WS - Chapter 33
Chapter 33
When she had set off, she was alone; when she returned, there was a whole group. That delicate-looking girl had taken down three snakes all by herself, and now that the task of gutting them was at hand, how could the others just stand by and watch?
When Song Shiyue went to pick up the snakes, Zhuang Jiachuan, who had always been rather perceptive, was the first to step forward and help, and the others naturally had no reason to lag behind.
They gathered what needed gathering and carried what needed carrying; in no time, the group was almost at Yu Nianbing's side.
As it turned out, the three men—each holding a large snake—had left Song Shiyue and Ning Chuyang with no work for the moment.
As the group approached, Yu Nianbing's eyes went straight to Song Shiyue among them. Seeing her chatting and laughing with Ning Chuyang, not looking unhappy at all, she breathed a small sigh of relief.
All three snakes had been killed by Song Shiyue. By the earlier agreement, they were all her prizes. If this were a real disaster with everyone surviving in the wild, it would be perfectly natural for her to keep them entirely to herself.
But this was just a variety show livestream lasting a little over ten days. The production team wouldn't let anyone die of thirst or hunger—they'd even keep us from getting too thirsty or hungry. There had to be arrangements in place; at worst, we would only be put through some hardships.
In that case, if she didn't share these extra gains, some viewers watching the livestream on StarNet would surely criticize her. Song Shiyue already had more antis than fans, so even a small misstep could escalate into a major flaw. This was an unavoidable problem for anyone in the entertainment industry.
But...
Yu Nianbing had seen firsthand how passionate Song Shiyue was about food during this time. If Song Shiyue didn't want to share the three snakes, it would be understandable.
Still, this was actually a small matter. After all, Song Shiyue had earlier mentioned sharing some with her and Ning Chuyang. If she didn't share with the others, at most she'd be accused of playing favorites. With the excuse that the men could hunt for themselves and Song Shiyue was just looking after the women, it wouldn't be hard to justify.
What mattered most right now was the stone in her hand.
Yu Nianbing steadied herself. When the group drew near, she sidled over to Song Shiyue, then used the pretext of leading the way to pull her along. A couple of quick steps and the two were out in front, a little ahead of the others.
Song Shiyue had grown accustomed to being pulled along by Yu Nianbing these past couple of days; she offered no resistance and followed obediently.
Especially now, seeing Yu Nianbing's expression turn serious, she couldn't help but think of her own little move when she had been picking up the snakes.
"You just now..." Yu Nianbing lowered her voice, choosing her words carefully.
Song Shiyue stole another glance at Yu Nianbing, whose sternness had deepened a notch, and suddenly thought of a saying: Leniency for those who confess, severity for those who resist.
"I just..." Song Shiyue shifted the stone from her left hand to her right and slowly held it out. "I picked this up, but I'll just wash it and keep it. I won't use it to tie my hair."
In Song Shiyue's left palm was a chubby hair tie with two blue beads dangling from it.
Thrown off by this sudden shift, Yu Nianbing paused, nearly losing her train of thought.
Where they stood wasn't far from the water source Song Shiyue had mentioned. After this slight delay, Yu Nianbing could already glimpse a small stream flowing not far ahead through the gap between two trees.
Great, it looked like a relatively shallow stream, not a deep river.
Actually, when Song Shiyue had said there was running water up ahead, Yu Nianbing had guessed it was something small and not very swift; otherwise, she wouldn't have heard nothing at all this close. Now confirmed with her own eyes, she felt even more relieved.
But with only a few steps left, Yu Nianbing had no time to discuss hair ties. Timing it carefully, she reached out and took the stone on top of the two that Song Shiyue was holding in her right hand—the one that had been partially ground flat. She spoke again: "This stone seems a bit too crumbly. Maybe it's weathered, which is why it shed so much dust when ground. Even as I hold it, it's shedding powder. A stone like this, even if you sharpened it into a blade, would be rather inadequate for handling those... snakes, wouldn't it?"
Crumbly? Weathered? Even when Yu Nianbing pinches it, it sheds powder? Song Shiyue couldn't help but feel this didn't sound like the stone she had chosen for making a knife.
