Chapter 10

Chapter 10 Mushrooms

Perhaps because her expression was too strange, Lin Qianyu blinked, and during eye contact with the director, she seemed to realize something.

She was thinking about how to ease this awkward situation when her gaze involuntarily shifted to the director’s livestream equipment beside her.

Hmm… Since the director wants to normalize the fact that Lin Qianyu can chop down a tree with just two strikes, it should be fine to go along with that?

After a moment, she said, “The director must be inexperienced at chopping trees for the first time. How about trying again?”

“Ahem.” The director came to his senses and cleared his throat, nodding seriously. “Right, I didn’t find the right angle just now.”

The words “‘Wild’ show team faking livestream” had already started flashing in the comments.

The director clenched his trembling wrist from the previous strike, shook it off, and said, “Stop saying it’s fake. It’s just chopping a tree; anyone can do it. Holding this machete, don’t say two strikes — if you’re strong, one strike, one tree, and run all the way, okay?”

To show off his skill, the director even skillfully spun the machete like a sword flower, raising it high. “Here I go! This time, one strike—!”

“Clang!”

Didn’t chop it down.

The director steadied himself, “Again!”

He swung another strike with the back of his hand.

The tree didn’t budge, and since his swings were careless, the blade edges on the left and right weren’t even aligned.

Wood chips flew as he pulled the blade out. By the end, the director’s mentality was breaking.

He used all his strength to chop down on the tree!

This time, by chance, he hit the spot from the previous cut, and the blade sank in deeply more than halfway.

The director held his breath until his face turned red. Seeing the blade lodged in, he finally relaxed, ignoring his still trembling fingers, and pretended to be calm as he said to the camera, “See? Very simple.”

[…]

[“Very simple”]

[Question: Who has a tougher mouth, the director or Guo Yanpeng?]

[What, after chopping for so long, the tree still isn’t giving in? Mouth sure is tough.]

It was barely enough to patch up his previous words.

The main thing was the director watching Lin Qianyu do it so easily, considering her physical condition, and then comparing it to his own years of exercise and leading the team through tough journeys. He thought he should at least be able to chop down a few trees with the machete, but now...

He hadn’t fully chopped down one tree yet, and he was already panting and exhausted.Lin Qianyu dutifully played the role of a spectator and also served as the atmosphere booster by clapping.

“All right, this clarification ends here, ends here, ends here… huh?!” The director wiped his sweat and reached to pull the machete still stuck in the tree.

He pulled... but the machete didn’t move an inch.

Director: “???”

He tried to wiggle it left and right, but the tree still gripped the machete tightly.

Lin Qianyu noticed something was off, stepped closer, and gave him a look asking if he needed help.

The director shook his head, twisted with some skill but no movement. Losing patience, he stepped on the trunk and pulled back hard on the handle.

With a ‘swish’, the machete popped out of the trunk, and the force unbalanced the director, causing him to fall backward.

Lin Qianyu stepped forward half a step and grabbed his wrist, pulling him back with a bit of effort.

The director, finally steadying himself, shakily exhaled.

Lin Qianyu hesitated, “Are you okay?”

The director, who had almost fallen, nodded stiffly but burst out emotionally three seconds later.

He shouted hoarsely in frustration, “How on earth did you chop down a tree in two strikes?!”

His voice was hoarse and desperate. As the show’s director, he really scratched his head and couldn’t figure out why.

If he didn’t know for sure that his show wouldn’t fake anything, he might have started doubting Lin Qianyu!

Lin Qianyu: “…”

Comments: [“Hahaha, turns out the director’s a comedian, this clarification is killing me laughing.”]

[“Before the clarification, the director said: anyone can do it, chopping a tree is simple, no faking needed. After the clarification, the director said: how can you chop it down? You must be cheating!”]

[“Don’t say it, but honestly, comparing the two, Lin Qianyu really looks like she’s cheating.”]

[“So... with the director stepping up to clarify there’s no faking, how exactly did Lin Qianyu chop down a tree in two strikes?!”]

Lin Qianyu rubbed her nose, couldn’t think of an explanation, and awkwardly changed the subject, “The morning task hasn’t had results yet. Director, why don’t you go back to your work first?”

“Ah! Right.” The director slapped his head, as if just remembering he had other things to do. “Um... cough, everyone has seen it, there’s no faking, it’s purely Lin Qianyu’s own strength. If you’re interested, practice more, you’ll be able to chop down a tree in two strikes sooner or later. I have other things to handle, I’m off now.”

With that, he hurriedly ran back.

Afraid the fans in the livestream room would catch him again with questions he couldn’t answer.Just after taking a couple of steps away, the director came back to return the machete to Lin Qianyu, turned off the livestream equipment, then walked off with his hands in his pockets.

The chat was full of question marks again. The clarification had happened but wasn’t complete.

This livestream was quite effective; the voices doubting the show’s authenticity silently disappeared amid playful teasing.

Meanwhile, Lin Qianyu’s tree-chopping topic’s popularity rose several notches, and many videos about the director, the comedian, breaking his own defense while chopping trees also circulated.

By a twist of fate, the variety show gained some buzz.

After chopping enough trees, Lin Qianyu stacked them together, carried them back, took down the waterproof cloth, and after patching up the last wooden wall, the simple cabin was finally completed.

She popped a piece of fruit candy in her mouth, sat on the grass, and looked at the leftover small wood pieces from building the cabin. This one was round and relatively intact—too good to burn as firewood.

Since there were no bowls or chopsticks, Lin Qianyu used the machete to carefully carve and scoop wood shavings out from the inside. After a few attempts, a wooden bowl took shape.

