Chapter 23: Excuse Me, Move

Lu Cheng’s irritable and angry expression caused the group to pause their brazen behavior for a moment.

But immediately afterward, his words drew even more unrestrained mockery.

“No, Lu Cheng, you really don’t know how to lie, do you? You’re telling me Qiao Yitong built this thing all by herself?”

“Exactly. He’s saying Qiao Yitong spent a week… maybe not even a week, cutting bamboo, building a house, and finding food, right?”

The man’s voice was thick with mockery and ridicule.

Lu Cheng remained expressionless, stubbornly guarding Qiao Yitong’s Bamboo House.

“Just because you don’t have the skill doesn’t mean others don’t,” Lu Cheng said coldly, long since fed up with their behavior.

“Alright, stop acting. We didn’t come here to steal your stuff. That side is just too barren. Since we’re all one team, it’s only right that we help each other out.” Shisan gestured for the others to come over. “Hey, you. Weren’t you complaining about your skin itching after brushing against something these past two days? There’s a spring right there. Go grab some water and rinse off inside the house.”

The Beauty Influencer had long since grown impatient. With Shisan, the leader, giving the word, it was as if he’d received a royal decree.

“Move aside.” The Beauty Influencer shoved Lu Cheng, throwing him to the side, and reached out to pull the door open.

Lu Cheng wasn’t in poor physical shape, but he never expected the man to get physical so suddenly. Caught off guard, he stumbled and nearly fell.

But he wasn’t the priority—these people were trying to touch Sister Tong’s things!

“Get lost!” Lu Cheng roared.

It was useless.

He could even see the faint trace of a sneer on the Beauty Influencer’s face.

Just as the man’s fingers were about to touch the door, a shadow suddenly streaked toward him, accompanied by the sharp whistle of slicing air.

Driven by survival instinct, the Beauty Influencer jerked his hand back instantly.

The next second, a chilling, clear voice reached everyone’s ears: “Whoever moves, dies.”

Shisan and the others felt an inexplicable shiver run down their spines. Their eyes darted to the object that had just flown past them and was now firmly embedded in the ground.

A seashell.

The Beauty Influencer raised his hand to look. On his fingertip was a bloody gash where the shell had grazed him.

If just the edge grazing him left such a mark, it wasn’t hard to imagine the result if he hadn’t pulled back and had touched the Bamboo House door.

His entire hand might have been sliced off.

The Beauty Influencer felt a wave of lingering fear, his expression flickering with shock and uncertainty.

The beach, which had been noisy since the arrival of these eleven people, suddenly fell silent.

Qiao Yitong frowned slightly as she looked at the beach, which had been nearly ransacked.

The spring she had dug and the stones she had arranged nearby were kicked into disarray. The once-clean spring water was now cluttered with dead leaves and debris.

The area around the campfire was also a mess. The fruit she had brought back had been completely looted.

Fruit pits were tossed haphazardly across the ground.

With every glance, Qiao Yitong’s frown deepened.

She walked straight to the Bamboo House, looked at the disheveled Lu Cheng, and asked, “What happened?”

The bandit-like behavior of this group had already pushed Lu Cheng to his breaking point, but he had been powerless against their numbers.

Now that Qiao Yitong had suddenly arrived, he felt as if he’d found his pillar of support. He immediately blurted out everything that had just happened.

He detailed how these people had unreasonably stolen their food and attempted to claim their hard work as their own.

Qiao Yitong remained silent, her expression unreadable. However, everyone could feel the atmospheric pressure around her dropping bit by bit as Lu Cheng spoke, making it difficult to breathe.

It was enough to make some of them involuntarily shiver.

After listening, Qiao Yitong first handed the fruit she had brought back to Lu Cheng. Then, she looked at the group and said in an indifferent tone, “I built this Bamboo House with my own hands. Is there a problem?”

Just moments ago, these people thought the idea of one person building a bamboo house was a joke.

But now, facing Qiao Yitong’s question, not a single person dared to utter a word of rebuttal.

Facing her, they felt an invisible, suffocating pressure.

“Qiao Yitong, look, this island belongs to all of us…”

Qiao Yitong didn’t wait for Shisan to finish, already knowing exactly what excuse he was going to use.

She interrupted him impatiently. “The area is huge. Don’t bother me. Do whatever else you want.”

