WS - Chapter 48
Chapter 48
"Doctor Ni." Their eyes met, so Yu Nianbing nodded and greeted Ni Jinghe.
Song Shiyue was already only a few steps away from Yu Nianbing and Captain Yang, so Ni Jinghe, standing beside her, naturally overheard fragments of their conversation.
As for why Captain Yang couldn't pull himself off the tree at this moment, Ni Jinghe had a pretty good idea.
Still, she was just a doctor.
"Teacher Yu." Ni Jinghe likewise smiled and nodded at Yu Nianbing.
"These are?" Yu Nianbing looked at the small medicine packets in her hand.
Ni Jinghe tightened her grip on the little packets and answered, "Although everyone got vaccinated before coming to Wilderness Planet, eating bugs raw — taking a pill is still safer."
Song Shiyue's and Yu Nianbing's gazes fell simultaneously on Ni Jinghe's hands as they quickly confirmed the number of medicine packets.
"One per person, right? We'll take three over." Yu Nianbing said, glancing at Song Shiyue.
"Director Zhang said..." Ni Jinghe had barely begun when Song Shiyue's hand already touched the small packets.
Ni Jinghe's thoughts flickered, and she voluntarily gave up three packets, instructing, "Just take them now, with water."
Kindness begets kindness. Yu Nianbing and Song Shiyue thanked her warmly and returned to the stone stove area with the medicine.
Ni Jinghe, expression calm, walked over to Captain Yang, handed him the last packet, and repeated to him exactly what she had told Yu Nianbing and the others.
At first Captain Yang didn't take it, and sneered, "What medicine? Can't you see the bugs I ate are right here — what's there to take medicine for?"
The words reeked of self-loathing, with a fierce edge tinged with a pitiful bravado. Had it been someone else, they might have tried to console him.
But Ni Jinghe truly disliked people who didn't take their own health seriously.
If you don't care about yourself, who else is supposed to care for you? She was just a surgeon — she wasn't responsible for soothing weird psychological issues.
And so, when Captain Yang, still fuming and unable to suppress a few dry heaves, heard no comforting words, a paper packet was suddenly shoved into his hand. When he looked up, only Ni Jinghe's back remained.
Hah... one after another, they're all here to laugh at me!
Captain Yang hurled the little paper packet into the puddle of vomit in front of him, then pounded the tree heavily.
The people by the stone stove, though baffled by how the seemingly toughest Captain Yang had thrown up so disgracefully, went ahead and cheerfully took their medicine. After all this commotion, the leftover water in the pot was used up perfectly — not a drop wasted.
"From what Captain Yang said, does he mean that if we don't fill ourselves up, he'll supplement us with bugs?" Guan Yongyi, stroking the now-empty stone pot, voiced a belated worry. "Why don't we take these two stone pots with us? Whatever we come across on the way that's edible, we'll bring along. Then, no matter the taste, just boil it all in one pot — still better than eating bugs meal after meal. Don't you think..."
"Wait..." Ning Chuyang couldn't take it and raised a hand to stop him, the other hand repeatedly covering her mouth. "Let's talk about things, just don't mention that word, okay?"
Zhuang Jiachuan also gave Guan Yongyi a somewhat speechless look. Whether it was for Guan's sluggish response or for bringing up bugs was something only he knew.
"Too heavy." Mu Xingzhou hooked a finger under the rim of the stone pot and lifted slightly. "We've barely started the journey. Carrying a load like this, even if we take turns, we wouldn't last."
"The stone pots... aren't really essential. As long as we have fire, we can just roast things and eat. We don't know the exact route, but we'll probably follow this stream for water. As long as there's a stream, we might find stone pots again. But food — that we really need to pay attention to." When Yu Nianbing said this, she deliberately avoided looking toward Song Shiyue, her tone purposefully flat.
"Will the production team really stop giving us any food at all? From the look of it... we've come this far and haven't seen any birds or animals in the forest. They wouldn't really let us..." Ning Chuyang trailed off, covering her mouth, unable to go on.
But her meaning was clear to everyone.
While they were talking, Ni Jinghe returned to the production team's side.
"Why didn't you give the medicine to Captain Yang and let him distribute it?" Director Zhang diverted some attention from the projection in front of him and asked.
"It happened that Teacher Yu and the others were going over there, so I sent it with them. It's only three pills, and the instructions are very simple." Ni Jinghe didn't mention her own reasoning, only stating the superficial facts.
