Chapter 44: World Two [14]

[Xu Yin spent money. He invested five million in the production team, demanding they give him a backdoor the audience wouldn’t see.]

“He’s desperate.” Lying in a chair with a face mask on, Shao Qing was very calm, fiddling with the little cabin she had just made under Jing Ke’s guidance.

[The production team took the money, but they only promised Xu Yin high-quality supply boxes and total live stream screen time, making no other guarantees.]

“If I were the head of the production team, I’d take it too. Five million for free, why not take it?” Shao Qing held the little cabin up to the hanging lamp on the tent ceiling to inspect it.

“Jing Ke, you’re a product of a higher dimension, right?” Shao Qing suddenly asked a question.

[Yes.]

Shao Qing narrowed her eyes. “Then do you know some secrets that no one in this world knows?”

[Secrets that no one in this world knows?] Jing Ke repeated with slight confusion, not immediately grasping Shao Qing’s meaning.

[My abilities are a process of creation from nothing. The knowledge I possess is acquired through learning, not something I had from birth.]

[Things humanity hasn’t explored, I have no way to learn. So I probably don’t know any secrets hidden from all of humanity.]

“Then do you have companions?” Shao Qing changed the question.

[I have friends. As for companions of a similar existence, I don’t believe any exist in my perception. I am a unique existence.] Jing Ke replied.

“Then don’t you have family?” Shao Qing placed the little cabin on the folding table beside her.

[Family?] Jing Ke hesitated for a second, [I have had family, but those memories are stored separately by me. I don’t know any specific information about my family.]

“Isn’t your family your companions, or your same kind?” Shao Qing caught a small logical flaw.

[Not of the same kind. My family, it seems… were humans?] Jing Ke’s tone carried a hint of uncertainty. [Those who accompanied me were humans, not my kind.]

Shao Qing gently rubbed the edge of the little cabin with her fingertip. “Then do you have a home?”

[…]

After a brief silence, Jing Ke spoke with a trace of uncertainty, [I suppose I do, but only after I become powerful enough will I be able to find my home.]

[Did something happen? Why are you asking these questions?]

“Nothing, just asking casually.” Shao Qing didn’t want to answer the question, brushing it off somewhat casually.

Shao Qing didn’t have the habit of revealing her own wounds to others, so she wouldn’t tell Jing Ke that teaching her to make the little cabin had brought back long-forgotten memories of a happier time.

When was the last time I made something similar?

It was probably when I had just started elementary school, around six or seven years old, without a care in the world.

I just needed to play with some building block toys while accompanied by Mom and Dad.

Back then, I seemed to quite like assembling a house from blocks and treating it as my own home. The more cramped and airtight the space, the safer I actually felt.

Come to think of it, it’s been several days since I contacted Grandma. I wonder if she’s seen my live stream.

Probably not. Grandma can’t even use a smartphone very well, how could she possibly download a live-streaming app?

—

Shao Qing actually didn’t take Xu Yin’s money-throwing at the production team to heart. What occupied her mind more were matters related to Jing Ke.

Shao Qing was a very sensible and principled person. Even in the entertainment industry, she held firm to her own principles and bottom lines.

Specifically, if others treated her sincerely, she would repay them sincerely.

For example, Director Hu was the talent scout who discovered her. So whenever Director Hu needed something, Shao Qing would do her best to help. Even if the other party had intentions of using her, she would repay the kindness first.

Similarly, Yu Hongjun was the first guest to show her goodwill, so Shao Qing always shared any good things she got with Yu Hongjun.

She claimed it was letting Yu Hongjun cook, but wasn’t this just Shao Qing sharing her supplies in a more reasonable way?

—

After settling into her sleeping bag, Shao Qing thought of Jing Ke again, thinking about how she had secretly helped her during the day without telling her.

As early as the one hour she had spent communicating with her assistant, Shao Qing had already confirmed the truth through some online platform messages obtained from the assistant’s phone, combined with the information her agent sent.

If the phone wasn’t out of credit, being unable to send messages or make calls could maybe be explained away as the phone being broken.

But the only unreachable number was just one, the only unsendable message recipient was just one, and this situation persisted even after changing phones.

According to the messages from her agent, Xu Yin’s agent, Brother Ming, had started to get paranoid and nearly went to a Daoist temple to pray and ward off bad luck.

