Chapter 18

Chapter 18 – The Red-Tailed Crested Eagle occupied her other shoulder, lowering its head to nuzzle.

This pig was half the size of Big Bear.

To be honest, when Lin Qianyu first saw the pig, her heart clenched—if it turned out to be a wild boar, how was she supposed to handle it?

You can’t just eat something like that.

But once she saw the pig’s coloring, it was obvious—compared to the strong, mid-to-high-tier wild boars, this one was clearly a domesticated pig raised in captivity.

It must have been placed in the area by the production team beforehand.

Easy to catch, no combat ability, and full of meat—wasn’t this just a pure ration for predators?

Dragging it all the way over had clearly taken a lot of effort. After dropping the prey on the ground, the little bear happily plopped down beside Lin Qianyu and rubbed against her. “Awoo!”

Eat.

Lin Qianyu took the opportunity to rub the white fur on its chest. “Why didn’t you finish eating before coming over? Carrying such a big pig all this way—aren’t you tired?”

The little bear looked up. “Mmm.”

You.

“For me? Have you already eaten?” Lin Qianyu reached down and patted its belly.

Seems like it came over after filling up.

No wonder it showed up so late—it must’ve gone hunting, eaten, and then caught a pig to bring back.

Lin Qianyu: “So what do I do with this pig…”

Without a head, the neck wound was barely bleeding. The bear hadn’t bothered to bleed the prey—it must have lost most of the blood while being dragged here.

Before she could figure out how to deal with it, a flash of light streaked across the sky.

A loud “boom” followed the lightning.

Lin Qianyu got up and dragged the pig’s hind leg, pulling it under a nearby rock outcrop—barely shaded and ventilated. “Leave it here for now. I’ll deal with it tomorrow morning.”

“Awoo!”

The little bear had no intention of interfering with how Lin Qianyu handled the prey it had gifted.

Lin Qianyu picked up the medicine kit. “Rain’s coming. Sisi, you two should go take cover too.”

“Okay.” Lin Qianyu didn’t even need to say it—Hang Sisi couldn’t stay here any longer anyway. She took her small stash of supplies and moved to the side.

Lin Qianyu lifted the flap and patted the inside. “Come on, try and get in.”

The little bear, licking its paw, was confused. It inspected the oddly shaped thing, sniffing the wooden walls as it stepped inside. After detecting no danger and realizing it was filled with Lin Qianyu’s scent, it finally felt safe enough to enter.

It reached the end, but finding no way forward, instinctively started to back out.

Lin Qianyu had already entered from behind and patted it. “Turn around. Time for medicine.”

In that short time, the rain had already begun to fall.

Lin Qianyu let the flap down and leaned against the wooden wall, sitting down.Fortunately, when she first built this hut, Lin Qianyu had used whole wooden planks, and there was still enough space in both length and width. While there was no room to lie down now, it was still big enough to fit the little bear. Not bad at all.

The little bear, having turned around, sat inside—plopping its butt onto the dry hay, its head nudging the waterproof tarp upward.

It seemed quite curious—like something was pressing down on its head.

“This wasn’t easy to build, so don’t you go tearing it down,” Lin Qianyu said, grabbing its fuzzy paw just as it was about to claw at the tarp. “Come on, show me your paw pad. Time for medicine.”

“Awoo!”

Inside the hut, their conversation could still be clearly heard in the livestream, even under the gentle patter of the rain.

Every sentence got a response—whenever Lin Qianyu spoke, the little bear would follow up immediately.

【Such a well-behaved chubby baby bear, wahhh...】

【Let me in! Why won’t they show us the video feed? I’m a prestigious SVIP—I should be able to see everything!】

【Someone's out there in the rain, and someone else is cuddling a bear indoors. Not jealous at all, nope, not even a little.】

There was no light in the hut.

Lin Qianyu used a flashlight as she bandaged the little bear’s wounds, applying the medicine the director had provided. She didn’t wrap its paws in gauze.

The medicine didn’t have a strong odor, and even in the enclosed space, the smell was tolerable.

“Don’t go back tonight—just crash here for the night,” she said. After just finishing the bandaging, it would be pointless if it got messed up again on the way back.

Earlier, because of the other guests, she hadn’t dared to keep the little bear too close.

But now the others had all gone to take shelter from the rain. At base camp, only she and the director team by the tents remained. Keeping the bear in her hut wouldn’t affect anyone.

Soon, the light inside the hut disappeared.

The turned-off flashlight was placed on the dry hay. The soft, smiling conversation gradually faded after a single “Good night.”

Only the occasional “awoo” from the little bear could be heard—soon drowned out by the sound of the intensifying rain.

