Two little children sneezed violently.
"Little Si Si, you're talking about your dad behind his back. Aren't you afraid he'll settle the score with you later?" Fang Miaomiao said with a mischievous smile, looking at Wen Yan'an. "And you, little An An, you two are quite brave."
The two exchanged a look, then their gazes fell on their respective mothers, and they said in unison, "We're not afraid, we have our moms."
"Impressive."
It was a pity, they, the two adults, just wanted to watch the show from the side. How could watching be as fun as participating?
"We've arrived at the reservoir."
It was called a reservoir, but it looked more like a well, not very big, surrounded by stones forming a wall-like barrier.
"Here?"
Fang Miaomiao was a bit taken aback. She had truly thought the driver meant a large reservoir.
"This is your mission location for today."
"Uncle driver, what's our mission today, and what is this place?"
"The director said your mission is to fetch water for the saplings." The driver looked at the well, a hint of nostalgia in his eyes. "This was our village's drinking water a long time ago. After the government built us water pipes, we hardly ever came here to fetch water."
"The village's drinking water?" Cui Mantong looked around. Besides them, there wasn't a soul in sight, not even houses. "So, back then, you had to walk a long way to get water home?"
"That's right. When we were done with school, we'd come here with our friends, carrying buckets to fetch water, playing by the water. It was so much fun," the driver said with a smile. "Your director said that your mission this morning is to carry water back."
Hearing this, Fang Miaomiao's mouth twitched. It took them over 20 minutes to drive here, let alone carry water back. Even walking back without anything would be tough.
Chen Tianming was really ruthless.
"Brother, you're not joking, are you?" Cui Mantong also asked incredulously.
Being stared at intently by two attractive people, the driver shyly touched the back of his head. "That's what your director said. I'm just responsible for bringing you here and passing on the message."
Upon hearing this, Fang Miaomiao immediately sat down on the ground. Whoever wanted to do it could do it.
"Mom."
"Auntie Miaomiao."
Fang Miaomiao looked up at the azure sky, raising her hand feebly. "Don't pay attention to me, I just want to be alone for a while."
Cui Mantong chuckled, "What's wrong? Our Miaomiao is defeated by the director?"
"No," Fang Miaomiao shook her head seriously. "It's not the director who defeated me, it's my body. I can't lift anything or carry anything on my shoulders. I'm too frail to take care of myself."
"Don't play dumb." Cui Mantong stepped forward and stood in front of Fang Miaomiao, tapping her forehead with a finger. "You can't go back on your word. We can't leave this task to An An and Si Si, can we?"
Fang Miaomiao's eyes lit up at this.
Before she could speak, Cui Mantong interrupted her. She walked behind Fang Miaomiao, turned her head, and made her look at the two little ones. "Miaomiao, wake up. They are just two children."
"Why haven't you grown up yet?"
Wen Yan'an said, "Mom, I'll definitely eat more from now on and grow up quickly."
"Auntie Miaomiao, I will supervise An An to eat well and grow up quickly."
The two adults and two children bantered for a moment before slowly walking towards the well at the sound of Chen Tianming's voice.
"Wow, there's actually a well in the desert," Wen Yan'an said, looking down into the well in amazement.
"Strictly speaking, this isn't exactly a desert."
"Why?"
Cui Yongsi explained, "This area was likely a village a long time ago. Large-scale tree felling caused this situation."
"This child is very smart. Although this place is called a desert, it's still a distance from the real desert. According to our elders, when the villagers learned that wood could make them rich, they over-harvested the forest, which eventually led to desertification. Our village became poorer and poorer, and many young people chose to go out to work for money. The elders felt this was a sin, so they have been planting trees."
The driver looked at the group listening intently to his story and changed the subject. "However, you have only one hour left to complete your task."
Fang Miaomiao's eyelids twitched. "Brother driver, I actually think we could listen to more of these stories."
The driver shook his head and relayed the message faithfully, "But your director said that if you don't complete the morning's task on time, you won't have lunch. If you don't complete it, you'll have to come back this afternoon and continue the task until you finish."
The thought of the scorching sun in the afternoon made Fang Miaomiao's back and legs feel instantly better, and she felt full of energy. Giving up was impossible. It was absolutely impossible to give up now.
"Brother driver, we're going to start fetching water."
Considering the children were still young, the production team decided to have the four of them carry two buckets of water to the tree-planting area.
As the driver taught the four how to fetch water, Fang Miaomiao also learned his name, Zhajie.
Fang Miaomiao was the first to try.
Fang Miaomiao fetched water very quickly, earning a thumbs-up from Zhajie. "Not bad, your posture for fetching water is very correct. I almost thought you had practiced."
Fang Miaomiao smiled and shook her head. She hadn't practiced; it was just that when she was little, she always fetched water herself when she was with her grandmother in the village.
The two looked at the two full buckets of water.
"Can we really carry these back?" Cui Mantong asked, a hint of doubt in her voice.
"Of course, you carry them on your shoulders." Zhajie heartily patted his shoulder and demonstrated for them.
[Help, yesterday when I saw him driving the off-road vehicle, I thought he was so handsome. Now it seems my judgment was spot on. This man is truly handsome. Look at those abs, mama, I think I'm falling in love.]
[I haven't seen such a tough guy image online in a long time. That healthy tan skin, those pearly white teeth, and that smile, it melted this sister's heart. Oh, scratch that, this younger sister's heart. Zhajie, look over here, older sister is in love with you.]
[You guys are looking at a handsome guy, but I'm worried if my wife's shoulders can handle it. Carrying things with a shoulder pole is really heavy. Without getting used to it, shoulders will definitely get bruised. Wuwuwu, why does my wife have to suffer like this? My heart aches.]
[Are you sick? She earns millions per episode of this variety show, and you, with a monthly salary of 3000, are still worried about your idol? I don't see your idol giving you any money because of your heartache. I think Chen Tianming isn't harsh enough. If I were the director, I'd make Fang Miaomiao and the others fetch water in the hottest part of the afternoon, and fill up large water tanks.]