WS - Chapter 150

Chapter 150

Zhuang Jiachuan had been about to continue, but Dog's sudden stir in the distance forced him to swallow his words.

The two of them ran toward Dog, one after the other. Zhuang Jiachuan watched Yu Nianbing ahead, who was voicing her disdain for Dog's misbehavior but whose actions betrayed deep concern, and his expression gradually relaxed.

He still didn't understand where a young woman like Yu Nianbing, with such a smooth career, had gotten all the rules and boundaries, all those distances and reservations. But now it seemed that even the strictest rules could be broken.

Just be thick-skinned; otherwise, surviving would be a bit too hard.

Zhuang Jiachuan wiped the sweat from his forehead. Freeloading? Nothing to be afraid of; he only hoped that one day he'd have the chance to repay what he'd taken.

Dog hadn't run far, just to the outer edge of the trap they had set earlier, where there was a snare rigged to catch a rabbit by the leg and hoist it into the air.

By the time they reached it, Dog had already dug a hole in the ground, its two front paws still relentlessly digging away at that little pit...

Dust flew everywhere. Covering their mouths and noses and fanning the air, they barely managed to crouch down and get a close look at Dog's handiwork.

"Cough... is this... was there already something under here... cough cough cough..." Zhuang Jiachuan coughed so badly he couldn't finish his sentence; he straightened up, backed several steps away, and only after coughing and taking deep breaths did he recover.

"A hole," Yu Nianbing said, also covering her mouth and nose tightly, concisely agreeing with Zhuang Jiachuan's unfinished remark.

A few steps away, Zhuang Jiachuan rubbed his throat and nodded. "Cough, right, it feels like there was already a hole underneath. Is it a rabbit hole?"

Yu Nianbing had no idea how to answer that question; hunting was not something she knew about.

Still, it was very likely, so even with all the dust Dog was kicking up, Yu Nianbing was reluctant to back away. Instead, she fixed her unblinking gaze on Dog's paws.

She hadn't forgotten that on the very first day, Dog had fetched quite a few things from the stream and forest, dropping them in front of her and Song Shiyue. Granted... those items were tiny and inedible, but it at least proved Dog had some hunting instinct.

A dog smart enough to retrieve their lost backpack from the cave, bringing back jerky and canned dog food, should be capable of catching a rabbit, right?

On the hillside, both Yu Nianbing and Zhuang Jiachuan thought the same.

But in this world, there are many things you can't foresee.

Let's return to Zhao Da's group.

Because they had rebuilt the bamboo raft the day before but ran into trouble crossing the river, their low morale—and the drenched Wang Daming and Mu Xingzhou who slowed them down a bit—meant they couldn't reach the next camp on the second night after splitting up.

When Zhao Da's group left the camp where Yu Nianbing and Song Shiyue were, they had each taken only a hamburger or sandwich. That food had gone into their stomachs not long after they arrived at the river and began the labor of raft-building on the first day of the split.

In the production team's original plan, the noon rest stop between the two camps was supposed to be after the river crossing.

There, a Thermal Storage Box containing the team's lunch would be waiting, along with a crab harvesting spot prepared for the cast.

That crab harvesting spot was made by diverting a small branch from the river, with a steel box frame sunk deep into the mud to ensure the crabs could only burrow within that boxed area and couldn't escape.

Of course, as long as the cast didn't dig too deep—up to their thighs—they wouldn't hit the bottom or edges of the box in this camouflaged natural crab habitat.

From the start, the production team always wanted the cast's gains to appear as natural as possible—even if StarNet viewers might have slight suspicions, they wouldn't be able to find proof.

But who could have anticipated that after the Yaoxing Storm, the river would rise so drastically?

The Thermal Storage Box with the production team's lunch, originally buried on the opposite bank, was now deep underwater, and even the prearranged crab harvesting spot was submerged...

Even though they had eaten only a few soup dumplings plus a hamburger or sandwich over two days, they were so ravenous after crossing the river that their stomachs were sticking to their backs, yet they couldn't find food at either location.

To make matters worse, the river was swift and yielded nothing; they could only fill up on water. By the second night, their bellies were sloshing with every step.

Night fell, the road ahead was long, and they had no choice but to rest for a second night midway between the two camps.

They tossed and turned, unable to sleep, but Wang Daming was the most miserable, sighing with regret.

Without a backpack, he had stuffed the rice, flour, seasonings, and several cans of dog food from the previous camp into his clothes, carrying them in his jacket.

He had struggled so fiercely in the water that by the time he was dragged ashore and revived by Zhao Da, all he had left was a lump of mixed seasonings—originally wrapped in leaves, now a gooey mess, clearly useless.

That night, Wang Daming had cleverly sneaked around in the dark while no one was paying attention, but it had all been for nothing.

Hungry, so hungry...

Late at night, as the firelight dimmed, Wang Daming turned over and looked at a dark shape lying not far away.

That was where Zhao Da lay.

Had those things fallen into the water, or were they in Zhao Da's arms? In the fading firelight, where he could barely see, Wang Daming's eyes alone gleamed chillingly in the darkness.