Director Zhang frowned slightly, abandoned the screens in front of him for a moment, and turned to look at Ni Jinghe.
The doctor stood straight, her face a picture of solemnity.
Director Zhang didn't believe that Ni Jinghe didn't know he wanted Captain Yang to distribute the medicine as a way to help him.
Still... Ni Jinghe was just a doctor. If she wasn't willing, there was no way to force her to get involved.
Director Zhang sighed and looked at the screen showing Captain Yang, still bent over, leaning against a tree.
Forget it... some people just can't be propped up no matter what.
Was the program's focus for the days ahead going to shift toward the conflict between the cast and the leader? Director Zhang was just beginning to feel lost when he heard voices from the screen in front of him.
"Probably not. I think Director Zhang is pretty decent. Just now when you... ahem, he did agree to let Song Shiyue help." Yu Nianbing, mindful that Ning Chuyang still wasn't well, spoke carefully and added, "Even if there were birds and beasts in this forest, we're not professional hunters. A journey of over ten days, just walking is exhausting enough. With such high energy consumption, the production team can't possibly expect us to be completely self-sufficient."
"Most likely they'll provide some, and we'll find some ourselves." Mu Xingzhou followed up on Yu Nianbing's words.
"Right." Yu Nianbing nodded. "Like the scallions and ginger we found earlier."
"But judging by what Captain Yang said earlier, he seemed pretty keen on using... that... as food for us." Ning Chuyang hesitated. "Then will the production team still give us the portion they originally would have?"
"Of course. Didn't I just say Director Zhang is decent? Those two snakes earlier had their venom removed. They're not deliberately trying to target us, just trying to scare us a little. So as long as we work hard at wilderness survival, they won't just let us be fed... besides, if the livestream viewers had to watch that meal after meal... they couldn't stand it either." Yu Nianbing was speaking the truth. Compared to the arrogant, heaven-defying Captain Yang who wanted to step on others to climb up, and when that failed, waited for them to eat their fill before feeding them bugs, the production team was clearly gentler.
Now that things had fallen apart with Captain Yang, there was no need to stay at odds with the production team.
As Ning Chuyang had worried, if things fell apart with the production team too, then those things that might exist would probably truly cease to exist.
Of course, if it really came to the point of hunger and eating bugs every meal, she believed everyone present would quit filming, even if it meant paying the penalty. At that point, breaking the contract wouldn't make the viewers think they were being dramatic — it might actually earn them quite a lot of sympathy.
She believed the production team wouldn't sabotage the whole show for the sake of one Captain Yang.
Precisely because Yu Nianbing felt that the production team and Captain Yang weren't an inseparable alliance, she chose this moment to say a few good words about the production team, especially Director Zhang.
By now, Director Zhang must be very curious about what they were thinking — he was definitely watching the surveillance cameras.
Right. At least in Yu Nianbing's mind, Director Zhang's camera central control system was no different from surveillance.
In any case, Yu Nianbing wasn't wrong.
At that moment, Director Zhang, staring intently at the several floating screens before him, heard their conversation clearly. Yu Nianbing's words, tinged with understanding and expectation, soothed him especially.
Wasn't that the truth? The production team had prepared only two defanged venomous snakes, and hadn't even released them. They'd just been a little angry about the segment setup, but that anger would soon dissipate.
The unpleasant confrontations later on were aimed at Captain Yang, not at the production team.
Yu Nianbing's simple words of understanding and praise blew away Director Zhang's morning-long discontent like the wind, and for a moment he felt as if his mind had suddenly been cleared.
Why bother? Why did he have to push Captain Yang into the spotlight? Having a leader made it easier to guide the cast through the segments the production team had designed, but if the leader wasn't up to it, he could use voice-over narration to guide them instead. The reason he hadn't considered the latter approach before was because he'd wanted to establish Captain Yang.
But now, Director Zhang glanced at the Yu Nianbing on the screen, smiling kindly. If he couldn't establish him, then so be it...
"Director Zhang." Wang Daming, who had been crouching behind him, stealing glances at the screen, suddenly spoke up. "Teacher Yu is saying you're a good guy."
"What, am I not a good guy?" Director Zhang's old face flushed. He touched his wristband and quickly adjusted the screen so only he could see it.
"Yes, yes, yes..." Wang Daming nodded tactfully, but after pondering a moment, he still asked, "So about that cow — should I still dig it up?"
"..." Director Zhang frowned. He had almost forgotten about this.
