Chapter 36
After blanching the cassava three times, cut it into small square pieces. The cooked wild strawberries become sticky, and the sweetness and slightly sour sugar taste overflow. The color is bright red. Pour it on the stewed cassava, and a pot of wild strawberry stewed cassava is ready.
"Brother, can I eat now?" It was the first time that Lin Zhinan showed such an urgent desire to eat something. Desserts are indeed the biggest temptation for girls, especially when they have been hungry for half a month. No one can stand the sour and sweet taste.
"Come." Chu Huaiqin reached out and took Lin Zhinan's bowl, poured one for her, and got one for himself.
The texture of the mashed cassava is similar to potatoes, but the flavor is different—hard to describe, yet unique. Lin Zhinan took his first bite, and a sweet and sour flavor exploded in his mouth, followed by the soft texture of the mashed cassava. The two collided, creating a unique flavor he had never experienced before. Having not had dessert for two weeks, Lin Zhinan narrowed his eyes in happiness. It was delicious.
"Ahhh, looking at my sister's expression, it must be delicious. I want to eat it."
"Even without looking at my sister, I think this looks delicious. It feels like a sundae with strawberry jam. I wonder where I can buy it? I'll go search and order takeout."
"I just searched online, but there's no such recipe. Is Chu Huaiqin inventing a new way to eat it?"
"No way, what should I do if I'm not good at cooking? Which chef has good skills? I originally paid a high price to buy it. No matter what, I want to try this taste, so I'm looking for someone who can cook it."
The new food made by Chu Huaiqin unexpectedly brought back traffic to his personal live broadcast room. Many people came just to see this "Strawberry Cassava Mash" dessert. Those who came early drooled at it, and those who came late went to the hot search to find screenshots, wanting to see what the delicious new dessert everyone was talking about looked like.
The strawberry tapioca puree looked good, and my sister's expression suggested it was delicious. The problem was, despite searching every takeout shop, no one could find this snack. With so much search traffic, many businesses capitalized on the opportunity and put it on their shelves within a few hours. The items quickly sold out, leaving those who got in ecstasy and those who didn't, frustrated and urging the shops to hurry up. For a while, delivery drivers all over the city were delivering "strawberry tapioca puree."
But that happened a few hours later. After Chu Huaiqin and his sister finished eating, they left the leftovers, packed them in banana leaves, and then took a rest before setting off.
"Brother, have you discovered us? It's delicious," the little monk's eyes lit up, and he took another bite in disbelief, blinking. It was really delicious. Wild strawberries are not very sweet, so they only taste slightly sweet when poured on the cassava mash. In hot weather, hot desserts should be a bit greasy, but the unique sour taste of wild strawberries completely eliminates this greasy feeling, and when you put it in your mouth, it brings a cool feeling. "I kind of understand why Coke commercials pour water on the actors' heads. I feel the same way now."
The little monk squinted his eyes, raised his head, shook his head and sighed happily, but the people in the live broadcast room were worried about him.
"Little monk, no matter how artistic you are, Xia Entang will eat up all the wild strawberry cassava puree."
Although Xia En also used a bowl to eat, in the eyes of everyone in the live broadcast room, his action was not eating, but pouring it out, and he didn't even chew it. People in the live broadcast room pounded the table to see him. Eating delicious food like this was simply a waste.
"Ah, leave some for me," the artistic little monk finally realized something was wrong. He looked and saw that it was almost gone. He was so angry that he reached out to grab it and shouted, "Xia Entropy, you are bullying me."
At this time, Tong Tao and Su Huaichen were walking in the front. In order to hurry and save time, they spent very little time looking for food. They ate more if they could find food, and ate less if they couldn't. As a result, their physical strength was severely depleted. On the third night of the journey, Su Huaichen fell ill.
Bingxiang and Fengshan, who were following the other two, were also exhausted. They looked much older, and fatigue was taking over them. They leaned against a tree not far from Tongtiao, motionless, and seemed to be fast asleep. This scene almost brought many people to tears. This was too pitiful. When did this become a race?
"Tong Tao is poisonous, right? He dragged Chenchen along on this journey and now he's fallen ill. Will he take responsibility?"
"Exactly. Along the way, Chenchen asked us many times to take a break because we didn't have enough food, but this scumbag always refused us under the pretext of being in a hurry. Ahhh, I'm so angry!"
"This should be blamed on Director Huang. He was the one who set this rule."
"What about the rules? Chu Huaiqin is not in a hurry. Look at how rosy his and his sister's faces are."
"It seems that my sister, who lost weight before, has gained some weight again."
"Honestly, I still can't understand Director Huang's operation, the herbs, the pursuers, and the rush. In the past, survival games were all about choosing a competition point, and everyone would survive there, and the winner would be determined by points. Now the competition system has completely changed."
