WS - Chapter 134
Chapter 134
Yao Yuxi's apparent refusal to read the room instantly cooled the face of Old Master Mu, who had nearly been driven to his wit's end over the past two days.
Although the Mu family had yet to trace the person behind the newly emerged livestream page, Yao Yuxi's current response, while immensely irritating Old Master Mu, also confirmed his suspicions.
"After President Yao gets out, our two families can still cooperate in many ways." Thinking of the still-untraceable source of the new livestream page, Old Master Mu reined in his temper and gently coaxed, "A win-win situation—let's not turn it into a lose-lose, right?"
Old Man Mu's words had no positive effect on Yao Yuxi whatsoever; they only deepened the sneer on her face. "You've come here to say these things and even want to pull me out—does that mean you've already admitted that the concealment of the Yaoxing Storm on Wilderness Planet was your two sons' doing, and that the death and the suicide note at the Mingtan Aerospace Bureau were also their handiwork?"
"President Yao, choose your words carefully. I simply do not wish to see that livestream continue to provoke those baseless speculations. And for you, President Yao, my assistance is merely a goodwill gesture. I hope you will give it serious thought—after all, this is Luo San's territory, and you've been comfortable these past two days. Whatever anger you have, once you're out..." Old Master Mu remained wary of the black technology in Yao Yuxi's possession that could overcome the lingering effects of the Yaoxing Storm. Even though his men had confirmed there were no surveillance devices in the room, he would not speak plainly, much less admit to any of those matters.
Yao Yuxi, however, lifted her head and cut off Old Man Mu's insinuating, equivocating smoothness with a sneer. "Enough. Stop painting me rosy pictures. I don't need to think it over; let me be blunt. Those two sons of yours—oh, wait, three of them—truly are all scum. I don't need the Mu family to devise any plan for me. Even if I rot in prison, if I can watch every last one of the Mu family drown in misery, it'll be worth it."
Old Master Mu gripped the armrests of his wheelchair, frowning, and remained silent for a long moment.
Yao Yuxi... what on earth is going on?
The second-generation miniature cameras used on "The Wilderness Journey" came from Yao Group. Yao Group's technology was a leader in Mingtan Planet's tech sector. That the new livestream capable of bypassing the lingering effects of the Yaoxing Storm also originated from Yao Group was actually not hard to guess. And when one considered how close the timing was between Yao Yuxi being taken away from Yao Group by Luo San and the start of the new livestream, that was an even stronger piece of evidence.
Only, Old Master Mu had originally assumed that the new livestream page was born of Yao Yuxi's anger—her effort to shake off the suspicion cast by that suicide note, now that she no longer held Yao Group shares. Old Master Mu was well aware of the ties between Luo San and the Yao Group.
The latest intelligence said that although Yao Yuxi, here in the detention center, still could not have contact with anyone outside, under Luo San's care she was well fed and housed, with everything in her room brand new and of top quality.
She hadn't suffered any hardship, and he had also promised to get her out, with benefits all open to negotiation.
By all rights, Yao Yuxi was bound to be angry, and he had already taken a very humble stance, yet the other party, eyes bloodshot and overflowing with hate, looking ready to drag everyone down together—what was that about?
She'd only spent two days in a detention center and hadn't suffered at all—was this really necessary?
Moreover... now the entire outside world was guessing that the concealment of the Yaoxing Storm and Deputy Director Sun's death were the work of the two brothers Mu Xuhong and Mu Xuhao. It was normal for Yao Yuxi to think those two were rotten... but what about his own third son? What had happened?
The Yaoxing Storm incident had gotten so big it was no longer confined to the Mingtan System. Even Old Master Mu had to shamelessly drag his old face around, personally throwing money to smooth relations at every level. Even this visit to talk with Yao Yuxi had taken him from the previous evening until late into this night, nearly daybreak, before he could finally get in.
At his age, and so worried, Old Master Mu naturally had no time to follow any livestream. He simply ordered his people to keep an eye on it and report back to him on Mu Xingzhou's situation at any time. Though... even if Old Master Mu had followed the livestream, he probably would have struggled to connect Yao Yuxi's fury to a decision Mu Xingzhou had made just a few hours earlier.
