WS - Chapter 26
Chapter 26
StarNet viewers demanded the bag be opened, and it was opened.
But once it was opened, the mocking comments were all typed up, yet no one pressed send.
What...
is all this!
Smart cameras, high-def filming, the best angle — viewers watched as a huge bag of jerky, a huge bag of dehydrated vegetables, and a huge bag of powder stuffed the already not-small storage box more than half full.
Then a large bag whose contents were unclear, which Song Shiyue said was just some small snacks, was placed down, and the storage box was nearly... full...
Song Shiyue's enormous backpack deflated rapidly, and it was visibly only a small fraction full of stuff now.
At this point, even those who wanted to mock Song Shiyue couldn't claim the remaining items in the bag were air packs.
After all, she had to leave some room for clothes and other necessities, right? Could it be that before there were only air packs and food...
If when viewers first saw Song Shiyue taking out jerky and dehydrated vegetables they were merely shocked into not sending their pre-typed mockery, then later, when Feng Qianqian, clearly lacking the strength, tremblingly placed the box on the ground, viewers were left utterly dumbfounded.
How heavy must the things in Song Shiyue's bag be...
At this point, viewers no longer wanted to see any empty-bag-stealing-the-spotlight face-slapping scenes, since they could just pick up a mirror and see one starring themselves.
What they now desperately wanted to see was the production team bringing a scale and properly weighing Song Shiyue's bag...
Unfortunately, the viewers' wishes couldn't reach the distant Wilderness Planet and the staff without StarNet.
However, later when Wang Daming tried to lift the box and failed at first, then staggered after lifting it, it was enough to prove again that what Song Shiyue brought out was genuinely heavy.
And that was just the food portion of the bag.
If you included the clothes and such that hadn't been taken out yet...
How had she carried such a bag so effortlessly for so long?
From the moment Song Shiyue opened the bag, both Song Shiyue's and Yu Nianbing's livestream pages experienced a brief pause in danmaku.
It was a long while before viewers who had regained their senses began to voice their amazement at just how great Song Shiyue's strength was.
Among them, some stood out as especially remarkable...
"Carrying such a heavy bag — staying upright is still imaginable, but what about that completely unprepared kneel and rise just now?"
"Right, when she knelt, her whole body went straight down. When she got up, she didn't even push off the ground."
"She looks like a delicate young lady, but is actually a fitness guru?"
"Without any visible muscles, what kind of fitness guru..."
"If I may be blunt, am I the only one who saw it was two kneels and two rises?"
"I saw it too."
"You are not alone."
"We are a group."
"If I may also be blunt, am I the only one who thinks that effortlessly kneeling and rising upright under such weight is because of the power of love?"
"???"
"..."
"???"
"You ARE alone!"
"Only you!"
"No, me too!"
"Me! The power of love!"
"In the entire world, only the three of you think so!"
"+4"
"+5"
"+666"
"??? I beg for the ability to display usernames before danmaku! Purge these CP-pushers from the Little Ice Bucket ranks!"
"A petition signed in blood — give us username display! I refuse to believe our Little Mooncakes don't deserve a name!"
"Hey, isn't it the Song-Yu CP?"
"..."
On StarNet, many people's faces stung somewhat, but that didn't stop their courage to keep fighting.
Only a small handful of Song Shiyue's fans felt a little lost amid the sea of "Little Ice Buckets" and "Little Mooncakes," touched by a strange sort of loneliness.
Of course, besides artist fans and CP fans, there were plenty of casual viewers of the program also complaining in the danmaku.
Only, what they were complaining about was that the production team seemed rather too harsh. The checklist Wang Daming read out essentially said, "Apart from the items I'm about to list, you can't bring anything else."
And what had Wang Daming listed? Just the clothes on their backs...
In other words, the only thing the artists could bring was their own clothing.
Everything else had to be handed over.
And there was quite a lot to hand over.
The previous box had been stuffed by Song Shiyue to the point where there was really no space left. Wang Daming had to go into the Old Castle and bring out another large box.
Soon, cosmetics, combs, razors, medicine, inflatable pillows, ropes, knives, lighters, flashlights, compasses, water bottles, tissues, pocket knives, binoculars, sewing kits, candles, lunchboxes, and all sorts of miscellaneous items were placed inside.
These items weren't just singles, and among them, cosmetics were naturally the most confiscated — basically all six artists each contributed a pack.
Although Wang Daming had said earlier that the production team would distribute some items to them, no one thought that cosmetics would be among them.
Still, having already gone through the food confiscation earlier, no one raised any objections to what came after.
