Seeing the two of them like this, Mao Buyi felt an ominous premonition instantly well up in his heart.
Li Xueqin, on the other hand, went straight to the point and asked, "Oh? What kind of changes?"
He Jiong and Huang Lei exchanged an amused glance, their expressions turning even more peculiar.
"Have you watched the episodes from previous seasons of Back to Field?"
At this, Li Xueqin raised an eyebrow. "I'll have you know I'm a hardcore fan of our show; I've watched every single episode!"
Seeing her reaction, Huang Lei let out a chuckle. "Then do you remember how we used to get our food in the early days?"
While Li Xueqin was still trying to recall, the expression on Mao Buyi's face shifted instantly.
With a look of sheer terror, he blurted out, "Teacher Huang, I don't want that lion's head meatball anymore! Actually, noodles taste pretty good!"
Seeing him like this, Huang Lei and He Jiong knew he had just remembered.
So He Jiong raised his chin and said with an air of playful arrogance, "No way! Once an order is placed here, there are no returns or exchanges."
After a moment, Li Xueqin also recalled how difficult it had been to obtain food during the very first few seasons.
As for why Mao Buyi had reacted so quickly, it was because the recording session for Back to Field in the third season had left an utterly profound impression on him.
Back then, trying to earn a bit of food by planting rice had practically broken his back.
"Um, Teacher Huang, Teacher He, I just remembered I have another gig to catch, so I'll be heading off first." With that, Li Xueqin stood up and made to leave.
Seeing this, He Jiong quickly grabbed her. "Actually, it's not that bad. It's not as terrifying as the first few seasons."
Hearing this, Li Xueqin didn't sit back down, but instead looked at him suspiciously.
"Tell me the details first, and I'll decide whether that gig is urgent or not based on what you say."
"It's really not bad this time. You can obtain items through your own hard work, and then the production team will buy them back at market price. You can choose to take the cash and buy your own ingredients, or you can choose to trade them for equivalent ingredients right here with the production team."
Hearing He Jiong's explanation, Li Xueqin looked around with wide eyes. "Any items will do?"
"That's right, any items will do, as long as they are items circulating on the market. The production team will purchase them at market price."
Before He Jiong could even finish, Huang Lei hurriedly added, "However, the items you obtain must be unowned! For example, you can't touch the chickens and ducks here at Mushroom House, and the vegetables in the garden are off-limits too."
Hearing Huang Lei, Mao Buyi immediately flashed an awkward smile. "Ah, so what kind of items can we get?"
Huang Lei had said those words precisely because he had caught Mao Buyi casting frequent glances at the wandering chickens.
Seeing his expression, He Jiong smiled and said, "Alright, I'll give you a hint—there is a bamboo forest not far from here."
At these words, Mao Buyi's face fell instantly. "Ah, digging bamboo shoots again!"
Li Xueqin's eyes lit up instead, and she confidently patted her chest. "Aren't they just tiny little bamboo shoots? I happen to be an expert digger; I'll take you digging in a bit!"
After chatting a little longer, Li Xueqin and Mao Buyi grabbed their tools and headed out to dig bamboo shoots.
Watching their confident departing backs, He Jiong chuckled and teased, "Teacher Huang, do you think they'll manage to earn enough for lunch today?"
As Huang Lei washed the tableware, he watched their retreating figures with a playful smile. "Lunch? They'll be doing well if they can earn enough for dinner."
"Do you really think our production team is going to play fair?"
In the blink of an eye, an hour and a half passed, and it was already past ten o'clock.
Li Xueqin and Mao Buyi both returned carrying large baskets of bamboo shoots, their faces beaming with triumph.
It had to be said that when it came to digging bamboo shoots, Li Xueqin was indeed much stronger than Mao Buyi, acting as the absolute main force in this expedition.
However, the smug expressions on their faces vanished very quickly.
At the production team's material recycling station:
"What? You're not buying them? On what grounds?!"
Li Xueqin stared at Xixi, a staff member of the production team, in sheer disbelief.