"President Yao can't stay here at Luo San's place forever. Some matters can't be investigated here, so they'll have to be handed off to another jurisdiction. I hear you no longer hold any shares in Yao Group, and the one who took them over is some little girl with absolutely no business experience. Yao Group has been quite lively these past two days. When Yao Qing originally entrusted Yao Group to you, it wasn't so you could act recklessly. If you don't get out early to help that little girl, I'm afraid she won't be able to keep the board in check." Unable to fathom the source of Yao Yuxi's towering hatred, Old Master Mu decided to set it aside for now and began administering a heavier dose of medicine.
Yao Yuxi had been without Yao Group shares for well over a year, and it was only when this incident blew up that Old Master Mu had uncovered the baby-switching affair from over twenty years ago.
The previous head of Yao Group, Yao Qing, had a deep mother-daughter bond with Yao Yuxi; rumor had it that Yao Qing's legs were broken and replaced with prosthetics because she had saved Yao Yuxi. Now it seemed Yao Yuxi had lived up to her debt to Yao Qing. Even after Yao Qing died and the switched-at-birth was discovered, she had actually given all the shares to Yao Qing's biological daughter.
Unfortunately, time had been too short, and the other party's protective arrangements were too tight. Old Master Mu still hadn't found out where the girl who'd been switched with Yao Yuxi was. Otherwise, he could have persuaded her to come and talk to Yao Yuxi, which would surely have yielded twice the result with half the effort.
But now, using this line of reasoning, Old Master Mu felt that Yao Yuxi should be able to calm down and think things through properly.
Who could have expected that if Yao Yuxi's earlier resentment was like a blazing fire, then the few words Old Master Mu tossed in were like throwing gunpowder directly onto the flames...
Bang!
Yao Yuxi's clenched fists slammed onto the conference table. She leaned forward, her bloodshot eyes fixed on Old Man Mu as if she wanted to tear a chunk of flesh from his withered body.
Even Old Master Mu, who had weathered many storms, couldn't help but instinctively push his wheelchair back a little.
"Me and your Mu Group... it won't end until one of us is dead." Yao Yuxi forced out each word through gritted teeth, then turned away without another glance at Old Man Mu, opened the conference room door, and walked out.
Not paying the slightest attention to the thunderous door slam, Old Master Mu could only see that vivid smear of red that had appeared on Yao Yuxi's lips as she spoke her final words.
This isn't a momentary fit of temper.
So what on earth is going on?
There must... there must be something he still hasn't uncovered!
On Mingtan Prime, just before daybreak, Old Master Mu, far from winning anyone over, had succeeded in doubling the hatred in Yao Yuxi's heart.
Meanwhile on Wilderness Planet, before dawn, Yu Nianbing again left her tent and sat by the fire with Director Zhang and Zhuang Jiachuan, talking for quite a while.
Director Zhang was a moody man with little conscience. Yet Yu Nianbing on the surface showed not a trace of resentment over the team split, put considerable thought into it, and her words were all understanding and magnanimity. She coaxed Director Zhang from reluctant conversation into a steady flow, getting him to recount in detail all the production team's arrangements for the route ahead.
Of course, whether he'd spilled everything was hard to say.
In any case, Yu Nianbing neither expected Director Zhang to fail to see through her intent from start to finish and pour out everything, nor did she expect much left for their group after the first team passed through. In her view, getting a general idea of the situation ahead was enough; combined with the map, they could always manage to walk through slowly.
Director Zhang kept talking until the sky began to lighten, and people in the camp started waking up one after another, before he finally wound down, still seemingly unwilling to stop.
Zhuang Jiachuan had been listening and watching the whole time. He didn't know if Yu Nianbing had also seen it, but as far as he was concerned, Director Zhang indeed seemed to have been coaxed into swallowing her honeyed words at the start, set on the path, and opened up his chatterbox.
But later on... Zhuang Jiachuan felt that after talking for a while, at some point Director Zhang must have realized the purpose of Yu Nianbing's visit. Yet after that, Director Zhang seemed to speak in even more detail, even recounting how experts had been brought in beforehand to assess and walk the route and its surroundings, and told it all thoroughly.
It sounded an awful lot like showing off the program's design, but still... Zhuang Jiachuan couldn't help but wonder if Director Zhang had deliberately gone into so much detail.
But in the end, no one spelled it out, treating it as nothing more than a pre-dawn chat.