The only one who could do such a thing to help her, Shao Qing could only think of a certain being claiming to be a higher-dimensional entity, a Jing Ke who might or might not be a ghost.

[Will it be the sound of rain to help you sleep again tonight?] Jing Ke, still unaware that her tail was showing, was acting as the usual in-brain music player.

“No, I want you to read some of today’s official news. That’s also quite sleep-inducing,” Shao Qing said.

[Shall I read the evening news? Or international news and recently enacted policies? These all seem relatively hypnotic.]

“Anything is fine, thank you, and thanks for your hard work,” Shao Qing said consecutively.

After closing her eyes, Shao Qing added, “Jing Ke, good night. I wish you pleasant dreams as well.”

Jing Ke very much wanted to say she didn’t need sleep, so she wouldn’t dream.

Fortunately, her growing understanding of social graces made her swallow her words back, and instead, she began to slowly recite the summary of the evening news broadcast in a serious and earnest tone.

—

On the fourth day, as soon as Shao Qing opened her eyes, she heard good news from Jing Ke.

Two out of the three traps had been triggered, one a pheasant, the other a small wild rabbit.

Shao Qing quickened her washing pace. Before the live stream started, she retrieved the two small animals, which were still barely alive, from the traps.

The pheasant was quite substantial. Without plucking the feathers, it weighed about two kilos. Made into Beggar’s Chicken, the flavor would definitely be excellent.

The wild rabbit was very small, looking almost like a juvenile. Shao Qing had the cameraman take a few close-ups, then released it.

Such a tiny rabbit, after processing, would probably yield only about half a pound of meat. Using it to give others an advantage wasn’t as good as using it to boost her image of loving small animals.

Hearing that Shao Qing had easily obtained a pheasant as food without completing any tasks, the smile on Xu Yin’s face couldn’t help but freeze.

The one who topped up five million for the production team last night should have been him, right? How did the production team arrange the pheasant for Shao Qing? Could it be the staff made a mistake?

“Teacher Xu, Teacher Shao’s trap was set yesterday afternoon. It’s been over ten hours now. Isn’t it normal for some prey to fall for it?” Zheng Xingxing said with a smile.

As the one benefiting more from the fans’ quarrel, Zheng Xingxing wasn’t worried at all about offending Xu Yin now.

The worst outcome would just be another fight between fans, which also had a little benefit for Zheng Xingxing.

Xu Yin twitched the corner of his mouth, not wanting to engage with Zheng Xingxing, who had proactively come over.

Hearing the staff announce the early start of the live stream, Xu Yin immediately spoke up. “Teacher Shao, I also want to learn this. Can you teach me how to make traps? I want to use small traps to catch pheasants too.”

“This is quite hard to learn. Without a foundation, I don’t recommend learning from me, because I just learned recently myself,” Shao Qing said with a smile.

After pausing for three seconds, she followed up, “But I can give you a trap. If Teacher Xu is really interested, you can seriously study that trap.”

Xu Yin’s eyelid twitched, and he said with a fake smile, “That’s very kind of you. What materials are needed to make a trap? I’ll go prepare them right away.”

Clearly, Xu Yin didn’t believe Shao Qing could make a trap herself, much less that her trap could catch such good prey. He wanted to find a flaw in Shao Qing’s story and expose her in front of the live stream audience.

Shao Qing could easily see through Xu Yin’s intentions, but she didn’t explain anything. She just listed the materials needed to make the small trap.

After Xu Yin spent fifteen minutes gathering the materials, Shao Qing performed on the spot what was called hand-crafting a trap.

“Can this kind of trap really catch a pheasant?” Xu Yin’s eyes revealed a hint of disbelief.

It would be one thing if the person who made this trap was Liu Chang; after all, he was the professional among the six and definitely better than an average person at making traps.

But who was Shao Qing? Xu Yin, who had been constantly monitoring her schedule, could confirm that Shao Qing simply had no opportunity to learn this kind of knowledge. There must be some shady dealing behind this trap!

Xu Yin, who had chosen to bribe his way to advantages, had absolutely no self-awareness. He didn’t think his own actions were problematic; he only, now that he had some backing, chose to question if others were doing the same thing as him.

How to put it, this kind of thing is hard to judge, but it’s not uncommon in the entertainment industry.

“Would Teacher Xu like to give it a try?” Shao Qing didn’t get angry, but the smile on her face faded slightly. “This trigger-type trap can capture prey weighing up to about ten pounds.”

