WS - Chapter 63
Chapter 63
The previous night at the old castle, everyone had retreated to their own rooms very early. Even Director Zhang, having been thoroughly spooked in the basement, didn't pay much attention to the camera central control system, and so they all collectively missed the fact that Yu Nianbing had moved into Song Shiyue's room to stay.
So now, a perfectly natural sentence from Song Shiyue landed in everyone's ears like a thunderclap.
Ning Chuyang especially, who had earlier asked Song Shiyue to let her move into the wooden cabin, was at this moment overwhelmed by a flood of mixed emotions, every strand of hair on the verge of cringing with awkwardness... she couldn't decide whether she ought to say thank you or offer a word of caution. Words and phrases shattered and reassembled in her mind countless times, yet none could take shape.
Song Shiyue's words drew every gaze present onto herself, yet she seemed utterly unaware of it, and on her own looked toward Yu Nianbing, her smile brimming as she said, "Teacher Yu, is that okay?"
Okay? Do you think it's okay? Who was Yu Nianbing? Rumor had it that back on drama sets, she needed a cordoned-off area just for herself in the makeup room. The hotels she stayed at, she disliked even being on the same floor as costars from the same production. And whenever fellow cast members got into conflicts and started fighting, she'd keep well away, not a single word of intervention, not even an extra glance to spare. Someone so self-contained to the point of reclusiveness, so focused on her own affairs as to seem indifferent — would she let you stay together with her in such a tiny room?
Granted, over the past couple of days, Ning Chuyang had somewhat revised her impression of Yu Nianbing, but rumors — that kind of thing — had been around far too long, far too much, far too deeply ingrained. Now, what seemed like Song Shiyue's self-overestimating self-nomination suddenly jolted awake Ning Chuyang's earlier impression of Yu Nianbing. It made her deeply regret having brought up the topic of rooms, and even more regret not being able to cover Song Shiyue's mouth in time.
No matter how tired Ning Chuyang was, she understood: her own bid to stay at Song Shiyue's place could be framed as playing pitiful to escape the fate of sleeping in a lean-to shelter. A little shameless, a little sly, but still just that. But Song Shiyue wanting to stay at Yu Nianbing's place... that was entirely different. After all, Song Shiyue was someone who had confessed feelings to Yu Nianbing. The last time she'd ridden her coattails for a trending search, she must have been blacklisted so harshly. This time, if she opened her mouth to say she wanted to mooch a bed, wouldn't Yu Nianbing's fans have to charter spaceships to come beat her up?!
But, now that the words were out, how was she supposed to smooth this over?
Ning Chuyang's limited brain capacity didn't permit her to perform such an intelligent computation. She could only weakly stretch out a hand, trying to pull back the suddenly runaway Song Shiyue.
But, before that hand could even touch the hem of Song Shiyue's clothes, Ning Chuyang heard a voice — both familiar and strange — say, "Okay."
Earlier, Song Shiyue's startling words had drawn everyone's gazes toward her with a swiftness that was almost excessive; now, before their necks had even recovered, they were drawn away by another unexpected development.
Necks that had turned with ease each had their own ease; stiff necks, however, shared a similar sluggishness.
Like a silent puppet show, one could practically imagine the creaking and grinding of neck joints as they slowly switched the focus of their stares.
Other than the two involved parties, everyone present was too stunned to know what to say. Meanwhile, over on StarNet, the viewers — who had already been inoculated by the previous night's shared sleep and won over by today's display to become fans of Sister Song — far from flipping tables in rage as Ning Chuyang had imagined, were instead rubbing their little claws together in excitement.
"Just about to type a danmaku mocking Ning Chuyang for trying to sleep at my Sister Song's place, and the very next second, reversal-sugar smacked me right in the face. Forgive this hot-tempered Little Mooncake — turns out Ning Chuyang is a loyalist posing as a backstabber, I'm a fan now~"
"Hahaha, reversal-sugar, feels like spinning sugar sprinkles, smack smack smack right onto the face."
"Our little Yangyang is truly pitiful... Mu Xingzhou is useless, and the capable Song Shiyue doesn't want her — from a Little Sun who hasn't had any CP sugar for days and has cried her eyes dry"
"(Sun-Moon CP shipper has nothing to say, retreats with a fist salute...) ... Hello everyone, I'm a newly arrived Little Mooncake. How do you eat this CP sugar? Spinning it around, or waiting for it to be sprinkled on your face before eating~~ Haven't had sugar in ages, a bit nervous, rubbing hands together."
"Hahahaha, person in front, why do you have to be so funny! Do you need to strike a pose to eat sugar?"
"You people who've been eating sugar for days, how could you possibly understand those of us who haven't had any in so long that before taking a bite, we practically want to bathe and burn incense and pray this isn't the last bite!"