Seeing that they had emerged from that stretch of forest and the stream was just a few steps away, Yu Nianbing didn't wait for Song Shiyue to speak. She placed the stone back in Song Shiyue's hand and gave her sleeve a practiced tug.
Song Shiyue habitually quickened her pace, matching Yu Nianbing's pull.
By doing so, the two pulled well ahead of the others.
"I think there are quite a lot of stones in the running water, in all kinds of shapes. Why don't we look some more? Maybe we can find thinner, harder ones that would be easier to grind. Even if they're not especially sharp, they could manage for handling the snakes." As she spoke, Yu Nianbing crouched down, reached into the clear stream, and scooped vigorously a few times. Then she looked up and added, "Oh, I've heard you should wet the stone when sharpening a knife. Is it the same for grinding stones? Since there's water right here, if we find a suitable one, we could grind it in the water?"
Shouldn't Yu Nianbing know that stones in running water are often more rounded from erosion than those on the ground? Song Shiyue looked at Yu Nianbing, who was still splashing in the water, seemingly searching earnestly for a stone.
Was she stirring too deeply? Mud from the bottom had been churned up, and since the stream flowed slowly, the once-clear water in that spot turned so murky that the stones below couldn't be seen.
Song Shiyue was puzzled. She was about to warn Yu Nianbing that groping in such muddy water would not only make it impossible to find a good stone but could also easily cut her hand.
But the words reached her lips, only to be bitten back and swallowed, leaving just a faint exhalation.
"What is it?" Yu Nianbing looked up.
Although she was looking for a stone, Yu Nianbing's attention had been on Song Shiyue all along.
Now, their eyes met, and Yu Nianbing knew that her efforts had not been in vain.
And Song Shiyue, from the hint of anticipation in Yu Nianbing's eyes, confirmed that she hadn't been overthinking.
"Impressive, there really is running water here. Teacher Song, give us that stone knife and we'll take care of the snakes." Zhuang Jiachuan's voice rang out behind Song Shiyue.
During the day and a half aboard the spaceship, Zhuang Jiachuan had felt that, given his seniority, it was appropriate to address Yu Nianbing as "teacher," and he hadn't called Song Shiyue that way. But now, even though Zhuang Jiachuan had certain agreements with the production team, he felt Song Shiyue was far more reliable than Captain Yang or those two bodyguards. Naturally, the address changed.
In the time it took Yu Nianbing to splash the water a bit, the others had all passed through the trees and reached the stream bank.
Hearing Zhuang Jiachuan, everyone's eyes naturally fell on Song Shiyue's hands.
"This... it's probably weathered, too brittle. It'd shatter before cutting through the snake skin." Song Shiyue glanced at the stone, now one side nearly ground flat, and casually tossed it far into the stream. Then she crouched down, reached into the water Yu Nianbing had just muddied, and added, "Wait a bit, let me fish out a couple more. You all go look for some big leaves nearby to wrap things up in layers. And don't wander too far."
That stone just now... brittle?
When Song Shiyue had been grinding the stone earlier, while the others weren't as close as Captain Yang, they had all clearly seen the dust it kicked up.
If the stone was simply that fragile, then the earlier dust made sense.
Even with that explanation, no one thought they could surpass Song Shiyue in making stone knives, so they put down the snakes and went to look for the large leaves she had mentioned.
At last, with that said, Yu Nianbing's heart finally settled.
Then, Song Shiyue began groping around in the muddy water. She kept shifting, expanding the area of murkiness, and before long, with successive "surprises," she found two stone shards that required almost no grinding to be usable. After giving them a quick rub underwater, she lifted them out: palm-sized pieces that were rounded at one end and thin at the other. They couldn't be called sharp, but with some force they should be able to cut.
To her companions on Wilderness Planet, Song Shiyue's deft toss and two grabs seemed perfectly fine. But on StarNet, viewers who had seen the whole preceding episode were plunged into confusion.
Weathered stone is brittle, so a little grinding produces a lot of dust. Grinding the stone in the stream uses the water to cool the heat generated, preserving the stone's integrity.
