Chapter 7
It rained all night and cleared up the next day. The chirping of birds woke everyone up. Chu Huaiqin opened his eyes and his pupils suddenly widened. If his shoulders had not been pressed by two people, he might have kicked the person in front of him away.
Xia En was squatting in front of Chu Huaiqin. Seeing that he was frightened, he felt a little sorry and said in a hoarse voice, "Do you want to have breakfast? I made mushroom soup."
Chu Huaiqin: ...
Seeing Chu Huaiqin's bewildered silence, Xia En's expression instantly darkened. He stood up and said gruffly, "Don't get me wrong. I borrowed your hatchet last night to build a shed. I'm just returning the favor."
After saying that, he stuffed the pot into Chu Huaiqin's hands and left.
"Brother, it smells so good." The little monk also woke up and sniffed.
The person outside turned around suddenly when he heard the little monk's words and snorted: "In this day and age, everyone is considered a brother. Don't you have a brother?"
The little monk blinked and said bluntly: "I, I don't have a brother."
"If you don't have a brother, you have to recognize him. If you don't have a father, do you have to do the same..."
"Xia Entropy," Chu Huaiqin interrupted him harshly, not understanding what this man was fussing about. He wasn't even familiar with him, after all. "Take this mushroom soup back!"
Xia En clenched his hands at his sides, his wolf-dog-like gaze reappearing as he said in a stern voice, "If you don't want to drink, just pour it out."
"Can I drink it?" The little monk felt it was a pity to throw it away. His master had told him to cherish food.
"No." Xia Entang turned around, gritted his teeth at the little monk, and finally looked deeply at Chu Huaiqin. For some reason, that look made Chu Huaiqin feel a little guilty.
Chu Huaiqin, the little monk, and Lin Zhinan from Group A3 were the last to wake up. A pile of mushrooms they had picked were already drying on the ground, and Lin Yongfu had already started cooking breakfast. The mushroom soup with some spring bamboo shoots was fresh and fragrant, and the taste was amazing.
The mushroom soup Xia Entang had brought over seemed inferior. Chu Huaiqin wanted to drink the mushroom soup with spring bamboo shoots, but he felt awkward looking at Xia Entang's mushroom soup. Feeling someone looking at him, Chu Huaiqin looked up and saw Xia Entang looking away, staring at the ground.
Chu Huaiqin thought about it, sighed, and poured half of the mushroom soup to the little monk while Xia Entang turned his face away. Then when Xia Entang turned back, Chu Huaiqin was drinking his mushroom soup and had already finished half of it.
The corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up, and Xia Entang snorted lightly. He must like it, drinking so fast.
Chu Huaiqin drank half a pot of mushroom soup, but he couldn't drink any more after just a few sips. He gritted his teeth for a moment and told Lin Yongfu that he would take the rest with him and drink it when he was hungry.
"Pfft, ahhhh, I really want to tell Xia Entang that his soup finally went into the little monk's mouth."
"Xia En is going to be furious. Chu Huaiqin is also pitiful. He clearly wanted to drink spring bamboo shoot mushroom soup, but he had to drink half a pot of mushroom soup that fell from the sky. Ah, mushroom soup, mushroom soup, what an annoying little spoiled child."
"Chu Huaiqin looked at the pitiful Spring Bamboo Shoots and Mushroom Soup. Haha, it made me laugh to death. Maybe he cursed Xia Entang countless times in his heart."
The live broadcast room was filled with laughter at the interaction between Xia Entropy and Chu Huaiqin. They thought it might be more interesting if they were on the same team. However, there was another voice:
"They're the most pitiful group, aren't they? They thought Xia En had cooked their share, but they ended up giving it all to Chu Huaiqin. An Manrou and Shao Tai's looks, ugh, like villains."
"Xia Entang was wrong in the first place. He didn't give the drink to his own team members, but gave it to others."
"Honestly, I want to be on the same team with these two. I'd rather throw it away than give it to them. Since yesterday, they haven't been able to make bamboo tubes, and they need help climbing the mountain. Even last night, it was almost eleven o'clock, and they didn't help with the shed. They just lay there motionless. I owe them so much. Speechless."
The live broadcast room was noisy. It was almost nine o'clock when Chu Huaiqin finished his breakfast. The sun was shining and the mountain breeze was blowing, making people so comfortable that they could squint their eyes, but only Chu Huaiqin was sweating.
"Let's make a straw hat to protect us from the sun. It's too sunny."