"No matter how you all eat it, I'm eating it lying down. By the way, I think I'm tasting real sugar, and I refuse to accept rebuttals!"
"It's honestly lethal. I keep feeling like I heard a confession, but my reason tells me it's not..."
"Indeed not a confession, has already directly entered the newlywed phase hahaha, likewise refusing rebuttals."
"To be real, Yu Nianbing saying 'okay' with that cold face is truly moe. Suddenly I kind of understand why Little Ice Buckets are moe for this sort of thing."
"Rubbing hands together, so we get to watch a live-action version of 'The Thawing of the Iceberg'?"
"Hahaha, this truly is a romance show that got delayed by wilderness survival."
"Weakly speaking, if this is a romance show, then Zhuang Jiachuan and Guan Yongyi..."
"Please please... I can't stomach the Uncle CP..."
"I, who can survive solely on Mooncake sugar, will just let the other two pairs go do their survival thing."
"To be real, Ning Chuyang and Mu Xingzhou's CP was really easy to ship (before these past two days). Don't know what's going on now though."
"Hehe, no matter how easy to ship, can they sleep together?"
"..."
Although interstellar law had already passed same-sex marriage legalization, on one side were customs thousands of years entrenched, and on the other, newly liberated concepts. The public, when faced with feelings between two people of the same gender, before such feelings became explicit, would mostly still categorize them as friendship. Sleeping together a bit, aside from CP fans, other passersby might not necessarily think of romance or find it inappropriate. If it were a man and a woman, that naturally would be unacceptable. This too could be considered the transitional period before new ideas gradually took root in people's hearts.
Ning Chuyang also wouldn't have imagined that her worries for Song Shiyue were all unnecessary, and that the situation Song Shiyue now faced was nothing like it had been half a year ago.
At any rate, with this question and answer between Song Shiyue and Yu Nianbing, whether outwardly or inwardly satisfied, the two involved parties both felt: pretty good.
But the others, thoroughly startled, like eggplants battered by frost, still couldn't quite snap out of it. Yet, with thousands of words, they found not a single one they could say, leaving them in a relationship that could only offer silent, forced smiles.
In the end, it was still Song Shiyue who spoke up, once again breaking the silence.
"Then everyone agreed, so this arrangement works, right?" Song Shiyue looked toward Wang Daming. "I'll move to Teacher Yu's place, and then Ning Chuyang will stay in that cabin of mine."
What could Wang Daming, who had been stunned twice himself, possibly say? Facing the bloodstained long knife in Song Shiyue's hand, all he could do was nod.
"Well, in that case, Mu Xingzhou, come stay in a tent with me. Aren't there sleeping bags? We'll squeeze in. I checked that tent, and it should still fit two people. Those tents were originally planned for one person per group, right?" After Zhuang Jiachuan came back to his senses, his first instinct was naturally to habitually pull up his favorability with the audience.
"Right. Okay." Everyone was quite full of their own ideas. Wang Daming nodded with a sort of resigned self-abandonment, no longer having the slightest intention of trying to uphold this segment's order.
Mu Xingzhou, who'd suddenly been hit by a huge gift package falling from the sky, was this time genuinely, utterly grateful. He grabbed Zhuang Jiachuan's hand, so emotional that for a long while he couldn't speak. Ever since entering Wilderness Planet, the cold face that had been mostly silent faded away, and at this moment, he recovered a bit of the youthful spirit of former days.
Very well, Mu Xingzhou's fan favorability was secured. Zhuang Jiachuan also wore an expression of sincere joy.
Building a lean-to shelter — very clearly, that was supposed to have been a major highlight of tonight at camp. Under Director Zhang's anticipation and relaxed restrictions, sure enough, it was gone.
Yet Director Zhang didn't feel the slightest bit unhappy about it.
That sort of lean-to shelter business, there would be plenty of chances for it later.
And this day, despite so many coincidences and errors, so many deviations from the plan — having gotten this conversation between Song Shiyue and Yu Nianbing, plus the ensuing shared-room arrangement, was more than enough to make up for everything that came before.
The production team's acceptance of Song Shiyue joining had, of course, carried a hint of an intention to stir up the old news from half a year ago. Adding Zhuang Jiachuan voluntarily proposing to be in the same group as Yu Nianbing was originally meant to stir a love-triangle dynamic. Now there were some changes, but it was even better.
After all, orchestrated hype designed by the production team — how could that possibly compare to the ambiguous interactions initiated by the guests themselves for stirring hearts? Whether StarNet praised or disparaged tonight's move by the two, in the end it was all benefit and no harm for the show.
Thinking of this, Director Zhang couldn't help but sigh: truly, human plans are no match for the heavens' designs. Today, the show's popularity and trending topics were definitely secured.
Only, Director Zhang, believing the program was riddled with flaws and only now being remedied, had no idea that the day's popularity and trending topics had actually long since been topped by Captain Yang and himself.
