Substitute Alpha Gets Confessed to by Her Ex’s Aunt on a Survival Variety Show – Chapter 129
by Little PandaWhere’s the Chicken Thief!
“You’re still as fond of being late as ever.”
“Aunt?! How… how is it you?”
Nan Huaixu curled her lip and raised her brow. “Family matters shouldn’t trouble outsiders. Compared to an ex, of course your aunt cares about you.”
Ying Luoling was speechless. Not long ago she’d told her to starve to death, and now she was calling her family.
Nan Huaixu continued, “Your Mommy used to say she worried you’d be naive and get cheated in love. I told her not to overthink it—I said Luoling was smart and wouldn’t be foolish about feelings. Looks like your Mommy’s worries weren’t unfounded.”
Ying Luoling lowered her eyes and pressed her lips together. “Aunt, I don’t quite understand what you’re saying…”
Nan Huaixu looked at her, a hint of amusement hidden deep in her eyes. “I’m here to tell you: a qualified ex should be a ‘dead person.'”
Ying Luoling: “?”
Ying Luoling carefully considered Nan Huaixu’s words. Combined with Nan Huaixu’s concern as family just now, a touch of warmth stirred in Ying Luoling’s heart. Her aunt had finally taken her advice to heart—she knew that Liu Yinxi was faking pitifulness to win sympathy and sow discord between their aunt-niece relationship.
Ying Luoling sat down beside Nan Huaixu, her voice much lighter. “Thank you for your concern, Aunt. You want to tell me to be on guard against Liu Yinxi and not get fooled by her again, right? It’s fine, Aunt. These past two days, I was the one who chose to follow her—she didn’t trick me. Yunshao withdrew from the competition, and my strength alone is limited, so I wanted to follow Liu Yinxi to gather supplies. It’s safer on the road. You’re the one who should be careful, Aunt. Just remember that family is family, and don’t fall for her attempts to sow discord again.”
Her face wore a sweet smile. Nan Huaixu looked at her, a smile also on her lips.
But the more Ying Luoling looked at her aunt’s smile, the stranger it seemed. Why did it carry a cold, sharp edge?
Suddenly, Nan Huaixu’s smile vanished.
“No. I’m saying you should be a qualified ex.”
Ying Luoling froze, then pointed at herself in disbelief. “Me?”
Nan Huaixu: “You. Once you’ve broken up, don’t see each other anymore—even in the competition. Otherwise, you’re just asking for trouble.”
“I’m sorry, Aunt, I still don’t quite understand.” Ying Luoling smiled, hoping to ease the awkwardness between her and Nan Huaixu, but Nan Huaixu didn’t respond, which only made things more awkward.
Ying Luoling smoothed her messy hair and scrambled for another topic. “Aunt, your skin is in such good condition—nothing like mine, so dry and rough. Your complexion is wonderful too, and you even have a faint herbal scent. Liu Yinxi said you have several kinds of homemade skincare products—is that true?”
“Mm~” Nan Huaixu leaned slightly toward her, displaying her dewy lips in the sunlight. “And petal lip balm.” She then brushed the pearls and colored feathers at her neck. “And a necklace. All made by Xixi for me.”
Ying Luoling froze, the smile on her face and the light in her eyes turning to stone.
Xixi?
Her aunt had just called Liu Yinxi that?
When had they gotten so close?
Ying Luoling pressed her lower lip. The muscles in her face wanted to form a smile, but couldn’t. “Is that so? I didn’t know she had that skill. That’s wonderful—this way you can live more comfortably, Aunt. But Aunt, why do I feel like everything you’re saying isn’t helping me—it’s helping Liu Yinxi?”
Nan Huaixu raised her eyes. “I’m not helping anyone. I care about my little niece, and I get along with my teammate.”
“Oh.” Ying Luoling lowered her head, lost in a fog. Something about her aunt was off. She just couldn’t put her finger on it.
Nan Huaixu didn’t say more. She pushed the woven vine basket forward, pulled out the plastic bag of fish inside, and held it up to Ying Luoling. “Fish.”
Ying Luoling took it. The bag sagged in both hands, nearly spilling. “So heavy.”
