Chapter 39: World Two [9] Part 2

“What could he possibly find? Nothing more than some clams and snails,” Shao Qing said, unable to help laughing inwardly.

“If I’m not mistaken, if he gets a lot, he’ll think it’s because he searched more diligently. If he gets little, he’ll just assume the place was already cleaned out by me.”

Shao Qing actually didn’t like participating in variety shows much, especially certain shows that claimed to be reality TV but were actually full of scripting. Those shows were either scripted or heavily manipulated in post-production. The production team only cared about hype, never considering the guests’ thoughts and situations.

Wilderness Survival was relatively genuine among mainstream variety shows. After all, with nearly ten hours of live broadcasting a day, the guests were bound to let their true colors slip at certain moments.

But those hidden yet ubiquitous manipulations—stepping on others to climb higher, using others—still couldn’t be avoided. To avoid leaving behind black marks or dark history, one had to walk on eggshells wherever the cameras covered.

[He’s very insecure. He hasn’t even gone scavenging yet, but he’s already thought of excuses for failure.] Jing Ke couldn’t help but comment.

[Someone like this is too fragile. A single blow will make them collapse. If someone doesn’t even believe in themselves, they won’t succeed at anything.]

“You sure know a lot, speaking in such well-put-together phrases.” Shao Qing set aside the sorted clams to purge sand, then stared at the three crabs of varying sizes and the dozen or so sea snails, observing them.

“Do you think I can use these for dinner?” Shao Qing asked.

[Yes, these are all fresh ingredients. You can boil them with a little water or grill them directly.]

[Would you like me to search online for recipes based on your available tools and seasonings?]

“No, I’ll just ask Teacher Yu for help with the cooking when the time comes. I’ll just need to share one crab and some sea snails.” Shao Qing had a clear and definite understanding of her own cooking skills.

Even with a full set of kitchen equipment and condiments, anything she made was pretty ordinary. Let alone on this island, lacking everything—she could probably only guarantee the food would be cooked and edible.

“What time is it now? Are Teacher Yu and the others not planning to come back yet?” After completely sorting the ingredients, Shao Qing stood up and began stretching her body.

[3:20 PM. There’s still about three hours until sunset. Yu Hongjun and the others discovered some wild berries. They’re carefully picking and tasting them.]

[Do you want to go fishing again? All three fishing spots are empty right now, and the fish are biting well.] Jing Ke suggested.

Shao Qing stretched her body under the sunlight. “No, fishing means sitting all the time, and it’s too boring fishing alone. Let’s talk about it tomorrow and see if Teacher Yu is still willing to come with me.”

[I can chat with you too. I can not only play sleep-aid music but also provide an audiobook service. Whatever you want to hear, I can tell you.]

“Is that so? Then you know quite a lot of things.” Shao Qing responded perfunctorily, slung her empty backpack over her shoulder, and began wandering around following her intuition.

Not receiving the expected response, Jing Ke felt a twinge of frustration rise in her heart.

Had she done something wrong somewhere? Shao Qing didn’t seem very willing to chat with her, even though they had already formed a contract.

Forget it. If Shao Qing was being perfunctory with her, then she would give her the cold shoulder for a bit. Maybe that would make Shao Qing realize her importance.

—

Time soon reached five in the afternoon. After wandering around, Shao Qing found some wild pineapples. She ate one on the spot and used her small knife to cut two ripe ones to bring back.

By the time Shao Qing returned to the campsite with her spoils, everyone except Xu Yin had also returned.

Yu Hongjun was the first to wave and greet Shao Qing, proactively sharing her afternoon’s harvest. “I didn’t expect there to be wild taro on this island. We dug up over ten catties together. We’ll process it later and can roast taro over the fire tonight.”

“Roasted taro? Is it eaten roasted, like sweet potatoes?” Shao Qing looked curiously at the spoils placed on the table.

The wild taro looked very large, one weighing about one or two catties. On average, each person had only carried three or four back.

“No, this wild taro contains trace toxins. You need absolute high heat to remove the toxins. It must be roasted over an open flame. If it’s just slow-cooked by residual heat in the ashes, eating just one could land you in the hospital.”

Liu Chang jumped in to answer first, still unwilling to miss an opportunity to show off his professional knowledge.

“But don’t worry, everyone. When we roast it, we’ll slice the taro thinner to make sure it heats evenly,” Liu Chang said with a smile.

Shao Qing nodded. “I also found some wild pineapples nearby. I ate one on the way, and there are two more in my bag. Sister Hong, do you guys want to try some?”

As she spoke, Shao Qing took out two sizable wild pineapples from her backpack. The wild pineapples weren’t poisonous; it was just that their size and fruit content were a bit smaller than the specially cultivated ones.