Both points seemed reasonable.
But...
"Why do I always feel like I missed something?"
"Same."
"Feels like I missed the luck of witnessing a miracle."
"No, my feeling isn't that. I feel like I witnessed a miracle, only to realize it was just a dream."
"Utterly depressed!"
"Lost and empty!"
"Haunting my dreams!"
"To be honest, I still prefer the one that blew stone dust all over Captain Yang's face before."
"Yeah, grinding the knife underwater, the water was so murky I couldn't see!"
"I hope the production team considers smart underwater cameras. 360-degree clarity is our pursuit."
"I got a taste of abalone, sea cucumber, shark fin, and fish maw, and then I'm given plain congee and pickles—how am I supposed to swallow this? Crying!"
On StarNet, the viewers who had seen Song Shiyue's toss-and-grab act were left with an indescribable sense of regret.
Yet, it was a regret they found hard to put into words.
Just like a freshly sprouted seed just breaking through the soil, only to be plucked.
They couldn't shake the feeling that it was never supposed to be just this...
If Yu Nianbing could know what the StarNet viewers were thinking at that moment, all she could do was offer a helpless apology.
After all, to her, Song Shiyue's safety was far more important than the viewers' expectations.
With the stone shard knives, Song Shiyue just supervised as they chopped off and buried the three snake heads; the rest of the snake dressing was taken over by the three men.
She watched them—one holding the snake, another cutting open the belly, another skinning it. Though progress was slow due to the dull stone blades, they managed passably. Song Shiyue left them to it, walked a little upstream, found a spot with clear water, and began washing her hair tie.
Of course, she didn't forget to call Yu Nianbing and Ning Chuyang over.
Yu Nianbing took some of the large leaves from Ning Chuyang, and the two of them picked a spot near Song Shiyue to wash the leaves.
"Are these leaves for wrapping the cleaned snake meat later? Then tying them up with vines to carry?" Ning Chuyang quickly finished washing a stack of leaves and pointed toward the vines on a distant tree.
"Once wrapped, why not put them in a bag?" Song Shiyue shook the water from the hair tie and looked up at Ning Chuyang. "Didn't Assistant Wang have two cloth bags earlier?"
Weren't those cloth bags the production team's—for the snakes? Could a tool like a cloth bag be just handed over so casually? Ning Chuyang was about to speak when Yu Nianbing cut in.
"Right, I forgot to ask Assistant Wang for them just now. It's like buying rice or vegetables comes with a bag, buying electronics or cosmetics comes with a box—it's all part of the package. Song Shiyue took down those snakes, so of course the snake bags should come with them. The production team won't go back on their word." As Yu Nianbing spoke, she looked at Ning Chuyang with a comforting expression. "Don't worry, the production team is trustworthy. Otherwise, how could they carry out the rest of the activities?"
Was that true?
Something felt off...
Ning Chuyang couldn't help glancing at Yu Nianbing a few more times, but the other's face remained fixed with reassurance and sincerity, not lessening one bit.
Oh!
She is definitely acting!
Ning Chuyang chuckled inwardly. She knew it—Teacher Yu, who always wore a cold face around others, would never normally be so gentle and explain things so thoroughly.
"So, I wonder what the production team has arranged for our lunch. Will it be ready-made, or do we have to make it ourselves?" Ning Chuyang asked, but her eyes remained on Yu Nianbing.
Having dug that pit for the production team about the bags, Yu Nianbing had been ready to drop it. But seeing Ning Chuyang keen to chat, she was momentarily at a loss.
Song Shiyue had been pondering this question for a while. She blurted out, "My manager Uncle Wang said that in wilderness survival shows, the first day always tests everyone's fire-making skills. I guess we'll be making our own food."
Yu Nianbing and Ning Chuyang both looked at Song Shiyue, then exchanged a glance, each seeing a hint of suppressed, resigned amusement in the other's eyes.
"I also think there'll be at least one meal today where we have to cook for ourselves. After all, this is The Wilderness Journey; boxed meals wouldn't fit the wilderness theme." Having said this, Yu Nianbing turned to Ning Chuyang.
