WS - Chapter 84
Chapter 84
Although Guan Yongyi and Zhuang Jiachuan, who went first, both failed one after the other, Mu Xingzhou and Ning Chuyang, who followed, still gave people a glimmer of hope.
Yu Nianbing watched all four of them; when it was her turn, she was still nervous, but she didn't appear flustered at all.
Women weigh less, and by paying extra attention to how lightly or heavily she placed her feet, the sway of the wooden bridge naturally lessened. Yu Nianbing's steps were light yet steady, and she quickly reached the spot near the envelope.
Song Shiyue counted; by the time Yu Nianbing crouched down, just over twenty seconds had passed, which was quite fast compared to the previous few.
Onto the bridge, quick walk, crouch, untie the rope, pull the envelope, stand and walk again...
Yu Nianbing's journey of several tens of seconds flowed like water and clouds without a single hitch; when she stepped onto the opposite platform, Captain Yang expressionlessly announced, "Fifty-five seconds."
At that moment, the heart Yu Nianbing had been holding tight finally settled.
One envelope, under a minute!
Yu Nianbing looked across the bridge; Song Shiyue on the other side seemed to sense her gaze and waved toward her.
"Teacher Yu, quick, look inside the envelope," Ning Chuyang leaned in, unable to wait.
The other three were also full of curiosity.
The distance of one bridge, for an ordinary person, might already be too far to clearly see the expression on the person opposite.
Just like Yu Nianbing, who could only see Song Shiyue waving just now, but could not make out the admiration and relief on her face at this moment.
However, Song Shiyue was no ordinary person.
Thus Song Shiyue not only saw the smile on Yu Nianbing's face and the light in her eyes when she immediately looked back after stepping onto the opposite platform, but also did not miss how, after Ning Chuyang's reminder, the smile gradually faded as she opened the envelope, replaced by disappointment and a grievance between her brows that only lasted a few seconds before being concealed.
It seemed... it was a blank envelope.
The person opposite looked over again, her face no longer showing the earlier joy, and with a hesitant look, as if wanting to say something but holding back.
Song Shiyue's heart, for some reason, suddenly clenched, an indescribable discomfort welling up.
It's just a reality show; the guests have all tried so hard to complete the challenge, so why at the end do they have to be tripped up by luck!
Song Shiyue knew her misplaced anger wasn't really reasonable, but she couldn't help the small burst of irritation that surged in her chest.
"Teacher Song, are you ready? Ready to start?" Zhao Da, seeing Song Shiyue just staring at the opposite side and hesitating to get on the bridge, couldn't help but step forward and say.
Song Shiyue withdrew her distant gaze but did not get on the bridge as instructed; instead she looked at Zhao Da: "You go first, I'll go last."
Zhao Da was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, but quickly refused: "How can I go first? I need to check your gear and the safety of the clips."
"It's fine, I've unhooked and hooked the clips myself several times already. Besides, this bridge is quite sturdy, and the safety buckle is just a decoration for peace of mind," Song Shiyue insisted.
Zhao Da was about to speak again, but was cut off by Song Shiyue.
"If someone had chosen to walk directly to the camp from the start, wouldn't you have had to follow? Then only Captain Yang would be left on the zipline side." Song Shiyue smiled amiably, but her words hit the nail on the head.
With the livestream ongoing and things said to this point, how could Zhao Da argue that they had known from the beginning no one would choose to walk, and that the options were made to seem varied only to eliminate any wishful thinking among the guests that they could avoid the zipline...
"Fine... I'll go first on this bridge then." Unwilling to conflict with the guests, Zhao Da considered and compromised one step, but added, "Only this bridge; for the ziplines after, I'll still go last."
Song Shiyue nodded.
After reiterating the key points for using the safety buckle, Zhao Da somewhat reluctantly got on the bridge.
On the other end of the platform, Captain Yang frowned at this turn of events. But before he could ask the arriving Zhao Da what was going on, Song Shiyue was already preparing to get on the bridge.