As she spoke, she pointed toward the distant stretch of beach.

The people present fell silent. After a brief lull, the bullet comments in the live stream exploded once again.

• Sister Tong is so bossy! That’s how it should be. I was getting so damn mad watching that. –

• These people are literally bandits, aren’t they?! They just show up and steal things others worked for. If this wasn’t an island but real life, this would be a crime. –

• I wanted to jump through the screen and punch them just now. Poor Lu Cheng, he couldn’t stop them alone. –

• Thank god Sister Tong got back in time. I was worried sick. –

• Are these the people who call themselves righteous? They see someone else has good things and they just steal them. Righteous, my foot! –

• Righteous? They’re just trash! Trash should stay in their own trash heap. Why come over here and bother other people? –

These were the viewers who had been staying in Qiao Yitong’s Live Stream Room from the start.

They had watched Qiao Yitong and Lu Cheng build and improve everything they had, bit by bit.

It felt as if they were participating in the process themselves.

Now that a group of uninvited guests had arrived and started destroying their results, who could stand it?

The comments weren’t overly foul, mostly thanks to the live stream platform’s excellent word-filtering system.

Of course, the viewers who had come over from the Main Live Stream—especially the fans of Jing Xueqin and the others—viewed their idols through a protective lens. Seeing their idols’ behavior being ruthlessly criticized, they began to defend them reflexively.

• Qiao Yitong and Lu Cheng’s fans are hilarious. You’re acting like the whole island belongs to you. –

“Alright, alright, fellow Qin-fans, stop scolding them. We’re reasonable people. I searched through the earlier stream playbacks, and Qiao Yitong really did build that house herself. We’re definitely in the wrong on this one.”

“Jing Xueqin and the others haven’t had it easy. The environment over there is brutal, and they’ve been starving for a long time. They just didn’t realize those things were painstakingly collected by a private individual; they thought the production team had placed them there in advance. Jing Xueqin has always been hardworking and kind. There’s no need to blow this minor issue out of proportion.”

“Passerby here. I think Shisan and his group went a bit too far, but it’s understandable. He just wanted to consolidate resources so everyone could survive better. It came from a good place. Maybe he was in a rush just now and there were communication issues, but there’s no need for such verbal abuse.”

“Exactly. To put it another way, even if Shisan’s attitude was a bit problematic, is Qiao Yitong’s side completely blameless?”

“Right? She just got lucky and found a decent environment early on. Now she’s acting like it’s all her credit, like she’s the queen of the mountain. It’s a bit ridiculous.”

“If these eleven people had found this place first, they would definitely be doing better than them. Don’t let a bit of luck-driven success go to your head.”

The comments from this group left the viewers in the sub-live stream speechless.

“…I don’t even know what to say anymore. You guys take over.”

“I can’t. I feel like there’s no need to say anything. Reality will teach them a lesson.”

“Forget it. I originally typed out a long, passionate response, but I deleted it. It’s true, there’s no need to argue now. Let’s just wait and see.”

The viewers who were just debating with the Main Live Stream suddenly all reacted this way.

Their composed, almost expectant attitude of waiting for a joke to unfold made some people realize something was off.

A few quick-acting viewers started looking for playbacks, wanting to see what was actually going on.

Others, firmly believing their idols were the best, were everywhere-not just in the Main Live Stream, but in the secondary streams as well-desperately praising their idols’ performances.

These comments made the crowd who had been won over by Qiao Yitong’s miraculous skills frown.

On the island, after being warned by Qiao Yitong, Shisan and the others fell into a brief, awkward silence.

They now had two choices.

First, they could forcefully occupy this place and this environment for their own use, then strike a “win-win” cooperation agreement with Qiao Yitong, dressing up plunder as collaboration.

Second, as Qiao Yitong suggested, they could go to the other side of the beach and keep their distance. They wouldn’t need to be friendly with her or talk about cooperation. The resources on the beach were public property; they could still get what they needed.

After a moment’s thought, Shisan came to a conclusion.

Just as the viewers said, Shisan believed it himself.

The only reason Qiao Yitong and her partner were living well was because they benefited from the environment. Given the same surroundings, his group could do even better than her.

“Sorry about what happened just now. We’ll head over there and won’t bother you,” Shisan declared immediately.

Having said that, he looked at the others.

