Substitute Alpha Gets Confessed to by Her Ex’s Aunt on a Survival Variety Show – Chapter 19

Aunt, Gugu!

One of Liu Yinxi’s hands was held by Nan Huaixu. Not far opposite them stood Ying Luoling and Xue Yunshao.

Ah, this.

            

Ying Luoling had just finished making passive-aggressive remarks about Liu Yinxi’s omega partner when Nan Huaixu appeared. Liu Yinxi felt embarrassed even for Ying Luoling.

According to the original owner’s personality, she would definitely have burst into tears at a scene like this and complained to her little aunt, Nan Huaixu. But Liu Yinxi decided to present the image of a girl who had seen the error of her ways and been tempered into steel. She gently squeezed Nan Huaixu’s hand and shook her head, speaking with her eyes: Nan-jiejie, I’m fine.

Seeing the forbearance hidden within Liu Yinxi’s obedient expression, Nan Huaixu’s brow furrowed even tighter. She pushed aside the branches and walked out, her tall figure towering over Ying Luoling by half a head.

            

Ying Luoling’s sprained ankle from a few days ago hadn’t fully healed. She had been leaning against Xue Yunshao, one arm wrapped around her waist. The moment Nan Huaixu appeared, Ying Luoling jolted upright, her face a mask of panic and chagrin. “Aunt, gugu?!”

Nan Huaixu’s cold gaze swept past Ying Luoling’s face to the alpha behind her. Xue Yunshao shifted awkwardly to the side, putting a tiny bit of distance between herself and Ying Luoling.

Xue Yunshao gave a slight nod, greeting her elder with scholarly politeness. “Hello, Teacher Nan.”

            

Nan Huaixu nodded back at her, then turned to her own Big Niece. “Weren’t you asking about Liu Yinxi’s omega partner? Thanks for your concern. It’s no trouble for me.”

Ying Luoling gave a sheepish smile and limped over to Nan Huaixu, her voice tinged with a coquettish plea. “Little aunt, why did you come on 《Survivor》? I didn’t even hear my mommy mention it. How have you been these past few days? I have some oatmeal I can give you. If you’re uncomfortable anywhere or need help, just come find me. Yunshao and I are living just over there.”

As she spoke, Ying Luoling pointed to a towering Parashorea chinensis tree in the woods on the back slope.

            

Nan Huaixu’s eyes darkened. “This is a competition. Don’t tell others the location of your shelter. The person in front of you now is your enemy, not your relative.”

Ying Luoling lowered her head, abashed. “Yes, I understand…”

Nan Huaixu turned to Xue Yunshao. “It’s been a while, Xiao Xue. You were injured at the end of last year and went to North America for treatment. When did you return to the country?”

            

Xue Yunshao’s expression was warm and gentle. “I returned to Jing City during the Lantern Festival this year. I spent some time with my grandmother and mother, and then a friend invited me to Shen City to coach skating, so I stayed in the south for a while.”

“You’ve been back for three months and haven’t come to Hongdu to visit? When Luoling was in middle school, she loved going to your house. After your family moved to Jing City, she even pestered my sister about wanting to go.”

“An elder in my family was ill, so I spent as much time with her as I could. I apologize for not visiting Chairman Nan and Auntie Nan sooner. I hope Teacher Nan can forgive me.”

            

Nan Huaixu’s lips curved slightly. “You’re being too formal. It makes it seem like I’m blaming you.”

Xue Yunshao quickly took the blame. “I wouldn’t dare. I should thank Teacher Nan for her concern. I’m just basking in Luoling’s glory. If we hadn’t been classmates when we were young, how would someone as busy as Teacher Nan remember me?”

Nan Huaixu said, “A highlight reel of your figure skating competitions has been in the top three of the sports section for years. Anyone who uses the internet would recognize you.”

            

Xue Yunshao smiled humbly. “Teacher Nan, you’ve actually seen it? I’m very honored.”

Liu Yinxi stood to the side with drooping eyelids, “serving her punishment,” bored out of her mind. The first thing she hated was the cold shoulder, the second was nagging, and the third was the feigned civility of social occasions.​¹ For instance, she found Xue Yunshao’s series of ass-kissing remarks toward Nan Huaixu incredibly phony. She’d felt the same way about this character when she read the original book.

“It’s getting late. We should be going,” Nan Huaixu said with a slight smile, turning to call her teammate. “Liu Yinxi, let’s go.”

            

“Okay, okay!” Liu Yinxi replied obediently. She turned back to shoot a fierce look at Ying Luoling before hurrying to catch up with Nan Huaixu.

Leaning against Xue Yunshao’s side, Ying Luoling said, displeased, “Yunshao, did you see that? What was with Liu Yinxi’s expression? Was she glaring at me?”

Xue Yunshao patted her back soothingly. “That’s just her personality, you know that. Don’t stoop to her level, okay? Getting angry will only hurt your own body. How awful would that be?”

            

“Yunshao…” Ying Luoling whined.

