Chapter 88
While the lobby was fairly large, it felt cramped with nearly a hundred people suddenly pouring in. Because the lobby took up so much space on the second floor, there weren't many rooms. There were only five along the window, two of which Chu Huaiqin and his team had already occupied. The director team, being staff members, had squeezed into a small tent in the corner, not taking up any resources from the contestants.
There were only three left. Chu Huaiqin had moved the bed from one of the rooms and placed it next to the two rooms they occupied. In an instant, several teams rushed to the remaining three rooms like crazy. Whoever arrived first would get it.
There was a lot of crackling noise at the scene, people were pushing and shoving each other, some people were falling down, there were shouts and curses, it was really a good show.
In the end, the three rooms were taken by the Camel Team, the Sheep Team, and the Peacock Team, one per team. The Peacock Team still occupied the room without a bed.
There were still three teams left without rooms, and even if they got a room, there were too many people to accommodate them. Some people thought of going to the floor below, but when they walked to the stairs and looked down, the darkness made them retreat temporarily.
Being soaked all over, the first thing they had to do was to change clothes. Those who had rooms went into their rooms to change, while those who didn't had to go into the kitchen to change. However, there were always a few idiots. The Peacock Team clearly had rooms, but they still took off their clothes in the lobby, and the Monkey Team did the same. Seeing this, the directors frowned. There were also a few ladies in their director team. Although there were not so many taboos when surviving in the wild, their behavior still made people uncomfortable.
Chu Huaiqin asked Lin Zhinan to enter the room when they started fighting. The contestants on the scene included women and the Korean team. The queen Che Eun-hui was caught off guard and was embarrassed by the other party, so she could only turn her head away.
The lobby was in chaos for a while before it quieted down. The rain outside was getting heavier, and the sound of the waves and the strange crying lingered in the ears, making people feel that the temperature had dropped a lot. Naturally, everyone's eyes turned to Chu Huaiqin's fire, but the people here had either been educated by Chu Huaiqin or had seen him educate others, so they could only hold the mentality of "only watch from a distance and not play with" towards this fire.
Without water, they couldn't grill food or dry clothes, so some people started to use the wooden chairs on the scene. The Peacock Kingdom was the first to take action. The wood, corroded by years of sea breeze, was damp, and when they finally managed to light it, the first thing that came out was thick smoke, not flames.
Chu Huaiqin and his team were located across from the main entrance. The two windows facing them were still broken, so they were in the wind's favor and weren't affected too much. The worst hit were the directors huddled in the corner. The wind blew, and the unpleasant odor rushed directly towards them, bringing tears and snot to their eyes.
The second group to suffer were the other people in the lobby. The already dim place was almost blinded by their smoke.
"Quickly destroy it."
Someone shouted, and the fire on the ground was kicked apart. Then someone packed some wood and threw it out of the broken window. The fire was instantly extinguished in the heavy rain.
"You are burning fire directly on the hull, are you crazy?" The people of Sang Country were speechless at the IQ of the Peacock Country. He was not afraid of the fire burning and roasting himself.
"I want food, I want fire." The Maurya Kingdom was also angry at the Sang people for throwing his fire away. They were now tired and hungry, but these people wanted to stop him from roasting food. He was so angry that his veins bulged.
"Then go find something to hold the firewood." The people of Sang Country also have bad tempers. Ever since two people in their team were poisoned, they have been much more low-key, but that doesn't mean they don't have temper.
"This is not your place, we can burn it however we want."
"This isn't your place either. This position is shared by everyone."
"We came in first, so we should be the ones to make the decision."
This was indeed true. Among them, the first ones to come up were indeed the Peacock Team, but...
The Sang people irritably stabbed the chest of the Peacock team member with their hands and shouted angrily, "The Rolling Team came in first. Have you asked them?"
In an instant, everyone's eyes turned to Chu Huaiqin.
Chu Huaiqin was sitting on his iron bed with his legs crossed, eating potatoes. The bed was covered with a layer of large leaves and long grass underneath. It looked very comfortable, and it was impossible not to be jealous. No wonder the Peacock Team, the Monkey Team and the Korean Team always had a problem with him. He was so hateful.