There was no sleeping bag, and Lin Qianyu curled up in the corner of the hut, barely managing to get by for the night.

She didn’t expect to sleep well, only hoping she wouldn’t wake up with a sore neck.

But unexpectedly, she slept straight through until morning.

As she drowsily opened her eyes, she was met with a view of soft white fur. Beneath her was something warm—like a thick, self-heating fur blanket. In the cold, rainy night, it made for an exceptionally cozy sleep.

Still half-asleep, Lin Qianyu’s hand had already given the thick “blanket” a couple of squeezes. Soft and slightly grassy-scented, with a faint trace of medicinal aroma.

A toasty little medicine stove.

That was the thought that floated through her groggy brain. She curled her lips into a small smile and buried her face deeper into the thick blanket, inhaling deeply.

—Wait. Hold on.

She was on a wilderness survival show. Even her sleeping bag had to be bartered for. Where would she have gotten a thick fur blanket?!

Lin Qianyu suddenly jerked upright.

The little bear was still fast asleep, lips curled as if smiling—probably having a sweet, goofy dream.

One big bear paw was draped over her, and all the warmth through the night had come from that fuzzy body.Lin Qianyu couldn't help but think that this was far better than those fancy electric blankets advertised everywhere with smart temperature control.

The little bear was still sleeping. Lin Qianyu slipped out from under its paw and lifted the curtain. The morning air after the rain was fresh, and the cool breeze brushing her face felt invigorating.

After lowering the curtain, Lin Qianyu habitually greeted the livestream audience, “Good morning.”

【Morning, my darling! Where are we going to explore today?】

【I love this routine—can we keep it this way?】

Staying up late, getting up early, livestreaming every day.

Lin Qianyu moved her arms a little, stretching as she said, “I’m going to handle the pork from yesterday.”

It couldn’t be left out any longer.

The metal pot hadn’t been covered yesterday, and it was now full of rainwater.

This water was even cleaner than the river’s—it could be drunk directly without issue.

Lin Qianyu poured some out to wash her face, rinsed her mouth with salted water, and boiled the rest over a fire to make honey water. The little bear would drink it once it woke up.

“Alright, morning is the best time to work.” Lin Qianyu, knife in hand, approached the pig.

At this hour, the other guests still hadn’t returned.

She dragged the pig out. It was so big, she didn’t even know where to start cutting.

After measuring it up, she decided to begin with the legs.

The machete wasn’t as thick as a cleaver, so to avoid damaging the edge on bones, Lin Qianyu only cut through flesh—scraping off ribs, breast meat, and other parts close to the bone. The outer layer of pig skin she piled off to the side—she couldn’t be bothered to make another trip to the river for water, so she didn’t wash it, just saved it for another time.

Since she wasn’t using a small cleaver, some scraps of meat inevitably remained on the bones when cutting large chunks, but that wasn’t a big deal.

The amount of meat from a whole pig was considerable.

As for the organs… Lin Qianyu didn’t have enough seasoning to properly handle them. Pig offal, when braised, was tastier than the meat itself—but unfortunately, she lacked the tools.

She picked out the liver and heart to feed to the little bear later.

Those two pieces she wrapped separately in leaves. Then Lin Qianyu lifted the old shirt she used as an apron and started processing the pork.

【That’s so much meat—how many meals will that last?】

【In this humid and hot rainforest, it’ll spoil pretty quickly.】

【Are we doing BBQ? Crispy roasted pork belly maybe?】

Dealing with all this pork was a huge job. Lin Qianyu sat down and said, “Let’s try making cured or air-dried meat.”

Cured meat required more steps—she’d start with that, and if she got tired later, she’d turn the rest into air-dried meat.

She coated appropriately cut strips of pork with a thick layer of salt, threaded willow twigs through them, and tied simple dead knots to secure them.

“Look at this meat.” Lin Qianyu showed the side of a pork strip to the livestream. “Look at the layering in this pork belly—clearly defined, layer by layer.”

Just looking at it made your mouth water.

Her rack was already set up, and the meat was hung with some spacing between each piece.There wasn’t much meat on the ribs. The whole rack was roasted over the fire, sizzling and dripping with oil.

“Aw—aw?”

There was movement inside the hut.

The black bear woke up and, finding no one beside him, pawed left and right but didn’t tear down the hut. Instead, it was trapped inside by a thin layer of waterproof cloth and couldn’t get out.

When Lin Qianyu came out, she had lowered the waterproof cloth to give the little bear a more comfortable sleeping environment.

With a gentle push, the curtain could be lifted, but the little bear circled inside and didn’t stick its head out for a long time.

