I Want to Be with Brother

At first light, Xia Yu slowly woke up, only to find that Qi Ning was already gone from the room.

He changed into the custom combat uniform and headed out. The four members of the Blue Team were already fully equipped and ready to go.

Chu Lan thoroughly extinguished the campfire and told him, "Freshen up quickly. We need to leave now. The Red Team set off two hours ago. If we delay any longer, they might find weapons and come back to wipe us out."

"Okay."

After falling several hours behind, the Blue Team finally set off at a leisurely pace.

[What is Xia Yu doing? Even the two girls aren't as slow as he is. Qi Ning was in the same room as him—didn't he even hear him getting up?]

[I was watching the stream next door. The Red Team has already found two assault rifles. They just don't have bullets, or they could come back and wipe out the Blue Team.]

[Sorry, but I'm shipping them again. Chu Lan anxiously checked the time dozens of times, but he still couldn't bear to wake Xia Yu up. Isn't that love?!]

[This is a competitive variety show. Can you stop shipping CPs at every turn? Disgusting.]

[Oh look, the Chu Lan–Xia Yu double-standard fans are here again. You're allowed to ship Chu Lan and Xia Yu like crazy, but other people can't enjoy a little candy? I'll ship them if I want to. Newcomers can never beat childhood sweethearts!]

It wasn't that Chu Lan didn't want to wake him. He just didn't dare. No one knew better than him how terrible Xia Yu's temper was when he woke up. He would rather fall a little behind than poke that hornet's nest.

"Captain, wait!" Xueli had sharp eyes and pointed at a mound of grass in the distance. "Is that supplies over there?"

Chu Lan, who was leading the way, quickly stopped and went over to investigate. He then pulled out a wooden crate.

"There really is something!" Liu Yue happily hugged Xueli. "We've been walking for ten minutes and finally found something! Hurry, let's see what it is!"

Chu Lan opened it. Inside the crate was an assault rifle and three rows of bullets.

Xueli could barely contain her delight. "Ah! We finally have a weapon! We don't have to worry about being slaughtered at everyone else's mercy anymore!"

Zhang Wen stepped forward. "Captain, you should take the first weapon. If we run into them, you can protect us."

Chu Lan did not stand on ceremony. He loaded the bullets into the magazine and slung the rifle over his back. "Okay. Brother Zhang, you take the lead. I'll watch the rear."

"OK."

After that, Zhang Wen took the map and led the way, with the two girls following behind him. Xia Yu lagged slightly behind, almost walking shoulder to shoulder with Chu Lan.

Seeing him unconsciously fall far behind the first three, Chu Lan could not help urging him, "Catch up!"

"Oh..." Xia Yu discreetly glanced at the drone camera overhead. He sped up, though not by much. "I'm holding everyone back. Is Brother blaming me?"

A vein throbbed at Chu Lan's temple. He had no idea what nonsense Xia Yu was trying to pull again, so he answered perfunctorily, "No."

"Then why is Brother being so fierce?"

"..." He gritted his teeth and softened his tone. "I'm not being fierce with you. Brother Zhang has the map. It'll be troublesome if we get separated."

"I knew Brother wouldn't let me be in danger, right?"

"...Stop saying things like that and catch up already."

"Okay."

[Fuck! Is Xia Yu sick or something? Why is he flirting in a competitive survival show?!]

[Stay away from a married man, you dead green-tea bitch!]

[Brother Lan, shoot him already! Lock him in the dark room! I'm furious!]

A certain man was just as furious as the Chu Lan–Xia Yu CP fans.

Chi Yan watched the livestream on the big screen with a livid face, gritting his teeth. "He's such a grown man, yet he still calls him Brother. It's not like he's three years old!"

Chi Yi stood waiting beside him and said quietly, "Maybe he's called him that since they were little. It's just a habit..."

"What kind of bad habit is that!"

"..." When the young master called you Brother, you never thought there was anything wrong with it. But when he called someone else that, you didn't like it?

"When can we get to the island?!"

"About another two hours."

"Speed up!"

"Oh..."