Her gaze fell on the woven vine basket. “Aunt—”
Nan Huaixu swiftly pulled the basket back behind her. “Because you were late, I had to wait outside. She’ll worry about me. I’m leaving.”
With that, Nan Huaixu slung on her pack, picked up the basket, and disappeared into the dense forest.
Ying Luoling watched Nan Huaixu walk away, then turned to the bag in her hands, frowning. So much heavy fish, and she couldn’t even bear to part with a broken basket. How excessive.
If it had been Liu Yinxi, she could’ve had Liu Yinxi help carry the fish back. But Nan Huaixu definitely wouldn’t.
Nan Huaixu had made this trip specifically to deliver fish, just to say a bunch of inexplicable things and make her uncomfortable?
Crazy.
She didn’t know what had gotten into her aunt. Ever since joining the survival competition, she’d grown increasingly strange, targeting her openly and covertly, as if someone else had taken over beneath her skin.
Ying Luoling’s gaze lingered on Nan Huaixu’s retreating figure. She looked clean and neat, radiant with health—nothing like someone struggling at the edge of survival in the wilderness. Clearly, her survival days were quite comfortable. From what Ying Luoling knew of Nan Huaixu, she couldn’t have managed this alone. It had to be Liu Yinxi taking good care of her.
Was Liu Yinxi really that capable?
Liu Yinxi had said her shelter had two floors, a shade canopy, and everything for eating, drinking, and having fun. Was it all true?
So Nan Huaixu’s strange attitude was because of Liu Yinxi?
Ying Luoling’s eyes darkened, certainty written across her brow. Seen this way, it was Liu Yinxi who seemed to have been reborn into a different person.
That was it. Liu Yinxi had been frail and sickly. A two-kilometer walk in the park would leave her exhausted. Even if she’d been familiar with rainforest environments from a childhood in a tropical village, how could her physical fitness strengthen enough in just a month or two to go leaping through pristine rainforest?
A couple of days ago, she’d noticed the solid muscle on Liu Yinxi’s arms—muscle that hadn’t been there before.
Ying Luoling blamed herself for not being observant enough. When she’d received the news two years ago that Yunshao was planning to retire and return home, her mind had been entirely consumed by Yunshao. She was rarely home and hadn’t paid much attention to Liu Yinxi. She and Liu Yinxi had supposedly maintained a three-year relationship, but in reality, they’d lived together for less than a year. Liu Yinxi must have taken advantage of her inattention to train early for the competition, continuing to play dumb in front of her. That was why Liu Yinxi had followed her, secretly photographed her with Yunshao. That was why Liu Yinxi had suddenly broken up with her. That was why Liu Yinxi was trying to win Nan Huaixu’s trust and sow discord between aunt and niece…
So that was it.
Ying Luoling understood.
A conspiracy.
Everything was a conspiracy Liu Yinxi had planned!
Liu Yinxi had loved her without getting her love in return, resented her neglect and her devotion to Yunshao, and orchestrated this revenge!
Ying Luoling gave a dismissive smile, her eyes seeing through everything.
Liu Yinxi, you’re something. This version of you is far more capable than the one who only knew how to cry and throw tantrums. I’m impressed.
You want to take revenge on me? Bring it on.
The canopy was thick with layer upon layer of foliage—at its densest, not a sliver of light could pass through.
The soil was damp; a short walk would reveal streams or puddles, and all manner of ferns grew in lush abundance.
Liu Yinxi stalked through the undergrowth for a long time, bow in hand, but saw no sign of wild rabbits. She did spot a few rats. Evening was approaching, and these nocturnal animals were beginning to stir.
The forest farther south was too dense, with fog rolling in. Liu Yinxi stopped and turned back, carrying a fat lizard by the tail.
No rabbit again today.
Why were rabbits so hard to find?
When it came to hunting, she really wasn’t as skilled as Huang Heshan. After all, her past expeditions had always been with food and gear—not pure survival. Next time she ran into Huang Heshan, she’d ask for tips.
She checked her bracelet—past five in the afternoon. Teacher Nan should already be back at the shelter.
She needed to hurry back and cook. Couldn’t let Teacher Nan go hungry. Liu Yinxi quickened her pace.