Ning Chuyang nodded, laughing. "Right! The food has to be natural and unadulterated—that's the whole point. People live by food, even in the wilderness. And today, with Song Shiyue having taken down three big snakes, it's a surprise that's off to a great start. The production team should really praise our Song Shiyue for boosting the ratings."
"When the time comes, we can roast two and boil one. With so many of us, it should be enough energy for a meal." Song Shiyue thought for a moment and added, "Or maybe one roasted and two boiled? More soup would be nice too. How many of us are there now... six plus..."
"Six people." Yu Nianbing cut off Song Shiyue's words, thinking to herself, This girl is even kinder than I imagined. She's so fond of food, and they confiscated all those well-prepared snacks, yet now she's even counting the production team in on the game? Still, seeing the slightly pained look on Song Shiyue's face as she calculated, Yu Nianbing decided she would be the bad guy here.
Ning Chuyang was quick to pick up. After Yu Nianbing spoke, she followed right up: "The production team has their own food; they won't use ours. We six can barely fend for ourselves, let alone feed the production team. Besides, they have their own food and drink; they wouldn't have the heart to take our share. Right, Teacher Yu?"
Yu Nianbing nodded. "Yes. Also, the production team didn't allow us to bring snacks before. Song Shiyue, didn't you have two small packets of seasoning powder in that snack bag of yours, and they wouldn't let you bring those either? That probably means they brought some for us; we just don't know how to get them. Other things aside, if we don't get any salt, we might not hold up. But we don't know how many days they'll make us wait before giving us salt."
"No salt?" Song Shiyue had been watching the two of them banter back and forth, not wanting to interrupt, but at this she couldn't help but speak up. "Without salt, no matter how you cook the snake, it won't taste good, right?"
"Maybe they think it's already surprising that we even have enough to eat." Ning Chuyang sighed. "I hope I still have the strength to walk after two days without salt."
"We're going to be walking in the mountains for over ten days; they can't keep us without salt forever." Yu Nianbing sounded uncertain, then added, "But maybe they're upset about the two prop snakes they meant to scare us with, so they won't give us salt for this meal."
"That's so mean." Ning Chuyang pouted, snapping the water off the leaves with a few sharp flicks. She struck a willful pose. "They're just jealous of us. No wonder they agreed so easily that whatever Song Shiyue caught would be hers—they actually had a backup plan to make sure even if we caught something, it wouldn't taste good!" As she spoke, her eyes reddened slightly, yet she kept up that stubborn, angry front, making people itch to soothe her grievance.
That's some impressive acting, Yu Nianbing inwardly praised, but she steadied her tone and advised, "Not necessarily. I think if the production team wants us to cook, they'll have to provide utensils and seasonings. At worst, it's a test of our cooking skills. Since the snake was honestly hunted, they won't hold back on the seasonings. The production team didn't come along just to bully us."
Soothed by Yu Nianbing's words, Ning Chuyang's expression softened a little. She sniffled twice, then turned to Song Shiyue with a bit of embarrassment. "Thank you so much today. I've watched some wilderness survival shows before, and they always say eating bugs is about getting enough energy to survive. Now that we have enough energy to survive today, the bugs can at least be postponed until tomorrow."
Although this impromptu dialogue, built entirely on their shared knack for complaining about the production team, had been started by Yu Nianbing, even she hadn't expected Ning Chuyang's reply. Truly, the waves behind drive on those before. Yu Nianbing had only meant to goad the production team into providing cookware and seasonings, but Ning Chuyang had even managed to dodge today's punishment.
Because of Yu Nianbing's slight misgivings, even though Song Shiyue had no intention of wearing that hair tie, she washed it over and over in the stream.
But when had these two gotten so familiar? Their exchange made sense on the surface, yet Song Shiyue felt there was something she wasn't catching.
Song Shiyue wrung the water from the hair tie and lowered her gaze.
At the edge of the woods, Captain Yang leaned slightly against a tree, watching the two groups by the stream a dozen steps away, his brow furrowing.
This should have been the moment when, having completed his debut performance, he would explain some wilderness survival knowledge and further establish his authority.
