WS - Chapter 91
Chapter 91
At first, when Mu Xingzhou said the reason Yu Nianbing came over first was because he said he also wanted water, Ning Chuyang had no idea that he was using that line to counter Yu Nianbing's earlier remark about wanting water.
But then when Mu Xingzhou hemmed and hawed and made those vague complaints about Yu Nianbing having them all switch to Method One, Ning Chuyang began to catch on.
Ning Chuyang had always been quick on the uptake; otherwise, how else could she have kept pace with Yu Nianbing the day before and seamlessly teamed up to shut Captain Yang down?
But Ning Chuyang had never applied that sharpness to internal team dynamics, not until Mu Xingzhou pushed the point so far that she finally grasped what Yu Nianbing had really meant by saying she wanted water before they set foot on the iron cable....
There was some surprise, certainly. If Mu Xingzhou had caught on to Yu Nianbing's intent right then, his feeling of resentment wouldn't have been entirely incomprehensible.
Ning Chuyang and Mu Xingzhou had worked together on a drama, and due to being paired as a CP, they had indeed gotten somewhat close for a while. In Ning Chuyang's view, they were friends, and while her understanding of Mu Xingzhou wasn't deep, she could at least guess at some things.
To be honest, Ning Chuyang's popularity was definitely no match for Mu Xingzhou's. But the fans she had attracted through a few hit dramas were incredibly loving and gentle, cradling her in their hands and calling her "baby." It went without saying that Mu Xingzhou's massive fanbase would shower him with even more adoration.
Being spoiled so much naturally made it hard to tolerate even a little distance or wariness from others.
If Ning Chuyang hadn't sensed that slightly special connection between Yu Nianbing and Song Shiyue earlier, then now, upon realizing that Yu Nianbing had used wanting water as an excuse to make them go first on the iron cable, she would definitely have had some prickly feelings too.
They were all members of the same team, yet now wariness had emerged and lines between close and distant had been drawn...
Given Mu Xingzhou's personality, resentment was unavoidable. Even his counter-use of "wanting water" to let Yu Nianbing know he'd seen through her earlier meaning— a retaliation that refused to be taken for a ride— was something Ning Chuyang could imagine.
Unable to bear disappointment or grievance, striking back on the spot even if it was childish— that fit Ning Chuyang's not-deep understanding of Mu Xingzhou perfectly.
What Ning Chuyang didn't expect was that Mu Xingzhou's childishness would persist for so long.
He'd already retaliated on the spot; Yu Nianbing surely realized he was aware. They'd all crossed the iron cable, and he'd even been saved by Song Shiyue... So why wasn't the earlier matter over?
Of course, Ning Chuyang had considered that it might be because she had asked that extra question.
But thinking further, if Mu Xingzhou wanted to let it go, he wouldn't have answered with "because I said I wanted water too"...
He clearly hadn't let it go, and he clearly wanted to talk about it.
The moment Ning Chuyang understood, she truly flared up and couldn't help but give Mu Xingzhou a kick.
That anger, that kick, was first because Mu Xingzhou had benefited from Song Shiyue's kindness, yet he was still going on about Yu Nianbing, who was obviously the person Song Shiyue cared about most— it was like he remembered the beating but forgot the feeding, which frustrated Ning Chuyang to no end. Secondly, this was a livestream! Had Mu Xingzhou lost his mind when he slid down the iron cable? Was it appropriate to lay out both Yu Nianbing's earlier wariness and Mu Xingzhou's later nitpicking so plainly for the audience to see? Could they still happily work together? Ning Chuyang was absolutely furious.
Unfortunately, Mu Xingzhou, upon receiving that neither-light-nor-heavy kick, actually let out a loud yelp, startling Ning Chuyang into quickly checking where everyone else was. Then she grabbed Mu Xingzhou and put a finger to her lips, signaling him to keep quiet.
"What did you kick me for!" Mu Xingzhou saw Ning Chuyang's signal, and when he spoke again, his voice was softer, but his dissatisfaction and annoyance were unmistakable.
