Chapter 180

That is, as the popularity of the program《Baby? Baby!》steadily climbed after its broadcast, the culture and tourism department of the local government of R City, where Quanxi Village is located, actually personally contacted the program team.

Furthermore, they explicitly stated their desire to invite the little guest Lu Xueyan and the celebrity parent Lu Li to serve as this year’s official agricultural assistance and poverty alleviation ambassadors!

“This opportunity is actually quite rare. Although the remuneration isn’t high, the main point is the official public welfare background. They will also issue letters of appointment and certificates of honor…”

Director Guo Rui seriously began to introduce it.

The program team initially thought the other party would contact the more universally known Best Actor Fu Shuilan father-daughter group. After all, Fu Shuilan was also a classic big shot who appealed to men, women, old, and young alike.

Unfortunately, after the broadcast of the second episode, the footage of Xueyan’s group directly boosted the popularity of several legendary figures in the Quanxi Village vegetable market.

Whether it was the fiery-tempered stall owner Uncle Dong, the subsequent hot topic of Potato Grandpa, or the Auntie who righteously stepped forward… They were all ordinary people visible everywhere in daily life, yet in their interactions with the cub in front of the camera, they displayed unparalleled charismatic personalities.

Not only did they gain considerable popularity online after their appearances, but even some specialty fruits and vegetables of R City, where Quanxi Village is located, gradually became well-known to the audience.

Moreover, the overall image presented by Lu Li and Xueyan in the program was exceptionally positive. Although Xueyan was a little cub from the city, he acted exceptionally down-to-earth, knowing even more about various agricultural products than adults did.

As a result, among Lu Li’s new Weibo followers, quite a few were parents seeking to consult and learn exactly how such an angelic cub was raised. The fan demographic was also becoming increasingly diverse.

When Lu Ting heard the news, he was stunned for a moment, feeling that this glorious, upright, and positive official title was somewhat hard to get used to.

In the eyes of the elders, it felt like one second Old Third was still wearing torn performance clothes, singing, dancing, and shouting “Everyone buy magazines and tickets” on stage, and the next second he was running to a government agency in a suit and tie, declaring “Not taking a single needle or thread from the masses.”

This Old Third of the family was getting more and more popular. Of course, if System 444 were to speak, what difference was there between this and inviting a villainous character to promote a public welfare project?

When Qu Siyue and other company personnel learned of this news, they very seriously suggested that Chairman Lu Ting could consider letting Lu Li accept this unexpected invitation.

“Alright, then let Old Third decide this kind of thing for himself, provided the sweet cub is also willing.”

Lu Ting pondered for a moment and ultimately decided to leave it to Old Third to decide for himself. As for the family, the most they would do is casually offer some support.

Like casually helping to place a few million-dollar orders?

Meanwhile, Lu Li’s side naturally also received this news.

Lu Li simply explained the content of this invitation to Xueyan, and the new system notification sound immediately rang out:

【Beep— Triggered special villain reputation-changing event ‘Agricultural Assistance and Poverty Alleviation’!】

“Brother, I want to participate! And that way, we can help Grandpa sell lots and lots of little potatoes.”

Therefore, before Lu Li could even finish speaking, Xueyan had already very seriously told his brother that they must participate.

It was only afterwards that Xueyan learned from the staff uncles and aunties that the grandpa who had helped buy so many of his potatoes actually had a lot of unsold potatoes planted at his own home too!

Seeing Xueyan being so cooperative, Lu Li was momentarily a bit surprised. After a long while, he let out a low chuckle:

“Okay.”

Xueyan was so resolute, yet he himself was still overthinking things.

But in reality, Lu Li was still a bit worried. What if, while attending this kind of official government event, that “self” suddenly popped out again?

【But we really did earn quite a lot of points on this trip.】

【We even lit up several villain achievement points!】

System 444, on the other hand, was beaming with joy, although lighting up these achievement points felt a bit strange.

For example, regarding this “Poisoning the male lead and successfully making him swallow it,” Xueyan and Teacher 444 were both dumbfounded for a long time, wondering when they had caused such a huge commotion.

【This poisoning, it couldn’t be referring to the meal Third Brother cooked, right!?】

It wasn’t until System 444 reviewed everything for a long time that they realized there seemed to be no other explanation for this thing except for Third Brother’s meal. It was actually directly judged as “poison” by the backend?

Although being able to make Pei Shuo proactively eat that poison-like food could also be considered an unprecedented villain achievement.

