Chapter 42

To be honest, Ji Ruochu, as a mature adult, naturally didn't mind this smell too much. It was just sweeping some chicken poop, what's the big deal?

But the children who had "protecting their sister" ingrained in their DNA disagreed. They insisted that it was their sister Ruochu who had just helped complete the task, and they absolutely could not let the smell get to their sister no matter what.

What could she do? She could only watch on leisurely.

This task was very simple. All they had to do was take a broom and sweep the chicken poop into a dustpan, then dump the chicken poop into the trash can. As long as they got past that mental hurdle, it would be done.

But for these pampered little cuties, it was precisely the most difficult thing.

Fortunately, they had the little brave warrior Fan Jin who had swept all kinds of stinky crap before, and Geng Zhenzhen who had pets at home.

Anyway, the task was completed smoothly in the end.

After the two little ones had washed their hands clean, the five children left together.

At this moment, the two children who had already completed the task seemed to have forgotten the village chief's earlier words about "the first one to complete the task will get a reward". They continued following their little buddies to the next house.

"Uncle! We've come to exchange duck eggs with you!"

That's right. One of these households raised chickens and the other raised ducks. As soon as the yard door opened, a stench wafted out, even more pungent than Auntie Li's smell earlier!

"Okay, okay." The new NPC smiled and said, "But I can only exchange six duck eggs for three pancakes with you."

"Huh?" Geng Zhenzhen, who was best at math, realized something was wrong. "We just exchanged six chicken eggs for two pancakes earlier. Why can six duck eggs only be exchanged for three pancakes?"

Upon hearing this, the other children also realized it was wrong. Lin Xindi, who had already handed over the big pancakes, stopped in his tracks and looked back at his older siblings: "Should we exchange or not?"

"Little ones, you just don't know about this," the other side said with a smile. "Look, my duck eggs are much bigger than chicken eggs, and they might even have double yolks. Of course they're more expensive!"

The children looked at each other, confused by his words for a moment.

"To tell you the truth, I'm the one at a loss here, so if you want to exchange for duck eggs, you'll have to help me clean up the duck poop at the door. Otherwise I won't exchange with you."

The children: Again?!

The key was that there was a lot more duck poop here than at the auntie's house earlier! And it smelled a lot worse too!

"I don't want to exchange anymore! I never want to eat duck eggs again!!"

Lin Xindi's eyes reddened again. Heaven knows how terrifying this was for the five-year-old clean freak. "Wah wah wah, I want to find Dad, I want to go home..."

Seeing his brother cry, and looking at the pile of duck poop, Mao Ziqing also couldn't help but cry:

"Wah wah wah, I don't want to sweep either. I still have to play the piano in the future!"

Thinking about having to play the piano with hands that had swept duck poop, the little one felt like her piano was dirty.

And so, the previously lively little yard was instantly filled with the cries of children. Fan Jin and Geng Zhenzhen immediately went to comfort their brother and sister.

To be honest, if it wasn't for the disgusting duck poop at the door, they might have offered to help.

"I want to go home now. I don't want to do any tasks!"

"Me too. My dad won't let me go hungry anyway!"

The two sobbing little crybabies said as they headed for the door. This panicked the production team.

[Production team, are you panicking or are you panicking?] [Seriously, what kind of task makes kids clean up chicken and duck poop right off the bat?]

[If you ask me, it's because the kids were so well-behaved at first that the production team dared to stir up trouble like this.]

Of course, there were also dissenting opinions.

[Um... is this really that outrageous? When I was little, if my mom saw duck poop in the yard, she'd tell me to sweep it up too.]

[You can only say people are very different. These are rich kids after all, it's normal for them to be more delicate.]

[They're just being overdramatic. Kids today are too spoiled, what's there to be so aggrieved about? No one raises chickens and ducks, where would we get meat and eggs? This will be good practice for them.]

[It's about experiencing life. I think it's pretty good, just needs some getting used to.]

Seeing the chaotic scene, the production team was at their wits' end, hurriedly stopping the children in case they really went on strike.

"Don't you want to eat meat anymore? Daddy worked hard in the fields all day. If you don't get to eat meat, he'll have no energy."

"How about this, auntie and uncle will help you too, okay?"

...

Little did they know, not only did the production team's persuasion not make the two little ones compromise, it also drew some disapproval from netizens.

[What does that mean? The staff can help? Then why didn't they help Zhenzhen and Jin earlier? So the crying kids get special treatment after all?]

[I knew it, the obedient and compromising ones always get the short end of the stick.]

[Production team, I advise you to be careful. Either let the kids complete it themselves, or treat them equally and just let them eat pancakes. What's with the double standards?]

[You can't put it that way either. The production team also wants to cultivate the kids' ability to do things themselves and appreciate the hard work required to obtain even common food items like eggs, so the kids know it's not easy to get chicken and duck eggs.] [Then just straight up make the two kids forfeit. Wouldn't that teach the kids even better? No pain no gain.]

[Tsk, does it have to be that strict? The two kids are quite young, cut them some slack.]

[There's only a few months' difference! What's there to cut slack on? If you want to cut anyone slack it should be Ruochu! She's only four and a half. Making the little princess Ji sweep duck poop, I feel heartache for Daddy Ji!]

[Right, how come Ruochu didn't cry? What's that kid up to?]

The live stream viewers only just realized something was off and started looking for her.

What's the little cutie up to? She hasn't made a peep?

The production team also noticed this and soon, Ji Ruochu's footage appeared in the split screen. There the little one was, dragging a broom about as tall as herself, marching valiantly towards the duck poop at the door.

That scene... simply looked heroic.

[Wait, when did she go over there?]

[Replying: She went over when the two kids were crying their eyes out. I was watching the whole time.]

[Lol, I saw with my own eyes how she got startled by Lin Xindi's sudden wail. Seeing everyone gathered around the siblings, she just toddled over herself and grabbed the broom.]

"Look what Ruochu is up to," said the staff member who was at the yard door persuading the children.

The four little ones immediately turned to look, only just discovering that their little sister Ruochu had already made her way to the front door with a broom.

Hearing the noise, Ji Ruochu also turned to look at everyone, reassuring them with a smile: "Don't cry, I'll help you sweep."

At that, the two sobbing children instantly froze.

She's sweeping? By herself?

The broom was even taller than her, how would she sweep?

But very soon, everyone found out.

The little one first stuck out her little leg and kicked the dustpan to the side. Spreading her legs shoulder width apart, she lowered her body slightly.

Gripping the broom tightly with both hands, she suddenly swept with the might of a gale sweeping fallen leaves, quickly gathering a pile of duck poop into the dustpan.

Her movements were swift and smooth, looking big and bold, but her strength was limited after all, so she didn't kick up the duck poop into a disastrous mess. Instead she swept that small area clean.

After she was done, the little one who was shorter than the broom handle planted the broom stick into the ground, chin lifted proudly, looking very pleased with herself. "See, swept it clean!"

Lin Xindi hiccuped in shock.

As the mood maker, Fan Jin immediately started clapping, not stinting on his praise at all: "Wow! Little sister Ruochu, you're so good at sweeping poop!"

Ji Ruochu: ...Don't think I won't sweep you too.

Danmu: What a calf, the poop-sweeping undefeated champion!