Chapter 12

Chapter 12 Help

As for why she didn’t bring the others along… Lin Qianyu couldn’t finish eating all at once.

Raising chickens in captivity without a chicken coop still needs some fences, otherwise they would run away even if brought back.

Lin Qianyu was too lazy to bother.

She only took the one she had hit, her backpack was full and couldn’t fit more, so she carried it by hand to wash the ingredients by the river first.

By the time she returned with the food, the other guests at the small base were just starting to pack up their sleeping bags.

“Qianyu, why did you get up so early?” Hang Sisi rubbed her eyes, still yawning and clearly not fully awake. Seeing Lin Qianyu dressed and returning from outside, she was a little surprised.

“Morning is the best time to pick mushrooms,” Lin Qianyu opened the leaf wrap to reveal the mushrooms inside. “They have more moisture and taste better.”

Although that was so, for making chicken stew with mushrooms, dried mushrooms soaked in water first would taste better when cooked.

Since she was making it for herself, Lin Qianyu didn’t bother too much, and there was no way to dry mushrooms in the wild anyway, so picking the freshest mushrooms was actually the best choice.

Hang Sisi widened her eyes. “So many mushrooms? Qianyu, where did you find them?”

“On the mountain?” Yin Youlin listened attentively, also looking interested.

Lin Qianyu nodded and didn’t keep it to herself, saying, “There are plenty of mushrooms on the mountain. They grow easily in rainy, dark, and damp environments. There’s a mountain path on the map, just go straight up and watch the roadside.”

“Then I’ll go up the mountain to take a look too.” Picking mushrooms was much easier than catching chickens, ducks, or fishing, so without delay, Hang Sisi picked up her backpack and left. “I’m off, Qianyu! I’ll share half of the mushrooms I pick with you!”

The live stream had only just started for a few days, so to be safe, no one had gone up the mountain yet.

If Lin Qianyu hadn’t voluntarily been the first to climb the mountain, when the others would go up was still uncertain.

Lin Qianyu was the first among their guest team to try something risky.

Hang Sisi ran off in a hurry, and Lin Qianyu didn’t have time to say anything more, just hurriedly called out, “Be careful, watch out for poisonous mushrooms.”

“Okay!” Hang Sisi’s voice came from afar.

Other guests gradually picked up their backpacks as well.

However, Guo Yanpeng and An Lanqing weren’t seen. They didn’t take initiative, and Lin Qianyu was too lazy to bother with them.

In just a short while, the base was left with only Lin Qianyu.

It was actually more comfortable than when there were many people.

The water Lin Qianyu had boiled yesterday hadn’t been drunk; she boiled it and left it to cool. Now she gathered firewood again, hung the iron pot, and first put the mushrooms inside.

It was a rough way to soak the mushrooms, but it would bring out the mushroom flavor in the stew.While the mushrooms were cooking, Lin Qianyu buried the little wild vinegar dwarf mushrooms in the soil a bit farther behind her small cabin, spreading a shallow layer of soil over them.

The rest was up to the little wild vinegar dwarf mushrooms to grow on their own.

Lin Qianyu patted the small mound of earth, encouraging, “Come on, the next chicken stew with mushrooms depends on you.”

【??? What nonsense.】

【Underage mushrooms please listen accompanied by adult mushrooms.】

The mushrooms boiling in the pot had changed the color of the soup.

Lin Qianyu poured a little and tasted it. “These mushrooms… taste better than those bought in the market.”

They were incredibly fresh, even more fragrant with the natural mushroom aroma. Only a bit of salt was added for seasoning, with a subtle lingering sweetness.

Lin Qianyu couldn’t help but think that even without the chicken, just drinking this mushroom soup, she could have two bowls.

“Maybe no chicken today,” she said after tasting a piece of mushroom, the flavor making her want to say so.

No wonder people loved wild mushrooms from the mountains — they were a completely different thing compared to farmed ones in the market. The only similarity might be their chewy texture.

This thought flashed briefly in Lin Qianyu’s mind.

No chicken was out of the question though; it was already prepared and if not eaten today, it would spoil by tomorrow — too wasteful.

After drinking nearly half a bowl of mushroom soup, Lin Qianyu poured in the chicken.

“Next task, try to get some scallions, ginger, and garlic,” Lin Qianyu said, covering the pot and playing with the chopsticks in her hand. “Cooking really needs these.”

“And cooking wine…”

Lin Qianyu mumbled, naming several seasonings.

Just after adding the chicken, she added more firewood, making the flame stronger.

As she lowered her head, about to sit back down, a shadow suddenly passed overhead like something flying by, the shadow fleeting.

Lin Qianyu paused and looked up, catching a glimpse of the gorgeous tail feathers of a red-tailed hawk.

“Hm? Are red-tailed hawks this common in this rainforest?”

The show had only started a few days ago, and Lin Qianyu had already encountered the red-tailed hawk twice.

【World Wildlife Protection Organization: What nonsense! What are you saying?!】

【Hahaha, some people chase red-tailed hawks’ shadows all year round, some exchange rations with them in two days.】While speaking, the red-tailed hawk circled in the air for a moment and then landed in front of Lin Qianyu.

After landing, it flapped its wings twice, stirring up a small breeze.