After more than an hour of walking, she spotted the roof of the abandoned wooden cabin in the distance. She broke into a run—then heard a sudden cry.
Liu Yinxi’s heart lurched. She raced over. “Nan Huaixu!”
The cry had come from the direction of the chicken coop. She sprinted to the coop and found Nan Huaixu standing by the fence with both hands over her mouth, the woven vine basket that had held the fish lying on the ground.
She was unharmed.
Liu Yinxi breathed a sigh of relief—then caught the scent of blood. She quickly followed Nan Huaixu’s gaze to the chicken coop. Feathers strewn across the grass, blood splashed onto the bamboo stakes, and inside the cage lay the camellia chicken’s mangled body, its innards dragged out.
Nan Huaixu walked sadly to the coop and opened the door, at a loss before the camellia chicken’s remains. “Our egg is all gone too…”
She turned back, miserable, looking at Liu Yinxi with a pitiful expression. “I’d just gotten back and smelled something bloody. I came over and found it like this. Liu Yinxi, can we still eat this chicken?”
Liu Yinxi rubbed her forehead, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Truly Teacher Nan—ultimate pragmatism, never wasting a single resource.
She answered Nan Huaixu: “Cut away the torn, dirty edges and grill it thoroughly—it’s edible.”
Nan Huaixu found a plastic bag and cleaned up the coop through the bag.
The chicken was gone, so the coop had no purpose anymore. Liu Yinxi pulled out the bamboo stakes and noticed a trail of blood hidden in the grass.
Liu Yinxi grew cautious. She went back to the shelter, grabbed a bamboo spear, drew her knife, and followed the blood trail into the small bamboo forest.
Not far in, she found a hole beneath a large rock in the grass. Something was moving inside. Liu Yinxi drove the bamboo spear hard into the burrow, and a howl rang out from below.
Liu Yinxi pulled up the spear and stepped back. The creature inside bolted out. The moment it poked its head out, Liu Yinxi thrust the spear down. The thing yelped twice—and then, incredibly, dodged while wagging its tail.
This black, chicken-stealing thief wagged its tail at a human. It was a small black-brown wolf-dog, a chicken bone still clamped in its mouth.
【Ah! It’s a dog!】
【Xixi, be careful! Don’t get bitten.】
【Probably a wild dog. Careful, it might hurt someone.】
【Where would a wild dog come from in a pristine rainforest?】
【Abandoned from nearby towns, probably feral for several generations by now.】
【But I think it looks really familiar with humans （思考）】
【Could it be a dog from a nearby indigenous tribe?】
【Not sure.】
【This dog looks just like our Chinese rural dogs1.】
【What else? Wild dogs look the same everywhere.】
【It even dug a hole near the shelter. Looks like it’s latched onto Manman and Xixi, trying to freeload.】
【This is exactly how dogs’ ancestors became dogs （狗头）】
Liu Yinxi lowered her weapon and faced the little dog, knife in hand. The little dog stared at her for a moment, then whimpered and revealed the wound on its hind leg before lying down in the grass, slowly wagging its tail from side to side.
Liu Yinxi pointed the knife at it. “You dead dog, you dare eat our chicken? I’ll stew you into dog meat hotpot!”
The little dog shrank back, its eyes darting away.
Nan Huaixu also arrived, a cold-glinting knife raised in her hand. “Where’s the chicken thief?! Let me chop it up for a side dish—”
“Oowh…” The little black dog lay flat on the ground, its two small black eyes gazing at her pitifully, backing up while wagging its tail.
Still not forgetting to show off its hind leg wound.
“…” Nan Huaixu stared at the little dog for a few seconds, then frowned hard and shooed it. “Fine. Since you look like the little rural dog I used to have, I won’t kill you. Go on, leave.”
The little dog tilted its head, carefully set down the chicken bone, and nudged it forward with its paw.
The little rural dog Nan Huaixu had once raised used to do the same thing. Her heart softened. She asked the little dog, “Are you giving this to me to eat?”
The little dog panted and tilted its head.
Nan Huaixu thought of the stone trough she’d found in the chicken coop earlier, with English carved on it. A flash of inspiration struck—she asked it in English: “For me?”
The little dog’s tail shot up instantly, and it gave a single nod. “Woof woof!”
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