Chapter 5

Chapter 5
Chapter 5 – Life

Lin Qianyu didn’t know exactly how many meters the tarp was.

But once the tarp was spread out and cut, it could cover this area twice, front to back and top to bottom.

Since only two wooden walls had been built, just to be safe, Lin Qianyu added two more layers, threading the tarp through every gap, pulling it over the top to the other side's wooden wall to continue sealing the gaps.

The top was pulled tight, with the gaps between the wood clamping the tarp firmly. Lin Qianyu also wedged in small wooden slats. “This way it won’t slide. Otherwise, if it slips in the middle of the night and lands on my head, that’d be pretty annoying.”

Thinking of how the director had mentioned interacting with the livestream viewers before the show started—how it would help increase the stream’s popularity and possibly improve the quality of the supplies airdropped later—

Lin Qianyu clapped her hands and said, “Everyone can try this method when you’re outdoors. It’s simple to build and really sturdy.”

【? In our country, you chop down a tree and the next moment you’re gifted a ten-year immovable property, and someone even takes care of your meals every day.】

【I don’t believe it. Unless you invite me to go test-sleep in it right now, I won’t believe a word.】

【That scheming, I could hear it all the way from Canada!】

Once it was fully covered on both sides from top to bottom, the excess tarp was used as padding on the bottom, with the softer side facing up.

Feeling that the bottom was a bit hollow, Lin Qianyu went to find some dry grass.

After quite a bit of tidying, she finally tugged at one corner, lifted the pre-set flap, took off her shoes, and crawled in.

There was no light inside, and no light seeped in from outside. Leaving aside that two sides were only draped with tarp, it still counted as a sealed space.

Lin Qianyu was quite satisfied. The height was just right—she could sit without bumping her head.

There was still a bit of space between her head and the tarp above.

Lying down, there was also enough room above and below.

It wasn’t hard to build; it just took time to work through the details.

Now that she was sitting down, Lin Qianyu felt a bit tired. She used her hiking backpack as a pillow and let out a long breath. “Well... it’s getting late.”

Viewers in the livestream had a bad feeling.

Lin Qianyu waved and smiled, “Everyone knows my health isn’t great. Staying up late will make it worse. Good night, see you all tomorrow.”

【What did you just say?!】

【Did you remember your poor health when you were chopping down trees?!】

The livestream was filled with question marks and murmurs, none of which Lin Qianyu saw.

She placed the livestream device on the top tarp, adjusted the camera angle, and set it up. Before closing it off, she reminded, “Keep an eye out for me. If anything dangerous happens, make sure to wake me up.”After saying goodnight, Lin Qianyu went back into the wooden tent, pulled down the curtain, and went to sleep with her head buried.

The solar-powered livestream device stayed on 24/7 and wouldn’t shut off.

Only the livestream viewers were left furiously hammering question marks on their keyboards, with some even starting to @ the director.

It was actually still early—the other guests who had gone out hunting hadn’t returned yet.

But Lin Qianyu said she was going to sleep, and sleep she did. After scrolling through the comments for a bit, it became clear that Lin Qianyu really wasn’t going to suddenly pop back into the livestream. Aside from a few diehard fans who stuck around, the rest of the casual viewers had all run off to other livestreamers' rooms.

Other guests were diving into the sea to catch fish—Lin Qianyu was sleeping.

Guests were chasing rabbits up the mountain—Lin Qianyu was sleeping.

They bent down to pick mushrooms—Lin Qianyu was still sleeping.

Comments: 【This is wilderness survival, not retirement! Lin Qianyu, get up!】

【I’m watching a livestream and the host has taken two naps already. Is this even real?! I haven’t even gotten off work yet!】

...

By the time the sun went down, the other guests finally dragged their exhausted bodies back.

They had spent hours just trying to find something to eat. Guo Yanpeng seemed like he was holding in his frustration and wanted to prove himself. Hang Sisi had already said she was exhausted, but Guo Yanpeng just blurted out that she was being unsociable. What could Hang Sisi do? She could only force her trembling legs to keep up.

After they got back, Hang Sisi collapsed on the ground and didn’t want to move at all.

Seeing how worn out she was, her livestream was flooded with comments about how Lin Qianyu had already fallen asleep.

Hang Sisi was crying from envy but didn’t have the courage to confront Guo Yanpeng.

Guo Yanpeng didn’t notice how tired everyone looked. He cheerfully took out the fish he had cleaned by the river. “Youlin, let me borrow your lighter, I’ll grill the fish.”

Lin Qianyu always traded supplies when she needed something, but Guo Yanpeng just asked directly. That tone of entitlement, compared to Lin Qianyu’s polite manner, made the difference clear as day.

Yin Youlin pursed his lips, displeased, and casually checked his pocket. “My lighter’s gone. Might’ve left it by the river. I’ll look for it tomorrow.”

Guo Yanpeng’s smile froze. “Lost it? We’ve only got one lighter among us. Couldn’t you have been more careful? Go look for it—losing a lighter in the wild is pretty dangerous.”

“I said we shouldn’t bring it when we left, but you insisted I go back and get it. Who has the time to keep watching a lighter while we’re out there?” Yin Youlin had helped out all day and still got blamed, so he pulled out his sleeping bag and gave it a shake. “If you need it so bad, go look for it yourself. I’m going to sleep.”

After a full day of exhaustion and pent-up frustration, Yin Youlin didn’t even bother to pretend things were fine. He turned over and faced away from him.