Rather than believing in Qiao Yitong, they mostly trusted Shisan.

With such a good environment, why would they fear being unable to survive?

Everyone thought the same. The group that had arrived in a grand procession left just as quickly in a swarm.

As they were leaving, Qi Qing, walking near the back of the line, struggled with her conscience. Finally unable to ignore it, she turned back to Qiao Yitong and said, “Yitong, I’m sorry for what happened the day we arrived on the island.”

After speaking, she seemed too embarrassed to face Qiao Yitong and hurried to catch up with the main group.

With the crowd gone, peace returned to Qiao Yitong’s side.

Lu Cheng looked at Qiao Yitong, his eyes holding a hint of caution and grievance.

Qiao Yitong glanced at the mess near the campfire and assumed Lu Cheng was hungry because his food had been snatched away.

“There’s food in the bag. Eat,” Qiao Yitong said.

Lu Cheng froze for a moment, feeling a surge of emotion.

He had been worried that Sister Yitong would scold him for not guarding the place well, but instead, she was concerned about him.

“Sister Tong, what about them?” Lu Cheng frowned as he watched the departing crowd.

Everything that had just happened made his opinion of that group hit rock bottom.

“Ignore them,” Qiao Yitong said.

As long as they didn’t provoke her, she had no interest in dealing with them.

In the time it would take to care, she might as well explore the island more and find more ingredients.

“Oh,” Lu Cheng replied.

He soon came to his own realization.

Survival on the island was difficult for everyone right now; it was best to avoid trouble whenever possible.

“Sister Yitong, I’ll go clean up the area,” Lu Cheng said.

“Alright.” Qiao Yitong happened to need to process the items she brought back today to make seasonings.

The two went about their tasks as if nothing had happened, and their side returned to the slow pace of “Back to Field.”

In contrast to their peaceful and slow rhythm, the other side was in total chaos.

“Brother Shisan, we’ve reached the spot. What do we do next?” Peppa Lamb finally spoke up to show his presence after leaving Qiao Yitong.

“Find food,” Shisan answered decisively.

They had been through too much these past few days. In Area A, they couldn’t eat or drink well, and they had to guard against mosquitoes, snakes, and ants while resting. They were exhausted both physically and mentally.

Not to mention, they had been traveling almost day and night for the past two days just to find Qiao Yitong.

The things they could find to fill their stomachs along the way were pitifully few.

To avoid getting sick, they had to replenish their food and energy as soon as possible.

“I think we should split up. Two people can get some coconuts down first, and the rest can look for edible fruit nearby in groups. That thing Lu Cheng had earlier was pretty good, very filling, with a texture like dry bread. If we find that fruit, at least we won’t have to worry about survival,” the Fitness Coach suggested.

This statement received unanimous approval, but no one moved yet.

With Qiao Yitong providing a demonstration, copying the answers was much easier.

Without that sense of crisis, everyone just wanted to lie down and rest first.

“I’m laughing my head off. They’re clearly just copying her answers without even trying to hide it. If you’re so capable, why don’t you discover some new edible things yourselves?”

“Isn’t that a bit much? There’s only so much on the island. If Qiao Yitong found it, does that mean no one else can? She really is the ‘Little Princess’ of the entertainment industry, wanting to be special and have a monopoly even here.”

“Whatever, I’m not going to argue with you all. Go ahead and copy her, but I’m afraid some people won’t even be able to figure out how to copy her correctly.”

The netizens knew exactly how Qiao Yitong had obtained her supplies; trying to replicate her success wouldn’t be that easy.

Shisan and the others, however, were completely in the dark.

Since they were here for food, the group’s first instinct was to target the two rows of coconut trees along the shore.

The coconuts were clearly visible high up in the trees.

“Let’s figure out a way to get those coconuts down first. No matter what, we need to put something in our stomachs,” Shisan said.

“Who can climb trees?” Peppa Lamb asked, turning to look at those around him.

“Deng You, I remember you saying in your interview that you could climb trees?” the Fitness Coach said, shifting his gaze to the otaku.

Deng You, the otaku, frowned, his words laced with thorns. “You also said you had great athletic ability. Why don’t you go up?”

The Fitness Coach went silent.

“I might have great athletic ability, but I don’t know how to climb trees,” the Fitness Coach admitted.

