Chapter Nineteen: The Mud Pit Battle

At 2:10 PM, Chen Min, who had been feeling sorry for the father and son and wanted to let them sleep a little longer, finally gave in to the urging of the chief director, Wu Zhankui, and woke them up. She handed them a task card.

"Please gather at the mud pond at the entrance of the village at 2:00 PM for a mud pond soccer match," Xiao Yao read the information on the task card while rubbing his sleepy eyes. He then muttered, "A mud pond soccer match? You city folks really know how to have fun!"

"What? 'You city folks really know how to have fun?' Are you saying you're a country bumpkin, Bayi?" Liu Shanxing asked with a teasing smile.

Xiao Yao curled his lip.

Xiao Siqi checked his watch and cried out, "Oh no, it’s past two o'clock! Quick, Bayi, we're late!" He hopped out of bed and started putting on his shoes.

"Wait a second, Dad," Xiao Yao said quickly. "We can't wear these shoes, and we need to change our clothes, too."

"Why?" Xiao Siqi asked, looking puzzled.

"You really are a city person who has never played in a mud pond," Xiao Yao muttered, explaining, "If you wear these heavy, thick-soled hiking boots, you won't be able to pull your legs out once you step into the mud. Also, it's impossible to stand in a mud pond from start to finish; you'll have to roll around at least a few times. You'll be lucky if you don't end up looking like a mud sculpture. We need to wear the lightest running shoes we have, and shorts and t-shirts made of fabric that’s easy to wash. Otherwise, we'll come back covered in mud, and washing these clothes will be back-breaking work. Besides, we're already late, so a few extra minutes won't make a difference."

Xiao Siqi immediately took the advice and started rummaging through his suitcase.

Fortunately, their room, Room 5, was at the edge of the village, closest to the mud pond. Despite the time taken to change clothes, the father and son arrived at the meeting spot before 2:30 PM.

"Hurry up, we’ve been waiting for you two! How can the ones who live closest be the last to arrive? We've been waiting for ages," Zhou Lixing shouted from afar as soon as he saw Xiao Siqi and his son jogging toward them, looking a bit impatient.

"Sorry, sorry! We overslept," Xiao Siqi apologized hurriedly.

"The conditions in their room were poor, and the two of them spent until almost 1:30 PM cleaning it up before they could rest. I saw how tired they were and decided to let them sleep a bit longer. It’s my fault, I should be the one apologizing," Chen Min quickly explained.

Hearing that they had been busy cleaning and that the production crew's director had been the one to call them late, the others' dissatisfaction quickly vanished. Sun Zhihao was the first to speak up: "It's fine, it's fine! Waiting a little longer is no big deal. We’re doing this program together, so we should be considerate of each other. If anyone should apologize, it’s me; I was supposed to stay in that room." The other fathers also expressed that it was no problem. Zhou Lixing, who had spoken first, actually felt a bit embarrassed.

"Alright, alright," Chen Lei stepped in to take charge. "Let’s not dwell on such small matters. Let’s proceed with our afternoon activity: the mud pond soccer match. Let me announce the rules..."

Zhao Tao looked at Xiao Siqi and said, "Why did you change your clothes to shorts and t-shirts? Aren't you afraid of getting sunburned?"

"This is the second time we've changed," Xiao Siqi said with a wry smile. "The first time was because they got dirty while cleaning the room. This second time is because Bayi read the task card and said that once we get into that mud pond, we’ll basically be mud sculptures, so shorts and t-shirts will be easier to wash."

By now, the fathers were all gathered together. They heard Xiao Siqi’s words, and their expressions shifted. It was true—everyone had considered that the mountain air was cooler than in the city, so long sleeves and pants wouldn't be too hot and would provide sun protection, but no one had thought about the laundry situation after the mud pond.

Zhou Lixing, the youngest of the four, immediately raised his hand: "Village Chief! I request to go back and change!"

Chen Lei gave Zhou Lixing an amused look and laughed, "No!" He added, "Do not interrupt the referee when he is announcing the rules, or you’ll be served red and yellow cards!"

Sigh, the four fathers let out a simultaneous, dejected sigh.

Soon, the appearance of a special guest swept away the fathers' gloom.

"Now, please allow me to grandly introduce the referee for this match: former national team player and famous China Television soccer commentator, Xu Dong! Let's give him a warm welcome!" Chen Lei shouted.

