Chapter 14: That Fruit is Poisonous

It was already ten o’clock at night, and the fishy stench of seawater still lingered in the air.

Jing Xueqin couldn’t sleep. He wandered around the perimeter of the base alone until he came to a camera and sat down.

This camera was a piece of equipment the director had left behind specifically for private interviews before departing.

For the first two days, Jing Xueqin felt he had nothing to say directly to the camera, but now, sitting before it, he felt as if he had a great deal to tell.

He stared blankly at the sea for a long time before finally letting out a deep breath and giving a bitter smile. “You guys definitely have no idea what we went through today. Actually, before coming here, I expected this to be a challenge, but I never imagined life here would be this difficult. To be honest, as of today, I’m starting to regret it a little…”

As he spoke, he lifted the water bottle in his hand.

The water inside wasn’t clear or transparent; it was tinged with an unhealthy yellow hue.

“See this bottle of water? It’s probably hard to believe that this is the fresh water we spent all day looking for. I want to tell you, this is the first time in my life I’ve ever drunk water that tastes like a mix of rusty iron and smelly socks. I don’t even know if I’ll get sick from drinking it, but I don’t have a choice. If I don’t drink this, we’ll all just dehydrate and die of thirst.”

“And we might have to drink this kind of water for a month.”

Jing Xueqin was trying his best to keep his tone calm, but his movements and expression clearly betrayed the fact that he was on the verge of a breakdown.

After saying this, he sat in silence for a long time before continuing. “Actually, I did plenty of mental preparation before coming here. I even watched a lot of Wilderness Survival videos, like Bear Grylls and Ed Stafford. I watched them all.”

“I simulated how I would react if I faced these things myself. I thought I could handle it, so I came. But looking at it now, the reality is far harsher than I imagined.”

“You might not believe it, but since we arrived on this Deserted Island, we haven’t eaten a single meal that we found ourselves. Everything we’ve eaten has been the dry rations the production team gave us before we landed. What’s more, we don’t have many rations left.”

“Which means, if we don’t find something to eat tomorrow, everyone might go hungry.”

“So…”

At this point, Jing Xueqin raised his bottle again, displaying the yellowish water to the lens. “So today’s water issue is just the beginning. I can already imagine how severe the problems we face tomorrow will be.”

Having expressed his thoughts, Jing Xueqin gave a weary smile. Maintaining his image as a top-tier star one last time, he reached out and covered the lens, signaling the end of his private interview.

He returned to the vicinity of the campfire and found a spot to lie down.

Their remaining dry rations were truly hitting rock bottom; there was only enough left for one meal tomorrow.

While the three of them were searching for water today, they had also been looking for any resources that could serve as food.

But after searching all day, they had come up empty-handed.

There were no signs of wild chickens, rabbits, or boars. On the paths they had walked, they hadn’t even seen a single footprint.

Come to think of it, the only living thing he had seen since landing on the island—other than humans—was that python when they first stepped into the Redwood Forest.

Setting aside the fact that the python’s whereabouts were now unknown, in the vast forest, they had no idea where to even begin looking for it.

Furthermore, even if the python appeared right in front of him, whether he would dare to fight it, or whether he would dare to eat it after capturing it, were entirely different questions.

The mere thought of having to catch and eat a snake made Jing Xueqin feel a sudden surge of nausea, and goosebumps broke out across his skin.

He really regretted it. What had he been thinking, insisting on participating in this Survival Variety Show?

It wasn’t like he was desperate for the ten million.

Before he joined, his manager had tried to talk him out of it, his family had tried to talk him out of it, and his friends had all tried to talk him out of it.

But he had stubbornly persisted.

He thought back to what he had said before joining the show: “Why go on a Deserted Island Survival Variety Show? Because I’ve heard many people say I just rely on my face to get by. I’m here to prove that my other abilities aren’t weak either.”

Thinking about it now, Jing Xueqin really wanted to go back in time and slap himself.

Wasn’t it great to just rely on his face and live comfortably?

Why did he have to come here to suffer?

Now look at him. In this place, he didn’t even have the chance to rely on his face.

There were still over twenty days left. How was he going to survive…

Amidst these brooding thoughts, Jing Xueqin tried to fall asleep. Naturally, his sleep was far from peaceful.

This was the wilderness, after all, not home. Being near the jungle meant there were countless mosquitoes and ants, and their bites were both itchy and painful.

After the first day, when he had slept without any experience or shelter and woken up the next morning with red welts all over his arms, neck, and even a couple on his face, he had started wrapping himself tightly in his clothes before sleeping, leaving only his nostrils clear to breathe.

This grueling sleep situation would also have to last for a month.

Sigh…

Jing Xueqin sighed in his heart once more and drifted into a heavy sleep.

…

The next day.

The sun emerged, its light piercing through everyone’s eyelids and waking the group.