"Given the time allotment, they didn't need to rush at all. But in order to secure a spot first, they forgot about survival and only cared about getting a spot."
"Director Huang made the rules, so there's nothing wrong with them doing this!"
"Who knows?"
Some people in the live broadcast room thought that Director Huang was doing something for some purpose, while others thought that Director Huang was operating randomly. For a while, the live broadcast room was in an argument about the competition system.
The competition staff had no idea about the livestream audience's speculation, and Chu Huaiqin had no idea that Su Huaichen's illness had unexpectedly improved his reputation. As the sun was about to set, he and his sister chose a different resting spot than they had the previous few days, setting up camp about ten meters away from the trail. This wasn't surprising, but what was surprising was that Chu Huaiqin had previously dug holes and lit fires for lighting at night, but tonight he had eaten and set up camp early.
Live broadcast room: ...
As night fell, Chu Huaiqin had nothing to film, so the A1 lens turned to focus on the others. Su Huaichen was still running a fever, but no doctor came to see him. He had taken the fever-reducing medicine he had been given earlier and went to bed early.
However, Pu Peng, An Shunan, Su Feichen and Lin Yongfu, who were ahead of Chu Huaiqin and behind Tong Tao, were restless. At nine o'clock the next morning, three assassins came up from behind and knocked Su Feichen and An Shunan down first. Only then did Pu Peng and Lin Yongfu react, grabbed their backpacks and quickly ran into the bushes and escaped.
The incident happened so suddenly that the live broadcast room didn't react in time, and it took a while for the two people who were eliminated and lying on the ground to come back to their senses.
"Out." Su Feichen fell to the ground, looking at the blue sky and chuckled.
"In fact, it's beyond my expectation that it has come to this." The appearance fees of ordinary people like An Shunan are lower than those of celebrities. The contract states that a percentage of the appearance fee will be paid based on the survival time. Up to now, he has been able to get a large sum of money.
"That's right." Initially, Su Feichen thought the format would be the same as in previous years: a circled area where people would survive in the wild, with the winner guaranteed to be a pre-determined celebrity, and he was just a runner-up. He only learned of the changes shortly after starting this year, and then, as celebrities were kicked out one after another, he finally found the competition somewhat interesting. He hadn't expected it to end so quickly, though.
The two of them weren't sad, just a little worried. The live broadcast room was surprisingly harmonious, without any quarrels like other stars who were eliminated before, but just blessings.
"We're ahead of Chu Huaiqin, and those guys came up from behind. Was he eliminated?" Su Feichen suddenly thought of this. "Also, we haven't seen Xia Entang and the little monk along the way!"
"He should be eliminated!" An Shunan guessed.
Live broadcast room:
"No, you think too much. They were not eliminated."
"I kind of understand why Chu Huaiqin camped away from the trail yesterday."
"My brother is really smart. This is the first time I've noticed him using his IQ to survive."
Everyone in the livestream room agreed. Chu Huaiqin, who was incredibly clever and hadn't been eliminated, had gotten a good night's sleep. He'd just gotten up when the other two were eliminated. The first thing he did was wander around, looking for water sources; they were running low.
Lin Zhinan also followed. She was alone in the camp and was afraid of snakes or something. However, she was confused along the way. She saw Chu Huaiqin squatting down from time to time to look at the grass and touch the soil. His expression was serious and thoughtful. He didn't look like he was looking for water at all!
The live broadcast room was also confused:
"Finding the dragon and finding the acupoints?"
"Please ask the gods?"
"Hear the wind is rain?"
"Pfft, the one in front, are you kidding? He is right at the water source. The vegetation growth and the moisture level of the soil can be used to determine how far away the water source is. This is a skill that is usually only possessed by people who have lived in the mountains their entire lives. Does Chu Huaiqin really have this skill, or is he just pretending?"
The people in the live broadcast room were arguing and speculating whether Chu Huaiqin could find water. Half an hour later, when everyone saw the clear stream, they were a little stunned for a moment, but everyone quickly realized that this was a tropical mountain range in the south with abundant water resources, so it was not surprising that Chu Huaiqin found the water source.
The stream here is clear and full of fish and shrimps. My sister happily ran to the stream to catch fish and shrimps with the shrimp cage she had brought with her to hold the food. Chu Huaiqin also rolled up his pants and went into the water. The cool stream water rushed over his calves, and Chu Huaiqin squinted his eyes comfortably.
The breakfast was quite rich. The two of them simply washed up, filled up with water and started their journey. It was almost ten o'clock at this time, and the people in the live broadcast room once again sighed at their leisure time.
However, Tong Tiao and others were not so lucky. At noon, when Park Pen and Lin Yongfu approached Tong Tiao and others with backpacks on their backs, three assassins also appeared, and the scene was immediately in chaos.
Bing Xiang made a judgment first: there were three assassins, and they had guns in their hands. The only way to protect themselves was to fight back.