“Could Teacher Shao explain the principle in detail?” Xu Yin continued to press. “I’m really curious. Surely Teacher Shao wouldn’t mind taking three minutes to explain it to me?”

“Of course, I can. But the most direct method is for Teacher Xu to trigger it yourself. Experiencing it personally might give you a deeper understanding,” Shao Qing said, quickly setting the trap in a suitable position.

Shao Qing: “Teacher Xu, you don’t need to deliberately observe where the trap is, just walk forward as you normally would.”

Having already issued the challenge, Xu Yin had to go along even if he had some reservations.

A little trap like this, what can it even do to…

Thud—

Before Xu Yin could finish his mental grumbling, he felt something catch his ankle and pull him backward.

Xu Yin, completely unprepared, fell to his knees in a sliding kneel, landing in a very awkward position.

“It seems the effect is quite good. This trap also has a significant effect on creatures exceeding the preset weight,” Shao Qing maintained her original expression, hiding the amusement deep in her eyes.

“Teacher Xu, are you alright?” Shao Qing returned the fake smile.

Xu Yin got up from the ground, awkwardly dusting off the dirt on his pants. Half-joking, half-threatening, he said, “Teacher Shao, wasn’t your trap further away? How did it suddenly end up right at my feet? Are you deliberately setting me up?”

“Oh, that one. The one in front wasn’t a trap, just a few extra little sticks. I was planning to use them as bait,” Shao Qing said, her gaze casually sweeping over Zheng Xingxing, who was eager for drama.

“Teacher Xu, I did this so you could more intuitively feel the trap’s restraining force on small animals. Surely you don’t mind, right?” Shao Qing spoke first, seizing the initiative.

Xu Yin choked, unable to find a retort. He could only hope that the director still remembered his five million and promptly cut away the relevant footage.

—

The small interlude that just happened didn’t greatly impact the live stream room. After Xu Yin quieted down, the six guests each went back to find their own tasks.

Shao Qing actually no longer lacked supplies but still went with Yu Hongjun to the fishing spot to fish and chat leisurely.

And Xu Yin, despite having a backdoor, still had to chop wood himself in exchange for clues to supply points; the staff couldn’t do it for him.

Thus, what was supposed to be a six-person wilderness survival show, by the fourth day, had developed extreme polarization.

Shao Qing and Yu Hongjun looked like they were on vacation. Just fishing and chatting brought in plenty of supplies.

The other few were either chopping wood or collecting trash, sweating profusely, and the supplies they opened might not even compensate for their physical exertion.

[‘Perhaps this is the difference between a god-tier teammate and a pig teammate. As long as you pick the right partner at the start, you can slack off with no problem.’ ‘Wait, isn’t this an individual battle? Why is Shao Qing teaming up with Teacher Yu? Isn’t this just riding on her popularity?’]

[‘Friendly reminder, just now Teacher Yu took the initiative to move her chair next to my Qingqing. Their earlier conversation was very pleasant.’ ‘I feel like everything Teacher Yu talks about is super professional. Can Shao Qing even keep up with that?’]

[‘(Going on stage) (Adjusting collar) (Taking out a small mirror to check) (Clearing throat) (Turning on mic): Here’s a not-so-cold fact. Our Qingqing has been a powerhouse actress since debut, winning the Best Newcomer Award and Best Actress award right at debut. Someone who earned the title of Best Actress at twenty-two!’]

“Pfft, my fans seem to be getting more and more active. Their barrage comments are getting more and more interesting too,” Shao Qing couldn’t help but smile with her eyes curved, her gaze towards the bobber softening considerably.

The barrage content was amusing, and when amusing barrages were read aloud by Jing Ke in a deadly serious tone, the amusement level got a super boost.

[Hmm, this is a very good change. Your fans’ state of mind is relaxed, and they’re enjoying it.]

“Thank you, thank you very much,” Shao Qing thanked again.

[You’re welcome. I didn’t do anything. They’re the ones who like you, the ones who admire you. This is what you deserve.]

Shao Qing didn’t say anything, but her gaze toward the bobber became slightly complex.

Four days. Jing Ke had been responsive to her every request for four days straight. In these four days, she hadn’t discovered a single thing amiss.

If only Jing Ke could keep this up, then she might just gain a very good friend.

Regardless of whether Jing Ke was a ghost or a higher-dimensional being, she could be her friend.