Folding its wings, the red-tailed hawk paced closer beside Lin Qianyu.

News of the red-tailed hawk appearing in Lin Qianyu’s livestream almost simultaneously appeared on Weibo.

Staff following Lin Qianyu’s livestream promptly notified the director.

The continuous influx of viewers caused the already high popularity of the livestream to rise again.

Now the red-tailed hawk had landed very close to Lin Qianyu. The director didn’t come out recklessly, fearing to scare the bird away, so he directed from inside the tent, “Push Lin Qianyu’s livestream to the homepage and send a pop-up message.”

“Okay.”

...

Lin Qianyu was completely unaware, “What’s this?”

She couldn’t see clearly from the sky just now, but now on the ground, Lin Qianyu immediately noticed a plastic bag in the red-tailed hawk’s beak.

It even had a supermarket logo on it, obviously not something naturally growing in the rainforest.

Lin Qianyu frowned, “Who is so irresponsible? How can people just litter like this?”

In the wild, if a flying bird got its head caught in a plastic bag and couldn’t see clearly, it would be in great danger.

Not to mention the risk of small animals mistakenly eating it.

The danger was extremely high.

Lin Qianyu stretched out her hand and picked up a leaf full of chicken meat, “How about this? I’ll trade you some chicken stew with mushrooms.”

Coincidentally, only salt had been added to the dish.

The red-tailed hawk tilted its head and dropped the plastic bag at her feet.

“It’s pretty heavy.” Lin Qianyu tried to lift it, dragged it to her feet, and opened it.

The director inside the tent squinted watching this scene — the bag looked somewhat familiar.

The next moment, Lin Qianyu hesitated as she took out from the plastic bag... a bottle of beer.

Director: “???”

Comments: 【What?!】For a moment, many faces were dumbfounded.

Not only was it beer, but it was chilled, with a layer of frost on the can.

It looked like it had just been taken out of a refrigerator not long ago.

Next, there were two more cans of beer, plus three bags of peanuts, not loose but vacuum-sealed and quite neatly packaged.

Seeing this, the director trembled all over, as if struck by thunder from above.

The staff nearby muttered, “This beer seems to be the same brand as the beer we brought to the island.”

As soon as this was said, the tent fell silent.

“What the heck!? The plastic pack for the field work went missing!”

Lin Qianyu looked at the label and the expiration date, thought for less than three seconds, then directly popped open the can.

With a ‘pffft’ sound, beer foam poured out from the opening.

Lin Qianyu leaned toward the pot and poured it all in. There was no cooking wine, but beer would do.

At that moment, the director hurriedly lifted the tent flap and ran out, “Wait! Don’t drink it yet!”

“Ah? What’s wrong?” Lin Qianyu responded while tilting her head back and finishing the beer.

She had just poured most of it into the pot; only a bit was left at the bottom of the can.

She crushed the can and opened the next one.

The director stepped forward, but suddenly the red-tailed hawk launched an unprovoked attack, spreading its wings in a battle-ready stance, forcing the director to stop at a distance and shout to Lin Qianyu from afar, “That’s the production team’s supplies.”

“Huh? What? I don’t understand.” Drinking a cold beer in the hot weather, Lin Qianyu sighed contentedly.

Director: “That doesn’t fall under the guests’ self-sufficiency.”

“Who said? I picked it up.” It was just... the red-tailed hawk that dropped it.

And dropped it right in front of her.

Lin Qianyu said, “It’s reasonable to get lucky and find food and drink in the wild.”

She patted the beer can, “Wild beer.”

Director: “…”【Hahaha, how can you even say that out loud.】

【Alright, alright, playing like this huh. Tomorrow can I expect to see wild Wahaha and Want Want Senbei on the livestream?】

【Or maybe wild Wangzai milk is more natural.】

With the red-tailed hawk blocking the way, the director didn’t dare to approach, fearing the hawk might hurt him or he might accidentally hurt the hawk.

If he accidentally did, seven or eight prisons would be waving at him.

The staff all came out too, and hearing Lin Qianyu’s words, several couldn’t help but laugh, holding onto the tent and nearly losing their balance.

Lin Qianyu drank half a can of beer, seeing the director couldn’t come over, relaxed and focused on enjoying this unexpectedly good meal.

The director knocked on the tent, “Guests are not allowed to steal staff supplies; that’s against the rules!”

“The red-tailed hawk stole it, what does innocent Lin Qianyu have to do with it?” The innocent Lin Qianyu took a bite of meat and a sip of beer, “You punish it.”

“Chiu—!” A powerful call, as if backing Lin Qianyu up.

Director: “…”

If all else fails, punish me then.

“Hey? Almost forgot the wild peanuts.” Lin Qianyu tore open a purple bag, crunching crisply.

“Oh—” The director sighed helplessly, drawing out the sound and meaningfully raising his chin, “It’s the pepper-salt five-spice combo flavor.”

Lin Qianyu nodded deeply, eating a pepper-salt one and feeling it was a bit salty alone, then grabbed a five-spice one and popped it in her mouth, “The wild is just full of endless possibilities.”

The director’s brow twitched, he took a deep breath and barely stopped himself from collapsing on camera.

Lock it up!

Put big chains and locks on the tent!!

Lock it all up!!!