When their hut was blown away by the wind, they roasted breadfruit inside the cabin. When they were worried about food and water, they used a rope to grab 70% of everyone's food and ate it until their mouths were full. When they were drenched in rain and fled in the forest, they had the roof of the boat to protect them.
Now they were arguing about whether they could light a fire to eat the cooked food, and this man was watching the fun while eating a hot potato.
Hate, how to make people stop hating.
Chu Huaiqin was stunned for a moment, took a bite of a potato and jumped off the bed, pointing innocently at the director team huddled in the corner, "They came in first."
Everyone: ...
Live broadcast room:
"Pfft, haha, Chu Huaiqin is right. For the sake of filming, it was indeed the director and the filming crew who walked ahead of them!"
"This is the first time I've seen my brother pass on the blame. Well done."
"Director Team: ???, Chu Huaiqin, let's have a one-on-one fight."
"Team Peacock is really stupid. Are they sure they can eat something roasted with wood? Don't think that just because they grew up drinking Ganges water, they are immune to all poisons!"
"Let's not even talk about whether it's edible or not. Once it's cooked, everyone here will be choked to death by the smoke, and the hull of the ship will be boiled. This is the first time I've seen people so stupid. The hull is made of steel, and they're lucky they had the guts to burn a fire directly on it."
"Our Ganges water has the power to cure diseases. You are just jealous that we have the Ganges and you don't."
"The director team is being unfair. Why can the Rolling Team grill food and eat there, but we can't?"
"The director team has long been bribed by the Rolling Team. You look down on our Peacock Nation. One day you will regret it."
"I can't complain."
The live broadcast room was very noisy, and other teams and passers-by didn't know how to respond to the comments of Peacock Country fans. Then the word "no power to complain" received tens of thousands of likes.
Directors: "You contestants, please solve it yourselves."
The smoke hadn't yet cleared, and many members of the production team were leaning against the windows to breathe. The air was fresher, and the rain was heavier. Waves of rain, accompanied by the wind, blew in. Standing there for even a moment would soak you to the skin.
The other teams voted by raising their hands. They were not fools. If the Peacock Nation really set them on fire, they would not be able to stay here. So they won by an overwhelming number of votes and suppressed the Peacock Nation's request to set fire.
All five teams had limited food, and even less to eat raw. Besides bananas, the only edible items were sweet potatoes. With four or five people in each team, the food intake was substantial. With the wind and rain outside, food became the biggest obstacle.
"What are the Sheep Team and the Camel Team doing?" The Monkey Team suddenly raised their voices. Everyone followed his gaze and saw that the two teams were squatting in the brazier that Chu Huaiqin and the others had previously lit, roasting potatoes with bright red charcoal ashes.
"We'll roast them too." The Goryeo man's eyes lit up. He rummaged through his backpack, found two sweet potatoes and ran over. Before he could throw the sweet potatoes down, he was stopped.
The people of Goryeo shouted angrily, "Why can you do it but we can't?"
"Because we asked and paid the rent."
"Well, then we can pay the rent too!"
"No, we have to bake for a long time, and when we're done, there's no fire."
"Isn't there still firewood?"
The people from Goryeo saw that they still had dry firewood, which was placed in Lin Zhinan's room!
"They want to save that firewood. We will only use this little charcoal to cook the food and won't add any more."
Now they were all living in the same ship's hold, and no one wanted to make things look too ugly. The sheep team was relatively good-tempered. As for the rent, they did say they would pay, but Chu Huaiqin refused to collect it, saying it was owed first. Both the sheep team and the camel team knew that Chu Huaiqin knew they had little food, and if he really collected rent, they would be finished. However, this could not be told to the Korean people, otherwise they would definitely pester Chu Huaiqin and make even more unreasonable demands.
The people of Goryeo didn't dare to ask Chu Huaiqin, who was resting in bed with his eyes closed, and could only go back in disappointment. The result of eating raw food was that many people got diarrhea just half an hour after eating. In order to solve the problem, they ran out and their newly changed dry clothes got soaked again.
It was night time. In order to save food, the other teams did not have dinner. Chu Huaiqin and his team started to cook cassava. They had been carrying this stuff for a long time, so they cooked it while they had water.
