WS - Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Most of those who could stay up early in the morning on StarNet to watch the livestream were fans of the entertainers.

And the sleepiest among them, without a doubt, were the fans of Yu Nianbing and Song Shiyue.

The night before, the other entertainers had all turned on their Wristbands' sleep mode early and gone to sleep. A single Mosaic in the pitch darkness wasn't much to look at...

However, even though they were also Mosaics, a pair of Mosaics in the dark was far more interesting.

Especially those few ambiguous snippets of conversation between Yu Nianbing and Song Shiyue--late at night, they fueled endless imagination that was impossible to stop. This successfully replaced the "Song Shiyue slept over" incident as the new hot topic on the Livestream Page.

Yu Nianbing's diehard fans were naturally unwilling to believe this late-night conversation carried any real romantic undertones, but they couldn't deny that over the years Yu Nianbing had been used for many hot-search boosts yet had never had an actual romance. Some simple gossip fans knew in their hearts it was impossible, just their own imaginations, yet they couldn't resist lapping up this obviously sweet fake melon and eagerly gulping it down.

On one side were the diehard fans staunchly protecting Little Ice Block; on the other, the gossip fans who had actually defected and started shipping the CP. Deep into the night, Yu Nianbing's fandom fought wave after wave of internal battles, but that's a story for later.

Wars between fans always grew fiercer as they fought. But at the end of the day, they shared the same origin. Though they fought, it was far more civil than when they had united to complain about Song Shiyue sleeping over. They were simply trying their best to persuade each other with facts.

Sure enough, in the morning, as soon as Yu Nianbing finished freshening up and canceled the livestream block, the gossip fans began spamming Danmaku, praising how much more spirited Yu Nianbing looked compared to the day before, and noting that sleeping together seemed pretty nice after all.

The diehard fans had also seen it with their own eyes, but they simply didn't want to attribute this to the act of sleeping together.

The two sides clashed from the early morning, neither able to convince the other.

However, internal wars were just internal.

Once the outside world was involved, they still had to present a united front.

The gossip fans showed no mercy when snapping at the diehard fans, but they knew in their hearts that this was only an illusory fake melon. It was like a mirage, just something sweet to chew on, an illusion of sweetness.

Thus, they were sincerely shipping the CP, but when it came to Song Shiyue, they still had to criticize her.

On Wilderness Planet, when everyone began to gather at the entrance of the Old Castle and other people started appearing in Yu Nianbing's Livestream Window, that enormous backpack of Song Shiyue's that rose above her head was naturally the first target of their complaints.

"The bag is taller than she is. Can she even carry it?"

"Using a big bag to steal the spotlight, how scheming!"

"Visually estimating, half of a bag that big has to be empty."

"More than half has to be empty, guaranteed!"

"Not necessarily. It looks pretty rigid, maybe it's stuffed with something? Air bags?"

"Bringing air bags to a wilderness survival show--is she going whitewater rafting?"

"The bag would have to be completely full of air bags for it to float, right?"

"It's definitely very light. She's been standing for so long and her back is still that straight."

"This bag was inside her suitcase from the start. She just took it straight out and put it on. She was definitely afraid Director Zhang would use his camera controls to see it and expose her for carrying a huge empty bag!"

"Raising my hand weakly to say, isn't Song Shiyue's behavior a bit unnecessary?"

"Weakly agreeing. It's not like she can keep the bag closed forever. What's the point if opening it reveals it's a giant fake?"

"For someone who leeches off hot searches and mooches a place to sleep, what's so strange about using a big bag to steal screen time?"

"Exactly. Song Shiyue's approach is to leech first and ask questions later. She doesn't think about what comes next."

"But the way she looks at Little Ice Block is so gentle."

"Upstairs, please maintain the complaint formation. No spontaneous CP shipping allowed."

"It really is very gentle."

"Gentle, so gentle. Forgiven for the big bag stealing the spotlight~"

"???"

"..."

Setting aside the battle between the diehard fans and the gossip fans, the viewers on the StarNet Livestream Page were in universal agreement that Song Shiyue was definitely carrying a half-empty bag.

Not just the viewers, but the people gathered in front of the Old Castle at this moment, seeing her stand there for so long while still looking completely effortless, also harbored similar thoughts. Except for Yu Nianbing, of course...

When Wang Daming appeared at the Old Castle entrance leading the Dog, and spoke those words about confiscating food, the Livestream Page erupted in a sea of "Hahaha".

Having posed so grandly with her half-empty oversized bag to steal the spotlight for barely ten minutes, only to immediately face having her bag opened and getting slapped in the face with reality--it truly gave everyone something to look forward to.

The viewers were looking forward to it.

Director Zhang... was also looking forward to it.

Although no one brought up the basement incident from the night before again, Director Zhang felt his image had been completely destroyed in front of these people. While he pretended not to care on the surface and cooperated with everyone to sweep that awkward scene under the rug, Zhang Jianshi was actually very uncomfortable inside. This was especially true after he lay down at night, tossing and turning for ages unable to fall asleep. Considering the next day's work and the massive amount of physical activity required, he was forced to get up and knock on Wang Daming's door next door, which brought Zhang Jianshi an unspeakable sense of humiliation.

