Chapter 430 - 429: Chloe: I Don’t Want a Brother Anymore (2)

With that, Chloe brought her hoe down. The surrounding soil instantly loosened, and she immediately pulled out a clean white radish and tossed it into the basket.

It wasn’t just Gabriel; the other senior cast members also gaped in unison.

Chloe’s movements, however, were remarkably fluid, and she didn’t seem to think it was anything special.

She walked over to another spot. Spotting a radish peeking out from the soil, she bent down, gave a firm tug, and pulled it right out.

"For radishes like this, you can pull them straight out of the ground," she explained. "But you have to be careful. If the soil is too compacted, you’ll still need a hoe to dig them out."

After she finished, Chloe looked up at the stunned group. "Did everyone get that?"

They exchanged glances.

Almost in unison, they said, "Could you demonstrate that again?"

Chloe’s movements looked simple enough, but to those watching, it was all a blur.

Her motions were fast and practiced. Before they could even react, dozens of radishes had been pulled from the ground.

Simon Lawson had originally arranged for a local farmer to come and demonstrate for the cast, but it was clear that wouldn’t be necessary now.

The farmer standing by, however, flashed a grin and gave a thumbs-up. "This young lady is incredible! A real natural when it comes to farm work!"

That kind of skill isn’t something you’re born with.

In fact, any skill requires constant practice and learning to achieve that level of mastery.

While the others didn’t think much of it, Gabriel, on the other hand, fell into deep thought.

Chloe then said, "Why don’t you all give it a try? You might be a little slow at first, but you’ll get the hang of it as you go."

After she spoke, Chloe helped hand out the hoes and baskets.

The field was divided into seven plots, one for each of them.

Gabriel snapped out of his thoughts. He looked at the long stretch of field and nearly cried. "Is this much supposed to work me to death?!"

Even Hailey Beckett frowned. "Let’s just focus on getting it done. Once we’re finished, we can help whoever hasn’t completed their task."

The women would surely be a bit slower than the men.

Although Gabriel was whining about how hard it was, he didn’t object to her suggestion.

After all, there were three older veterans in their group.

"Oh, right. Where’s Nina?"

Gabriel and the others had been in the fields for nearly an hour, and Nina was still nowhere to be seen.

Simon Lawson glanced at his watch and said, "Nina’s room was a bit dirty, so I let her come an hour later. Looking at the time, she should be arriving soon."

The words had barely left his mouth when two figures appeared in the distance.

Everyone looked over. It was Nina and her cameraman.

Nina was walking at a snail’s pace. She was wearing a pair of platinum-colored, crystal-studded high heels and a cream-colored dress.

Even her hair had been freshly styled.

Compared to the rest of the group, Nina was certainly the most eye-catching.

But the rural path was difficult to walk on, riddled with ruts and potholes. On camera, Nina was clearly struggling.

The group waited a full five minutes for Nina to finally meander over.

"Director, I’m so sorry I’m late."

Nina walked into the center of the group, her smile perfectly composed.

But upon closer look, one could see that Nina had positioned herself right next to Chloe. With her tall frame, amplified by the high heels, it seemed as if she was deliberately, or perhaps subconsciously, trying to upstage her.

Chloe, in contrast, was dressed simply. Her plain white sweater and caramel, wavy hair made her look like a college student.

This move, however, annoyed the two female celebrities who had been pushed to the side.

They’d noticed long ago that Nina loved to fight for the center position, but they never expected her to do it so brazenly.

And with so many viewers watching online!

Seeing this, Chloe glanced at Nina and took two small steps to the side, making it clear to everyone that she wasn’t fond of her.

Simon Lawson noticed but said nothing.

Gabriel, however, was not pleased.

"Nina, there’s all this space on the side. Why did you have to stand next to my sister? You just pushed Chloe right out of the way!"

Nina looked utterly stunned for a moment, and then tears instantly welled up in her eyes.

She glanced around, bewildered, and when she saw everyone staring at her, she lowered her head, looking wounded. "S-sorry."

Gabriel was left speechless by Nina’s reaction. He clenched his fists and just snorted.

Comment Section—

"Why is our Nina always being bullied? It was clearly Director Lawson who let her rest, so why is everyone blaming her?"

"As a neutral observer, I really can’t stand this anymore. From the moment Nina first showed up, everyone online has been mocking her. What has she even done wrong? The house was already old and falling apart. What girl could stand having to live in a rundown place like that for twelve days by herself? What’s wrong with throwing a small tantrum? Wouldn’t you get upset if you were in her shoes?"

"If Nina saw you all laughing at her like this, wouldn’t she be heartbroken? Please, have a heart. The girl is only twenty."

For some reason, the screen was suddenly flooded with these bizarre comments.

Simon Lawson got a call from the production crew and took a look at the live stream comments. He backed out of the page, speechless.

In the end, however, he told the staff not to make any rash moves.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, other viewers started to clap back.

"You’ve got to be kidding me. How can anyone blame this on Gabriel? Anyone with eyes can see Nina was trying to steal the center spot."

PS:

Because this book is available on other platforms, I’m putting this note in the main text. I hope you’ll all take a few seconds to read the following. Thank you so much.

First, as the author, I’ve said before that I welcome feedback and criticism, but I do not accept unsolicited writing advice, whether it’s direct or thinly veiled.

Second, my writing style isn’t very literary. My only goal is to tell a complete and satisfying story.

Third, feel free to comment as you wish, but if I find a comment upsetting, I will delete it. I can’t be expected to leave something up that personally bothers me. I hope you can all understand.

Fourth, there’s no fixed ’trope’ or ’archetype’ for the male and female leads. I can only say that all the characters have established personalities, but at the end of the day, they are independent individuals. I don’t want to pigeonhole them into so-called character archetypes.

Fifth, I’ve had a bit of writer’s block lately, which is why updates were slow for a while. Even though I’m only releasing one Chapter a day now, you’ve probably noticed they are much longer. That’s because I’m combining what would have been multiple smaller Chapters into one.

Thank you all for reading this. I appreciate your understanding. *makes a finger heart*