The Director Team's stance was already clear — they were not in a mood to accept bargaining. And no one had any anticipation whatsoever for the punishment Wang Daming had mentioned.
Better to endure it now than to clash with the production team at this point, get saddled with a punishment they weren't sure they could handle, and end up making an ugly scene on the livestream later.
After all, among the six, aside from Zhuang Jiachuan being somewhat older, the other few could hold their own even bare-faced.
The strict production team clearly wasn't going to let the artists off that easily.
After confirming they had handed over everything except clothing, Wang Daming and Feng Qianqian each inspected the artists' backpacks again and pulled out a box of matches Zhuang Jiachuan had missed handing in and a pair of eye masks Ning Chuyang had overlooked.
The eye masks were tiny and thin, sealed in a finger-length packet, and indeed Ning Chuyang had forgotten to hand them in.
As for the matches... only Zhuang Jiachuan himself knew about that.
In any case, the two of them would be sharing today's punishment with Mu Xingzhou.
When Feng Qianqian searched Song Shiyue's bag, she paid extra attention. Sure enough, a bag capable of bearing such weight — whether in its thick fabric or its multiple parallel rows of stitching — was nothing like an ordinary hiking backpack on the market. Coupled with what they'd seen earlier of jerky and dehydrated vegetables, it seemed that Song Shiyue herself was far from the delicate crybaby discussed during the production team's earlier meetings.
However, Song Shiyue's bag did indeed hold only some clothes, which left Feng Qianqian somewhat disappointed. She didn't know why, but she always had a feeling that Song Shiyue was not the type to surrender so meekly and let the production team push her around. But as things now appeared, it looked like she might have been overthinking it.
After confiscation came, of course, distribution.
One water bottle, one portable toilet kit, one flashlight, one bottle of sunscreen per person.
And that was all.
"Not even a single bottle of insect repellent?" Ning Chuyang, who had been working hard to keep her temper in check, finally couldn't hold back. "This is going too far. I can smell the insect repellent on your production team. You get to be comfortable, but we don't even get to protect our lives?"
"Sure, sure. I just hadn't finished distributing yet." Wang Daming smiled and pointed to the remaining items in the new supply box he had just dragged over, then pointed to the box holding their confiscated odds and ends. "What I just gave you — the water bottles, portable toilet kits, flashlights, and sunscreen — those were unconditional. If you need anything else, you'll have to trade something for it. I have more than just insect repellent here — there are compasses, small knives, stainless-steel lunchboxes, mirrors, binoculars... and on top of those, everything you just handed over counts too. You can trade any of it back. Even though you currently have nothing to your name, we can also let you take credit in advance."
Although Ning Chuyang was displeased, her brain was still working. Hearing this brought no delight; instead, she asked warily, "Trade with what?"
"One punishment," Wang Daming replied with a grin.
Ning Chuyang gave a cold laugh and never brought up the insect repellent again.
For a moment, no one spoke, and the scene fell into silence.
Wang Daming's smile stiffened somewhat, but he steeled himself and didn't back down. He added, "For your cosmetics, we can count three items as one set. That means for one punishment, you can trade back three cosmetic items. I won't elaborate on the usefulness of insect repellent. And take this stainless-steel lunchbox — don't let its unremarkable appearance fool you. It can hold food, it can hold water, and when you lack proper cooking equipment, it can double as a small pot. It really couldn't be more practical..."
Thanks to Mu Xingzhou being the first to break a rule and Feng Qianqian accidentally letting it slip, everyone had already guessed that the punishment was related to lunch.
What else could it be? It had to be insects.
Ning Chuyang had wanted insect repellent to begin with, but hearing now that it required a punishment in trade, she immediately abandoned any thought of agreeing. Something you couldn't wait to avoid, only to end up having to eat it — there was absolutely no thought of trading for it.
Hearing that it cost a punishment, even those who had previously had items they wanted to trade for mostly lost interest at this point.
And afterward, Wang Daming's pitchman-like antics only made everyone feel this was an enormous trap, so naturally no one was going to jump in lightly.
Wang Daming praised one item after another, and when it was starting to become too awkward to continue, someone finally spoke up.
"I'll trade for one." Zhuang Jiachuan stepped forward.
"Of course, of course. Which ones?" Wang Daming thought Zhuang Jiachuan was definitely going to trade for cosmetics, so he automatically used the plural.
Zhuang Jiachuan shook his head. "Just one. That insect repellent, then."
Wang Daming nimbly pulled out a thumb-sized bottle of insect repellent from the supply box. Before handing it to Zhuang Jiachuan, he confirmed once more, "You're sure you want to use one punishment to trade for this insect repellent? Counting the matches you failed to hand in earlier, that makes two punishments. Once you take it, no take-backs."