“Aw!”

“Aw-aw!”

“Aw-oo aw!”

...

The black bear howled loudly inside the hut.

It was heart-wrenching; someone unfamiliar might have thought a bear was being killed.

Lin Qianyu brushed the salt off her hands and went over to lift the curtain just a little, “Little bear?”

“Aw-ah—” The shouting stopped. The black bear poked its nose through the gap, blinking its round eyes, “Woo.”

【Hahaha damn, how did it get stuck in there?】

【Alright, alright, doing it like this. Learned the national treasure face-changing from you.】

【Little bear when Lin Qianyu’s not around: The human’s gone! My human is missing! Such a big person! Little bear when Lin Qianyu appears: So you were here~】

“I’m making cured meat. Come have some honey water.” Lin Qianyu poured out the cooled honey water, laid tree leaves on the ground, and piled the unsalted meat on top—estimating about ten or so jin. “Here’s the meat. Eat if you’re hungry.”

The meat was saved ahead as breakfast for the little bear.

Bears don’t care about three meals a day, but since the conditions were there, eating right after waking up wasn’t a problem.

However, the bear just woke and didn’t have much appetite. It held the sweet honey water and drank it without even looking at the meat.

“This air-dried meat still needs to soak in marinade. Actually, once dried, it can be preserved for a long time.” Another step would make the meat more fragrant.

Lin Qianyu looked through the seasonings and picked out the ones she could use bit by bit.

The little bear came over and counted with her but wrinkled its nose from the seasoning smell.

Despite the dislike, it didn’t move away at all.

The ribs cooked quickly.

Taking the whole rack off, no knife needed, Lin Qianyu grabbed the edges of the ribs and tore them apart one by one.

The meat inside was tender and juicy; the outside was roasted crispy. Without seasoning, eating it plain tasted great.

Lin Qianyu tore off a chunk, blew on it, “Here, ah—” “Aw—” She threw the roasted rib piece into the little bear’s mouth, bit on the remaining bone, and curved her eyes in a smile, “How is it? Tasty?”

The black bear nodded appreciatively, but this kind of cooked meat was just a fresh treat for a little animal.He probably still preferred raw meat.

Having barbecue for breakfast was too greasy; Lin Qianyu couldn’t really handle it, so she dug out some leftover wild fruit from yesterday to eat.

The wild fruit’s skin was all wrinkled. Normally, overripe fruit would be very sweet, but this wild fruit was still somewhat sour, which paired well with the roasted meat and helped cut the greasiness.

The black bear loved eating fruit. Wild bears would often shake trees so that the fruit on the branches would fall down.

It didn’t like sour fruit. Seeing how happily Lin Qianyu ate, it tilted its head in puzzlement, as if its confusion had taken on a tangible form.

“Hm? What’s wrong?” Lin Qianyu was puzzled. “Want a bite?”

“Woo…” The little bear shook its head and turned aside to drink the sweet water.

Lin Qianyu tore off some meat, dipped it in seasoning, and ate it. Occasionally she fed the little bear a bite of the big ribs. Slowly and leisurely, they finished eating without realizing it.

They were busy all morning. Near noon, the guests began returning one after another.

Xie Yifei, as the special guest, was the last to come back.

He was covered in mud, looking disheveled.

He wiped the sweat from his face, avoided the expectant gaze of An Lanqing, and handed his backpack to Lin Qianyu. “There are three beehives inside. So far, these are all I could find. Here, take them back and check.”

【!!! I was wondering why Yifei disappeared early this morning. Turns out he went to look for honey.】

【See, I told you. Yifei said he’d definitely return it. Someone really is stingy and maliciously judging others.】

【Hey, isn’t returning things what you should do? Acting like it’s some kind of favor. I don’t believe nothing happened yesterday; Xie Yifei really returned them.】

【Don’t believe +1】

No matter the debate in the comments, Xie Yifei did indeed return them with interest.

In front of him, Lin Qianyu opened the backpack and carefully inspected the beehives.

Xie Yifei’s “check it out” was just a polite phrase. Normally, to maintain a good relationship, one wouldn’t do something that shows distrust.

What Lin Qianyu was doing now was, in front of the entire livestream audience and all the guests, drawing a clear boundary with Xie Yifei.

Just like she was openly standing opposed to An Lanqing and Guo Yanpeng.

“I don’t want any of these three,” Lin Qianyu said after checking and tossed them back into the backpack. “Two don’t have honey, and one is so light there are dead bees inside. So much for being a wilderness survival expert, this is all you could find?”

Her little bear had given her a beehive so full that honey would flow out if cut and turned upside down.