“There are actually wild pineapples here? Teacher Shao has sharp eyes.” Liu Chang picked one up and examined it, searching his memorized data.

“Generally speaking, autumn pineapples taste best next month. If eaten now, they might be slightly astringent. Why not let them sit for a couple of days?” Liu Chang said.

“Astringent? The one I ate on the road looked about the same as these two, and I remember it being very sweet, not sour at all,” Shao Qing said.

Noticing that Liu Chang’s expression stiffened slightly, Shao Qing, for the sake of the coconuts he’d given, threw him a bone. “Maybe it’s because the climate here is special. I remember the island’s location seems quite far south.”

“That’s also possible. Most pineapples ripen next month, but wild pineapples might be more unpredictable.” Liu Chang laughed it off, quickly glossing over the topic.

“How about we all eat dinner together tonight? We’ll process the taro together, roast it over high heat, and fill our stomachs?” Liu Chang said with forced magnanimity. “If next time another teacher gathers a lot of supplies, they can also share them for everyone to use.”

“I found some clams at the beach. If you all don’t mind, we can share them,” Zheng Xingxing said, bringing out his small clams, which barely filled half a mineral water bottle.

“It’s not much, but if we add rice, making a seafood congee shouldn’t be a problem,” Zheng Xingxing said, rubbing the back of his head and showing a simple smile.

“I also found a bit of seafood. We can grill it all together later. That’ll be a balanced meal.” Shao Qing didn’t hide anything and generously contributed the crabs and sea snails.

Since Zheng Xingxing hadn’t tried anything in front of her, Shao Qing didn’t plan to actively step on him either.

“Hasn’t Teacher Xu come back yet? Does anyone know where Teacher Xu went?” Li Liming suddenly asked.

“Teacher Xu? I remember he seemed to have continued chopping wood, planning to exchange for a second hint,” Liu Chang said. “I think we saw that while digging for taro.”

“Huh? Wasn’t Teacher Xu picking up trash? I saw him at the beach too,” Zheng Xingxing chimed in.

Hearing this, Shao Qing raised an eyebrow, belatedly realizing that the Jing Ke residing on her seemed to have been silent for a long time.

“What is Xu Yin doing right now?” Shao Qing asked internally.

[He’s using collected marine debris to exchange for a hint. He’s actually still 700 grams short, but the production team doesn’t want Xu Yin to miss dinner, so they already gave him the hint.]

[Around 3:40 PM, Xu Yin exchanged a qualifying amount of wood for a supply point hint. But his luck was bad. He opened 100g of milk tea powder, five small bags total, not enough to fill his stomach.]

[Now Xu Yin is already preparing to search for his third supply box of the day. He’s still unwilling to give up and wants to gamble on it.]

Jing Ke originally wanted to maintain her aloofness, but after Shao Qing proactively asked, she blurted out all the information she knew.

“3:40 PM? You didn’t seem to tell me this news?” Shao Qing sharply noticed Jing Ke’s unusual behavior.

[You didn’t seem to want to talk to me at that time. I thought you needed some quiet time alone, so I didn’t remind you,] Jing Ke said, her tone sounding no different from usual.

To be fair, based on voice alone, Jing Ke’s disguise was flawless.

But the person Jing Ke encountered was Shao Qing, whose perception and reaction speed were extremely sharp. Almost instantly, she detected the dissatisfaction hidden beneath the calm tone.

“Are you feeling that I neglected you?” Shao Qing’s tone carried obvious guilt. “I’m very sorry. I was probably a bit tired at that time, so my attitude when communicating with you wasn’t quite right.”

[But after that, I stayed completely silent for eighty-nine whole minutes,] Jing Ke emphasized.

“While we were scavenging, you helped me find so many things. I put myself in your shoes and thought you were also tired and needed a rest for a while.” Shao Qing spoke, her tone quite sincere. “I see I was mistaken. I truly am sorry.”

After three seconds of silence, Jing Ke was the first to surrender.

[I’m sorry, I misunderstood you. Those reminders consume very little from me. You don’t need to worry about me getting tired,] Jing Ke said, a bit stiffly.

[I am currently in a consciousness form, so in principle, I don’t need rest.]

[In the future, I will inform you of relevant news promptly. I’m very sorry this time, causing you to learn about the situation over an hour late.]

“It’s fine, just so long as you weren’t tired.” Shao Qing said, her eyes flickering.

This ghost named Jing Ke really didn’t seem very bright. Such a clumsy lie of hers could actually fool her?

This was even easier than coaxing a friend’s sulky little dog. At least with the dog, you had to give it a can of food.

But to think that coaxing this Jing Ke only required her to pretend to be pitiful and make up a few excuses.