Substitute Alpha Gets Confessed to by Her Ex’s Aunt on a Survival Variety Show – Chapter 146

Thunderclap

Liu Yinxi sprinted back to the shelter, shed her backpack and woven vine basket, and hastily scanned the area. She went to the porch to rummage through the boxes, looking for the stone axe.

After hearing the thunder, Nan Huaixu had stowed all the supplies she could carry into the shelter to keep them dry.

            

Seeing Liu Yinxi rush in too hurried to even greet her, she immediately understood something urgent was at hand. When Liu Yinxi found the axe and headed out, Nan Huaixu followed. “What are you doing? Can I help?”

Liu Yinxi paced around the two large trees to the right of the shelter, axe in hand, then swung it at the bodhi tree nearest to the shelter.

Crack! The bodhi tree shuddered, shedding a cascade of leaves.

            

Liu Yinxi handed the axe to Nan Huaixu. “Chop it.” Then she picked up a stone from the ground, gripped it with both hands, and slammed it against the notch cut into the trunk.

The bodhi trunk was thick. Nan Huaixu hacked dozens of times before carving out a small notch. Liu Yinxi kicked at the notch, then pounded it with the stone, gradually widening the gap.

Nan Huaixu asked, puzzled, “Isn’t this the tree that shields us from the rain? The rain is coming any moment—if we cut it down, our roof will take more rain. Why chop it?”

            

The sky was growing darker. Lightning flickered, and a blinding bolt stabbed into the dense forest on Zhida Mountain.

Nan Huaixu stopped, the stone axe lodged in the trunk. Soon a deafening thunderclap rolled across the earth.

After the thunder passed, Liu Yinxi took the axe from Nan Huaixu’s hands and hacked at the tree, thwack thwack, her voice trembling slightly with each swing. “Because of lightning.”

            

A chill ran through Nan Huaixu. “Lightning?”

The chopping rang out alongside Liu Yinxi’s voice like an urgent urging: “Before, the rain was just rain, so I overlooked the lightning. During thunderstorms in the wild, you avoid high ground and trees—those are the places most prone to lightning strikes.”

It dawned on Nan Huaixu. They had chosen this spot to build the shelter not only for the water source and the fields, but also for the elevation. The patch of land where the shelter stood was the highest ground in the pond area. Because it had been cleared for farming and logging before, the surrounding fields were flat, making the few large trees beside the shelter stand out all the more.

            

Liu Yinxi would chop a few times, then switch to pounding with the stone. The bodhi tree was beginning to lean—a few more rounds would bring it down.

She said between breaths, “Besides, this tree’s leaf tips are extremely fine and sharp. More likely to attract lightning than ordinary trees.”

Nan Huaixu looked at the fallen leaves on the ground. The bodhi leaf tips were indeed fine and sharp. Trees on high ground, plus fine sharp leaves—the risk of lightning strikes was compounded. No wonder Liu Yinxi was in such a hurry to cut them down.

            

All their supplies were stashed here. They couldn’t find another good shelter spot at a moment’s notice, couldn’t relocate temporarily. They could only eliminate the greatest hazard.

Before long, the two of them together felled the bodhi tree nearest the shelter, then chopped down two more. There were still trees on the other side, but at a safe distance from the shelter. Time was limited, so they left those for now.

Liu Yinxi kicked the trunk down. Raindrops began falling from the dark clouds above, and she quickly called Nan Huaixu to run back to the shelter.

            

Whoosh—

The rain came pouring down. Fat raindrops stung as they struck bare skin, water clogging mouths and noses, making it hard to breathe.

Liu Yinxi stripped off her jacket and held it over Nan Huaixu’s head, one hand holding it up, the other arm pulling Nan Huaixu forward by the shoulder. “Don’t be afraid, we’re almost there.”

            

Nan Huaixu tilted her head up to glance at her, a faint smile showing through. “I know. I’m not afraid.”

Only a rain like this could lock them into this tiny pocket of space.

Nowhere to escape.

            

The two ran into the porch trailing rain, stripped off their soaked jackets and pants, and hung them under the porch to keep the dry first floor from getting wet.