A man in his forties walked out of the crowd, a referee whistle in one hand and waving to everyone with the other.

In this world, the national soccer team was in a similar state to the one in the past—not doing too well, and the players often faced criticism from fans. However, Xu Dong had been the main striker for the national team during its most glorious period twenty years ago and had retired ten years ago, so he had little to do with the current lackluster performance of the team. For a veteran like him, not only was there no criticism, but he was actually very popular.

The youngest of these fathers was thirty, and they had all basically watched Xu Dong play. Back then, Xu Dong was an idol in the hearts of countless fans. Being face-to-face with a former idol and even working on a program together left the fathers very excited; some even felt the urge to rush up for autographs and photos.

Xu Dong, who used to dominate the pitch, was now dressed in simple cloth clothes, his pant legs rolled up, wearing rubber boots—a standard old farmer's getup. However, this attire was well-suited for the scene. Xu Dong walked along the dirt path on the ridge to the referee's stand prepared for him. The so-called referee's stand was just a large wooden board placed in the field with a square table on top, and a chair placed on the table.

"Hello everyone, I am the referee for this match. I now declare the game started. Athletes, enter the field!" Xu Dong said with great presence, clearly using the microphone attached to his body.

"Wait, referee, we haven't divided into teams yet," Chen Lei shouted loudly. The surrounding crowd immediately broke into laughter.

"We do need to split into teams. But here's the situation: since there are ten of us in total, five per team, in principle the fathers and their children should be together. However, because there are five people on each side, one family's father and child must be separated. Which family volunteers to split into the two teams?" Chen Lei asked with a smile.

*Whoosh.* Four pairs of eyes turned toward Xiao Siqi.

"Why is everyone looking at me?" Xiao Siqi knew the reason but pretended to be annoyed.

"Well, actually, I agree with everyone's opinion," Chen Lei said, smiling.

"You can't do that, can you?" Xiao Siqi continued to act aggrieved.

"Forget it, who told us to arrive the latest," Xiao Yao sighed.

"Hear that? Xiao Siqi, look at your son—he's more broad-minded than you," Zhao Tao teased, trying to provoke him.

Chen Lei said, "Then it's settled. I'll divide the teams. Considering the balance of strength: Zhou Lixing, you are a professional athlete, but you only have two adults on your side. Considering that Teacher Sun and Brother Zhao are relatively older, and Xiao Siqi cannot be on the same team as his son, the Lin Shaohua father-son pair and your father-son pair will be on one team. The remaining Sun father-daughter pair, Zhao father-son pair, and Xiao Siqi will be on the other. Now, here are the team uniforms."

Zhou Lixing protested, "Look at this mud pond—what does my athletic career have to do with this mud? Besides, Brother Zhao’s rugged physique—I feel like he’s definitely stronger than Shaohua, this artsy young man. I request to swap people!"

Zhao Tao retorted, "Don't be ungrateful. I want to swap people too."

Zhou Lixing asked, "How do you want to swap?"

Zhao Tao dropped a bombshell: "I request that Xiao Siqi and Xiao Bayi swap. Xiao Siqi is a sports idiot. You want three adults, right? Here, take three adults; we’ll take the three kids on our side."

Xiao Siqi made a sour face: "Brother Zhao, we're friends—can you show a little mercy?"

"Beep-beep~" Before they could continue bickering, Xu Dong, on the other side of the field, grew impatient and blew his whistle with a laugh, "Are you done yet? Athletes, enter the field! I've been sitting here shakily for a long time—are you waiting for me to fall off?"

Chen Lei simply waved his hand, "It's decided. Put on your uniforms and enter the field." He handed out the red and blue training vests.

Everyone pulled on their vests and began to descend into the mud pond. Zhou Lixing, the most active, jumped in, and it was an immediate tragedy. His legs sank into the mud, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't pull them out. "Shaohua, quick, help me out, I'm stuck!" By the time Zhou Lixing pulled his legs out with Lin Shaohua's help, his shoes were left behind in the mud, and he had to reach back in to dig them out.

Seeing Zhou Lixing's struggle, the others moved more carefully, but the suction of the mud was so strong that they barely took a few steps before their shoes were gone.

