Substitute Alpha Gets Confessed to by Her Ex’s Aunt on a Survival Variety Show – Chapter 136
by Little PandaChicken Eggs, Duck Eggs, Sea Turtle Eggs
Rain pattered down steadily.
Liu Yinxi heard familiar barking and exchanged a glance with Nan Huaixu. The two of them switched on their bracelet lights and headed toward the canopy together.
Faint light cut into the dark shadows. Two pairs of animal eyes — one set high, one set low — drew gradually closer. Liu Yinxi stepped in front of Nan Huaixu and waited. After a few seconds, a small creature came trotting over, tail wagging. Nan Huaixu saw it clearly and said in delight, “Little Black Fur.”
Liu Yinxi shifted her gaze. Behind the little black dog was an adult wolf-dog. Unlike the small one, it wasn’t affectionate or outgoing — it kept its distance, watching them warily.
The large wolf-dog carried two fully stuffed plastic bags in its mouth. It lowered its head toward Liu Yinxi, signaling her to take them.
Liu Yinxi studied the black bags the wolf-dog carried. They were bulging with rows of round little objects. Given that the wolf-dog was handing them over rather than setting them on the ground, Liu Yinxi guessed they were fragile.
She walked up to the large wolf-dog and removed the bags. Before doing so, she looked around and called out loudly in English toward the chicken coop: “You’re letting your dogs wander the forest at night carrying two bags of food? Last time your pup got hurt and got separated. I’d think the warriors of the Tuowa Tribe wouldn’t be that careless.”
Nan Huaixu paused her playtime with the little black dog and looked in the same direction Liu Yinxi was facing.
Sure enough, a figure emerged from the small bamboo forest — along with two more wolf-dogs.
“Fei Tuoma?” Nan Huaixu said, surprised.
Liu Yinxi’s brow darkened with caution toward this uninvited guest.
They had agreed to meet at the lakeshore after the rain stopped, but Fei Tuoma had come to their shelter unannounced, sent the dogs ahead with goods, and hidden herself away. What was she after?
Liu Yinxi said to Fei Tuoma, “There’s a saying in z-State1: ‘Since you’re already here.’ Come sit down, have a bowl of sweet soup.”
Crackle!
Firewood was tossed into the fire pit, and the flames burned brighter.
The three of them sat around the fire pit on the first floor of the shelter. Several dogs lay in the canopy area, yipping and wrestling with each other.
“The rain stopped today,” Fei Tuoma said. She wore a dress sewn from thick bark, a feather headband perched on her head. Cradling a bamboo tube full of sweet root grass soup, she explained her purpose to Liu Yinxi and Nan Huaixu. “I waited at the lake for a long time at noon. I didn’t see you, so I worried you were in danger and came to find you.”
Nan Huaixu held the little black dog, squeezing its little paw, and smiled at Fei Tuoma. “Thank you.”
Fei Tuoma waved her hands hastily. “You’re welcome. Nan, I’m so happy to see you again. Your smile is beautiful.”
“Really? You look great when you smile too.”
Liu Yinxi narrowed her eyes: “.”
She asked Fei Tuoma, “The rain only stopped for two hours at noon before starting again. Why did you assume we didn’t go because we were in danger?”
Fei Tuoma took a sip of soup. “Delicious.” Then she turned to Liu Yinxi. “Because when the dragonfly machine came this morning, I didn’t see you. These past few months, every week or so, dragonfly machines fly into the rainforest and release colored fog. Are those your companions?”
“Dragonfly machine?” Liu Yinxi said. “You mean helicopter?”
“I think that’s what it’s called.”
“Those are shared supplies for our competition. All contestants scramble for them.”
“I don’t understand. I saw two people dressed like you take away two boxes. You didn’t go. You said you were short on supplies, yet you didn’t get any — so I thought you were in danger and couldn’t go. I had to find you.”
