Chapter 16

The wind whistled all around them, and the chirping of insects grew louder and louder.

Nights in the jungle were always lively and long.

But to Qiao Huan, none of it felt as long as the dozen or so seconds he had spent drinking the medicine.

It was all because Shi Xingzhou's outside help had taken far too long to reply!

He had just sent a message posing as Shi Xingzhou, asking whether the other person wanted to show off the shirt Shi Xingzhou endorsed, using the question to test their position and how well they knew him.

Based on the reply, he was fairly certain of the person's identity. He then changed frequencies and sent Captain Qiao a message, asking him to investigate further.

It should have been a night of total victory, but he had never expected his three teammates to really believe he had gone to the bathroom, much less secretly brew medicine and stay up waiting for him to return!

Qiao Huan's stomach had been perfectly fine, but after drinking the medicine, it began to churn.

He rubbed his stomach, experiencing the pain Shennong had felt thousands of years ago, and tossed and turned.

But no matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn't figure out what he had done right to make three men with such different personalities think so highly of him.

A few meters away, Zhuo Yang was awake too.

As a former special forces operative, his five senses were sharper than most people's. Ye Yiwei and Bai Jike might not have seen what Qiao Huan had done in the dark, but he had seen it clearly—

Qiao Huan had clutched his stomach, yet tiptoed over to Shi Xingzhou and made some motions over him!

After spending so long at Star Radiance, Zhuo Yang had come away with one impression: being a minor entertainer was far too hard.

Under that pressure, some people couldn't take it and chose to end their lives, while others joined the corrupt and took shortcuts.

But Qiao Huan was different.

Everyone knew Shi Xingzhou was a green tea, yet Qiao Huan had checked his injuries after he fell asleep!

They had only thought about punishing Shi Xingzhou, but Qiao Huan had reached a higher realm, repaying resentment with virtue!

That was so precious!

A thought that had never occurred to Zhuo Yang suddenly came to him.

If Qiao Huan found out who he was, perhaps he would help him?

Although he had gone undercover at Star Radiance, he wasn't an official military undercover agent, and he always felt he might need some help in the future.

Qiao Huan had perfect physical fitness, an upright character, and was low-key and gentle...

It would be a shame for him to be nothing more than an entertainer. It wasn't as if Zhuo Yang couldn't try to recruit him!

But he was so laid-back even as an entertainer. Would he help him?

No, he had to find a way to sound him out first.

Early morning.

Before the sunlight had pierced the dense forest, a scream suddenly woke the four of them.

All four snapped awake. Even Bai Jike looked alert.

Ever since he had caused trouble by sleeping too soundly last time, Bai Jike had been deliberately training himself, and it seemed to have paid off.

Only Shi Xingzhou hadn't recovered yet. "What's going on?"

Zhuo Yang listened carefully for a moment. "Two male voices and one female voice. Probably two male contestants in an alliance who ran into a female contestant."

Shi Xingzhou was surprised. "This early?"

"Some contestants decided to hunt at night," Qiao Huan said.

"How do you hunt at night..." Halfway through, Shi Xingzhou looked at the pile of firewood in front of him that Zhuo Yang, Ye Yiwei, and Bai Jike had stopped him from lighting the night before, and finally understood.

"Morning, sisters! I'm back to watch the perfect-score four and the useless one!"

"Hhhh, Shi Xingzhou is really so stupid. He even has to ask? They hunt at night by catching the people who light fires!"

"Things are this exciting first thing in the morning? What will the perfect-score four decide?"

"Go save the pretty girl, ahhh!!"

Shi Xingzhou said, "Should we go help?"

Ye Yiwei said, "Those are the rules of the show. How can we help?"

Bai Jike had become a devoted fan of Ye Yiwei since the night before, so naturally he approved of his opinion and nodded.

The barrage split into two clearly defined camps as well. One thought Shi Xingzhou was a gentleman; the other thought he could barely survive himself yet still wanted to save someone, and was purely showing off.

Shi Xingzhou could naturally foresee the controversy his suggestion would cause, but he wasn't willing to pass up any chance to win favor with casual viewers.

Besides, saving the person would definitely be left to the four men with perfect physical fitness anyway. All he had to do was make the suggestion. If they succeeded, he could pick up a wave of goodwill; if they failed, he would have four fewer opponents. Either way, he couldn't lose.

But how could he make it seem less green tea?

Before Shi Xingzhou could come up with an answer, Zhuo Yang raised an eyebrow. "They're going to run this way."