“Alright, I’m here with you. Cheer up.” Xue Yunshao stroked her hair, then took a few steps forward and called out loudly to Nan Huaixu, “Teacher Nan, you came to get water, right? Is it heavy? I can help you carry it back.”

Oh, perfect! Liu Yinxi thought. We have to use willing labor.

            

Just as she was about to say yes, Nan Huaixu spoke. “No need, thank you.”

Liu Yinxi suppressed the smile that was about to form. Nan Huaixu reached out a fair hand and placed it on Liu Yinxi’s shoulder, saying to Xue Yunshao, “I have a teammate. Liu Yinxi can handle it.”

Xue Yunshao nodded and waved with a smile. “Alright, be careful on your way.”

            

Ying Luoling, holding her arm, watched the departing backs of Liu Yinxi and Nan Huaixu with a bewildered expression.

How can Gugu tolerate someone as dramatic as Liu Yinxi?

Xue Yunshao helped Ying Luoling walk forward. “Let’s hurry and gather new materials to build our shelter. We need to find sturdier ones this time so it doesn’t get washed away by the rain again.”

            

Ying Luoling snapped back to reality and gave her a sweet smile. “Okay!”

The stream gurgled, its clear water shimmering under the sunlight.

The plastic bottle sank into the stream and quickly filled with fresh water. Nan Huaixu lifted it out and replaced it with an empty one.

            

Once all the bottles and buckets were full, Nan Huaixu sat on a large rock by the stream. She soaked her hair in water mixed with plant ash, avoiding her scalp, and worked her fingers through the strands. Then she rinsed it twice with clean water, combed it neatly, and sat with her back to the sun to dry it.

She noticed thick moss growing on the rocks near the water. She took out her knife, scraped off a portion of the top layer, and wrapped it in a leaf. This water moss had very high requirements for water quality and grew very clean; it could be boiled into a soup at night.

Liu Yinxi returned after cutting some fish vine. “Nan-jiejie, let’s head back.”

            

She excitedly pulled several long pepper husks from her pocket. “I found a few more. My luck is maxed out.”

Nan Huaixu used a leaning tree to stand up, flicking her damp hair. “Let’s go.”

Liu Yinxi put the relatively lighter water bottles into Nan Huaixu’s backpack, placed one bucket in her own bag, and carried another by hand.

            

After zipping up her backpack, Nan Huaixu saw the bottle of plant ash in the side pocket and asked Liu Yinxi, “Aren’t you going to wash your hair?”

Liu Yinxi shouldered her pack and picked up her trekking pole. “No. Out in the wild, the sun and wind are harsh, so I need the oils to protect my skin. Besides, I have dry skin, so my hair doesn’t get oily easily. I’d rather make some skincare products.”

“Skincare products?” Just having clean water to rinse with was a luxury. Nan Huaixu had never imagined making her own skincare products under wilderness conditions.

            

“Yeah.” Liu Yinxi passed under the giant island banyan. “Render some coconut oil or something, to soothe chapped skin. But let’s try that later. The rain delayed us for three days. Starting tomorrow, we need to hurry up and boil salt.”

Nan Huaixu agreed. “Yes. After tonight’s meal, we’ll be out of seasoning packets.”

Although she thought Liu Yinxi was being fanciful, believing she could produce salt and skincare products with just a bit of middle school chemistry knowledge was unrealistic. Still, Liu Yinxi’s willingness to think and experiment was commendable. Besides, if they tried, there was a chance of success. If they didn’t, they’d have nothing. So they had to try.

            

On the way, they passed the old tree root they had marked before and dug up five more cassava roots, just as their previous stash was running out.

As they walked, Liu Yinxi hesitated to speak several times. After Nan Huaixu had led her away from Ying Luoling, she had expected Nan Huaixu to criticize her for arguing and bullying her niece. But to her surprise, Nan Huaixu had simply told her to get back to work and not let relationship problems affect the competition. Liu Yinxi couldn’t help but marvel that Nan Huaixu, as an aunt, didn’t give her Big Niece any face in front of outsiders…

No matter what, Nan Huaixu and Ying Luoling were blood relatives. Did she really not side with Ying Luoling at all? Instead, she was tolerant of her niece’s dramatic ex?

            

Liu Yinxi couldn’t figure out Nan Huaixu’s attitude toward her and Ying Luoling. Nan Huaixu hadn’t said anything, so Liu Yinxi didn’t know what she was really thinking. It was also possible that Nan Huaixu was temporarily setting it aside to maintain team unity for the competition.

Nan Huaixu walked on with her trekking pole, catching Liu Yinxi’s complicated expression out of the corner of her eye. She had noticed her strange look for a while now. “Just say what’s on your mind,” she said.

Liu Yinxi smiled sheepishly. Adhering to the rule of honest communication between teammates that their captain had established, she voiced her thoughts truthfully. “Nan-jiejie, my ex is your niece.”

            

“Mm, I saw that with my own eyes.”

