Substitute Alpha Gets Confessed to by Her Ex’s Aunt on a Survival Variety Show – Chapter 65
by Little PandaThanks for Nature’s Gifts
The bay waters at the Toa River Estuary are home to the Jinzhou pearl oyster, a specialty of Jinzhou Island. In the original novel, the passage describing Huang Heshan gathering pearls was quite detailed.
Liu Yinxi had been waiting for today’s airdrop since the day before yesterday, because the vending machine offered a diving respirator—getting the equipment would make diving much easier.
In the original story, Huang Heshan gathered pearls and traded them for shea butter cream for Ying Luoling. But this time, Ying Luoling wouldn’t be so lucky.
Liu Yinxi held Nan Huaixu’s hand. After walking up the earthen slope, she turned back for a look, taking in the scene of everyone gathered on the river shoal.
This time, she would be the one to create luck.
The other guests were still gathered around the vending machine.
Huang Heshan and Yu Yan had walked a short distance away, seemingly arguing.
Xue Yunshao operated the vending machine once, said a few words to Ying Luoling, and the two packed their bags and left.
Lu Yiqi asked Yuan Fang, who was bent over scratching at the ground, “What are you doing?”
The corners of Yuan Fang’s mouth curled up, her eyes gleaming with wicked mischief. “It wants pearls, so I’ll give it pearls? A little broken robot—I’ll give it whatever I want, and it’ll take it.”
She picked out the roundest small stone from the sand and pebbles on the riverbank, then scanned her fingerprint to open the purchase interface. “How does a machine tell the difference between a pearl and something else? A stone is round too. Does this vending machine have some high-tech pearl-authentication technology?”
Lu Yiqi caught a whiff of danger. “Yuan Fang, don’t do anything stupid.”
Yuan Fang dropped the round stone into the input slot. “Relax, your big sister here is the most reliable.”
The vending machine chimed: “Ding-dong! Thank you for your patronage!”
Lu Yiqi’s eyes went wide with surprise. Even Huang Heshan and Yu Yan looked over from the other side at the sound.
Yuan Fang raised her arm triumphantly. “Yes! Brains beat machinery! I knew it—the production team would never spring for that kind of advanced technology—”
The vending machine suddenly flashed red. “Warning! Warning! Contestant Number 2, Yuan Fang, has used illegal currency. Serious violation! One yellow card warning! If this occurs again, purchasing privileges for Contestants Number 2, Yuan Fang, and Number 5, Lu Yiqi, will be revoked!”
Yuan Fang: “?!”
“…” Lu Yiqi’s face darkened like black water. She shoved Yuan Fang aside. “Move, pig teammate1.”
Yuan Fang stumbled, her expression turning angry. “So young and already such a foul mouth. How would we know without trying? It’s just one yellow card. We still have chances—just go find pearls. But I’m on my period…”
“You? Expecting you to go into the ocean to feed the sharks?” Lu Yiqi grabbed the diving respirator and strode downstream.
Yuan Fang hurried after her. “Xiao Qi-mei, where are you going?”
Her answer was Lu Yiqi’s accelerating pace and her retreating back, radiating disdain.
The remaining two exchanged glances. Yu Yan smiled silently.
Huang Heshan looked down. “Don’t use that.”
Yu Yan had no choice. “Alright… You should go quickly, before someone beats you to it.”
Her companion’s figure grew more distant. Yu Yan raised a hand to her chest, pressing the pearl hidden beneath her collar.
Had letting Nan Huaixu see this two days ago given their opponents a hint?
It seemed she couldn’t afford to be so careless in the future…
Glub glub glub…
Bubbles spread like underwater kite strings behind the diver, trailing through the azure underwater world.
The shallow sea past noon had absorbed the sun’s warmth. The surface water was warm, but the deeper one went, the colder it became, and visibility steadily decreased.
Liu Yinxi had shed her outer jacket and trousers, swimming in a short-sleeved top and shorts. Schools of small fish occasionally swam past her. She checked the compass on her bracelet and swam southwest.