"Because I felt like kicking." Ning Chuyang, already tired after two days and with her little temper flaring, gave Mu Xingzhou a peeved look, but her mind was racing to figure out what to say to cover up what had happened earlier on the livestream without making any of these guys look bad.
As she thought, Ning Chuyang felt a pang of bitterness. Day after day was so exhausting, and no one knew when it would end. Why couldn't these people just be less troublesome! Take this guy in front of her— hadn't he been hurt and then immediately struck back? One said "wanting water," the other said "wanting water too." The veiled words had made both of them understand each other; wasn't that enough? Why did he have to drag it out? It seemed that even if she hadn't asked, Mu Xingzhou didn't look like he would let this resentment dissipate without saying it.
Mu Xingzhou wasn't very satisfied with Ning Chuyang's explanation, but seeing that she still looked very angry, he could only rub his kicked leg and mutter "violent" under his breath.
Ning Chuyang shot a sideways glance at the person in front of her, whose face was still pale. She was still angry, of course, but looking at Mu Xingzhou like this, she couldn't help but remember how bloodless his face had been when he came down from the iron-rope bridge...
"..." Ning Chuyang wanted to ask Mu Xingzhou whether it was because he had chosen Method One and slipped that step that his resentment toward Yu Nianbing couldn't dissipate. Whether it was because he had been so frightened that he couldn't control himself, didn't care about the livestream, and just blurted out his grievances...
But those were questions she couldn't ask.
Still, thinking along those lines seemed to offer Mu Xingzhou a bit of an excuse in her mind, and Ning Chuyang's anger at least abated somewhat, allowing her to calm down a little and put her brain back to work.
"Alright, alright, I'm violent, I'm the most violent. Is this your first day knowing me?" Ning Chuyang didn't really care about her image; after all, so what if she was willful?
Mu Xingzhou glanced at Ning Chuyang, pouted, and stopped his quiet muttering.
Ning Chuyang was satisfied with Mu Xingzhou's knowing when to quit, but then she shifted gears and went straight to the point: "Let me ask you, you said Teacher Yu was worried about Teacher Song. Are you worried about Teacher Song?"
"Me? Of course I'm worried." Mu Xingzhou wasn't lying; even aside from what had just happened on the iron-rope bridge, his impression of Song Shiyue was very good.
"Then let me ask you another question: you're worried about Teacher Song. If you and Teacher Song were standing on the iron-rope bridge, would you dare to unfasten your own safety buckle for Teacher Song?" Ning Chuyang asked, but without waiting for Mu Xingzhou to answer, she continued, "I'm also worried about Teacher Song, but my courage and ability aren't enough to complete such a terrifying maneuver. What about you?"
Earlier, just slipping one foot on the iron cable had scared him that badly; even if Mu Xingzhou tried to bluff and say he could, no one would believe it.
Mu Xingzhou shook his head: "I couldn't either..."
Finally having steered the conversation here, Ning Chuyang let out a relieved sigh and struck while the iron was hot: "Right, we both can't. But just now on the iron-rope bridge, Teacher Yu unfastened her own safety buckle. We're all worried about Teacher Song, but that kind of worry is different, and what we're willing to do and sacrifice for it is also different. It's like each of us has a bowl of rice; what we can give Teacher Song is a quarter of our bowl, but Teacher Yu can give her the entire bowl along with the bowl itself. Do you understand what I mean? Teacher Yu is worried with her life, and she is giving back with her life. And look at us, who can only give a quarter of a bowl— what's wrong with being reminded by someone who can give the whole bowl?"
"Teacher Yu... she... when the two of them switched positions just now, Teacher Yu unfastened her safety buckle?" Mu Xingzhou's shock was entirely genuine; even his words stuttered.
"Mm. They were standing more to the side closer to us, and I personally saw Teacher Yu reach out with her hand holding the safety buckle." Ning Chuyang was largely satisfied with Mu Xingzhou's reaction at this point, so she added with a bit of earnest gravity, "We're all teammates, true, but how could we all be the same kind of teammates? They have a relationship where they can unfasten each other's safety buckles. Think about it— can we do that? Are we that kind? Anyway, I can't unfasten a safety buckle for you. I think with my skills, the moment I unfasten it, I'd be falling to my death..."