The gurgling sound continued to be heard, and slowly, the aroma of food overflowed. In the end, it was unclear whether it was the contestants' stomachs that were growling, or Chu Huaiqin and his team's pots that were growling.
"Hahaha, even in the six years since then, this is the first time I've seen a team like this. I'm really looking forward to seeing them participate in international competitions."
"The Rolling Team is indeed outstanding this year, but there are many top players in international competitions, and many of the participants this year are wilderness survival professionals. Even if they enter the international competition, they will be overwhelmed and unable to stand out."
"I'm also following the live streams of the European and American regions. Those guys are completely different from the losers in Asia. They can kill a crocodile with one punch."
"Oh, I watched that episode too. When they were crossing the swamp, a crocodile jumped up and was punched to pieces. Oh my god, I heard that guy was a boxer."
"And, they're stuffing rats right into their mouths. Oh my god, that's horrible. The Asian region is actually much more peaceful. At least they can still find food."
"I've also watched the European and American competitions. The environment is indeed more brutal than that of the Asian competitions. I think it won't be easy waiting for the international competitions. I hope my brother and the others will be well prepared by then."
"Haha, did you know so soon that the Rolling Team can enter the international competition? Our Peacock Team is the best."
The live broadcast room discussed the European and American regions, and for a moment they felt that the Asian region was really too comfortable, especially with something to shelter from the rain. The Korean country's best actress, Che Eun-hye, even made a fuss and asked for a room, which was even more unpleasant.
She wanted a room and she was arguing with the other members of the Korean team, but she had her eyes on Lin Zhinan's room, saying that the two of them could sleep in it anyway, and she even brought the matter to Chu Huaiqin live.
"roll."
Before Chu Huaiqin could say anything, Xia En got angry. He was so delicate and fussy. What if, what if, Qingqing really fell in love with him? What should he do?
Thinking of this, Xia En's eyes were about to spit fire, and the look he gave Che Enhui, the queen, was like a knife.
"I, I, I just..." Cha Eun-hui's eyes were about to burst into tears. This man's eyes were too scary. "I, I didn't ask, you, you!"
"I'll say it again, get out," Xia En gritted his teeth until his veins popped, "If you don't get out, I'll throw you out."
Xia En's expression was so terrifying that Che Enhui could only stamp her feet, glare at Lin Zhinan fiercely, say a coquettish word, and leave.
Xia En turned around and saw Chu Huaiqin's half-smile. He blushed and stammered, "I, I'm afraid she'll bully Lin Zhinan."
"Yeah, I understand." Chu Huaiqin nodded and turned his gaze to the window.
The atmosphere quieted down. Xia En looked at the jade-like face in front of him and couldn't take his eyes off it for a moment: So beautiful.
The atmosphere on Chu Huaiqin's side was just right, but the people in the live broadcast room were about to burst into tears.
"Is this what the Chinese call a straight man?"
"Oh my god, the actress Che Eun-hye, the dream girl in the eyes of many men, what's wrong with this person? She's not moved at all."
"Chinese people really have no manners at all. Can't you see she's about to cry?"
"Pfft, hahaha, just now Cha Eun-hui was acting like a spoiled brat to her brother, and Xia En's eyes looked like he wanted to chop her up. What is Xia En's afraid of?"
"Well, very much like a wife who caught someone seducing her husband."
The live broadcast room was filled with laughter. As time came late at night, everyone began to worry about how to sleep at night. Some people who had grabbed a bed and some who had not also followed Chu Huaiqin and the others' example, running into the woods in the rain to pick large leaves and cut long grass to use as sleeping pads.
Lightning flashed from the dark clouds, occasionally piercing the forest and splitting ten-meter-tall trees in half. The people in the livestream were terrified, fearing that one of the bolts of light would strike the people in the woods. Besides Chu Huaiqin's popularity in the Asian competition, the Sheep Team, the Camel Team, and Japan all made a good impression. If possible, they hoped to select the three teams participating in the international competition from these teams.