Captain Yang could only suppress his curiosity for the time being and start timing Song Shiyue. As for how, as always, he was inwardly hoping Song Shiyue would make a fool of herself — that was another matter entirely.
But Captain Yang's expectations had been dashed too many times, and this time was no exception.
As soon as Song Shiyue got on the bridge, those who had already crossed to this platform sensed something different.
This bridge... its sway is way too small, isn't it?
The key thing is, when they crossed, in order to keep the bridge balanced and reduce the sway, they all walked as straight a line down the middle as possible. Song Shiyue, on the other hand, walked however she pleased, sometimes in the middle, sometimes left, sometimes right, yet the bridge swayed even less than when they tried hard to walk straight — and the most impressive thing was that Song Shiyue's speed was probably the fastest among them all.
"Did you time her?" Ning Chuyang lightly elbowed Mu Xingzhou beside her when she saw Song Shiyue crouch down, and whispered.
"No." Mu Xingzhou was also staring unblinkingly at the bridge surface and asked in return, "Do you feel like Song Shiyue is holding something in her hand?"
"What thing?" Ning Chuyang stood on tiptoe to look, but since Song Shiyue was crouching, it was really hard to tell if she had something in her hand.
At this moment, one had to praise the high clarity of the StarNet livestream and the intelligence of the camera cutting to a close-up.
"Whoa, you can do that?"
"The lunchboxes provided by the production team are that good? I thought they just casually provided a couple of stainless-steel lunchboxes."
"What kind of metal lunchbox is this? Any experts here to identify it?"
"Hahaha, even an expert can't identify metal by eye outside a lab, right?"
"Truly, there's nothing Sister Song can't do that we can think of."
"No wonder Sister Song didn't go first. If she'd gone first, not only would the people behind have far fewer envelopes to choose from, but the path would be gouged so much it'd be hard to walk!"
"Zhao Da was just reluctant to go first, hahaha, actually it was all Song Shiyue's kind consideration."
"Hahaha, what I want to say is, Little Ice Block should be very happy. So many envelopes, surely one won't be blank."
"You opened a blank one, so I'll bring you back a whole handful more — what beautiful love is this!"
"Sister Song really... It's like she can get however many envelopes she wants. To think she told Yu Nianbing earlier that she was clumsy-handed, and just to walk however, it didn't matter if she took over a minute."
"If this isn't love!"
"I actually believed Song Shiyue earlier, thought she really lacked confidence in this segment and that's why she told Yu Nianbing to prioritize safety and not worry about time. Looking back now, it was all just couple-sweetness!"
"Hahaha, Sister Song really stuffs your mouth without you noticing; you're stuffed full before you realize it's couple-sweetness. Too wicked!"
......
Song Shiyue could probably only guess half of the viewers' reactions on StarNet.
Yeah, the half about the metal.
After all, she'd been in the program for two days; under Yu Nianbing's subtle reminders and her own repeated self-admonishment that this was a live show, Song Shiyue had newly learned the skill of "disguise."
From stirring up the creek water to feel out a stone knife and stone pot, to now using the lid of a stainless-steel lunchbox as cover to snap off wood chunks — Song Shiyue was using this new skill with increasing proficiency.
One by one slowly untying knots, then slowly pulling the envelopes up and yanking them out — how could that be faster than directly snapping off the edge of the wood block that held those knotted ropes? Especially since some wood block edges had several holes drilled and several ropes tied; one snap, and you'd get several envelopes at once.
Song Shiyue pressed down the lunchbox lid, pretending to pry but really snapping; she got a diagonal strip of wood, and with it pulled up three envelopes. Press and snap again, and two more.
Unfortunately, no matter how smoothly it went, she had to mind the time limit; after snapping four times in a row and pulling up seven envelopes, Song Shiyue decided to quit while she was ahead.