No sooner had he spoken than a clatter of footsteps drew closer.

Shi Xingzhou panicked. "What do we do?"

If they really did come charging over...

He could barely protect himself, so how was he supposed to save anyone?

"Serve it cold."

Qiao Huan had been leaning against a tree trunk, looking listless, but the moment he spoke, the others all turned to him.

"Up the trees. See what happens." Qiao Huan kept it short.

The other three brothers seemed to have found their anchor. Without a word, they climbed the nearest trees, taking in everything around them.

Shi Xingzhou was dumbfounded.

His luggage was scattered all over the ground. There was no time to gather it!

Meanwhile, those four had somehow already packed up!

By comparison, they looked so effortlessly in control!

Helpless, Shi Xingzhou scrambled around and finally found a suitable tree. Before he could climb it, a distraught young woman had already run up to him.

"Ah, you're Shi Xingzhou!" The woman was clearly badly frightened. She grabbed his arm and shook it. "Everyone says you're a good person. Can you help me? I don't want to be eliminated, boo-hoo!"

Shi Xingzhou cursed his bad luck inwardly. Had his kind and gentle persona come back to bite him this quickly?

Before he could make a decision, the two male contestants had already reached them.

Both were middle-aged male stars past their prime, and both had started out as action stars. Seeing how frail Shi Xingzhou was and that he was protecting the woman, they immediately laughed.

"Can you protect her?" one of the stars said with a laugh. "Don't bite off more than you can chew, kid."

Shi Xingzhou's legs trembled. He cursed the woman hundreds of times in his heart, but could only force himself to stay calm:

"Don't be scared, I-I-I-I'll protect you!"

"Boo-hoo, Zhou is so kind!"

"Zhou is amazing!"

"He's so sweet!"

However, as soon as the two action stars stepped forward, Shi Xingzhou instantly lost his composure and shrieked, his voice cracking, "Help!"

The barrage viewers: ...

He chickened out way too fast!

"Oh, kid, what are you yelling for?" The action star was amused. "Who's going to come save you..."

Suddenly, a loud crash came from behind the two men.

They turned around nervously, but nothing happened.

When they turned back, there was no one in front of them.

The action star spat hard. "Fuck, they even used a feint to draw us away?"

Zhuo Yang carried Shi Xingzhou and the actress with a look of utter disgust, but his stride was steady, and in moments he had covered several hundred meters.

Shi Xingzhou was terrified, but still reassured the actress. "Don't be scared. I told you we could protect you..."

The actress didn't respond at all, instead looking at Zhuo Yang. "Thank you, sir, you're my great savior!"

Soon, Zhuo Yang reached a clearing, and Bai Jike, Ye Yiwei, and Qiao Huan arrived one after another. It was evidently a meeting point they had agreed on beforehand.

Zhuo Yang put the two down. Seeing the actress's adoring expression, he looked uncomfortable. "Don't thank me. Thank the great benefactor Qiao if you want to thank someone. The feint was all his idea."

The actress immediately cupped her hands in greeting. "Thank you! You're Qiao Huan, right? Salted fish boss!"

Qiao Huan had a stalk of grass between his teeth and looked surprised. "Huh?"

He had actually only wanted to rescue Shi Xingzhou, which was why he had come up with the feint.

He had originally intended to carry him away himself, but Zhuo Yang thought his stomach still hurt and had gone in his place, only to bring the actress back as well.

Sensing something was off, the actress struck first. "Can I form a team with you?"

Before Qiao Huan could speak, the other three all looked at him.

Who would have thought Shi Xingzhou would suddenly step in front of the actress?

"Let her stay!" Shi Xingzhou had finally found a chance to show himself off. "Otherwise, what does it look like, five men bullying one girl?"

The four of them: ...

"How are we bullying her?" Ye Yiwei said coldly. "Is it bullying not to team up with her too?"

Shi Xingzhou naturally had his own line of reasoning for turning it into a bigger issue and twisting black into white. "So you only team up with men and not women? Are you being sexist?"

Ye Yiwei froze.

What kind of angle was that? What an enormous accusation to slap on him!

Zhou Fans in the barrage had already been furious about the different treatment the three men had given him the night before. Now they began spamming, "Ye Yiwei is sexist."

A victorious smile hung on Shi Xingzhou's lips. He had always been skilled at calling a deer a horse. Once he slapped the big label of sexism on Ye Yiwei, he believed no one would bother unraveling the cause of the matter thread by thread.

