Substitute Alpha Gets Confessed to by Her Ex’s Aunt on a Survival Variety Show – Chapter 30

Red Nose, Red Lips

The last time her heart had skipped a beat like this was in Shen City, at the second-hand luxury goods center, the moment she’d stepped onto a crosswalk and narrowly avoided a car crash.

Liu Yinxi stared suspiciously at the finger Nan Huaixu held suspended in front of her, not understanding what she was trying to do.

            

A faint, almost imperceptible smile touched Nan Huaixu’s lips. Her fingertip stopped just before Liu Yinxi’s swollen lump, tracing the shape of her upper and lower lips in the air, drawing two small ovals.

“This is it, growing on your face.”

Liu Yinxi glanced down. Her red, swollen lips protruded from her face, far more prominent than usual.

            

She instantly understood Nan Huaixu’s joke: she was saying her swollen mouth looked like a crispy-skin sausage.​¹

Seriously…

And here she was, thinking Nan Huaixu was a team captain who cared for her teammates. This was even worse than Yuan Fang’s blatant mockery.

            

Liu Yinxi let out a careless little laugh and sat back down. She tore off a few strips of grilled lizard meat and placed them on a banana leaf plate to cool.

“So? What do you think of my limited-edition honeybee-plumped lips? Aren’t they gorgeous? Look at all your jealous faces… Not only are my flaming red lips beautiful, they’re delicious, too.”

Nan Huaixu was used to Yuan Fang and Liu Yinxi’s bickering and found their occasional antics an interesting diversion in the boring rainforest. She decided to play along. “Delicious? Swollen like that, how are they delicious?”

            

Liu Yinxi fanned the grilled lizard with a leaf. She hadn’t eaten all noon or afternoon and was so hungry she was seeing stars. The sight of the lizard meat made her salivate like crazy. “Bees like sweet things. The fact that it stung me proves my mouth is sweet.”

Nan Huaixu’s brow furrowed for a moment before she broke into a helpless smile.

“Liu Yinxi, how did you even get stung? On our hikes, I’ve noticed you’re always so careful about bugs and snakes. How did you flip the car​² today? Did you bully the little bee first?”

            

“My clear soup big old grandma,​³ I’m a highly evolved human. Why would I bully a lowly little insect?”

This time, it truly had been her own carelessness. She’d been in a hurry to dig up the kudzu root, and there were so many insects buzzing around that she hadn’t been able to see clearly what she was swatting at, which led to her injury.

But Nan Huaixu’s words gave her pause. She hadn’t bullied the bee, so why had it charged her for no reason?

            

As everyone knew, once a bee stings a person, its life is over.

There were no flowers to gather nectar from where she was digging. Liu Yinxi was certain there were no bees around when she started, which meant the bee had actively approached and attacked her after she started making a commotion.

A single bee sacrificing its life to attack a massive enemy. The only explanation Liu Yinxi could think of was: it was defending its hive.

            

The flickering light of the campfire made Liu Yinxi’s eyes gleam.

Looks like I’ll have to bully these bees after all…

Oh, Clear soup big old grandma, please forgive me. I don’t want to bully the little bees, but wild honey is just too delicious.

            

“Achoo.”

“Achoo!”

“Achoo—!”

            

Nan Huaixu let out several more sneezes in a row. In the firelight, Liu Yinxi could see her face clearly. Her fair skin was a little tanner now, her nose was red, and her eyes were rimmed with pink from her constant sniffling.

Her rhinitis was having a severe allergic reaction.

Liu Yinxi carried the grilled lizard and vegetable soup into the shelter. The banana leaf curtain of the extended shelter could block the campfire smoke. “Come eat in here,” she called to Nan Huaixu. “Stay away from the fire for the next few days. A severe allergic reaction can affect your immune system.”

            

Nan Huaixu’s voice was thick with congestion. “It’s not that serious, you don’t have to go to all this trouble—Achoo!”

She sneezed facing away from the shelter, quickly covering her nose with a tender banana leaf. When she lifted her eyes, they were veiled in a thin layer of mist.

Her elegant features, paired with those misty, soulful eyes, created a beautiful sight that was like a soft attack, enough to leave one dazed.

