Chapter 140

Apart from Zhong Ruanxing and Bai Yinyue forming a team, on the other side, Duan Mangyun deviated from the planned route due to not taking proper mosquito repellent measures and unintentionally encountered the newcomer actor Yang Ze.

Although Yang Ze had only debuted for a year, his popularity and buzz exceeded that of Duan Mangyun, who had been in the industry for five or six years. Moreover, he had a good image and a very sunny and handsome appearance. It was only a matter of time before he became a top-tier star.

Duan Mangyun would be extremely delighted if he could successfully create a popular couple with someone like Yang Ze on the show.

Of course, Yang Ze also behaved like a gentleman. Seeing that Duan Mangyun was troubled by mosquitoes, he proactively offered her his mosquito repellent and took her backpack. The two of them were of similar age and actually looked quite compatible based on their appearances.

The barrage of comments started rolling in.

Another pair consisted of Xia Xi and Yong Yun. Both of them got lost in the jungle on the island, and inexplicably ended up together, starting to team up.

When they finally reached the safe house, only Cheng Yaowen and Yao Jingshan had arrived separately, without encountering their teammates throughout the entire journey.

They arrived at the safe house in the afternoon, after setting foot on the island in the morning.

Due to limited equipment, no one chose food when selecting supplies. At this moment, everyone was famished. They initially thought there would be food at the safe house, but to their surprise, the production team seemed determined to push the survival aspect to the extreme.

Unlike other romantic reality shows, the base camp consisted of only a few rudimentary wooden houses.

Among the three wooden houses, the largest one served as the common area, including the living room and dining room. The bedrooms of the male and female participants were on the left and right sides, respectively. It was slightly better than a dormitory, with each person having their own bed. However, the only separation within the same room was a thin layer of gauze, even more basic than a college dorm.

These three square wooden houses were placed right in the center, with the kitchen on one side and the restroom on the other side, as well as a separate storage room for supplies and equipment.

In front of the houses, there was an open space with wooden tables and chairs. Beyond that, a high wooden fence encircled the entire base, leaving only the entrance and exit gate. In the midst of the island's jungle, it provided the participants with some sense of security.

The facilities of this base camp were much better than what Zhong Ruanxing had imagined. She thought they would have to build their own shelters like in those real survival shows.

She was quite satisfied, but not everyone felt the same, though no one was foolish enough to voice their complaints on camera.

After hours of exploring the jungle, the participants were exhausted. Once inside the house, they drank water and collapsed onto the sofa, not wanting to move. The supplies they had gathered were piled up in the living room. They all knew there were still many tasks to be done, but none of them felt like moving.

The live broadcast room fell into silence.

Finally, unable to bear it any longer, Zhong Ruanxing stood up first and said, "I'm so hungry. Is there anyone who wants to cook with me?"

Bai Yinyue immediately stood up and replied, "I'll go with you."

The two of them rummaged through the supplies, selecting the ones they could use for cooking. Seeing their actions, the others felt embarrassed to just sit there and joined in to help.

Everyone organized the supplies into different categories and Zhong Ruanxing, who inherited her father's cooking talent, took the initiative to become the head chef. Everyone worked together, with some washing rice, others washing vegetables, and some steaming the rice. It was a scene of bustling activity.

Fortunately, the production team hadn't gone crazy enough to make them handle everything themselves, so they were free to use water to solve many of their problems.

However, there was no natural gas here, so they had to rely on solar energy for hot water, and for cooking rice and stir-frying, they could only use the most primitive wood-fired stove.

Xia Xi took on the task of starting the fire. The kitchen had no air conditioning, and starting a fire was hot and dirty work. Xia Xi ended up covered in ash, sweating profusely, which made the fans watching on screen feel sorry for her.

After a while, Duan Mangyun brought a wet towel soaked in water and handed it to Xia Xi, concerned as he said, "Take a rest, I'll handle the fire."

Xia Xi, a typical straightforward guy, immediately perked up and said, "I've already started the fire, now I just need to add more firewood. Don't steal my thunder!"

Duan Mangyun: ".........."

The barrage of comments went crazy:

[We've found the reason why Xia Xi is still single!]

[The credit for starting the fire is mine, no stealing allowed!]

[I agree with Xia Xi, if you wanted to help, why didn't you do it earlier? Coming over pretending to help only after the fire is already started.]