"Exactly, Teacher He said this was allowed!"
Mao Buyi's face was flushed red from exertion, and upon hearing that the shoots he had worked so hard to dig wouldn't even be bought back, his whole world came crashing down.
Xixi maintained a smiling, patient expression as he explained, "We do accept bamboo shoots, but we don't accept them like this. We only accept processed bamboo shoots."
Looking at the smiling Xixi, Li Xueqin and Mao Buyi thought he looked every bit like an unprincipled profiteer.
Picking up a bamboo shoot, Li Xueqin asked incredulously, "You want this thing processed?!"
Xixi didn't speak, just smiled and nodded.
Li Xueqin nodded speechlessly, pointing at Xixi with a bamboo shoot in one hand and shaking it continuously.
She had processed bamboo shoots before and knew that once you discarded the inedible parts, ending up with just a little over half was already a best-case scenario.
Still, since the production team held all the cards, she had no choice but to comply.
By the time the two of them finished processing the bamboo shoots, it was already eleven o'clock.
He Jiong and Huang Lei were sitting nearby eating snacks and enjoying the show.
"Teacher Huang, do you think the shoots they dug this time are enough to trade for ingredients?"
Huang Lei took a close look at the pile of cleaned bamboo shoots and gave a knowing chuckle. "At their current pace, they'll probably have to make two more trips if they want enough ingredients."
Sure enough, a moment later, they heard Li Xueqin's voice ring out in disbelief.
"What? This many shoots can only trade for half a pound of meat?!"
"Does that mean we won't get any lunch at all?" Mao Buyi added weakly from the side.
Xixi glanced at his watch and then flashed a mischievous smile. "If you two keep dawdling with me, at your speed, you'll probably only be eating midnight snacks."
Hearing this, Li Xueqin and Mao Buyi didn't dare waste any more time. Dragging their exhausted bodies, they grabbed their tools and went right back to digging shoots.
Meanwhile, the live broadcast room was exceptionally lively.
"No way, it's almost noon. Is the production team playing for real? They're really not going to feed them?"
"Bro, what are you thinking? How could they not feed them? It's all scripted; they've probably eaten ages ago."
"To the person above, did your internet just get connected? Have you never heard of a 24/7 live stream? From the moment the guests step out of the car, except for bathroom breaks, the entire thing is broadcast live!"
"You believe whatever they tell you? Have you actually seen them broadcast the whole thing?"
"Hey upstairs, there's a thing called split broadcast rooms. What you're watching now is the main stream, but there are separate rooms for different people. Just click the link at the bottom of the screen to jump straight over."
"Even if it's broadcasted all day, how do you know the guests aren't eating in the bathroom?"
"......"
"Believe whatever you want. My mom just told me not to talk to idiots."
With their previous experience, the efficiency of Li Xueqin and Mao Buyi's bamboo shoot digging gradually improved a lot. By dusk, the two of them had managed to dig enough shoots to trade for all the ingredients needed for the dishes they had ordered.
"Teacher Huang, hurry up and cook, I'm starving to death."
Mao Buyi collapsed onto a stool, speaking in a weak, breathless voice.
As for Li Xueqin, she was already too tired to even speak.
"Alright, alright, I'll start right away. Just wait a little bit, it'll be fast."
Huang Lei grabbed the ingredients and ducked straight into the kitchen.
He Jiong poured two glasses of water for the pair.
"Come on, drink some water quickly, then go take a shower. By the time you're cleaned up, Teacher Huang should be just about done cooking."
Perhaps because Huang Lei was hungry too, his cooking speed this time was much faster than before.
By the time the two finished washing up, Huang Lei had nearly completed the dishes.
The three of them sat around the outdoor dining table, their gazes fixed eagerly in the direction of the kitchen.
Suddenly, as if recalling something, Mao Buyi looked over at He Jiong and asked with a puzzled expression, "Teacher He, when we were digging bamboo shoots today, we saw a house being built not far away. What's that about?"