Substitute Alpha Gets Confessed to by Her Ex’s Aunt on a Survival Variety Show – Chapter 37

Contemplating an Upgrade in Living Standards

Feminine charm is multifaceted, and an alpha’s disposition has its own unique characteristics.

Liu Yinxi muttered under her breath, “Everyone has their own style. How am I any worse than anyone else?”

            

Nan Huaixu, walking ahead, didn’t turn back. It was impossible to tell if she hadn’t heard, or if she had and was simply ignoring her.

Liu Yinxi didn’t consider herself someone affected by others’ opinions. She did what she believed was right, and as long as she could achieve her goals, the doubts and gossip along the way were of no consequence. After all, most people in this world only care about results.

Nan Huaixu had criticized and shown disdain for her before, but she had never taken it to heart. If she was wrong, she would correct it; if she wasn’t, there was no need to argue. The final outcome would vindicate her.

            

This time was the same.

It was the sa…

Liu Yinxi passed through the coastal coconut grove and was nearly at the familiar reef cluster, but her mind was still meticulously comparing every aspect of herself to Huang Heshan, obsessing over where, exactly, she fell short in Nan Huaixu’s eyes.

            

Her mind was a chaotic mess of thoughts she couldn’t shake. The sound of the waves, usually a source of relief, now grated on her nerves.

She wearily admitted the truth: this time was different.

She cared more about Nan Huaixu’s opinion of her than before. For some inexplicable reason, she wanted to earn Nan Huaixu’s praise.

            

That’s how it was in a two-person team. It was just you and me. If you didn’t care about your teammate’s opinion, who else was there to care about? Living together day in and day out, every subtle emotion between them was magnified.

Liu Yinxi fell into a state of introspection.

Nan Huaixu said she wasn’t feminine enough. Was it because she didn’t pay enough attention to her appearance? Or because she didn’t value the little pleasures in life?

            

And not alpha enough. Was it because she showed too little concern for Nan Huaixu? Had she let Nan Huaixu get overtired?

Liu Yinxi couldn’t be sure, and she was too embarrassed to ask Nan Huaixu directly. She noted down every suspicion, preparing to improve on them one by one in the days of survival to come…

As Liu Yinxi walked on, lost in her scattered thoughts, the robot dog following her tilted its head.

            

【Emm, I think when Nan Huaixu said Liu was inferior to Huang, she wasn’t talking about style, but emotional intelligence? (thinking)】

【Really? Liu’s EQ isn’t great, but Huang doesn’t have much either, right?】

【Sister, you’re mistaken. Huang-jie might be fierce and quiet, but ever since she realized she’d upset Yu Yan, she’s been trying to cheer her up every day. She even spent two whole days gathering herbs to trade for honey to appease her. In contrast, what does Liu do? Besides eating, drinking, sleeping, and working, she just mouths off sometimes, so sharp she could choke you. She provides zero emotional value¹.】

            

【Actually, Huang-jie is only fierce to people from other teams. She’s really gentle with Yu Yan (^u^)】

【Huang-jie doesn’t spend her days fooling around with guests from other teams, making friends all over the place (sarcastic dog emoji)】

【I’m genuinely scared Liu will collude with the enemy one day. She won’t be able to resist the temptation of a top-tier omega like Boss Yuan and will just give away all their assets =_=】

            

【No way…】

【Sigh, didn’t Liu just go through a breakup? She’s starved for affection. You never know (chin in hands, worrying)】

On the banks of a tributary of the Toa River, separated by a dense patch of forest.

            

The lush reeds were pushed aside as a dark figure walked through.

Huang Heshan stopped before a spread of sun-drying wild vegetables. Cupping the honey jar in both hands, she gently placed it on a flat stone.

Yu Yan was sitting under a tree, grinding herbs with a stone pestle. When she caught sight of the honey she had quietly delivered, she set down her medicine bowl.

            

Huang Heshan took a step back and lowered her eyes. Her field of vision was filled with nothing but the cuffs of Yu Yan’s pants and her shoes.

Yu Yan picked up the honey jar. Just as she was about to stand, her gaze lingered for two extra seconds on the fresh flowers decorating the jar’s mouth. She removed the two blossoms and placed them in a water bottle with the other flowers she liked.