Chu Huaiqin leaned against the tree trunk a little listlessly, and then everyone noticed that his face was a little abnormally red. Chu Huaiqin was like this yesterday, but because it was noon, everyone thought it was because of his pale skin, so they didn't ask him the reason.
"Are you not feeling well?" Su Huaichen reached out to touch Chu Huaiqin's forehead, and felt a pain on the back of his hand, as if hit by something. He lowered his head and saw a small ball of paper.
"It's okay, it's just too hot."
"Then let's get a straw hat. Xiaonan is a girl, and the little monk has a bald head, so a straw hat might help cover it up."
Su Huaichen agreed, and the others had no objections either. They used local materials and found a few tough vines to make a frame according to the shape of each person's head. Then they used vine branches to weave it together with other long grass, and slowly made it into a cone shape. After putting it on, everyone looked like they were wearing a witch's hat. Chu Huaiqin and his sister added more things to theirs. The former rolled a piece of banana leaf on it to make it thicker, and the latter was a lot of small wild flowers picked by the little monk for his sister, in red, purple and blue. When they put it on and smiled, they looked as beautiful as flowers with bright eyes and white teeth, which made the faces of several grown men blush.
Sister fans: ...
"Brother Qin, you are my brother, you must protect your sister!"
After the straw hats were woven, everyone took out the map, discussed the route, packed up and set off.
The mountain road was full of gravel and thorns, and there were small insects from time to time. When we first went down the mountain, we felt very light and the wind was blowing, which was very refreshing.
"Hello!"
"Hello!"
The younger sister shouted into the valley, and the echo came back instantly. She found it interesting and shouted a few more times, but was stopped by Chu Huaiqin, who asked her to conserve her energy. At first, the younger sister was still confused, until they went down one hill and climbed another, and walked for only more than two hours, someone's feet began to hurt.
"Oh my god, it's so scary to climb like this. When will it end?"
The audience in the live broadcast room couldn't help but frown as they looked at the scorching sun. There weren't many people in the live broadcast room at noon because everyone had to go to work or class. The peak season would only come in the evening, but even so, the barrage was filled with comments.
The A3 group climbed up and down under the scorching sun, and by the time they had a lunch break, no one wanted to get up. Starving, they took out the steel pot of spring bamboo shoot and mushroom soup and drank it straight away without even cooking. It was so delicious, and Chu Huaiqin was the most satisfied. The spring bamboo shoot and mushroom soup was sweet and slightly sour, and it was especially appetizing. After drinking it, Chu Huaiqin felt that he could still eat a big bowl of rice. Thinking of the half-pack of noodles left in his bag, Chu Huaiqin touched his stomach and wanted to eat more.
So someone started cooking noodles. The stacked stoves quickly lit up the fire. After the water boiled, half of the half bag of noodles was removed. When the others saw this, they also took action. They were all grown men, and drinking just some soup was not enough to make them full. In a moment, a bunch of fireworks rose.
While Chu Huaiqin's side was hard at work, A2's side had it much smoother. After separating at the rock face, they began to descend the mountain. They followed a small path straight down, unlike Chu Huaiqin and his group, who hadn't climbed the mountaintop. A group of people descended to the foot of the mountain and walked along it. The bumpy mountain road finally became too much for some of them. Chen Jian lost his temper on the spot, saying he wasn't here for a long journey. With red eyes, he cursed the director team. Finally, he told the A2 group that, based on their route, they could reach their destination in half a month. Why were they rushing?
Tong Tao suppressed his temper and said, "Don't forget, someone will come to 'assassinate' us in three days. A day has already passed. If we don't keep our distance, it will be troublesome if they come."
"We'll talk about it later." Chen Jian didn't want to move at all now. "I don't even want to leave today."
Tong Tiao was not very happy. Kong Tiao wanted to debut by supporting these stars, but he had no patience. "You don't want to waste time, do you?"
The contract states that the longer you participate, the higher the appearance fee you'll receive. Everyone knows this. "What are you talking about?" Chen Jian screamed, rising from the ground and snapping, "Would I be greedy for that little bit of money? I just came here to experience the joy of survival in the wild."
"Really?" Tong Tiao smiled sarcastically and said nothing more. However, after resting for an hour, he asked to set off. Although the director asked them to form teams, he also said that if one of the team members 'sacrificed' they could still continue, which means that even if they separated now, it would not violate the rules.
Chen Jian was so angry that his face turned blue, but then he thought about it and said with a smile: "Okay, go ahead and see who will follow you."
