Substitute Alpha Gets Confessed to by Her Ex’s Aunt on a Survival Variety Show – Chapter 49
by Little PandaMoving as a Trio
Nan Huaixu finally turned around, looking straight at the depressed Yuan Fang.
With someone helping to carry the suitcase, Nan Huaixu’s load was reduced to just a single backpack, instantly making her feel much lighter.
Although she didn’t like Yuan Fang’s nonsensical personality, Nan Huaixu wouldn’t exploit someone else’s labor for no reason. Besides, having Yuan Fang move with them might expose the location of their new shelter.
Nan Huaixu did not want a certain someone surnamed Yuan waiting beneath her and Liu Yinxi’s little treehouse every other day to wake them up.
Showing consideration for this contestant surnamed Yuan, Nan Huaixu spoke to the person beside her. “Yinxi, Yuan Fang is a guest here. We are moving today; we can’t trouble others.”
Liu Yinxi smiled and replied, “It’s fine, Teacher Nan. When I said we were moving today, Boss Yuan volunteered to help us.”
Her eyes curved in a smile, but her heart drummed a little. Why did Teacher Nan drop my surname and call me Yinxi directly? Is she acting again, like when we traded for the honey?
Liu Yinxi guessed Nan Huaixu was worried about exposing the new shelter, so she hurried to dispel her doubts. “Teacher Nan, I saw a pretty good place by the Toa River that’s suitable for camping. Boss Yuan wanted to take a look, and if she’s satisfied, she’ll use it as her shelter.”
She raised an eyebrow at Yuan Fang. “Right?”
Carrying a suitcase was a small matter; changing shelters was a big deal.
Yuan Fang knew her priorities and nodded eagerly. “Yeah! I came specifically to help. Liu’er is going to show me a suitable place to live, and I’ll help you carry the suitcase. Teacher Nan, is your bag heavy? If there’s anything else you need carried, just hand it over to me.”
Her mouth spoke sweetly, but her heart was bitter. Doing business with Liu Yinxi meant she could never take advantage; it was always a losing deal she had no choice but to accept. Where was the justice in that?
This Liu’er really was something else. She had been calling her ‘Teacher Nan’ this and ‘Teacher Nan’ that for over a month, and now Teacher Nan was calling her ‘Yinxi’. So affectionate. Much gentler than when she had been boiling salt with her.
Understanding the full story, Nan Huaixu immediately relaxed, a relieved smile surfacing on her face. “So that’s how it is. Then we’ll trouble Boss Yuan with this as well.”
She took a single-shoulder bag made of vines and a plastic bag, and hung it around Yuan Fang’s neck. It was stuffed full of wild vegetables.
Yuan Fang: “?”
There’s actually more???
Yuan Fang looked at Liu Yinxi, a trace of bitterness leaking through her smiling eyes. Liu Yinxi shifted her gaze away. Cough, cough.
They were all contestants on the same variety show. They had to be considerate of each other and love one another, right?
Everyone was present, and the luggage was all packed up. Liu Yinxi stood before the triangular shelter they had lived in for over twenty days and waved.
Goodbye, Generation One Shelter.
She didn’t know if they would ever have the chance to come back and see this little shack that had shielded them from the wind and sun for over twenty days.
Maybe they would.
Maybe they wouldn’t. Once the competition ended, they would never see this little shelter again. It would break down and collapse in the endless storms and gales; the wood would be buried in the dust, the leaves would turn to fertilizer, and it would return to nature.
Life was full of partings, and it was the same between humans and nature.
Therefore, traveler, enjoy all the passing scenery to your heart’s content, for they will all become unique treasures on the journey of life.
The three of them, carrying bags and holding their things, wove through the rainforest.
The humans walked in front, and the three robot dogs followed behind.