Yu Yan added a little fresh water to the vase, then glanced around the shelter. She stood on her toes, trying to place the honey jar on a high, ventilated spot. Huang Heshan came up behind her and easily put the jar on the shelf she couldn’t reach.

            

Yu Yan dodged away nimbly and returned to the stream to grind herbs. She had just picked up the medicine bowl when she heard Huang Heshan’s low, slow voice. “That flower is called plumeria.”

Yu Yan finally gave her a proper look.

Huang Heshan sat down on the other side of the vegetable pile and began sorting them according to Yu Yan’s instructions. “Wild honey has impurities. Boil it before you drink it. It’s sweet. Eating it will make you feel better.”

            

“…” Yu Yan lowered her head and slowly mashed the herbs in the bowl. For someone who was usually so sparing with her words² to suddenly become talkative felt subtly strange.

For a long time, the only sounds were the steady thump-thump of the pestle and the soft rustle of vegetables being sorted.

The drying vegetables were divided into two piles, one large and one small. The large one was for discarding, the small one held the edible tender shoots.

            

Yu Yan covered the finished medicine bowl with a banana leaf and brought over a straw-woven basket to collect the vegetables. Seeing this, Huang Heshan immediately scooped all the tender shoots into it.

“I’m sorry,” Huang Heshan said suddenly.

Yu Yan looked up, her eyes meeting Huang’s.

            

Huang Heshan avoided her gaze. “What I said that night wasn’t about you. You’re great. I’m the one who’s not. I grew up in a war camp, surrounded by alphas and betas. I don’t know how to interact with omegas, so I didn’t want to get too close and make you uncomfortable.”

The stream murmured as it flowed.

Yu Yan let out a long breath, a long-absent smile appearing on her face. “So you don’t hate me.”

            

Huang Heshan shook her head, looking elsewhere.

Yu Yan’s tone was light. “You’re forgiven.”

“Don’t worry about how to act around me. Besides our pheromones, omega women are no different from alpha or beta women.” Yu Yan turned, picked up the medicinal paste she had just made, and placed it on her lap. She reached out to circle Huang Heshan’s wrist, her other hand moving to peel back her hardshell jacket³.

            

Huang Heshan’s back went rigid. She watched Yu Yan’s movements and cooperatively slipped off the jacket.

Yu Yan rolled up the sleeve of Huang Heshan’s base layer. There was a patch of red, swollen skin on her arm. Yu Yan used a small wooden spoon to scoop up the paste, gently dabbing it onto the wound.

“You need to be gentler with yourself, okay?” Yu Yan said as she applied the medicine.

            

Huang Heshan leaned away from her, listening to the sound of her own uneven breathing.

“Other people see how strong you try to be,” Yu Yan said, “but the injury is on your body. Only you know the pain.”

She lifted her face and smiled at her. “Luckily, I know it too.”

            

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The forest was a chorus of birdsong and insect calls.

Back at the shelter, Liu Yinxi sorted the herbs they had traded for, organizing them by type.

Nan Huaixu asked her, “Are you still going to the big river today?”

            

Liu Yinxi stacked bundles of herbs into a box designated for medicine. “I haven’t decided yet.”

Her plan had been to go find a location for a new shelter by the river as soon as she got the herbs, but right now, she wasn’t in the mood for a long trek.

Her mind was a mess. Maybe her susceptible period⁴ was coming soon. The susceptible period was the two or three days starting from ovulation day. Her menstrual period would follow in about ten days.

            

Liu Yinxi reminded herself to carry an inhibitor with her from now on, to deal with the effects of pheromones on her body at any moment.

Since the survival competition began, the contestants had been suffering from nutritional deficiencies, poor living conditions, and immense mental stress. This had led to endocrine disruptions, and everyone’s menstrual cycle had been delayed.

Noticing that Liu Yinxi’s spirits were low, Nan Huaixu figured that the long-distance scouting trips these past two days had truly exhausted her. “You should rest for a day,” she said with concern. “Stay at the shelter, or just stick to the nearby area.”

