An hour.
The car stopped steadily in front of a long room resembling a factory.
"This is where we cultivate our saplings."
"It's beautiful," Ye Nan sighed, looking at the tall iron gate ahead.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Zha Jie's smile widened at her words. "Let me show you inside."
The iron gate creaked open.
What greeted them were several huge glass greenhouses. Inside each pane of glass were plots of categorized land, planted with saplings of different varieties.
People occasionally walked through the plots, holding notebooks and calculating something.
"Brother Zha Jie."
A young man with tanned skin and a bright smile saw Zha Jie and hurried over. "Brother Zha Jie, are you here to see the saplings?"
"Yes," Zha Jie nodded with a smile. "These are here to participate in a reality show filming in our village. I'm showing them our saplings this time."
"I know them," the young man said shyly. "I occasionally watch their shows; they're very good."
"Oh, really?"
Introduced by Zha Jie, the group learned that the young man's name was Saide. He was a graduate of A University's Forestry major. After graduation, he gave up a high-paying job elsewhere to return home and contribute to afforestation.
"Little Brother Sai, you're amazing."
Saide scratched his head sheepishly at the praise. "I want our village to one day see a vast sea of forests."
"It definitely will," Fang Miaomiao agreed.
"Brother Saide, you're amazing."
"An'an is amazing too," Saide said with a smile. "You are both excellent children. The Goddess will protect you."
"I've always heard you talk about the Goddess. What is that?" Zhou Jiaxin asked curiously. "I, I'm just curious about this traditional culture. If it's too forward of me..."
"Not at all, Senior Zhou. How could it be forward? We're delighted that you're willing to learn about our culture," Saide replied happily. "The Goddess is our village's guardian spirit. She protects every villager."
"Does she have a name?"
Saide shook his head regretfully. "No, in our legends, she has always been nameless, referred to only as 'the Goddess,' passed down through generations."
"So that's how it is," Zhou Jiaxin nodded.
"Alright, let's go and see the saplings."
Entering the greenhouse.
"Next, I will announce the rules for the second game," Zha Jie said, glancing at his watch. "The adults' task is to cooperate and become familiar with the habits, survival requirements, and so on of all the saplings in these greenhouses. The children's task is also to cooperate."
"However, the children's task is to memorize all the sapling varieties, and the time limit is two hours."
"How many saplings do we have to memorize?"
"According to experimental research, there are 100 types of saplings currently suitable for planting in this area."
"Four people, two hours to memorize the habits of 100 saplings?"
Zha Jie shook his head with a serious expression, then broke into an honest smile. "No, the director said your time as adults is one hour."
"Why?"
"Because you are adults, and you have good memories."
"Who says adults have better memories than children?" Fang Miaomiao was the first to object.
"Your director."
Fang Miaomiao turned her gaze to the camera. "Director, do you want to check? The brain is only useful for 20 years. I'm already 25, my brain isn't as good anymore."
She thought Chen Tianming wouldn't respond, but he immediately called Zha Jie.
Zha Jie looked at the video call and promptly handed his phone to Fang Miaomiao. "Don't blame me."
Fang Miaomiao looked at the phone in her hand and quickly answered.
As soon as the call connected, Chen Tianming's cold laughter came from the other end.
"What are you laughing at?"
"Fang Miaomiao, do you think one hour is too much?"
"Isn't it too little?"
"Yes, Director."
After some playful banter, the conversation ended with Chen Tianming surrendering. "Fine, you have a point. The time is increased to an hour and a half. Okay, no more objections, or your time will be cut to 20 minutes."
"Good heavens."
"The director is getting more and more ruthless."
【Don't you guys think Fang Miaomiao is going a bit too far this time? I'm a fan of Fang Miaomiao, but I feel like she's constantly emphasizing her individuality on the show. One hour, four people, memorizing the characteristics of 100 trees. Can't she, an actress, memorize it?】
【Honestly, I think Fang Miaomiao is being a bit excessive this time. Is it worth it for a little screen time? I faintly feel that Chen Tianming is already angry. I'm curious how she'll live her life if Chen Tianming has to guide her acting later.】
【Acting, what acting? I'm not going to say anything, but I'm a fan of Fang Miaomiao's looks, but honestly, please stop harming the acting industry. I don't know which script will be ruined by Fang Miaomiao. Isn't it good enough for her to just be on a variety show? She has to go act and humiliate herself.】
【What's wrong with you guys? Haven't you watched the main director's shots? Chen Tianming already anticipated Fang Miaomiao would bargain, so he deliberately said an hour and a half as one hour. And what's wrong with Fang Miaomiao acting? The official statement hasn't even been released yet, but even if it were, can't you trust Miaomiao just once? You call yourselves fans? I think you're more like anti-fans.】
【Exactly, exactly. The show has no problems at all, but you guys are stirring up trouble. Their relationship is fine. You anti-fans should hide in your dark rooms and watch all this. Laji.】
"Miaomiao, I have a bad feeling about this," Cui Mantong felt her right eyelid twitching wildly.
"What's wrong?"
"I don't know. I just feel a bit flustered."
"It's okay, don't be afraid, I'm here. Let's focus on memorizing," Fang Miaomiao said, trying to change the subject. "If we don't memorize soon, we might not have a good time tonight."
"Hahaha, Miaomiao, how did you manage to make Chen Tianming jump up and down?"
"How could I?" Fang Miaomiao scrolled through her iPad. "Believe it or not, Director Tianming's estimated time for us was an hour and a half, and they cut it to an hour for the sake of the show's effect."
"It can be played like that?" Cui Mantong rarely appeared on variety shows and wasn't very familiar with the rules.
"Chen Tianming is a cunning old fox," Fang Miaomiao said with a meaningful smile.
After chatting for a while, Fang Miaomiao resumed her memorization. The children, meanwhile, were being led by Saide to tour the saplings while memorizing their names.
Seeing this, Fang Miaomiao couldn't help but sigh: Indeed, one never stops learning, no matter how old one gets.