Chapter 850: The Peasant Girl’s Splendid Manor
Chapter 850: Unexpected Competition (3)
The competition continued, and Mo Yan was fortunate to draw the bye ticket, advancing directly to the next round. Coincidentally, Xiao Ruiyuan and Mo Qingze, the father-in-law and son-in-law pair, were drawn together.
Han Zhiyun had already lost in the first round, and while he was still frustrated, upon seeing that his friend and son-in-law were competing against each other, his mood immediately lifted. “Hanzhang, I think you should just concede. If you accidentally win, it’ll be hard for your father-in-law to save face!”
Xiao Ruiyuan, unsure whether to deliberately lose by picking a small shoot for his father-in-law, didn’t know how to respond to Han Zhiyun’s remark and simply stayed silent.
Mo Qingze shot Han Zhiyun a glance and said to Xiao Ruiyuan, “Don’t listen to him. Losing is losing, and winning is winning. It’s better for you to lose at your own hands than for your uncle Han to lose to that child Zhao’er!”
Han Zhiyun, who was hoping for a laugh, instead found himself the subject of ridicule. Annoyed, he glared at Mo Qingze but, unwilling to argue further, sulked and fell silent.
Hearing his father-in-law’s words, Xiao Ruiyuan didn’t dare intentionally throw the match. He pretended to wander around the bamboo patch, then targeted a small shoot that looked unremarkable. As he dug, he quickly realized that what appeared to be a small shoot was actually much larger than expected. By the time he realized what was happening, he had already unearthed most of the shoot, which had grown to three feet in length.
“Wow, such a big shoot! Brother-in-law, you’re amazing!” Zhen’er exclaimed in excitement, clapping his hands.
Having lost in the first round, Zhen’er had stopped participating in the competition and was now watching the others. When he saw his brother-in-law still digging and not having dug up a shoot, he curiously ran over, only to find a long bamboo shoot sticking up from the deep hole. This was the first time he had seen such a large shoot, and he couldn’t help but shout in awe.
His exclamation attracted the others, who hurried over to see what was happening.
Xiao Ruiyuan could only helplessly continue digging, and soon he reached the root of the shoot. With a final pull, he unearthed the whole bamboo shoot, which turned out to be three and a half feet long.
There was no contest. Xiao Ruiyuan easily won against Mo Qingze, and if it weren’t for the rule that only opponents within the same team could compete, this shoot would have easily outclassed everyone else's.
In the end, the eight people who moved on to the next round were Xiao Ruiyuan, Liu Tinglan, Shen Ji, and Yun Zhao. Mo Yan, who had drawn the bye ticket, moved on to the third round.
This time, however, the luck didn’t favor Mo Yan. Yun Zhao drew the bye ticket, which meant that Mo Yan would be competing with Xiao Ruiyuan, while Shen Ji and Liu Tinglan would face each other.
Seeing the two of them avoiding eye contact, Mo Yan had a thought. She cleared her throat and suggested, “How about we divide into two teams for a group competition? In one quarter of an hour, whichever team digs up the biggest shoot wins. The winning team will proceed directly to the final round, saving time and effort!”
Fifteen minutes wouldn’t be enough to find and dig up the shoots, and to avoid embarrassment, the only option was to cooperate.
For Xiao Ruiyuan, even though they were still under the watchful eyes of others, he was quite satisfied with the opportunity to dig bamboo shoots with his beloved. He nodded in agreement. Shen Ji, who had mutual feelings for Liu Tinglan, was also inclined to agree, but each had their own concerns and hesitated. They neither agreed nor opposed the suggestion.
“You’re not speaking, so I’ll take it as you’ve agreed!” Mo Yan didn’t give them a chance to disagree. She imposed various conditions and finally gave the final decision. “Remember, this is teamwork. You only have fifteen minutes. After the time is up, if anyone returns empty-handed or just picks a random shoot to pretend they’ve participated, they’ll lose. Not only will they lose the prize, but there will also be a punishment!”
(End of Chapter)
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