Perhaps it was that he truly hoped they really just had no other choice, Zhuang Jiachuan could only think like that in the end.
The sky brightened, and the sounds in the camp began to grow.
And that night, whether those staying or those leaving, whether those who slept or those who didn't... no one had an easy time.
Ning Chuyang had hardly slept all night and was a bit out of sorts. Once Yu Nianbing returned to the tent and with everyone seeming to be getting up, she thought of going back to Feng Qianqian's tent to grab her water bottle, drink some water, and wipe her face with a towel. Gather some energy, so as not to be looked down on by those in the advance team!
Having spent the night with Yu Nianbing and Song Shiyue, witnessing the scene of Song Shiyue being force-fed, and also experiencing Yu Nianbing's rare closeness and gentleness, Ning Chuyang's heart felt a bit better than the day before, when she'd run out of the other tent.
Forget it, just as Yu Nianbing said, what was the point of forcing together people whose hearts had drifted apart? The ideas of pulling together in times of trouble, helping each other out—those two had none of that... it had all just been her own illusion. Why torment others and herself over a few illusions? It was all just about surviving; don't hold others to too high a standard...
On the way back to Feng Qianqian's tent, Ning Chuyang kept building up one layer of mental preparation after another.
But when she actually lifted the tent flap and saw Ni Jinghe sleeping curled up beside Feng Qianqian, her heart still ached a little.
Fortunately, with Ni Jinghe asleep, Ning Chuyang was spared the awkwardness of facing her alone. She just carefully dragged out her own backpack, closed the tent again, and hurried back to Yu Nianbing's side.
Only Ning Chuyang didn't know that after she had left, Ni Jinghe quickly sat up, her open eyes clear and alert.
Back at Yu Nianbing's tent, Ning Chuyang, who had been thirsty for a while, immediately opened her backpack to get her water bottle.
But when the backpack opened, what lay on top wasn't the water bottle she had stuffed in last the day before.
"What's this..." Ning Chuyang pulled out a silver-white, insulated bag-like object from the backpack.
Opening the rather thick bag revealed bottles and jars, from tiny glass vials the size of a thumb to palm-sized jars to boxes of pills...
"Did Doctor Ni give these to you?" In such a small space, Yu Nianbing, sitting beside her, naturally saw it perfectly.
Ning Chuyang, touching a small glass bottle in the bag, slowly shook her head. "When I went, she was asleep. I just grabbed my pack and came back."
Yu Nianbing reached out and pulled a box of painkillers from the bag and opened it.
It had originally been a two-blister pack, eight pills in each blister, but now only one full blister remained.
"There was only one box of painkillers in total. Feng Qianqian woke up twice and took four pills." Ning Chuyang turned her head to look at the pill box in Yu Nianbing's hand and muttered.
From stomach medicine, insect repellent, cold medicine, anti-inflammatory drugs, disinfectant... to ointments and serum...
Counting it up, aside from the styptic powder and bandages that were already used up, Ni Jinghe had probably left at least two-thirds of the medicine packed into Ning Chuyang's backpack...
The two briefly looked through the items in the silver bag and both fell silent.
"She..." Ning Chuyang was silent for a while, seeming to want to say something, but as soon as the word came out, it was overwhelmed by a wave of emotion, and she could barely speak further.
"It's not easy for anyone..." Yu Nianbing gently patted Ning Chuyang's shoulder.
It was all for the sake of surviving; no one had it easy.
As long as there was no harm done, being abandoned was already a relatively peaceful outcome.
The fault lay with this Yaoxing Storm—the hand of heaven playing tricks, forcing people to make difficult choices over and over.
Not everyone can repay a life-saving grace with their own life.
While Yu Nianbing's own choice had not been difficult, she had no standing to blame others. After all, who could take responsibility for another's life?
Day broke.
Zhao Da and Zhao Er brought out the remaining six breakfast burgers, six sandwiches, and six steamers of xiaolongbao, four in each steamer, from the thermal storage box.
Without much to say, each person took a burger or a sandwich, and every two people shared one steamer of xiaolongbao.
Barring mishap, this would be all the provisions for the entire day.
Of course, this referred to those traveling light, the team planning to reach the next camp by tonight.
As for the team planning to set out with Song Shiyue and Feng Qianqian, this might well be their provisions for an even longer time ahead.