System 444 thought to itself that Pei Shuo, this little protagonist, was quite sincere, actually not spitting it out like the other people present.

Including Xueyan, who had eaten a small bite of the dish, and indeed had an uncomfortable stomach that night.

Fortunately, the program team’s medical vehicle followed them the whole time and promptly came over to prescribe some medicine. Plus, the hot egg mixed rice eaten right after neutralized a lot of it, so nothing major happened.

“Then our upcoming itinerary in the third episode will probably be slightly different from the other guests. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] It might be quite exhausting, Xueyan.”

After confirming the itinerary arrangements, Lu Li also discussed it with Xueyan.

“Hmm.”

Xueyan nodded, but didn’t feel at all that accompanying his brother to work would be exhausting. Since he was on summer vacation right now, he was a very free little friend to begin with.

“But once this episode is finished filming, will we be able to go home and see Papa and the others? Has Fourth Brother finished his exams, Brother?”

Besides going out to play, although it was very happy, he indeed missed his parents a bit.

“Uh… I’m guessing the day the event ends and we go home will be exactly when the third episode officially broadcasts. As long as Old Fourth hasn’t gone traveling, he’ll definitely be at home too.”

Hearing this, Lu Li calculated the time and felt it was quite perfect.

Bringing Xueyan home late at night, perhaps the whole family could even happily watch the program together at the dining table while eating. He could also answer some of the questions Lu Ting, Lu Xun, and the others had while watching the program.

Sharing the filming details more thoroughly.

And the other guests, upon learning that Lu Li and Xueyan had a new itinerary, were also quite curious.

“Xueyan, were you invited over specifically to sell vegetables?”

Lin Yujia looked at Xueyan with special admiration.

In Lin Yujia’s view, it must be because Xueyan performed so well in the vegetable market that day, resulting in everyone trying to invite Xueyan to work for them after the program aired!

“Actually, I don’t know either… I feel that selling vegetables is still a new skill that needs to be learned.”

Hearing this, Xueyan thought for a moment, feeling that he wasn’t exactly a vegetable-selling expert either.

But helping the farmer uncles sell vegetables must definitely be a meaningful and valuable thing to do. If Teacher Jiang were present, she would definitely tell him the same thing.

“Then why can’t we go help Xueyan sell vegetables together?”

Pei Shuo, however, looked coldly at the director, feeling this arrangement was truly unreasonable.

“Director, you keep saying we are a team, a big family. How can a big family not act together?”

Director Guo Rui: ?

Isn’t this his own PUA (brainwash) rhetoric used to make guests endure hardships? How did it get learned by the guest and used to reverse-PUA him, the director?

Being blocked by a few completely serious sentences from Pei Shuo to the point where he almost couldn’t speak, Director Guo Rui forcefully felt a sense that if he didn’t answer well, his investment would be pulled in the next second.

“How is it not acting together? How is it not a big family?! It’s just that the third episode has multiple parallel storylines. You guys do your tasks, Lu Li and Xueyan do theirs, and after successfully completing the missions together, the few small teams will converge at night!”

“And this time, the director has even prepared a grand prize for you all!! Just look forward to it, hehe.”

Director Guo Rui coaxed while painting a beautiful picture, successfully diverting the attention of the other little friends.

The director said there’s a grand prize in the third episode—!

“Director, did the program pull in new investment?”

The other parents were also cheerful. Completely unaware of the high-intensity content of the third episode, they were still curious if Director Guo Rui’s sudden generosity meant the program had become a massive hit.

Because electronic devices were basically confiscated during the program’s filming, although the guests knew the program’s broadcast seemed to be having a good effect and high popularity, they didn’t really have a concrete sense of it within the small, enclosed environment of Quanxi Village.

“Ahem, just pulled in a little new one, nothing worth mentioning, haha.”

Deeply afraid of revealing too much information and causing the guests to become proud and slack off prematurely, Guo Rui deliberately shook his head mysteriously.

But the staff members present all knew that once the first two episodes aired, the trend of popularity burned brighter and brighter. Sponsors who previously couldn’t be begged to join were now starting to scramble over to inquire about scheduling.

With more money, the variety of tricks Director Guo could play naturally increased as well, didn’t it?

Thinking about it this way, Lu Li and Xueyan’s luck was actually quite good, barely managing to escape a small calamity. Otherwise, given Xueyan’s physical condition, going into the water to dig in the mud would probably be quite dangerous.