“Um, you heard me arguing with Luoling, right?”

“You said she has no brain.”

            

“No, no, no, that’s not what I said. I said a brain is a good thing, and I hope she thinks more. Hehe.”

“Regardless of how you phrased it, the meaning you wanted to convey was fine. I also don’t understand why Luoling said you went to get water just for her.” Nan Huaixu stopped and turned to face her. “Did you ask Luoling to get back together with you?”

Liu Yinxi shouted, “I. Did. Not!”

            

Nan Huaixu’s brow furrowed, her gaze as scrutinizing as a judge’s.

Liu Yinxi raised her hand, fingers pressed together. “After your ideological education, I, Liu Yinxi, have been transformed. I’m no longer the person I was, with my head full of nothing but romance. From now on, I’m going to work hard, build a new life for myself, work diligently, and save up to buy a little nest.”

Nan Huaixu nodded once, seemingly satisfied with her answer. “Then why does Luoling think you’re pestering her?”

            

Liu Yinxi was frustrated. “I really don’t know. What happened was, I was looking for fish vine and ran into her on the dirt slope. Before I could even say anything, she accused me of haras.sing her. Heaven is my witness, you’ve seen how busy I am every day, Nan-jiejie. Our main purpose for going to the stream this time was to get water, otherwise we would have been focused on boiling salt. We don’t have enough to eat or a warm place to sleep every day. Who has the energy to think about her?”

As she finished, Liu Yinxi mumbled under her breath, “Does she think she’s the sun, with all nine planets revolving around her? I bet Pluto laughed its ass off the day it got delisted from the top ten planets.”

Nan Huaixu didn’t quite hear. “What planet?”

            

Liu Yinxi immediately put on an honest face. “I was just feeling wronged, so I was badmouthing her a little.”

To her surprise, Nan Huaixu’s lips twitched into a smile. She tightened her backpack straps and continued walking. “Let me ask you, when you ran into Luoling, was Xue Yunshao right next to her?”

“Yeah.”

            

“Luoling’s words about you pestering her weren’t meant for you; they were for Xue Yunshao. To be honest, at first, I didn’t understand why Luoling would date you. But seeing you and Xue Yunshao at the same time today, I get it.”

Liu Yinxi wasn’t pleased. “Why?”

Nan Huaixu said, “Your three-quarters profile looks a bit like Xue Yunshao. But as soon as you make an expression or move, the resemblance is gone.”

            

Although the “substitute” trope was a plot point in the original book, Liu Yinxi’s body was her own. Hearing Nan Huaixu say that her appearance resembled Xue Yunshao’s made Liu Yinxi very uncomfortable.

This time, Liu Yinxi didn’t feign the original owner’s sadness. She was genuinely pissed off. “So, Nan-jiejie, you’ve also realized that I’m Xue Yunshao’s substitute, right?”

Nan Huaixu said, “I never said that.”

            

“Then why did you deduce that Luoling was speaking for Xue Yunshao’s benefit? Isn’t it because I’m Xue Yunshao’s substitute, and Luoling had to draw a clear line with me in front of her? And she wanted Xue Yunshao to see just how desperately she missed her, so much so that she’d even get a substitute to look at in her absence, just to make her secretly pleased with herself?”

“I…”

“Alright, alright, jiejie, you don’t have to explain. I get it all. If my three-quarters profile didn’t look like a figure skating star, who would want me?”

            

Nan Huaixu raised her trekking pole, blocking Liu Yinxi’s path.

Liu Yinxi pouted at her. “What?”

Nan Huaixu’s tone softened. “Liu Yinxi, don’t label yourself. Why should one person be a reference for another? Why can’t it be that Xue Yunshao’s three-quarters profile looks like you?”

            

Hearing her words, Liu Yinxi’s furrowed brow slowly relaxed. She asked tentatively, “Nan-jiejie, are you… siding with me?”

Nan Huaixu lowered her trekking pole and started walking. “I wouldn’t call this siding with you, nor will I get involved in your relationship problems. I’m helping you resolve your inner conflict so you can have a better mindset for the competition. Don’t forget, we’re teammates. Your heart is not just your own.”

It’s also the heart of your other teammate.

            

When two people are of the same mind, their sharpness can cut through metal.​² That must be the principle Nan Huaixu was trying to convey!

Liu Yinxi stood in place, silently repeating “Your heart is not just your own” a few times. A smile spread across her face, and she jogged to catch up with Nan Huaixu. “Nan-jiejie, you’re so good to me. You’re my goddess in this lifetime.”

She said this lifetime because in her last life, she was in reality while Nan Huaixu was in a book, and they had never met.

            

“Mm-hm,” Nan Huaixu replied calmly.

Liu Yinxi knew that the original owner had said many similar things to Nan Huaixu during her fervent fangirl phase, which was why Nan Huaixu’s reaction was so placid.

But this time was different for Liu Yinxi, because she had genuinely become a fan of Nan Huaixu. Who wouldn’t cherish a beautiful woman who supported and comforted them?

