35: Negative impact

By the time Qu Lang arrived, he only saw Gao Xiaofan standing outside the door while Chen Cheng lowered her head, her face flushing red.

"What's going on? Chen Cheng, what were you shouting about just now?"

Chen Cheng made a few incoherent sounds and glanced at Gao Xiaofan standing beside her, but she didn't say a word.

Gao Xiaofan looked at Chen Cheng with a face full of grief and indignation.

'You were clearly the one looking at me, okay? Why make it seem like I bullied you? Most importantly, I was the one sticking my butt out for you to see.'

He finally understood why some girls opposed such a posture; it really was a bit shameful.

Finally, Chen Cheng shook her head and pouted. "It's nothing. I was just surprised to suddenly see Gao Xiaofan in the room."

Only then did Qu Lang react, and he quickly put on a stern face.

"Xiaofan, this place is very remote. Since you've come here, you must not run around aimlessly, do you understand?"

Gao Xiaofan gave an 'oh' in response, roughly understanding the situation. He guessed someone had seen him running outside the village, which led Director Qu to send someone to find him, resulting in the scene before him.

Qu Lang said a few more words before leaving; at this moment, he only wanted to go back to his room and rest.

"Gao Xiaofan, where did you go to play just now? Take me with you next time, okay?"

As soon as Chen Cheng saw Qu Lang leave, her spirits rose again. As if she had forgotten the scene that just happened, she leaned in and asked expectantly.

Gao Xiaofan looked at the scatterbrained girl in front of him and felt a bit dazed himself.

"Uh, I went fishing just now. We'll give it to the Cooking Auntie later and have her help us cook it."

"Really? Hurry, take me to see!" Chen Cheng dashed into the house with a face full of joy.

Following his guidance, she saw the Sturgeon lying in the basin and couldn't help but marvel.

"It's so big~ it must be delicious."

Gao Xiaofan had black lines on his face as he stood behind her. Listening to Chen Cheng's saucy talk, he felt that if he stayed with her for too long, even he would become muddled.

'You just saw my bare butt, and now you're acting like nothing happened. That's too much!'

"Hehe, if Uncle Qu sees there's fish for dinner tonight, he'll be happy to death."

Hearing Chen Cheng's muttering, Gao Xiaofan's mind whirled, and he couldn't help but ask.

"What, does Uncle Qu like eating fish?"

Chen Cheng looked up and sat down on a long wooden bench. Then, she picked up some snacks, opened them, and started eating.

"Yeah, I've heard him nagging about it often these past few days, saying he hasn't eaten fish in a long time."

Gao Xiaofan also sat down on the bench, and the two of them chatted while eating.

It turned out that all the meat in the village was brought in from the town. Whenever someone delivered monitoring equipment or daily supplies, they would bring some along from the town. Since it was hot and there was no refrigerator, they only brought a day's worth at a time.

Naturally, fish could be brought as well, but because there were many people, they would need to prepare dozens of fish. The Cooking Auntie found it too troublesome to clean them, so after a few times, Qu Lang was too embarrassed to mention it again.

After all, this Cooking Auntie was a local from the village, not a member of the Program Production Crew. Although she was paid a salary, it was indeed difficult to make too many demands of one person preparing three meals a day for dozens of people.

Gao Xiaofan's eyes darted around upon hearing this, and he quietly leaned in.

"Little Orange, do you want to eat fish?"

Chen Cheng only felt a stream of heat against her ear and nodded dazedly.

"Look, if dozens of people share one fish, isn't that very little? Everyone wouldn't get a good meal, right?"

Chen Cheng blinked her eyes.

"Then Gao Xiaofan, why didn't you catch a few more?"

Gao Xiaofan felt as if his head had been hit by a hammer, and he was stunned.

'Are you even speaking human words? You saw my butt and now you're complaining that I didn't catch enough fish. Listen to your tone!'