Compared to the little bear’s, these three were just scraps, maybe only better in quantity.

But trash is trash no matter how much there is; Lin Qianyu had no intention of being a garbage dump.

Xie Yifei’s eyes darkened with a cold sharpness as he looked steadily at Lin Qianyu, as if confirming something, but didn’t argue further and took back his backpack. “You’re very different from before.”

Lin Qianyu didn’t dodge and smiled slightly, “You’re exactly the same as before.”

She knew clearly in her heart that Xie Yifei stealing her things might not even seem like stealing to him. He had already regarded her belongings as his own; otherwise, he wouldn’t have taken them openly in front of everyone.

This was something Xie Yifei was used to doing.

Xie Yifei and the original owner were university classmates. The story began when the original owner entered the entertainment industry, and the original text didn’t clearly mention the original owner’s school days.As for whether the later part was written... Lin Qianyu didn’t see what came after and didn’t know the specifics.

No matter what the relationship was, Xie Yifei was on An Lanqing’s side, bullying and suppressing the original owner, and was one of the main culprits responsible for the original owner’s death.

Lin Qianyu had no interest in exploring these complicated relationships and simply categorized Xie Yifei as someone on An Lanqing’s side.

Better to draw a clear line early on.

Cutting the Gordian knot quickly.

Xie Yifei caught the sarcasm in her words and nodded with a half-smile, “I’ll find better beehives for you.”

Though the beehives were small and poor, every little bit counts; squeezing out that honey could still brew a cup of water.

As they spoke, an inexplicably suffocating atmosphere of confrontation rose between them.

Even after Xie Yifei left, that strange tension didn’t immediately dissipate.

Hang Sisi, sucking on candy, walked over and whispered, “Why does it feel like you two are at each other’s throats?”

“He’s provoking me for no reason,” Lin Qianyu poked the fire and asked her, “Want a rib?”

Hang Sisi shook her head, “No thanks, I ate outside. Oh, by the way, where’s the black bear?”

Her gaze swept the surroundings, but there was no sign of the bear.

“Went out to play, probably.” Lin Qianyu had been busy handling the pork here, and the little bear got bored and went out on its own.

“That’s nice.” Hang Sisi rested her chin on one hand, full of envy, “That bear seems like it’s yours.”

That comment immediately resonated with the audience.

【I think so too. Very affectionate (meaning affectionate to Lin Qianyu), as gentle as a big black cat.】

【Honestly, even if this is a script, I don’t think anyone could raise such a black bear that’s all about Lin Qianyu. If it’s not a script... then that’s even weirder!】

【How do you explain the red-tailed hawk? Secretly taming that thing is a ticket to jail.】

...

It was so unbelievable and illogical that everyone thought this must be a script, but they all knew it couldn’t be.

This cognition was very conflicted.

Lin Qianyu took a sip of honey water, “Maybe I’m just good with animals.”

“I plan to tell the director that I won’t come back to base tonight, and will explore the rainforest by myself.” Lin Qianyu tidied up the leftover bones and said, “That little hut is yours.”

Since the hut was built, if she didn’t come back, leaving it empty would be a waste.

“Huh? If you’re not coming back, where will you go?” Hang Sisi didn’t really want to come back to see someone, but the outside was truly dangerous.

“I’ll just walk around and see if I can find a better place to stay.”

The rainforest was vast. On this island, the places Lin Qianyu had walked so far might not even cover one-twentieth of the whole island.

Having to return to base every night meant she couldn’t wander too far during the day.

That was too limiting, and Lin Qianyu didn’t like it.“But that’s really dangerous,” Hang Sisi said worriedly. “The director probably won’t agree either.”

“It’s fine. I’ll take full responsibility for any consequences.” Lin Qianyu paused, then added, “I have Little Bear to protect me. It might even be safer than staying at the base.”

After all, if a predator really came to the base, the director team could only use tranquilizers to deal with it.

Little Bear was different—among some animals, the deterrent force of predators imposed a natural hierarchy.

So when it came down to it, which was safer wasn’t so easy to say.

Hang Sisi thought it over carefully—it did seem to make sense.

Little Bear hadn’t come back yet, so Lin Qianyu wanted to go ahead and inform the director.

She had long wanted to go off on her own, but lacked the means. Even if she said she’d take full responsibility if something happened, the director didn’t trust her ability to protect herself, so naturally they wouldn’t let her leave.

In fact, animals were quite reasonable.

The key was being able to communicate smoothly.

Lin Qianyu felt confident that she wouldn’t run into danger. Now with Little Bear, she had even more reason to go live on her own.

Just as she walked into the tent, the director greeted her directly: “You really want to live outside?”