After another half hour of traveling, the Blue Team had only picked up two bottles of water and two packets of biscuits. Other than the assault rifle they had found at the start, they had not seen another weapon. The group was somewhat discouraged.

After walking the mountain path for so long, Liu Yue and Xueli were starting to struggle. "Brother Zhang, how about we rest for five minutes?"

Zhang Wen was drenched in sweat as well. "All right. We'll rest here for five minutes and drink some water."

He handed one bottle of water to the two girls, then walked over to Xia Yu and Chu Lan, who had caught up from behind. "Captain, let's rest for five minutes. The two girls can't take it much longer."

Chu Lan observed their surroundings. Hearing no suspicious sounds, he nodded. "Then let's take a break."

"Here, have some water. We only picked up two bottles along the way. One for the girls, and one for the three of us men. Xia Yu, you drink first."

Xia Yu waved his hand. "I'm not thirsty. Brother Zhang, you drink."

Zhang Wen did not stand on ceremony. "All right. We'll look for more after we finish it. I refuse to believe our team will keep being this unlucky."

Chu Lan was also dissatisfied with the supplies they had found. "Brother Zhang, we may need to discuss our route again."

"Go ahead."

"I don't think the production crew will let us have it this easy, just following the main road to the outpost and finding good things along the way."

"Hiss... You mean if we want weapons and food, we need to take the smaller paths? Search through the mountains?"

"I just don't think the production crew would leave things by the roadside for us to pick up. This isn't camping."

Zhang Wen frowned. "That makes sense, but we have two girls on our team. They're already exhausted from taking the main road. Taking the smaller paths would be a little dangerous."

Liu Yue and Xueli exchanged a glance. "We aren't afraid of danger. We're just afraid of holding you back."

Chu Lan thought for a while before saying, "How about we split into two groups? Brother Zhang and I can take the smaller paths to gather supplies. Sister Liu Yue, Xueli, and Xia Yu can continue along the main road toward the outpost. Maybe you'll find something on the way too. We have two walkie-talkies, so each group can take one. If there's any danger, you can call Brother Zhang and me anytime."

Zhang Wen's eyes lit up. "That's a good idea."

Liu Yue hesitated. "But there's only one map. What if we get lost after splitting up?"

Chu Lan smiled. "I've memorized the general layout of the map. We'll all head for Outpost No. 2 and meet there."

She gave him a thumbs-up. "A captain really is a captain. You remembered it all after one look!"

"Then it's settled. Sister Liu Yue, take this walkie-talkie."

"Okay. See you at the outpost."

Just as the two groups were about to split up at the fork in the road, Xia Yu suddenly spoke up. "I'll go look for supplies with Brother."

"I should go instead." Although Xia Yu was fairly tall and not frail-looking, his pale skin and gentle temperament made Zhang Wen see him as a spoiled young master who could not endure hardship. He had already quietly classified him as the third decorative vase on the team.

But Xia Yu refused. "I want to be with Brother."

"..." The three of them fell silent, their expressions indescribably strange. Could he not make his little intentions so obvious?

"Brother..."

Chu Lan twitched the corner of his mouth. "Brother Zhang, you take Sister Liu Yue and Xueli along the main road. He'll come with me to search for supplies."

Zhang Wen followed the arrangement. "All right. Call me over for support anytime you run into enemies."

"Okay."

The two groups went their separate ways. Chu Lan gave Xia Yu a deep look. "Be careful."

Xia Yu's eyes curved into crescents. "Got it."

[I'm seriously done with this green-tea bitch. He has to cling to Chu Lan wherever he goes.]

[He has bad eyesight, yet he insists on searching for supplies. Fuck, the Blue Team is guaranteed to lose with him around.]

[Can't Chu Lan just beat him to death?! I really don't want to see this dead green-tea bitch again.]

Chu Lan searched diligently up ahead, while Xia Yu leisurely followed behind him. "Brother."

"..."

"Brother."

"..." He had not found anything, and he was already in a bad mood. He had no desire to respond.

"Brother." Someone called again and again without the slightest annoyance.

Unable to take it anymore, he turned around with suppressed anger. "What?"

[Ding! Chu Lan's anger level +30.]