What surprised Chen Jian was that most of the people followed Tong Tiao and left, leaving only Zhu Ru. However, Zhu Ru didn't stay to accompany him, but chose to abstain. She really couldn't stand this kind of variety show, and her feet were even broken.
When A3 received the news, they were slurping noodles. Chu Huaiqin's face was still red and he looked a little listless. Everyone in the live broadcast room was guessing how far Chu Huaiqin could go before giving up, and who would be the next to quit.
After finishing the noodles, everyone set off again. With Zhu Ru's departure, Chu Huaiqin became the focus of attention. Seeing that he was carrying a large bag, his steps were a little shaky, his face was abnormally red, and the sweat on his forehead looked like water drops, everyone couldn't help but worry that he would faint.
"I think the production team should call for a rescue plane first. I'm really worried that my brother might suddenly faint."
"Ahhh, what should I do? I'm guilty. I have fair and rosy cheeks, a thin figure, and a handsome face. I'm going to betray the organization."
"It's true that he's delicate. Except for my sister, there's no one else like him here. He's even scarier than my sister. I feel like he'll fall to the ground in an instant."
"I bet he won't last two hours."
"Press for an hour."
"Half an hour."
"Fifteen minutes."
The time in the livestream room was getting shorter and shorter, but Chu Huaiqin remained under everyone's gaze until dusk. After confirming his campsite, he collapsed, closed his eyes, and gasped for breath. The monk had offered to help him carry his backpack several times, but was rejected. He said, "I'm not tired!"
Then the little monk went to carry Lin Zhinan's backpack. Chu Huaiqin always felt that the little monk did it on purpose.
The audience laughed, but the team members were so amused that they said, "Aren't you tired of looking like this?"
Chu Huaiqin: "Oh, it's just my body that's like this, my spirit is very strong."
Audience, team members: ...
Chu Huaiqin, still resolute, lay motionless on the grass. The others, exhausted, also lay down and fell asleep instantly, remaining asleep until sunset. A1's broadcaster was too lazy to film them sleeping, so the camera shifted to Group A2, where an argument had broken out.
An Manrou said pitifully, "I, I didn't mean to walk slowly. I really can't walk anymore. My feet hurt so much."
Xia En raised his eyebrows: "So?"
An Manrou bit her lip and said with red eyes: "Can you help me? I'm so tired."
Xia Entropy: ...
audience:……
Xia Entang sneered: "I only know how to hold my lover's hand, who are you?"
"Wow, Xia En is too straightforward. Even if he disagrees, he doesn't have to be so harsh!"
"An Manrou is too shameless. She's a girl, can't she have a little sense of shame? Xia Entanglement, give him some face."
"The Qing Dynasty has fallen, and bringing up shame is ridiculous. Xia Entang doesn't look tired at all. What's wrong with pulling? Even if he doesn't want to, can't he just refuse politely? How petty."
audience:……
"Director, please switch the screen back to Group A3. It's so annoying!"
The A1 livestream camera cut, and it was incredibly obedient. Compared to those previous variety shows that were all about creating buzz, it seemed so refreshing and unique. But moments later, news broke that An Manrou had quit. Her fans said it was all because of Xia En, that he had glared at her because she walked slowly, and An Manrou couldn't stand the pressure, so she left.
Everyone: Was the live broadcast they just watched a fake one?
However, some people still sighed: "I think Xia En is really a dog-eat-dog."
The livestream was lamenting the departures of these two, when unexpectedly, news arrived of another departure: Chen Jian. After everyone left, he was left alone. Dinnertime arrived, and he couldn't light a fire or find water. He asked the production team for help, but no one paid any attention. He got angry and started cursing, angering the audience. However, his fans were loyal, constantly saying that Chen Jian was a true man, daring to stand up to the production team's unfairness, unlike the others who were just cowards chasing traffic and resources. This perverse logic almost brought the livestream war to a draw.
"Little monk," Chu Huaiqin woke up and saw the little monk squatting on the ground and burning a fire. His energetic appearance made Chu Huaiqin marvel. "Let's go find some water!"
"Okay!" In fact, the little monk woke up early, but he didn't dare to leave because he was afraid that the sleeping person would be bitten by the snake, so he kept wandering around and picking up branches. Everyone in the live broadcast room felt sorry for him and wanted to chat with him, but unfortunately they couldn't talk.
"But……"
The little monk turned his head and looked at the person who was still sleeping hesitantly. Chu Huaiqin waved to him and said, "Don't worry, Senior Su is awake."
