WS - Chapter 47

Chapter 47

It wasn't a major matter of principle; since Director Zhang had spoken, Captain Yang naturally couldn't stubbornly insist on going his own way.

In a show destined to make the guests suffer, there was always a bit of opposition between the production team and the guests. The team leader was the role caught in the middle, the hardest position to hold.

You either sided with the guests to fill in the production team's traps, or you helped the production team dig more traps for the guests. You had to lean one way or the other — it was rare to find anyone who could please both sides.

Captain Yang, coming from a training background, was used to being the one who dug the traps. Although before joining this show he had considered shifting to the role of a leader who worked together with the guests, which would bring more benefits, after long discussions with the Mu Group and the production team, he chose to stick with his familiar old path.

Establish authority, then act as the production team's spokesperson, standing on the front line of trap-digging.

This was the hope the Mu Group had hinted at, and it was also what he needed to do on the road to fulfilling his ambitions for Wilderness Planet.

As for authority with the guests, there was no need to bring that up for now. Captain Yang knew he couldn't fight the production team over such a small matter at this moment and risk losing their support.

This frustration, Captain Yang could only swallow along with the earlier frustration over the cold, greasy boxed meal that the Dog had eaten.

Of course, by this point, no one present still cared whether he swallowed this frustration or whether he had permitted this matter or not.

Hearing Yu Nianbing's words, Song Shiyue's mind turned slightly, and she reached out to take the trembling insect from Ning Chuyang's hand.

But just as Song Shiyue was about to close her palms and start crushing, Yu Nianbing, glancing at Ning Chuyang who was still forcing herself to hold on despite the cold sweat on her forehead, couldn't help but speak again. "Wait."

She didn't call out a name, but Song Shiyue understood and immediately stopped.

"Before coming to Wilderness Planet, I also watched some other wilderness survival variety documentaries." Yu Nianbing spoke slowly, but her gaze was fixed precisely on Captain Yang's face. "I saw that in those shows, professional leaders, in order to help team members overcome difficulties and break through obstacles, always led by example and set the standard. When team members felt afraid or lost, they would extend a hand of friendship, be the first to make a brave and correct demonstration, and inspire the team members to work hard together."

When Yu Nianbing first started speaking, everyone was still a bit unclear about why she had suddenly called for a halt. But by this point, everyone present understood her intention to stir things up.

Unfortunately, Ning Chuyang, who had earlier been so in sync with Yu Nianbing during their verbal sparring, was now too disgusted by the insects to pick up the cue.

But Ning Chuyang's slowness gave Song Shiyue an opportunity to shine.

"The one facing the biggest challenge right now is Teacher Zhuang. I think Captain Yang might need to do double the amount to give Teacher Zhuang a little comfort and courage." Song Shiyue had never been one for roundabout approaches and directly stated the demand. Doing the same amount would be letting Captain Yang off too easy; he ought to do double the largest portion to make up for his malicious act of offering insects right after everyone had just eaten their fill.

His mouth full of ginger flavor, Mu Xingzhou, who was crouched by the stone pot using a wooden ladle to refill his water bottle, looked up and sneered. "I've heard that the teachers in charge at school, in order to set a suitable problem for their students, have to do a hundred, even a thousand problems themselves first."

"Back when I was still in training, when the coach taught us a new move, he would also demonstrate it many times first." Guan Yongyi, a bit late to catch on, nevertheless added a timely comment.

These people!

Captain Yang knew that what Yu Nianbing said made sense. Back when he was leading teams in frontline training, he had done his fair share of insect-eating demonstrations too. What were insects, really? No matter how disgusting, once they were in your stomach, it was all the same. Having done the psychological preparation countless times, Captain Yang wasn't fazed at all.

But!

Stepping up to be a role model, to be a brave example, was that the same as being pushed into it by these people, one word after another?

And hundreds, thousands of problems — did they want him to eat both these boxes entirely?

Even as others picked up where she left off, Yu Nianbing's gaze never left Captain Yang. She watched as, the more everyone said, the tighter Captain Yang's lips pressed together. When Mu Xingzhou mentioned "hundreds and thousands," the corners of his mouth even twitched involuntarily, a flash of disdain crossing his face.

No, going too far is as bad as falling short.

Just as Guan Yongyi finished and Captain Yang seemed about to speak, Yu Nianbing timely spoke up: "There's no need for hundreds or thousands. I believe that as long as Captain Yang is willing, the small encouragement from our leader will certainly make everyone much braver."

"Right." Ning Chuyang, her small face pale, squeezed out a sound of agreement through tightly clenched teeth.