            

A cool breeze rustled the green leaves. Liu Yinxi caught the elegant floral scent from the ends of Nan Huaixu’s hair, and all her unhappiness instantly vanished without a trace.

Golden threads of light filtered through the canopy. Liu Yinxi faced the sun and broke into a smile.

---

A strong wind picked up in the evening.

            

Liu Yinxi braided several vine ropes and strung large banana leaves together, creating a windbreak curtain that she hung at the entrance of the shelter and along the edge of the extended canopy.

Nan Huaixu sat by the fire, warming herself. Cradling her shoulder, she reminded her, “Tie a rope along the bottom of the curtain to hold it down, so the wind doesn’t blow it into the bonfire and set it alight.”

Liu Yinxi, holding a three-stranded vine, replied, “Yep, yep, I’m braiding it now.”

            

“The wind is so strong tonight. Will it rain tomorrow?”

“No, it’ll be a bright, sunny day. Perfect for us to boil salt.”

“Why?”

            

“Because I’ve been praying, ‘Let there be sun, let there be sun.’”

“…” Nan Huaixu rolled her eyes, speechless.

Liu Yinxi noticed her micro-expression and smiled. “I’m almost done here. Nan-jiejie, you should get some sleep.”

            

Nan Huaixu rubbed her arm up and down. “It’s fine. I’ll watch you tie the bottom rope.”

Liu Yinxi asked, “Hey, I’ve noticed you always wait for me to fall asleep before you do. Is there a reason for that?”

Nan Huaixu unconsciously averted her gaze. “No.”

            

Liu Yinxi focused on the task at hand. “Oh.”

Nan Huaixu lowered her eyes, her eyelashes casting shadows on her fair cheeks. She fiddled with the zipper pull at her chin, slowly tugging it.

With the windbreak curtain, the bonfire under the canopy was much more stable. Cold drafts no longer blew into the shelter, making it much warmer to sleep in.

            

The wind rustled through the trees, a sound like nature’s lullaby.

In the middle of the night, Liu Yinxi was startled awake by a thump on the roof of the shelter.

She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and crawled out of the shelter to check. The wind had broken a branch above them, which had fallen and hit the roof. Fortunately, it hadn’t caused any damage. Liu Yinxi used a stick to poke the branch off and crawled back inside.

            

Phew, the wind is so strong tonight. It’s a little cold.

Liu Yinxi sat back in her spot. The banana leaves she used as a mattress still held her residual warmth.

She cupped her hands and blew a warm breath into them, suddenly remembering that Nan Huaixu had said she was “a little cold” a few days ago.

            

What had she said back then?

She seemed to have recommended a brand of shell jacket with good insulation.

Liu Yinxi’s heart sank. She covered her face, unable to help but laugh at her own lack of emotional intelligence.

            

Omegas were naturally more sensitive to cold than alphas. The woman had said she was cold, so what good would recommending better clothes do? It couldn’t solve the immediate problem.

Liu Yinxi turned to look at the woman sleeping by the backpacks. She was still in a curled-up position, her face still hidden beneath her arm, shivering slightly from time to time.

Liu Yinxi sighed quietly. She crawled out of the shelter again, added more firewood to the bonfire, pushed the heated stones under the bed frame, and then took down the two raincoats hanging on the wooden rack. She took off her own shell jacket, put on the raincoats for a while until they absorbed her body heat, and then draped them, one by one, over Nan Huaixu.

            

Ah-ha… Liu Yinxi covered her mouth and yawned, then lay back down on the right side of the mattress to sleep.

A short while later, the sound of Liu Yinxi’s deep, sleeping breaths filled the warm shelter.

In the darkness, Nan Huaixu quietly opened her eyes. She clutched the raincoats covering her, her gaze wavering, her fingertips touching the warmth.

            

Touching the warmth that belonged to another person.

---

The blazing sun shone down from a clear sky.

Waves crashed against the beach in succession. In the coconut grove, hot smoke drifted from a stone stove, upon which sat two aluminum mess tins, the water inside boiling and bubbling.

            

Liu Yinxi held a wooden stick in each hand, stirring the contents of both tins. The temperature at noon was very high, and with the ample sunlight, the water evaporated quickly. Soon, a pale yellow and white precipitate formed at the bottom of the tins.

Seeing that there wasn’t much water left, Liu Yinxi quickly called out to Nan Huaixu, “Jiejie, give me the coconut shell.”

Nan Huaixu, who was waiting by her side, quickly handed her the coconut shell. Liu Yinxi used a leaf to push aside the precipitate and poured the remaining water from the mess tin into the shell.

            

Nan Huaixu watched her discard the precipitate from the tin and asked, “Why keep the water? Isn’t that the salt?”

Liu Yinxi explained, “No. My teacher used to say that seawater contains many impurities. The first boil mostly yields things like magnesium sulfate and calcium sulfate. In industrial processes, this step is usually done through precipitation and filtration, but since we don’t have the equipment, we just boil it directly.”

