After Divorcing the Scummy Alpha Movie Queen, I Became Extremely Popular - Chapter 25

“I Specifically Brought This for You”

Despite learning a more suitable method for tilling the soil, the sheer volume of work remained unchanged. Even if the task had become slightly easier, it was still exhausting. For the past few days, Luo Jingyun had worked from sunrise to sunset, so tired that she wanted to collapse the moment she returned home. Although she wore gloves, whether due to poor quality or her excessive exertion, a layer had already worn thin. Blisters had formed around her thumbs and the hollows of her palms.

However, the blisters on her hands were insignificant compared to the soreness in her shoulders and arms. The muscles in her upper body felt as if they were being torn apart—a sour aching so deep it felt as though her muscles had been soaked in aged vinegar. Her legs felt like they were treading on cotton, wobbling with every step.

Perhaps the only silver lining was that as their progress increased, the distance between Luo Jingyun and Park Soo-ah grew shorter. When they were bored, they could shout to each other across the fields.

“I’m so tired… I don’t want to do this anymore.”

Today was unusually sweltering. The consecutive days of labor seemed to have pushed Luo Jingyun to her breaking point. Regardless of the cameras filming nearby, she complained loudly, slammed her shovel into the earth, and sat down right there in the middle of the field.

Park Soo-ah also stopped her movements to take a moment of rest. “It’s okay. Based on our current pace, even if we don’t take first place, we should still be able to finish on time within the seven days.”

“God, how long is this tilling going to take? There are clearly more convenient tools available—why won’t they let us use them!”

Other fields in Tongxi Village were also in the tilling stage. Many villagers were using oxen to pull plows, and some had even employed technological means. This made the group of guests, who were tilling by hand with shovels, look incredibly primitive and backward.

Park Soo-ah took off her bamboo hat to fan them both. “The production team is doing this so we can understand the villagers’ hardships. When the show airs, it will make the audience realize that food doesn’t come easily.”

“I know all those high-minded principles! I’ve seen ‘cherish food’ slogans since I was a kid. But right now, this is clearly just ‘eating bitterness’ for the sake of it!”

“Jingyun, if you’re tired, just rest for a while. There isn’t much left anyway; I can finish the rest by myself.”

“So annoying, so annoying!” Hearing this, Luo Jingyun felt too guilty to actually let Park Soo-ah finish everything alone. She picked up a clod of earth and threw it away as a way to vent her frustration.

“I’ve rested enough. Let’s get to it together so we can finish early and go back to sleep.” Luo Jingyun stood up abruptly. Perhaps because she moved too fast, her head spun.

This had happened occasionally before. Luo Jingyun closed her eyes and pressed her temples, intending to wait for the dizziness to pass. However, this time, things didn’t improve; instead, she felt even worse.

A second before she could call for help, her body collapsed as if it had lost all support.

“Jingyun!”

After her close encounter with the earth, Luo Jingyun opened her eyes slightly. The last image in her vision was Tan Jizhu running toward her with a look of pure anxiety.

Subconsciously, she thought: It’s over. I must really be sick; I’m even hallucinating that Tan Jizhu is coming to save me.

As her vision faded, her hearing remained. Luo Jingyun vaguely heard the dialogue of several people. They seemed to be saying she had heatstroke and needed to be sent to the village clinic.

…

Opening her eyes, Luo Jingyun found herself lying in a barren desert. Her back and legs were being scorched by the sand, and sweat poured down her forehead.

The absurdity of the scene made her realize she was dreaming, yet she couldn’t wake up. The heat around her continued to rise. Looking around, she saw nothing but a desolate void. A faint breeze brushed past her neck, and her feet began moving toward a specific direction for no reason. Despite the intense heat, she didn’t feel tired no matter how far she walked.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, an oasis suddenly appeared in the desert. Luo Jingyun ran toward it, only to realize upon approaching that this green space was more accurately a bamboo grove.

