Tonight had been chaotic and thrilling.
Zhao Tiantian wailed off to the side, covering her face as she cursed nonstop and demanded compensation from Tang Shiba.
"My face is disfigured! Tang Shiba, I'm suing you once we get out of here!"
"Aah!!! My nose is crooked! Tang Shiba, give me back my nose! Boohoo!"
Tang Xueqing was utterly disgusted, but she still comforted her. "It's all my fault. I didn't help at all."
"Boohoo, you got hit too. Xueqing, you're the only one on my side."
Zhao Tiantian hugged Tang Xueqing and cried, while Zhao Shen lay on the ground clutching his privates, utterly numb.
He kept muttering, "It's ruined. All my happiness is gone."
"Boss, that male celebrity looks like he might be done for. If something happens now, it could bring Uncle Cop down on us."
The Fake Director thought for a moment, then told one of his lackeys to take him some medicine.
"Oh, and gather tonight after they've all fallen asleep."
"Sure, boss."
Just as Zhao Shen was sinking into despair, the Production Team brought him some ointment. He grabbed it and ran into the Woods to apply it.
Tang Shiba was tired after fighting the siblings too. She found a tree fairly close to them and climbed up to sleep.
[Those siblings won't be up to any good after that beating I gave them. I need an ally.]
[Si Wuyu seems pretty decent. Should I convince him to turn against the female lead?]
[Ugh, does anyone understand how hard this is for me? One look at Fang Cheng and you can tell he's fallen for Tang Xueqing.]
[He's so naive. No wonder he ends up as nothing but a backup love interest, left disabled.]
Disabled? Fang Cheng would end up disabled because of Tang Xueqing?
Si Wuyu looked at Fang Cheng, who was staying by Tang Xueqing's side, and decided he needed to nip those feelings in the bud.
[Si Wuyu is pretty pitiful too. His entire company almost got swallowed up.]
Just as he wanted to hear who would swallow it up, Tang Shiba fell silent. She was already fast asleep, hugging a branch.
Seeing how late it was, the fans in the livestream gradually quieted down too.
In the still of the night, Tang Shiba suddenly opened her eyes.
She rotated her numb wrists and looked down beneath the tree.
Below, the others had fallen asleep with their clothes draped over them.
Their first day had passed in such confusion that they hadn't even put up tents and could only sleep out in the open.
She counted them. One person was missing, but it was too dark to tell who.
Tang Shiba jumped down from the tree and headed toward the voices.
"This order is worth hundreds of thousands, guys! That's what we'd normally make in six months, so thanks for working overtime tonight."
"No trouble at all! We have to work harder for our cars and houses!"
"Our slogan is: keep it up, keep it up, work hard and keep it up! Lie on a slab today, be the boss tomorrow! If you want a million, get to work!"
The Director looked pleased. "All right, is everyone ready?"
"Ready!"
"Good, let's go! Oh, leave two people here to keep watch."
"Sure, boss."
More than twenty people headed out to sea, carrying fishing nets.
Tang Shiba was puzzled by what she heard.
[These Scammers really work hard. They're even going fishing in the middle of the night.]
[System: they're catching Bomb Fish to send to the fans.]
[They're actually passing crabs off as Bomb Fish? Just because there are so many crabs here? Have they got nothing better to do? Even Scammers are getting into this?]
[System: they want to make a killing. There's nothing they won't do.]
Whatever, forget it. There'll be food tomorrow! Tang Shiba took a bag and quietly crept after them.
"I'm coming too."
Tang Shiba was so startled that every hair on her body stood on end.
A tall figure approached Tang Shiba in the darkness, and the familiar voice made her breathe a sigh of relief.
"You nearly scared me to death! Si, what are you doing up in the middle of the night? Taking a leak?"
Si Wuyu pressed his lips together. Instead of answering, he asked, "Where are you going? I want to come too."
"To catch crabs. I heard there are loads of them on this island at night."
They made their way to the beach in the dark. Under the faint moonlight, the sand was covered in densely packed Bomb Fish—no, crabs.
Tang Shiba swallowed and charged straight toward them.
They looked so plump and delicious. She was already getting hungry.
The two frantically gathered crabs until their bags were full, then hid them in a crevice between the rocks before quietly heading back.
Tang Shiba had just climbed up the tree when a wail rose from below.
"What the hell just crawled over me?"
It was Fang Cheng.
The others woke up too.
"Could it have been a snake?" Tang Xueqing asked.
"Aah!!! How am I supposed to sleep like this? I want to go home! I want to go home! Waaah..."
Fang Cheng started howling. Now none of them could sleep.
Hearing the noise, a crew member ran over. "The boat has already left. It won't be back for seven days, so you can't leave."
Another added, "Don't wander around. There are lots of snakes on the island, so be careful not to get bitten. We have snake repellent here. We can give you a bottle."
To keep them from wandering off, they had no choice but to spare them a bottle.
After sprinkling the repellent around them, the group fell sound asleep again.
Si Wuyu stayed awake and built a fire instead.
In the flickering firelight, his handsome face shifted between light and shadow, radiating reassurance.
At daybreak, Zhao Tiantian and Zhao Shen ran to the shore to wash up.
Both their faces were swollen, and they looked dreadful.
Tang Shiba took out her toothbrush and washed up too. Her face was still fair, soft, and supple.
Once she was clean, she went to find the Director again.
After working hard all night, everyone on the fake director's crew had dark circles under their eyes.
"What do you want now?" The Fake Director was thinking about driving them into the Woods, then packing up the Bomb Fish and taking them to the courier station to ship.
Otherwise, all the crabs would die.
"I want a Dagger."
"Don't have one!"
"I can tell you a secret. How about trading a Dagger for it?"
The Director's interest was piqued. "Let's hear it."
"Zhao Tiantian has syphilis! Well? Surprised? Didn't see that coming, did you?"
"What?!" The Director's face turned green. Syphilis!
Having AIDS was already miserable enough, and now he'd caught syphilis too.
That damn woman! No wonder she'd even seduced someone with AIDS. Was this a race to see who died first?
Gritting his teeth, the Director tossed Tang Shiba a Dagger, then handed her the task card for the second day.
He needed to go ship the goods with his lackeys and buy some medicine while he was at it.
A shadow flickered through Tang Shiba's eyes as she received the Dagger.
[With a Dagger, things will be easier. On the final day, I'll destroy all the communications equipment. I'll also have to find the Directors.]
Holding the task card, Tang Shiba called everyone over to listen.
Zhao Tiantian and Zhao Shen ignored her completely. Only Tang Xueqing was still dutifully playing her part.
"Everyone, today's task is to find branches in the Woods and build tents. Teams of three! The first team to finish gets a lavish meal!"
Once she finished speaking, she tore up the task card.
It only told them to build tents. There was no lavish meal; she had made that up.
Hearing there was a lavish meal on offer, everyone felt motivated.
When survival was at stake, pride was worthless.
Fang Cheng wanted Si Wuyu to team up with Tang Xueqing.
"Those sisters don't seem to get along. We can team up with Tang Xueqing."
Si Wuyu raised an eyebrow. This younger cousin of his really was hopelessly naive. "So you'd put Tang Shiba with those siblings?"
Fang Cheng fell silent. If they teamed up, someone might end up dead.
"So the two of us will team up with Tang Shiba. That's the best arrangement. Don't refuse. You don't get a say."
Fang Cheng wilted and could only agree.
Tang Xueqing came over to ask them to team up. Embarrassed but blunt, Fang Cheng said, "Sorry, we're teaming up with your older sister. You should join Zhao Tiantian and her brother. They take pretty good care of you."
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