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Su Huaichen sitting up, holding his waist. The little monk was relieved, took a torch from the fire, and ran towards Chu Huaiqin.
"Awesome, you made it so quickly." Chu Huaiqin also wanted to make torches, but he hadn't started yet.
"Well, I can do all of this. Just tell me what you want me to do. I..."
"Can I join?"
"Ah! Ghost!"
A long voice sounded from behind, and the little monk gasped in fear. He jumped towards Chu Huaiqin, but was caught by a hand in mid-air. He fell to the ground with a thud, and his buttocks hurt.
"Who the hell are you talking about?" Xia En stepped out of the darkness, a little breathless. "I just wanted to go find some water together."
Because An Manrou delayed some time, Xia Entang hurried to catch up and found that the little monk and the others were missing again. After asking Su Huaichen, he learned that he had taken the little monk out to find water.
Xia En saw Chu Huaiqin looking at him, and his ears instantly turned red. He turned his face away and said, "What are you looking at? Don't get me wrong. I just came here because I thought you were a spoiled brat and a child would be in danger."
Chu Huaiqin: What did I misunderstand? Never mind, she's still a child.
Xia En's joining seemed abrupt yet natural. As the three of them walked in the dark, they suddenly remembered the sound of a child crying. This time, the little monk was truly frightened and cried, clutching Chu Huaiqin's arm tightly. "Yes, what is that?"
Chu Huaiqin rolled his eyes and said with a wicked smile: "What are you afraid of? Aren't you a little monk? Are you afraid of this?"
"I believe in ghosts because I believe in Buddhism. If I didn't believe in ghosts, I wouldn't believe in Buddhism." The little monk held Chu Huaiqin's arm tightly. He had lied to me before about wanting to see the waterfall. He was a little monk who grew up in the mountains. He had seen all kinds of cliffs and waterfalls. How could he be curious about this?
Chu Huaiqin was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. This little monk scared me so much that I came out.
"It's just a giant salamander," Xia En said with a cold face. He grabbed the little monk's hand and tore it off Chu Huaiqin's body. "Stand still. What are you doing? If you make any more trouble, I'll lock you up in the haunted house."
"I..." The little monk was frightened by Xia Entang and wanted to jump on Chu Huaiqin again, but Xia Entang held his arm tightly. The little monk couldn't help but look at Chu Huaiqin, "Brother!"
Seeing the little monk was terrified, Chu Huaiqin comforted him, "It's just a fish, don't be afraid. Do you hear the sound of water? We've found the source. I'll go notify them to come get some water."
"I'll go! I won't go to the water." After saying that, the little monk ran away with the torch.
Now there were only two of them. Xia En's breathing became heavier, his eyes flickering. His face turned away, revealing his blood-red ears, but he seemed not to notice. He said with difficulty, "It's too dark. Do you want to hold hands?"
"No need," Chu Huaiqin said with a smile. He thought the child was amusing. He leaned closer to Xia En and asked, "Your ears are so red. Do you have a fever?"
A scorching breath swept over him, and Xia En's face felt like it was about to explode. His heartbeat was about to burst out of his chest. Instinctively, he reached out and pushed the man out. Seeing Chu Huaiqin stumble a few times, he was frightened and quickly reached out to hold him back. But as if afraid of getting something on him, he quickly withdrew his hand and stammered, "Go, go, go see, fish, fish."
After saying this, the man rushed into the darkness.
Chu Huaiqin touched his chin: "Did I do something?"
Live broadcast room: You are teasing him, teasing him!
"Ahhh, I really want to talk to them. I really want to shake Chu Huaiqin's shoulders and ask him: Do you know what you are doing?"
"I suddenly feel that Xia Entang might have a grudge against Chu Huaiqin. Ah, I inexplicably feel nervous about knowing someone else's secret, hehe!"
"Same as above, hehe!"
There is a group of giggling monsters in the barrage of comments in the live broadcast room.
Chu Huaiqin followed the sound of running water to the streamside and saw Xia En washing his face. Chu Huaiqin was too hungry to tease him. He rolled up his trouser legs and stepped into the water, splashing. As he walked, he rolled up his sleeves and said, "Wild cubs are protected animals. You can't eat them, understand?"
Live broadcast room: Is this to educate them on science?
"No, I think he was explaining to us that it wasn't the giant salamander he wanted to catch."
There are still some people who understand in the live broadcast room.