Not long after the second episode broadcasted, the teaser clips for the third episode were also quickly released following the trend.

Whether it was Teacher Jiang Xian, who punctually took out her phone on her commute home, or Song Zhi’ang, who, upon seeing the time during his tutoring session, informed his tutor that he was going to watch a program, including many viewers and fans across the country, everyone had gradually developed the habit of watching the program teasers the first moment they were available.

At the thought that after this episode finished broadcasting, they would have to wait quite a while before the second stage continued updating, everyone even felt a bit reluctant to part with it.

And the teaser for the third episode didn’t disappoint, starting off with high energy. In this final episode filmed in Quanxi Village, the parents and cubs were actually collectively dragged into a “mud pit” by the black-hearted program team!

The moment the screen flashed with the cute and amusing scene of Teacher Lin Xiangtao, covered in mud, pulling the equally mud-covered little friend Lin Yujia out of the sludge, it gave the viewers a jump.

【What is the meaning of this!?】

【Teacher Lin Xiangtao: Is there any more dignified way to become popular by being on this program??】

【Wait, what is the little boiling kettle holding in his hands?】

Only when everyone looked closely did they realize that little friend Lin Yujia seemed to be holding a section of lotus root in his hands??

【The third episode, the miraculous journey of “digging lotus roots”~ Let our five family groups encounter miracles together!】

Subsequently, the subtitles for《Baby? Baby!》appeared, and everyone finally understood that they were sent into the water town to dig lotus roots!

The content of this episode’s program had another new change. The tasks assigned to the several family groups were different. Some groups were responsible for taking the kids to dig lotus roots, while other groups’ parents were responsible for taking the kids to pick water caltrops and hunt for treasure on the water.

Once the several family groups finally converged and obtained enough ingredients, they could receive the ultimate luxurious reward of the program team’s first stage—boarding a distinctive painted pleasure boat and tasting a cultural feast of the water town amidst the shimmering waves!

The program team’s camera cut, specifically showing the pleasure boat that had been placed on the water in advance. It looked indeed quite luxurious. It seemed like Director Guo prepared to give the guests some sweetness at the end, lest they collectively strike and refuse to come for the second stage.

【Good, seeing this reward, we Pear fans are at ease. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] Finally, we don’t need to force our Lu Li to cook anymore. Shedding tears of gratitude for Little Pear.】

【Laughing to death, then I’ll be moved for Teacher Lan Yu’s family stove. At least we don’t have to worry about it being burned down.】

Seeing this reward, countless fans immediately breathed a sigh of relief for the several guests who completely didn’t know how to cook.

At least they had the chance to urgently learn some cooking skills before filming the second stage. Otherwise, they truly wouldn’t feel at ease with Lu Li taking Little Pear to compete! Our Little Pear can’t eat those filthy things!!

【But I’m a bit worried, can Little Pear really run into a mud pit to dig lotus roots?】

But there were also viewers who were quite nervous and worried.

Especially Lu Ting, who had originally thought he could watch the teaser very calmly. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] In his company office, imitating young people, he took out his phone to watch the online teaser. Discovering it was actually some messy mud digging and boating on the water, he almost demanded to know from Guo Rui if he no longer wanted to live.

With the sweet cub’s physical condition, could he dig in this broken mud? It’s not like that Peppa Pig from the cartoons! Even running to the water’s edge, what if he fell in?

As a result, although the teaser showed a series of chaotic and sorry scenes of the various guests, the moment it got to Lu Li and Xueyan’s group, the painting style was simply different.

Lu Li and Xueyan actually put on fluttering ancient costumes!

The background music was also different from the other guests, changing to a high mountain and flowing water-like guqin melody.

It turned out that Lu Li and Xueyan’s task belonged to a special mission. They ran to the poverty alleviation and agricultural assistance program of the city government where Quanxi Village is located, helping to promote many agricultural products including lotus roots and water caltrops!

And the fleeting glimpse of Xueyan in ancient costume directly stunned countless viewers with his beauty.

They saw Xueyan, being led by Lu Li’s hand, wearing a light gauze ancient costume in a color between white and pale cyan. In his hand, he even held a lotus leaf larger than his own head, looking just like an ancient-style little cub action figure holding a lotus leaf umbrella.

【Really, for the first time I have the urge to fight my idol for custody TwT. I Want to know what kind of fan demographic this is considered?】