Song Shiyue had no confidence in gambling on luck, but aside from the ones Mu Xingzhou and Yu Nianbing had already taken, there should only be four blank envelopes left on the bridge. Even if her hand was really unlucky and she got all four blanks, there would still be three usable ones, right?
But one minute really was too short; there was no time to get the other envelopes scattered elsewhere.
Song Shiyue was still regretful, but as she walked closer, Captain Yang, who was staring straight at her from the platform, had an expression that was not so pleasant.
When she had crossed half the bridge, Captain Yang easily saw the stainless-steel box and the wood blocks in Song Shiyue's hand, along with the envelopes still hanging by the threads from the wood.
"How did you do that..." Captain Yang finally couldn't help but frown and ask when Song Shiyue was almost onto the platform.
"Time, time." Ning Chuyang quickly darted to Captain Yang's side, staring intently and reminding him, "Announce the time! How many seconds!"
Even though Ning Chuyang was so quick and alert, when Captain Yang reacted and pressed the stopwatch in his hand, it was still a bit slower than Song Shiyue's stepping onto the platform.
"Fifty-six seconds." Captain Yang quickly read the time, then looked at Song Shiyue. "What is this? How did you get the wood off? And why take so many? A person is only allowed one envelope."
"When you explained the rules earlier, you didn't say each person could only take one." Song Shiyue, who held no hopes for her own luck, wasn't fooled, and added, "If not, ask Zhao Da."
Captain Yang frowned and looked at the now-named Zhao Da.
Zhao Da nodded: "He didn't say that."
"You can also check the playback from Director Zhang's side," Yu Nianbing added faintly.
Alright, fine, very good.
Captain Yang took a deep breath, once again reminding himself that he was no longer the leader who had to oppose the guests like yesterday. Although Song Shiyue was very annoying, this time it really did seem to be his own oversight.
But who would have thought that someone could cross this wooden bridge within one minute while carrying more than one envelope?
Seeing Captain Yang fall silent, everyone's attention returned to the things Song Shiyue had brought back.
"Quick, open them and see! We've been busy for nothing for half the day; we can finally see what the benefit on this bridge is," Ning Chuyang urged.
Everyone looked somewhat expectant.
Yu Nianbing, on the other hand, looked at the wood blocks in Song Shiyue's hand and sighed inwardly again and again. But she also couldn't help thinking hopefully that, after occurring time and again, the viewers were probably already used to this kind of Song Shiyue...
"Let me first cover the beef fat; Teacher Yu, you open them." Song Shiyue pulled the envelopes off the wood blocks and stuffed them into Yu Nianbing's hand, smiling. "Don't worry, there's definitely something inside."
What was there to worry about? Even if her hand was black, seven minus four still left three that should have writing.
Yu Nianbing couldn't help but wonder if Song Shiyue had suddenly gathered so many to make up for the blank envelope she'd gotten earlier. But then she thought again and felt she might be overthinking.
No matter what, with Song Shiyue looking over with such bright eyes and a soft smile, it was really hard to refuse.
Yu Nianbing gave Song Shiyue another deep look before taking the envelopes and beginning to open them.
Perhaps her black hand had been wiped clean on the blank envelope Yu Nianbing herself had drawn earlier; as soon as she opened the first one, words appeared.
"One inflatable pillow." Yu Nianbing read out the words inside the envelope.
Song Shiyue, who was busy beside her brushing off the dust from the edge of the stainless-steel lunchbox and putting the lid back on the one containing beef fat, looked up upon hearing this and smiled again.
What's there to smile about, it's just a pillow... Yu Nianbing thought with a slight pout internally.
But having immediately pulled something out indeed made Yu Nianbing feel much lighter.
So, one pillow, two pillows, three pillows...
Out of the seven envelopes Song Shiyue brought back, they opened four inflatable pillows, and the other three were blank.
In terms of ratio, Song Shiyue's hand was still a bit black.