After Chu Huaiqin finished speaking, he began to tuck into his fishing. There were plenty of fish in the creek, especially in undeveloped areas like this. Using the director's night-light, Chu Huaiqin used his incredible hand speed to haul a small crucian carp, three fingers wide, onto the shore in just a few breaths. It started with one, then two, then three...
"Am I dreaming?"
"Chu Huaiqin said: 'Fish come,' and the fish came."
"Does Chu Huaiqin have any special physique, such as being loved by small animals?"
“Are fish considered animals?”
"Don't count!"
"Actually, I think any living thing is an animal, including humans."
The live broadcast room suddenly started arguing about whether fish are animals. Someone who understood sighed:
"Hey, why don't you call him a squeamish kid?"
"I just finished scolding at noon, and I'll save the rest for tomorrow."
When Su Huaichen brought his men over, there were already five or six small crucian carps jumping on the shore. Without saying anything, he took out a dagger that was flashing coldly in the light, smiled sinisterly twice, and killed the fish like a villain.
“It has that smell.”
"You're hungry, aren't you?"
"Wow, you're crying! We've just started surviving in the wild, and my brother Chen has become a pervert due to hunger?"
After the live broadcast of wilderness survival began, Su Huaichen's performance has not been outstanding, but he is famous, so even so, his popularity is still not low. However, his performance tonight shocked everyone.
The small crucian carps were too small, and there were actually not many of them. Lin Yongfu and the two people from Feng Shan and Xia En's group rolled up their trouser legs and went into the water.
In the pitch-black night, a group of grown men waded through the stream, making a loud splash. After half an hour, their progress was satisfactory. Because this place happened to be a small pond, all the small fish were nesting there, and no one expected to encounter Chu Huaiqin and his group.
Chu Huaiqin felt it was almost time, so he got up from the stream and saw Xia En standing by the stream, frowning and looking at something. After thinking for a moment, he walked towards him: "What are you looking at? Didn't you catch anything?"
Xia En, who was staring at the fish that had fainted after being thrown up by him, was startled when he heard Chu Huaiqin's voice. He turned around and looked at him, feeling uncomfortable all over. He said in a rough voice, "I have..."
"I'll give you two!"
"I didn't catch it."
As he finished speaking, a subtle "click" sound was heard. Xia Entang moved his feet, and the sound disappeared. Chu Huaiqin looked at Xia Entang's feet, but saw nothing. Confusion flashed across his eyes. Not understanding the source of the sound, he gave up the pursuit. He handed the two small crucian carp in his hand to Xia Entang and left.
The hand was touched.
As if frozen in place, Xia En watched Chu Huaiqin walk away, motionless.
The livestream room was buzzing with activity. There weren't so many people during the day, but now was different. Everyone had just finished dinner or was in the middle of it, so watching the show was a great way to help digestion or while eating. Therefore, this was the peak time for online users, and they watched Xia Entropy crush the fish with their own eyes.
"Ahhh, let that little fish go. It's still young and doesn't know anything. I'll apologize on its behalf for disturbing your love."
"Let go of the fish and hand over your feet, or I'll shoot."
"Poor little fish, they died of overeating dog food, but you were stepped on and died. Poor thing, don't be a little crucian carp in your next life, be a great white shark! With a roar, you'll eat the person who stepped on you."
No one felt sorry for the fish when Su Huaichen killed it, but when he saw the little fish that was knocked unconscious but was still strong and conscious being stepped on by Xia Entang in the live broadcast room, he couldn't help but feel sad. There are still differences between fish, even if they are all called small crucian carp.
"Xia En, didn't you catch anything?" Xiao Dugui walked towards Su Feichen, holding a few fish in a large leaf.
"I caught it." Xia Entang replied indifferently, moving his feet away. The strong little fish was still jumping. Xia Entang thought for a while, put the two fish given to him by Chu Huaiqin on the shore, picked up the fish that was still jumping on the sand, blew on it twice, touched it, and then put it into the stream. Watching it swim away happily, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up.
"Ah, why did they let them go?" Xiao Dugui felt sorry. Although he and Su Feichen also caught some, there were only a few of them, and they were so small. Xia En only had two, so how could they be enough to eat.
"I have two now," Xia En picked up the fish from the ground, turned around and walked back. After a few steps, he stopped and turned back to say, "Well, Chu Huaiqin gave them to me."
After saying that, he left.
Live broadcast room:
"Shouldn't we release the two that were given to us, and eat the ones we catch ourselves?"
"Who knows?"
"There's a difference between fish and fish, even if they're called small crucian carp."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
