Chapter 8: Thank You, Sister Tong, for Sparing My Life

What does it feel like to have someone shove food into your mouth like a domineering CEO when you are starving?

Lu Cheng felt he had a lot to say on the matter right now.

Sister Tong is the real deal!

However, even though his body was desperate to devour the small piece of Compressed Biscuits, his reason told him otherwise. They still didn’t know where their next meal would come from. If they ate everything now, they would be left staring blankly at each other while waiting for death once the hunger returned.

So, he took the Compressed Biscuits, carefully broke off the part that had touched his lips, and wrapped the rest back up.

Qiao Yitong didn’t explain herself.

She simply couldn’t understand why, despite having reached a safe place where food to replenish energy was visible everywhere, the man before her still acted as if he were about to starve to death.

She stood up and walked forward a few paces.

Lu Cheng had completely transformed into Qiao Yitong’s shadow. As she moved forward, he followed right behind her.

When she stopped, he looked up.

“Those are… coconuts!”

Lu Cheng looked like an explorer who had just discovered buried treasure; his eyes lit up instantly.

Just moments ago, he had been worried about their dwindling supplies of food and water. Although they had reached a clean and safe area, they hadn’t found any sustenance yet. He had no idea how long it would take to find edible food or a source of drinking water.

But now.

It was handed to them on a silver platter!

A source of both water and food was right in front of them!

Coconut water was drinkable and thirst-quenching, a perfect substitute for fresh water. The coconut meat could also provide energy. Looking around, the beach was lined with coconut trees. There was definitely enough for them to survive on!

A charcoal fire in the snow¹, a narrow escape from the brink of death!

This sudden sensation of being saved was something only those who had experienced it could truly appreciate.

“With so many coconuts, we’re saved! We definitely won’t starve for the next month!” Lu Cheng said excitedly. “But Sister Tong, how did you know the scenery would be like this over here?”

Lu Cheng was dying of curiosity.

Judging by Qiao Yitong’s steady pace, she had clearly been certain that there was a clean, beautiful beach with food waiting for them. That was why she had left the team without a hint of regret and moved with such a clear objective.

Her decisiveness made it seem as if she had read the script in advance.

The viewers in the Live Stream Room clearly shared these doubts.

• How is this possible? How can the environment here be so good? Does this look like survival? It looks more like a vacation resort! –

• How did she stumble upon such a beautiful place? It’s just the luck of a blind cat hitting a dead rat². –

• I’m starting to wonder if she made some kind of deal with the production crew. Is that how she knew there was a resort-like spot on the opposite side of the drop zone? –

• Give it a rest. Stop making up rumors about her constantly. I’ve seen enough. To those saying there was a deal, go look at the members of this production team before you speak. A deal with that cold-faced, heartless King of Hell³ director? You might as well say Qiao Yitong’s father is the Jade Emperor⁴! –

• Fine, fine. Finding a few coconuts doesn’t mean she’s redeemed. Coconuts are high up; let’s see her get them down first. Don’t tell me Lu Cheng is going to end up doing all the hard labor again. – (362 Likes)

…

The coconuts hung high in the trees, and they didn’t have any suitable tools. It seemed the only way to get them down was for someone to climb the tree.

Obviously, such an act was fraught with danger.

Lu Cheng didn’t think too much about it. He naturally assumed this kind of physical labor should fall to him.

He rolled up his sleeves and swallowed his bite of biscuit.

For the sake of today’s feast, a little risk was worth it. It had been a long time since he’d climbed a tree, though, and he wasn’t sure if his skills had regressed.

“What are you doing?” Qiao Yitong asked when she saw his movements.

“Climbing the tree to get coconuts,” Lu Cheng replied as if it were obvious.

Qiao Yitong: “…”

“No need,” she said.

The energy consumed climbing the tree would be greater than the energy provided by the coconut. It wasn’t worth the trade-off.

She looked down at the sand.

This was a private island that had never been developed, so its natural resources were abundant.

After walking a short distance, Qiao Yitong returned holding a shell the size of a palm. The shell was hard, and its curved edge was exceptionally sharp.

If this were her past life, she could have retrieved the fruit from a distance with a mere flick of her finger by using Spiritual Power. But now, she couldn’t afford to squander the single drop of Spiritual Power remaining in her Sea of Consciousness.

Qiao Yitong flexed her wrist, testing the weight of the shell.

• What is she trying to do? She doesn’t think she can use that shell like a throwing star to knock a coconut down, does she? –

• Looking at her stance, that might actually be the plan. –

• I’m freaking dying here. A shell like that can knock down a coconut? Does she even have the strength? If she can knock a coconut down with that, I’ll eat… while standing on my head. –

This netizen’s unfinished comment was accidentally sent out.

Just as they were about to pull up the comment interface to finish the sentence, they saw Qiao Yitong standing there. Her wrist gave a gentle flick.

It was effortless, almost nonchalant.

The shell in her hand traced a beautiful arc through the air. Under the sunlight, it flashed with a vibrant, iridescent glow before slicing through the stem connecting the coconut to the tree.

