Chapter 17

Xiao Yue came back with Qiao Huan, carrying a hare.

Shi Xingzhou stared in disbelief. "You... caught one already?"

Xiao Yue nodded excitedly. "Brother Qiao Huan is incredible! He just moved the trap a little, and we caught one!"

"Hahahahaha, what do I do? Seeing Shi Xingzhou's face felt so satisfying!"

"I didn't have any feelings about Shi Xingzhou before, but after his fans hyped him up for so long, they still had to rely on Qiao Huan in the end. That really was satisfying!"

Qiao Huan didn't want to take the credit. "It was mainly because you made the trap so well. I just adjusted its position a little and put it on a path hares often use, so it caught one quickly."

Xiao Yue was still caught up in the excitement of a successful hunt. "I didn't believe Qiao Huan was that amazing at first, but he really just moved the trap a few meters, and a rabbit walked right into it. He's so good! As soon as I finish filming this episode, I'm making a Qiao Huan Super Topic! I'm going to be the president of your fan club!"

"Hahahahaha, Xiao Yue is so cute!"

"I want to make a Qiao Huan Super Topic too! But Qiao Huan doesn't even have a Weibo account, boo-hoo!"

"I'm dying. He doesn't have a Weibo account, but he does have an Anti-Hate Station. Sisters, you can follow it."

"Qiao Huan: master hunter, leech terminator, can jump 5.8 meters in one leap, a sickly-looking salted fish of a big shot who also has abs. Who could resist him?"

Shi Xingzhou didn't want to continue the topic, so he asked instead, "Then... shall we eat?"

"Sure... uh." Xiao Yue's stomach had already been growling with hunger, but now, holding the hare and feeling its vigorous life in her hands, she suddenly hesitated. "Are we going to kill it?"

Shi Xingzhou was also at a loss for words. He had been so focused on catching the hare to show off his abilities that he hadn't given any thought to what they would do once they caught it.

Xiao Yue looked to Qiao Huan for help.

Qiao Huan thought for a moment. "It's your catch. You can decide."

"Okay..." Xiao Yue looked at the fluffy hare and struggled with the decision for a long time before saying frankly, "I can't make up my mind."

Even though this was wilderness survival, Xiao Yue still couldn't bring herself to decide whether to take a living creature's life.

Shi Xingzhou sneered inwardly as he watched Xiao Yue put on her saintly act. He could already guess how the bullet comments would curse her—

"I'm dying. Is she seriously going to play the saint again?"

"You caught it yourself, so you should eat it. This is a world where the strong prey on the weak!"

Qiao Huan saw Xiao Yue's dilemma, but he didn't say anything to comfort her. He simply found some vines, wove a small cage, and handed it to her.

"You don't have to decide so soon. After all, it's the first time any of us have been faced with a live animal, so it's only natural to feel a little upset. Why not keep it for now and decide tomorrow morning?" Qiao Huan's voice was calm. "You caught it, after all, so it's entirely yours to decide what to do with."

Shi Xingzhou had intended to fan the flames, but after what Qiao Huan said, he couldn't bring himself to speak.

The bullet comments that had just accused Xiao Yue of playing the saint fell silent too. After all, if they put themselves in her shoes, it was everyone's first time facing a live animal. Who could make up their mind so quickly?

"But what are we going to eat now?" Shi Xingzhou thought for a while before asking anyway. "If we don't have any strength, won't we become useless people again?"

He stressed the words "useless people." He was really taking a jab at Ye Yiwei.

Before Qiao Huan could speak, Ye Yiwei said coldly, "Isn't there plenty of other stuff to eat?"

Following his gaze, everyone finally noticed Bai Jike, who had been silent all this time, carefully poking a stick into a nearby tree trunk.

When Xiao Bai saw everyone looking at him, he got nervous and hurriedly pulled the stick out. "Uh... ants."

Sure enough, the stick was covered in a dense mass of little ants and ant pupae.

Shi Xingzhou immediately lost control of his expression and made a disgusted face.

Xiao Yue, however, said excitedly, "That's right! I've read about it! Ants are an excellent source of protein!"

With that, Xiao Yue cast her female idol image aside. So she wouldn't lose her strength and hold everyone back, she immediately picked up a stick and asked Bai Jike to teach her how to eat ants.

Now the pressure was back on Shi Xingzhou.

Shi Xingzhou saw Qiao Huan, Ye Yiwei, and Zhuo Yang all looking at him mockingly. He glanced again at the densely packed little bugs, forced down his discomfort, and rolled over.

"I'm not that hungry yet. I'll eat tomorrow morning!"

With that, he closed his eyes and pretended to sleep.

In truth, his stomach was growling terribly.

But to make him eat ants... he couldn't do it.

He would wait until tomorrow morning! He would definitely make Xiao Yue resolve to kill that damned rabbit then!

Early the next morning, before daybreak, Qiao Huan slipped past the others, who were still fast asleep, and walked deep into the forest.

He felt he hadn't exercised enough the day before. To keep up with the professional demands of undercover work, he needed to add a training session.

Qiao Huan quickly finished three hundred push-ups, three hundred frog jumps, and three hundred pull-ups. He was just about to do another three hundred burpees when he heard a noise behind him.

"You're working out?" Zhuo Yang asked. He had appeared behind him at some point.