Once Wang Daming confirmed the final arrangements for the evening's lodging, he hurriedly withdrew from this realm of mystifying awkwardness.
Zhuang Jiachuan and Guan Yongyi also greeted each other, and went off first to pitch the tent, before returning to lend a hand.
What was somewhat unexpected was that Mu Xingzhou and Ning Chuyang — the two who originally should have been busiest at this moment — stayed behind, temporarily taking over the task of roasting the meat.
Song Shiyue set down the long knife in her hand, walked over beside the fire, and gave the new cooks a rough introduction: "Since the rendered fat also counts as an energy intake, before the meat goes on the roasting net, let it take a turn on this stone griddle first. When the fat has been pretty much rendered out, then move it to the roasting net to dry it out. On the stone griddle, once you flip it and see that oil is no longer coming out in large amounts, you can move it up to the roasting net. On the roasting net, you want to get it quite dry, after all, it's meant to be preserved a long time. The drier, the longer it keeps."
The two who had followed behind Song Shiyue, upon hearing this, both stepped forward in unison to look at the stone griddle.
If Song Shiyue hadn't mentioned it, they wouldn't have paid attention. It turned out that this seemingly ordinary flat stone actually had many grooves across its surface. The stone griddle wasn't positioned perfectly level either, but slightly tilted toward the left. At the left edge of the griddle, there was a metal bowl, which had already collected a shallow layer of oil.
Mu Xingzhou silently marveled at the ingenious stone, then used a clean nearby tree branch to lift up the sizzling beef slices from the griddle for a closer look.
He flipped over a few pieces in succession, and saw that although the grooves on the griddle were numerous, from right to left, one by one, they gradually merged, until at the very left side, they had converged into a single channel, perfectly allowing the rendered beef fat to flow along the edge of the griddle and drip into the bowl.
"Was this stone griddle also provided by the production team?" Mu Xingzhou's words carried unconcealed admiration.
Song Shiyue, however, shook her head, and said casually, "Fished it out of the stream up ahead earlier."
"That stream is seriously something else, with stone knives, stone pots, and even such a perfectly suited oil-rendering stone griddle. I really hope that after we cross this mountain, there'll still be such an amazing stream." Ning Chuyang's face was likewise full of heartfelt wonder.
A few steps away, Yu Nianbing, who was squatting down using a tree branch to poke the dough in a big bowl to check on its fermentation, looked up upon hearing this, and saw Ning Chuyang's sincere smiling face illuminated in the bright firelight.
Not suspicion, not mockery.
This praise from her... was actually genuine...
She actually genuinely believed that such a sharp stone knife, such a fitting stone pot and griddle, had all been found in that little stream?
Yu Nianbing strenuously controlled her facial expression to prevent too much astonishment from showing, but she couldn't control the movement of her hand, and with a squelch, the entire tree branch poked straight into the dough.
And then, she heard Mu Xingzhou's agreement.
Yu Nianbing couldn't help but start wondering: when the production team chose people to participate in this program, exactly what kind of selection criteria did they use...
Those who knew the truth were separated from the rest by only a layer of thin gauze.
For those who didn't know the truth, what else could they do but believe this was a stream rich in natural resources?
Who could have guessed that beneath the water of that stream, stirred murky time and again, was a pair of hands — so strong, and so diligent.
With two helpers now roasting the meat, Song Shiyue was finally able to focus single-mindedly on slicing meat again. The one extra leg that remained was finished in no time.
With her hands now free, Song Shiyue calculated the time and lifted the lid off the large iron pot, fishing out two beef hooves.
Perhaps recognizing its own rations, the moment Song Shiyue opened the pot and picked up the hooves, the Dog, which had been lying prone, flipped over and scrambled up, circling round and round Song Shiyue without stopping.
"Wait a bit, eat them once they've cooled." Song Shiyue didn't bother whether the Dog understood or not, just said that one sentence, and placed the plate holding the beef hooves on top of some leaves to the side.
Ning Chuyang, who had turned around with a smile, about to tease Song Shiyue with a "How could the Dog possibly understand," looked back and saw the Dog standing obediently beside the plate containing the beef hooves, its gaze so fixated its eyes were nearly crossing, glistening drool practically about to drip down, yet it stayed perfectly well-behaved and didn't take a bite.
Fine then. One after another, they all had minds of their own.
Ning Chuyang wilted and turned back around to continue roasting meat, but couldn't help recalling the earlier exchange between Song Shiyue and Yu Nianbing.
She wondered whether everyone else felt the same way she did: after the awkwardness caused by Song Shiyue's words, there came Yu Nianbing's agreement, like a spring breeze melting the ice. Immediately the situation shifted, as if the involved parties were casually discussing how fine the weather was today, while the bystanders were jostling to hand over umbrellas — the ultimate in awkwardness.