Mu Xingzhou remained silent, the shock on his face lingering for a long time.
Ning Chuyang had said everything she could say, smoothed over what she could smooth over. As for whether Mu Xingzhou could digest it, whether the audience's attention could be diverted, whether her approach had successfully managed the situation... Ning Chuyang figured, her ability was limited, so this would have to do.
Where were the tender leaves, the little sprouts?
Searching and looking, for tonight's vegetables and vitamin C, she had to work hard picking them...
Ning Chuyang paid no more attention to Mu Xingzhou and refocused on the lamb's quarters in front of her; the sky was clearly getting late, so she had to hurry.
Speaking of this lamb's quarters...
This was also thanks to Yu Nianbing, but she couldn't bring it up again in the conversation just now; otherwise, Mu Xingzhou would probably get scolded by the audience... He'd eaten so much of her cooking— what was the big deal about being guarded against once? They weren't exactly baring their hearts to each other anyway. So silly.
Ning Chuyang's hand, picking tender sprouts, paused slightly. Just now, to steer the audience's attention, she had directed everything toward Yu Nianbing's selflessness, hoping that on that foundation, even if some viewers saw that Yu Nianbing had used wanting water as an excuse not to go first on the iron-rope bridge, they wouldn't be able to say much that was bad. After all, one could call it hypocrisy on a small level, but once that pure goodness was highlighted, some words became harder to say.
And Mu Xingzhou's earlier shock and contemplation were also within Ning Chuyang's plan. No blame for the ignorant; Mu Xingzhou, blind to that great love, had momentarily gone astray. After learning of Yu Nianbing's pure goodness, his shock and contemplation could probably be spun by his fans into regret.
Hopefully, after churning this around a few times, the matter would just blow over...
It had to be said that Ning Chuyang's words did have some effect.
At the very least, another wave of danmaku about eating candy rolled by, nicely diluting many of the earlier comments mocking Mu Xingzhou, and even suppressing the minority of Little Stars who were counter-mocking Yu Nianbing for being too controlling, so that no new danmaku from them appeared for a long while.
"The footage of Little Ice Block unfastening the safety buckle just now— I think the angle from Song Shiyue's livestream window was better. It captured all the actions that needed to be caught, and even captured Song Shiyue's expression at that moment."
"Hahaha, the expression where Zhenzhen looked completely dumbfounded to the point of stiffening up?"
"Manually @ the editing faction here, remember to edit this part using the camera angle from Song Shiyue's side."
"I really wish I had mind-reading powers to see what Sister Song was thinking then. Was it 'What is she doing?' or 'So soft.'"
"??? Friend in the front row, I suspect you're driving without a license. Let's chat privately?"
"Speaking of Song Shiyue's expression, I think the one after both of them got onto the platform was more classic. I even went back through the timeline to rewatch it several times."
"??? Which expression?? Come tell me, a Little Mooncake who was picking up takeout at that time!"
"Hahaha, that expression, Little Ice Buckets you must save it well and show it to Yu Nianbing when she comes out. From Yu Nianbing's angle earlier, she definitely didn't get to see it."
"??? I know I was wrong, next time I'll keep StarNet on even when picking up takeout! Tell me about it!"
"It's when the two of them got onto the platform one after the other and Yu Nianbing said to Song Shiyue, 'Thank goodness we made it in time, I saved your little blanket.' Then Song Shiyue looked up at the sky, and the livestream page showed that her eyes had reddened, and it took a lot to hold it back before she lowered her head and continued talking with Yu Nianbing."
"As a working person who's been busy all afternoon, I'm begging you, big shots, please edit well! When I get off work, I just want to eat a bowl of candy first before slowly catching up on today's content!"
"Takeout made me miss the livestream! Crying myself unconscious!"
"So earlier, did Yu Nianbing really want water, or was it an excuse?"