Deng You sneered. “I might know how to climb trees, but I can’t climb a smooth coconut tree over ten meters high.”

Hearing it described that way, everyone realized how ridiculous the idea of climbing for coconuts actually was.

The coconut trees were over ten meters tall with entirely smooth trunks. Setting aside whether their current half-dead physical state would even allow them to get up there, if they slipped at that height and broke a leg, they didn’t have any proper medical equipment. It could easily result in a permanent disability.

No one was willing to take that risk.

Shisan looked up and said, “No need to climb. It’s too high to be realistic, and it would be bad if someone got hurt.”

“Then what do we do?” someone asked.

“Use a tool,” Shisan said.

Seeing everyone’s eyes fall on him, waiting for him to solve the problem, Shisan felt a bit more comfortable.

The events of the past few days had almost completely stripped him of his dignity. Now, it was finally time for him to show off some of his wisdom.

“Isn’t there a bamboo grove right nearby? We can cut a stalk of bamboo and fix a machete to one end. Once it’s extended, we can easily reach the coconuts,” Shisan suggested.

“Oh! That’s a great idea!”

Everyone’s eyes lit up instantly.

“Then I’ll go cut the bamboo,” Peppa Lamb said, continuing his effort to prove his worth.

“I’ll go with you,” Shisan added.

The two of them headed to the bamboo grove together. The bamboo was lush and green, and they could see a section that had already been cleared by Qiao Yitong.

The cuts where the bamboo had been felled were neat and smooth, making it look like an easy task.

However…

Was their machete really that sharp?

The question flickered through Shisan’s mind.

But he didn’t give it much thought, saying directly to the lamb, “Stand back a bit, let me try first.”

Peppa Lamb nodded and stepped aside.

At this moment, neither of them realized the gravity of the situation. They were misled by the smooth surfaces of the cut bamboo, thinking the stalks were brittle and would be easy to chop.

Shisan observed for a moment, then raised the machete.

“Tsk tsk, I know the truth and I’m already prepared to laugh.”

“Is this guy really not even going to test it first? He doesn’t seriously think cutting bamboo is that easy, does he?”

“Does he even need to test it? If cutting bamboo was hard, could Qiao Yitong have built such a large Bamboo House? (Dog head emoji¹)”

Shisan’s reaction did not exceed the audience’s expectations in the slightest.

The machete slammed heavily into the bamboo. The stalk shuddered violently, shaking loose a shower of leaves, but the spot where it was hit didn’t break at all.

On the contrary, Shisan felt as if his arm was about to be snapped by the vibration.

Caught off guard, the machete was jarred right out of his hand.

It nearly hit Peppa Lamb.

In his fright, Peppa Lamb almost dropped his persona. A string of curses nearly flew out of his mouth, but he stopped himself just in time, remembering they were filming a show and every move was exposed to the cameras. Moreover, the person in front of him was their leader, someone he couldn’t afford to offend.

He swallowed the curses with difficulty and put on a concerned front. “Brother Shisan, what happened?”

Shisan felt awkward and incredibly humiliated.

“Sorry about that. I didn’t hit you, did I? I might just be a bit weak from hunger these past two days. My grip wasn’t steady,” Shisan said.

“I understand, I understand,” Peppa Lamb said quickly.

Shisan turned back to pick up the machete. Seeing him raise his hand to try again, Peppa Lamb got scared and stepped forward to stop him.

“Brother, let me try.”

On one hand, Shisan felt he’d lost face; on the other, he was genuinely wary of the bamboo’s resilience. He simply handed the machete to the lamb. “Alright. I really might be exhausted from these past few days. You give it a go.”

Peppa Lamb nodded, raised the machete, and swung it down.

He held back his strength slightly, but the result was still as expected. The bamboo only gained a slightly larger gash. After two swings, he hadn’t even cut through a quarter of it.

“Brother, do you think maybe this stalk we picked is too old?” Shisan asked, trying to hide his embarrassment.

“Could be. Let’s try a different one.”

“Hahaha, I knew this would happen. Why am I not surprised at all?”

“You guys are experiencing exactly what Lu Cheng went through.”

“Wait, why are these two so pathetic? It took two men working together over twenty minutes to cut one stalk of bamboo?”

“Shh, Lu Cheng was the same way back then.”

