HEIFEIGU -Chapter 52

The main task of the day was to collect bamboo insects and exchange them for supplies.

Everyone was already familiar with that bamboo forest, and after getting ready, they entered in small groups.

Xuan Caiyan had just found a suitable bamboo stalk when Duanyan Ming came up to her. “Teacher Yan, how do we pick these bamboos? Any secrets?”

Xie Jixing cleared his throat behind them. “Ahem, look for bamboo tubes that are yellowed, leaves slightly withered, surfaces covered with small holes. Tap them, and if the sound is hollow, that’s the one.”

Xuan Caiyan immediately gave a thumbs up. “Right, Teacher Xie!”

Duanyan Ming gritted his teeth silently. Why is this Xie guy so eager to show off?

As predicted, breaking open that bamboo revealed a lot of insects. Although Xuan Caiyan had already endured the “eating raw bugs” ordeal, seeing so many wriggling together made her scalp tingle, and she instinctively stepped back a little.

Duanyan Ming seized the opportunity to show off. “Teacher Yan, want me to do it? Or shall I?”

Xie Jixing appeared beside them in a flash, softly saying, “Teacher Yan, want me to do it? Or shall I?”

Xuan Caiyan instantly felt the tension of being called on by a teacher in school.

Can you do this problem? If not, go stand in the corridor.

“I… can do it! Definitely no problem.” She went ahead, picked one up, and placed it into her prepared coconut shell.

Collecting insects felt like a flashback to middle school. Duanyan Ming was the classmate who always whispered in class, and Xie Jixing was the teacher leaning by the back window.

Every time Duanyan Ming spoke, Teacher Xie would appear, repeating his words in a class-teacher tone, giving Xuan Caiyan PTSD every time she heard Duanyan Ming’s voice.

“Big bro, please stop talking, don’t call the teacher over again!”

After a day of digging insects in the bamboo forest, they had gathered enough items to exchange for supplies.

The next day, everyone gathered early by the campfire to enter the mountains and do the task.

The group looked at each other, forgetting what the director said the task was after two days of excitement.

Qian Shuyun quietly took out his old show phone. “Task hint: ‘angry little man.’”

Even more abstract!

This time, they didn’t have the luck of the previous task. Even though everyone spread out, watching tree tops and grass, they found nothing suspicious—no ribbons, no paper balls.

Even Sister Yue and the unlucky ghosts joined the search for clues, but after the morning, they found nothing.

During the forest trek, Duanyan Ming started again.

He looked worse off than Xuan Caiyan, nearly out of breath, yet he leaned over. “Huff… Teacher Yan… huff… need me to carry your backpack?”

Xie Jixing: “Teacher Yan, your bag is indeed heavy. Why not let Teacher Duan carry it?”

“I… can manage…” Xuan Caiyan was about to refuse when she saw Xie Jixing wink at her.

In that instant, she seemed to understand something, swallowed her refusal, and said, “I… really can’t. Huff… let’s have Teacher Duan help.”

Duanyan Ming was dumbfounded. He just casually suggested it, so why did she agree? She always refused before!

The huge hiking backpack was placed in Duanyan Ming’s arms. His fake smile was barely holding, and he awkwardly said, “Alright, Teacher Yan, put whatever in the bag, I’ll carry it for you.”

Hah, Xuan Caiyan sneered inwardly. A tent and sleeping bag already took up half the backpack, not to mention personal items, food, and water. How much could she really put in?

The so-called “helping carry the bag” was just talk. One named Duan, one named Xia—did they really take her for a fool?

“Ha,” she forced a laugh, “just joking with Teacher Duan.”

Then she hoisted her backpack onto her shoulders.

Continuing on, her attitude toward Duanyan Ming changed noticeably, becoming visibly perfunctory.

They walked like this until afternoon, seeing no sign of the task clues.

“Is this spot okay?” They stopped at a clearing. Fei Zhehan looked around, then at Xie Jixing, clearly seeking his opinion.

Look at him for what? Xie Jixing scratched his head. He had always lived in a portable cave dwelling, never pitched a tent before.

“This spot works,” Qian Shuyun said. “Although it’s still afternoon, lighting will be poor at night. Since this is our first campsite and everyone’s inexperienced, we should set up tents now, before dark.”

“Phew, saved!” Xuan Caiyan dropped her bag, collapsing to the ground.

“Don’t move!” Fei Zhehan said sternly, staring at her.

“Is there a snake?” Xuan Caiyan stretched her neck, closing her eyes. “Come bite me! Then I won’t have to record this damn show!”

Everyone laughed at her cheeky antics, even Luo Feiang, who had been scowling since Duanyan Ming appeared, couldn’t help smiling.

Xuan Caiyan secretly glanced at the top-tier star. Could he like funny girls?

If I knew that, I wouldn’t have pretended!

Surprisingly, the most skilled at pitching tents was Luo Feiang, but thinking of his fishing hobby, it made sense.

By the time his tent was finished, Xuan Caiyan hadn’t even set up the frame.

Duanyan Ming’s tent wasn’t done either, but seeing Xie Jixing busy, he assumed he wouldn’t interfere, so ran to Xuan Caiyan. “Here, I’ll help you set it up.”

“No need,” Xuan Caiyan said coldly. “I see your tent is far from done too. Focus on yours first before thinking about helping others.”

This refusal was quite blunt.

Even shameless Duanyan Ming couldn’t press further, and he sadly retreated to his own tent.

The tents provided by the production were double-layered and rainproof, perfect for rainforest use on an island, but extremely difficult for novices. Xuan Caiyan’s attempt was a mess—she couldn’t even set up the support poles.