And then, not a single teasing word could be uttered, let alone asking Song Shiyue the reason for such a sudden decision...
In that moment, it was as if those two were a world unto themselves.
Ning Chuyang flipped the meat slices on the roasting net and couldn't hold back a sigh.
A bit dejected. Like when three people are friends, you think you and one of them are closer, and then suddenly discover that those other two are actually besties...
Awkward and disheartened, wanting to go "sob sob sob."
Just as Ning Chuyang was brooding over this, Mu Xingzhou beside her picked up a few more slices of meat, seared about right, and moved them onto the roasting net.
Ning Chuyang turned her head, and saw that after Mu Xingzhou had placed the meat slices, he started looking back. Ning Chuyang followed his gaze, and saw that behind them two powerful electric torches had been turned on, and amid the contrast of light and dark were people pitching tents.
What's there to see... so far away, so messy, can't even make out who's who, can't see what progress they're making...
So annoying, no new friends, and the old friend seems to have lost his soul.
Truly lonely, so lonely... Ning Chuyang stirred the meat slices on the grilling net, her heart flowing with bitter tears.
The affections that come and go between people are all too apt to wound, but hard work always yields returns.
The skills Zhuang Jiachuan had learned in advance finally met a situation where they could be smoothly applied. With the two of them working together in unison, their tent was pitched even faster than those of the production team people.
By the time they returned to the bonfire side, a pile of beef slices had already been roasted, and the dough had long finished fermenting.
Stewed here, roasted there — the rich aroma of beef had long since filled the entire courtyard. Watching the Dog, its head buried in the plate, chewing on the beef hooves with loud, smacking sounds, the famished people all had no desire to go take a shower first at this moment.
Fortunately, the flatbreads and roasted meat were indeed quick to make.
The dough, mixed with a small amount of salt and pepper, was divided by Yu Nianbing into one small piece after another, then pressed into long ovals, brushed with freshly rendered beef fat and finely chopped scallion pieces, rolled up, then flipped onto its side and pressed flat.
The stone griddle that had earlier been used to sear the beef slices had already been emptied out some time ago. Song Shiyue slipped a small, thin piece of stone under the left-side stone stove to shim it, and the griddle went from slightly tilted to perfectly level.
A small amount of the beef fat rendered from the previous batch of meat was left on the griddle — not too much, not too little, just exactly enough to leave the stone glistening. In the firelight, the griddle, still giving off a rich aroma even without the beef, soon welcomed a new batch of occupants.
One by one, the flattened little dough rounds were given a couple of casual nudges by Song Shiyue's hand on the griddle and turned into thin flatbreads. The scallion pieces inside were clearly visible, and in the hot oil, the fragrance of scallions instantly burst forth.
"These scallions are really wonderful things." Guan Yongyi took a deep breath, intoxicated.
"This lemongrass is also genuinely good." Not to be outdone, Zhuang Jiachuan pointed at the roasting net, still hard at work, which held the last batch of beef slices being dried out before dinner, interspersed with some blades of grass.
Because of the large amount of lemongrass harvested earlier, a single blade was nothing much, but gathered together they did add up to some weight. Since there was a large quantity of beef tonight, Song Shiyue used over half of the lemongrass to roast alongside the beef slices on the roasting net. In this way, it was making the best use of everything, lightening the load while also temporarily saving some wild ginger and wild scallions.
Just as Zhuang Jiachuan was speaking, that batch of beef slices on the roasting net had finished. Ning Chuyang nimbly picked them off, making room on the grill for the dinner that was about to come on stage.
Skewers of beef brisket, threaded onto clean tree branches, went onto the roasting rack.
Although she felt a bit of a pang watching the beef fat dripping off the fatty beef brisket, Song Shiyue also knew that this brisket's flavor was all about the taste created when it roasted over leaping flames.
If she first seared then roasted it just to save a bit of fat, it would instead lose its charm.
The dried-out beef slices, processed further, would definitely not have the flavor of freshly eaten food. It could be said that this was merely a method devised to avoid eating bugs and to complete this variety show.
This roasted beef brisket might very well be the best meal they would have in this wilderness.
Well then, for the sake of the hardships to come, wasting this bit of beef fat was something that couldn't be helped.
Around the bonfire, everyone watched the skewers Song Shiyue continuously turned in her hands. Only Yu Nianbing did not miss the regret in Song Shiyue's eyes. Especially when the skewers were half-cooked, and large amounts of beef fat dripped from the roasting net, causing the flames to leap high — at that moment, Yu Nianbing could practically hear the long sigh within Song Shiyue's heart.
Truly, so stingy...
Yu Nianbing thought this to herself, yet amid the scattered sparks of firelight, what glimmered was her hard-to-conceal smile.
Comments
Post a Comment