Nan Huaixu asked, “So we boil this next?”

            

“Right. We boil this filtered water again, and the coarse salt we get will be barely edible. It’s definitely not as pure as the refined salt we eat, and the taste isn’t as good, but we don’t have the tools to refine sea salt. As long as we have coarse salt to replenish our salt intake during the competition, it’s enough.” Liu Yinxi used a wooden stick to clean the residual impurities from the walls of the mess tin, scraping them off quickly while it was still hot. Once it cooled, it would become stubborn grime and be hard to remove.

Nan Huaixu held the pitiful half-bowl of saltwater in the coconut shell. “This little bit of saltwater can be boiled in just one mess tin.”

Liu Yinxi washed both tins. Nan Huaixu took one and handed her the saltwater. “You continue boiling. I’ll go get more seawater.”

            

The two of them boiled salt under the wind and sun, their sleeves and pants rolled up high, their tank tops soaked through with sweat. The boiling white steam made their eyes water, and both their faces were flushed red.

“Cough, cough, cough—”

Nan Huaixu was adding coconut fiber to the stone stove when she was choked by the smoke and started coughing. Liu Yinxi opened a young coconut for her to drink. “Nan-jiejie, you should sit over there and rest for a bit.”

            

Nan Huaixu took a few sips from the young coconut, and her throat felt better. She looked at the small pile of coarse salt on the banana leaf and felt a surge of emotion. They had worked hard for over two hours to produce just a tiny amount of salt. It was truly hard-won.

She concluded that as the competition progressed, unless there were airdropped supplies, salt would inevitably become a hard currency.

But boiling salt was just too time-consuming, and the output was extremely low. Were they going to have to boil salt every day?

            

Nan Huaixu voiced her concerns. “We’re spending a lot of time and energy boiling salt, but the amount we produce each day isn’t enough for more than a few days. We also have to find food and deal with weather changes. I’m afraid we won’t have that much time for this.”

Liu Yinxi replied calmly, “That’s true. That’s why in primitive times, most of humanity’s time and energy was spent searching for food. To survive, organisms must eat. It’s just that primitive people didn’t have the concept of specifically making salt. Back then, they ate raw meat and drank blood.​³ Mammalian blood contains salt, which could satisfy the body’s basic needs.”

“Are you saying we should also hunt animals and drink their blood? Wouldn’t we get sick?”

            

“Yes, there’s a risk of infection, but it’s not as scary as you might think. Many cultures, especially nomadic ones, have a custom of drinking blood during times of famine. If we were really lacking salt to the point where our lives were at risk, we wouldn’t have the luxury of being picky. If it leads to hyponatremia, our body’s water and electrolyte metabolism will be disrupted, affecting cell activity. We’d experience edema, low blood pressure, muscle weakness, neurological disorders, and in severe cases, even shock and death.”

In modern times, where a bag of salt costs just a few dollars, the severe consequences of hyponatremia are not something ordinary people often encounter or would imagine without reason. Liu Yinxi had wondered if the Western legends of vampires originated from a time when salt was difficult to obtain, leading salt-deficient people to seek it from human blood. Over time, people wove these acts into stories that evolved into tales of demons.

Nan Huaixu remembered that in past seasons of the show, contestants who got sick from salt deficiency had to withdraw. Her private trainer had also emphasized the importance of salt.

            

Nan Huaixu lowered her lashes and quickened her stirring of the seawater. “I understand what you mean. Salt is a necessity. No matter the cost, we have to boil it. I don’t want to drink animal blood. Let’s just boil more sea salt and use it sparingly.”

Liu Yinxi added more palm fiber to the stone stove to increase the fire’s intensity. “Jiejie, don’t worry too much. For the next ten days or so, I plan to boil salt every day, enough to last us, as long as it doesn’t rain.”

That wasn’t a huge problem. There were two of them. One could boil salt and forage on the beach, while the other fetched water and searched for food. They could handle unexpected situations like storms together.

            

Nan Huaixu turned her attention to the production efficiency. “Ten-odd days? Can you boil that much in that time?”

Even Nan Huaixu herself hadn’t realized that, unconsciously, she was no longer worried about whether she and Liu Yinxi would be eliminated first. She didn’t doubt at all that they could last another ten days; rather, she was worried that the competition was too long and they wouldn’t have enough salt.

Liu Yinxi said, “I’ll do my best. I think it will be less convenient to boil salt later on, and I also want to make extra to cure dried fish. Of course, if we run out of salt later and it’s not convenient to boil it, we’ll still have to find a way.”

            

“Not convenient? The sea is right here. We can come anytime.”

“Because we’re close to the sea now, so it’s a quick trip back and forth.”

After hearing her words, Nan Huaixu pondered for a moment and said, “You want to move the shelter?”