Dog 6’s screen face: ^?^
Dog 4’s screen face: 0u0
Dog 2’s screen face: /_ \
【Pfft hahaha the three cyber dogs are even chatting XD】
【Yuan Fang’s dog has the exact same dead-inside1 expression she does (shrugs)】
【Liu Yinxi’s dog even has a crooked smirk ←v←】
【The exploited Dog 6 really is built different (thumbs up)】
【Did Xixi really help Boss Yuan pick a shelter location? It took her so long to find her own place. If there were other good spots, she wouldn’t have had to look for so long, right? (confused)】
【Xixi’s standards are very strict. She might have seen a barely livable spot before but wasn’t satisfied, so it’s perfect to give to Yuan Fang.】
【Poor Yuan mou ren, relegated to living in Liu’er’s rejects.】
【The leaky shack Yuan mou ren is living in now is already terrible enough (facepalm)】
【She’s lucky to have anything at all. A place that caught Liu’s eye couldn’t possibly be that bad (snickers)】
【Could Yuan Fang become neighbors with Liu Yinxi and the others?】
【Teacher Nan definitely wouldn’t agree to that.】
【Manman really doesn’t get along with Yuan Fang.】
【Survival contestants generally don’t expose their shelters. Look at past seasons—the late-stage airdrops are practically non-existent, so stealing from rivals is standard practice2. Liu’s situation is different. She has abundant resources, so interacting with Yuan is downward compatibility3. Yuan has nothing worth taking, so it doesn’t matter if she lets Yuan know where her shelter is. On the flip side, Yuan choosing a shelter recommended by Liu saves her a lot of time and energy.】
【Yeah, even if she’s doing hard labor, Yuan can learn a lot by trekking with Liu. Not only does she find easy paths to walk, but she also learns about the plants along the way.】
【So that’s how it is! I was feeling bad for Yuan Fang getting tricked into doing hard labor by Liu, but it turns out Boss Yuan is actually profiting (realization)】
After more than three hours, they arrived at the Toa River Estuary.
All three of them were stained with mud. They carried the robot dogs down the high slope and placed them on the riverbank. The three dogs ran around happily for a while, wagging their stiff metal tails at each other.
Nan Huaixu and Yuan Fang braced their hands on their knees to catch their breath. Liu Yinxi pointed to a spot not far above the riverbank, a flat piece of land shaded by tall trees. “Boss Yuan, what do you think of that spot? It’s close to the riverbank, more than five meters above the water level, and has shade. The drawbacks are also obvious: the trees are too dense, so clearing the land will take a bit longer.”
They stared at the high ground layered with green trees. It wasn’t just that clearing it would take a bit longer—not only was there no open space, but the slope was steep, making climbing up and down incredibly strenuous.
Nan Huaixu remained silent, minding her own business as she massaged her calf muscles to relax them.
Yuan Fang’s expression twisted in dismay. “Liu’er, isn’t this where the last airdrop was?”
Liu Yinxi was perfectly candid. “Right.”
Yuan Fang’s eyelids drooped. “You didn’t just glance at it randomly while snatching the airdrop and then casually recommend it to me, did you?”
“Of course not,” Liu Yinxi argued, her reasoning sounding perfectly logical. “That place is so close to the airdrop point. If they drop it here again next time, how convenient would it be for you to grab it? You’d be faster than Huang Heshan.”
But the reality was different. Once everyone was familiar with the airdrop locations, they would all arrive ahead of time. It still came down to who could run the fastest.
“……”
Yuan Fang’s internal thoughts: Even though I know she’s just talking pretty, why am I a little tempted?
She asked, “If it’s really as good as you say, why aren’t you living there yourself?”
“Because I have a better one. I’m just bringing you here to take a look. If you aren’t satisfied, you can choose somewhere else. You were the one who came looking for me yesterday, remember?”
Nobody was forcing her.
Yuan Fang frowned helplessly.
It was true; she had initiated this entirely on her own. Setting aside the steep slope, the surrounding environment of that plot was indeed quite nice. Her exchange with Liu Yinxi was very reasonable.
“But that slope is way too steep. How much time will it take me just to chop down the trees and level the ground?” Yuan Fang fretted.
Liu Yinxi clapped her hands and poked Nan Huaixu’s arm, preparing to retreat. “Take your time and think it over. We’ll be going now.” With that, she took the suitcase and plastic bags back from Yuan Fang’s hands.
Yuan Fang was surprised. “You’re leaving right now?”
Liu Yinxi checked her bracelet. “It’s only eleven o’clock. The sun is blazing, and the sky is so bright. You have plenty of time to make your way back slowly.”
Yuan Fang had never considered spying on their shelter, let alone ruining her cooperative relationship with Liu Yinxi over such a foolish move.
She nodded. “Be careful on your way. I’ll stay here and look around a bit more.”
“Bye-bye~”
Nan Huaixu took the suitcase and the bag of wild vegetables. The remaining journey to the treehouse would only take a little over half an hour.
Thank you, Yuan Fang, she thought, for saving her so much energy.
On the way back to the treehouse, they walked for a bit and rested for a bit, observing the surrounding environment and leaving markers to make daily foraging easier.
Along the way, Liu Yinxi chopped down some palm leaves and banana leaves to take back to the treehouse for the roof.
Having been away for a day, more fallen leaves covered the ground near the treehouse, and a few tiny weeds had sprouted.
Nan Huaixu set down the suitcase, took off her backpack, and crouched down to look at the newly emerged green specks in the dirt, unable to help but marvel at the tenacity of their vitality.