As she hurried inside, her nose was immediately filled with the scent of bamboo. It wasn’t the cold, crisp bamboo scent she was used to; instead, it carried a rich, fragrant aroma, like the bamboo-tube rice she had eaten as a child.

In the center of the grove, a small bamboo table appeared with a bamboo cup resting on it, filled with crystal-clear water. Driven by thirst, Luo Jingyun didn’t hesitate; she drank it down in one gulp. A cool sensation flowed down her throat and into her stomach, washing away the burning heat.

“Water!”

“Drink a few more sips.”

The sweet water became a physical reality, moisturizing her dry mouth. Luo Jingyun’s consciousness returned. She opened her eyes to see Liu Yuqi feeding her water.

“Sister Yuqi.”

Liu Yuqi put down the cup and felt her forehead. “You’re better; it’s not as hot anymore.”

“Did I get heatstroke?”

Liu Yuqi relayed the doctor’s words. “The doctor at the clinic said it’s lucky you were brought in early. It didn’t reach the level of severe heatstroke. You just need to rest.”

“That’s good.” Luo Jingyun’s first thought was that she wouldn’t delay their progress for too long; otherwise, she would feel terrible leaving everything to Park Soo-ah.

Raising her hands, Luo Jingyun found them wrapped in gauze. The blisters had been lanced, and a cooling ointment had been applied to soothe the injury.

“Sister Yuqi, did you bring me to the clinic? Thank you. It must have been a long way; it must have been exhausting. And thank you for the medicine on my hands.”

Liu Yuqi shook her head. “I did want to help, but I wasn’t the one who brought you here, and I wasn’t the one who applied the medicine.”

Luo Jingyun asked, “If it wasn’t you, then who? Was it Park Soo-ah?”

It seemed possible, as Park Soo-ah was the closest person to her at the time.

Liu Yuqi still shook her head. “No.”

“It was Tan Jizhu.” Without waiting for Luo Jingyun to press further, Liu Yuqi gave the answer. “She carried you on her back all that way to bring you here. And the blisters on your hands—she handled those too. She said she was afraid the doctor might be too rough and hurt you.”

“It was… her?” Luo Jingyun was surprised, yet a part of her had expected it. So, what she saw before she fainted wasn’t a hallucination?

“Yes. Jizhu originally wanted to wait for you to wake up, but there was still work to be done over there. Once she was sure you were okay, she stayed with you for a bit and then went back to continue tilling the land.”

“Oh.”

“She went back to till the land for you.”

“What?”

Liu Yuqi nodded. “Indeed. She was worried about your health, so she said she’d do your share of the work so you wouldn’t have to do it anymore.”

“She… would be that kind?”

“I think Jizhu cares about you,” Liu Yuqi said gently. “Last week, right after we released the first episode’s video, the comments… they weren’t very friendly toward you. It’s also our production team’s fault for not monitoring it properly and deleting them immediately. It was Jizhu who found someone to get those marketing accounts to delete those comments. She also instructed me to release some later clips to prove you weren’t in the same group as her, so people would stop talking about you.”

Luo Jingyun froze. “The person who helped me delete those malicious comments… was Tan Jizhu.”

“Jingyun, I’m an outsider. I don’t know exactly what happened between you and Jizhu. But I feel like maybe you two could sit down and have a good talk. Maybe things could change.”

…

By the time Luo Jingyun had fully recovered, it was already night. There was no way to continue working today. She didn’t stay overnight at the clinic, and when she returned to the house, Park Soo-ah had just gotten back as well.

“Jingyun, are you okay? Why didn’t you stay at the clinic for one more night?”

Luo Jingyun explained her situation, saying it was nothing serious and she could return to work tomorrow.

Tomorrow was also the final day of the tilling task.

“Actually, there isn’t much land left. You could rest tomorrow, and I could finish it alone.”

“How could I do that? I have to help.”

Park Soo-ah hesitated. “Today, I don’t know what happened with Tan Jizhu. After she brought you to the clinic, she came to our field and helped with the tilling. I checked—her work was flawless.”

Luo Jingyun didn’t find it strange. “Yeah, Sister Yuqi already told me.”