One, two... Captain Yang couldn't help but look at the only person present who hadn't spoken yet — Zhuang Jiachuan, the man who was supposedly tasked by the production team as a plant, the same one who had earlier brought him roasted snake meat.

But Zhuang Jiachuan was struggling to fight the disgust brought by the four wriggling insects in his hand. It wasn't that he didn't see the somewhat expectant look Captain Yang was giving him, but at least at this moment, he couldn't do what Captain Yang was hoping for.

Zhuang Jiachuan silently looked away, leaving Captain Yang's unspoken hopes unfulfilled.

Except for Zhuang Jiachuan, who had lowered his head, the other five all had expectant looks in their eyes.

Hah, what else was there to say?

Yu Nianbing, huh... So much for the cold, aloof person who only minded her own business. Turns out her tongue was this sharp.

Among all these people, only her words, every single one of them, struck at what he cared about most.

Truly...

Holding the two boxes, Captain Yang's tightly pressed lips slowly revealed a smile. "That's true. As your leader, I should set an example for you to learn from."

With that, Captain Yang shifted both boxes to one hand, and with his freed hand, he directly pinched a clump from the earthworm box. Without even bothering to crush them first, he threw them straight into his mouth and began chewing vigorously.

Ning Chuyang was the first to turn her head away.

The audience on StarNet, who were closely following the developments, couldn't help but cover their eyes as well.

"I really can't bear to watch. Captain Yang is eating with such a festive expression; if I didn't know better, I'd think he was just eating chocolate noodles."

"Please, I ate noodles for lunch and just covered part of the video, only to see this kind of danmaku. Please don't use food as metaphors, okay!"

"Heh, what am I supposed to say, having just opened a pack of chocolate?"

"Blind typing takes real skill, and Captain Yang is truly a—"

"He's a ruthless one. Looks like Yu Nianbing can't outplay him. By doing this, she's given Captain Yang the chance to assert his dominance over them."

"Hahaha, who needs blind typing? Just write 'Captain Yang' and then hit the asterisk over and over, and that'll sum up my mood for the whole day."

"A gentleman's revenge takes ten years; Yu Nianbing was still too hasty."

"Although the timing isn't right, could my Sun-Moon CP finally have its day?"

"Hahaha, without our Little Ice Block, your Ning Chuyang would have to crush the insects herself, okay? Repaying kindness with ingratitude is not okay!"

"True love exists in this world; doing a good deed but losing your wife — is that really how it goes?"

"Good heavens, stop fighting over the wife. That ruthless person who's chewing earthworms and then silkworms with a smile — wife or no wife, no one can beat him!"

Swallowing the muddy, fishy-tasting stuff in his mouth, he switched to something with a leafy, grassy taste. Captain Yang chewed in large bites, his expression unchanged, a faint smile on his face.

Hah, do you get it now? Who exactly is being punished by what you asked me to do, and who's getting the benefit?

Captain Yang chewed the silkworms in big bites, deliberately baring his teeth and showing some of the contents in his mouth. He watched with satisfaction as Ning Chuyang, who had just cautiously glanced over, immediately gagged. The others who still dared to look at him also looked unwell.

An unexpected opportunity to assert authority. Truly, thank you for this. Captain Yang smiled at Yu Nianbing.

Her face had also paled somewhat, only...

Was that still a defiant look in her eyes? Captain Yang froze. His previously relentless momentum in eating and chewing paused for a moment. The taste in his mouth suddenly surged, becoming unbearable, and he had to temporarily abandon his stare at Yu Nianbing, focusing instead on quickly chewing the contents of his mouth enough to swallow them down. Come to think of it, whether it was the cold, grease-congealed boxed meal or the frustrations of the day, this mouthful made his stomach feel uncomfortable and nauseous. Still, it was a sensation he could suppress for now.

"Crush it." Yu Nianbing quickly looked at Song Shiyue.

"Give me a thick slice of ginger." This time, Song Shiyue didn't immediately grasp Yu Nianbing's urgency. Instead, she took two steps over and extended her hand.

Yu Nianbing didn't bother to say more. As it happened, the ginger and stone knife were still in her hands. She quickly sliced off a large piece and placed it in Song Shiyue's hand.

"Alright, I've just taught you the method of eating insects by personal example, so now you—" Captain Yang forced the residue down his throat and, seeing that Song Shiyue was already making a move, hurried to speak before he even had time to drink water.

Song Shiyue silently let out a curse. The speed of her hands suddenly increased.

The ginger slice landed beside the silkworm. One hand quickly pressed down to crush. In the next moment, a blob of yellow fell to the ground. Song Shiyue brought both hands tightly together, rubbing back and forth like twisting hemp rope more than ten times. She looked at Ning Chuyang. "Open your mouth. Swallow."

