Chapter 189: The Leaky Old House

Chapter 189: Chapter 189: The Leaky Old House

The journey to their lodgings had been an ordeal.

They thought they would finally be able to rest once they got to their assigned house.

But when Nan Zhi saw the squat, dilapidated, tile-roofed old house through the curtain of rain, she fell silent.

Nan Yi wiped his drenched face, his eyes widening slightly in surprise.

"Mama, it looks like this house is going to collapse."

"..."

Nan Zhi collected herself and comforted him in a low voice:

"Don’t worry, it won’t collapse."

’The production team wants the guests to stay safe more than anyone.’

’This house probably just looks dilapidated on the outside; they must have reinforced it on the inside.’

And in fact, when Nan Zhi led the way into the old house, she found that was exactly the case.

There were visible signs of reinforcement on the pillars and walls inside.

But the production team probably hadn’t considered that the problems with this kind of old house went beyond the risk of collapse.

PATTER, PATTER.

A storm raged outside, while a light drizzle fell inside—

Near the kitchen, the roof tiles overhead had likely been damaged from age and disrepair. Rainwater was constantly leaking through the cracks, dripping down incessantly. With nowhere for it to drain, a small puddle quickly formed on the kitchen floor.

Thankfully, the downpour hadn’t lasted long and the leak wasn’t too severe. Otherwise, it wouldn’t just be the small kitchen, but the entire house that would have been flooded.

When the livestream viewers saw this, their desire to complain reached its peak—

[Mom, look, it’s a Water Curtain Cave!]

[Not only is this house old and busted, but it leaks too? Unbelievable!]

[Are they crazy? Won’t the guests get sick from staying in a house like this?]

[Nan Zhi Nan Yi don’t look very healthy to begin with. I guarantee they’ll both be sick by tomorrow!]

[This is seriously too much. They’re supposed to have the stars and their kids experience life, not play a survival game!]

[The production team is so inhumane! Get them a new house already!]

[It’s just for the camera, right...?]

[Are you blind, you son of a bitch? Is this your first time watching the stream? This show never fakes anything!]

...

The audience clamored, all expressing their dissatisfaction with the production team.

The cameraman and the field director, who had entered right behind Nan Zhi Nan Yi, were shocked by the scene.

They completely forgot the rule about not speaking during filming and stammered:

"I—we didn’t see this before... H-how about I contact Director Xu! We should get you a different house!"

That was easier said than done. Both they and Nan Zhi knew that changing houses wasn’t so simple.

The small village didn’t have many permanent residents; most were either elderly or "left-behind" children.

Most people had gone out to work as migrant laborers, and many of the houses were too old to be habitable.

The few houses the guests were staying in were the result of the production team sending people to repair them in advance.

Where would they find another house in the middle of the night?

Besides, the sheets and quilts were already inside. Moving them in this downpour would be a nightmare.

Moreover, given that Nan Zhi Nan Yi were currently at the center of a storm of controversy, if they moved tonight, by tomorrow the internet would be flooded with smear articles titled "Nan Zhi Throws a Diva Fit, Refuses to Stay in Old House"...

After careful consideration, Nan Zhi shook her head and refused.

"There’s no need. It’s only the kitchen that’s leaking; the rest of the house is fine. Once the rain stops tomorrow, we can just fix it."

She said it so casually, as if a leaky, broken-down house was no big deal to her at all!

[I really admire Nan Zhi’s emotional stability. If it were me, I’d probably be screaming and having a complete meltdown.]

[Was the second episode of Nan Family’s Small Restaurant not enough for you all to see the reality of the situation?]

[To be honest, Nan Zhi is being a little too stubborn. It’s like she’s deliberately trying to build a ’pitiful’ persona by making herself look miserable.]

[Stubborn? I think she’s just afraid of trolls like you looking for things to criticize! And look, here you are!]

[Go watch a few more episodes. Anyone who’s seen more than two episodes wouldn’t say things like ’Nan Zhi is playing the victim’!] 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

[It’s not that they don’t know! They’re just pretending to be clueless! They just want an excuse to bash Nan Zhi!]

...

The cameraman and the field director wanted to try and persuade her further.

But Nan Yi had already started to act unconditionally on Nan Zhi’s words:

"Mama, should we start cleaning up?"

"We’ll do a simple clean-up, then get some rest. We’ll deal with the rest tomorrow."

Nan Zhi calmly scanned the entire house and quickly made a decision.

The cameraman and the field director had no choice but to exit the house, leaving the mother and son alone inside.

First, Nan Zhi pushed their suitcase to the wall on the left side of the entrance, the spot farthest from the leaking kitchen.

Then, she took off her dripping plastic raincoat, rolled it up, and placed it in the corner.

She also discreetly grabbed a tissue and dabbed at the soaked fabric on her shoulder a couple of times.

It was impossible to get it completely dry, of course, but it was better than nothing.

Then, she found two plastic basins to catch the dripping water and swept the water off the floor.

The rain outside was already starting to lighten, so the two basins should be enough to last until morning.

While Nan Zhi was busy, Nan Yi wasn’t idle either.

He followed her lead and took off his raincoat.

Fortunately, his raincoat was intact, so his clothes underneath were perfectly dry, though the cuffs of his pants were a little dirty.

While Nan Zhi mopped the floor in front, he followed her closely from behind, helping out.

Through the mother and son’s combined efforts, the leaking problem was more or less resolved.

Only then did they have a moment to check out where they would be sleeping—

The old house wasn’t large. It was rundown overall, with poor lighting and no windows.

You could tell it hadn’t been lived in for a long time. There were only signs of a hasty cleaning by the production team. The wall plaster was mottled and peeling from the dampness, and there were traces of mold in the corners.

After entering, the kitchen was on the right. It had daily necessities prepared by the production team, like firewood, rice, oil, and salt. Luckily, they were all unopened; otherwise, they would have been ruined by the rain.

Now that the floor had been cleaned, the remaining water streaks mixed with dust, creating dirty, messy marks. Everything was chaotically crammed together.

To the left of the entrance was the living room, which had a small, red wooden sofa that looked uncomfortably hard. Since it also hadn’t been used in a long time, its crevices were filled with dust and grime.

Further in, past a doorway, was a cramped bathroom—so small that two people couldn’t turn around inside. Its only redeeming feature was that it was relatively clean. The wall tiles were brand new, probably put in by the production team, and there was a small window for ventilation.

The bedroom wasn’t large either. The wardrobe and bed likely hadn’t been in the original house and were newly bought by the production team. To match the old house’s "vibe," however, they were dark in color and old-fashioned in style.

However, compared to the leaking kitchen roof, these minor flaws were hardly worth mentioning.

After seeing the room, Nan Zhi even breathed a sigh of relief.

’At least we’ll be able to get a good night’s sleep,’ she thought.

"Looks like the bedroom doesn’t need cleaning. That saves us a lot of effort."

Nan Zhi’s tone was light as she spoke to Nan Yi.

Nan Yi, on the other hand, didn’t have much of a concept of good or bad environments.

He was simply content because he and his mother were together in this small house.

So, after they washed up and got into bed, Nan Yi fell into a deep sleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

He slept soundly all night.