The backpack in his hand hurled itself at the assassins, just blocking one of them from view. Bing Xiang then lunged forward and grabbed the toy gun. With a "crack," the toy gun's material was instantly crushed. The accident happened so suddenly that even the 'assassin' himself was stunned.
Feng Shan seized the opportunity and kicked the other 'assassin's' gun away, and it fell far away.
Without guns, it all comes down to who has the stronger fist. They are Shaolin disciples, learning folk martial arts, while these two veterans have learned systematic military boxing. To determine the winner, it is really hard to tell who will win without a fight.
The four of them quickly got entangled with each other, and then only one assassin, Lin Yongfu, Park Pen, Tong Tao, and Su Huaichen who was running a fever were left at the scene. The four of them were standing scattered together.
Live broadcast room: Is this a quad kill?
The atmosphere instantly became tense. The most common question on the airwaves was "What should I do?" Ever since crossing the lake, no one had expected the three assassins from Group A2 to catch up. This unexpected event was so sudden, no one was prepared. And now, the assassins had already raised their guns...
Tong Tao was stunned at first, as if he was surprised that the assassin would point the gun at him, but he quickly reacted, grabbed Su Huaichen's wrist and yelled, "Run!"
But it was too late. The "assassin" had already fired. Paintballs flew over, and Su Huaichen, who was feverish, was pulled by Tong Tiao and lost his balance. He staggered and fell, knocking Pu Peng, who was standing between him and Tong Tiao, out of the way...
"Bang!"
A faint gunshot rang out; someone had been shot. It was Pu Peng. His sacrifice bought time for the others. Lin Yongfu quickly scurried into the bushes, while Tong Tao pulled Su Huaichen behind a large tree.
“Bang, bang, bang!”
There were three consecutive rings, and Su Huaichen felt dizzy. The fever made him a little slow, and he didn't react to what had just happened. However, his intuition told him that he seemed to have done something bad just now.
"You hide here, I'll go deal with him." Tong Tiao patted Su Huaichen's shoulder and squatted down. When he heard the 'assassin's' footsteps approaching, he bent down, grabbed a handful of sand and threw it backwards, hitting the 'assassin's' eyes. Tong Tiao seized the opportunity to throw a punch, knocking the gun out of the 'assassin's' hand, and clenched his fists to fight him.
"Bang!"
The cup was slammed down on the table, and the senior executive who was reporting suddenly jumped in fear. He stopped immediately and looked nervously at the man sitting at the head seat. Was his report so problematic? His boss even smashed the cup.
The secretary taking notes was also bewildered. Her boss had already reviewed the report, so it was fine, wasn't it? Why was he so resentful now? Her eyes shifted to the computer in front of her boss...
What did she see? She saw her boss slacking off during work hours and watching a survival show.
"Let's check, where does the name Tong Tiao come from?"
"Okay, okay."
The secretary turned her head silently, shedding tears secretly, and wanted to remind her boss, "We are in a meeting now, one of the most important meetings of the year, the 'Quarterly Business Analysis Report Meeting'. Could you please not be absent?"
Tong Tiao had no idea that someone was targeting him. When he was pinned to the ground and unable to resist, he instantly regretted not coming out. "Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The paintballs exploded on the "assassin". After three shots, Tong Tao, Bing Xiang and Feng Shan, who were being beaten, were rescued. The three of them gasped and looked at the man holding the gun. It was Lin Yongfu. He picked up the gun.
Victory officially belonged to the contestant, and the live broadcast room erupted in cheers. No one had expected only Park Pen to be "sacrificed"; they had expected several others to be eliminated!
"It's raining."
Lin Zhinan looked up and saw the gloomy sky. He was worried for a moment. The mountain road was already difficult to walk on, and it would be even more difficult if it rained.
Chu Huaiqin also thought of this, but he didn't say it out loud. He asked Lin Zhinan to put on the waterproof jacket, put it on himself, and then reached out to Lin Zhinan.
"Thank you, brother."
Lin Zhinan held it happily.
The sky was still gloomy, with only a few drops of rain falling. The two of them circled the mountainside and began to descend according to the route. Slowly, the rain became heavier and the road became more and more difficult to walk. Lin Zhinan almost fell several times, but fortunately he was picked up by Chu Huaiqin. Just as Chu Huaiqin was thinking about whether to find a place to hide from the rain, Director Huang's voice appeared on the drone:
"Please note, please be aware that according to the weather forecast, this rain will continue for at least five to seven days."
It is now April 18th and the competition ends on April 27th. If they find a place to hide until the rain stops, they will definitely miss the deadline.
The weather posed a challenge to everyone in the final stretch of the race.
The author has something to say: I will finish writing about the domestic competition in a few chapters. The domestic competition will be a little gentler, while the foreign competition will be a little cruel.
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