Looked like the director had been watching the livestream.

Lin Qianyu nodded. “Yes. I can sign another agreement if needed.”

She had already signed a waiver when joining the show. If the director still felt uneasy, adding another one wouldn’t be a big deal.

The director opened his mouth, wanting to list all the hidden dangers of the rainforest for her, to let her see the risks, but that thought only flashed briefly.

After a while, he said in a deep voice, “If you’re sure, and you can protect yourself, of course the production encourages guests to be independent.”

“I’m sure.”

“Alright. No need to sign another contract. If you’re sure, just pack up and go.”

She had decided to move, but that didn’t mean leaving right away.

She still had a lot of meat.

At the very least, she had to wait for the first round of drying to make sure the surface was fully dehydrated.

Lin Qianyu asked, “Director, is there a more detailed map?”

“There is, but we haven’t printed it out. We didn’t expect any guest to go off on their own,” the director replied after thinking a moment. “Take off your watch. I’ll upload the map file to it—it’ll be easier for you to check that way.”

“Okay.”

It was a fairly large digital file, and transferring it took some time. Lin Qianyu waited inside the tent, occasionally glancing outside to see if Little Bear was back.

Gotta say, the director’s tent was quite fancy—it even had windows.

Outside the tent.

Looking at the meat hanging on the rack, Xie Yifei asked in surprise, “Whose meat is this?”

He hadn’t brought livestream equipment when he went out in the morning to search for beehives—he was embarrassed and had snuck off—so he didn’t know what had happened at base. Just one trip away, and now there was all this meat?Clearly, this wasn’t a scene one would expect to see on a wilderness survival variety show.

Hang Sisi quickly stopped him and said, “Qianyu-jie prepared that. She doesn’t like others touching her stuff.”

As if he had some kind of conflict with Lin Qianyu, Xie Yifei halted the moment he heard her name. Still, he couldn’t help but ask in surprise, “Where’d she get this so early in the morning? Is this pork?”

Lin Qianyu never liked leaving traces when she did things. The ground had been cleaned up well—only the campfire hadn’t been put out yet.

Xie Yifei couldn’t make anything out from it.

“Yesterday the black bear brought Qianyu-jie some pork.”

“What?” Xie Yifei thought he’d misheard. “Black Bear is… someone’s nickname?”

“Who’d have a nickname like that?” Guo Yanpeng rolled his eyes. “It’s literally a black bear. Wild, from the forest somewhere. Got really close to Lin Qianyu. You were the one who said she was frail and would cry and beg to leave in a couple days. And yet, heh, she’s doing better than anyone here.”

Xie Yifei’s frown deepened at Guo Yanpeng’s mocking tone.

Seeing that he genuinely didn’t know, Yin Youlin hesitated and said, “Um… Teacher Xie, didn’t you watch our livestreams the past few days?”

“……”

How could Xie Yifei have watched?

He had plenty of survival experience in the wild—building shelter and securing food from nothing even in extreme environments—so he actually looked down on what he saw as a dumbed-down variety show with a fake script.

He only joined the show to show off his expertise, to stand above the clueless celebrities.

There was no way he would stoop to watching their livestreams.

Still, a bear…?

Xie Yifei explained, “I’ve been short on time. Just got back from the desert. The signal out there was terrible, so I didn’t watch.”

Then he asked, “What kind of bear are you talking about?”

Yin Youlin was momentarily stunned. “It’s… uh, black. Black fur, with a bit of white on its chest.”

“Just say it, what are you stammering for?” Just then, Xie Yifei vaguely heard breathing—deep, heavy breathing—very close, just behind him.

His long survival experience instantly alerted him to danger. His hairs stood on end, and he instinctively turned and stepped back.

“ROAR—!”

The black bear stood upright, towering and intimidating. Its open jaws roared with such ferocity that it made one’s heart stop.

Hearing the roar, Lin Qianyu immediately lifted the tent flap. “Little Bear?!”

The black bear’s jaws hadn’t even closed yet. But the moment it heard Lin Qianyu’s voice, it stopped trying to scare the person in front of it, hugged the wild fruit it had brought, and ran around him—eager to deliver the fruit to Lin Qianyu.

As the bear ran off, Xie Yifei remained frozen in place, still unable to come back to his senses.

That just now… was that… a bear?

His eyes lit up—it was real, a live bear.

He had encountered difficult wild animals during his own survival outings before, but most of the time he avoided confrontation and just quietly snapped pictures from a distance.

But just now—that moment was the closest he had ever been to a wild predator.Guo Yanpeng said with disdain, “Who knows what kind of bewitching potion Lin Qianyu fed the director, even got some animals involved just to build up her image.”

