Chapter 15: Saving You is a Hassle

The bullet comments were flying frantically.

Unfortunately, it was impossible for these messages to reach the people on the island through the network.

Even if the director saw them, he wouldn’t offer a warning, strictly following the rules.

Just as the netizens were breaking into cold sweats, their hearts leaping into their throats, Shisan suddenly rushed over from the side and slapped the fruit out of the Buzz-cut Man’s hand.

The Buzz-cut Man froze, and just as he was about to lose his temper, he saw it was Shisan and swallowed his anger.

“Brother Shisan, what are you doing?”

Shisan’s scalp prickled with a lingering fear as he growled, “Did you forget what I told you before? When you find something to eat, don’t eat it yourself. Bring it back and let me check it first.”

The Buzz-cut Man didn’t argue back, but out of guilt, he averted his gaze.

Originally, he had very little presence here and received very small portions of food. Now that he was out looking for food, what was the problem with having a bite the moment he found something?

It felt like they were being forced to hand everything over to a central authority.

Shisan didn’t care what the Buzz-cut Man was thinking. He picked up the fruit he had just knocked away and said, “You think this thing looks like a lychee, right? Let me tell you, if you eat one of these, you’ll have diarrhea so bad you won’t last three days!”

A sudden chill ran down the Buzz-cut Man’s spine.

“Sorry, Brother Shisan. I thought this thing was just a lychee.” Knowing he had nearly lost his life, his attitude softened.

Shisan took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “It’s fine. Just make sure to bring whatever you find back for everyone to confirm before you do anything else.”

Leaving it at that, Shisan didn’t emphasize it further.

They were all adults. He had explained what needed to be explained; the rest was up to them to take responsibility for themselves.

Turning to leave, Shisan’s expression grew more solemn.

As an adventure blogger, he suddenly realized with absolute clarity the cruelty of this variety show.

This was a show that completely disregarded human nature – he’d even go so far as to say it would definitely be condemned once it aired.

At this moment, he felt that under the surveillance cameras, they weren’t being treated as human beings by the production team at all, but rather… a pack of lab rats.

In the past, when he went on solo adventures, he would encounter all sorts of difficulties and troubles.

But undoubtedly, he had one basic yet vital condition then that he lacked now: he could withdraw at any time.

If he had eaten something he shouldn’t have in the past, he could have simply activated his emergency communication device and had someone rush him to a hospital. He would have had a chance to live.

But now, they had no exit mechanism.

The medical resources brought to the island were extremely limited. If they ate something they shouldn’t, they could only pray their bodies were strong enough to endure it to have a chance at survival.

They… had no room for error.

After half a day of busy work.

In the afternoon, everyone gathered together again.

Exhaustion was written on every face, and their bodies were filthy and disheveled.

But looking at the things they had gathered…

Shisan inspected them one by one. In the end, the only edible thing left was a type of black berry, tiny things about the size of a red bean.

Though not poisonous, the taste was extremely sour and astringent.

Shisan had eaten these during his past adventures. One bite was enough to make your face scrunch up from the foul taste, and even more ridiculous was how persistent the flavor was – the bitterness would linger in your mouth for half an hour after eating.

The only advantage this stuff had was that it was abundant.

If they were truly pushed to a point where they had no food at all, eating this wretched stuff could barely sustain their lives.

Those who had returned from fetching water or gathering firewood looked at the food the others had found.

Their lips moved, but out of a sense of decency, they ultimately withheld any words of blame.

However, at this point, everyone was truly starving.

Shisan took out the last of the dry rations from the food area and distributed them into everyone’s hands. “This is the last of our dry rations. There isn’t much, so everyone eat sparingly.”

When the food was placed in their hands, it was only a tiny piece.

At most, it was the size of two small breakfast crackers.

This wouldn’t fill the stomach of any adult, let alone people who were currently exhausted from physical labor.

How could they possibly be full?

Shisan knew this, of course, so after distributing the crackers, he took out his own travel backpack and began pouring things out. “I looked for food on the island today too, but in the end, I only found these wild snails. After we roast them over the fire…”

“Blegh-“

The sound of gagging and retching came from beside him. Shisan lowered his eyes, offering neither comfort nor explanation.

They were in a Wilderness Survival situation now, not playing the part of young masters and princesses at home.

There was no food, and the only food available was snails. This was an objective fact.

They had to accept this fact from the bottom of their hearts.

Either go hungry.

Or, accept it.

Shisan silently began to skewer the snails between two wooden sticks, placing them over the fire to roast.

Once they were cooked, he took the lead as their representative, setting an example for them.

The group watched Shisan eat the snails with an expressionless face. Although several of them felt their stomachs churning with nausea, they understood in their hearts that Shisan wasn’t exaggerating in the slightest.

The resources on this island were just that barren.

Snails were the only food they could find at the moment.

Accept it, and live.

Fail to accept it, and die.

Once this conclusion took root in their minds, it spread like a toxin.

Looking at the distant sky, it felt as if everything was a shroud of gray, empty of hope.

They still had to endure more than twenty days of such miserable, agonizing life.

…

The desolate scenes on Shisan’s side were clearly captured by every viewer.