Because it was made of wood, she had to pay attention to the small splinters on the edges. Though fine, they could still painfully prick fingers. If unlucky, a splinter could get stuck deep in the flesh, which would be troublesome to deal with.

So, Lin Qianyu was especially careful while making the bowl.

“Qianyu jie, your bowl is really well made,” Hang Sisi came bounding over, picking up the small wooden bowl. “You could sell this.”

Lin Qianyu asked, “Why are you just back now?”

Judging by the time, it was already five in the afternoon. They had eaten by the riverside at noon, and Hang Sisi had only just returned.

“Caught fish.” Hang Sisi shook the fish tied with willow branches in her hand. “I wasn’t full at lunch, so I went looking for food. This fish was stuck on the beach, probably knocked out by the tide pushing it ashore. I saw it and picked it up.”

“You went to the seaside?” The rainforest filming location was indeed on a deserted island, and there were places near the sea, no doubt. But they had no tools, going into the water would leave them wet with no clothes to change, plus seawater drying on skin was uncomfortable, and having no fresh water to wash with was another hassle.

Given all these reasons, Lin Qianyu hadn’t considered going near the sea.

Even though sea urchins in shallow water could serve as emergency food.

“Yeah, the ones in the forest are too fast, so I just wandered by the seaside. I even saw starfish,” Hang Sisi smiled. “Qianyu jie, when you’re done, how about we wait for low tide and go to the seaside? I saw some videos online about tide hunting; you can find a lot of good stuff.”

Lin Qianyu nodded, “Okay.”

...

The sky gradually darkened.

The director team finished counting the number of wild fruits each group collected and called everyone over.

The first place was undisputedly Lin Qianyu.

She not only picked the most but also picked fruits that were all appropriately sized, avoiding penalties for picking undersized fruits.The other guests had more or less picked smaller wild fruits. They had been picking for so long that their heads were dizzy by the end, grabbing any fruit they saw without caring about size.

After adding and subtracting, Lin Qianyu won the chance to choose supplies.

The director patted the tent, and inside the lifted flap, all kinds of well-packaged essential camping gear were in view, dazzling and abundant.

【Get the water purifier! That thing is essential.】

【How about a sleeping bag? It would go perfectly with the cabin and make sleeping comfortable.】

【That watermelon looks so fresh... biting into an ice-cold watermelon on a hot day—just typing it makes me drool.】

Many in the livestream suggested ideas to Lin Qianyu, but after considering it all, it seemed that taking all the supplies would be the optimal choice.

But...

The director raised a megaphone and shouted, “All these supplies—clothing, food, shelter, travel essentials—everything is here, but you may only choose one item to take.”

“One item?” Lin Qianyu raised her eyebrows; this definitely needed careful thought.

The director grinned like a sly merchant, “Yes, one item only, no time limit, you can take your time choosing.”

Everyone was curious—after two days and one night of tough survival, facing this tent filled like a treasure house, what would Lin Qianyu pick?

The other guests outside were almost overwhelmed trying to decide.

Viewers in the livestream eagerly waited too.

Under all eyes, standing in the center of the tent, Lin Qianyu raised her hand and gently picked up a bag of mixed mushrooms nearby—button mushrooms, shiitake, crab mushrooms, and other varieties.

【...】

【Clearly, the girl really wants to eat chicken stewed with mushrooms.】

【Wait, what? Such a great chance, and she chose mushrooms?!】

Lin Qianyu’s choice was basically like being offered a room full of gold and money, but picking up a single coin and walking away.

The livestream viewers were so angry at her choice they almost vomited blood.

“Wait! Those mushrooms belong to the show’s logistics department. They probably dropped in while moving stuff. They don’t count as supplies. Pick something else,” the director noticed the label and hurried over to take the bag away.

Lin Qianyu twitched her fingertips, but the director didn’t bring it over.

They faced each other, both tightly holding one side of the mushroom bag.

“This thing is useless for survival in the wild,” the director said, pulling the mushrooms toward himself.“But it looks really delicious,” Lin Qianyu silently grabbed it back.

“But you can choose something more helpful for your survival ahead.” With another tug, the bag of mushrooms wavered between the two.

“But it looks really delicious.”

...

However, no matter how delicious the mushrooms looked, in the end, they were confiscated by the director.

The director sighed inwardly, feeling that if Lin Qianyu hadn’t been afraid of pulling too hard and breaking the bag, wasting the mushrooms, he might really have lost the tug-of-war.

Having lost the chance for chicken stewed with mushrooms again, Lin Qianyu sighed and pointed at a sleeping bag, “Then I’ll take this.”

The sleeping bag came with an inflatable pillow; this model was pre-inflated and rolled up—no need to inflate again when unrolled, just lay it out and use.

If she couldn’t improve her food, she would improve her sleeping conditions.

The director and others came out and called the staff to lower the tent flap. “Alright, as the winner of the first challenge of this variety show, Lin Qianyu, do you have anything to say?”

The megaphone was handed to Lin Qianyu.

Lin Qianyu’s beautiful eyebrows slightly lowered as she thought for a moment. Then she looked up with determined eyes, “No matter what accidents happen tomorrow, no matter how many things occur…”

The director narrowed his eyes, involuntarily raising the megaphone higher, waiting to hear Lin Qianyu’s motivating words to encourage everyone to survive.

The next moment, Lin Qianyu clenched her fist and said, “I’m definitely going to the mountain to find mushrooms.”

The director didn’t listen carefully and nodded along, “Mm! Mm, mm...???”