Xie Yifei straightened his expression. “That bear is obviously not domesticated. Besides, the director doesn’t have that kind of capability.”

“Hey—you…” Guo Yanpeng was just about to say more, displeased that Xie Yifei didn’t take his side, when Xie Yifei turned and went back into his tent. He scoffed unhappily, “Just like a turtle, always hiding in his shell.”

An Lanqing pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling exhausted.

Lin Qianyu pinched Little Bear’s ears, plucked the leaves and a few small twigs from its head. “Where did you go?”

The black bear happily presented her with some wild fruit, as if showing off a treasure.

“You went to pick wild fruit? Thank you.” Lin Qianyu took one and bit into it. “Just in time—got a bit sick of the roasted meat… this wild fruit is really sweet.”

It was pure sweetness, without any sourness—like a fully ripe banana, but with the texture of a floury apple.

That flavor combination worked surprisingly well in a wild fruit.

【Huh? Why did it suddenly go pick fruit?】

【Wait a second… it can’t be what I think, right?】

【…Just now it sniffed the wild fruit the streamer ate and thought it was too sour, so it went to find sweeter ones for her.】

【Aaaaaaa——isn’t this my little kitty that got lost by accident? Hold on, mama’s taking a helicopter to pick you up and bring you home.】

Lin Qianyu also realized this. She pressed her lips together and petted the bear’s ears, joking with the livestream audience, “Apparently bears can tell how sweet fruit is by smell—no idea if that’s true.”

But judging by how sweet the fruit Little Bear brought back was, the rumor might just be real.

Biting into the fruit, Lin Qianyu opened the map on her smartwatch. It had a projection feature—once opened, it temporarily replaced the livestream comment overlay and marked her location on the map in real time.

She gestured with her index finger. “Let’s go for a walk.”

“Aw!”

—Lin Qianyu didn’t go looking for a new path, but walked toward the river as usual.

The crested serpent eagle still hadn’t come to find her.

That bird usually showed up around this time. But now, there wasn’t even a feather in sight. Lin Qianyu thought about it and decided to go look for the little eagle first.

Then take the eagle along to explore an untraveled path.

The trees in this area all looked the same, so it was hard to use them for orientation. Fortunately, Lin Qianyu had a strong sense of direction and good memory.

Otherwise, just finding the nest again would’ve been impossible.

But when she arrived at the spot of the previous nest, it was already empty.

The eggs and the chick that had already hatched were both gone.

Lin Qianyu: “???”

“They probably moved because someone found the nest last time, so the little eagle took them and relocated.”

Being highly alert was a good thing. Though the island wasn’t open to the public, in the face of great wealth, any rule could be broken.

Still… Lin Qianyu sighed, sitting on a tree branch—how was she supposed to find the little eagle now?【Huh? But it felt like the streamer got along really well with the bird, why would it move without a sound?】

【Exactly, it even took the initiative to look for the streamer and bring her food. The little eagle doesn’t seem like it would be on guard against her.】

【Director: Do you really have to say it that bluntly? Must you get to the bottom of everything? Don’t you think that’s a bit hurtful?】

【Hahahaha, you guys are seriously pros at emotional damage.】

At that moment, the director was also watching Lin Qianyu’s livestream. Seeing those comments, he silently raised a hand to his chest and murmured to himself: I’m not angry, I’m not angry…

“Let’s just wait for the little eagle to come find me,” Lin Qianyu said, jumping down from the tree. “So, where should we go now?”

Little Bear tilted its head, not knowing.

“How about fetching some water to wash the meat?” Lin Qianyu didn’t have any handy tools right now, and constantly trading with the director wasn’t very realistic.

High prices were one thing, but more importantly, the whole point of Wilderness Survival was to test hands-on abilities.

“Since we’ve got time to kill, let’s make a set of wooden bowls first.” No sooner said than done—Lin Qianyu grabbed her knife and started looking for a suitable tree.

Actually, making a basin would be more practical. Preparing food for the bear and the crested eagle both required large portions.

Unfortunately, her method for making bowls involved hollowing out a section of wood. For a basin, she’d need a much thicker tree.

The machete couldn’t handle that.

So the basin would have to wait.

As usual, she cut down a tree. After setting her knife aside and preparing to drag the log to the river, Little Bear—having just eaten the last bite of fruit—came over and hugged it.

Little Bear hoisted the log and puffed out its chest. “Wuh!”

【Compliment it. Quick, COMPLIMENT IT AAAAAH!】

【It actually notices what needs to be done—such a good cub!】

Lin Qianyu hadn’t expected Little Bear to take the initiative to help.