This hidden anger was based purely on Director Zhang not knowing there were cameras filming the Production Team, believing at most that the machine following Song Shiyue might have captured some audio. If he had known that his performance the night before had been clearly broadcasted from start to finish on StarNet, who knows how furious he would have been.

At this moment, looking at Song Shiyue's massive bag rising above her head, he felt a bit of regret. It was a pity he could only control the lenses and couldn't add subtitles. Otherwise, adding a caption like "Shock! Half-empty large bag on fake super-strong girl" or "Empty bag steals the spotlight!" would have been highly amusing.

No, better not. Such a small matter would only generate more buzz for Song Shiyue. It was just a minor flaw and wouldn't ruin her viewer appeal by much.

Besides, the real main event would begin once they entered the mountains in a little while.

Director Zhang remained silent, leaning against the doorframe while fiddling with the Camera Central Control System. No one knew of the malice breeding in his heart.

As the director's assistant, one of Wang Daming's tasks was to drum up some highlights for the show. Walking the Dog to confiscate food was one of the highlights they had discussed, and its specific execution would depend on Wang Daming's ability to improvise on the spot.

Wang Daming swept his gaze across the scene and quickly zeroed in on the spot with the most highlight potential.

"So, who should we start with?" Wang Daming was well-versed in the method of gradual progression. Instead of walking toward Song Shiyue, his top prospect, he walked to Mu Xingzhou, who was farthest from her, and smiled. "Seeing as Teacher Mu's bag doesn't look too big, he shouldn't have brought any food, right? Let's start with Teacher Mu, shall we?"

With that, Wang Daming cast a glance back at Feng Qianqian.

He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but he felt that when Feng Qianqian walked over, she seemed to have lost some of her previous liveliness, moving with a somewhat stiff sluggishness.

"Hahaha, our Teacher Mu is very easygoing. He won't get angry just because we take away his food." Wang Daming reached out to pull the dawdling Feng Qianqian forward a bit, bringing her and the storage box in her hands closer to Mu Xingzhou.

Then... the illusion appeared again.

Why did it seem like Teacher Mu just glared at him? Wang Daming paused for a moment. When he looked closely again, Mu Xingzhou had already lowered his head to start opening his bag. He must have seen wrong. Mu Xingzhou had always been a radiant, sunny boy; how could he glare at someone just for confiscating a bit of food?

Mu Xingzhou's hiking backpack wasn't large, but it appeared stuffed to the brim. Opening the zipper proved a bit difficult, accompanied by a series of crisp creaking sounds.

"Here." Mu Xingzhou struggled somewhat to yank a bag of potato chips from the hiking backpack, placing it into the box in Feng Qianqian's hands. As his fingers let go, he blandly added, "Seaweed flavored."

Wang Daming wasn't quite sure how to respond to this "seaweed flavored" remark, so he decisively skipped over it and smiled. "Is that all? If that's all, we're going to let our little Dog take a sniff, okay? By the way, I need to add that our little Dog is professionally trained. Even if the food is sealed inside packaging, he can sniff it out. If there's anything you haven't voluntarily handed over, there will be penalties."

Mu Xingzhou gave an "Mm."

He looked very confident. As a result, when Wang Daming loosened the dog leash slightly, the Dog began barking "Woof woof woof" the very next second.

Mu Xingzhou's face darkened.

Wang Daming's smile turned a bit awkward.

Fortunately, Mu Xingzhou didn't say anything. He just forcefully thrust his arm into the hiking backpack, digging and tugging until he finally managed to pull out another bag of snacks from deep within.

Feng Qianqian, who had already walked over to Ning Chuyang, silently walked back.

"Cream flavored." Mu Xingzhou placed the bag of preserved plums from his hand into the box, still blandly stating the flavor.

Two times in a row. Wang Daming felt it was necessary to say something. "It seems our Teacher Mu enjoys seaweed-flavored potato chips and cream-flavored preserved plums."

Mu Xingzhou shook his head and smiled. "I don't like them."

Wang Daming: ???

Viewers: ???

There was some dirt? Should he press the issue, or should he press the issue? Wang Daming took a look at the grinning Mu Xingzhou and felt that his smile didn't look entirely sincere...

Just as Wang Daming was hesitating, Feng Qianqian, who had been quietly holding the box off to the side, suddenly spoke up, "It looks like Teacher Mu's lunch is sorted."

After saying that, Feng Qianqian gave Mu Xingzhou a friendly smile before walking somewhat cheerfully toward Ning Chuyang.

Mu Xingzhou froze for a second, seemingly guessing something, and his expression instantly worsened.

The bag of preserved plums Mu Xingzhou had placed in the box was in sealed packaging and wrapped in an extra plastic bag on the outside, yet it was still sniffed out by the Dog. Coupled with Feng Qianqian's comment, the people behind him naturally became much more honest.

Soon, the box gained Ning Chuyang's two bags of fruit drops and a bag of jerky contributed by Guan Yongyi. That's right, it was the exact same jerky that Song Shiyue and the others had made earlier.

