From unemployment in crosstalk to top star in Chinese entertainment

Yu Liang immediately said, "Hello, Uncle Huang."

This caused He to burst into laughter in embarrassment.

After breakfast, Huang Lei assigned tasks.

He stood in the courtyard, looking at the mountain of firewood, a barely perceptible smile on his face.

He thought to himself that this amount of firewood would be enough to keep those three silly boys busy.

"Yu Liang, Peng Peng, Da Hua, chop all this firewood today."

Pengpeng rubbed his sleepy eyes. Dahua, meanwhile, had already rolled up his sleeves and confidently picked up his axe.

Ten minutes later.

Da Hua swung his axe, but the wood didn't budge; instead, the axe got stuck and couldn't be pulled out.

"Pengpeng, why don't you give it a try?" He wiped his sweat and handed over the axe.

Peng Peng had just finished washing up when he rolled up his sleeves and took the axe, striking a very imposing pose. After a few swings, he finally chopped a piece open.

About ten minutes later,

"This wood is so hard," Peng Peng said, panting.

His palms were rubbed raw and his forehead was covered in sweat.

Yu Liang stood to the side, watching Peng Peng spend a lot of effort splitting the dozen or so pieces of firewood.

He couldn't stand it any longer, so he took off his coat and said, "You rest for a bit, I'll do it!"

His white shirt underneath was clean and crisp, with the cuffs rolled up to his forearms, revealing the well-proportioned and strong lines of his forearms. He unbuttoned two buttons at the collar, took the axe from Peng Peng, and casually tossed it around in his hand.

He bent down to straighten a wooden block, glanced at the wood grain, and then his wrist sank.

"Smack."

The wood split into two halves with a snap, the cross-sections neat and tidy.

Pengpeng was stunned. "Wait—did you use force just now?"

Yu Liang didn't answer, and instead helped up another piece.

"Smack."

"Smack."

"Smack."

In less than ten minutes, the pile of firewood next to them had visibly grown much taller.

Previously, Peng Peng spent ten minutes chopping and only managed to split seven or eight pieces, but now Yu Liang has already stacked twenty or thirty pieces at his feet.

"continue."

Yu Liang directed Lan Minghua to place the wooden block on the block again.

The crisp sound of chopping wood echoed in the yard, one after another, its rhythm as steady as a pendulum.

Outside the kitchen, Qi Wei was squatting by the sink washing vegetables. Hearing the noise, she nudged Tong Liya next to her with her elbow and gestured towards Yu Liang with her lip.

"Sister Ya Ya, look!"

Tong Liya turned her head to the side.

The afternoon sun slanted down from above the courtyard wall, falling on Yu Liang's white shirt.

The shirt fabric was slightly damp with sweat, clinging to the area below the shoulder blades. As he chopped wood, the muscle lines of his back and arms were intermittently visible beneath the fabric.

The shirt tightened as the axe was raised. When it fell, the firewood exploded.

Tong Liya's gaze lingered for a couple more seconds.

Then she quickly looked away and continued washing the vegetables.

Qi Wei didn't notice her distraction and was still muttering to herself, "Is this guy really a crosstalk performer? Aren't all crosstalk performers like Guo Degang...?"

"Qiwei," Tong Liya interrupted her softly, giving a wink towards the camera.

"Hurry up, you guys, don't delay my cooking."

Huang Lei strolled out of the house, leaned against the doorframe, and raised an eyebrow as he watched Yu Liang chop wood at a fast pace.

"Wow, this young man is quite something."

He turned to He Jiong and said, "Teacher He, look at this pace, shouldn't we keep him for a few more days?"

He Jiong carried the rice porridge from the river out of the house, glanced at the woodpile at Yu Liang's feet, and then at Da Hua and Peng Peng who were slumped over to the side.

After chopping the firewood, Pengpeng was in charge of stacking it.

As Da Hua watched Yu Liang take down one enemy with each axe blow, his expression slowly shifted from initial smugness to suspicion.

"Yu Liang, have you practiced martial arts before?" Da Hua finally couldn't hold back.

"Who didn't say that?" Yu Liang said without looking up.

"It's just—" Yu Liang weighed the axe in his hand, then suddenly flipped his wrist, the axe spinning in the air before landing steadily back in his palm, "enough for use."

Da Hua opened his mouth, then turned to look at Peng Peng: "Peng Peng, he's taking our work away from us."

Peng Peng was bending down to pick up firewood, not even looking up: "Good job. I've wanted to quit for a long time."

Huang Lei laughed so hard he slapped his thigh.

Dahua, unwilling to give up, leaned closer again: "How old are you?"

"of 1993."

"I'm 89—" Da Hua's eyes lit up, a triumphant smile spreading across his face, "Then you have to call me brother!"

Yu Liang glanced at him, her hands continuing to chop wood. "You checked beforehand, didn't you?"