A second later, the coconut fell. It landed precisely in Qiao Yitong’s hands, caught firmly.

Lu Cheng was stunned. The netizens were stunned. Even the production crew sitting behind the monitors was stunned.

Weren’t they filming a documentary-style reality show?

Why did this scene look so much like high fantasy?

After taking the coconut, Qiao Yitong’s expression didn’t change. She handed it to Lu Cheng, picked up the shell again, and flicked her wrist once more.

The coconut next to it fell with the same precision, landing steadily in her hand.

Everyone watching this scene fell into a collective silence.

If the first time could be explained away as luck, then doing it twice in a row with such precision was something luck could no longer account for.

[Holy crap! What was that? Someone can actually knock down a coconut with a seashell from that far away? Is that some kind of superpower?]

[Her aim is way too good. With that kind of accuracy, why bother with the entertainment industry or acting? She should just go into professional darts. She’d be swimming in medals.]

[It’s not just about accuracy. It requires an incredible amount of explosive wrist power at the moment of release. I’ve only ever seen that kind of skill from those influencers who specialize in throwing needles or playing cards.]

[Wait, didn’t I see someone earlier say that if she actually knocked it down, they’d do a handstand and eat something? Come on, step up and say it clearly now.]

[I admit defeat, alright? Based on that move alone, I apologize to Qiao Yitong. Regardless of what else she’s done, I’m impressed by this skill.]

Qiao Yitong never expected that her casual method of picking coconuts would actually sway some of her mindless haters.

Even more unexpected was that the clip of her knocking down the coconuts was edited and shared across major video platforms. It triggered a wave of imitation experiments from influencers who specialized in throwing cards, darts, and needles.

As the experimental videos were posted one by one, very few people managed to succeed.

Even those who did succeed usually required multiple attempts. Not a single person could do it as nonchalantly or with the hundred percent accuracy she had shown.

Once this conclusion was reached, the sheer technical difficulty of Qiao Yitong’s feat was validated once again.

At the same time, a comment from a famous card-throwing blogger made many haters feel a sudden, icy chill down their necks.

“I don’t believe for a second that Qiao Yitong hasn’t specifically trained in this. At the moment the shell’s edge sliced through the stem, there was definitely five or six pounds of force behind it. To slit a human throat, given the sharpness of that shell, it would only take less than two pounds of force. Smile.jpg”

That one sentence caused a phantom pain in the necks of the trolls who had used such filthy, ugly words to curse Qiao Yitong.

Quite a few people instinctively reached up to touch their own throats.

Why would a perfectly fine “sweet-type⁵” female idol learn something like… like that?

If they pushed her too far one day and drove her crazy, wouldn’t they end up losing their heads?

Some of the haters who had insulted Qiao Yitong to her face in the past broke out in a cold sweat of lingering fear.

Should they say:

“Thank you, Sister Tong, for sparing our lives?”

Qiao Yitong had no idea that the haters the original owner had tried so hard to silence were now keeping their mouths much cleaner because of her unintentional display of skill.

On the contrary, after picking the coconuts, she and Lu Cheng were enjoying a moment of extreme peace.

Lu Cheng cracked open two coconuts. Each holding one, they sat on the soft, warm beach, bathing in the sunlight and facing the sea. The ocean breeze blew over them, washing away the exhaustion of the past two days.

Lu Cheng felt the change most profoundly.

Half a day ago, he had been filled with anxiety over their aimless wandering. Yet half a day later, he was relaxing, drinking coconut water, and sunbathing on the beach as if he were on vacation.

Following Qiao Yitong was the best decision he had made in his entire life.

The sweet, crisp taste of the coconut water bloomed on Lu Cheng’s taste buds. He narrowed his eyes in satisfaction and said happily, “Sister Yitong, look at this row of coconut trees. I feel like we could survive for the next month just on these alone.”

The most difficult problems of Deserted Island Survival – food and water – had been easily solved. Surely everything else could just be cobbled together?

“No,” Qiao Yitong disagreed.

“Why?” Lu Cheng asked instinctively.

Because with the fragile bodies of the humans in your world, eating only this for more than three days would lead to diarrhea, exhaustion, and death.

Qiao Yitong only thought this to herself; she didn’t say it aloud to Lu Cheng.

After finishing the coconut water and eating the meat to replenish her strength, she stood up and asked Lu Cheng, “Still hungry?”

“I’m alright.” Lu Cheng stood up as well.

With his total obedience, he had essentially cast himself as Qiao Yitong’s loyal sidekick.

“It’s getting late. Gather wood, start a fire,” Qiao Yitong said.

The temperature difference by the sea was significant. With the mortal bodies of humans, they would certainly fall ill without a campfire for warmth at night.

“You got it!” Lu Cheng agreed immediately.

As he started toward the jungle, he noticed Qiao Yitong heading in a different direction. He called out, “Sister Yitong, where are you going?”

“Exploring. Food, water source,” Qiao Yitong explained briefly.

With that, she stepped into the jungle. Under the cover of the lush, leafy trees, her figure quickly vanished.

“Hey!”

Translator’s Notes