Nan Huaixu sighed in admiration. “You’re so clever, Fei Tuoma. But the production team communicated with the tribe — your chieftain should have told everyone about the competition. Did you really not know anything?”
Fei Tuoma looked into her eyes and shook her head, both hands gripping the bamboo tube. “I live alone in the forest. I don’t belong to the tribe. Some people in the tribe want to sell the Earth God’s Sacred Mountain to white-skinned merchants. They’ve been secretly cutting down trees and mining emerald. They want to destroy the homeland of this forest’s inhabitants — that’s forbidden by the gods and by the protected area. A few days ago, I overheard them talking with the merchants and was discovered. They hurt my Fei’erha and Wofu.”
Fei Tuoma stroked the little black dog’s head. “Wofu is her. She’s the one who led me to you.”
Liu Yinxi frowned. “If you’re not from the Tuowa Tribe, how do you speak their language? Were you not born here? Then why do you live alone in the primeval rainforest?”
“We’re all in the same forest. There’s always exchange.” Fei Tuoma paused, then pulled the two full black plastic bags over and opened them. “Here — see if you’ll accept my compensation.”
One bag held two live quail.
The other bag was full of eggs — light-brown chicken eggs, blue-white duck eggs, and a kind of perfectly round white egg.
Nan Huaixu’s eyes lit up. “So many eggs!”
Fei Tuoma nodded with a smile. “My chickens, ducks, and quail lay eggs every day. If you don’t have enough, I’ll bring more.”
Nan Huaixu said quickly, “That’s plenty, more than enough. You’ve given too much — the chicken that Black Fur — no, Wofu — ate couldn’t have laid this many eggs.”
“It’s fine. I can’t eat them all either. A lot of eggs end up going bad.”
Nan Huaixu picked up a perfectly round, pure white egg. “What’s this? It doesn’t look like a chicken egg.”
Liu Yinxi cut in: “Turtle egg.”
Fei Tuoma’s voice rang out at the same time as Liu Yinxi’s words: “It’s a sea turtle egg.”
Nan Huaixu set the white turtle egg down, feeling a little guilty — after all, these were protected back home.
Liu Yinxi accepted the eggs and quail. Fei Tuoma had indeed given a bit much. Liu Yinxi told her to pick something from the storage area to take with her, but Fei Tuoma declined. If they insisted on a return gift, Fei Tuoma said, she’d rather they report the Tuowa tribe members’ secret collusion with jade mining merchants to the forest protection area management agency.
【No need to report it.】
【There are already over a hundred thousand people in the livestream who know.】
【There are Jinzhou Island environmental agency workers in the main stream, right?】
【There are. As soon as Fei Tuoma mentioned it, relevant personnel started investigating.】
【Ah, will Fei Tuoma be in danger?】
【She really lives alone in the rainforest? That’s incredible! (worship)】
【Suddenly they’re rich. Self-heating hotpot and luncheon meat aren’t as good as these eggs and quail.】
【Airdrops are one-time only. Fei Tuoma is sustainable (doge face)】
【Sustainable Food Resource · Fei Tuoma, organic farm supply chain, awaiting your patronage (cat head)】
【Hold on, if they can farm and raise livestock, is it still a primitive tribe?】
【She said she doesn’t belong to the tribe.】
【Well, modern people don’t wear bark, use stone spears, and paint patterns on their faces either (laugh-cry)】
【This is disgusting, I’m reporting this to the competition committee! Nan Huaixu and Liu Yinxi are completely cheating!】
【What kind of competition is this anymore? Survival means relying on your own skills to survive in the wilderness, and now someone’s delivering eggs and meat?! It’s more absurd than a scripted show! If Nan Huaixu can’t handle competing, she shouldn’t have joined. And now she’s getting special treatment — disgusting (vomiting)】
【Give it a rest. Why even watch this competition? You love hyping up your Nan Family Daughter so much, just announce Nan Huaixu as champion already. I knew the competition would go downhill once capital got involved.】
