Chapter 22: Why Are You Blushing?

Xu Xiu took the opportunity to wrap his arms around her legs. Her skin was as smooth as silk, glowing with a healthy luster under the light, reminiscent of mutton-fat jade moistened by morning dew. The lines of her legs were natural and fluid, transitioning flawlessly from rounded thighs to slender calves, without a trace of excess fat, every muscle firm and resilient.

In plain terms: very smooth, very supple!

This time, under Xu Xiu's guidance, the pair finally succeeded. Hearing the confirmation chime, they immediately embraced. Because of the intensity of the moment, the impact of "Big Bear" and "Little Bear" caused a sharp pain in Xu Xiu’s chest.

It hadn't been easy! It was truly, truly difficult.

"Clap, clap, clap!"

The group broke into enthusiastic applause. They had watched the two progress step by step under Xu Xiu’s leadership.

"Xu Xiu, you are just too strong. You even managed to coach Meng; you’re simply divine!"
"You! You are my god!"
"As expected of a trainee with two and a half years of experience, your dance skills are truly top-notch!"
"Gosh, the fact that you didn't debut as part of a group is their loss!"

"Well said! Keep going! I’m listening!" Xu Xiu blinked.

"..."

The onlookers were stunned. How could he take their compliments so seriously? Usually, people would modestly reply with something like "No, no" or "I'm just average." But they had clearly forgotten that Xu Xiu didn't understand the concept of modesty.

Modesty? That was just a synonym for the weak. Xu Xiu felt he was terrifyingly strong—so strong that even he was sometimes afraid of himself!

Wait a minute!

Xu Xiu seemed to have forgotten one thing: he was still holding Meng Ziyi. Looking up, he noticed her cheeks were slightly flushed and her expression was rather strange.

"Why are you blushing? Do you have a fever?"

Meng Ziyi: "...You! I... you @%#]=√*"

Xu Xiu wiped the spit off his face, feeling completely bewildered as he watched Meng Ziyi walk away. What kind of person was that! He had kindly expressed concern for her, and she had sprayed his face with saliva! Was that appropriate?

"What a hopeless romantic!"

The scene was so beautifully awkward that the audience couldn't help but chime in:

"Damn! Are you an idiot? Meng is blushing, and you ask if she has a fever?"
"Shouldn't you have kissed her by now? Go for a forced romance!"
"To the female viewer above, your top priority should be uninstalling 'Tomato Novel'."
"Can I admit that I'm jealous? Xu Xiu, that scoundrel, actually hugged Meng for so long!!!"

[Ding! Detected host's abstract behavior gaining exposure. Singing +0.0069... Acting +0.0069... Cooking +0.0069... Physique +0.0069...]

Task points.

At this point, only Wang Chuanjun and Wu Dajing remained on the scene, as the others had finished watching the drama and gone their separate ways.

"Do you two think that was reasonable?" Xu Xiu turned to ask Wang Chuanjun and Wu Dajing.

"Unreasonable! Truly unreasonable!"
"Yeah! That was way too unreasonable!"

"Right? You guys think she was being unreasonable too, don't you? I told you I wasn't the only one who thought so." Xu Xiu sighed.

This remark made the corners of Wang Chuanjun and Wu Dajing’s mouths twitch.

"I think you have some misunderstandings!"
"The unreasonable one is you!"

"Huh? What did I do? I’m so simple and kind, what could I possibly have done wrong?" Xu Xiu was dumbfounded.

"You really have a misunderstanding of what 'simple and kind' means, and you also have some misconceptions about yourself!"
"Yeah, your self-description is quite irrational. If you had just said you were handsome, we would have agreed, but let's really not talk about being 'simple and kind'."

Xu Xiu felt miserable—truly miserable! It left him feeling dejected for the rest of the day.

After dinner, the group gathered in the dining room for a summary meeting. Li Xueqin shared her thoughts on everyone's performance throughout the day.

"Um, I feel like things were a bit chaotic today. Some people were very idle while others were very busy. Can we try to plan things out better?"
"Otherwise, the busy ones end up taking all the work, leaving the idle ones bored and the busy ones exhausted."

As soon as these words were spoken, they were met with cheers and applause from Xu Xiu, Wang Sulong, and others. This was a real issue; perhaps the new residents, afraid of being scolded for not working hard enough, kept grabbing tasks, which resulted in the young newcomers taking all the work. Outsiders might mistake this for the veteran residents bullying the newcomers, so a reasonable distribution was necessary. After all, the current public opinion environment was terrifying; one wrong move and you could be cyberbullied by the entire internet. It would be a disaster if someone developed depression.

Who knew that when these words reached Song Dan’s ears, they carried a different meaning? She thought Li Xueqin was implying that someone was intentionally grabbing work to keep others from doing it.

"No, wait a second. Who do you think was grabbing work today?"

A killing blow!

This question effectively silenced Li Xueqin. She couldn't very well start naming names, could she? That would turn into something else entirely! Li Xueqin could only provide an analogy, like saying the person feeding the horses was also making signs, but this clearly failed to convince Song Dan.

"Exactly, but did the person feeding the horses actually go make signs today?"
"You say that, so obviously someone did it. Who is it that is both feeding horses and making signs?"
"It's Teacher Wu. Look, Teacher Wu was feeding horses in the morning and making signs in the afternoon. We can't have eight people feeding horses and ten people making signs; that makes everyone tired!"

Hearing this, Song Dan turned to look at Wu Muye.

"Are you tired?"

Wu Muye, feeling quite helpless, could only say he was fine.

"See? He’s not tired. I think we should just let everyone do whatever they want. No one is grabbing work!" Song Dan said, once again shocking everyone.

Li Xueqin was completely stunned. She wasn't trying to highlight who was grabbing work; she was just worried that the newcomers wouldn't know what to do and would be forced to stay busy. She slapped herself, blaming her own clumsy tongue.

With a "smack" sound, everyone present was bewildered, unsure how things had escalated to this point. The atmosphere became extremely oppressive.

At that moment, Xu Xiu stepped forward.

"Let me interrupt for a moment. Dan-ma, that’s not what Li Xueqin meant. She was just worried that the newcomers wouldn't know what to do and would end up running around busy all day."
"Furthermore, she just wants everyone to distribute the work reasonably. After all, the tasks are limited. If we distribute them evenly, it will be much easier for everyone to finish."

"Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap!"

Deafening applause erupted on the spot. Everyone looked at Xu Xiu with admiration.

"As expected of the village chief, that summary was spot on!"
"No wonder you're the village chief; your summary was so powerful!"
"This is amazing! I suggest you run for another term!"
"Yes, that's actually exactly what I meant," Li Xueqin added, feeling aggrieved.

"Oh, so that's how it is. I understand now. I thought it was something else. Xueqin, stop slapping yourself; I misunderstood you."
"It's okay, Dan-ma. I know you didn't mean it that way either. I was just frustrated with myself for being inarticulate."