Becoming Popular Through The “All Villains” Variety Show – Chapter 72 Part 1

Please Like Her 23

The other party has explained so. As guests, naturally they couldn’t want to ask more questions.

Meng Li opened his mouth as if to say something, but after realizing the strange atmosphere, he chose to remain quiet.

The village chief’s grandson, who was around ten years old, stood up. He appeared well-behaved and said, “Dad worked hard on the farm today. Please eat quickly. I’ll go take the food to Grandma.”

The village chief chuckled, “Da Ming, listen to your son. Many people in the village envy our Ah Zhi for being so considerate of his father. It’s a blessing for our family!”

It felt like Shang Lu just saw a hallucination.

Song Zeqian, who had previously appeared a bit depressed, now had a hint of a smile and said, “Yes, Ah Zhi is such a well-behaved child. You can tell he has a bright future ahead.”

The quiet boy didn’t say anything further and took the food from his father’s hands to head upstairs.

For the village chief, even though he wasn’t sure of the exact identities of these people before him, Song Zeqian, who had paid him a substantial amount of money to stay, was certainly a capable businessman. His grandson receiving praise from such a person was a source of pride.

The village chief had a big, happy smile on his face, and he even asked his daughter-in-law to bring out his well-preserved wine to share with everyone. The atmosphere at the dinner table seemed harmonious.

It appeared that the incident had passed, but the word ‘strange’ crossed everyone’s minds almost simultaneously.

Although no one said anything more, they all had a vague sense that something was amiss.

Except for—

Lin Yanyan.

Naturally, she didn’t drink. She started to soak her food in soup and looked at the village chief’s daughter-in-law, asking, “Once it’s soft, I don’t need to chew it with my teeth, right?”

The village chief’s daughter-in-law had a slightly awkward smile on her face but nodded.

Shang Lu asked in confusion, “Is something wrong with your teeth?”

“My teeth are fine. It’s just that I’ve been eating a lot of hard food lately, and it feels like my jaw muscles have become more developed,” Lin Yanyan said as she reached up to touch her cheek. She looked at Shang Lu with a serious expression and asked, “Do you think I should get a jawline botox injection when I go back?”

Before Shang Lu could respond, Song Zeqian chuckled and said, “Botox, right? If your face becomes stiff, I might have to switch to a different actress even halfway through filming.”

Lin Yanyan : 🥺

She was just joking; she didn’t want to get botox.

After dinner, there was a short meeting.

Instead of calling it a meeting, it’s more like a Chinese language class.

Song Zeqian assigned them homework which required them to write a diary every day, recording their daily observations and thoughts in the countryside, as well as their own reflections and changes.

After reading the ‘diaries’ they submitted today, Song Zeqian asked Lin Yanyan and Meng Li to write more specifically about the events, without saying much else.

Song Zeqian said directly, “Everyone, go to sleep.”

One by one, they left, leaving only Song Zeqian in the room.

But Song Zeqian didn’t leave his position; instead, he looked in the direction of the door.

Half a minute later, the partially open door was pushed open, and Shang Lu poked her head out.

When her gaze met Song Zeqian’s, she walked in honestly and directly asked, “Why did you choose this family?”

Song Zeqian responded with a question, “The village chief has prestige in the village, and it’s convenient for us to work under the cloak of authority. Besides, there’s someone in their family who isn’t here, which made it easier for us to integrate these identities. Is there a better choice?”

But Shang Lu shook her head and said, “What you said is correct, but you have a problem.”

Song Zeqian didn’t argue, only saying, “Oh?”

Shang Lu analyzed it seriously, “If you have nothing to hide, with your personality, you wouldn’t explain so much to me. Song Zeqian, you understand my way of acting, and I understand yours as well. The more detailed your answer, the more likely you are to be lying.”

Song Zeqian has always been aloof and doesn’t like to explain to others. If it were just her overthinking, he should be mocking her for her foolishness right now, especially for asking such a simple question.

His current reaction, on the other hand, could prove that her guess was indeed correct.

Shang Lu didn’t waste any time and directly stated her judgment, “That woman has a problem, the village chief and his son and daughter-in-law also have issues. Song Zeqian, what do you want to do? What is the purpose of bringing us here?”

A hint of helplessness appeared in Song Zeqian’s eyes, and he said, “I didn’t tell you because I thought knowing too much too soon would affect your state, but you still guessed it.”

Song Zeqian casually opened the script that was placed in front of him and flipped through a few pages before finally saying, “This week, of course, I’m not letting you to just about wander around the village. That would be a waste of time. Since I’m going to teach you, there’s no better way to understand the script than by witnessing reality with your own eyes.”

Witnessing reality.

Understanding the script.

Reality.

Script.

The script they’re performing, a part of it is reality here.

A few words kept floating in Shang Lu’s mind, and she instantly realized what Song Zeqian wanted to do. She reached out to cover her mouth.

Absurd speculations filled her mind.

The woman upstairs is experiencing events from the script.

Song Zeqian asked her, “Do you understand?”

Shang Lu nodded but couldn’t quite comprehend, “How did you know all this?”

Song Zeqian twirled the ring on his finger and said, “I posted a simple Weibo about the concept of this film a couple of months ago. A netizen, the second son of this family, privately messaged me. He told me that his mother was bought by his father with money, and she gave birth to twelve children in fifteen years. Three of them died shortly after birth. Only he and his elder brother were left, while the rest are girl babies who were abandoned and the boy babies who were sold at low prices to bachelors who couldn’t afford wives, so at least they could have someone to take care of them in their old age.

“When he reached adulthood, he couldn’t accept this abnormal living environment, but he couldn’t take his mentally unstable mother with him. His uncle worked at the police station, so even reporting the situation was futile. In the end, he could only choose to escape from this family and send money to his brother every month, asking him to take better care of their mother. When he found out I wanted to make a film on this theme, he voluntarily shared his story with me, hoping that such incidents could receive more attention from society.

“In my opinion, there is no better and more suitable real material for you to watch, isn’t that right?”

Song Zeqian’s words aligned with Shang Lu’s speculation, leaving her even more astonished.

Seeing Shang Lu’s expression, Song Zeqian continued, “There’s something even more surprising. The daughter-in-law of the village head you saw today was once a college student who was also abducted and brought here.”

Shang Lu was completely baffled.

That woman who appeared gentle and cheerful, was she also brought here through abduction?

Song Zeqian’s voice carried a tone of mockery, “She saw the plight of her mother-in-law. If she failed to escape, she can only live a life worse than death. Her husband looks good and, apart from occasional beatings, is ‘kind’ to her the rest of the time. The women in the village envy her, thinking she has a good life. I don’t know what she thought when she first came here, but now, she has adapted and is content with this kind of life.”

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