

As soon as she heard this, Chen Duoduo instantly became depressed, closing her mouth tightly and lowering her head to fidget with her skirt, obviously touched by a sore spot.

However, Chen Mu Jiang didn’t seem to notice and continued to speak.

Shi Yun stepped forward in a timely manner, helping Chen Mu Jiang up: “Uncle Chen, do you have anything else to tell us?” He hinted: “It seems like our task is missing something, right?”

Chen Mu Jiang then remembered the main event: “Aiya, I almost forgot, my back isn’t feeling well today, I need you to help me light a fire and cook a meal.”

Just then, a ‘clang’ suddenly came from the chicken coop!