The night grew darker. It was fine for hundreds of people to sit in the lobby, but sleeping was becoming difficult. The directors discussed the matter and decided to leave some people here while others quickly set up camp below, taking advantage of the light rain. The contestants were fuming, clutching soaked leaves and long grass. How could they sleep in such a wet state? Looking at the huddled crowd and the wet, dirty ground, someone suggested:
"Let's go to the next level and check! There should be space down there."
"Well, I can also see if there is anything useful down there."
"Then let's go! Maybe the room is still habitable."
Someone called out, and several people responded, turning on their watches and heading for the ladder. Before they even got down, they felt a cool breeze blowing up from below. This indicated good air circulation, so they wouldn't have to worry about running out of oxygen.
A group of people walked down slowly and found that this floor was different from the upper floor. Except for the area around the stairs which was decorated into a small hall, the inside was almost entirely made up of rooms. Everyone looked at each other in ecstasy, and now they could choose whichever room they wanted.
"It will be very dark if we turn off the lights. It should be the same during the day." someone asked worriedly.
"It's dark upstairs even if the lights are turned off, and we don't sleep here during the day." This is the optimistic person's answer.
Those who were worried are no longer worried.
"Let's go check out the front. The wind seems to be coming from the front. There might be a window. Let's choose that place." One of the Monkey Team members pulled his teammates and whispered.
"Okay, hurry up, don't let them take it away." Another person from the Monkey Team hurriedly pulled the person away.
Almost everyone who came down this time was there, except for the sheep and camel teams. One person in each team turned on the watch light, making it as bright as day below and giving everyone a sense of security.
The Sang Kingdom men were the first to act, twisting the doorknob of a room adjacent to the small hall. The rusty lock creaked, but after a moment, it opened. Suddenly, a strong smell of corrosion and dust washed over, choking the three Sang Kingdom members.
After recovering, the light shone inside. The first thing they saw was the ship's hull, crushed by the rocks across the way, followed by the room's furnishings. It was larger than the room above, with a table, chairs, and a wardrobe. The ship's surface was rusty, and the rest was yellow and black. Cleaning it would be a difficult task, and both the Sang people and those observing the situation from outside were tempted to retreat.
“…Snake…snake…ah…”
"Run."
Suddenly there was a scream in front, followed by the director's voice. Goryeo-guk Cha Eun-hui, who was standing on the nearest staircase next to the small hall, rushed over first. Just as she was about to climb the stairs, someone grabbed her shoulder and pulled her backwards, pushing her to the ground. Then one person after another passed by her and rushed up the stairs. She was even stepped on twice on her hand, but no one helped her. In an instant, tears welled up in her eyes.
"Hurry!" In the chaos, the director team rushed over and pulled Che Eun-hui up and pushed her upwards, "Hurry!"
“Bang, bang, bang!”
Several gunshots rang out on the ground, and several snakes that rushed up were hit and instantly split in half. However, there were still countless snakes behind them, rushing out from the darkness. The director team's cameras and guns kept shooting, but they could not stop their ferocious attack.
"Oh my God, hurry, run!"
"Monkey Team is stupid. Damn, they actually opened the snake's nest."
"Who knew that room was a snake den? Can we be blamed? It's all because the director team didn't do their job well."
"It's obvious, isn't it? The Monkey Team searched for a room in the direction of the wind. The presence of wind means something is broken, and the direction he was heading was right at the bow where he crashed into the woods. The bottom floor is dark, so why would it be so strange for a snake to crawl into the hold from the woods? If it were Chu Huaiqin from the Rolling Team, he would definitely be able to tell that something was wrong."
"That's right, you guys are the ones who hurt people now. I even saw a staff member from the director's team get bitten while trying to save a member of the Monkey Team."
"Are you blaming us now? It was clearly the production team themselves who failed to clean up the snake."
"That's ridiculous. When Chu Huaiqin went up to the second floor, he asked everyone to wait for him downstairs. He went up first to check the environment before letting everyone go up. But he never let the director team check the situation themselves. Let's get one thing clear: we are surviving in the wilderness, not traveling. Who can you blame for your own stupidity?"
"Members of the Monkey Bite Team and the director's crew, did you get a good look at the snake? Is it poisonous?"
“Who knows at this point?”