However, looking at Chen Cheng's dazed eyes, he could only let it go.

"Uh, I'll catch more next time. But for this time, do you want to eat more?"

Chen Cheng swallowed her saliva and nodded vigorously.

Seeing this, Gao Xiaofan continued to entice her.

"That's good. Let's not tell others we caught a fish. When night comes, we'll secretly go and cook it. We'll call Uncle Qu then, and the three of us will share one fish..."

"I want the fish belly."

Gao Xiaofan was interrupted by Chen Cheng before he could finish. Looking at the serious-faced Chen Cheng, he suddenly didn't know what to say next.

Watching Chen Cheng walk out the door, Gao Xiaofan covered his forehead with a speechless expression.

'Is this Program Production Crew reliable? Why is the director's assistant like a child?'

As the sun set, Gao Xiaofan, who was almost asleep on the bed, heard a loud shout from the village and immediately scrambled up.

"Dinner's ready!"

Gao Xiaofan put on his slippers, wearing a pair of large shorts on his lower half and a short-sleeved shirt on his upper half, and trotted out happily with his bowl and chopsticks.

He was truly starving. When a Young man eats snacks, he's full after two bags, but without some rice, he really can't withstand the hunger.

When he arrived at the so-called canteen, which was actually the Cooking Auntie's home, he saw the staff members lining up.

It wasn't until it was his turn that he finally understood what Chen Cheng meant by the food being bad.

Stir-fried water spinach, steamed eggs, and braised tofu with meat.

As soon as he got his food and stepped out the door, he was called over by the sharp-eyed Chen Cheng.

"Gao Xiaofan, over here!"

He saw only one small table outside, where Qu Lang and Chen Cheng were sitting and eating. As for the others, they were either squatting or standing.

Gao Xiaofan chuckled and approached, sitting down.

Qu Lang glanced at him but didn't speak, continuing to eat his own food.

"Little Orange, this food is quite good. Isn't there meat?" Gao Xiaofan said while shoveling food into his mouth.

"Yeah, the Program Production Crew brought meat in when they delivered the equipment this morning. But I don't like eating tofu."

Chen Cheng had a bitter look on her face.

Gao Xiaofan's hand holding the tofu trembled. Sometimes he felt that Chen Cheng's saucy talk was just too much.

'What do you mean you don't like eating tofu? You've already "eaten" so much of mine today.'

Gao Xiaofan gave an 'oh' and continued shoveling his rice; it was so delicious.

Using the village's large sea bowls, Gao Xiaofan ate two whole heaping bowls, making Qu Lang, who was sitting there smoking after finishing his meal, look at him a couple more times.

After finishing his meal, Gao Xiaofan handed a cigarette to Qu Lang, then lit one for himself and started smoking.

"Gao Xiaofan, are you coming to find me tonight, or should I go find you?"

Beside him, Chen Cheng leaned her chin on her hands on the table. Because she was thinking about eating fish tonight, she had only eaten a little bit of dinner.

Before Gao Xiaofan could speak, Qu Lang, who was beside them, choked. A mouthful of smoke got stuck in his throat, and smoke started billowing out of his nose and mouth.

"You come find me. Wait until everyone is asleep at night before coming, otherwise it'll be a bad influence." Gao Xiaofan looked at the setting sun and coolly blew out a smoke ring. Thinking of the delicious taste of the Mountain Spring Sturgeon from last time, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up.

Qu Lang could no longer hold it in, especially when he saw Gao Xiaofan's lewd grin. He let out a violent cough.

'What do you mean by a bad influence? I'm still right here! Young people these days, how can they be so shameless?'

Hearing Qu Lang's cough opposite him, Gao Xiaofan immediately reacted and gave a chuckle amidst the hazy smoke.

"Director Qu, I didn't forget you. You come too."

Qu Lang could no longer bear it. He let out a huff and turned to leave, leaving behind a bewildered Gao Xiaofan.