“Where are the ground stakes?” Luo Feiang, who had finished his tent, asked.

Was he offering to help?

“Here!” Xuan Caiyan found the bag of black long stakes and handed it to him.

“First, align the inner and outer layers on the ground, then use stakes to fix the four corners of the inner layer,” Luo Feiang instructed, “Insert the stakes at an angle like this. Diagonal force keeps the tent stable. Otherwise, the wind will blow the whole tent away.”

After speaking, he started hammering the stakes into the ground one by one with his entrenching tool. Having broken a sweat earlier, he’d taken off his jacket, now just wearing a tight, quick-dry short-sleeve shirt.

With each hammer strike, a smooth, well-defined curve formed on his biceps, making Xuan Caiyan nearly drool.

Her eyes were glued to Luo Feiang, not paying attention to anyone else.

Luo Feiang took the lead while Xuan Caiyan assisted, and the outline of the tent quickly took shape.

The more harmonious they looked, the more forlorn Duan Yanming appeared on the sidelines. Finally, his fans couldn’t hold it in—they needed to take action.

【I feel like Yan Yan might have a thing for Xuan Caiyan?】

【Makes sense, he’s been saying he wants a girlfriend for a while.】

【He’s not that young anymore. A proper relationship would be good.】

【Yeah, I support it. Yan Yan seems to prefer pure-looking girls. If he resolves this major life matter on the show, it’d be great.】

【Yan Yan and Yan Yan, you two actually look pretty good together.】

【Luo Feiang is so annoying. Why does he always have to butt in and play the clown?】

【And that Xie Jixing, acting like a lunatic, always interrupting whenever Yan Yan and Xuan Caiyan talk.】

【He wants more screen time. He can’t really sing or dance well, only good at hyping up CPs on variety shows.】

【He hyped up Meng Zezhou and now wants to hype Xuan Caiyan too, trying to seem charming to both genders.】

【No worries, both of them are clowns. Without them, Yan Yan’s excellence wouldn’t shine as much.】

These fans were like some overbearing mothers, convinced that anyone in the world must fall for their son. At this point, they might even have already picked names for Duan Yanming and Xuan Caiyan’s hypothetical children.

By the time all the tents in the camp were set up, the sun was nearly setting.

After a full day trekking through the forest, everyone was exhausted. Besides the regular dinner, several people were planning to supplement it with a high-calorie chocolate bar.

“Never thought that before retiring, I’d get to eat a chocolate bar!” Xuan Caiyan said sincerely.

As an idol with extremely strict standards for body management, this was a rare treat—once outside this forest, she wouldn’t even dare to think about it.

Hearing her, Duan Yanming found another opportunity and sidled over.

He had also exchanged for a chocolate bar. Without opening his, he handed it to Xuan Caiyan. “You like these, right? Take mine.”

Xuan Caiyan looked at Xie Jixing, Help me, help me, help me!

Xie Jixing deliberately mimicked Xuan Caiyan’s tone from earlier and shouted, “Never thought that before retiring, I’d get to eat a chocolate bar!”

It seemed playful, meant to lighten the mood, and everyone laughed, except Duan Yanming, who was awkward.

If he insisted on giving the chocolate only to Xuan Caiyan, it’d be seen as disrespecting Xie Jixing—a clear case of favoritism.

But he had only exchanged two bars, and they were crucial for staving off hunger, so naturally he wanted to keep one for himself.

This Xie Jixing was just so annoying. Duan Yanming’s face stiffened; he ground his teeth in frustration but couldn’t do anything.

“It’s fine, Duan, you keep yours. Too much will be sickly anyway, better to drink more water,” Xuan Caiyan declined politely.

Given the opening, Duan Yanming had no choice but to back down, quietly sat back, and bit hard into his chocolate bar.

When everyone was about to head back to rest, Qian Shuyun called Xie Jixing over. “Come to the double tent, I have something for you.”

He then gave Meng Zezhou a meaningful look—familiar as always, little brother, be smart.

“Guess the wound really does drain energy,” Meng Zezhou feigned a yawn. “If you two have things to handle, I’ll just sleep in the single tent for now.”

One day at the banquet, I’ll sit at the main table!

Xie Jixing followed Qian Shuyun to the double tent, where Qian pulled two chocolate bars from his jacket pocket and handed them to him. “You like these? Take both.”

Xie Jixing paused, then smiled. “I only said that earlier to save Teacher Xuan. That Duan fellow wouldn’t stop bothering her.”

“Do you like them?” Qian Shuyun didn’t take the bars back.

“Of course.” He’d already come this far, so he might as well sleep here—after all, he had done this before. While setting up his sleeping bag, he added, “Eating this out in the wilderness feels pretty lucky.”

The two chocolate bars were tucked directly into Xie Jixing’s jacket pocket.

Little Red Mole smiled softly. Xie Jixing remembered Qian Shuyun had only exchanged two bars, so he pocketed them for now, planning to return them when needed.

Everyone thought sleeping outdoors would be restless, but after a full day hiking over mountains and through forests, everyone fell asleep quickly.

In the night forest, the wind rustled through the trees, and nocturnal animals began to stir.

To avoid fire hazards, the campfire was stomped out. Moonlight trickled weakly through the leaves, barely lighting the area. Only the kerosene lamp in Xuan Caiyan’s tent emitted a faint glow.

“Help!” A sharp female scream instantly jolted everyone awake.

Xie Jixing groggily sat up. Again it’s Xuan Caiyan? This kid is really unlucky!