When the Monkey team members pushed open the door, they were shocked to see the snakes in the room. Now some viewers are vomiting and can't recover. Who can tell whether the snake is poisonous or not?
"It's all the Monkey Team's fault. Eun Hye was overthrown."
"Yeah, that bastard from Team Sang actually pushed Eun-hye down. I even heard her scream. Someone must have stepped on her. Those damn guys."
"Okay, now is not the time to argue."
The live broadcast room was very noisy. Chu Huaiqin and the other upper-level people were startled by the first scream from below. Then the people from Sang country came up, followed by Japan, and the Peacock Country. Lastly, they came from Goryeo, the Monkey Team, and the director group.
Cha Eun-hye from Goryeo was crying so hard that her tears and snot were running. The staff member who was bitten by the snake and the member of the monkey team were handed over to the doctor, along with the two snakes that bit them.
When the two were bitten, the experienced professional immediately grabbed the snake, allowing the doctor to prescribe medication based on the type of snake. Several directors gathered around, watching the doctor examine the two and administer the medication before breathing a sigh of relief.
Then everyone asked the director who followed them what was going on.
"Snakes, lots of snakes," the director said, squeezing his eyes shut and quickly explaining the situation, his heart racing. "There are at least hundreds of snakes in that room. I'm afraid they might crawl up."
Chu Huaiqin, who was lying on the bed, jumped up immediately and spoke to the director team with a serious expression.
"The largest one is as thick as an arm, and the smallest is the size of a finger. I'm not sure if there are any in other rooms."
"How could there be so many snakes? Even if they came in to hide from the rain, there wouldn't be so many!"
"I don't know. Generally speaking, the most likely reason for snakes to gather together is because they are threatened by a more powerful existence. They have nowhere to hide, so they gather together in large numbers."
"You're not saying that the big snake took over their territory and that's why they came here!"
"I don't know. Sprinkle the medicine at the entrance first to prevent them from coming up."
One of the directors reminded.
"It's already spilled."
The staff member replied hurriedly.
"So what should we do now? Evacuate from here?"
“It might be a little difficult now.”
Everyone looked outside and saw the rain getting heavier, the waves becoming more violent, the wind howling loudly, and most frightening of all, the dense thunder and lightning. As a special case, their director could provide a place, but whether it was heavy rain, wind, or thunder and lightning, it was not suitable for them to camp on the beach or in the woods. The former was too strong and would overturn the tent, and the latter was very likely to be struck by lightning.
"Send two staff members to guard the entrance!"
The directors looked at each other and decided that this was the only way. The stairwell was so large, there was no way to seal it off.
"Brother!" Lin Zhinan stretched his head out, a little worried.
"It's okay, I'll go check your room." Chu Huaiqin jumped out of bed and called Xia En, "Go check the other room."
After saying that, Chu Huaiqin walked into the room. Fortunately, there was only an iron bed left, so it was easy to see the entire room. After checking the window and the surroundings to make sure there were no gaps, Chu Huaiqin breathed a sigh of relief.
Chu Huaiqin went to find the director team again. After confirming that they would not leave tonight, he came back and saw Lin Zhinan huddled in the room with his little head sticking out to look. He smiled and said, "Go to sleep. There will be workers on duty at night. It's okay."
Lin Zhinan responded obediently, thought for a moment and said, "Brother, do you want to come in and sleep? Ah, well, the bed is quite big."
After surviving in the wild, everyone has become accustomed to sleeping on a large wooden bed. Besides, there are cameras here, so they are not afraid of what people say.
"You go to sleep. I'll sleep outside." Chu Huaiqin patted Lin Zhinan's shoulder and urged her to go to sleep. Then he sat on the bed outside the door. Next to him was Xia En, who was sitting cross-legged, staring at him with his bright eyes.
Chu Huaiqin reached out and poked Xia En's face, making a dimple appear, and smiled. He turned to look at the director team who were still discussing, but saw Che Enhui, who had injured her finger and was applying medicine to the doctor, looking at Lin Zhinan's room.
Jealousy, envy, or hatred?
This group of people really makes people worry.
The author has something to say: The next chapter is where my brother cleans up the scum.
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