Chapter 43: She Drives Like the Wind

[1/3]
[Really, I think Xu Zhaozhao must have misunderstood something. I feel like Shen Mu has always been so firm about her!]
[Exactly, exactly. If a man treated me like that, I would have yielded to him long ago...]
[I yielded first.]
[Are you still fighting over it at a time like this? That is my husband, what business do you have with him?]
[Seriously, by the end of the dating reality show, will I get to see them reciprocate each other's feelings?]
[To the one above, I don't want to rain on your parade, but Xu Zhaozhao is someone who follows a script.]
[That's right. Unless they get online and find out their script has been exposed, this is basically impossible.]
"Aunt Fu, you don't need to make me tea. I'm leaving right away."
Xu Zhaozhao grabbed Aunt Fu's hand, stopping her busy movements.
"I'm just here to pick something up."
"Oh, right, right! It's already been prepared for you!"
Aunt Fu said with a smile, "A few days ago, the timing wasn't quite right, but these past two days are just right."
[What timing wasn't right and is now just right? What did Xu Zhaozhao ask Aunt Fu for?]
[Is it something delicious?]
"Here, for you!"
Amidst the curious comments in the live chat, Aunt Fu brought out a basket from the kitchen.
The camera panned over to reveal a basket filled to the brim with fresh, fragrant lemons—easily thirty or forty of them.
[Are these... lemons?]
[What does Xu Zhaozhao want with lemons? You can't eat these as a meal. She's out of money; she'd be better off asking Aunt Fu for some rice, flour, or vegetables.]
[Originally, Aunt Fu bringing breakfast to Xu Zhaozhao and Shen Mu already made everyone dissatisfied. If she asks Aunt Fu for free rice, flour, and vegetables on top of that, what is the point of the other guests pooling their money together and scrimping and saving?]
[But the production team didn't say they aren't allowed to ask the villagers for things, did they? Being able to survive until the end of the dating show through the villagers' relief is a kind of skill in its own right.]
[Then wouldn't the purpose of handing out money on this dating show cease to exist?]
[Stop arguing! Let's just watch what Xu Zhaozhao is going to do with those lemons!]
Xu Zhaozhao took the lemons from Aunt Fu and went over to the well to wash them.
After washing all the dozens of lemons thoroughly, she carried them and bid farewell to Aunt Fu.
"Aunt Fu, I'll be heading out first then."
When she was helping Aunt Fu with chores last time, Xu Zhaozhao had discovered a lemon tree behind Aunt Fu's house.
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[2/3]
At that time, the lemons were not quite ripe yet, and Aunt Fu had promised to pick them for her in a couple of days.
Now that she had the lemons, Xu Zhaozhao walked directly toward the village exit.
[What on earth is Xu Zhaozhao going to do with so many lemons?]
The further she walked, the further she got from the village and the closer she got to the ancient tree.
The village chief's car was still parked near the ancient tree. Reaching the vehicle, she took out her keys and skillfully unlocked the door, getting inside.
[With those lemons, could Xu Zhaozhao be planning to go sell them at the market?]
Seeing Xu Zhaozhao get into the village chief's car, the viewers roughly guessed she was heading out to sell the lemons.
[How much can these lemons even sell for? She'd be better off helping Aunt Fu sell duck eggs and chicken eggs. Combined with Xu Zhaozhao's woven straw crafts, she could definitely make a good profit.]
[Those chicken and duck eggs aren't available in large quantities every day anyway. Besides, didn't those eggs get completely bought out by Movie Emperor Ke this time? Aunt Fu won't even need to go to the market until the dating show ends.]
After getting into the car, Xu Zhaozhao properly placed the lemons, and right after, a "click" sound came from the passenger seat.
Looking up, she saw that Shen Mu had also gotten into the car.
The moment she saw him, Xu Zhaozhao got a huge headache. "Why do you keep following me around?"
It was rare for them not to be paired up as a couple today; she just wanted some solo time, hello!