By the next morning, just as Yu Nianbing and Zhuang Jiachuan were watching Dog dig its hole, Zhao Da's team—who had set out again before full daylight—finally reached the next camp, having taken over two days to get there.

The first priority upon arrival was food.

Their goal was unanimous: the production team's Thermal Storage Box.

Inside, as before, were six Boxed Meals and six set breakfasts.

The moment the thermal box opened, a hand appeared over every Boxed Meal.

Eight people, six Boxed Meals—once again, not enough to go around.

"How much should we leave for the team behind us?" Guan Yongyi's voice broke the awkwardness of eager hands over the Boxed Meals, but it created a new, even greater awkwardness...

Not enough to go around, and they still had to leave some—truly a dilemma on top of a dilemma.

Yet some difficulties are surface-level, matters of choice that don't cause real pain.

But other difficulties churn in your very bones, stirring up questions about yourself, your family, even your entire life, beneath an outwardly calm surface.

For Yu Haoyan, the day the Yaoxing Storm struck Wilderness Planet was truly hard.

In terms of personal suffering, he was probably second only to Feng Qianqian, whose legs were crushed by a boulder.

His own sister was caught in the Yaoxing Storm disaster, and his grandfather's first reaction was how to maximize corporate profit from it... He couldn't reach his father or mother... In an instant, the world seemed determined to tear apart everything he believed about family bonds.

Yu Haoyan thought that day was already impossibly hard, but he could never have imagined that the hardest part was still to come...

In the end.

He got through to his father, who finished his business dinner and came home.

He reached his mother, who finished her massage and came home.

But once they were back, they showed none of the reaction Yu Haoyan had imagined...

"I told her time and again not to go into acting, but she wouldn't listen. Not only did she act, she even went on that show. See what's happened now."

"If she had just obediently joined the company back then, none of this would be happening. Look at the news—it's all her name, and not a bit of it is good."

"I've already arranged with your Auntie Hao. Her son will return from Changhui Planet next month, and our two families will meet."

"You've seen the materials on the project your Auntie Hao is handling, right? If we can form a marriage alliance, there will be several more projects like it."

"It's rare that Auntie Hao's son doesn't mind her being out there acting... Ah, no wonder I've been getting constant messages from both you and Auntie Hao."

"Let her fuss. If I'd known, I would've rather not given birth to her. What can we do now? Our family doesn't have the ability to go against a Yaoxing Storm."

"Does your grandfather know? What did he say? Will it affect the company?"

His mother's voice was familiar yet utterly strange. Yu Haoyan tried to find in it what he wanted to hear—concern, worry, or something like that.

However...

Maybe there was some—after all, his mother was usually so poised, and rambling like this was rare.

But this wasn't what Yu Haoyan had expected...

As for his father.

"Does your grandfather know? What did he say?"

That was the first thing his father said when Yu Haoyan finally got through and explained the situation.

If the blacked-out livestream page of The Wilderness Journey hadn't soon been replaced with a new address, Yu Haoyan would have completely lost it.

Yet, while the new livestream eased his worry for his sister, it did nothing to relieve the unbearably alien atmosphere at home.

Yu Haoyan didn't know what the families of the others trapped on Wilderness Planet by the Yaoxing Storm were like.

As for him personally, except when exhaustion forced him to sleep, he kept the livestream on almost all the time.

Even when he had things to do and couldn't keep his eyes on the screen, the sound from his earphones was always on.

But at home, he was the only one who did that.

After the Yaoxing Storm, the others in the family, who had previously ignored the Wilderness Planet livestream, started paying some attention. But that attention was limited to daily briefings from the secretary.

Just like now: at the long dining table, four people sat before a sumptuous spread, while on a floating screen were segments of the livestream from the past twenty-four hours, excerpted by the secretary, picking up where the last report left off.

As the main course arrived, the screen showed Yu Nianbing from the previous night, after Song Shiyue had fainted again, starting to eat dandelion greens from the stainless-steel lunchbox.

Dandelion boiled in water, no salt.

Yu Haoyan had followed the livestream; he had watched that scene the night before.

When he went out jogging that morning, he had deliberately detoured to check the greenery nearby, and on the way back he had actually found a few dandelion leaves.

Bitter, astringent, with a strange mixed taste of flowers and medicine.

Yu Haoyan had chewed them briefly and spat them out.

Despite only that brief taste, when he saw the scene again on the screen, he still vividly recalled the flavor in his mouth without any trouble.

Then he heard his mother's voice.

"That's more like it. Someone from the Yu family must maintain a proper image, even in these circumstances."

Before any warmth could rise in his heart, his mother continued: "Now that we've publicly announced her connection to the company, I hope she remembers our past teachings and doesn't drag down the company's image."

"Mm, though we didn't expect the livestream to resume, we announced it a bit early. But now it seems the timing was actually perfect."

That was his father's voice.

"If you ask me..."

When his grandfather's voice began, Yu Haoyan finally couldn't take it anymore and stood up.

His movement was so abrupt that his chair let out a harsh, grating screech.

"I'm full." Yu Haoyan set down his chopsticks beside the main dish, which he had barely touched.

Get instant access to all chapters now.

Previous Table of Contents Next