The next day, they could see their earnings, and everyone was excited again that night.
In the morning, no one needed Peng Fei to call them; they all woke up early and rushed to the market.
Peng Fei felt they could go deeper into the mountains and dig for more.
So, he assigned two people to the market to sell, while four continued digging. The remaining two went with him to find mushrooms.
It was another busy day. In the evening, everyone reunited. The brothers from the market brought back over 80 yuan.
Because locals also went up the mountain to dig bamboo and sell it to town residents, the price wasn't very high. They only made that much for so much effort.
But for them, starting from scratch, over 80 yuan was enough to be excited.
They calculated that if they sold all they had now, they could get over 100 yuan, which should be enough to buy seeds.
Peng Fei dampened their spirits.
During the day, he learned from an elder in the village that others could sell theirs for over two yuan per jin. Why were theirs selling for only a few mao per jin?
With the cameras rolling, these two people wouldn't dare to embezzle public funds. It meant they were selling them the wrong way and were being cheated.
He told everyone to spend a few more yuan to take the bus to the county tomorrow and sell them for 2.5 yuan per jin, not a cent less. It would definitely earn more than today.
Moreover, the mushrooms he picked were very fresh and tender, and it would be a shame not to sell them at a high price.
At this point, everyone started to think more highly of him. His arrangements were always quite reasonable.
Although he liked to direct, he didn't excessively fight for camera time. He seemed like someone they could get along with.
Everyone decided to follow his lead.
The next day, Peng Fei continued to lead people in digging, and he assigned two more people to go to the county town.
After a day of effort, they actually brought back over 300 yuan.
"The townspeople really know what's good. They gave a much higher price than the town. That basket of mushrooms alone sold for almost 200. Brother Fei, you're really something. With over 400 yuan, we can buy a lot of seeds, right?"
Everyone was very excited. They had only been in the mountains for two days and earned over 400 yuan. This was incredible!
But Peng Fei had to temper their expectations. This amount of money was not enough.
They not only needed to buy seeds but also fertilizer and pesticides. Furthermore, bamboo shoots had a short growth cycle. Once they finished searching the nearby areas, there would be no more. They had to find other ways to make money.
"What? Is that so? What else can we rely on to earn money?"
They had been filming for five days, which was enough to edit into one episode. Leaving a cliffhanger, the filming for this part concluded.
The cameras were put away, and everyone started to complain.
"Why didn't you say earlier that this money wasn't enough? If we had known, we would have worked harder when looking for bamboo shoots. Those villagers wouldn't have gotten any! You only say this after it's all dug up. Isn't this just crying over spilled milk?"
"How about I ask my mom to send me some money? 2,000 yuan should be enough, right? Our family can afford that much."
No one wanted to trouble themselves, and they couldn't think of any other way. Peng Fei ignored them. After dinner, he went alone to the village head's house and asked if he needed any help, saying he would do anything for money.
There was a large vegetable grower in the village who had contracted over a hundred mu of vegetable gardens. It was the season for planting vegetables, and every day, from raising seedlings to sorting and the various complicated procedures, they needed people.
Normally, the aunts and uncles in the village helped, earning 80 yuan in labor fees per day.
The village head told him to go and ask there if they still needed people.
Peng Fei found the boss and inquired. They needed people. Lunch was provided, and the pay was 60 yuan per day. He took the job.
After a night's rest, filming resumed as normal the next day. Everyone was again diligent, picking up their hoes after breakfast, ready to go to the fields.
Peng Fei suddenly told them they weren't digging today.
"If not digging, then what are we doing?"
"Going to make money." He deliberately kept them guessing, not telling them.
When they arrived at the location and greeted the boss, they found out that there was another way to earn money!
Each person earned 60 yuan a day. For their nine people, that was over 500 yuan. They were furious that he had negotiated such a large deal without telling them.
Working in the shed was much more comfortable than digging. Everyone enjoyed it.
They went for three consecutive days. The production team said it wouldn't work, as every day was the same material, leaving nothing to edit. They asked Peng Fei to come up with something else.
The production team also realized that the show was entirely carried by Peng Fei. The executives and directors didn't understand much about farming, not as much as he did. They decided to film according to his ideas from now on.
Peng Fei thought about it, took out the money, and assigned some people to buy fertilizer, some to buy seeds, and some to continue planting vegetables. He himself went to continue digging.
Another five days quickly passed, and they had material for the second episode. The first episode was broadcast.
Unexpectedly, the segment of the nine young idols flexing their muscles while swinging hoes in the field made the show go viral.
A single video clip received over 200 million views, with over 1 million likes and 400,000 comments.
Everyone was curious: what kind of show was this? It was too funny.
Others were recording singing and dancing, playing instruments, and debuting with various professional skills. Their show actually brought in a few young people to dig dirt?!
They all expressed their desire to watch.
Within one night, the show's popularity soared to fourth place among similar variety shows.
Naturally, Peng Fei, who was the most down-to-earth, hardworking, quiet, yet most sensible person in the show, received unanimous praise from netizens.
"Ahhh, what a divine show! To find such a handsome, hardworking, non-greasy, and quiet male god! I absolutely love watching it. It's so stress-relieving!"
"Look closely, he doesn't seem to be faking it. He clearly has experience! The way he swings the hoe is so handsome! And he can cook and do laundry. Oh my god, he's simply the perfect husband in my eyes!"
"Finally, there's a show I like. I'm so tired of all the singing and dancing talent shows!"
"I didn't know farming had so many intricacies. Following the show has been educational. Brother Peng, keep it up, I support you!"
"What have I done wrong? As soon as the first episode was updated, it went viral. It's not enough to watch! Ahhh, can you release daily updates? I really want to see Brother Peng again soon!"
"By the way, no daily updates, can we have live streaming? I want to see the nine handsome guys showing off their muscles in front of me at the same time, *cough cough*~"
"Support the one above! When is the second episode coming out? How will they earn money to buy seeds? I'm so curious!"
"Live stream, live stream!"
"Live stream, live stream!!"
Upon seeing Peng Fei go viral, his agent hastily spent a lot of money overnight to hire a big V to write an article about Peng Fei's model talent show experience.
The curious netizens, who couldn't get enough of the farming show, found his previous talent show through this article.
Seeing him constantly changing styles and showcasing his charm in various ways each episode, and importantly, not chatting with others outside of the show, only reading books, they developed an even better impression of him.
This also helped to make that show popular.