【The pre-competition guidelines told guests not to disturb the indigenous tribes. Why can Nan and Liu accept supplies from an indigenous person? The production team should immediately put a stop to their violation, issue a warning, and penalize them!】
【Exactly! And compensate the other guests!】
【Well, guess what — I clicked into the profiles of the viewers reporting violations, and eight out of ten are Xue Yunshao fans. One follows Ying Luoling. The last one is a genuine complaint.】
【…】
【Fei Tuoma’s situation is a pure coincidence. If any other guest had saved the little black dog, Fei Tuoma would have helped them too.】
【When did Manman and Xixi ever disturb the Tuowa tribe? Let me ask you this: if the egg-laying chicken you’d worked so hard to raise got killed by someone’s dog, wouldn’t you go to the owner for compensation? Should the eggs and chicken just be a free gift? As for how much Fei Tuoma compensated later, that’s her choice — what business is it of yours?】
【Always harping on about scripts and the Nan family’s background. Is it really that hard to admit Liu Yinxi and Nan Huaixu are excellent?】
【The production team only reminded guests to avoid disturbing the tribe. They didn’t prohibit tribe members from actively helping guests.】
【The fact that the production team hasn’t stopped them by now — can’t you read the room? It means it’s not a violation.】
【Am I the only one who cares about Fei Tuoma’s backstory?】
【I’m curious too. Why does she live alone?】
【She seems to really like Manman 0v0】
【Oh my!】
【Liu Xixi, look! You — hurry — look!】
Liu Yinxi sorted the bag of eggs by type, placing them one by one into the Airdrop Crate. After removing the top layer, she found a small package of modern packaged food tucked into the side of the bag.
Liu Yinxi pulled it out. The packaging was printed in Jinzhou text — from the picture, it was a bag of potato chips.
Potato chips?
Potato chips…
Liu Yinxi scratched her temple. Where had she seen this before?
“Fei Tuoma, did you give us this too?” Liu Yinxi carried the chips back to the first floor of the shelter.
Nan Huaixu and Fei Tuoma looked over. Fei Tuoma nodded. “Yes. I love them. They’re for you.”
Liu Yinxi set the bag down beside Fei Tuoma. “How do you get modern goods from outside?”
“The tribe has a small shop. Someone handles trades every month.”
“But didn’t you say you don’t belong to the tribe?”
“I don’t live in the tribe, and the tribe doesn’t accept me. But the shop welcomes anyone who brings money.”
“Do you have money?”
“No. I trade the game I hunt. The shop has traders who barter. I also buy salt, soap, toothpaste — daily necessities like that. Do you need any?”
Liu Yinxi stopped her quickly. “Thank you, Fei Tuoma. But I need to make one thing clear. Teacher Nan and I are in a competition. Competitions have fairness. We accepted your eggs because they’re compensation. If you give us anything more, it wouldn’t be in the spirit of fair competition.”
Fei Tuoma looked bewildered. “Why? You’re surviving in the forest. I belong to the forest. I am the forest. What the forest can give you, I can give you. Is everything you eat from the forest a violation?”
Liu Yinxi rubbed her forehead. “It’s not the same. You can’t think of it that way.”
The gap between an indigenous mindset and modern thinking was still vast.
Nan Huaixu sat to one side, studying the chip bag for a long time. Suddenly, she looked up and cut into the two alphas’ conversation. “Fei Tuoma, there’s an abandoned wooden cabin by the pond. You threw a potato chip bag on the second floor — didn’t you?” She pointed to the unopened chips on the wooden floor. “Exactly the same as this one.”
Liu Yinxi and Fei Tuoma turned to look at her simultaneously. Liu Yinxi’s eyes lit up and she slapped her thigh. “I remember now — the chip bag in the abandoned cabin upstairs!”
Nan Huaixu’s gaze darkened. “And the drawings carved into the walls of the cabin. You carved those too, didn’t you? Fei Tuoma — was this… once your home?”
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