Although Director Zhang had said on the spaceship within the Mingtan System that no food was allowed, everyone more or less harbored a mindset of leaving things to chance.

But with Mu Xingzhou as a cautionary tale, Ning Chuyang and Guan Yongyi were both very proactive in handing things over.

However, when it came to Zhuang Jiachuan and Yu Nianbing, Feng Qianqian came up empty-handed twice in a row. It seemed there were still rule-abiding people after all.

Zhuang Jiachuan, however, couldn't help but cast a sideways glance at Yu Nianbing, who also hadn't smuggled in any food.

Then, it was the highly anticipated turn of Song Shiyue.

It wasn't that everyone thought they'd see a ton of food from that gigantic bag. They were just looking forward to the moment that half-empty bag opened, to see Song Shiyue's embarrassed face.

Only, contrary to expectations, Feng Qianqian stood before Song Shiyue, yet Song Shiyue showed no intention of opening her bag for a long time.

"??? Could it be that Song Shiyue didn't bring any food in her bag? Then wouldn't that mean she doesn't have to open it?"

"No! I don't believe it! She loves eating so much, how could she not smuggle anything!"

"Someone who leeches off hot searches is absolutely not this much of a rule-follower!"

"Right! Absolutely impossible. Only our Little Ice Block is this kind of rule-abiding person!"

"I want to see inside the bag, and the Production Team probably wants to see too. Hurry up and open it!"

"Close the doors! Release the Dog!"

"Release the Dog!"

"Release the Dog!"

Every person had to be sniffed by the Dog, and Song Shiyue naturally wouldn't be an exception.

Wang Daming stepped forward leading the Dog, and Song Shiyue stared intently into the Dog's eyes. Wang Daming suddenly felt the dog leash in his hand grow heavy. Looking down, he saw the Dog, which came up to his calves, silently backing away.

"Come on, come on. Just one more, and we're done once you sniff." Wang Daming applied more force to the hand holding the dog leash.

It was just that Wang Daming was strong, and the Dog's strength wasn't small either. For a moment, one person and one Dog were deadlocked between Yu Nianbing and Song Shiyue.

Yu Nianbing stood the closest, so naturally, she also noticed that something was amiss.

When this Dog had come over to sniff her earlier, it was full of energy, swaggering yet very obedient. How had it tucked its tail and started throwing a tantrum in just a few moments' time? Yu Nianbing instinctively turned her head to look at Song Shiyue, only to see the younger girl looking intently--no... staring--at the Dog, with a ferocity in her eyes that Yu Nianbing had never seen before.

In Yu Nianbing's impression, the Song Shiyue who had come to confess and leech off the hot search half a year ago was delicate and shy. The Song Shiyue she had grown somewhat familiar with recently was lively and considerate.

But a ruthlessness like this was something Yu Nianbing had never witnessed, causing her to freeze in surprise.

However, Yu Nianbing quickly realized that Song Shiyue couldn't act like this right now.

Did she think that by scaring away a Dog, the Production Team would default to assuming there was no food in her bag? Besides, even if they didn't open her bag now and let her carry it, the food would eventually have to be eaten, right? When would she eat it? Behind everyone's backs? Hidden from the livestream? That was impossible... With everyone else forced to hand over theirs, she would only invite more gossip later.

Yu Nianbing couldn't figure it out, but now wasn't the time to overthink it.

"Ah..." Yu Nianbing took two steps toward Song Shiyue, then pretended to twist her ankle, reaching out to grab Song Shiyue's sleeve to steady her body.

Such a clumsy trick successfully and swiftly drew Song Shiyue's attention.

"What's wrong?" Song Shiyue immediately supported Yu Nianbing, her gaze full of tension as she looked at her, without a trace of the ruthlessness she had used to stare down the Dog moments ago.

Seeing such a worried expression, a sliver of guilt actually arose in Yu Nianbing's heart.

However, at the end of the day, she was just doing it for Song Shiyue's own good...

"I'm fine, just twisted it a little." From the corner of her eye, Yu Nianbing saw that the Dog was no longer playing tug-of-war with Wang Daming, and quickly added, "Once the things that need to be handed in are handed over, I'll be fine after sitting for a while."

Yu Nianbing hoped Song Shiyue would understand her hint, while simultaneously expecting the Dog to step up. It had merely been glared at twice by a young girl; how could it be this useless?

Little did Yu Nianbing know how many ferocious beasts Song Shiyue had faced in the past. Even in a new shell, scaring a Dog was more than within her capabilities.

Song Shiyue failed to understand Yu Nianbing's hint, but instead picked up on even more cause for concern.

"You need to sit for a while to be fine? Does it hurt right now?" With that, Song Shiyue directly dropped to one knee while still wearing the massive bag, grabbing Yu Nianbing's ankle as she said, "Let me see."

Before Yu Nianbing had time to stop her, the huge bag suddenly dropped to chest height, and her right ankle was held by a warm hand.

Suddenly, a bit of heat spread across her face.

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