Chapter Thirty-Three: An Ancient Town in Jiangnan

One week after the martial arts and combat competition, it was time for the second filming of "Where Are We Going, Dad?" The five families, separated by a week, reunited once again.

The second filming took place in a village called Xinye, located in Jiande City, Eastern Zhejiang Province. Unlike the small mountain village in southern Hunan from the previous filming, Xinye, though still called a village, boasted over two hundred ancient buildings dating back several centuries and dozens of narrow alleys. In terms of history, environment, and scale, it resembled more of an ancient water town in Jiangnan.

This time, the five families were to spend two days and two nights in this culturally and historically rich village or ancient town.

After gathering at the village entrance, curiously, the anticipated "village chief," Chen Lei, who was expected to greet them, was nowhere to be seen. Since everyone was already acquainted, there was no need for self-introductions as in the first filming. The directors from the production team directly explained the first task: each family had to go into the village to find a building called Liuyun Tower to retrieve their task cards.

None of them had been to this village before, and no one knew where Liuyun Tower was. However, since the name included the character for "tower," they all glanced around and targeted the tallest tower-like building in the village.

The five families dashed towards the tower, almost entering it one after another. Following the production director’s instructions, they found the task cards on the second floor of the tower.

Perhaps because Xiao Yao’s performance during the previous house selection task was notably different from the other children’s, this time the task was assigned to the fathers to complete.

The task required the fathers to find any villager in the village and together reenact a scene from a classic TV drama. Their movements and dialogues had to match the original script perfectly to pass. The first family to complete the task and return to Liuyun Tower would have the privilege of choosing their house first, while the last would be left with no choice.

Upon hearing the task, Zhou Lixing was dumbfounded. Zhao Tao, Lin Shaohua, and Sun Zhihao were all actors. Although Xiao Siqi was a singer, his father was a seasoned actor, so he was not entirely unfamiliar with acting. But Zhou Lixing, a sportsman, was completely at a loss when it came to acting.

As Zhou Lixing had predicted, the results matched expectations: Lin Shaohua finished first, Sun Zhihao second, Zhao Tao third, Xiao Siqi fourth, and Zhou Lixing last.

Once the rankings were confirmed, the "village chief" Chen Lei finally appeared. To match the ancient village's atmosphere, Chen Lei wore traditional ancient attire.

Chen Lei took out five wooden plaques and hung them up one by one, addressing the fathers: "This time, there are no photos of the houses. Each of you will choose one plaque, and you can guess what kind of house it is based on the word written on it. Of course, the first to finish the task chooses first."

Curious, the five families gathered around the hanging plaques. Each plaque was inscribed with a single character in calligraphy: "Wine," "Ink," "Medicine," "Dye," and "Pottery."

“This should be easy to guess,” Sun Zhihao said, enlightened. “Wine must be the winery, Ink could either be the academy or a workshop making inkstones, Medicine is surely the pharmacy or an ancient medical clinic, Dye must be the cloth-dyeing workshop, and Pottery is probably a ceramics workshop. The kids should like that one—playing with clay, you know.” He smiled at the last part. “Looks like the production team has been quite generous this time; none of these houses seem bad.”

Chen Lei laughed and said, “The so-called ‘mastermind’ has analyzed it for you all, but whether the guesses are right, I can’t say. Now, the first place, please start choosing.”

Lin Shaohua, who finished first, didn’t immediately pick a plaque but began discussing with everyone. “I haven’t insisted on any particular one. Does anyone have a preference? I’m thinking the houses should be roughly equal. This village looks much better than the last one. Even if the production team tried hard, I doubt they could find the kind of broken-down house the Bayi team stayed in last time.”

They had already explored the village during the task, and indeed, this southern village looked quite pleasant. The main roads in and out were cemented, and the narrow alleys between houses were paved with stone slabs. Though the houses exuded ancient charm, none seemed dilapidated.

Sun Zhihao spoke first, “Then I’ll take the pharmacy. I’m interested in food and have some knowledge of health preservation. I’ll see if there are any medicinal ingredients that can be used as food and maybe try to prepare some medicinal meals for everyone.”

With unanimous approval, Zhao Tao said next, “Then I’ll take the winery. Everyone knows I enjoy good wine.”

“Of course, a hero loves his wine. The winery suits you perfectly,” everyone laughed. Zhao Tao had played many heroic roles in historical dramas.

“I’ll take Ink,” Xiao Siqi said. “My dad taught Bayi calligraphy, and Bayi has been practicing. We can go to the ink place, and Bayi can practice his writing.”

“I’ll take Dye,” Lin Shaohua said. “Ancient dye workshops usually have courtyards where they hang the dyed cloth to dry. That must be quite a sight. Lixing, the Pottery one is left to you. Your son Haohao is the youngest—this ‘playing with mud’ house suits you guys.”