The smile on her face deepened, and she couldn’t help but exclaim, “Little Bear is so good.”

Then she added with a shift in tone, “Jealous?”

Comments: 【???】

Are you flexing again??

Though she couldn’t make a basin, making several bowls could still hold a fair amount of food.

While hollowing out the wood, Lin Qianyu blew away the wood shavings and said, “If there’s time, we can check out the beach. Maybe find some big scallops.”

Scallop shells were high-quality—at home, steamed scallops with garlic and vermicelli were often served in the shells themselves. The sea should have large ones.

Little Bear patted away the wood shavings.

“Ah…”

“What?” Lin Qianyu didn’t catch it at first and asked, “What did you just say?”

Little Bear: “Awoo?”No.

Didn’t speak?

Lin Qianyu froze. “But I heard something?”

“Ah!”

It was very faint, like a breathy sound pushed out from the throat with the mouth slightly open, timid and hesitant.

Lin Qianyu raised an eyebrow and looked around. Her gaze locked onto a spot not far away—she found the source of the sound.

A pair of pale smoky-gray, butterfly-shaped fan ears peeked out from behind the weeds.

A tree kangaroo, no longer than a person’s forearm, was struggling its way out of the grass.

It rolled over and landed a bit dizzily, freezing in place for a moment. When it saw Lin Qianyu and the black bear not far away, it panicked and hurriedly turned around, burrowing back into the grass.

That speed was completely unlike the usual laziness of tree kangaroos munching on leaves in trees.

“Why is there a tree kangaroo here?” Lin Qianyu put down the half-made bowl and wanted to go over and take a look.

But as soon as she moved, the little tree kangaroo reacted instantly and darted away.

It didn’t flee completely but stopped at a certain distance from Lin Qianyu and continued to stare at her from afar.

What… is it doing?

Lin Qianyu rarely looked confused.

Little Bear held the bowl Lin Qianyu had made and was totally unbothered by the appearance of the harmless tree kangaroo.

From what Lin Qianyu could see, it didn’t look like the tree kangaroo was afraid of the black bear… at least when she walked over, the bear didn’t follow, yet the tree kangaroo still backed away again and again.

It seemed like it wanted to approach, but didn’t dare to.

Now stuck in this stalemate, Lin Qianyu didn’t know what to do either, so she just sat back down.

As expected, the moment Lin Qianyu sat down, the tree kangaroo that had run off scurried back to its original hiding spot in the grass.

But this time, it was a bit braver than before. It slowly crept out of the grass, inching forward, pressing its body close to the ground. Just the slightest breeze rustling the leaves was enough to make it freeze on the spot.

After a moment, it would continue crawling forward.

【Is the tree kangaroo trembling?】

【It probably is. Tree kangaroos are really timid, especially afraid of people—they're more scared of humans than other animals.】

【Huh? But from the way it’s acting, it seems like it’s trying to get to Lin Qianyu. And it looks like a juvenile… where are its parents?】

As the comment section buzzed with speculation without reaching a conclusion, the little tree kangaroo had already reached Lin Qianyu’s side.

Lin Qianyu sat perfectly still, like a wooden stump.

Seeing her like that, the little tree kangaroo unexpectedly reached out a paw and grasped Lin Qianyu’s pinky.

Just for an instant—it squeezed, then immediately let go, pretending to turn and flee.

Thankfully, Lin Qianyu reacted quickly and continued to stay motionless. Little Bear, not understanding what was happening, imitated her and also remained completely still.The little tree kangaroo looked at Lin Qianyu. Since it wasn’t being chased, it didn’t run again but came back and grabbed Lin Qianyu’s finger once more. “Ah…”

The baby tree kangaroo’s voice was tender—short and crisp.

“Hm?” Lin Qianyu worried that even slightly raising her voice would scare the little one off again, so she deliberately lowered it. “What is it?”

The little tree kangaroo slowly blinked, then let out another call.

“Little Diao?”

…

“It sent you to find me?”

“Ah.”

Lin Qianyu quickly asked, “What happened to it?”

The little tree kangaroo turned slightly, and from its call Lin Qianyu caught just one word: injured.

Little Diao is injured?

Before she could ask for more details, the tree kangaroo had already taken off running. After a few steps, it stopped and turned back to look at Lin Qianyu, as if signaling her to follow.

Lin Qianyu pushed aside the half-finished bowl and the wood, and called to the bear, “Little Bear, let’s go.”

The tree kangaroo darted ahead like a rabbit, with Lin Qianyu and the black bear following close behind.

That it could find its way here meant it hadn’t been too far from where it and Little Diao had separated.