Xiaolongbao were not easy to carry, so those preparing to set out more or less wolfed them down in two bites each, then stowed away the burgers or sandwiches.
Those who had backpacks naturally placed them inside.
Those who had long lost their backpacks used clothing to make a bundle and carried it. Those who had also lost their water bottles had long since rummaged through the camp and scavenged stainless-steel lunchboxes or small bottles to make do.
In any case, everything that needed packing had been mostly packed the day before; today all that remained was setting off.
This kind of parting kept everyone very quiet.
The two teams were clearly separated, and really had nothing to say to each other.
Just when everyone else had no issues and had finished packing their things, Wang Daming, who was about to go fetch the dog, saw the bare tree and blew up.
"Where's my dog?!" Wang Daming hadn't seen the dog at first and thought he'd misremembered the tree, but after circling the tent once he realized the dog was truly gone and immediately started shouting.
However, just as Yu Nianbing had said, the others weren't yet at the point of having an appetite for dog, and they only symbolically helped Wang Daming look around the camp for a bit.
While everyone dispersed to look for the dog, Yu Nianbing, who had been merely wandering around the tents as a pretense of fitting in, alertly noticed Guan Yongyi beginning to approach the tent where Song Shiyue was sleeping.
When Yu Nianbing rushed back in a few steps, what she met was Guan Yongyi holding out a burger and two xiaolongbao still in their steamer, only a little cold.
"I'm sorry..." Guan Yongyi said, as terse as the day before, then bent down to place the food beside the tent.
This time, however, Yu Nianbing extended her hand and stopped him.
"Forget it." Yu Nianbing blocked Guan Yongyi's hand, and under the man's downcast but persistent eyes, she sighed again. "You don't want to collapse on the road after two days without food, do you? Are you expecting them to carry you?"
Yu Nianbing had never been very good at handling people's goodwill.
Especially now... she couldn't even say whether these gestures from these people still counted as goodwill.
But one thing she was clear on: those who intended to leave first would not have an easy time before reaching the next camp. Guan Yongyi hadn't even drunk his congee the day before. For a grown man to subsist for two days on a mouthful of salad was likely too harsh.
Song Shiyue did indeed lack food.
But Yu Nianbing was unwilling to accept on Song Shiyue's behalf this food that had already become critical for Guan Yongyi.
It wasn't that serious.
It wasn't necessary.
Just forget it...
How could Guan Yongyi not know that his one bowl of congee, this bit of burger and xiaolongbao, was a drop in the bucket compared to the life-saving kindness of Song Shiyue? But what else could he do? Choose the team whose survival chances were obviously less than a third, even a fifth, of the other team's?
He still had parents, a wife, and children...
If he were just one person, one life, he would have given it.
But after he had been forced to retire due to injury, what about the large family that relied on his variety show work to survive? With only the insurance payout, could they manage on their own?
Guan Yongyi couldn't...
And yet, Guan Yongyi also knew in his heart that his actions at this moment were only to make himself feel a little better.
So when faced with Yu Nianbing's firm and cold refusal, Guan Yongyi could not resist for long, and soon surrendered and left with the things...
But Guan Yongyi's despondency was still nothing compared to Wang Daming, who had lost the reserve rations.
Wang Daming couldn't force the whole team to help him look for the dog. In the end, he could only mutter and curse under his breath as he followed behind the group and left.
Yes, they left.
Whether it was Zhao Da and Zhao Er, who had vehemently demanded the split, Director Zhang, Captain Yang, Wang Daming, or the consistently silent Guan Yongyi, as well as Mu Xingzhou and Ni Jinghe who later changed their minds—all of them left.
Silently, they formed their team as the sun began to rise, and amid Wang Daming's low curses, they departed.
There were no goodbyes.
In fact, goodbyes were not needed.
The group, without plunder or harm, without condemnation or pleading, seemed to part peacefully into two teams.
But this semblance of peace did not extend beyond Wilderness Planet.
Having been rebuffed by Yao Yuxi, Old Master Mu, after a brief sleep, woke up to face Mu Group's stock price collapsing like a landslide off a cliff.
"What's going on? Has something new about those two unfilial sons' misdeeds exploded on StarNet?" Old Master Mu immediately called the person he'd ordered to monitor StarNet around the clock.
However, this time, most of it was not the work of the two Mu brothers.
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