"Uh..." For a moment, Qiao Huan couldn't think how to answer while maintaining his salted-fish persona, but Zhuo Yang quickly smiled and waved a hand. "It's fine. I know about your public persona. Don't worry, I won't tell."

Qiao Huan relaxed. They were both in the entertainment industry, after all. Everyone knew how much effort those with foodie personas put into losing weight behind the scenes, and how many famous tutors those with academic-genius personas hired.

Seeing through it without saying anything was the deepest unspoken rule in the industry.

"Come on, brother, now that you're done, give me a hand too." Zhuo Yang had already taken off his jacket as he spoke. Qiao Huan naturally had no reason to refuse, so the two of them worked out deep in the forest for a while.

Both were focused on their training and neither said much, but Zhuo Yang was thinking the whole time about how to sound him out.

He hadn't come to Qiao Huan simply to work out, of course. He was still thinking about turning him into an informant.

"So, brother, you're in such great shape. Have you ever thought about joining the army?" After thinking it over and failing to find a good approach, Zhuo Yang decided to ask directly, as was his nature.

Qiao Huan froze for a few seconds and frowned. "Why ask that all of a sudden?"

"Well, I actually grew up at a martial arts school and always wanted to join the army." Zhuo Yang scratched his head and decided to tell a small lie. "But I... didn't meet some of the requirements. People say you regret joining the army for three years, but regret not joining for a lifetime. I do feel it's a shame."

"I've never thought about joining the army. I don't really like that kind of rigid, regimented life," Qiao Huan answered honestly. "To tell you the truth, Brother Zhuo, my greatest wish is to go back to my hometown and retire. I don't want to do anything else."

"Oh..." Zhuo Yang could hardly hide his disappointment.

Qiao Huan looked at the sky. "They should be waking up. Shall we head back?"

Zhuo Yang nodded.

Qiao Huan naturally had no idea why Zhuo Yang had suddenly opened up to him. He simply walked on ahead.

Zhuo Yang had yet to recover from his disappointment.

During his last two years in service, he had often gone with his old captain to find promising recruits for the special forces in the companies. Most hot-blooded young men were overjoyed to be selected, but some refused for various reasons.

He suddenly remembered how the old captain had handled those who refused.

Talk to them sincerely, find the crux of the problem, and honestly lay out all the pros and cons before letting them make a choice!

Of course, you couldn't force someone to join, but neither could you stop contacting them altogether after they refused. For all you knew, they just hadn't thought it through yet.

That was how the old captain had treated him once, too!

At that thought, Zhuo Yang put his smile back on, hurried forward, and slung an arm around Qiao Huan's shoulders.

"Let's walk together, brother."

The two walked and chatted in the morning light.

Qiao Huan was somewhat reluctant to open up to people to begin with, not to mention that his first impression of Zhuo Yang had been very strange.

But now, after jumping across the log bridge and "rescuing" Shi Xingzhou together, among other things, he felt that aside from a certain tendency toward exhibitionism, the man wasn't so bad. So he exchanged a few inconsequential remarks with him.

When the two returned to camp, they found Bai Jike and Ye Yiwei also coming back together from the forest on the other side.

Their eyes met, and the two pairs separately reached an understanding: "We're just like you. We only went to the toilet together."

Shi Xingzhou, meanwhile, had long since been woken by stomach pain. Seeing Xiao Yue finally wake up, he hurriedly asked, "Have you made your decision?"

Xiao Yue actually hadn't slept well the night before. She had tossed and turned, thinking about the bunny.

Now that Shi Xingzhou had asked, she had no choice but to decide.

The rabbit sat in the cage Qiao Huan had woven, its big, glossy black eyes watching the outside warily. When Xiao Yue approached, it huddled in a corner, afraid to move.

"Actually, I think eating rabbit is perfectly normal. In many provinces in our country, rabbit is considered a delicacy," Shi Xingzhou continued to urge her. "There's spicy rabbit head, tangerine-peel rabbit, char siu hare, fresh-pot rabbit, and so on."

As he spoke, Shi Xingzhou felt he had reached the very limit of his hunger. He was even hallucinating, seeing those famous dishes circling before his eyes.

He had to eat something fragrant and piping hot, or his fine character and manners would be destroyed!

However.

Xiao Yue finally reached the rabbit cage, took a deep breath, and quietly asked Qiao Huan something.

Qiao Huan quietly replied with a few words Xiao Yue couldn't make out, then simply nodded and gave her an encouraging look.

"I've made my decision." Xiao Yue had finally made up her mind.

The next second, Shi Xingzhou saw Xiao Yue open the cage.

Then the hare darted into the shadows of the dense forest like a shooting star plunging into the night.

Shi Xingzhou's eyes widened, and despair followed.

His rabbit! His delicacies! His soul!

Qiao Huan and Saint Xiao Yue had let it go!

And so, tormented by both low blood sugar and morning grumpiness, Shi Xingzhou blurted out:

"What the fuck is wrong with you?"

The bullet comments went blank for a brief moment, then immediately erupted—

"Holy crap, did Shi Xingzhou just say that?"

"I'm stunned. Hasn't his persona always been gentle?"

Author's note:

Xiao Yue: I mean, you can fill up on ants too, so why hurt the bunny?

Ants: A world where only I got hurt has been achieved (fierce bug shedding tears.jpg

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