“Yanpeng, just leave it. It’s dark now and the lighter’s hard to find. We still have a lot of wood, right? Why not try starting a fire by friction?” An Lanqing held a piece of wood in each hand and knocked them together. She smiled with her eyes curved. “Do you know how to start a fire by rubbing sticks?”

An Lanqing’s smile made Guo Yanpeng’s heart race a little, his mind blanked out, and he replied without thinking, “Of course. Just wait, give me a few minutes.”"Okay, good luck."

With encouragement from a beautiful woman, Guo Yanpeng seemed like he had just downed an energy drink—completely recharged.

He placed one piece of wood on the ground and started drilling into it with another stick.

But there were no combustibles nearby, no accelerants either—just two sticks. Even if he rubbed his hands raw, he probably wouldn’t even get a single spark.

The livestream viewers were all speechless.

【...Who taught you that this is how you start a fire by friction?】

【Stop trying to make fire. I’m unfollowing now. If I keep watching, I’m afraid my brain will start shrinking.】

Guo Yanpeng was too busy drilling wood to check the livestream, but An Lanqing noticed. Without a word, she walked over and quietly piled some dry leaves nearby.

But the fire still wasn’t lit, even deep into the night.

Lin Qianyu had set a 9 p.m. alarm before sleeping. At night, the director would assign everyone a task, and it was up to the participants whether to take it or not.

The task rewards were still quite generous.

“Seems pretty busy.” Lin Qianyu, sucking on a fruit candy, came out and saw Guo Yanpeng drenched in sweat and couldn’t help but comment.

Guo Yanpeng bristled at the sound of her voice. In the middle of his fierce struggle with the wood, he shot her a glare.

At his feet lay a pile of discarded sticks—ones he had replaced after failing to get a spark from them.

He changed them more and more frequently as time went on, but still, no fire.

“What do you know!” Guo Yanpeng, already fuming from his failed attempts, lashed out at Lin Qianyu like he’d been lit on fire himself. “You think starting a fire with sticks is child’s play? Of course you’ve gotta figure it out step by step. Just wait, I’ll definitely get it going.”

Lin Qianyu was weaving leaves into a flower crown on her head. At his words, she glanced at him nonchalantly, looked him up and down, let out a small chuckle, and withdrew her gaze.

She didn’t say a single word—but it felt like she’d said everything.

Guo Yanpeng instantly felt his blood pressure skyrocket, his face flushing red.

Even failing to make fire hadn’t made him this angry.

【Hahaha, all talk, that’s what you are. When Lin Qianyu was starting a fire, you were still chasing chickens and ducks all over the mountain.】

【Thanos snapped his fingers and everyone disappeared—except Guo Yanpeng’s mouth, shouting “I will start a fire!”】

【It’s already 9 p.m. Dinner’s now a midnight snack and the fire still isn’t lit. Like, is this meal really worth all this?!】

Other than An Lanqing and Guo Yanpeng, the rest of the guests had each found a spot to sleep and rest.Clearly, everyone was exhausted.

In contrast, Lin Qianyu felt like her own complexion actually looked relatively decent.

The director came out from the production team’s tent, glanced at the task card in hand, then at the group who were all slumped in disarray, and for a moment wasn’t sure whether to announce the task.

Lin Qianyu raised her hand on her own initiative and asked honestly, “What’s the task?”

“Should I announce it now? Maybe tomorrow would be better.”

Lin Qianyu asked, “Then will the reward be doubled if it’s delayed until tomorrow?”

Skipping a task meant missing a reward—losing out on resources.

If certain planned rules were constantly changed back and forth, it would affect everything else and become difficult to manage.

After some thought, the director said, “The task counts as assigned today, but you can complete it tomorrow. The reward will be given separately.”

“Alright.”

The director handed out the task cards.

Lin Qianyu sat under the tree beside her small shelter, using the light from the livestream equipment to read the text on the card.

Fans in the livestream also got a full look at it.

“Pair up with a guest of the opposite sex, work together to climb trees and pick wild fruit. The size will vary. Picking unripe fruit results in a deduction of two points. The pair that collects the most fruit wins.”

“Each card has a number on the bottom right. Guests with the same number form a team.”

...

After distributing the cards, the director left.

Everyone was resting. Lin Qianyu didn’t go around checking for matching numbers either. Seeing that there was nothing more to do, she crawled back into her makeshift shelter.

Sleeping during the day was just to store up energy—night was when accidents were most likely.

Lin Qianyu preferred to place her most vulnerable hours in daylight. That way, even if she rested at night, she wouldn’t sleep too deeply. If anything happened, she’d be able to react immediately.

Outside, she could faintly hear An Lanqing’s voice, seemingly trying to persuade Guo Yanpeng to go to sleep.

After that came the sound of scattered footsteps, and then complete silence.

So much for being a group—everyone had handed their supplies over to Guo Yanpeng for centralized distribution, only to end up without food, and only An Lanqing and Guo Yanpeng had tents.

That night, everyone except Lin Qianyu had a poor night’s sleep.The next day.

Lin Qianyu was the first to lift her curtain and walk out, looking refreshed. She greeted Hang Sisi, who was holding a cup and staring blankly, “Good morning.”

Hang Sisi had visible dark circles under her eyes and weakly replied, “Morning, Qianyu-jie.”

“Why do you look so tired? Did you get the task card from the director? What number are you?”

“Number three. Are we in the same group?”

Lin Qianyu shook her head. “It’s male-female pairing. I’m number five.”

Hang Sisi’s expression froze. “Huh?”

From her expression, Lin Qianyu could pretty much guess, but just to be sure, she asked, “The other number five is...?”