Being driven crazy by these men every day, she just wanted some peace and quiet.
"Staying there... is boring." After a long while, Shen Mu uttered those two words: "is boring."
When saying "boring," Shen Mu's tone carried a trace of imperceptible pleading.
Xu Zhaozhao gave Shen Mu a deep look.
It was only because she was Xu Zhaozhao, who had spent a period of time living alongside him, that she knew this little habit of his.
Shen Mu was born without a natural inclination to be close to people, and being a grown man, he wasn't very skilled at acting spoiled or sweet-talking.
When he said he was bored, he was actually sending out a distress signal to Xu Zhaozhao.
Thinking about it, Chen Simu and Sun Yu, who stayed behind at the ancient courtyard, indeed weren't people Shen Mu could converse with.
Her heart softened. "You can follow me if you want, but let's make it clear beforehand: you can help out with work later, but there is no remuneration whatsoever."
Shen Mu nodded.
Seeing that Shen Mu agreed, Xu Zhaozhao finally pressed down hard on the accelerator and started the car.
The next moment, there was a roar, followed by a shake of the camera, and the car "flew" out like lightning.
[Xu Zhaozhao's driving skills... are pretty poor, huh!]
[I feel so sorry for the cameraman sitting in the back. Is his lower back okay?]
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[3/3]
[Hahaha, do you think the cameraman is desperately missing the way the Movie Emperor drives?]
[What do you guys know? Listen to the sound of that accelerator, look at the speed of this car—this isn't poor driving skill at all, this is exceptionally good!]
[Right, right! I wanted to say the same thing. Is Xu Zhaozhao driving this like a race car driver?]
[Really? Upstairs, are you guys all just forcing compliments? Even if you like Xu Zhaozhao and support her, don't blindly exaggerate!]
[Exactly, don't blindly praise her just because you like her! After all, Xu Zhaozhao is a down-to-earth actress; don't go hyping her up right now!]
[Is there any professional out there who can tell us whether this is just pure dumb luck or netizens blindly overpraising her?]
[I'm a race car driver. I wonder if the production team can show me her footwork on the pedals. One look at her footwork and I can guess a thing or two...]
True to its nature as a live-streamed dating reality show, the cameraman immediately received instructions through his earpiece to film Xu Zhaozhao's feet.
Although the cameraman didn't understand why the director had such a request, he complied anyway.
Xu Zhaozhao's feet were seen deftly operating the manual transmission of the old van.
The clunky, jerky shifting that Ke Hao exhibited was completely absent here.
Xu Zhaozhao looked intently at the road ahead, her hands skillfully manipulating the steering wheel.
Her gaze revealed a sense of confidence and decisiveness, as if she were intimately familiar with every single component of the vehicle.
Shen Mu sat quietly to the side, watching Xu Zhaozhao's profile, his heart filled with doubt.
From the initial startup to the current driving, every single movement of Xu Zhaozhao's was as smooth and natural as a professional race car driver's, without a shred of hesitation or doubt.
[Hey, race car driver, what do you think?]
[Diagnosis confirmed: Xu Zhaozhao knows how to race cars.]
[Oh gosh, isn't this race car driver just a hired Internet water army planted by Xu Zhaozhao? Why is it so hard for me to believe?]
[If you don't believe it, don't rush to run your mouth yet. Go check out the driving habits of professional race car drivers first...]
In the chat, after a brief moment of silence, the comments became lively again.
[I actually went and checked. Xu Zhaozhao's hand and foot movements really are identical to those of many race car drivers.]
[Oh my goodness, before this, I thought it was amazing enough that Xu Zhaozhao knew how to fix cars. Now you're telling me she knows how to race them too? Is she some kind of omnipotent deity?]
[I remember Xu Zhaozhao played a fourth female lead who had a secret crush on a racing team driver. To pursue her idol, she even went to work as the team manager. Did she learn it back then?]
[Good grief, based on what you're saying, she gets paid to act... and learns skills on the side through her acting roles?]
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