On the first floor beneath the treehouse, the ground was paved with fine river sand. A low rack had been built from wooden sticks, and Liu Yinxi placed both the suitcase and the backpack on this moisture-proof isolation layer.
Liu Yinxi climbed the wooden ladder to the second floor, popped her head out from a gap in the scaffolding, and called down, “Teacher Nan, could you hand me the banana leaves?”
Nan Huaixu gathered a bundle of large, half-person-tall banana leaves and lifted them over her head. “Can you reach them?”
“I can.” Liu Yinxi grabbed the tips of the leaves, pulled them up, and laid them out on the roof. She looked left and right. “I forgot to bring the wooden pegs up.”
Nailing the edges of the leaves into the wooden frame with pegs would secure the roof much more firmly.
Nan Huaixu set the remaining leaves down and asked, “Where are they?”
“I think they’re in the suitcase with the raincoats.”
Nan Huaixu opened the large suitcase, took out the smaller box inside, felt around for a moment, and pulled out a plastic bag, tossing it up to the second floor.
Liu Yinxi stretched out her arm and caught the wooden pegs with perfect accuracy. “Thanks! Great aim, Teacher Nan.”
From upstairs came the clang-clang sound of a stone hammering the wooden pegs.
Nan Huaixu cleared away the fallen leaves and pebbles from the ground, then went to the tall grass at the edge of the riverbank and cut a large handful of pandan leaves.
Each leaf was nearly half a meter long. She carried these long, fragrant leaves back to camp, sat down on a stone stool on the first floor, and began weaving grass mats.
Liu Yinxi finished the roof, nailed up the leaf curtains, and then used timber to build a single-room partition for the second floor.
By the time she finished, Nan Huaixu had also completed weaving two pandan mattresses. She handed them up to Liu Yinxi, who laid them over the palm bark mattresses in the two separate rooms. With these in place, adding another layer of banana leaves would make lying down much softer.
Past two o’clock in the afternoon, both of them were covered in sweat and their stomachs were rumbling with hunger.
They first drank the coconut water from their bottles, then ignited the tinder in the fire hole. They set up the mess tin, boiled water to cook the wild vegetables and salted fish, and paired it with two roasted cassavas.
Ever since upgrading their campfires, the shelter had almost no smoke when they only used the fire hole. As for the star-shaped campfire, because the flames were concentrated and small, the smoke it produced was also relatively minimal. In this way, it completely cut off the allergens that triggered Nan Huaixu’s rhinitis.
Nan Huaixu stirred the tangled wild vegetables in the soup, suddenly raising her head to gaze at the verdant distant mountains, her expression thoughtful.
So that was it.
She had found it strange before. Back at the old shelter, they could cook just fine using a simple, convenient conical bonfire. Why was it absolutely necessary to upgrade to complex campfires after moving camps, and even build two of them, placing the smoky fire far away from the treehouse?
Liu Yinxi had done all this… for her.
Probably.
The soup in the mess tin bubbled and blubbed.
Nan Huaixu rested her cheek on one hand and pinched the wooden spoon with the other, her gaze distant.
“Teacher Nan, the soup is ready,” Liu Yinxi said, sitting beside her. She held up her wooden chopsticks, her eyes shining.
Nan Huaixu snapped out of her daze. She hurriedly grabbed the handle, lifted the mess tin, and placed it on a banana leaf plate.
Liu Yinxi picked up a piece of boiled dried fish, blew on it, took a bite of meat, and then took a bite of cassava.
“Teacher Nan,” she murmured, her voice muffled as she chewed. “Do you think I should weave fish traps this afternoon, or make hunting traps?”
Nan Huaixu didn’t hesitate. “I’ll weave the fish traps. You make the hunting traps.”
“Mhm, and I’d like to ask you to build a fence.”
“A fence? We’re living up in the trees. Do we need a fence?”
“It’s best to have one. This is the riverbank; a lot of wild animals roam around here.”
“That’s good, then. Our food reserves just multiplied.”
Liu Yinxi laughed out loud at that. Nan Huaixu met her eyes, and the corners of her own mouth curled up.
The Captain had spoken.
Well then.
Liu Yinxi devoured her cassava in two or three bites, drained her soup in one gulp, and stood up. “Alright. We’ll do both the fish traps and the hunting traps today.”
Footnotes
- An internet slang idiom (shēng wú kě liàn), literally 'no desire to live.' It describes someone who looks completely dead inside, depressed, or resigned to a miserable fate.
- An internet slang term (jī cāo), short for 'basic operation' (jīchǔ cāozuò). It means something is standard practice or par for the course.
- A term borrowed from software technology (xiàngxià jiānróng), literally 'downward compatibility.' As slang, it refers to interacting with or accommodating someone of a much lower level, capability, or status without demanding anything in return.
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