Once the rain fell, the temperature dropped with it—a rare coolness for the sweltering rainforest.

Liu Yinxi padded barefoot across the wooden floor, sat down by the fire pit, and took off her top to hang by the flames to dry. Underneath she wore a sports tank top, and she didn’t mind the cameras.

            

The drones had all made emergency landings on the porch to escape the rain, and the two robot dogs lay on the dry wooden planks.

Nan Huaixu lowered a layer of leaf blinds, blocking the upper half of the camera view.

She walked to the other side of the fire pit, her gaze sweeping over Liu Yinxi’s tanned shoulders, neck, and chest. The dark cord of the jade pendant hung in the shadow beneath her tank top.

            

Nan Huaixu held a woven fan against her chest and sat with her knees together. She noticed the scar on Liu Yinxi’s inner upper arm as she dried her clothes and asked, “The scar here looks quite old.”

Liu Yinxi raised her arm and glanced at the old scar. “Oh, I was a kid being reckless and scraped it open.”

Bamboo walls and blinds hung all around, making it a bit stuffy. Nan Huaixu fanned herself with the woven fan, stroke by stroke. “Reckless? What were you doing that you got hurt?”

            

Liu Yinxi smiled. “Climbing trees.”

Nan Huaixu nodded.

“Does it still hurt now?” After a quiet moment, Nan Huaixu asked again.

            

Liu Yinxi said, “No, I stopped feeling it a long time ago.”

Nan Huaixu picked up a stalk of Sweet Root Grass and used the fuzzy end to lightly tickle the scar on Liu Yinxi’s arm. “How about this?”

Liu Yinxi pulled away. “It’d tickle even without a scar.”

            

Nan Huaixu smiled and set down the grass, turning to look at the vine curtain billowing in the wind. The sound of rain outside carried in continuously on the breeze.

Nan Huaixu rested her chin on both hands. Lightning leapt across the sky, illuminating the dim shelter.

Rumble—

            

After the thunder, Nan Huaixu said, “The lightning is so beautiful. It’s purple-rose.”

Liu Yinxi was a bit surprised. “Teacher Nan, you’re not afraid of lightning?”

She remembered encountering a thunderstorm once before, and Nan Huaixu had seemed somewhat afraid.

            

“I am.” Nan Huaixu took the opportunity to lean closer to Liu Yinxi.

With the distance closed, each other’s natural scent grew stronger.

“But the more dangerous something is, the more beautiful it is too,” Nan Huaixu said. “The beautiful sights we see here, you’d never see in a city. Only rugged terrain can create magnificent scenery. Harsh weather can produce its own stunning beauty.”

            

Liu Yinxi understood. Some fear, but greater fascination for the treasures hidden beyond the danger, and the drive to overcome that fear by any means to explore those treasures—this was a trait Nan Huaixu and she both shared.

And it was this trait that made Liu Yinxi more entranced the more she understood Nan Huaixu.

Nan Huaixu watched the brilliant lightning. Liu Yinxi watched her watching the lightning.

            

Liu Yinxi’s arm brushed against something soft—Nan Huaixu’s shoulder resting against her arm.

She lowered her head, and Nan Huaixu happened to be looking at her too. Their eyes met, like a drop of water falling into a spring, rippling outward, slow and gentle.

Liu Yinxi’s mind went completely blank. She felt she should say something in this moment, otherwise just staring at each other like this was very… delicate.

            

She gazed at her but couldn’t part her lips.

Nan Huaixu’s eyes brimmed with a smile. Her fingertips lightly traced Liu Yinxi’s collarbone. Liu Yinxi looked nervously at her hand—Nan Huaixu was merely picking away a strand of hair clinging to her neck.

Liu Yinxi’s heart stirred.

            

The skin where she’d been touched was warm and tingling.

As if something deeper was stirring.

Nan Huaixu looked straight at her, without the slightest evasion, her voice as light as a petal brushing the face. “Are you cold like this?”

            

As she spoke, Nan Huaixu’s index finger tapped Liu Yinxi’s shoulder.

