Qin Wei and the production team negotiated for an extra 200 yuan to compensate for the insufficiency of 150 yuan for the ten of them to enjoy the Buddha Jumps Over the Wall dish. However, Qin Wei's waist injury recurred, forcing her to stay in the courtyard.
"I can stay behind to slaughter the chicken and make chicken soup. The other four boys can go and husk the 150 corn cobs," she suggested.
No one objected, but it seemed wasteful for the four girls to go shopping together. They drew lots to decide. Two of them would go to town to buy groceries, while the remaining two would stay behind to help with miscellaneous tasks, such as turning over the soil in the vegetable garden.
Qin Wei looked at the slip of paper in her hand with a gloomy expression.
Even worse off was Lin Qiqi, who held the same slip of paper.
"Grocery shopping," it read.
The staff handed money to Qin Wei and said, "We'll trouble both of you teachers to make a trip."
...
Afterward, the two of them sat side by side in the car, but neither of them spoke a word, each gazing out of the window at the passing scenery.
Haters' comments:
[They must not get along, right? Qin Wei can't hide her displeasure on her face anymore.]
[Lin Qiqi is also unhappy. She used to be such a sunny and talkative girl, but now she has nothing to say to Qin Wei. Qin Wei's popularity is so poor. People used to be willing to humor her, but now they can't be bothered.]
...
They soon arrived in town. Qin Wei wanted to get straight to the point and buy ingredients, but it was Lin Qiqi's first time there, and she couldn't help but find everything fascinating. She looked around as they walked, showing no intention of hurrying.
Haters' comments:
[Why is she so slow? I bet a packet of spicy sticks that Qin Wei will get angry and scold her. At the very least, she'll roll her eyes at her.]
[Qin Jie, give her a good scolding. I support you. I've always disliked that girl.]
[Qin Jie, feel free to tear her apart. If you tear her apart, I absolutely won't scold you.]
...
After getting out of the car, Lin Qiqi suddenly became cheerful again. Perhaps she didn't realize that her sour-faced silence throughout the entire car ride wouldn't be captured on camera. She pointed to a roadside stall:
"Hey, hey, Qin Teacher, look, little ducklings!"
Qin Wei didn't bother to argue with her and stopped to turn around, giving a serious reply:
"Those are geese."
Haters' comments:
[Qin Wei can tell the difference, but she can't? She must be so stupid.]
[Qin Wei should switch to teaching preschool. Buy chickens and sheep for Danni, so as not to disappoint her. You may not have noticed, but in the behind-the-scenes footage, she puts a hat on Xiaoxiao to protect her from the sun and patiently corrects Lin Qiqi. She even mentioned that she would cook when they returned.]
[Why is she so Zen-like? It's like she has a halo around her...]
[If Qin Jie becomes famous again one day, I'm afraid she'll be dropping relics as she walks down the street.]
[You upstairs, your joke is so lame... Ahchoo!]
[Hahaha, if she becomes famous again, none of you will be innocent. Either you're incompetent or lazy. You keep saying you hate her and want her to leave the entertainment industry, but what's the result?]
[That makes sense. What we see now is all scripted and acted. We know how rotten their true characters are.]
[Sounds reasonable. +1]
...
Nowadays, it's completely different from five years ago. In the past, you couldn't find various seafood in a small town like this, but now, as long as you have money, there's nothing you can't buy.
Considering that everyone wanted to eat authentic Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, but their budget was limited, Qin Wei chose affordable substitutes instead.
For example, when they couldn't afford shark fin, they used Longkou vermicelli as a replacement, which was cheaper and more abundant.
In addition, Qin Wei bought a lot of mushrooms to enhance the flavor. With the money saved, they could still afford a small amount of scallops, prawns, fish maw, and abalone.
"Fortunately, abalone is not too expensive here."
After paying for the ingredients, Qin Wei muttered to herself. When she had purchased all the ingredients and calculated the money, she had four yuan left.
Qin Wei shook the loose change in her hand in front of the camera and said, "Lin Qiqi has also worked hard. Let's treat her to an ice cream!"
But when she turned around, she couldn't see Lin Qiqi.
Where was she?
Qin Wei looked around, realizing that she had been focused on comparing ingredients and hadn't noticed when Lin Qiqi disappeared.
This worried her a bit.
"Qin Teacher, she's over there."
The cameraman pointed to a small stall across the street, where Lin Qiqi was standing, holding a puppy in her arms.
It was a little puppy that had probably just been weaned and was brought to the market by its owner to be sold.
Qin Wei carried the ingredients and walked over.
"I've bought everything. Let's go back and cook, shall we?"
After Qin Wei finished speaking and turned around to leave, she realized that Lin Qiqi didn't seem to have any intention of following her. Instead, she looked at the little creature in her arms with affection.
"Qin Teacher, look how adorable it is!"
Qin Wei didn't deny it. "Hmm, it's cute."
Upon hearing this, Lin Qiqi became more enthusiastic, as if she had received encouragement from Qin Wei.
"Then let's buy it and take it home! I'm sure everyone will love it."
Qin Wei shrugged. "But we don't have any money left. After buying the ingredients, we only have four yuan."
Lin Qiqi pouted and still couldn't bear to let go of the puppy.
"It's too cute. I fell in love with it at first sight. I think it's fate. It seems to like me too..."
Qin Wei could only emphasize the cruel reality once again.
"Qiqi, we don't have any money..."
Reluctantly, Lin Qiqi put down the puppy.
"I can give it to you!"
The dog seller suddenly spoke up.
Instantly, Lin Qiqi's hope ignited. Her eyes lit up as she held the puppy again.
The seller looked at Qin Wei.
"Aren't you that celebrity? Qin Wei, the lead actress in 'Fate in the Green Clouds,' right?"
It seemed like there was some truth to it, and Qin Wei nodded.
"Yes, that's me."
The seller clapped his hands. "That's right, it's you! I really liked that TV drama. You're even more beautiful in person. Are you filming a show here? I'll give you this little puppy, but can we take a photo together?"
"Sure, we can take a photo, but we can't accept the dog for free."
With that, Qin Wei stood next to the seller, and the production staff took a picture using the seller's phone. Then, with a firm attitude, she asked Lin Qiqi to put the dog down and pulled her away.
Anti-fan:
"Why is Qin Wei treating Lin Qiqi like this? Is it because Lin Qiqi has a lower status?"
"To be honest, Lin Qiqi's status may not be high, but she has good resources. She has a backer supporting her, so Qin Wei is not better off than her, right?"
"When Qin Wei appeared on the show, who was she trying to show a disgraced face to? Why didn't she accept the boss's goodwill? Is she trying to act like a big shot?"
"Hey, the person upstairs, maybe Qin Wei just doesn't want the boss to bear the expenses? After all, the boss is doing business. And she did cooperate when he wanted to take a photo with her! Although I think she's being affected, I don't see her acting like a big shot! "
...
This segment caused a heated debate online, and Lin Qiqi, who had no idea about it, was in a bad mood.
