After We Broke Up, She Started Pursuing Me [Entertainment Industry] 33

Chapter 33

After the first day’s experience, the next few days of their wilderness trip went quite smoothly.

Lighting fires to boil water, grilling fish, and occasionally picking some mushrooms for soup, plus the supplies the production team had given them, the two of them didn’t have to worry about food and warmth at all.

In the blink of an eye, what was thought to be a long week was already halfway over.

The next morning, Shi Qin looked at Zhou Jinsi, who was making the bed next to her. Thinking that there were only two days left until the end of the recording, a faint sense of melancholy welled up in her heart.

She knelt there, hugging her quilt, her gaze fixed on Zhou Jinsi’s slender yet strong forearms, her eyes following her movements up and down. After a long moment, she finally parted her lips. “Zhou Jinsi.”

The person whose name was called looked up at her.

Shi Qin averted her gaze and said, as if casually, “The show seems to be… ending the day after tomorrow, right?”

Zhou Jinsi replied without thinking, “That’s right. It’s gone by so fast.”

“You seem very happy?”

The sudden question, with its unreadable tone, made Zhou Jinsi pause.

When did I look very happy?

Zhou Jinsi glanced at Shi Qin. The other person had no expression, and was even nonchalantly smoothing out the wrinkles on her quilt.

Unable to guess what she was thinking, Zhou Jinsi just treated it as a normal conversation and replied casually, “It’s alright…”

Suddenly remembering how Shi Qin had been complaining about her sore back and waist these past few days, she added, “These past few days have been quite tiring. It’ll be good to rest well after it’s over.”

Shi Qin: “Oh.”
Zhou Jinsi: “?”

What’s wrong now?

Zhou Jinsi looked at Shi Qin, completely baffled, as she walked past her with a cold expression and went straight out of the tent.

Even if Zhou Jinsi were any more dense, she would have noticed that something was wrong with her. But after thinking for a long time, she couldn’t come to a conclusion, not knowing what kind of mood this person was in now.

…

Unlike the previous few days, perhaps because the end was near, the director also wanted to show the audience something different. When the two of them went out, the cameraman handed them a mission card.

The mission was very much in line with their wilderness survival theme. It required the two of them to climb to the summit of Qiqun Mountain and plant the show’s flag within the day. The reward for the mission was that the production team would prepare a luxurious dinner for them.

For the two of them, who had only been able to eat fish for the past few days, this reward was extremely tempting and encouraging.

But Qiqun Mountain was located in the central part of the rainforest. The surrounding terrain was relatively rugged, and the mountain path was steep. Although the production team had also provided them with protective gear, it would still be quite difficult to reach the summit.

By the time they followed the route on the map to their destination, the two of them looked at the towering, seemingly endless mountain peak before them, their expressions becoming a bit complicated.

Even the stone steps leading up were uneven, with weeds growing all around, making it difficult to find a foothold.

After putting on their protective gear, Zhou Jinsi walked in front, with Shi Qin following behind her, and the cameraman bringing up the rear, just in case anything happened to them, he could protect them.

The beginning of the journey was quite smooth. The three of them stayed close together, with no one falling behind. But when they had climbed a quarter of the way, the weather took a turn for the worse.

A gust of cool wind blew from the side. Zhou Jinsi’s hair was a mess, half of her face covered by it. She frowned and looked back. The two behind her were not much better off.

She looked up. The sky was blocked by clouds, a sheet of gloom. The air also began to feel heavy and stuffy. Zhou Jinsi stopped where she was, a bad feeling suddenly rising in her heart.

She held out her hand again and felt an extremely fine droplet of rain. Zhou Jinsi’s eyebrow twitched. Fearing it was just her imagination, she lingered for a little longer.

Shi Qin, following behind, saw her standing still for a long time and was a little confused. “What’s wrong?”

Before she could react, Zhou Jinsi took a step down and grabbed her by the wrist. “Let’s go, it’s going to rain.”

“Huh?”

Shi Qin was led down by her. Hearing this, she looked up and saw a gray haze. At this moment, she also felt the falling raindrops, and her pace couldn’t help but quicken.

They had umbrellas in their bags, but they weren’t even halfway up the mountain yet, which was extremely awkward. Right now, all they could do was hurry down the mountain as quickly as possible.

After walking for a while, the raindrops gradually took shape, turning into a misty drizzle. The stone steps of Qiqun Mountain were already mixed with yellow mud, and now, due to the rain, they became slippery. The three of them had no choice but to slow down.

Seeing that the rain was getting heavier, Shi Qin grew anxious. In a moment of carelessness, she twisted her ankle while stepping down, and it happened to be the same spot she had injured last time.

“Ah!” Shi Qin cried out in pain, and Zhou Jinsi, who was holding her hand, was forced to stop.

“How are you? Are you okay?” Zhou Jinsi saw Shi Qin bent over, her hand wanting to press on her ankle, a pained expression on her face.

Shi Qin shook her head, her brow furrowed as she took a sharp breath. “It hurts so much… what bad luck…”

In the time it took to say those two sentences, the misty drizzle had turned into a light rain. And they were still a long way from the bottom of the mountain, let alone their campsite.