            

【OMG, that close-up shot, my Manman is so rice!​⁴ (starry eyes)】

【Give the camera-dog a chicken leg! No, give it a solar panel!】

【Aaaah, Manman’s restrained, fragile look, I just want to hug her QAQ】

            

【Can she just quit the show early? I really can’t bear to watch Nan Huaixu suffer (cracking up)】

【No way. First, there’s the breach of contract penalty, and second, Nan came on Survivor for the exposure in the first place.】

【Liu is so useless, can’t even take care of her teammate.】

            

【How is Nan’s rhinitis Liu’s fault? Nan never mentioned it before, right? They both spent half a day making salt, no one was short-changed. And didn’t Liu tell her to stay away once she found out? You’re gonna flame her for this???】

【The Vegetable Team’s​⁵ side looks so much more relaxed. I just came from Huang-jie’s stream, I was about to suffocate (huffing oxygen)】

【What’s the Vegetable Team?】【Liu and Huai, they’re both plants.】【Ohh, laughing mouse​⁶ XD】

            

【What happened on Huang-jie’s side?】

【Just now, Yu Yan asked Huang Heshan if she could say two more sentences each day. Huang-jie immediately replied with three words: “Two sentences.” (permit sorrow)​⁷】

【…Someone get Liu Yinxi to share some of her nonsense with Huang-jie! Yu Yan is talking to herself so much she’s about to develop a second personality (laughing-crying)】

            

After a brief moment of distraction, Liu Yinxi quickly turned and rummaged through her backpack. “Let me check this emergency medical kit…”

Liu Yinxi had gone through the medical kit on the first day they landed, so she knew everything that was inside, but she still laid it all out on the bed:

Two bags of CPR masks.
Five packs of sterile gauze pads.
One roll of breathable tape.
One triangular bandage.
One blister pack of eight Pudi Lan Anti-inflammatory Tablets.
One blister pack of four Ibuprofen granule capsules.
Three 3g sachets of Montmorillonite powder.

            

There was stuff for artificial respiration, for external wounds, for inflammation, for pain, and for diarrhea. Everything was there, except for the one thing Liu Yinxi wanted: antihistamines.

Frustrated, Liu Yinxi slapped the mattress. What kind of crappy medical kit was this? It didn’t even have basic anti-allergy medicine. What was the show’s medical team even doing?

Nan Huaixu guessed what she was looking for and said softly, “There are no antihistamines. I already checked.”

            

The production team had issued standard kits, meaning every guest received the same survival supplies. The medical supplies were naturally identical as well.

“It’s fine. I’ll be better soon as long as I stay away from the allergen.” Nan Huaixu held her hand over the banana leaf plate, feeling the temperature of the grilled lizard meat. “It’s not hot anymore. You should eat.”

“Oh, okay.”

            

Liu Yinxi packed up the medical kit and used a pair of wooden chopsticks to lift a strip of meat to her mouth.

Nan Huaixu ate inside the shelter while Liu Yinxi sat alone by the campfire, chewing on the fragrant, tender lizard meat and opening the Book Transmigration Reading System.

「It is late, user liuyinxi (moon)」

            

「Loading table of contents…」

「Current reading progress: 17%. Volume One: The Seashore. Chapter 28: Body in Camp Huang, Heart with Xue.」

Liu Yinxi stared at the original book’s chapter title for a second. What was this about Huang and Xue? She quickly figured it out. The protagonist of the original book was Ying Luoling. According to the original plot, Ying Luoling was on the same team as Huang Heshan, spending every night giving her the cold shoulder while pining for her Ah Yun. Wasn’t that just “Body in Camp Huang, heart with Xue”?​⁸

            

「Chapter 32: The Worrisome Fourth Airdrop has been selected. Loading…」

「New chapter loaded successfully.」

「To adjust to night reading mode, please click the toolbar at the bottom.」

            

Liu Yinxi remembered that the fourth airdrop was a nutritional supplement drop, and it included medicine.

She carefully scanned the upcoming plot and saw that the fourth batch of supplies did indeed contain the antihistamine Cetirizine.

Perfect. On the 24th, the day of the airdrop, she would grab it.

            

Listening to the sound of Nan Huaixu sniffling, Liu Yinxi unconsciously clenched her fists. No matter what, there was no way she was letting anyone else have it this time.

