The Fake Daughter Want to Be Villainess - Chapter 54

Jiang Shu suddenly felt a wave of grievance.

Her thoughts on blood relations and stolen kisses were momentarily cast aside. She lowered her eyelashes, her gaze dropping, and softly said, “I got hurt while shucking corn this morning.”

Pei Wang was rubbing the reddened spot on her palm, and she instinctively exclaimed, “Brother.”

In a pitiful tone, she continued, “I still have a little bit left to shuck.”

The little girl’s voice trailed off low, sounding both petulant and forlorn.

Pei Wang loosened his grip and gently coaxed her, “I’ll help you with the rest.”

He pinched the tips of Jiang Shu’s fingers and handed her a pair of disposable chopsticks, saying, “You eat first, and I’ll have the rest.”

Jiang Shu paused for a moment, surprised. “Aren’t we going to get some disposable utensils to divide the food?”

She was sweating, her short hair stuck together, and her eyes were wide open, resembling a little cat that had just been pulled from the water, trembling.

Pei Wang took out a napkin, folded it, and placed it beside Jiang Shu, reminding her, “Wipe your sweat.”

Then he added, “When I came at noon, I checked; the Program Team didn’t provide any disposable utensils this time.”

Pei Wang stood up. “You eat first; I’ll go look for the director.”

Jiang Shu grasped her chopsticks, paused for a moment, and then gently bit her lip.

She had clearly intended to keep her distance from Pei Wang until she figured out the “stolen kiss” situation. But as soon as he showed a bit of concern, she felt immediately wronged and began to play the pity card.

Feeling a bit flustered, Jiang Shu fluttered her eyelashes and turned her head, quietly glancing at Pei Wang.

Pei Wang had gone over to the director, and it seemed like he was negotiating something; the director’s expression was quite unpleasant, resembling a rooster whose feathers had just been ruffled.

The village entrance was somewhat noisy, and Jiang Shu couldn’t hear what they were saying. She hesitated for a moment but eventually turned back to look at her lunchbox.

The meal was quite standard, with the vegetarian dishes being bamboo shoots with eggs and sweet and sour cabbage, while the meat dishes were Kung Pao chicken and shredded pork with green pepper.

Jiang Shu divided the food into two portions before starting to eat. The food didn’t taste remarkable; she slowly finished her share, resting her chin on her hand, and after a while, she saw Pei Wang coming back.

Jiang Shu tilted her head a little, curious. “What did you ask the director for?”

Pei Wang sat down beside her. “I got some things.”

Jiang Shu was taken aback. “Can you really ask the director for things? He actually agreed?”

After all, he was the kind of director who would count every single meal!

She leaned forward slightly and reached for the plastic bag. “What’s inside?”

Pei Wang placed the bag on the table and untied the knot.

Jiang Shu peered inside.

The bag contained a pack of cotton swabs, a box of iodine, a few scattered band-aids, and… a sewing kit?

Before Jiang Shu could figure out what these items were for, she heard Pei Wang softly say, “Right hand.”

His voice was very soft, and Jiang Shu paused for a moment before responding, “What’s wrong?”

She extended her hand, bewildered.

Then she watched as Pei Wang took out the sewing kit, removed a thin needle from it, and disinfected the needle’s tip with iodine.Pei Wang grabbed her wrist, turning her palm upward. He lowered his head, and with a quick, precise jab, he pierced the blister with the needle and flicked it upwards—

Jiang Shu instinctively flinched her hand back, but Pei Wang’s fingertips suddenly tightened, holding her wrist firmly.

Tears welled up in her eyes involuntarily, and she leaned forward, whispering, “It hurts.”

Pei Wang looked up.

He released Jiang Shu’s wrist, gently caressed her cheek, and said softly, “Just bear with it.”

Pei Wang’s eyes narrowed slightly as he coaxed her, “It’ll be over soon.”

Jiang Shu looked at him with a mix of belief and skepticism. Just as she was about to speak, she felt another sharp pain in her palm; taking advantage of her distraction, Pei Wang treated another blister.

Jiang Shu raised her eyes, wanting to glare at Pei Wang, but before she could say anything, Pei Wang was already holding the needle and said again, “Right hand.”

Reluctantly, she extended her right hand.

Pei Wang pricked the remaining blisters, disinfected the wounds with iodine, and then took out a band-aid, applying it carefully to her palm.

Jiang Shu moved her fingers, saying, “It looks ugly.”

Pei Wang collected everything back into the bag and, upon hearing her comment, raised his eyebrows. “How can you say it’s ugly?”

He said slowly, “This is the glorious medal of labor.”

Jiang Shu laughed at his words, looking repeatedly at her palm, and declared, “It’s still ugly.”

She frowned and shook her head, “It’s not as nice as the band-aid I gave you last time.”

Pei Wang smiled and set the bag aside. “Then after the recording is over, I’ll go buy you some.”

Jiang Shu tilted her head to look at him. “Really?”

She recalled, “Last time you said you’d make me breakfast after the recording ended.”

Jiang Shu stretched out her hand. “What about my breakfast?”

As she reached forward, her fingertip brushed against the edge of the lunchbox. Jiang Shu quickly realized, “You should eat first.”

She grabbed a piece of tissue, wiped the chopsticks clean, and pushed the lunchbox towards Pei Wang.

Pei Wang took the chopsticks.

Jiang Shu took a few more tissues, wiped the table in front of her, then leaned over, fiddling with the band-aids on her palm while waiting for Pei Wang to finish eating.