After friendly discussion and courteous yielding, Song Shiyue and Yu Nianbing each naturally took one pillow, and the remaining two were given to the other two pairs, one each.
As for whether Captain Yang was silently repeating to himself that next time he must remember to state the rules more comprehensively — that was a story for later.
Zipline, zipline, and another zipline.
After crossing six more ziplines — five medium and one large — another bridge appeared in front of everyone.
This time, it was a rope-net bridge.
A bridge made of knotted ropes, like a large net, connecting the platforms on either side.
To reach the next platform, they had to climb up this rope net to the platform above.
The rope net was quite large, visually about four meters wide, and it looked like being spread out on it would feel rather secure.
"The benefit for this rope bridge is on the back of the bridge, at the intersections of two ropes. If while climbing you feel a small transparent sphere at a rope intersection, pull it off the rope bridge. Don't worry, the sphere is fixed to the back of the bridge with glue and comes off easily," Captain Yang introduced, pointing at the rope bridge behind him. "Also, note that not every sphere you feel and pull down represents a benefit. Only the transparent spheres with a yellow center count as you obtaining this rope bridge's benefit."
Hearing this, Song Shiyue and Yu Nianbing exchanged a glance, both understanding each other's meaning.
After passing the swaying wooden bridge earlier, everyone had discussed the benefits along this zipline route. Judging from the many envelopes Song Shiyue had pulled down, the benefit at one location was likely the same type. It was highly probable that the remaining two benefit envelopes still fluttering beneath the wooden bridge also said "one inflatable pillow."
If that were true, it made one wonder whether the benefits along this entire zipline route were related to their accommodations for the night.
If it was as they guessed, then even if they chose this zipline route and reached the camp before dark, the night might still be tough.
If even pillows had to be earned through effort and luck, could other things possibly be placed in the camp as effortlessly accessible as the night before?
Everyone didn't hold much expectation for the production team's friendliness.
As for whether the severity of the situation was truly as they thought, they'd have to see what the next benefit point offered to make a more accurate judgment.
But whether or not it was as they thought, their subconscious told them they'd better try a little harder in facing the challenges, or else tonight's reality would teach them a new lesson.
Thus, when listening to the rules, everyone was naturally more attentive than at the previous wooden bridge.
This pleased Captain Yang; these people finally showed a bit of the behavior of honestly being team members who listened to their leader.
"This time the time limit is two minutes. Likewise, within a team, if one person takes more than two minutes to arrive, the whole team's benefit is forfeited," Captain Yang said, glancing at Song Shiyue as he spoke. He added, "One more thing you must note this time: each person can only obtain one yellow-centered glass sphere. Even if you take more, only one will be counted for you."
"Then how many transparent spheres are there on this rope bridge in total, and how many have yellow centers?" Ning Chuyang tried to examine the spheres from this side of the net bridge. But unlike the sparse and swaying wooden bridge before, this one showed no anomalies at all, so she had to ask Captain Yang.
"That cannot be disclosed." A hint of a smile lifted the corner of Captain Yang's mouth.
Although he didn't intend to have any overt conflicts with the guests anymore, Captain Yang also had no interest in extending a friendly hand to help them estimate the probability of getting a yellow-centered sphere.
It's only when they know nothing that it's worth watching.
"If there are no more questions, come over one by one." Captain Yang said, turning to get on the bridge, but then suddenly remembered something and looked back.
His gaze landed steadily on Song Shiyue and Yu Nianbing.
"This time you cannot obtain the spheres by destroying the rope net; otherwise it will be considered a foul and the team's benefit will be canceled," Captain Yang added, only then feeling that this time things should be complete, no unexpected tricks should arise, and they could smoothly follow the production team's original plan.
Once Captain Yang got on the rope bridge, everyone was busy counting the time and trying to see the distribution of the spheres on the back of the bridge as it shook.
But this rope bridge was far sturdier and more stable than the wooden bridge before.