            

Nan Huaixu prepared her salt-boiling tools. “I’m going to go boil some salt.”

“Oh,” Liu Yinxi responded distractedly. She stared blankly at the neatly arranged plants in the box, then took out a handful of small, pale purple flowers and a handful of long, oval-shaped green leaves.

The ones with the small flowers were lilac, and the leaves were from a yellow camphor tree. Both had excellent insect-repelling properties and also offered some skin protection.

            

Liu Yinxi snuck a glance at Nan Huaixu’s hands. She was sitting right beside her, and Liu Yinxi could clearly see how her once fair, smooth hands had become dry and rough.

Skin that had been maintained daily with high-end skincare products in the city quickly lost its luster in the wild without the nourishment of oils.

Liu Yinxi sighed with guilt. She really hadn’t taken good care of Nan Huaixu.

            

No wonder she was dissatisfied with her.

She deserved it.

Liu Yinxi put down the lilac and camphor leaves and closed the box lid. She began to formulate a plan to make herbal soap and moisturizing cream. That way, they could wash themselves more thoroughly and soothe their dry, cracked skin.

            

Most importantly, it would make Nan Huaixu’s life more comfortable.

She could use the lilac and camphor leaves for the handmade soap. For the moisturizing cream, she could add pandan and aloe vera, which had skincare benefits. But to make these two products, she was missing the most crucial ingredient—oil.

The oils added to skincare products could be animal-based (like horse oil), plant-based (like shea butter), mineral-based (like petroleum jelly), or synthetic (like capric triglyceride).

            

Here on the coast of a rainforest, the easiest to obtain was coconut oil.

Liu Yinxi immediately decided to extract some coconut oil to make skincare products. Then they could take a proper bath with the handmade soap and apply the moisturizing cream afterward. When their bodies felt comfortable, their whole state of being would improve, and their moods would naturally lift.

Just imagining Nan Huaixu feeling comfortable and happy made Liu Yinxi glad from the bottom of her heart.

            

“Liu Yinxi, I’m heading to the beach.”

“Oh!” Liu Yinxi scrambled to her feet and grabbed her bag. “Wait for me, I’m coming too. Let me just pack my bag.”

She cleared out the unnecessary items from her pack, freeing up as much space as possible.

            

“I can handle the salt-boiling. Yuan Fang is especially diligent now. You should just get some proper rest today.” Though Nan Huaixu was trying to persuade her to stay, she still turned and waited patiently.

Liu Yinxi’s movements were swift. She quickly zipped up her backpack and caught up to Nan Huaixu. “Yep, yep, I’ll rest. I’m just going to the beach first to pick up a few coconuts. I want to make something.”

They walked one after the other toward the beach.

            

Nan Huaixu was always curious whenever Liu Yinxi had a new idea. “What are you going to make? Why do you need coconuts?”

Liu Yinxi wanted the herbal soap and moisturizing cream to be a surprise gift, so she was deliberately mysterious. “It’s an exclusive secret recipe. Top secret for now.”

This only made Nan Huaixu more curious. “You can’t even tell me?”

            

They were, at present, the two closest teammates on the entire island.

Chatting with Nan Huaixu, Liu Yinxi’s mood improved without her even realizing it.

Her voice became bright. “I can. I can tell you anything. But this thing I want to make requires a lot of effort, and I want to show you the finished product once it’s successful.”

            

“I understand,” Nan Huaixu said, guessing her thoughts. “It’s not easy to succeed, is it? If you talk about it first, you’ll be a little disappointed if it fails.”

Liu Yinxi thought to herself that she wouldn’t fail, she would definitely succeed. But to keep the gift a secret, she went along with Nan Huaixu’s words. “Mhm… Teacher Nan, you always know just what I’m thinking.”

Nan Huaixu encouraged her. “Failure is the mother of success. You can do it. I’m looking forward to your finished product.”

            

Liu Yinxi’s eyes curved into crescents. “Okay!”

They passed through the rainforest and entered the coconut grove.

Nan Huaixu stopped just out of sight of Yuan Fang and parted ways with Liu Yinxi. She pointed in the opposite direction of the salt-boiling stone stove. “You go south. There are more coconuts over there.”

            

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