Omegaverse: Salted Fish Life in the Yaoi Novel

Su Wanyan, Mo Xingxue, and the children stepped off the bus into the warm pre-afternoon light. The sudden brightness made Su Wanyan lower her head almost instinctively.

Her severe astigmatism and the glasses she wore had not yet adjusted to the open sky after the dim interior of the bus. Damn, my eyes still haven’t settled, she thought, glancing down at the peaceful face of Mo Yan nestled against her chest.

Mo Xingxue noticed the small, protective movement at once. Still carrying Shen Guoxing securely in one arm, she moved closer and raised her free hand to shield the corner of Su Wanyan’s eyes from the direct sun. Shen Guoxing, watching carefully, immediately copied the gesture and covered the other side with her small palm.

Mo Xingxue looked at the girl and found a smug little expression waiting for her. She chuckled softly and turned her attention back to Su Wanyan. "You okay?" she asked, noticing that Su Wanyan was still wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand.

Su Wanyan nodded. "I’m fine," she answered gently, a soft chuckle escaping her. After a few more seconds her eyes finally adjusted. She lifted her head and glanced toward PD Xu Cui and the rest of the guests, who were already walking toward the larger house. "Let’s go?"

Mo Xingxue and Shen Guoxing lowered their hands and nodded. "Let’s go," Mo Xingxue said, already leading the way.

What none of them realized was that a second cameraman had been filming quietly from behind, capturing the entire small exchange.

[ACKKKK!! SO CUTE!!]

[THEY’RE SO PRECIOUS!]

[I’m going to die from diabetes from this... I’m not complaining though! KEEP FEEDING US THIS DOG FOOD!]

[They’re so cute, I’m literally going to combust.]

[I started paying attention to this show for the love variety show, but stayed because of the family of four.]

[W to you, twin. W.]

[Man, I have astigmatism too, but where’s my Mo Xingxue and children?]

[Dream on, bro. Dream on.]

[LOLOL! I’M BACK! HI, MY WIFE!]

[Upstairs, hi to you too. I’m touched that you’re finally calling me that in public.]

[Tf... Tf are you saying, psycho?! I’m referring to Su Wanyan!]

[Oh.. but Teacher Su’s name wasn’t the one you were screaming and creaming to last nigh—]

[ACKK! CAN YOU PLEASE SHUT THE HELL UP?!]

[LMAO, BUSTED!]

While the chat continued its usual side quests, Su Wanyan and her small family finally caught up with PD Xu Cui. They arrived just as the owner of the house stepped outside and fixed them with a critical gaze.

The man carried a piercing, analytical look. His eyes moved slowly over each of them, and his mouth remained a straight, unreadable line that immediately created a strict first impression.

Though his hair was fully gray, his face still held a certain youthfulness. With a proper trim of the long, slightly unruly beard, he would have looked quite distinguished. He narrowed his eyes once more as he studied the group.

PD Xu Cui, sensing the tension, stepped forward with a bright smile and extended his hand. "Nice to meet you," he said, sounding open and approachable.

The man glanced at PD Xu Cui’s expression, then at the offered hand. After a brief pause he grunted, grasped it with his right hand, and gave a slow, deliberate shake. "Likewise," he replied, his tone cold and impossible to read.

PD Xu Cui kept his smile and gestured toward the guests behind him. "These lovely people are the guests I told the village chief about," he said with a light chuckle. "You’ve heard of us, right?"

The man’s gaze swept over the group. Most of the guests immediately straightened their postures and looked away when their eyes met his. Gu Chengze was the only exception. He returned the stare with cold, arrogant indifference, as if silently asking what the man was looking at.

The older man’s eyes lingered on Gu Chengze for a moment longer before he quietly shook his head. "Yes. The village chief has already informed me of your arrival," he said. He released PD Xu Cui’s hand and began walking away from the house, clearly expecting them to follow.

PD Xu Cui fell into step beside him and waved the others forward. The guests obeyed without protest.

Su Wanyan and her group trailed after them, quiet curiosity on their faces. "What are we going to do this time?" Su Wanyan asked, a soft chuckle in her voice.

Mo Xingxue laughed lightly beside her, clearly content simply to be walking with the three people she loved most.

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After walking for thirty minutes under the harsh glare of the sun, the man finally came to a stop and looked back at the group. "We’re here," he said coolly.

The place he had led them to was a large, open grassland. Unlike the tall, intimidating grass outside the village gates, the grass here had been neatly trimmed, making the space feel more manageable.

As Su Wanyan scanned the area she noticed several strings stretched tightly across the ground, forming clear boundaries. After a moment of observation she estimated the enclosed space to be roughly four by four meters.

"Oh," she murmured under her breath, the pieces clicking into place. The other guests, still confused about why they had been brought here, turned puzzled looks toward the man. In response he offered a cold, thin smirk.