......

Duan Mangyun had to swallow this bitter pill and could only smile and walk away. She looked around and saw Yang Ze chopping firewood outside, Yao Jingshan cutting vegetables, and Cheng Yaowen sitting at the entrance of the storeroom, not sure what he was doing. After thinking it over, she finally walked towards Cheng Yaowen.

Approaching him from behind, feeling a bit shy and naive, she asked, "What are you doing?"

Cheng Yaowen turned to look at her, a lazy smile on his face, and said leisurely, "On the way here, I saw a lake, and I thought about finding something to make a fishing rod. I plan to go fishing later."

Duan Mangyun exclaimed, "Wow!" and squatted down beside him, saying, "I also like fishing, let me help you!"

Cheng Yaowen raised an eyebrow and asked, "You like fishing?"

Duan Mangyun nodded, "Yeah, every time I have a vacation, I go fishing." So Cheng Yaowen handed her the things in his hands and stood up, clapping his hands. "Great, you take care of it, I'll go rest for a while."

Duan Mangyun's smile froze on her face, filled with disbelief.

What's going on with the male guest on this show? She had done her homework on romance variety shows before coming here, and the male guests shouldn't be like this!

Cheng Yaowen just up and left, leisurely strolling through the kitchen, looking around. There were too many people, and there was no place for him, so he could only regretfully leave. No rush, it's only the first day of the month-long program, he'll have plenty of opportunities to interact with Zhong Ruanxing.

Duan Mangyun had dug a pit for herself and couldn't even bring out the fishing rod until it was time to eat. When the food was served, she had a gloomy and dejected look on her face.

But it seemed that nobody noticed, as all attention was drawn to the sumptuous dishes on the table. They were too hungry, and everyone just wanted to eat immediately, without caring about her.

Zhong Ruanxing knew about Duan Mangyun's cooking skills. She could only watch as everyone was impressed by her culinary skills, eating and praising her at the same time. She took a few bites of rice but lost her appetite entirely!

After the guests had eaten their fill, they finally came back to life. Once the tasks were assigned and organized, the sky had already been dyed with a radiant sunset. A group of seagulls flew across the horizon, leaving behind beautiful silhouettes. The view of the sunset from the island was exceptionally dazzling, and a few people sat in the courtyard, enjoying the sunset, feeling a bit like they were on vacation.

But Zhong Ruanxing's words quickly shattered their relaxed state of mind: "I just checked, and our supplies will only last us for five days. After five days, we will run out of food."

Several people groaned in despair.

Zhong Ruanxing continued, "In the next month, we must find a way to stock up on supplies. I noticed that there's a chicken coop behind the courtyard. The chicken manure inside is fresh, but the coop door is open, and the chickens are gone. It must have been intentionally released by the production team."

After speaking, the guests glared angrily at the production team currently filming.

Director Yan touched his nose and revealed a sinister smile.

Yang Ze chimed in, "As long as we find the chickens, we can not only have eggs to eat but also occasionally enjoy some chicken meat. However, this island is so big, and we don't know where the chickens went. It may not be easy to find them."

Zhong Ruanxing said, "It's getting dark soon. Let's leave the task of finding the chickens for tomorrow. But I think, while it's still daylight, we can gather the supplies we haven't found yet, according to the markings on the map."

Xia Xi immediately expressed her agreement, "I agree! These supplies are the easiest for us to obtain. Let's collect them tomorrow morning. We shouldn't miss this opportunity!"

Deciding to act immediately, everyone formed teams of two and set off to search for supplies.

At times like this, pairing up men and women was more in line with the show's concept. The production team hadn't anticipated that they would continue to struggle and hadn't prepared a method of team formation in advance. They decided to let the female guests draw lots.

Bai Yinyue's face suddenly became nervous.

She silently prayed in her heart, hoping that Zhong Ruanxing wouldn't draw Cheng Yaowen! Whether it was due to her prayers or not, when Bai Yinyue saw the name Cheng Yaowen written on her paper, a genuine and radiant smile appeared on her face. She raised her eyebrows at Cheng Yaowen and said, "Senior, come with me."

Cheng Yaowen: "..."

Unaware of the truth, the live chat was going crazy, and only Cheng Yaowen cursed silently in his heart.