Ye Yiwei badly wanted to retort. His captain in the Mobile Unit was a woman, and he had many female colleagues who specialized in medical care. How could he possibly be sexist?

No, he hadn't wanted to bring gender into the subject at all!

But though his inner monologue was rich, he had never liked getting into verbal sparring, and for a moment he really didn't know how to defend himself...

The scene fell deathly silent, and the air seemed to freeze.

Just then, Qiao Huan spoke unhurriedly.

"What Brother Yiwei means isn't that we won't team up with women, but that we won't team up with anyone who's no use to the team." Qiao Huan looked at Shi Xingzhou, his voice languid but every word forceful. "Gender has nothing to do with this game in the first place. Besides, if we really judged people by gender, wouldn't that erase Senior Starship's persona as the 'brains of the team'?"

Ye Yiwei looked gratefully at Qiao Huan.

That was exactly what he meant!

And while saying it, Qiao Huan had also used Shi Xingzhou's own force against him to mock him. How satisfying!

Shi Xingzhou froze for a moment, but Xiao Yue had already caught on from Qiao Huan's words.

"Hey! I don't want to be a vase that other people have to support either!" Xiao Yue hurriedly said. "One night. If I can't prove my value, we'll part ways. How about it?"

Shi Xingzhou was still thinking about how to argue his way back into the upper hand, but he hadn't expected Xiao Yue to be completely unwilling to follow his line of thinking.

And Xiao Yue's fans had already followed her here.

"That's my girl!!!"

"Exactly! Our Xiao Yue might not be able to beat those two male stars, but she's not completely useless!"

"I think Shi Xingzhou's 'we have to protect Xiao Yue because she's a girl' attitude is really way too patronizing."

"Exactly! I felt uncomfortable just now... I only understood why after you said it, sis."

"Go, Xiao Yue! Prove yourself!"

"I'm dying. If Zhou hadn't saved Xiao Yue, would you even get a say?"

"Qiao Huan came up with the plan, Zhuo Yang carried it out, and Xiao Bai and Yiwei made the noise for the feint. What can Zhou do besides twist black into white?"

"Don't care! Carrying Zhouzhou away, no putting others down to prop yourselves up!"

"Who's putting whom down? I'm dying."

Compared with Zhou Fans, who had just been fishing in troubled waters and forcing the issue into something bigger, Xiao Yue's fans were rational and positive, instantly winning over plenty of casual viewers.

People always said fans took after their idol, and only now did casual viewers realize there seemed to be some truth to it.

Qiao Huan said, "All right. What do you three think?"

Zhuo Yang, Ye Yiwei, and Bai Jike naturally nodded in agreement.

"All right! I've learned some survival skills too!"

With that, Xiao Yue sat down on the ground, unconcerned about her image as a female idol, and began weaving a trap using materials at hand.

"This might catch some rabbits, so food won't be a problem!" Xiao Yue said. "But before this, I've only discussed it on paper. I haven't tried it yet."

"No rush. Give it a try." Qiao Huan's tone was gentle, but he showed no intention of helping.

Shi Xingzhou couldn't stand watching. "I learned this too! I'll help you!"

An hour later.

Shi Xingzhou and Xiao Yue sat side by side under a large tree. They had finished their compressed biscuits the day before, and now stars swam before their eyes; they were dizzy with hunger.

Xiao Yue's stomach rumbled. "Brother Starship, why don't we go ask them for something to eat?"

Shi Xingzhou shook his head. "We won't ask anyone. We'll definitely catch a rabbit!"

What a joke. He hadn't learned anything else, but he had learned how to make traps!

How could he possibly fail to catch one?

Xiao Yue had already felt that Shi Xingzhou seemed somewhat different from his previous persona, and her trust in him was dwindling by the second. Hungry on top of that, she finally couldn't take it anymore and asked Qiao Huan:

"Although I know this makes me look useless, I really do want to learn how to catch rabbits. Once you teach me, I'll be useful, won't I?"

Qiao Huan immediately put down his compressed biscuit and beckoned to her. "No need to be so polite. Come on."

"Crack."

Shi Xingzhou watched the two walk toward the woods, so angry he nearly ground his teeth to pieces.

It was one thing for Qiao Huan to keep parrying his words, but a survival master brought in from abroad had taught him that rabbit trap!

How could Qiao Huan possibly be better than a foreign master?

What was he pretending for?

Three minutes later.

Three bangs rang out in the woods.

Xiao Yue shouted excitedly, "I caught one!"

The author had something to say:

Xiao Yue: Qiao Huan, you are my god!