"Honestly, I think it's fine either way. I'm now firmly on the Song-Yu CP ship. She's willing to give her own life, so doing something toward others for the other person's sake is totally possible. Besides, Yu Nianbing didn't do anything that harmed others to benefit herself."
"Mu Xingzhou is still too young. For someone who can't sense the CP glow, he's really too silly."
"Hahaha, as for Ning Chuyang, I smell the familiar scent of Mooncake on her."
"I can also understand Mu Xingzhou. In the eyes of a straight guy who can't detect the CP light, he probably thinks everyone is just good bros. Hahaha, it reminds me of the friendship of three where I alone am not named; suddenly it feels a bit awkwardly pitiful."
...
Life and death, in most people's eyes, is always a grave matter.
Whether Yu Nianbing on the previous platform genuinely wanted water or used it as an excuse— as someone who could even slip while walking on an iron cable, a total weakling, she still unfastened her safety buckle for Song Shiyue. By then, whether it was real or an excuse no longer mattered.
If she could give her life, what else counted for anything.
People naturally have close and distant relationships; without harming others, putting extra thought into someone close is not a flaw— on the contrary, it is a genuinely heart-stirring virtue.
Ning Chuyang's words once again put the Mooncake candy right out in the open, effectively easing the viewers' emotions on the livestream page.
The danmaku on the StarNet livestream page, after brief chaos, slowly returned to its previous rhythm.
But whether some things are like a flash-in-the-pan or just the tip of an iceberg— that was hard to say at the moment.
However, Mu Xingzhou and the livestream viewers weren't the only ones who heard Ning Chuyang's words.
More than ten meters away from where Ning Chuyang and Mu Xingzhou were picking lamb's quarters, Yu Nianbing was nervously looking up at the top of a large tree in front of her.
She waited and waited; there had been no movement up there for a while. Finally, Yu Nianbing couldn't help but ask, "Are there any? If not, come down..."
Though she asked, Yu Nianbing's voice wasn't too loud, for fear of startling the person in the tree.
As soon as she said that, Yu Nianbing saw a rustling in the dense crown above; a face poked out from among the leaves and looked over.
"Almost, almost, I'll come right down," Song Shiyue said with a grin, then pulled back in.
How on earth had she been so sweet-talked into agreeing to let Song Shiyue climb up and take a look...? Yu Nianbing deeply regretted it, but she lamented her inability to go up and drag her down herself.
Fortunately, not long after Song Shiyue poked her head out and spoke, there was more movement in the tree, and the person finally came down.
"Why did you climb all the way to the top of the tree? Didn't you say that bird's nest was right above our heads? Were you lying to me?" Clenching the hem of her clothes, Yu Nianbing couldn't help but step forward and fire off three rapid questions the moment the person landed.
"It was on a branch right above our heads, hahaha, a little bit higher up still counts as above our heads, right?" Song Shiyue smiled apologetically and carefully fished a handful of bird eggs out of her pocket to show off. "Look, I told you there were some. We'll have eggs to eat tonight."
Heh, the top of the tree also counts as above our heads? Why not say you went to find bird eggs in the sky— isn't the sky also above our heads!
Yu Nianbing was very angry, and seeing the bird eggs didn't make her happy. Did Song Shiyue take her for herself, someone who forgets everything at the sight of food!
"Do you think these bird eggs should be steamed or roasted? I think frying them sunny-side up with beef fat would also be delicious," Song Shiyue said with a face full of anticipation.
When it came to food, her eyes sparkled— as if anyone would find that cute enough to stop being angry.
Glancing again at the four bird eggs in Song Shiyue's hands, each only slightly bigger than a thumb segment, Yu Nianbing was angered into a laugh: "They're so tiny; even one egg drop soup would find it too little, and you want to make three dishes out of four bird eggs?"
"Then we'll make an egg drop soup; we just happen to have lamb's quarters anyway." Song Shiyue's smile didn't fade, and she added, "All thanks to our Teacher Yu, today is a day for supplementing vitamins."
"..." Yu Nianbing got a faceful of Song Shiyue's goodwill and couldn't understand why this person was so happy over four bird eggs. Even after being snapped at, she was still smiling, her mouth as sweet as honey...