"Teacher Yu just praised you, and it seems like she doesn't blame us for those two snakes anymore." Seeing Director Zhang silent, Wang Daming couldn't help but remind him, "If we don't dig up that cow, there are no edible plants arranged along the rest of the route. By evening, Captain Yang will make them eat bugs again."
Director Zhang shot Wang Daming a glare.
Stating the obvious — did he not already know all that?
"The cow stays buried." After some thought, Director Zhang finally made his decision.
"Then they..." Wang Daming ventured weakly.
"Even if we dug up that cow, if Captain Yang doesn't cooperate, they still won't get to eat it." Director Zhang sighed. "Besides, I already promised Captain Yang about this. They still have some jicama, and there's some rice and flour at the evening campsite — we won't deduct that from them. It's a bit monotonous with just staples, but they probably won't have to eat bugs."
Hearing this, Wang Daming nodded and kept his mouth shut.
Feng Qianqian, who had been listening to their entire conversation from the side, thought about it but said nothing.
Director Zhang was right. If they dug up that cow and Captain Yang didn't give the definitive go-ahead, those people probably wouldn't dare eat it.
Still, staples provided enough energy — they probably wouldn't need to eat bugs after all.
Director Zhang's choice drew a chorus of boos from the viewers on StarNet.
"He was so praised that his face turned red, yet in the end he still chose Captain Yang. Tsk."
"The fact that his face turned red is what's funny — can't he tell Little Ice Block was trying to drive a wedge?"
"Hahaha, maybe he really thinks he's a good guy..."
Yu Nianbing's intent was to divide the production team and Director Zhang, though her words also carried some truth. At this moment, the boos for Director Zhang on StarNet were loud, but the insults were fewer compared to those aimed at Captain Yang.
The curses on StarNet didn't reach Captain Yang's ears, but his own psychological pressure was already heavy enough.
When Captain Yang finally managed to regulate his emotions and forced himself to return to the guests, he couldn't shake the feeling that the way they looked at him was different. There wasn't much talk, and no one mentioned his vomiting, but Captain Yang still felt that every pair of eyes was laughing at him.
Unable to help himself, Captain Yang kept glancing back in the direction he had come from.
Sure enough, that tree was visible...
Captain Yang clenched his fists tighter and tighter. He could only keep standing here by clinging to the memory of the penalty amount on that contract.
The group set off almost in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.
This time they didn't head into the woods, just continued forward along the little stream.
The others were relatively fine, but Yu Nianbing, who had previously seen through Captain Yang's detour trick, was thinking a bit more.
If the production team had made other arrangements, where would they be?
Yu Nianbing's gaze shifted restlessly between the path ahead and the forest beside them.
Perhaps because she was preoccupied and observing carefully, Yu Nianbing soon noticed that Captain Yang seemed to keep looking back. But he wasn't looking at them, the ones following right behind him, but further back.
Further back... what was there?
Following Captain Yang's line of sight, Yu Nianbing could only see the production team a bit further behind.
Oh, and a dog.
This time, the dog wasn't carrying a fish, just trailing several steps behind them, keeping a steady, not-too-close distance.
Yu Nianbing used to like little dogs. Though it had been a long time since she could allow herself to, now encountering such a sensible dog, she couldn't help but steal a few extra glances.
Her frequent turning back was soon noticed by Song Shiyue beside her, who followed her gaze.
"What's wrong?" Song Shiyue vigilantly checked behind them — all familiar people and animals, nothing out of the ordinary.
"Nothing." Yu Nianbing turned back to face forward.
But before long, she glanced back again.
This time Song Shiyue was quick enough to catch what Yu Nianbing's gaze had landed on.
"Like that dog?" It wasn't hard for Song Shiyue to guess that Yu Nianbing was feeling a bit like a little girl at the moment.
Yu Nianbing didn't deny it, but only smiled without saying much.
Song Shiyue looked back again at the slightly chubby dog, its black-and-white fur smooth and glossy, looking quite spirited.
"Come." Song Shiyue stopped and crooked her finger at the dog lagging behind.
What was she thinking...
Yu Nianbing, amused, also stopped.
She hadn't forgotten how scared the dog had been of Song Shiyue before.
Back at the old castle, the whole dog had plastered itself to Wang Daming — it probably wouldn't have come off without some force. Later, when it brought the fish, it had been so frightened it trotted away in a stiff, sideways gait.
With Song Shiyue calling it over now, the whole dog would probably bolt.
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