Chapter 7: What a Miserable Man
The moment Shen Mu stepped into the chicken coop, he immediately regretted it. The ground was covered with chicken and duck droppings, making it truly difficult to place his feet—especially for someone as fastidious as him. Yet, having impulsively entered, he refused to turn back like a coward. Suppressing his nausea, he carefully inched forward.
Outside the wire mesh, Xu Zhaozhao watched his movements and couldn’t help but smile. This man was as stubbornly tough on the outside but soft-hearted as ever. Yet, after a while, recalling his cold and distant behavior leading to their divorce, the smile in her eyes faded into sorrow. She turned away, no longer watching Shen Mu collect eggs, and instead stepped into Aunt Fu’s house.
Soon, the two sat beneath the large tree at the courtyard gate—one with tea leaves, the other with hot water—brewing tea leisurely while observing Shen Mu gather eggs.
[Shen Mu is working hard, and Xu Zhaozhao is just casually making tea. How unfair!]
[Shen Mu deserves it. Who told him to team up with a scheming woman like Xu Zhaozhao? She just pouts and plays tricks, and he charges ahead for her.]
[But a guy willingly taking on the dirty, tiring work really scores points!]
[In your eyes maybe, but who knows what Xu Zhaozhao thinks? Perhaps she’s just using him!]
[Exactly, Xu Zhaozhao’s original target was the famous actor Ke Ying.]
[Watching other contestants work, I noticed Xu Zhaozhao chose the easiest tasks.]
[A schemer will always look for shortcuts.]
[By the way, does collecting eggs and feeding pigs count as farm work?]
[Of course it does! Anyone unfamiliar with rural life upstairs should know that farming isn’t just sowing and harvesting; raising poultry and livestock is farming too.]
Amidst the lively discussion in the comments, Shen Mu had already braved his nausea to collect nearly half a basket of eggs inside the coop. As he reached carefully into another nest, suddenly a loud “honk” erupted as a fierce goose lunged at him. The aggressive bird snapped its beak at this stranger.
Startled, Shen Mu’s foot slipped on the ground. Just as he was about to fall, he grabbed onto the post supporting the nest. He managed to steady himself, but the nest above, shaken by the impact, came loose. The crude straw nest tumbled down into a flurry of chickens and ducks, sending the birds into a wild frenzy. Straw and feathers filled the air like a storm.
When Shen Mu opened the door and stepped out, he was covered head to toe in feathers—his appearance as disheveled as one could imagine.
“Ha ha...” Seeing this, Xu Zhaozhao couldn’t help but laugh heartily. Not only her, but even the cameraman filming trembled with laughter, causing the camera to shake.
[Haha, I really can’t hold it in—there’s Cinderella on one side and Dirty Man on the other!]
[I can’t help it either! Who would have thought the cold and stoic Shen Mu could be so hilarious?]
“Poor guy.”
“Ha ha...” In the VIP ward of Feifan Hospital, Su Chengyu laughed until tears streamed down his face. “My little uncle’s image is ruined on this dating show.”
---
The laughter triggered his appendix wound, quickly turning his mirth into a groan of pain. “Ouch! Oh no.”
Pressing one hand to his abdomen and grabbing his phone with the other, he quickly dialed out.
Soon, an elderly voice answered, “Chengyu, what is it?”
“Great-grandfather, you have to watch my little uncle.”
“Shen Mu? What happened to him?” The voice on the other end was puzzled.
Su Chengyu suddenly remembered that his great-grandfather didn’t know about his uncle appearing on the dating show, so he hurriedly sent him the live stream link.
“Great-grandfather, Feifan Construction sponsored a dating show set in Gushu Village. My little uncle is a guest contestant. Please take a look...”
---
At the Shen family villa, in the main hall, the elderly Shen Feifan hung up and opened the link sent by his great-grandson. At first, he didn’t recognize the bedraggled man covered in feathers as his beloved youngest grandson.
He searched for his reading glasses, put them on, and scrutinized the screen carefully to find Shen Mu. On it, Shen Mu shot a glare at Xu Zhaozhao, who was laughing so hard she could barely stand.
“Is it really that funny?”