Pei Wang’s eating pace was decent, but the time spent on treating her wounds delayed him a bit. By the time he finished, there were no other guests left at the village entrance.

Jiang Shu was astonished. “Are they really racing against time like this?”

There was a fan in the shed nearby, and she had hoped to stay there for a quick nap.

She quickly stood up and led Pei Wang to the place where corn kernels were being shucked. “It’s this family.”

Jiang Shu knocked on the door, and a child from the household came to open it, leading them to the terrace.

The child seemed like he wanted to say something but fell silent upon noticing Camera Brother following behind Jiang Shu. Instead, he merely looked at Jiang Shu and Pei Wang with admiration.

Jiang Shu didn’t understand. “Why is he looking at us like that?”

She moved another Small Stool over to place it next to the one she had been sitting on, inviting Pei Wang to sit down.

Then she tilted her head to look at Pei Wang. “Can you shuck corn?”

Pei Wang picked up an ear of corn from the ground and lowered his eyelashes to look at her. “No.”

Jiang Shu lifted her chin, shaking her ponytail with a hint of pride. “I’ll teach you!”

She demonstrated how to break apart the corn, and just as she was about to dive in to start, Pei Wang held her wrist.

“No need.” He gently pressed one of the band-aids on her palm. “I can do it.”

Pei Wang released her hand, took the scissors from Jiang Shu’s grasp, and pointed toward the staircase leading to the terrace. “Want to go there and rest? It’s cooler over there.”

Jiang Shu felt a bit guilty. “And then you’ll shuck corn all by yourself?”

This was her assigned task, yet it seemed like Pei Wang was the one cleaning up her mess—

Jiang Shu hugged her knees and softly said, “Let’s shuck it together.”

Pei Wang glanced at her.

Having already shucked the first ear of corn, he contemplated for a moment before handing her the scissors. “We only have one pair of scissors; shall we collaborate?”

With scissors assisting, breaking up the corn became quite easy, especially since the blisters on Jiang Shu’s hands had been caused by shucking the kernels.

Pei Wang suggested, “You can break up the corn, and I’ll shuck the kernels, okay?”

Jiang Shu didn’t notice Pei Wang’s careful consideration. Thinking she was sharing half the work, she nodded. “Sure.”

Processing corn is rather tedious—initially manageable alone in the morning, but in the afternoon, with Pei Wang around, she didn’t want to sit idle.

Jiang Shu found a topic to discuss. “How many points did you earn this morning?”

Pei Wang, his brow furrowed in concentration as he busily shucked the kernels, calculated for a moment before replying, “One hundred thirty.”

Jiang Shu was taken aback. “?”

Her eyes widened in shock; she had difficulty concentrating on her corn after hearing that. “How could you have so many?”

She had worked hard all morning and only earned twenty points!

“I completed two of the tasks with the highest points.” Pei Wang explained. “There were some loopholes when the Program Team released the tasks, so I took advantage of them.”

Jiang Shu remembered the few loopholes Pei Wang had shown her during the first recording session.Her eyes immediately lit up, and she leaned closer to Pei Wang, squatting down curiously, “What loopholes?”

“The Program Team didn’t specify who should complete the tasks,” Pei Wang replied, tilting his head to look at her. “My first task was to repair a leaking roof, and coincidentally, someone in the village was building a new house, so I asked them to help with the repairs.”

Pei Wang continued, “The second task was rice planting. I saw a rice planting machine in the village, so I spent some of the task reward money to hire someone from the village to help me.”

Tasks could be done like this?

Jiang Shu was stunned.

So, for her first weeding task, she could have asked the big guy beside her to spray some herbicide and completed it?

Jiang Shu felt a pang of regret.

She couldn’t help but revisit her brutal experience from earlier that morning, when Pei Wang casually added, “Oh, right, my other score.”

Other score?

What other score?

Jiang Shu was puzzled for a moment until she suddenly heard an electronic synthetic voice ringing in her mind—

The System reported in a monotone, “Your current score is six hundred seventy points. Please keep up the good work and continue to slap the face of the malicious villain!”

In just a short week, Pei Wang’s score had risen from two hundred fifty to six hundred seventy, and he was not far from a thousand points needed to exchange for healing medicine!

Jiang Shu abruptly turned her head, reaching out to tug at Pei Wang’s sleeve. He obediently lowered his head, their foreheads nearly touching, and whispered, “Shh—”

He said in a hushed tone, “I’ll tell you tonight.”

The camera was still recording, and the camera operator was right beside them, clearly not the right time to discuss this.

Jiang Shu nodded in anticipation, “Okay.”

She remembered something else, “So how many points are we reserving for a room tonight?”

Pei Wang asked, looking down, “How about one hundred points?”

Compared to the potentially poor accommodation for twenty points and the clearly overpriced room for two hundred points, the one hundred points option was the best compromise.

Jiang Shu had no objections, “Then let’s go reserve the room a little earlier.”

The corn kernels had been completely shucked. Jiang Shu stood up, shook off the debris on her clothes, and looked up at Pei Wang, “Shall we go submit our tasks and then reserve the room?”

Pei Wang also got up.

A layer of sweat glistened on his forehead, likely from trying to avoid the sun. His eyelashes squinted instinctively, and the small mole at the end of his eye created an inexplicable allure.

Jiang Shu’s eyelashes trembled.

She didn’t know why, but suddenly asked, “Did you secretly kiss me during the last recording in the hotel?”