Sure enough, after a short run through a patch of forest, they saw the Red-tailed Lù Diao circling in midair up ahead, as if standing guard over its territory.

When it saw Lin Qianyu approaching, it landed on her shoulder with practiced ease. “Jiu!”

“Little Diao, where are you hurt?” Lin Qianyu followed its leg upward, trying to check if it had been bitten by another animal.

“Jiu—” The Red-tailed Lù Diao nuzzled her, then hopped off to behind a tree.

So it wasn’t injured—good.

Lin Qianyu let out a breath of relief, but then immediately tensed up again. What did the tree kangaroo mean by “injured”?

She quickly followed behind the bird and found, lying weakly on a trap, an adult tree kangaroo clinging to life.

The little one had shown amazing resilience, dragging the trap forward even after being caught. The grass around was stained with blood.

Lin Qianyu quickly took off her jacket and covered the kangaroo, leaving only the trap exposed.

Luckily, it was caught by the hind leg—if it had been higher up, it might not have been salvageable.

“Director? Can we still get a vet to the island in time?” Lin Qianyu was figuring out how to proceed while also coordinating with the crew.

The trap was a very crude one, placed near water to catch animals off guard while drinking.

Lin Qianyu placed her hands on either side of the trap. “I’m going to pry it open now—don’t move, okay?”

When prying open a trap like this, your hands had to be steady. Even a slight movement could cause pain to the trapped animal.

【Who’s this heartless?! Traps like that can crush an animal’s leg bones!】【Looks so painful, damn. I once accidentally stepped on one while hiking—it couldn’t be pried open at all. I had to go to the hospital to have the trap dismantled before they could save me.】

Director: 【I’ve notified the forest rangers and a wildlife vet to head your way. I’m bringing a vet over too. Be careful when opening the trap.】

Lin Qianyu didn’t see that message; she was fully focused on slowly prying the two sides of the trap apart.

The tree kangaroo whimpered softly, while the baby tree kangaroo lay in front of it, calling out repeatedly as if to comfort it.

The trap was clamped very tightly.

Lin Qianyu exhaled lightly, then suddenly applied force—crack—the trap opened a gap. She watched the tree kangaroo’s reaction, and seeing no extreme movement, went ahead and pried it open all the way.

“Phew… done.” Lin Qianyu decisively bent the upper part of the trap away to ensure it wouldn’t snap shut on any more small animals, then tossed it aside.

She gently wrapped the tree kangaroo in her jacket.

Glancing at the comments, Lin Qianyu asked, “Which way are the forest rangers?”

【Go left.】

The Red-tailed Lù Diao took off into the air. “Jiu!” It circled above Lin Qianyu’s head, then flapped forward to lead the way.

“Little Bear, carry the baby tree kangaroo.”

“Awoo!”

“AAAHH!!!” The baby tree kangaroo screamed louder than usual when Little Bear grabbed it.

Hearing the sound, the mother tree kangaroo in Lin Qianyu’s arms, though extremely weak, forced herself to open her eyes.

“It’s okay, don’t worry. We’re taking you to a vet.” Lin Qianyu tried to keep her arms steady while comforting her.

With the wildlife vet heading their way, Lin Qianyu carried the tree kangaroo and ran in their direction.

At last, at the end of a river trail, they ran into the arriving forest rangers.

The vet didn’t waste time with greetings. “Here, put her in the vehicle—there’s equipment inside.”

Lin Qianyu nodded and gently laid the tree kangaroo down. “Thank you.”

Off to the side of the vehicle, the baby tree kangaroo was still flailing its limbs at the bear, determined to break free.

Seeing this, Lin Qianyu—who had been tense the whole time—couldn’t help but let out a laugh. “Here, give it to me.”

“Awoo.”

The baby tree kangaroo calmed down immediately once in Lin Qianyu’s arms.

She patted its head and said, “Just wait a bit—your mama should be out soon.”

“Ah…”

【This high-stakes rescue got my blood pumping. I’m sweating from the tension.】

【Did the baby actually go find Lin Qianyu to save its mom? That’s way too smart!】

【Little Diao: I know a human. Go find her.】

【Hahaha, so now the word’s out among the animals that the streamer rescues them, thanks to the Red-tailed Lù Diao.】The Red-tailed Lù Diao landed again. With the black bear on one side of Lin Qianyu, it took the other shoulder and nuzzled her.

“Jiu!”

You've worked hard.

Lin Qianyu raised her eyebrows—wasn't that what she had just said to the vet?

It learned that this quickly?

Author's note: A trap scene is coming. No update at midnight—next chapter will be at 11 PM. Goodnight, sleep early, love every one of you.