Xu Ci said quietly, “We don’t need breakfast. There are still leftovers from tonight. I’ll take a day off tomorrow and go to the market instead—it’s the same.”
But Qingli didn’t reject the task outright. Instead, she turned to the crew member who delivered the assignment and said, “Look, even someone who knows what they’re doing thinks you’re being unreasonable. Don’t you think it’s time to tweak the task a bit?”
The staff member hesitated, conferred with the director, and then replied, “If you don’t want to take the task, that’s fine—you can refuse. You just won’t receive the reward.”
Qingli, however, smiled and said, “Who said I don’t want to do it? I’m just saying—for a task this difficult, a simple breakfast and a ride to the market isn’t nearly enough. How about throwing in a hundred pounds of rice?”
This time, the crew agreed. “Alright. We’ll throw in a hundred pounds of rice—and another hundred pounds of flour. But if you fail, we’ll deduct one day’s worth of food from your household’s ration and give it back to the show.”
Barrage comments:
【??? Wait, you can do that?!】
【They’re just setting her up to fail. The production team is trash!】
【WTF—they’re even taking food away now?!】
【Girl, don’t agree to this! If you fail, everyone will blame you tomorrow!】
【Don’t do it! This morning’s lesson from those three boys should’ve been enough—gambling never ends well!】
【Pfft—this was stressful at first, but now I’m laughing】
The audience was worried—this was such an obvious trap set by the production team.
But on camera, Qingli didn’t hesitate for a second. She nodded. “No problem!”
Every viewer in the livestream felt their heart sink at once.
【Is this girl just too overconfident?!】
【Ugh, Grandpa Xu is already living a hard enough life, and she’s out here gambling with it?! There’s no way she can win this!】
【…Maybe she’s got a secret plan?】
【Come on. A pampered rich girl like her? No way she knows how to do this. She’s 100% going to fail—she doesn’t know how hard weaving straw hats is!】
【There’s no way she can finish. What if she’s just messing with Grandpa Xu on purpose to make the show fall apart?】
【Holy crap, that might be it!】
Even viewers who had started liking Qingli just for her looks quickly turned against her. Almost no one was defending her now, and the few who did were instantly flamed. The chat was completely flooded with criticism aimed at Jiang Qingli.
At the Jiang household:
Grandpa Jiang wasn’t watching anymore. He was old, and his eyes couldn’t take staring at a screen for too long.
But Jiang Xi, remembering the morning’s events and feeling a little concerned, decided to check in. During a break at work, he opened the livestream and just happened to catch Qingli making that high-stakes bet with the production team.
His brow furrowed, and a hint of disappointment flashed in his eyes.
So this girl… is still just as impulsive and foolish as ever.
Backstage, the director watched the situation spiral and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
From what Jiang Zheng had told him, Qingli had a short temper. Dealing with a girl like her wasn’t hard—you just had to dangle the right bait, and she’d fall into the trap on her own. Sure enough, that’s exactly what had happened.
The director smirked with satisfaction, leaned back in his chair, and took a sip of water. Now all he had to do was wait—when the sun came up tomorrow, the entire internet would be ripping her apart.
Qingli was well aware of the production team’s malice toward her. She shrugged—it didn’t bother her.
But when she turned around, she saw three people staring at her with worried eyes.
Xu Shan said anxiously, “A’Li, you acted on impulse this time. Straw hats are super hard to weave! Just because my grandpa makes it look easy doesn’t mean you can do it. You might not even finish in two days.”
Xu Ci sighed. “It’s fine. We’ll skip breakfast tomorrow. We’ll survive.”
Grandpa Xu forced a wrinkled smile. “That’s right. It’s okay. I ate a lot today—I’ll be fine without breakfast.”
The kindness of the Xu family only made the barrage of angry comments more intense. People tore into Qingli for being reckless and endangering them all.
But Qingli couldn’t see the comments, and she didn’t care.
The truth was, she had accepted the bet not out of recklessness, but because she wanted those 200 pounds of rice and flour. With that, the Xu family would be much better off.
More importantly, in a few days, the production crew probably wouldn’t offer such generous rewards again. She needed to seize the opportunity now.
She chuckled and said seriously, “You guys have to trust me. I can weave.”
Xu Shan & Xu Ci: “???”
Barrage comments:
【??? Wait, did we misjudge her? Has the rich girl secretly been through survival training?】
Xu Shan blinked. “No way… you’ve learned this before?”
Qingli shook her head.
“Then how can you say you can weave?” Xu Shan was starting to panic. “You’re going to get flamed so hard if you mess this up!”
Barrage comments:
【Forget “going to be.” She’s already getting flamed!】
Qingli just smiled and walked over to Grandpa Xu. She picked up some sun-dried bellflower stems and, after testing their flexibility, began weaving.
Her movements were clumsy at first, and she had to ask Grandpa Xu for help a few times.
But after a few tries, she started to get the hang of it. Her fingers moved faster, her technique smoother, and not long after, the crown of the straw hat began to take shape. Then she started expanding outward from the center.
Barrage comments (stunned):
【??? This… isn’t quite what I expected】
【Am I hallucinating? I left to charge my phone and came back—she was fumbling before, but now she’s already this smooth?!】
【Didn’t she say she didn’t know how?! Is she scamming the production team?!】
The audience was full of questions, but since livestream viewers couldn’t interact directly, they were practically exploding with frustration.
Xu Shan finally asked what everyone was thinking: “This is your first time?”
Qingli gave a small smile, calm and confident. “Yeah. But I’ve got a good memory. I watched Grandpa Xu closely just now and memorized the technique. My fingers are pretty nimble, so I can work faster than most. Barring any surprises, I should be able to finish in about three hours.”
Barrage comments:
【!!!】
【Turns out I was the clown here】
【Girl, I was wrong. I never should’ve doubted you. I’m down on my knees, okay?!】
Back in the Jiang household, Jiang Xi hadn’t closed the stream yet, and his brows rose slightly in surprise.
Well, now… that was unexpected.
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152