“Jingyun, Tan Jizhu did this definitely to help you. You two…”

Luo Jingyun said, “Maybe Tan Jizhu was just afraid we’d delay the progress.”

“Hmm, maybe.” Park Soo-ah looked at Luo Jingyun and asked, “Jingyun, you won’t… remarry Tan Jizhu because of this, will you?”

“Remarry? That’s taking it a bit far.”

On her way back, she had called Deng Mei to confirm if it was truly Tan Jizhu who had ordered the deletion of the comments. She received a positive answer.

At the same time, Deng Mei told her that before filming the variety show, Tan Jizhu had already packed up everything in the house, so Luo Jingyun could sell the property at any time. Luo Jingyun fell into a state of confusion. She truly couldn’t understand what Tan Jizhu was trying to do.

Why? Because Tan Jizhu didn’t want anything to do with her? Then bringing her to the clinic, applying her medicine, and tilling the land—was it all out of compensation?

Luo Jingyun couldn’t figure it out, but she remembered what her mother always told her: don’t look at what a person says, look at what they do.

Although she didn’t know what was going on with Tan Jizhu, the things she had done had indeed benefited Luo Jingyun greatly. After much hesitation, while Park Soo-ah was in the shower, Luo Jingyun knocked on Tan Jizhu’s door.

Knock, knock, knock.

The door was opened almost immediately from the inside. When Tan Jizhu saw Luo Jingyun, her expression was filled with joy. “Jingyun, you… why did you come to see me? Quick, come in.”

Luo Jingyun walked in but didn’t see another person in the room. “Where is Sister Shidong? Is she not here?”

“She went out for something,” a flash of displeasure crossed Tan Jizhu’s eyes. “Also, Chen Shidong is my senior. Don’t call her ‘Sister’.”

Luo Jingyun was stunned for a moment, realizing that Tan Jizhu was likely jealous. Right, no one likes hearing someone else call the person they like “Sister.”

“Fine, fine. I’ll call her Senior Chen from now on, alright?”

Tan Jizhu hesitated, finally saying only, “As you wish.”

Hmph, says she doesn’t care, but she’s probably blooming with joy inside. After mocking her internally, Luo Jingyun found a place to sit. “Now, let’s talk business.”

Tan Jizhu seemed to sense something. After a cough, she sat down opposite Luo Jingyun. “Go ahead.”

“I heard from Soo-ah that you were the one who brought me to the clinic. You were also the one who applied my medicine while I was resting and helped us finish tilling the field. Thank you.”

“Mm,” Tan Jizhu looked away. “It was just a small effort.”

“I also heard from Sister Yuqi and Sister Deng Mei that you were the one who had the negative comments about me deleted beforehand. Thank you for that as well.”

Tan Jizhu seemed a bit flustered. “That was also just a small effort.”

“…” Luo Jingyun was somewhat speechless. After pondering for a moment, she said, “Regardless of whether it was a small effort or not, since you helped me, I must thank you.”

Hearing this, Tan Jizhu stared intently at Luo Jingyun. “You really want to thank me?”

“Of course!” Luo Jingyun pulled something from her pocket and tossed it to Tan Jizhu. “Here, I specifically brought this for you.”

“You specifically brought this for me?” Tan Jizhu’s voice carried a hint of delight. She took the item and examined it closely. But when she saw the name on the item, her face instantly changed. “Luo Jingyun, what is the meaning of giving me sunscreen?”

“Huh? Didn’t you try to ask me for sunscreen last time? I didn’t give it to you then. This bottle is brand new.”

Squeezing the sunscreen so hard she nearly crushed it, Tan Jizhu managed to squeeze out a few words. “Luo Jingyun, how did I not notice before that your brain works in such a bizarre way!”

Sensing the change in Tan Jizhu’s emotions, Luo Jingyun asked in confusion, “What’s wrong now? If you’re not satisfied with the sunscreen, then just tell me—how exactly do you want me to thank you?”

“I want…”