"Wait." Captain Yang quickly approached.

But a distance of three or four steps was no match for the swift efficiency of someone accustomed to surviving in danger.

Ning Chuyang closed her eyes and opened her mouth. She only felt a sticky blob being slapped into her mouth, landing on her tongue. There was a somewhat sharp, strange taste, but it wasn't as disgusting as she had imagined.

"Swallow it directly." Song Shiyue's low voice was right in front of her.

Who would want to chew if they could just swallow? Ning Chuyang, already panicked to the point of trembling, instinctively obeyed. With a gulp, she swallowed it down.

"Open your mouth, eat the ginger." Yu Nianbing's steady voice sounded beside her ear.

Ning Chuyang obediently opened her mouth. A thin slice of ginger dropped in. She immediately began chewing it rapidly, without delay.

Captain Yang, who had been a step too late to stop Song Shiyue, was now crouching at the spot where Song Shiyue had just crushed the ginger. On the ground, there was only a somewhat dry lump of ginger, with no insect debris at all.

"Don't worry, it's all been swallowed." Song Shiyue turned her head and saw Captain Yang's actions. A hint of a smile appeared at the corner of her mouth. "If you don't believe me, check every step I took on my way here. Oh, and check my hands too."

Song Shiyue pointed at the several steps she had taken and then spread her hands open.

Faint green mixed with yellow residue remained. One glance told Captain Yang that Song Shiyue probably hadn't faked it.

But... what about his role as the example?

He had eaten raw and chewed raw, and they had gotten off this easily?

"Give me a slice of ginger too." Zhuang Jiachuan, having absorbed the others' experience, raised his hand.

They had harvested quite a bit from that patch of wild ginger earlier, so ginger was in ample supply now.

Captain Yang watched as Zhuang Jiachuan took the ginger, piled the insects together on a leaf, and was about to smash them with what looked like the wooden ladle used for serving soup. He couldn't help but speak up: "Didn't you see how I ate them just now?"

"I didn't dare look..." Zhuang Jiachuan didn't even lift his head. His hand smashing the insects didn't pause for a moment.

"You were clearly watching." Captain Yang spoke with some annoyance.

"Those were my hollow eyes. My soul had already flown far away in fear." The fact that Zhuang Jiachuan was willing to speak at all was already giving Captain Yang some face. What, the first two got through it fine, and now he was going to block him? Did he think that because he was kind-hearted, he was easy to bully?

In the time it took to exchange just a couple of sentences, Zhuang Jiachuan had already smashed the insects and ginger into a complete pulp.

Only...

looking at the mess on the leaf, Zhuang Jiachuan suddenly felt some regret.

Indeed, just as Yu Nianbing had said, he shouldn't have looked...

In any case, Zhuang Jiachuan was someone who had endured hardship. Consuming it this way required almost no chewing. Although it wasn't as easy as Ning Chuyang's experience, it was indeed far easier to swallow than what Mu Xingzhou had done. And the raw ginger did indeed cover most of the flavors that shouldn't have been there. Other than the visual aspect, everything else was fine.

Of course, the StarNet viewers, who only had the visual aspect, were truly pitiful.

"Although I sympathize with Zhuang Jiachuan, I still can't forgive him, sob sob..."

"StarNet is so smart, why won't it give us a mosaic censor!"

"If you don't listen to Little Ice Block, you'll suffer the consequences..."

"Sigh, why do the Little Mooncakes' fan names all sound so cute, while we Little Skewers don't dare add a prefix?"

"You can: Earthworm Skewers..."

"......"

Taking the ginger slice that Yu Nianbing once again handed over, Zhuang Jiachuan indignantly decided: forget it, whoever else could do whatever they wanted; he was never going to be on good terms with Captain Yang again!

As for these people, who either turned a deaf ear or passively resisted, Captain Yang was indeed somewhat annoyed, but their inability to match his example was within his expectations.

No matter what, watching these people, their faces either pale or green, they had at least witnessed his prowess.

Captain Yang's almost undisguised smugness did not escape Yu Nianbing's notice.

"Captain Yang, could you come with me for a moment?" Yu Nianbing walked over to Captain Yang's side and said softly.

"What is it?" Captain Yang, feeling rather proud, put on an air of importance.

"Just a small matter, for your ears only." Yu Nianbing's face carried a touch of earnestness.

The renowned film empress, even without makeup, was truly quite good-looking, especially without that sharp, defiant look in her eyes, when she showed a bit of friendliness...