"No take-backs," Zhuang Jiachuan said, carrying a certain inexplicably righteous look.
Wang Daming handed the insect repellent to Zhuang Jiachuan, feeling a wave of relief — at last, he had met this segment's quota.
Zhuang Jiachuan turned and walked over to Ning Chuyang, extending it. "You use it first, then let everyone have a bit."
Before the words were fully out, before Ning Chuyang could even react, Wang Daming stuck his head out from behind and announced loudly, "That won't work. Items traded for with a punishment can only be used by the person who traded for them. Otherwise it's a rule violation, and whoever uses it will receive a punishment, you know."
Ning Chuyang quickly lowered her hand, which had already risen a little, and smiled at Zhuang Jiachuan. "No matter what, thank you."
Zhuang Jiachuan returned the smile, but when he turned back around, his movements were rather stiff.
"You didn't mention that before," Zhuang Jiachuan said, struggling to keep anger out of his voice.
Wang Daming replied with an apologetic smile, "Well... I'm mentioning it now, aren't I? No take-backs, no take-backs."
Zhuang Jiachuan was indeed angry.
How could he not be?
He had used one punishment to buy goodwill with everyone.
But now!
The goodwill was wasted, and the production team had set him up again, making him look like a fool!
If he had known no one else would trade back cosmetics anyway, he would have been better off trading for cosmetics instead!
No matter how stifled Zhuang Jiachuan looked, now that someone had taken the bait for this segment, Wang Daming's mission was accomplished. After all, this show was never meant to be a harmonious collaboration between the production team and the artists. He could only say sorry in his heart.
Just as Wang Daming was relaxing and preparing to move on to the next segment, another voice spoke.
"Then for one punishment, can I trade for those?" Song Shiyue stepped forward and raised her hand, pointing steadily at the storage box where the food had been confiscated earlier.
Wang Daming hesitated, then turned back to look at Director Zhang.
Director Zhang was also somewhat hesitant.
In Director Zhang's view, food concerned the watchability of the program going forward, so naturally it couldn't be left with the artists. But then again... he did rather want to see Song Shiyue endure a punishment.
Yet in just a moment, Director Zhang made up his mind and shook his head.
After all, the quantities of food Song Shiyue had handed over were massive. As long as they didn't return them, there would be opportunities to leverage it later — no need to rush.
"Ahem, food is not allowed." Wang Daming glanced at the other box and added, "But you can trade for other things. You handed over a small knife, rope, and a compass — that was yours too, wasn't it..."
Song Shiyue smiled and shook her head. "If food is off the table, then forget it."
Wang Daming had half a mind to try persuading her further, but seeing how Song Shiyue showed not an ounce of lingering desire once she heard food was a no-go, he shut his mouth.
This girl was nothing but a foodie; nothing else was going to hook her, it seemed.
"Um..." Guan Yongyi also stepped forward, then dodged Wang Daming's blazing sales-pitch gaze. "I'm not trying to trade for anything. I just wanted to ask — we haven't formally started entering the wilderness yet. That jerky Teacher Mu tasted just now, could I try one too?" As he spoke, Guan Yongyi looked somewhat sheepishly at Song Shiyue.
Wang Daming: ???
Mu Xingzhou: "..." How about I just let you eat the rest of this half, alright?
"Of course, we haven't officially started yet." Song Shiyue walked a few steps to the food box, tore off a piece for Guan Yongyi, and even thoughtfully peeled open the packaging. She looked at the remaining people. "Anyone else want some?"
Ning Chuyang shuffled over slowly. Zhuang Jiachuan thought it over and also came over.
Song Shiyue tore off a piece for each of them, then tossed the bag of jerky back into the box.
Yu Nianbing, who had been about to move her feet...
So she really was still angry about clearly advising her to hand over the food earlier!
"Alright, we're about ready to head out now. Everyone can still use the restroom one more time. Please make the most of it — once we're in the mountains, you'll only have the portable kits." Director Zhang, seeing that this segment was about wrapped up, announced loudly.
Knowing that today they would be entering the mountains, everyone had eaten rather dry food in the morning, drinking little water, and had all taken care of business before assembly. Now they'd only been standing at the entrance talking and handing over several rounds of items — most people, naturally, had no pressing needs yet.
Of course, this didn't include Song Shiyue, who had eaten and drunk exactly as she pleased at breakfast. Song Shiyue walked into the Old Castle.
Yu Nianbing hesitated on the spot for a moment, then followed her in.
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