Switched Life:I Went Viral on a Family Variety Show-Chapter 53 This Must Be Usury

Without giving Li Sulan and Chu Xi a chance to speak, Sang Ning directly looked at Director Sun and said, "Director Sun, if there are any other rules, just lay them out now."

Director Sun glanced at Li Sulan and Chu Xi, saw that they didn’t seem to have anything to say, and quickly seized the opportunity to respond.

"The 400 pounds of yellow peaches aren’t free for you to pick. Once picked, you’ll need to buy them back from the program team at a price of 3 yuan per pound. Considering you don’t have any money right now, we’ll temporarily allow you to run a tab. However, you must settle all debts with the program team the same day you sell the yellow peaches. Any unpaid balances will automatically double the next day, and so on. After four days, the program team will impose corresponding penalties based on your debt situation."

As soon as the rule was announced, there was another collective outcry.

[Director Sun is just too shady. How is this different from a loan shark? Feel bad for the contestants.]

[The rules are harsh, but isn’t it just to prevent contestants from slacking off? It’s a rural variety show; how could you not do farmwork?]

Director Sun motioned to the staff, and instantly, two staff members came over carrying a whiteboard. The top of the whiteboard displayed numbers 1–6 horizontally.

Beneath numbers 1 and 2 were written "-1040 yuan," under number 5 was "-2080 yuan," while the rest were blank.

Song Shiye raised his hand to ask, "Director Sun, if I’m not mistaken, my family’s number is 1, right? Don’t tell me my family already owes the program team 1040 yuan?"

Director Sun stroked his chin and nodded approvingly. "Correct, correct. Xiao Ye’s observational skills deserve praise. You and your grandmother do indeed owe us that much money."

"How come? We haven’t even picked your yellow peaches yet, so how could we owe you so much?" Song Shiye, visibly agitated, argued with Director Sun.

[What the—?! Director Sun, you scoundrel, this is way too underhanded. I’ve been following the live stream closely, and even I can’t figure out how Xiao Ye ended up with this debt.]

[Wait, hold on. Fellow blind folks, I just realized something: Family 2 seems to be Shen Yi’s, and Family 5 is Sang Ning’s. These three families all stayed in the cow shed. Could Director Sun be deliberately targeting them as revenge since they’re the only ones who didn’t follow the program’s requirement to stay with villagers?]

[But that doesn’t add up. In theory, all three families should owe the same amount. Why does Sang Ning’s family owe so much more?]

The netizens were still puzzled when Director Sun’s next words cleared up their confusion.

Director Sun glanced at Shen Yi, then at Sang Ning, and finally set his sights on Song Shiye. "Xiao Ye, you’re way too naive. Did you seriously think that the toiletries, spare clothes, and breakfast the program team gave you were free?"

Song Shiye stood stunned, as if struck by lightning. His whole demeanor oozed despair. So, it turns out, there really is no such thing as a free breakfast in life.

[Xiao Ye baby: Can we still have any faith in humanity?]

[Director Sun: Feeling surprised? Shocked? Every act of goodwill from the program team already had a price tag secretly attached to it.]

Shen Yi chimed in to question Director Sun, "Then why does Sang Ning’s family owe more than mine and Song Shiye’s?"

Seeing Song Shiye deflated, Director Sun was visibly smug, about to respond to Shen Yi, when Sang Ning spoke up instead.

"Why else? Obviously, it’s charged by head count. Your family and Song Shiye’s each have two people, while mine has four. Naturally, the debt would be higher."

Director Sun smirked and made a "not fun at all since you figured it out" expression.

Then Sang Ning continued, "Based on head count, I did a quick back-of-the-envelope calculation. The toiletries and spare clothes come to about 500 yuan per set, and breakfast is 20 yuan per serving. Director Sun, really now, can you touch your heart and tell me if it feels right to charge us this much? Look at this T-shirt—it’s clearly a 20-yuan bargain bin deal from a street stall."

While speaking, Sang Ning tugged at the neckline of her shirt for emphasis.

[Haha! If Sang Ning hadn’t pointed it out, I wouldn’t have noticed. What kind of aesthetic is this from the program team? A plain white T-shirt with a giant red peony on the front? Are they serious? Thankfully, her beauty carries it off.]

[Sang Ning’s situation is so tragic. Everyone else got simple-colored T-shirts, but the program team deliberately stuck the goddess with this eyesore of a shirt. It’s hard not to suspect malice from Director Sun.]

[You all focus on the shirt, and I’m the lone person amazed at Sang Ning’s terrifying mental math skills? She calculated the unit price using just the number of people and total amount!]

[Come on, it’s just a basic two-variable equation. It’s not that hard. Anyone who’s not totally lost in math should manage.]

[Okay, you do it then. Full mental math, no writing allowed—if you dare!]

Even Director Sun was startled by Sang Ning’s remarkable math skills. After being stunned for a moment, he started earnestly trying to defend himself. "The program team has already set very favorable prices for you. These 500-yuan toiletries and spare clothes are enough to last you for 30 days. Isn’t that reasonable? Sang Ning, be content with it. You should aspire to be more like other participants—like Chu Xi, Chu Wei, and Qin Kai’s families. They all stayed in villagers’ homes and received their items free of charge."

Director Sun’s voice deliberately rose toward the end, tinged with smugness. He was clearly trying to provoke Sang Ning further. Who told her to lead two other groups to stay in a cow shed yesterday?

[Can Director Sun dial his expression back a notch? His personal vendetta against Sang Ning is glaringly obvious.]

[Director Sun, watch your words. Or Sister Sang might just lose her temper and kick your butt.]

"Fine." Sang Ning crossed her arms and stared at Director Sun with feigned indifference. "Let’s cut the chatter and just let us into the orchard to pick peaches. After all, we still need to pay you back, don’t we?"

[Haha, classic Sang Ning—calm in all situations. Bet she wouldn’t flinch even if a mountain collapsed!]

[Director Sun: Another day where I fail to rile up Sang Ning. What a bummer.]

Director Sun pouted, clearly frustrated. Why was it so tough to make Sang Ning yield to the program team?

Beside the contestants was a table holding a small box. Director Sun motioned toward the box and said, "Alright, alright, let’s cut it short. Now, I need each family to send a representative to the table to draw lots. Families that draw the same-colored ball will automatically team up."

As Sang Ning walked over, she ended up side by side with Chu Xi. Chu Xi glanced at her, flashed a sweet smile, and exaggeratedly exclaimed, "Oh my, Mr. Sang, it’s already bad enough that picking 400 pounds of yellow peaches will saddle your family with 1200 yuan of debt. Now it’s even worse—with your prior debt, your family is down more than 2,000 before even picking the peaches. If you can’t sell the peaches, I can’t imagine how your family’s going to pay back the program team today. I truly feel for you."

Sang Ning turned her head to give Chu Xi a casual glance, then threw out, "Don’t feel bad for me just yet. Who knows, maybe your family and mine will draw lots to team up. Then you’d have the same trouble, wouldn’t you?"

Chu Xi: "..."

[Sang Ning really is sharp-tongued. Nobody ever manages to get the upper hand against her.] frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

[No way, no way. Chu Xi is the Lucky Goddess; how could she end up paired with Sang Ning, this Crow Spirit?]