Captain Yang indulged in some wishful thinking. He knew he was overthinking it, but who could say he wasn't allowed to imagine?

Yu Nianbing led the way, and Captain Yang followed behind. They didn't go far, just a short distance into the nearby woods.

Soon, Yu Nianbing stopped under a tree. At this point, they were only about twenty-some paces from the main group.

Once the two of them were standing still, Captain Yang subconsciously glanced back, and then he noticed that standing straight between them and the main group was Song Shiyue, just a few paces away from them.

Yu Nianbing also saw the worry in the eyes of Song Shiyue, who had silently followed them. She smiled and made a gesture telling her not to come closer.

Seeing the interaction between the two of them, Captain Yang's face took on a more serious expression. "Go on, what is it?"

"When I was little, I heard the old folks say that earthworms have extremely strong vitality. Even if they are chopped into many segments, each segment can survive on its own and grow into a new earthworm." Yu Nianbing spoke slowly, looking at Captain Yang.

Hearing this, Captain Yang, whose stomach was already somewhat uncomfortable and queasy, couldn't help but swallow, trying to suppress the nausea.

Was this deliberate? Saying something like this?

"So what?" Captain Yang swallowed again and asked.

"Because you didn't crush and kill them first before eating them, Captain Yang, I'm a bit worried." As Yu Nianbing spoke, she slightly quickened her pace of speech, giving Captain Yang no chance to interject. "But if your luck is good, it probably won't be a big deal. After all, not every earthworm segment that gets bitten off has the chance to survive and grow into a new one. The part of the earthworm with the strongest regenerative ability should be the headless segment with a tail. Speaking of which, Captain Yang, you really should have at least removed or killed the heads first."

"You..." Captain Yang was just about to speak, but his churning stomach heaved. He couldn't help but let out a retching sound. Only with great effort did he manage not to vomit on the spot.

"It's said that the segments without head or tail have decent regenerative ability, and the weakest are the tail segments without a head. But judging by how you were eating just now, Captain Yang, the chewing should have been thorough enough, right? If every segment is short enough, and the nervous system is sufficiently damaged, it might weaken their ability to regenerate..." As Yu Nianbing spoke, she slowly backed up two steps.

Captain Yang, who had already covered his mouth and turned iron-gray in the face as early as when Yu Nianbing began speaking, could no longer hold back. He turned, braced himself against a tree, and with a loud retch, vomited.

Yu Nianbing held her breath and retreated two more steps. "Throwing it up makes things much safer. I hope Captain Yang won't blame me for saying what I did. If I had directly demanded that you throw it up, you, as the leader, might have refused because of things like saving face..."

"Once it's been eaten... it could still... live?" Captain Yang kept his head down, grinding his teeth. But looking at the mess in front of him, he couldn't help but vomit again, which drained much of the force from his questioning words.

Insects — throwing them up with your eyes open was far more disgusting than eating them with your eyes closed...

This was something that had never happened to Captain Yang before. An immense sense of humiliation shattered, in one blow, the sense of accomplishment that had just begun to grow in him. The situation, which had started to show his capabilities, where he was pressing the guests down, was flipped upside down once again.

"Oh..." Yu Nianbing nodded, retreating another two steps. She smiled, as if a little embarrassed. "I was letting my concern cloud my judgment. I've made a fool of myself in front of Captain Yang."

Captain Yang raised his head. The Yu Nianbing who had been two steps away earlier was now nearly ten steps back. Even if her face still showed some sincerity, he wasn't going to fall for it again.

"This was my mistake. Captain Yang wouldn't retaliate against me by telling the others something like this, would you?" As Yu Nianbing spoke, she gave a self-deprecating laugh, shook her head, and answered her own question: "As the leader, you would certainly protect the team members and wouldn't do that. Then I'll head back now. If Captain Yang feels unwell, the production team has a doctor."

With that, Yu Nianbing didn't wait for Captain Yang's reaction and turned to leave.

"Teacher Yu is truly nothing like the rumors say." Having been played like this, those earlier unmentionable thoughts now felt like a slap in the face. Captain Yang's stomach cramped, his mouth tasted bitter, and even his face ached a little. Naturally, his words carried no good cheer.

Yu Nianbing lowered her eyes slightly and merely smiled, offering no rebuttal.

Hah, the rumors.

It was precisely because it had been a long time since she'd encountered people like this, who so loved to arrange others' lives and trample on others' dignity, that those rumors existed.

Yu Nianbing turned and left without hesitation.

She happened to meet eyes with Ni Jinghe, who was standing beside Song Shiyue, holding several small medicine packets in her hand.

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