Da Hua's smile froze for a moment. "No! I just happen to be—older than you—"

"I can call you brother, so why don't you come here?" Yu Liang handed over the axe.

Da Hua looked at the axe, and his smile gradually faded.

"I..." He coughed lightly, "I think you're new here, so you still need to train more."

He stood up and walked towards the kitchen as if nothing had happened.

Yu Liang smiled, put away his axe, and continued chopping wood.

Da Hua may seem simple-minded, but he's actually quite shrewd. His goofy demeanor on the show is mostly an act for the sake of the program.

Character design...

Yu Liang muttered to himself.

This made him think about the persona he wanted to create.

"Yu Liang," Qi Wei said, having somehow appeared beside the woodpile, arms crossed as she watched him chop wood, "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"No." Yu Liang shook his head.

"What, Sister Qiwei is going to introduce me to someone?"

"Tch, I don't have that ability." Qi Wei dragged out her words, glancing at Tong Liya.

Hearing this, Huang Lei poked his head out from the kitchen: "Hey, you know what, Wu Yifan did a live matchmaking session here last time. Why don't you do one too?"

Yu Liang smiled and waved his hand, "I can't do this."

He Jiong came to his rescue, saying, "He's a comedian with a silver tongue; why would he need to go through a matchmaking process?"

Just then, the phone rang inside the house.

He turned around to answer it, and came out after a while.

"Teacher Huang, a customer has ordered food."

Huang Lei's eyes lit up: "What would you like to order?"

"Sweet and sour pork, braised pork ribs, and noodles with soybean paste."

"Who is it?" Huang Lei asked. "Did you recognize the voice?"

He shook his head, looking quite serious: "I didn't recognize it."

As a seasoned veteran of the Chinese entertainment industry, how could he not have noticed?

Huang Lei and he exchanged a glance, and tacitly refrained from asking any further questions.

"Hey Teacher Huang," Qiwei quickly raised her hand, "you haven't made the smoked fish I ordered yesterday yet."

"I really forgot if you hadn't reminded me," Huang Lei said suddenly, then changed the subject, "So, you guys, why don't you go down to the pond and catch some fish?"

"I haven't had lunch yet," Pengpeng protested softly.

"Yes." Huang Lei said seriously, "How about we each have a cup of rice porridge to tide us over first?"

Yu Liang put down his axe and asked very seriously, "Grandpa, do you have the original flavor?"

"Don't call me 'Grandpa,' call me Teacher Huang."

"Okay, Teacher Huang..."

"Okay, original flavor." Huang Lei turned to get the rice porridge, but halfway there he suddenly turned back. "Wait, after you finish your porridge, go catch some fish too. Don't think you can skip work just because you call me 'Grandpa'."

Yu Liang sighed and looked at the woodpile in the yard. He chopped a whole stack of firewood in less than half an hour, thinking he had already completed his quota for the day ahead of schedule.

"If I had known, I wouldn't have chopped it so quickly after I finished. Chef Huang really orders people around based on their status," Yu Liang thought to himself.

Half an hour later, the group finished their rice porridge and set off from the courtyard.

Huang Lei stayed behind to watch the house, while He Jiong led Yu Liang, Peng Peng, Da Hua, Tong Liya, and Qi Wei toward the fishpond not far away.

After changing into their waders, the group waded across the paddy field ridges, one step at a time.

The fishpond wasn't large, just a square shape, and the surface of the water was covered with a layer of murky, yellowish-brown. The dikes were newly built, and the mud hadn't dried completely yet.

There were hardly any aquatic plants to be seen along the edge of the pond, and the water surface was unnaturally calm.

Yu Liang stood on the embankment and looked down.

"Teacher He."

Why look back in such an awkward situation?

Yu Liang lowered her voice: "This pond looks like it was just filled with water yesterday. Are you sure there are fish?"

He coughed dryly and turned his head away.

The executive director behind him silently turned his face to the side, and a hushed voice came from the walkie-talkie.

Dahua had already rolled up his trousers and jumped in first, the muddy water reaching above his knees.

He opened his arms to the people on the shore, looking confident: "Come on down, watch me!"

Peng Peng carefully walked down the slope, slipping every step of the way, and almost fell headfirst into the water.

Yu Liang looked at the water, then at He Jiong.

He shook his head gently. His eyes made it clear: Don't ask anymore, go down.

Yu Liang took a deep breath and resignedly rolled up his trouser legs.

Tong Liya walked past him, her steps slowing slightly. Her gaze fell on Yu Liang's calves, which were submerged in mud, before quickly looking away.

She walked with her head down towards the shallow water area by the pond, her ears slightly pink in the afternoon sunlight.

On the mountain road not far away, a business vehicle belonging to the program crew was slowly driving along the winding mountain road.