Fang Miaomiao really wanted to hurry, but as she jumped, she felt a sense of exhaustion, and her head began to throb.
In her life, she had never felt a single minute drag on so long.
She gritted her teeth, sweat dripping from her forehead into her eyes, stinging them with its salty taste.
"I feel like something's not right, why is Fang Miaomiao's face so pale?"
"Is Fang Miaomiao that weak? Just a minute of jump rope and it's like she's lost half her life."
Another flash of golden light.
"Fang Miaomiao just got out of the hospital not too long ago."
"Fang Miaomiao was hospitalized? When did that happen?"
"Holy crap, a flash of inspiration just hit me. Do you guys remember the last episode where the live broadcast ended in chaos among the crowd? Fang Miaomiao wasn't in the subsequent recorded episodes."
"No way, if she got injured on set, the production team should have released a statement."
"So naive. The production team is controlled, don't forget. Not long after the show, there was a flood of black material about Fang Miaomiao, and then Wang Qing recorded some video, but it was deleted quickly. I followed that scandal for ages but never got a clear picture."
"Good heavens, am I watching a variety show or some conspiracy theory stuff?"
"I'll bet there's a big scandal coming up."
"An An, Auntie Miaomiao doesn't seem well."
Wen Yan'an's fists clenched involuntarily, his gaze fixed on Fang Miaomiao with unease.
"10 seconds left."
"5"
"3, 2, 1, stop, time's up. Everyone please stop what you're doing. Staff, please come up and check the numbers for all ten families."
"Miaomiao, are you okay?" Cui Mantong quickly stepped forward to support Fang Miaomiao.
Fang Miaomiao waved her hand and forced a smile, "I'm fine, it's just been a long time since I exercised, so I'm a bit exhausted."
Heavens, what kind of broken body did the original owner have? Jumping rope for just a minute left her gasping for air, like she'd lost half her life. No, no, she needed to strengthen her body from now on. She didn't want to live the life of a slacker for only a few days before collapsing in bed due to frailty.
"Drink water." Wen Yan'an appeared with a cup of warm water from who knows where. "Slowly, don't choke."
"Oh, isn't this the person who was boasting just now? How did she collapse after only a minute?" The mother from family #8, though also a bit breathless, was in much better shape than Fang Miaomiao.
"Can you please not talk?" Cui Mantong's expression turned displeased.
"My mouth is on me, why can't I talk?" Family #8's mother put her hands on her hips. "What, you think you can bully us, a lone mother and child, just because you have more people?"
"You!" Cui Mantong had never encountered such a shameless person before and was so angry she didn't know what to say.
"Parent #8, please remain silent at the competition venue. If you are seen provoking or bullying other families again, I have the right to ask you to withdraw from the competition immediately."
"On what grounds!"
"Because the competition is hosted by August Hotel, and we have the final right of interpretation. We can also prohibit you from participating."
"Mom, can you just stop talking?" #8's son's cheeks flushed red as he impatiently tugged at her hand. "If you're not embarrassed, I am."
"Wang Xiaogang, say that again." Angered by her own child's disrespect, #8's mother was about to lash out at him. "Do you believe I'll beat you?"
"I said you're embarrassing," Wang Xiaogang took a step back, still muttering, "No wonder Dad doesn't want to come home. Who would want to come home every day and listen to your sarcastic tone?"
"You brat, if I don't teach you a lesson today, you won't know why flowers are so red."
Wang Xiaogang flung his mother's hand away, turned, and ran off the competition site.
Before chasing after her son, #8's mother didn't forget to leave a parting threat, telling Fang Miaomiao to wait and see, and that if anything happened to her son, she would never let Fang Miaomiao off the hook.
This dramatic turn of events left everyone stunned.
"I thought family #8 looked familiar. Wasn't it because she was too bossy and her husband couldn't stand it and left? I remember now."
"Who is it? Tell us, I don't know."
Seeing many eyes turn towards her, the speaker's gossipy heart began to stir. "Her? She's from my mother's village. Apparently, she was too domineering, suppressing her husband. Her husband later found a mistress and then took all the family money and ran away with her."
"Later, this woman became resentful of anyone prettier than her. But she was capable, managing to raise her son on her own."
Fang Miaomiao, having listened to the whole gossip session: "…………"
She really didn't want to carry this inexplicable burden. It seemed the original owner not only had a weak body but also terrible luck. Should she find time to pray?
The host on stage quickly recovered. "Since our family #8 has withdrawn early, family #9, who was in third place, is now second. Family #1, who was in third, is now third."
"So, as of now, our family #9 and family #10 are tied with 8 points. Family #1 follows closely. The children from the other families, keep up the effort! For the final round, we will test the默契 (mòqì - tacit understanding) between children and parents, with a total of five questions."
Fang Miaomiao and Wen Yan'an had excellent默契.
They smoothly won first place in the third competition.
"Miaomiao, you and An An have such a good relationship!"
For the five questions, they answered almost without thinking.
"Low profile, low profile."
Although Fang Miaomiao said this, the corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn upwards. Who would have thought that her cheap son understood her so well? He even knew she didn't drink milk. Impressive, impressive, truly the child of Wen Zhiyan, so clever.
"If this isn't a gimmick orchestrated by the production team, then that bullying video from before must have been problematic."
"Seriously, neither my son nor I have this kind of默契. This can't even be described as synchronization."
"Why doesn't Fang Miaomiao come out and explain? I've been to her fan forum, and when she has free time, she's almost always on Weibo. How could she not know how she's being slandered?"
"Rumors are easy to spread, but debunking them is difficult. Do you think anyone would listen to her explanation in her current situation? Honestly, if the moderators hadn't stepped in to block the haters, I might still dislike and resent her."
"Rumors with no cost have caused the victim to pay a heavy price. Fortunately, Fang Miaomiao has strong psychological resilience. If it were me, I would have become depressed."
Finally, Fang Miaomiao, with 5000, and Cui Mantong, with 4000, swaggered into the seafood market, giving the impression that they intended to buy out the entire market that day.