Those who got up early began pouring the water Shisan and the others had brought back yesterday into a makeshift filtration device. After filtering out the sediment and impurities, they poured the water into a metal bucket they had scavenged from the beach and cleaned. They set it over the fire to boil.

Shisan and his group had searched all day, only to find a stagnant pool of water.

The good news was that there was enough water in the pool to last them all through the thirty days.

The bad news was that, up close, the pool was covered in floating dead leaves and the carcasses of unknown insects.

However, this was the only water source they could find.

Everyone understood this clearly. So, even though the water looked revolting, they all forced themselves to endure it, pinching their noses as they gulped it down.

At a time like this, no one was thinking about comfort. Survival was the only thing that mattered.

Once everyone had woken up and gathered in a circle, Shisan began to discuss the food situation they were facing, his tone grave.

“As you all know, our food supplies are running low. We must find something to eat on this island today,” Shisan said, his heavy tone emphasizing that they truly had no way out.

The expressions on everyone’s faces grew somber.

“Exploring the island is now a necessity. As I told you yesterday, we didn’t find any edible fruit or food while we were looking for water. That means we’ll likely need everyone searching together today. Does anyone have a problem with that?”

No one raised an objection.

However, someone couldn’t help but grumble, “I feel like something is really weird here. This is clearly an island, so why are the resources so barren? The production crew must have done this on purpose.”

“Exactly. There isn’t even a single coconut tree on the beach. It’s completely unreasonable.”

…

Under such harsh conditions, without enough food or sleep, people’s moods tended to sour quickly.

Seeing that everyone was about to spiral into complaints again, Shisan immediately stepped in to take control of the situation.

“Alright, let’s stop the complaining. We’d be better off saving our energy to figure out what to do next. Look, don’t be too pessimistic. Before we started the show, the directing team came up here to set up cameras and equipment. They definitely wouldn’t drop us in a place where it’s actually impossible to survive. If they did, that would be murder. There must be resources on this island that can keep us alive; we just haven’t found the solution yet.”

Shisan’s analysis calmed the group down a bit. At the very least, they stopped arguing for the moment.

Seeing this, Shisan felt relieved and continued, “So, our best bet is to divide the labor. That way, we’ll be more efficient.”

“First, there are two things that must be done. One, someone needs to go to the pool to get water. The amount we bring back at one time only lasts about a day and a half. Two, we need to replenish our firewood daily, so we need two or three people to go gather wood. Everyone else will form teams to search the area for anything edible.”

Shisan delegated the tasks well, and the group quickly split up after receiving their assignments.

Since fetching water and gathering wood were straightforward tasks that didn’t require much skill, Shisan didn’t participate in those. Instead, he led a group to search for food.

“Brother Shisan, logically speaking, finding food shouldn’t be that hard for us, right?” asked the Fitness Coach who was walking with him.

“How so?” Shisan asked as he poked through the debris under some rocks.

“We’re right by the ocean. The sea is a natural treasure trove of food. People always say you live off the sea when you’re by the sea. If we head down to the shore while the tide is right and catch some fish or something, it shouldn’t be hard to survive, right?”

Shisan glanced at him after hearing this.

“Do you know how to forage at the shore?” Shisan asked.

“I used to watch a lot of those videos. I’ve basically learned the techniques for beachcombing and foraging.” He sounded very confident.

Shisan chuckled and handed him a military knife. “Then you give it a go.”

The Fitness Coach raised an eyebrow. He could sense Shisan’s lack of confidence in him. Although he didn’t show it on his face, he felt a bit indignant deep down.

After all, Shisan had been the one arranging almost everything for the past two days.

The man had experience, so letting him organize things was fine.

But having everyone revolve around him, as if everyone else was just a supporting character, felt uncomfortable.

Especially this attitude. What right did he have to act so certain that he wouldn’t find anything?

Without saying a word, the Fitness Coach took the knife, bent over, and started digging.

When the netizens saw this scene, they were collectively speechless.

• Come on, man, beachcombing isn’t something you learn just by watching a few videos… –

• I kind of want to laugh. Look at his posture. You can tell at a glance he has zero experience. Just wait and watch him dig up absolutely nothing. –

• Oh boy. Holes dug: +3. Harvest: 0. –

• Honestly, wasting energy here is worse than following Shisan to look for other food. –

• I live by the sea. Let me put it this way: foraging usually needs to be done during a spring tide¹. He doesn’t even know that, and he expects to dig up seafood? –

• I feel like they’re so pathetic. They have no clue what they’re doing. Is this group going to go hungry today? –

• Based on this rhythm, the probability of them going hungry is very high. –

• WAIT!!!! HELP!!!! That guy in the back! Brother, that fruit is poisonous! You can’t eat that!!!! Director! Director! –

Translator’s Notes