Feeling the raindrops hitting her face, the cool sensation sobered Zhou Jinsi up quite a bit. She forced herself to calm down, looked at the injured Shi Qin, and then at the cameraman.

The cameraman was also clearly flustered. He didn’t know how to handle the sudden change in weather. The camera had been turned off, but he couldn’t just leave the two girls behind, especially since they were the show’s guests.

“Brother, you go down first. Drive the car to the bottom of the mountain to pick us up. There’s no time, the rain is getting heavier.”

Zhou Jinsi had already picked Shi Qin up. After saying this to the cameraman, she started to head down first.

“Okay, okay, I’ll go right away. Teacher Zhou, be careful.”

The cameraman glanced at Zhou Jinsi. He hadn’t expected someone who looked so slender to be able to carry a person so steadily. But the current situation didn’t allow him to think too much. He took two steps at a time and quickly disappeared from their sight.

Zhou Jinsi held the person in her arms tightly. She had to pay attention to her and the path under her feet. Otherwise, if she slipped, both of them would be in trouble.

Shi Qin nestled in Zhou Jinsi’s chest. Looking up, she could only see Zhou Jinsi’s jaw, but she could also feel that she was deliberately shielding her from the rain.

Her ear was pressed against the other person’s chest. In her right ear was the sound of the pouring rain, but in her left ear was Zhou Jinsi’s clear and strong heartbeat.

A sourness welled up in her heart. Shi Qin couldn’t bear it and cried out, “Zhou Jinsi, you can put me down. I can walk by myself.”

The stray hairs on Zhou Jinsi’s forehead were already soaked, sticking to the side of her eye. Large raindrops slid down her face. She had no time to pay attention to what Shi Qin was saying, only saying to her, “Don’t talk. Hold on tight.”

“We’ll be there soon.”

Shi Qin stared blankly at the person before her, her heart so full it felt like it would burst. She didn’t know what to say.

The pouring rain had long since drenched their clothes. Though they were freezing cold, and the rain was still falling relentlessly, Shi Qin felt that the spot in her heart was still warm.

In the past, even though they had been more intimate, Shi Qin had always felt an unbridgeable sense of distance between them, sometimes close, sometimes far. Zhou Jinsi was like a leaf drifting in the wind, always out of reach, unsettling.

But now, she could clearly feel the strength of Zhou Jinsi’s arms around her shoulders, the sound of her panting breath. Whenever she pressed close to her chest, she could hear her heartbeat.

That sense of emptiness that had made her so anxious was gradually being filled.

Shi Qin said no more, just the hands around Zhou Jinsi’s neck slowly tightening. She closed her eyes and buried her face in her embrace, forgetting the urgency of their situation.

She knew that as long as she held on tight, Zhou Jinsi would definitely not let go.

…

By the time Zhou Jinsi carried Shi Qin into the car, she was also exhausted.

She sat in the car, panting heavily, while Shi Qin beside her was not much better off. She was soaked from head to toe, and her ankle was swollen again from the repeated sprains, the pain indescribable.

Fortunately, there were spare dry towels in the bag. The two of them dried their hair and roughly wiped the rainwater from their bodies.

Zhou Jinsi looked at the heavy rain outside the window and sighed inwardly. Fortunately, they hadn’t reached the summit yet. Otherwise, she couldn’t imagine what they would have done if they had encountered such heavy rain.

After returning to their campsite, the two of them took turns showering in the RV and changing out of their wet clothes. Only then did the show resume recording.

By now, it was already evening. Zhou Jinsi carried a bowl of hot soup into the tent, only to find Shi Qin lying motionless in her sleeping bag.

She thought she was just tired from the ordeal, but after calling her name twice, she still got no reaction.

Sensing that something was wrong, Zhou Jinsi put the soup aside and went over to check. She saw Shi Qin’s furrowed brow, her cheeks slightly flushed, but her lips were a little pale, and her face had no color.

Zhou Jinsi immediately frowned, slowly placing the back of her hand on her forehead. The burning heat startled her.

Shi Qin felt a wave of heat radiating from her body. When she felt a cool touch on her head, she opened her eyes in a haze. Before she could see the person in front of her clearly, she felt the world spinning.

“Ugh… my head is so dizzy…” The dizziness made Shi Qin’s face wrinkle in even more discomfort.

Since she was a child, her constitution had been weaker than that of an average person. She couldn’t stand the cold, nor could she stand the heat, let alone being drenched in such heavy rain for so long.

Zhou Jinsi sighed softly and said in a gentle voice, “Just keep your eyes closed. You probably have a fever.”

“Mhm…” Being sick, Shi Qin’s voice was soft and weak.

“You sleep. Wait for me for a bit.”

Hearing that the person beside her was about to leave, a sense of grievance welled up in Shi Qin’s heart, sour and full. Subconsciously, only Zhou Jinsi was the most reliable person right now.

She grabbed Zhou Jinsi’s hand. Feeling the warmth of her hand, she squeezed it a little tighter.

Zhou Jinsi looked back at her. Her eyes were now filled with a watery mist, a hazy blur. She looked at her and murmured softly, “Xiao Si, don’t go…”