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Wristband date: April 21st.

The east was already white,​⁹ and points of morning sunlight glittered on the distant sea horizon.

            

Wisps of smoke rose from the coconut grove on the beach. A figure waved toward the rainforest.

“Morning, Liu’er! Eaten yet?”

“Not yet, Yuan-jie! Hook me up with something good!”

            

Yuan Fang laughed and nudged her with an elbow. “Go to yours, taking advantage of your jiejie again.”

Liu Yinxi backed away from her. “Yue!”

Yuan Fang: “?”

            

Liu Yinxi held out her hands. “Breakfast. Hand it over.”

“No food to beg for, but you can have my body.”

“The iron hen​¹⁰ is telling ghost stories first thing in the morning.”

            

“Hey?! Liu Yinxi, why is your mouth so damn cheap—”

Liu Yinxi had already eaten. Nan Huaixu had prepared her fragrant lizard meat paired with a coconut soup boiled with pandan, which had warmed her heart and her stomach.

She walked past Yuan Fang and began searching for something along the beach, looking here and there, picking up several plastic buckets that had washed ashore with the morning tide, but she wasn’t satisfied with any of them.

            

Yuan Fang sat by the stone stove, diligently boiling salt. “What are you doing? Don’t slack off. Get your butt over here and work.”

“Ahem!” Liu Yinxi picked up a thick, semi-translucent plastic bucket. “I’m taking a day off.”

“Say what? You’re taking a day off, and Nan Huaixu isn’t coming either?”

            

Liu Yinxi turned around and put a finger to her lips. “Shhh, don’t tell Teacher Nan I’m skipping work.”

Yuan Fang looked at her suspiciously, crossing her arms as she walked over. “Seriously, what are you up to?”

“That’s for a beauty to know and you to find out.”

            

Yuan Fang’s eyes darted around, and she grinned. “If your team skips work today, then according to our salt-making agreement, you don’t get a share of today’s output.”

“Did we sign a contract with you?”

“Where are we gonna find a pen and paper in this godforsaken jungle?”

            

“There you have it.” Liu Yinxi held up five fingers. “Fifty-fifty. That’s my bottom line.”

Yuan Fang was dumbfounded. “Sister, where’s your shame? Your team isn’t even working today, and I’ll have to call Lu Yiqi over later. My team will have two people making salt, and you have the nerve to ask for half?”

Liu Yinxi lifted her chin, looking proud in the sunlight. “Then if I find something good later, I guess I won’t be sharing it with you, huh?”

            

Yuan Fang thought for a moment, then said through gritted teeth, “Fine, fifty-fifty! Just for today. Now get lost, get lost.”

Liu Yinxi beamed, picked up her junk plastic bucket, and ran off the beach. Then she ran back, shouting against the sea breeze, “Boss Yuan, you’re as beautiful as you are kind!”

Yuan Fang laughed and flung a handful of sand at her. “Roll away, calf!​¹¹ Disappear, now!”

            

Liu Yinxi ran into the rainforest. She held up the cleaned plastic bucket and used her knife to poke several sesame-seed-sized holes in it, then tried it on over her head.

The bucket’s plastic wall was a bit thick and milky-white, but she could still see through it well enough to make out her surroundings. She didn’t need to do any fine, detailed work, so the visibility was sufficient.

A thick-walled plastic bucket for a helmet, a double-layered heavy-duty outdoor raincoat as a makeshift protective suit, plus the Yuteng Ointment and fire—her tools for dealing with the bee swarm were ready.

            

Liu Yinxi first returned to the spot where she had been digging for kudzu. Based on the fact that small hanging bees prefer to be near water, she began searching in the direction of the stream.

After about half an hour, she found a solitary tree by the stream. Tucked away in a hidden spot on a branch was a massive beehive, with a few small hanging bees buzzing in and out.

Liu Yinxi stood behind a bush and looked up, a smirk playing on her still-swollen red lips.

            

Spicy little honeybees, I’ve finally found your home.

Since you stung me, you can compensate me with your sweet, sweet honey~

Liu Yinxi lit a small bundle of tinder, blew thick smoke from it, and hid behind the bushes. She pulled out a homemade slingshot made from a forked branch and tree bark, took aim at the hive, and fired a stone.

            

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