As Captain Yang climbed on it, only the small section he was pulling at swung from side to side; most of the rope bridge remained quite steady.
Moreover, the rope bridge connected platforms on two trees almost vertically; the platform they stood on was below, making it truly hard to see the situation on the back.
"If we climb from the side, we could flip over and take a look, right?" Ning Chuyang suddenly said, looking at the rope bridge.
"No."
The person who spoke, unexpectedly, was Zhao Da.
Seeing all the guests' eyes on him, Zhao Da seemed a bit nervous, but he firmly said, "No. You have to clip your safety buckles onto the iron cable above before crossing the bridge. The safety rope isn't that long. Don't think this rope bridge is four meters wide; in reality, your range of movement is limited to about just over a meter to each side centered on this rope, not enough to flip over."
"We can extend the safety rope a bit more." Song Shiyue thought Ning Chuyang's idea was good, as if she had found an oversight by the production team.
Zhao Da continued to shake his head firmly: "That's unsafe. This isn't like those later platforms with the lower branches trimmed. If you fall, even if you're caught, you'll definitely get scratched on the way down."
Song Shiyue was about to say more, but was tugged on the sleeve by Yu Nianbing.
"Zhao Da is right, the trees below are indeed dense and unsafe," Yu Nianbing said, lifting her chin toward the rope bridge.
Song Shiyue hesitated, then looked at Zhao Da and tried again: "What if we don't need to extend it too much, not enough to flip over, but just enough to reach the edge of the rope net without actually flipping over? Would that be okay?"
"That's better, you can't fall that way; even if your hand slips, you'd still be hanging on the edge," Ning Chuyang chimed in from the side.
While they were talking, Captain Yang had already reached the opposite platform.
Zhuang Jiachuan, who had been listening to the conversation while counting, spoke up: "Captain Yang took about a little over a minute and a half, less than one minute forty roughly."
"He climbed straight up the middle this time, and didn't have to look for the spheres," Yu Nianbing silently calculated and added, "That means, at most we can only climb a straight line and feel for the spheres along the way by chance; we likely can't afford to stop on the rope net or take detours..."
"So even if we can extend the safety rope enough to go up from the side of the bridge and observe the spheres from the side, we may not necessarily have the chance to get them," Zhuang Jiachuan continued, "After all, it takes time to climb from the edge of the rope net to the position of the sphere we spotted..."
"What if we see it and then tell the next person?" Ning Chuyang still wasn't giving up on the loophole she'd found.
Yu Nianbing thought for a moment, nodded, and then shook her head: "It can be done, but it might not be accurate. However, telling the next person the approximate location of the sphere could still be somewhat helpful. But the problem is — look at those ropes. They're not thin, but for hiding the spheres, the spheres definitely can't be big. With the rope net this long, at a glance, it's uncertain how many spheres you can even see, let alone pick out the ones with yellow centers from among those transparent ones."
That's right — as soon as Yu Nianbing said this, everyone calmed down.
If the spheres were that small, who would have such good eyesight to see them, remember them, and describe them accurately...
On such a large rope net, if there were only six benefit spheres like on the wooden bridge, they'd be too hard to see from the edge. Even if you saw one... the information passed to the next person might not necessarily lead them to find it accurately.
In that case, compared to just climbing casually and feeling along the way, the odds aren't much different...
"Then it can only depend on luck," Mu Xingzhou sighed, and added, "It just depends on whether the production team, thinking we'd be unlikely to think of extending the safety line, stuck all the yellow-centered transparent spheres on the two sides of the rope bridge... If that's the case, our chances of getting them are much higher."
"So now our hopes rest on whether the production team is evil enough?" Though the situation wasn't quite right, Ning Chuyang couldn't help but laugh.
"Let's just go up and try first." Song Shiyue, however, already had a plan in mind. She looked at Zhao Da again: "Help me set the safety rope so I can walk along the edge of the rope net; this time I'll go first."
Comments
Post a Comment