Since Zhou Zhihao was last, he naturally had no objections, and as Lin Shaohua said, it was fitting for little Haohao to have the pottery house.

After the discussion, they each took their wooden plaques in order and began wandering through the village to find their respective houses. The houses weren’t hard to find; each had a plaque identical to the ones in their hands hanging by the door. It was impossible to miss.

Once everyone had found their accommodations and settled their luggage, the directors handed the fathers the next task cards.

“No need for you dads to prepare lunch for the kids today,” Xiao Siqi read aloud. He brightened at first but then frowned. “But the production team hasn’t prepared lunch either, so you have to take the kids to find lunch in the village yourselves. What does that mean? How are we supposed to solve this?” Xiao Siqi looked puzzled at the director Chen Min.

“Uh... simply put, it means ‘mooching’ a meal,” Chen Min smiled.

“Taking the kids to mooch a meal in the village?” Xiao Siqi confirmed.

Seeing Chen Min nod, Xiao Siqi sighed inwardly. Everyone’s task was probably the same, so there was no chance of teaming up with Sun Zhihao’s family. But mooching meals was something he wasn’t good at. He was naturally shy around strangers, let alone asking them for food. Looks like Bayi would have to step in. However, Bayi seemed a bit too mature; he wasn’t sure if Bayi would be willing or able to shamelessly charm strangers for food.

“Bayi, we’re going mooch meals. Any ideas?” Xiao Siqi went downstairs to find Xiao Yao, who was admiring the calligraphy and paintings hanging on the walls in the main hall.

The house they were staying in was called Yimo Pavilion, resembling an ancient calligraphy and painting shop. The main hall’s walls were adorned with various calligraphy and paintings. Two large antique cabinets held many thread-bound books, and some compartments contained porcelain vases filled with scrolls. The living quarters were upstairs in this two-story building. There were four bedrooms upstairs, and the father and son occupied one.

Such a scholarly atmosphere deeply interested Xiao Yao. After putting down their luggage upstairs and entrusting Xiao Siqi with organizing it, Xiao Yao eagerly returned downstairs to admire the calligraphy and paintings.

“Oh, any special requirements?” Xiao Yao asked.

“Just that we have to find a villager to mooch lunch from,” Xiao Siqi replied.

“The village? We’re already in the village. How about asking Uncle Qin here to eat lunch together? They probably wouldn’t refuse,” Xiao Yao suggested.

“Right,” Xiao Siqi thought that was a good idea. Since they were borrowing the place to stay for two nights, they had already exchanged pleasantries and gratitude with the owner, Qin Yifeng, who warmly welcomed them at the door. Although their agreement with the production team was only for lodging, they had to eat anyway. It would be easier and more straightforward to mooch a meal directly from the homeowner rather than running around.

Upon hearing this, Qin Yifeng readily agreed. He was well aware of the show and knew Xiao Siqi’s celebrity status. Having the chance to dine with a celebrity father and son was rare for ordinary villagers. Previously, he hesitated to invite them spontaneously for fear of disrupting filming arrangements, but now that Xiao Siqi had asked, it was no problem.

Qin Yifeng agreed enthusiastically, and Xiao Siqi didn’t want to freeload without contributing. When he had teamed up with Sun Zhihao before, he hadn’t done nothing. Although Qin Yifeng initially refused Xiao Siqi’s offer to help, he finally relented, thinking it would be fun to cook with a celebrity. He assigned Xiao Siqi to help wash vegetables.

Xiao Siqi was happy to help, but when Xiao Yao also wanted to assist in the kitchen, Qin Yifeng refused. After all, the boy was still very young.

Seeing Xiao Yao linger in the kitchen, Qin Yifeng recalled Xiao Siqi saying he was good at calligraphy. So, he took Xiao Yao out of the kitchen to the hall, bringing out a pile of white paper, brushes, and ink so that he could practice writing. After all, the shop was well stocked with those materials.

Seeing this arrangement, Xiao Yao understood he wouldn’t be allowed to cook and accepted it, happily practicing calligraphy at the writing desk in the hall.

With three people preparing food for four diners, the meal was ready quickly. By noon, Qin Yifeng and his wife, along with Xiao Siqi and Xiao Yao, were already seated at the table. Although Qin Yifeng’s wife’s cooking wasn’t as skilled as Sun Zhihao’s, the dishes were still quite tasty. Xiao Siqi and his son ate contentedly, and the couple was naturally pleased.

After lunch, having completed the self-sufficient lunch task, Chen Min handed over the next task card. It only stated to gather at 2 p.m. in the open space before the village’s Confucian temple, with no further details.

Since the morning’s task hadn’t been physically demanding and the afternoon task wouldn’t start until two, Xiao Siqi took Xiao Yao for a leisurely stroll through the picturesque village, also using the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the terrain.