            

Liu Yinxi said, “We’ll definitely have to move eventually. I said so when we first chose the location. Look at the past seasons of 《Survivor》; the airdrop locations are always changing. If the shelter doesn’t move with them, the distance will get longer and longer. We’ll either have to traverse the primeval rainforest at night to find the airdrop point or give up on airdrops completely.”

Giving up on airdrops was impossible. They were their most powerful source of supplies in the wilderness.

The primeval rainforest at night… The thought of two fluorescent green animal eyes lighting up in the pitch-black dense forest sent a shiver down Nan Huaixu’s spine.

            

Nan Huaixu thought for a moment. “If it’s inconvenient to come to the beach later, we can use buckets to carry seawater back to the shelter.”

Liu Yinxi said, “We’d have seawater, but what about the evaporation rate?”

Nan Huaixu recalled the difference in the speed of water evaporation in the rainforest versus on the beach. There was indeed a gap.

            

She made up her mind and said decisively, “Alright. For this period, our main task will be boiling salt. I’ll handle fetching water and finding fruit. Once we have enough food, I’ll come help. You just remember to forage on the beach every evening when you get back.”

With their minds aligned, they worked with focus and energy.

As it neared five in the afternoon, the sunlight began to weaken. Liu Yinxi decided to finish boiling the last two tins of filtered water and then call it a day.

            

The sun was scorching at noon and in the afternoon, so contestants usually avoided the beach. They would come to forage at dawn and dusk. This period was perfect for boiling salt and also allowed them to avoid other contestants, preventing rivals from getting ideas about their hard-earned sea salt.

Liu Yinxi took the wooden stick from Nan Huaixu’s hand and stirred the two tins of saltwater. “Nan-jiejie, pack up the fuel and hide it in the old spot. After I finish these two tins, we’ll go foraging.”

Just as she finished speaking, an enthusiastic voice called out from near some coconut trees. “Hey! Old Sis Liu!”

            

Liu Yinxi immediately stuffed the plastic bottle of sea salt into her backpack, covered the mess tins with their lids, and looked toward the voice. “Hey, Boss Yuan!”

Nan Huaixu frowned and discreetly wrapped the fuel in a banana leaf, placing it behind her. She planned to hide it in the woods after Yuan Fang left.

“Superstar Nan, hello to you too!” Yuan Fang waved her arm and quickened her pace toward them. This time, she wasn’t alone. A young person with a bob cut and straight bangs followed behind her.

            

Yuan Fang stopped in front of them and, with her naturally familiar demeanor,​⁴ introduced her companion. “This is my teammate, Lu Yiqi. Lu as in the two mouths, Yi as in rabbit with a leg, Qi as in the one with the wood radical. She’s… she’s that…”

Halfway through, Yuan Fang nudged Lu Yiqi’s elbow. “What’s that unit of yours called again? It’s such a mouthful, I can never remember it.”

Lu Yiqi said slowly and deliberately, “Hello, both of you. My name is Lu Yiqi. Lu with two mouths, Yi from ‘leisurely and carefree,’ Qi from ‘zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting.’ I’m an auditor, employed at a firm.”

            

Yuan Fang added, “Right, she checks accounts.”

Liu Yinxi stood up and greeted Lu Yiqi. “Hello, Teacher Lu. I’m Liu Yinxi.”

She looked at Nan Huaixu beside her. “This is my captain. I don’t think I need to introduce Teacher Nan.”

            

Lu Yiqi responded with a smile. “Yes, I really like Teacher Nan’s work. You can just call me Yiqi. We came to forage on the beach, we won’t disturb you.”

Yuan Fang hooked her backpack strap. “Hey, hey, wait a minute.”

Lu Yiqi turned back with a deadpan expression, saying nothing, just giving her a cold glance.

            

Yuan Fang handed her the bucket, then turned and squatted down, studying the stone stove and the boiling mess tins. “Old Sis Liu, you’re not having dinner on the beach at this hour, are you?”

Liu Yinxi said, “That’s right! Catch it fresh, eat it fresh, right here!”

Yuan Fang sniffed the air. “I don’t smell anything. What are you cooking?”

            

Liu Yinxi said, “Of course there’s no smell, we haven’t foraged yet. We’re just boiling water first.”

Yuan Fang’s lips curved. She tapped the large pile of ash next to the stone stove with the tip of her shoe. “You’ve been boiling water here all day?”

Liu Yinxi tried to cover. “Not at all. This is from the past few days.”

            

Yuan Fang said, “It rained so heavily the past few days. How did you pile it up?”

“Hey now, Boss Yuan, why do I feel like you’re interrogating me?” Liu Yinxi laughed.

Yuan Fang’s expression changed in an instant. She put on a smile, laughed twice, and draped an arm over Liu Yinxi’s shoulder. “Not at all! What are you talking about? I’m just super curious.”

            

She leaned close to Liu Yinxi’s ear and said in a voice only they could hear, “Boiling sea salt, aren’t you?”