Liu Yinxi completed a very long breath before answering in a husky voice, “N-no, I’m not.”

Nan Huaixu’s eyes curved into a smile. “Your clothes are dry, you should put them back on. The wind’s strong, you’ll catch a cold.”

            

“Oh, okay.”

Nan Huaixu rose and walked to the side, taking ingredients from a box. “I’ll start cooking.”

Liu Yinxi took down her top from the wooden rack, grabbed it—completely dry.

            

She pulled the clothes on, stealing a few glances at Nan Huaixu, then quickly looking away, like a little bee stealing nectar.

She sat there in a daze for a moment, her heart still thump-thump pounding.

This wasn’t the first or second time this had happened.

            

Liu Yinxi asked herself: should this escalating flutter still be brushed off as ‘everyone appreciates beauty’?

Liu Yinxi, what you love probably isn’t that ‘beauty.’

It’s that person…

            

Suddenly she understood what Nan Huaixu had said: you’ll know once you fall in love first.

Because with true love, from the moment you start doubting yourself, you’re already caught.

The rain intensified, drumming against the little shelter tap-tap-tap.

            

The robot dogs were splashed by rain driven by the gale. The two poor things crawled up to the shelter’s first floor, nudging aside the blinds to squeeze in.

【oi, I’m in!!】

【Hahaha, the clouds finally part (smug in sunglasses)】

            

【I just saw them sitting together, damn blinds blocked the upper half, what did they do?】

【They did what needed to be done (wicked smirk)】

【I heard Manman tell Xixi to put clothes on, tsk tsk, must’ve taken them off earlier (silly)】

            

【Won’t the lightning break the robot dogs?】

【High-tech gear made for outdoor use wouldn’t just go die¹ that easily (laughing-crying)】

【Still, worry about the trees outside the shelter. If lightning strikes them and starts a fire, that’s dangerous.】

            

【Even if a fire does start, there’s heavy rain now and the stream’s risen, so it’d be put out fast.】

【That’s a relief 0v0】

【How’s the enemy situation?】

            

【Report! Huang Heshan’s trapped in the forest while hunting, Yu Yan’s alone at the shelter holding up a waterproof tarp, miserable and desolate (frowning)】

【Good. Scout further, then report back.】

【Dying laughing, you guys are playing military intelligence now hhh】

            

【This rain feels like it’ll last a long time. Will Huang-jie just stay out there the whole time?】

【Definitely not, once the rain lets up a bit she’ll head back.】

【Gotta hand it to Liu Yinxi’s luck, she dodges every heavy rain.】

            

【You call precisely sensing rain omens ‘luck’? Then you watched this season for nothing.】

【Whatever, nothing to say, it’s all scripted. The production team’s propping up Nan Huaixu and using Liu Yinxi for buzz, they got a good script.】

【I think YOU look like a script.】

            

【Pfft (covering mouth)】

【Right right right, Manman nearly drowning and getting hit by an arrow was scripted, Ying Luoling nearly burning to death was scripted, everything’s scripted, fine.】

【If it were scripted, at least give us some steamy scenes to watch ^v^】

            

【Wilderness Thunderstorm.mp4 (doge)】

【You shippers have had enough, rein it in.】

【You have the right not to like it, and we have the right to ship them. If you don’t like it, just block #Huai-Liu# and those keywords.】

            

【I don’t ship Huai-Liu, but these past few days the way Manman looks at Liu Yinxi with those clingy eyes… it just doesn’t seem like acting (allow me to grieve)】

【Could they really be falling for each other?】

【It hasn’t been that long though, only two months.】

            

【Maybe 100 days of sunrises will bring a love miracle (face-holding smile)】

Lightning.

Thunderclap.

            

BOOM!!

This thunderclap was different from the rest. Its boom was terrifyingly close, and at the same time a frightening burst of firelight erupted. A wave of heat mixed with violent wind surged into the shelter.

Through the gap in the billowing vine curtain, Nan Huaixu saw a fireball explode outside. She flinched, lunged toward Liu Yinxi, wrapped both arms tight around her back, her cheek slowly sliding down along her neck to press close against her chest.

            

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