But what Yu Nianbing didn't know was that it wasn't merely the four bird eggs that had sweetened Song Shiyue's tongue.
Ever since encountering the king cobra the day before, Song Shiyue had been keeping her ears pricked.
But along the way, she had been paying more attention to sounds other than people, only casually listening to human voices.
It wasn't until Mu Xingzhou yelped just now that Song Shiyue noticed the conversation between Mu Xingzhou and Ning Chuyang.
Although those were all things she had personally just experienced, earlier Song Shiyue had mostly felt angry and helpless about Yu Nianbing unfastening her safety buckle, and even thought Yu Nianbing's courage was growing too bold.
But listening to Ning Chuyang's words, she saw it from a different angle.
That line, "It's like each of us has a bowl of rice; what we can give Teacher Song is a quarter of our bowl, but Teacher Yu can give her the entire bowl along with the bowl itself," did seem to have some meaning to it.
She didn't know what to call the emotion rippling in her heart, but Song Shiyue truly listened to that conversation until her lips curved upward, until she forgot to reach for the bird's nest that was already nearly within arm's reach...
Really, so worried about me?
Looking at Yu Nianbing, who still seemed angry about her climbing too high, Song Shiyue couldn't help but smile even more happily.
Yu Nianbing: "..."
The sky was growing darker. Even though Song Shiyue and Yu Nianbing quickly joined the lamb's quarters picking team, everyone still busied themselves for quite a while before they had gathered most of the edible seedlings and tender leaves from this patch.
That said, although it wasn't the wild vegetable season and they could only pick and choose, in the end each person still had a fairly large handful.
Fortunately, when Song Shiyue was getting the bird's nest in the tree earlier, she had noticed a few large-leafed trees nearby; otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to carry all the picked lamb's quarters just in their pockets.
Big leaves, thin vines— they bundled everything into several large leaf-wrapped packages. Another day of bountiful harvest.
Zhao Da seemed to hear the sound of Captain Yang grinding his teeth beside him.
That man was really something; he clearly wanted and needed it very much, yet he just couldn't set aside his pride and only waited for others to build a stairway for him.
Still, this was just as the data had described, offering a wide range of utility.
So thinking, Zhao Da didn't look at Captain Yang again, and his face maintained its usual amiable expression.
By this time, it was almost dark.
No matter how displeased, Captain Yang himself still had to head back to camp.
After the team regrouped, Captain Yang dryly reminded them, "It'll be dangerous on the road once it's dark, so from now on we need to maintain full speed. Hopefully, you won't let other things cause more delays." Then he took the initiative to pull out a very small flashlight from his waist pouch, roughly the size of a finger joint.
Though the flashlight was tiny, the light it cast was quite bright and covered a wide area.
But with only this one flashlight, those walking right behind Captain Yang were fine, but those further back could barely see the path again.
"Don't you have a flashlight like that?" Song Shiyue turned back and asked Zhao Da.
Zhao Da shook his head.
Song Shiyue frowned.
If there were one more flashlight, with Captain Yang lighting the front and Zhao Da lighting the rear, the team's lighting would basically be barely sufficient. Not crystal clear, but at least they could see the road conditions.
"We'll have to make torches," Song Shiyue sighed.
Making torches in this forest was a real pain. The biggest hassle was that torches didn't burn continuously for very long and would need to be replaced before long... and their brightness couldn't compare to the flashlight Captain Yang had...
Yu Nianbing thought for a moment, then slowed her pace to walk alongside Zhao Da. Taking advantage of the sky not yet being completely dark, she looked at Zhao Da: "Is it that you don't have a flashlight right now, or that you haven't had one the whole journey?"
Zhao Da paused, as if thinking something over, but quickly smiled and answered, "I don't have one right now."
"Buried on the road? How far from here?" Though she asked, her tone was full of certainty.
This was someone very smart and very concerned about her teammates, yet the data described her as cold, keeping her distance, and not meddling in others' business...
Zhao Da recalled the contents of the data and smiled again.
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