Liu Yinxi’s eyes darkened for a moment, then she chuckled and whispered back, “You really are a big boss doing big business. Nothing gets past my Yuan-jie. You see, this…”

Yuan Fang clapped Liu Yinxi’s shoulder heartily, then removed her arm and whispered a proposal, “How about this, old sis. When dealing with people, it’s all about being practical. We should help supply each other’s needs, right? We all know salt is important. It’s easy to talk about the theory, but when you actually try to do it, you realize it’s not easy. It’s not like we haven’t tried, but what we made can only be called precipitate, it’s completely inedible. I see you guys have been boiling for a long time, so you must have had some success. Why don’t our two teams cooperate? We can look out for each other. What do you think?”

            

Liu Yinxi put on a troubled expression. “Yuan-jie, you put that so well! But I have to listen to Teacher Nan; she’s the captain. And looking at the past seasons, there’s only been resource trading, never cooperation. To put it bluntly, if our two teams make it to the end, we’ll have to fight to the death. Turning on each other would really hurt our feelings.”

Yuan Fang glanced at the silent Nan Huaixu nearby and smiled back at Liu Yinxi. “I get it, I get it.”

Her eyes darted, and another idea popped into her head. “Let’s trade resources.”

            

Liu Yinxi’s expression grew more serious. “What do you have to trade? Banyan fruit?”

Yuan Fang said, “You’re underestimating your jiejie.”

Yuan Fang turned her head and called out, “Qi-mei’er, your treasure—”

            

Lu Yiqi clutched the shoulder straps of her backpack and took a wary step back.

Yuan Fang tugged at her bag. “Hey, this is important. Have I ever made a losing deal? Come on, give it here. Don’t be so secretive when we’re out here.”

Liu Yinxi and Nan Huaixu watched them curiously. Lu Yiqi couldn’t win against Yuan Fang and reluctantly took out a blister pack of soft aluminum foil from her bag.

            

Yuan Fang took it and passed it to Liu Yinxi mysteriously, lowering her voice. “Katadyn water purification tablets. Imported from Switzerland. Top-shelf stuff.”

Katadyn, the top brand in outdoor water purification in Europe, used by the Red Cross and many national armies. Liu Yinxi recognized it the moment she touched the packaging. She feigned ignorance. “For real? I’m poor, I’ve never used the good stuff. Boss Yuan, don’t you go tricking an honest person like me.”

Yuan Fang immediately took out a water bottle and opened it for Liu Yinxi to smell. “How about it? This smells different from the river water you boil, right? Isn’t that the smell of clean? Boiled river water always has a fishy smell. Don’t tell me you can’t tell the difference.”

            

Having spent years on outdoor expeditions, Liu Yinxi’s senses were exceptionally sharp. Not only was her eyesight excellent, but her sense of smell and hearing were also very keen. There was a faint smell of chlorine in Yuan Fang’s water bottle; she knew at once that it had been purified.

Seeing her still hesitating, Yuan Fang persuaded, “Old sis, we only have three packs of these purification tablets in total. Giving you this one is like giving away a third of our entire stock. I’ll trade it for a quarter of your salt. That’s not too much, is it?”

Liu Yinxi put the tablets away and looked around. “That’s different, Boss Yuan. To be honest, we can drink boiled river water just fine without this stuff. But we absolutely can’t go without salt.”

            

“I’ll throw in a bag of fruit. They’re super sweet. Teacher Nan will definitely like them.” As she spoke, Yuan Fang smiled at Nan Huaixu. “Teacher Nan likes sweets, right? I remember seeing you say that on an entertainment show once.”

Nan Huaixu replied politely, “This is a survival competition. As long as it fills the stomach, it’s fine.”

Liu Yinxi frowned, examining the foil pack. “These purification tablets are indeed very good. The key is that boiling salt takes a lot of effort. It’s not that I don’t want to trade, it’s just that I’m too busy…”

            

Yuan Fang immediately understood. “That’s simple! If we want salt, we have to contribute our labor. What time are you boiling salt tomorrow? I’ll come over for the next few days. Many hands make light work.”

Liu Yinxi asked, “Boiling salt is very time-consuming. Aren’t you going to gather food?”

Yuan Fang pointed to Lu Yiqi. “I’ll come alone. I’ve still got an alpha here!” She called out loudly to Lu Yiqi, “For the next few days, I’ll be boiling salt with Old Sis Liu. You’ll find food on your own, okay?”

            

Lu Yiqi replied softly, “It’s better without you getting in the way. Just remember to catch fish in the morning and evening.”

Yuan Fang patted her chest. “You can rest easy. When your jiejie does something, she does it right.”

Liu Yinxi calculated in her head: one pack of purification tablets, useful when they’re weak; one bag of Great Island Banyan fruit, to supplement fructose, vitamins, and fiber; and one extra person, to have Yuan Fang bring two mess tins and do the tiring work of stirring seawater. As for the quarter of the salt, it was only a quarter of the salt they would boil in the next few days. They could take a two-day break, and after that, their salt boiling would have nothing to do with Yuan Fang.