He knew full well how embarrassing it was for Shen Mu, but if he lost his temper now, others would mock him for lacking grace.
Xu Zhaozhao honestly nodded. “Yes.”
“You...” This time, the usually cold and composed Shen Mu was truly angry.
“Don’t be mad,” Xu Zhaozhao quickly said, noticing he was on the brink of an outburst, and handed him a freshly brewed cup of tea.
“This is tea Aunt Fu dried herself—sweet and fragrant. Drink it to quench your thirst.”
“I’m not thirsty.”
Shen Mu avoided her and handed the half-filled basket of eggs to Aunt Fu.
“Aunt Fu, sorry for ruining your nest.”
“It’s nothing. Those nests were just made of straw. They’re worn out from wind and sun anyway.”
Aunt Fu took the basket without blame. Instead, she comforted him, “You’re a young man from a good family. It’s really unfair to make you do this kind of work.”
She pointed to a small room in the corner of the yard. “That’s the bathroom. Do you want to wash up first?”
Shen Mu nodded eagerly but then shook his head again. “I didn’t bring a change of clothes.”
He had come empty-handed, planning to rush back immediately if he got eliminated in the first round. Unexpectedly, he’d teamed up with someone and even volunteered for the tasks. Whenever Xu Zhaozhao was involved, nothing good seemed to happen.
“Don’t worry about that,” Aunt Fu said. “My son is about your height; you can wear his clothes.”
Her son worked away from home and only came back once a year.
“I still...” Shen Mu hesitated, reluctant to wear someone else’s clothes.
Aunt Fu seemed to see through his thoughts immediately. “Don’t worry. These are brand new clothes I got for my son. He’s never worn them once.”
“Oh, Shen Mu, you really are...” Xu Zhaozhao put down her tea and pushed him toward the bathroom door. “If you don’t wash, you’re going to reek of feathers and droppings!”
---
“Shen Mu?”
Hearing Xu Zhaozhao call his name, Shen Feifan, holding his phone, finally recognized the filthy man as his cherished grandson.
“Well, well, this guy is the biggest neat freak, yet look at himself now!”
Moreover, this usually distant and cold young man now wore an expression of frustration and helplessness.
“Looking at him in the dating show, he seems lively, but at home, he’s such a wooden block.”
“Dad, what are you watching?” The maid opened the door as Shen Jiaojiao, the daughter-in-law, entered the hall.
“Nothing, nothing...” Shen Feifan shook his head, then rose and walked into the study with his phone.
“Liu Ma, what’s going on with the old master?” Jiaojiao asked the maid who was cleaning nearby, surprised.
“Madam, it seems Young Master Su called and told the old master to watch a dating show live.”
“Dating show... live?” Jiaojiao’s beautiful face was full of confusion.
Suspicious, she immediately called Su Chengyu to inquire.
The old master was avoiding her—there must be something fishy about this dating show.
Could it be that at his age, the old master was thinking of remarrying?
---
“Grandma, why are you calling me?”
Receiving Jiaojiao’s call, Su Chengyu felt a little nervous.
Jiaojiao was strict with the children, and although she’d softened with age, she remained just as rigorous in educating her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Faced with such a serious grandmother, Su Chengyu was always at a loss.
“What dating show did you just have great-grandfather watch?”
“Ah, Grandma, you’re with great-grandfather? Sorry, I was too impulsive just now.”
He had been eager to share his uncle’s embarrassing moments and hadn’t thought whether she was home.
Now, he couldn’t hide the truth and had to admit, “It’s my uncle’s.”
“Shen Mu?”
Hearing the name, Jiaojiao raised an eyebrow and said sarcastically, “You seem pretty close to that guy. I remember you told me you were going on the dating show, right?”
“Grandma, please don’t be angry,” Su Chengyu quickly apologized. “It wasn’t intentional. I had acute appendicitis suddenly and had no choice but to ask my uncle for help.”
Jiaojiao gritted her teeth. “Fine, send me the link to the dating show too. I want to see how he’s doing.”
“Okay, Grandma.” Su Chengyu trembled as he hung up and forwarded the link he had sent to the great-grandfather to Jiaojiao as well.