But now, some were dressing snakes, others washing leaves—they didn't seem to need him at all...
At least Captain Yang remembered this was a livestream and tried to control his expression, though his eyes grew darker.
Before long, fast, heavy footsteps came from the woods behind him.
Captain Yang turned to see Director Zhang's sweaty face appear a few steps behind him.
"Director Zhang?" Captain Yang hesitated. "After Song Shiyue smashed the snake just now, I wanted to find you. Where did you go?"
Director Zhang glanced at Captain Yang, then at the seemingly empty air, stepped back a few paces, and mouthed, "Convenience."
Captain Yang nodded, though with some regret. Earlier in the woods, he felt he might have had a chance to deflate Song Shiyue's pride. But Director Zhang hadn't been there, so he'd missed even a hint through a look.
But now was far from the time to ask.
Captain Yang knew he was also under the livestream camera and swallowed his questions.
Some things Captain Yang could swallow, but Director Zhang could not.
Director Zhang was mentally exhausted. He'd just had a bad night's sleep and a bit of a stomach upset. In the brief time he'd gone, he'd witnessed Song Shiyue's masterful stone-grinding through the camera feeds, seen Captain Yang stymied into silence by Yu Nianbing, and then watched Yu Nianbing and Ning Chuyang's back-and-forth that had directly roasted their original plan over the fire.
"We need to regroup, or we won't reach the scheduled noon rest stop." Director Zhang wiped the sweat from his face, glanced up again, and couldn't help but step back another half pace. One hand flat over his lips, he silently urged, "Don't let them eat bugs for lunch."
"What?" Captain Yang thought he had misread Director Zhang's mouthing.
Weren't they supposed to be punished?
Forget it...
Director Zhang looked up and dropped his hand.
Things had come this far; everyone should just fend for themselves for now. There were some matters—if they could hold out until Captain Yang used the privacy shield, Director Zhang would be willing to explain. But risking it now was out of the question.
Of course, if Director Zhang had known that every one of his silent expressions was being broadcast in high definition, he wouldn't have thought that way.
Ning Chuyang had gone so far as to goad the production team into dropping today's punishment; Yu Nianbing felt it wasn't appropriate to keep playing along with her.
On the snake matter today, the production team was in the wrong, so it was fine to say a few words to get something out of them. But if pushed too hard, the production team might just throw up their hands. She couldn't keep taking risks.
Fortunately, when Yu Nianbing stopped, Ning Chuyang knew when to quit too, and they just exchanged a few casual remarks.
Song Shiyue suddenly felt that the atmosphere had returned to normal.
"By the way," Yu Nianbing suddenly turned to Song Shiyue, "no matter where we head next, let's go back to the plane first. I think I spotted a clump of lemongrass when we ran into the snake. Since we don't have anything else, adding a bit of lemongrass to the roasted snake should make it taste better, right?"
"I've had lemongrass chicken," Ning Chuyang chimed in eagerly. "Whether it's roasting or boiling, if you see an edible plant like that, you can't let it go."
Yu Nianbing nodded. "That's the idea; it won't take up much space. I've heard lemongrass can also repel insects, but you have to distill it, and I'm not very good at that." If they could also find mint, insect-repelling grass, mugwort, or similar things, they could try distilling a weak insect-repelling liquid. But with just lemongrass, it was too little; distillation probably wouldn't do much.
"Edible is enough. Repelling insects can wait. Snake meat with no seasonings at all just isn't tasty." Song Shiyue hastily shook the water from the hair tie and asked, "Then shall we wait for them or go pick it first? Teacher Yu, you did your homework, right? Can you manage to find wild ginger, wild garlic, wild scallions, and that sort of thing? If so, with just a bit of salt, it would be great."
Yu Nianbing: "..." So am I a hunting dog now?
But seeing Song Shiyue's shining, hopeful eyes, Yu Nianbing's retort was destined to remain stuck in her throat.
"Fine... I'll pick whatever I see." Yu Nianbing nodded somewhat heavily.
But just when she thought of hunting dogs, why did Yu Nianbing feel like she actually heard... a dog barking?
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