            

Liu Yinxi thought, if she were Yuan Fang, she could use these two days to learn how to boil salt, and in the future, she wouldn’t need to rely on her rivals. The purification tablets for the trade came from Lu Yiqi, while Yuan Fang both learned a skill and strengthened her relationship with a rival. It wasn’t a huge win, but it definitely wasn’t a loss.

It was a well-calculated deal.

Liu Yinxi took the purification tablets and banyan fruit to Nan Huaixu. “Nan-jiejie, do you agree?”

            

Nan Huaixu lowered her gaze, her eyes falling on the supplies in her hand. “You want to trade?”

“Yeah, I think it’s a good deal. We get an extra pair of hands and two more mess tins. You’re the captain, so I’ll listen to your opinion.”

“Two more mess tins…” That would effectively double their salt production. Nan Huaixu agreed decisively. “Alright, we’ll trade.”

            

With the captain’s approval, Liu Yinxi happily discussed the details of boiling salt with Yuan Fang. They agreed on a time and the necessary items, then went their separate ways.

Nan Huaixu watched Yuan Fang and Lu Yiqi leave until they disappeared over the beach line. She turned back to ask Liu Yinxi, “Are you willing to give them that much salt?”

Liu Yinxi showed a foxy, cunning smile. “My plan is to boil for three or four days, then pack it in. We’ll rest for two days, then find a new spot to boil on our own.”

            

Nan Huaixu suddenly understood. The look she gave her grew even more complicated. It wasn’t right to say she was deceitful, but it wasn’t right to say she was just smart either…

“In a competition, you have to prioritize your own team’s interests, of course.” Liu Yinxi picked up a small bucket and headed toward the reef cluster. “Nan-jiejie, let’s go catch some fish!”

Nan Huaixu saw the things at her feet and said, “Wait, let me tie the fuel up in the tree.”

            

The saltwater had all boiled away by now. Liu Yinxi packed up the mess tins and gathered the leaf-wrapped bundles from the ground. “I’ll help.”

Nan Huaixu tied the vine rope, then raised her hand to look at her nails, filing her ring finger a few times with her thumb.

Liu Yinxi pushed on the bundled fuel in the tree fork to make sure it was secure. She looked down and saw Nan Huaixu fussing with her nails, her two long eyebrows still knitted together.

            

Worried she had broken a nail, Liu Yinxi asked, “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

Nan Huaixu shook her head. “It’s nothing. I washed the mess tins all day, and a lot of dirt got under my nails. I’ll wash them later.”

“Oh, okay…” Liu Yinxi replied, lost in thought.

            

The sky gradually darkened, and orange-red clouds streamed across the horizon.

The afterglow turned into shattered gold, sprinkled across the ocean, splashing into intoxicating points of light with the waves.

Liu Yinxi bent over as the waves rushing ashore washed over her calves and wrists. As the tide slowly receded, it revealed a handful of shells in her palm.

            

A call came from the far end of the beach. “Liu Yinxi! What are you still playing with? Let’s go!”

Liu Yinxi cupped her hands, shook the water from the pile of empty shells, and stuffed them into her pocket. “Coming! Nan-jiejie, wait for me!”

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For dinner, they would try the fruits of their labor.

            

As soon as she returned to the shelter, Nan Huaixu speared two fish, cleaned them, and put them on the grill rack. When the fish sizzled, she took a tiny bit of sea salt and sprinkled it evenly over the meat. An incredible aroma immediately filled the air.

“It smells delicious.” Nan Huaixu took a deep breath of the fragrant grilled fish and opened her backpack, taking out two banyan fruits.

She had never eaten banyan fruit before. They looked like oversized figs. There was an insect called the fig wasp that liked to make its home in banyan fruit. A fruit chosen by wasps was sure to be super fragrant and sweet.

            

How should she eat it? Bite into it directly? Cut it into pieces?

Nan Huaixu played with the fruit, and a sudden idea struck her. She cut open the skin, scooped out the flesh inside, mashed it into a jam, and spread it on a roasted cassava root. The collision of sugar and carbohydrates released a delightful aroma.

“So sweet.”

            

Nan Huaixu held the warm, jam-covered cassava, her face tilted up in a smile. She felt as if all the fatigue of the day had been healed.

“Nan Huaixu.”

Nan Huaixu turned at the sound of her name. Liu Yinxi usually called her jiejie. Every time she used her full name, it was for something very serious.

            

Liu Yinxi sat by the bonfire, holding her cupped hands out in front of her. “This is for you.”

Nan Huaixu placed the cassava on a banana leaf plate and looked at her hands. “What is it?”

Liu Yinxi smiled and slowly opened her hands. The firelight illuminated her palm, where a translucent, pearly white moon scallop shell shimmered with an iridescent, rainbow-like luster.

            

“A shell?”

“Put your hand out.”

Liu Yinxi picked up the moon scallop with her right hand and held her left hand out, palm up, her gentle gaze waiting.

            

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