“So it’s not that they’re pathetic, it’s that our Sister Tong is too strong.”

The two of them truly spent twenty minutes on a single stalk, shaking and prying until the bamboo was battered and bruised. Finally, they managed to break it.

“Bamboo: If I’d known, I would have just rotted in the mud instead of growing up.”

“Bamboo: Why did my brother next door get to die so beautifully while I look like this?”

The two men had no idea about the spectacle in the live chat.

Not wanting the others to wait anxiously under the coconut trees, they carried the bamboo and the machete back.

“The bamboo is cut. We’ll be ready in a second.”

Shisan used strips of cloth to firmly lash the machete to the end of the bamboo. He gave it a shake to ensure it wasn’t dangerous before approaching the coconut tree.

They looked up.

“These coconuts should be ripe, right?”

“They look ripe.”

“Then this is the one.”

“Brother Shisan, be careful. Maybe someone else should help hold it? The bamboo is pretty heavy, it’s hard to leverage.”

“Everyone else watch out! Don’t stand under the tree. If it hits someone when it falls, there’ll be trouble.”

With the time to reap the fruits of their victory finally here, everyone became busy once again.

The group formed a circle around the coconut tree, some shouting directions while others lent a hand.

“Wait, do they really need to make such a big production out of picking a coconut?”

“Uh… to be honest, I don’t get it either.”

“Good grief, two people can’t even hold the machete steady. It’s been six minutes, right? Not a single coconut has come down yet?”

“It’s fine, just get used to it. If they were actually that capable, would they have been starving to death back at their original spot?”

“Can you Qiao Yitong fans stop with the sarcasm? So what if they came here and shared a few resources? Is it really necessary for every single one of you to be so passive-aggressive? Is it that hard to admit that bamboo is heavy and hard to control, and that cutting down coconuts from that high up is difficult? If you’re so good, why don’t you try it?”

“…Tong fans, apparently we’re being accused of being passive-aggressive.”

“Emmm, whatever, let them be happy. Let’s just wait for Sister Tong to pick some coconuts. I just hope the people writing these defensive comments don’t find it too embarrassing when the time comes.”

…

Finally, amidst everyone’s waiting and anticipation, a single coconut was successfully hacked off.

It was the first piece of proper, beautiful food they had obtained through their own hard work since arriving on the island.

The group cheered and jumped for joy.

Shisan felt deeply satisfied. Even though cutting the bamboo and harvesting the coconut had taken an immense amount of effort, being able to bring one down made it all feel worth it.

“Come on, come on, let’s keep this momentum going and get a few more. Let’s try to get one for everyone.”

The others agreed.

Just as they huddled together, full of excitement and hope as they waited for the next coconut to fall, a clear voice rang out.

“Excuse me, please move aside.”

Everyone turned to look.

Qiao Yitong was standing on the outer edge of the crowd.

Someone raised an eyebrow, wondering what she was up to. Surely she wasn’t planning to use the food they owed her as an excuse to claim their coconuts just because she saw them succeeding?

Nevertheless, the group opened up the circle.

Qiao Yitong walked inside and looked up.

The coconuts on this tree were just the right size. One for her and one for Lu Cheng would be enough to eat without any going to waste.

When Shisan saw her, he was already mentally rehearsing how to respond if she tried to demand their coconuts in the name of debt collection.

“Qiao Yitong, look, we haven’t had a good meal in a long time either. These coconuts are ours…”

Before he could finish, he saw Qiao Yitong flick her wrist. Two seashells flew from her hand. A second later, two coconuts fell straight down. Standing beneath the tree, Qiao Yitong caught one in each hand with perfect precision.

Shisan: ?

Peppa Lamb: ??

The rest of the group: ???

The bullet comments: [?!!!!!]

Having finished picking her coconuts, Qiao Yitong turned around.

She found the entire group standing there in stunned, petrified silence.

The exit was blocked again…

Qiao Yitong gave a soft sigh and was forced to speak once more. “Excuse me. Please move.”

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Translator’s Notes

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1. Dog head emoji: A translation of ‘goutou’ (狗头), a popular Chinese internet slang icon used at the end of a sentence to indicate sarcasm or that the speaker is joking. It signals that the commenter does not actually believe cutting bamboo is easy, but is mocking Shisan’s assumptions. ↩