"Well, this is the farmland you’ll be working on," he announced.

The words landed like a physical blow, causing the guests to freeze.

"This.... Huge as hell plot?!" Zhao Yichen blurted, disbelief written across his face.

The man laughed at the reaction, the sound briefly softening his stern features. The laughter lasted only three seconds before the cold expression returned. "Precisely," he said. He stretched out both arms toward the marked plot. "This will be your main source of ’earnings.’"

His smirk returned, sharper than before. "And don’t even think about using your own money here. We use a different payment system." He pulled a coupon-like paper from his pocket and held it up for them to see. Seeing that, the guests’ shoulders slumped in collective defeat.

The live barrage flooded with pity.

[Oh, shit.]

["Oh, shit," indeed.]

[No offense, but can they handle it? Not because they’re all people who haven’t experienced difficulties, but as far as I know, none of them knows how to farm.]

[Exactly! This one will be one hell of a challenge for them.]

[All we can do for now is pray for them LMAO]

[Agreed. Let’s start now. Dear Father in heaven...]

[Wow, you guys are literally doing it? ...Count me in!]

While the chat formed an impromptu prayer circle, the guests remained silent, still struggling to process the information. The man turned toward PD Xu Cui, who immediately perked up and returned a matching smirk.

PD Xu Cui cleared his throat. "Now I’ll explain your tasks," he said, a bright smile spreading across his face. The guests shivered. They had learned that particular smile usually meant trouble.

Seeing their reaction, PD Xu Cui spread his hands in a helpless shrug. "Hey, I’m innocent here. I just wanted to find a place where we could film this segment. It was them who gave you all these tasks." His tone remained light, but the underlying amusement was impossible to miss.

The guests shot him mock glares. In response, PD Xu Cui laughed outright, dropping the pretense. After wiping the tears of laughter from his eyes he looked at them again, the familiar mischievous glint returning. "Doesn’t matter whose idea this was. What matters is that you finish tilling this."

Qin Yuran’s eyelid twitched. She sighed and shook her head, already bracing for a difficult afternoon.

Just as the atmosphere began to turn awkward, Mo Xingxue raised her hand. PD Xu Cui’s teasing smirk vanished the moment he met her cool gaze. Shen Guoxing watched with open amusement as her usually peacock-proud grandfather transformed into a suddenly docile duck within a single second.

"Yes?" PD Xu Cui asked, voice trembling slightly.

Mo Xingxue offered him a cold smile. "PD, can you please take this seriously and explain the tasks to us clearly?"

The temperature around PD Xu Cui seemed to drop, as if he was suddenly thrown into the arctic. He smiled nervously and began fidgeting with his hands. "Yes, yes."

The other guests immediately began teasing him, declaring that the merciless PD had finally found his kryptonite. PD Xu Cui pouted and glared at them, but the laughter from guests, staff, and barrage only grew louder. He wisely chose to ignore the topic and clear his throat instead.

"As Mo Xingxue requested, I’ll explain the mechanics clearly," he said, setting aside both teasing and embarrassment. The guests fell silent and listened attentively.

"Your task is to till this land and turn it into plantable soil." He gestured toward the green plot. "Specifically," he continued, looking at the alphas and causing several of them to sigh in advance, "the alphas will do the tilling and pull out the weeds—by hand—and you’ll do it every day."

Hearing that, Qin Yuran dramatically dropped to her knees. Watching her, PD Xu Cui only smirked at the display.

"That’s the alphas’ task. As for the omegas, you’ll place the seeds after the land has been tilled, and of course you’ll water them afterward." The omegas exhaled in collective relief at the somewhat easier tasks.

PD Xu Cui turned and walked toward one of the strings, lifting it slightly. "These strings act as barricades. They isolate each farm plot from the others and will show who finishes tilling faster."

He straightened and dusted the dirt from his hands. "The first team to finish tilling will not only earn money for the day and some ingredients for cooking, they’ll also get first choice among the four prepared houses. Second place earns money and chooses from the remaining three. Third place chooses from the last two. Last place takes whatever is left."

PD Xu Cui smirked again. "How fun."

In response, the guests glared at him for his atrocious words. PD Xu Cui only laughed, already looking forward to whatever the afternoon would bring.

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I’m so sorry y’all! I again, unfortunately, passed out as I was revising this Chapter. And after I woke up, I had to immediately prepare to go to school as that fah ahh school changed my first class to be at 8 AM. And as my house is an hour or so away from my school, I had to prepare at 5 AM to get to uni on time.

Anyway, I’ll reschedule my updating time and stuff so I can balance college and author life soon. I ask for y’alls understanding. That’ll be all, thanks for reading this, guys!