• I don’t really know what to say. I think they’re pretty pitiful, but when I think about the money they’re making, I feel like suffering a bit of hardship is fine. –

• I don’t quite understand. Why are they so obsessed with this one stretch of beach? Look at Qiao Yitong; she walked to another beach where the environment is great and there are resources everywhere. –

“We have a god’s eye view, but they don’t know the truth. They probably don’t dare to gamble.”

“Ugh, when will they finally realize that leaving that place won’t kill them? They’ll only live better!”

“I think it’s better if they don’t. If they actually found out how well Qiao Yitong is living, I’m afraid some of them would have a mental breakdown and literally die of envy…”

…

While Shisan was over there drinking foul water and eating snails, the scene on Qiao Yitong’s side was entirely different.

Early the next morning.

When Lu Cheng opened his eyes, he found himself alone by the fire. Qiao Yitong was nowhere to be seen.

This discovery sent a sudden jolt of panic through his heart.

He was like someone suffering from separation anxiety; the slightest change left him at a total loss.

In his state of panic, he turned around and saw Qiao Yitong walking back.

She was carrying several bottles of water.

Lu Cheng instinctively took the water she handed him. “This water…” Where did it come from?

“It’s drinkable,” Qiao Yitong said.

Lu Cheng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Of course he knew it was drinkable, it was just…

He stood up and walked toward the spot Sister Tong had told him to dig yesterday. When he arrived, he found that the “well” had indeed been completed.

Spring water welled up from the ground under pressure, forming a small bubbling spring. It reminded Lu Cheng of the famous Baotu Spring¹ he had visited before.

Qiao Yitong had even lined the exterior of the spring with small stones to prevent debris from floating into the pool.

Everything looked meticulously done, even refined.

Seeing this only made Lu Cheng feel a wave of guilt.

How early did Sister Tong have to get up to accomplish all this?

He took a sip of the water. It was sweet and refreshing, a perfect natural drinking spring. It was incredible.

Lu Cheng felt a surge of excitement, but the guilt remained.

This guilt stemmed from his constant claims that he wanted to help Sister Tong, yet in the end, he seemed to do nothing but cause her more trouble.

Lu Cheng returned to Qiao Yitong’s side.

He hovered nearby, hesitating and shuffling his feet, feeling awkward.

Qiao Yitong glanced at him but said nothing.

Finally, Lu Cheng chose to take the initiative. “Sister Tong, it’s just… if there’s anything you need me to do, please just tell me. I feel like I’m not helping at all, like I’m useless…”

His voice grew smaller and smaller toward the end.

This scene left the viewers’ jaws on the floor.

Wait, who are you?!

Is this man acting like a pampered little husband² really the same Lu Cheng? The cold, spirited, “fight-the-power-to-the-bitter-end” weapons-tier uploader?

It’s only been a few days on the island! You’ve completely changed!

Qiao Yitong tilted her head slightly, thinking for a moment before asking, “You know how to make weapons?”

This question hit right on his specialty. Lu Cheng nodded vigorously.

“Yes, I can. But materials here are limited. Even if I make weapons, they’ll mostly be stone and wood,” Lu Cheng said.

“Make me a harpoon,” Qiao Yitong said.

“Huh? A harpoon?” Lu Cheng looked at the ocean, then back at Qiao Yitong. He assumed she wanted to catch fish.

But harpooning fish was incredibly difficult, let alone doing it in the open ocean.

One wrong move and you were gambling with your life.

However, Lu Cheng didn’t say any of that out loud.

After spending these days with Qiao Yitong, he had learned to be smart. More importantly, he had learned never to use his own personal experience as a yardstick to measure Sister Tong’s capabilities.

“Okay,” Lu Cheng said.

Having agreed, he turned and ran off to start on the harpoon.

Qiao Yitong watched the now-motivated Lu Cheng with a slightly puzzled expression.

She had lived her entire life in the Wasteland, where resources were scarce and everyone struggled just to survive. She had rarely met someone like this, someone who seemed to hand over all their trust to a person they had known for less than a few days.

He even seemed happy just because she gave him an order.

She didn’t understand it.

But Qiao Yitong didn’t dwell on it. She turned and walked back toward the bamboo grove to continue working on her Bamboo House.

An hour later, Lu Cheng came over carrying a harpoon.

“Sister Tong, the harpoon is finished.” Lu Cheng handed it to her.

He had fashioned it from wood. To make it comfortable to hold, he had sanded down the shaft and the barbs until they were smooth. It was clearly a labor of love.

Qiao Yitong weighed it in her hand and raised an eyebrow slightly.

Actually, it was quite well-made.

She took the harpoon and immediately headed for the ocean. She kicked off her shoes, rolled up her pant legs, and waded into the water.

Lu Cheng’s eyelids twitched at the sight.

“Be careful, Sister Tong! Maybe I should be the one to try fishing? It’s too dangerous,” Lu Cheng called out anxiously from behind her.

Qiao Yitong turned slightly and sidestepped him.

Lu Cheng: ?

Qiao Yitong explained simply, “If you get swept away, saving you would be a hassle.”

Lu Cheng: …

Translator’s Notes