It seemed running shoes were useless, so they decided to go barefoot. With the production crew's usual standards, the mud pond had likely been cleared, so there wouldn't be any sharp stones or anything that could hurt their feet. Xiao Yao wasn't in a hurry to get in and sat by the edge to take off his shoes. Since he was afraid of his shoes getting stuck in the mud, he had tied the laces of his running shoes very tightly, so he had to untie them first.

Now only three people remained out of the pond: besides Xiao Yao untying his shoes, there were Lin Qisan and Sun Tingting. Both children had reached the same conclusion: "I'm not going down!"

Seeing that the people who went in became filthy after only a few steps, Sun Tingting, as a little girl who loved beauty, naturally found the dirty mud pond off-putting. As soon as she said this, Sun Zhihao walked over to persuade her.

Among the four boys, the French-Chinese boy Lin Qisan was the best-looking and also the most fastidious. Unlike Zhao Rui and Zhou Zhihao, who loved sports, Lin Qisan, perhaps influenced by his father, the artsy Lin Shaohua, was a bit of a delicate intellectual and had zero interest in this dirty mud pond. However, boys didn't get the same gentle treatment as girls, and Lin Shaohua wasn't a particularly patient man. Already in the middle of the mud pond, he didn't bother walking back to the edge and just shouted to his son, "Qisan, come down! It's a lot of fun."

"I won't! It's too dirty." Lin Qisan stubbornly refused.

"It's fine, we'll wash up when we go back; everyone has to wash up anyway," Lin Shaohua continued to shout.

"I won't, it's too disgusting!" Lin Qisan continued to shake his head.

"Damn it!" Lin Shaohua swore and prepared to walk over to force him. Just then, he saw Xiao Yao, who was next to Lin Qisan, stand up after taking off his shoes. He shouted to Xiao Yao, "Bayi, help me get him down here!"

Xiao Yao smiled and shouted back, "Use force?"

"Yes! Boys shouldn't be so delicate!" Lin Shaohua yelled.

"Is it okay if I'm a bit rough?" Xiao Yao continued to shout.

"It's fine!" Lin Shaohua shouted back.

"Heh heh," Xiao Yao turned to face Lin Qisan with an evil grin.

"What are you doing?" Lin Qisan realized something was wrong and turned to run.

Although Xiao Yao and Lin Qisan were both five—in fact, Lin Qisan was a few months older than Xiao Yao—Xiao Yao was nearly 10 centimeters taller. His body, conditioned by long-term martial arts training, was far superior to Lin Qisan's in speed, strength, and reaction time. Xiao Yao grabbed Lin Qisan's arm, pulled him back with a jerk, and wrapped his arms around him. Lin Qisan struggled desperately, but he couldn't break free from Xiao Yao's grip.

The others were watching with curiosity to see how Xiao Yao would roughly get Lin Qisan into the mud pond. Lin Shaohua had expected a push or at most a kick to the butt, but what was this hugging about?

"Let's perform something spectacular!" Xiao Yao curled his lip and said to Lin Qisan. Then, he pushed off the ground with force, and the two of them soared into the air, falling straight into the mud pond.

*Splash!* Their bodies landed horizontally, creating a huge crater in the mud pond. The flying mud splashed all over Zhou Lixing and Zhou Zhihao, who were standing nearby.

"Wow!" The surrounding crowd let out a gasp—they hadn't expected it to be played like that.

Chen Min muttered to herself by the edge of the pond, returning Xiao Yao's words from earlier: "You city folks really do know how to have fun."

Lin Shaohua knew his son's temperament and immediately started clapping and cheering, "Spectacular!" Following his lead, many people inside and outside the field joined in with applause and cheers. "Beautiful!" "Awesome!"

Lying in the mud, Xiao Yao released Lin Qisan and smiled, "Was that fun?"

Lin Qisan finally came to his senses. Thinking back to the moment they soared into the air, it did feel quite thrilling. Now covered in mud, it didn't feel as uncomfortable as he had imagined; it didn't seem like much at all. Combined with the cheers from his father and the people around him, his aversion to the mud and filth had vanished, replaced by excitement. Hearing Xiao Yao's question, Lin Qisan nodded immediately and said, "It was fun! Let's jump again."

"Forget it!" Xiao Yao rolled his eyes and struggled to stand up. "This is a soccer match, not a mud-jumping competition. If you want to jump, do it yourself."

"I don't dare to do it alone," Lin Qisan said pitifully. The main thing was that jumping into the air and landing horizontally required not only technique but also courage.