Chapter 10: The Farmer's Courtyard

The mountain isn't very high, but the path is indeed difficult to walk. After more than half an hour, Bianca was already panting heavily, and Finn wasn't doing much better.

Bianca tried to maintain a composed expression, looking strong while comforting Finn and appearing extremely guilty.

"Finn, it's all my fault, I'm dragging you down."

Bianca said, lightly panting, intending to speak to Finn but deliberately speaking loudly.

"What are you talking about? You're my sister, there's no such thing as dragging me down. It's my fault for making you suffer."

Finn looked at Bianca with eyes full of heartache, wanting to stop and rest but not wanting to be the one to suggest it, so he spoke deliberately.

However, the few people in front acted as if they hadn't heard their conversation and didn't mention stopping to rest at all.

No one seemed to want to rest. Finn glanced at Bianca, just about to use her as an excuse to take a break, when Mia, who was at the back, let out a scream.

Only then did the group stop and turn to look in her direction.

They saw Mia in an awkward position, lying on her two suitcases, which were sprawled haphazardly on the ground.

"Are you okay?"

The guide hired by the show quickly walked over to her to check on her.

"No, I'm fine, I just saw a bug and got scared."

Mia's face looked a bit pale. She glanced at everyone and then randomly pointed in a direction in the woods.

The guide smiled and comforted her, "That's very common. There are such bugs in the village too, they don't bite."

Mia frowned even more upon hearing this. She had joined the show for her image, not expecting the production team to be so strict, giving no chance for cheating and making the conditions so tough.

"But I'm afraid of bugs."

Mia looked like she was about to cry. Everyone's faces showed a bit of helplessness. The production team had mentioned before that there would be many bugs in the countryside, which was normal given the abundance of plants.

"I think we should rest here for a bit to take care of the ladies."

Finn finally found an excuse and quickly spoke up before anyone else could.

"In that case, let's rest here and have some water before we continue."

The guide, being from the village, understood that these city celebrities were not as physically fit as a ten-year-old from the village, so he agreed with Finn.

Aurora walked to the side, feeling a bit speechless. They had only walked for half an hour and were already this tired. She thought Finn's physical condition was worse than a woman's.

Except for Bianca and the other two, the rest didn't look as fresh as when they started but weren't so tired that they couldn't walk.

After resting for about ten minutes, the eight of them set off again. By this time, Mia had one less suitcase.

She couldn't hold on any longer, so she quickly sorted her belongings during the break, leaving one suitcase and handing the other to the accompanying staff to take down the mountain.

After walking for more than an hour, the eight of them finally reached the village.

When they arrived at the village entrance, apart from Aurora, only Leonard, who worked out regularly, didn't look too exhausted. The others looked somewhat disheveled.

Bianca, who had been pretending to have a sprained ankle on the mountain, couldn't keep up the act anymore but was still supported by Finn.

Aurora had hardly spoken along the way, walking at the front without even glancing at Finn, unlike Bianca, who would occasionally show concern for him.

Finn felt somewhat uncomfortable. Back at the Johnson Villa, Aurora wasn't this cold. Both were his sisters, but the difference between his biological sister and his adopted sister was stark.

"Bianca, how are you feeling? Does your foot still hurt? I'll massage it for you once we settle down."

Finn deliberately glanced at Aurora as he spoke. Bianca, busy tidying her clothes, didn't notice his expression and just tried to maintain a composed smile.

"Sure, thanks, Finn."

Aurora glanced in their direction briefly before quickly looking away. Finn felt a sense of satisfaction.

It seemed she still cared about him; otherwise, why that look? It was clearly jealousy.

Aurora didn't know what Finn was thinking. That glance was just a subconscious reaction, and she inwardly scoffed at their fragility.

Especially Finn, getting so tired from such a small mountain. He really didn't seem like a man, more like a sissy.

The production team staff, who had been waiting, gathered everyone together and led them into the village, stopping in front of a courtyard to introduce it:

"This small courtyard will be your residence for the next few days. There are eight rooms, two kitchens, and the toilet is on the main road behind. The courtyard hasn't been renovated."

"You can allocate the rooms yourselves. There are three rooms in the east wing, two in the west wing, and three in the front yard, making it convenient to separate men and women."

The production team briefly introduced the layout of the courtyard, which was a standard Western-style courtyard, retaining the old style.

The guests then walked inside. The courtyard was still dirt, except for a few cement steps in front of the north door. The ground of the four rooms in the south was paved with red bricks.

Just like a construction site, the most common red bricks.

Aurora looked around. This house was the same as in her previous life. Although it was built with red bricks, the roof retained the old traditional style, with wooden beams and tiles.

The south rooms were originally four single-story houses, one of which was used for raising chickens, separated from the east and west wings by a courtyard, facing each other. The outer walls of the facing rooms had hollowed-out fake window designs, giving a sense of age.

The middle space was as large as the central hall between the east and west wings, connected to the courtyard.

On the west side of the courtyard, next to the wall, was a staircase leading to the roof of the four single-story houses, usually used for drying clothes or grain.

The east and west wings each had a small room, which were two small kitchens that could also be used as storage rooms, with doors facing the corridor.

The east side of the courtyard had a dining room and a kitchen, which was the main kitchen used for cooking. In the countryside, several generations often lived together, sharing one kitchen.

The west side of the courtyard had a small door leading to the pigsty, with a window of one of the west wing rooms facing the pigsty.

After touring the place, everyone had different expressions and thoughts.

Finn's face fell when he saw the dirt. He had expected tough conditions but not this tough.

When the Johnson family went to pick up Aurora, the place she lived in wasn't a dirt road.

"This is too dirty, there's dirt everywhere."

"Exactly, even in the countryside, people live in red brick houses now. How can there still be dirt roads?"

Mia hadn't expected the production team to arrange such a place, and there wasn't even a toilet in the courtyard; they had to go to the public toilet on the main road behind.

"These are the conditions. As for room allocation, you can discuss it among yourselves or draw lots."

The production team ignored their complaints and smiled at them.