The great river carried sediment into the estuary, churning up abundant microorganisms. The deposited sand was well-lit, the water warm. The gentle slopes provided a comfortable environment for coral, and large schools of fish gathered here.
Liu Yinxi swam toward the location described in her reading system. In about twenty minutes, she found the crescent-shaped shallow gully mentioned in the original book, along with the coral community living within it.
Light rippled through the blue water, weaving textures.
The colorful coral clusters resembled underwater flowers, weaving together an ethereal garden from a sea god’s dreams.
According to the original text, Jinzhou pearl oysters liked to hide in the sand beneath coral trees. They could also be found in the crevices of coral reefs.
The original novel wrote that Huang Heshan had summarized a characteristic of these oysters while gathering pearls: the darker the shell, the greater the probability it contained a pearl. This might be related to the Jinzhou oyster’s physiological habits—when impurities invaded the interior and stimulated secretions, it also affected the accumulation of shell-forming material.
Liu Yinxi adjusted her swimming posture, slowly descending. She drew a woven vine net bag2 from her belt and carefully searched for oysters beneath the fine sand.
The Jinzhou pearl oysters relied on their resemblance to the sea sand for camouflage. Unless attacked, they would remain motionless in their hiding spots.
Liu Yinxi used her naked eye to identify places where oysters might be hiding. She buried the edge of her net into the bottom sand, scooped upward with force, then shook out the fine sand and gravel—leaving the prey in the net.
At first she was clumsy, missing several times. But after summing up her experience, her success rate grew. Not everything she scooped up was a Jinzhou oyster—there were other sea shells and conches as well. There were also unlucky moments when an oyster would flap its shells and escape.
Midway, Liu Yinxi surfaced several times to breathe. She counted the harvest in her net: five or six pearl oysters in total, all fairly small. The largest was only half a palm’s width, and the shell color was relatively light.
She tossed the oysters into the net and sighed quietly underwater. Not enough. She needed to find a big one.
The sea surface splashed. Plop. Liu Yinxi dove once more into the coral gully at the seabed.
Her hands parted the water. Her gaze searched through the drifting sand and silt. Unknowingly, she had swum deep into the lush coral forest.
Glub glub glub…
Several small fish scattered in panic. Liu Yinxi reached into a small hole in a coral reef. She had just seen a large oyster inside. Sensing external danger, the oyster had retreated even deeper.
Liu Yinxi sank to the bottom. One hand gripped the reef rock as she plunged her entire arm into the hole. She fumbled for several minutes before finally grasping the cunning large oyster and pulling hard.
“Hiss—” Liu Yinxi frowned. She felt the inner side of her elbow scrape against sharp reef rock. A moment later, a thread of red blood drifted from the hole.
She withdrew her arm, stuffed the pearl oyster into her net, and immediately rolled up her short sleeve to check. The inner side of her elbow, near her upper arm, had been scraped open—a cut four or five centimeters long. Fortunately it wasn’t deep. Though bleeding a little, it hadn’t penetrated the dermis. With medicine and careful care for a few days, it would heal on its own.
Blood scent spread quickly in water. She had to get to shore as soon as possible.
Liu Yinxi tied an extra knot in the net at her waist, securing it firmly. She turned and executed an elegant ascent, swimming toward the dancing golden light on the surface.
Suddenly, a powerful current surged behind her.
Liu Yinxi turned sharply, alert. A dark shape was swimming toward her through the water. She accelerated toward the beach. After a few meters, she looked back and saw that it was a person.
Liu Yinxi adjusted her posture, stabilizing herself to drift in the water. The shadow swam closer, its body language radiating anger.
Liu Yinxi recognized who it was. She waved in greeting: Huang-jie’s here.
Huang Heshan wore a black respirator, her hair drifting with the water’s motion. Her gaze was sharp. She pointed at the reef hole Liu Yinxi had just fished from, then at the net bag tied to Liu Yinxi’s waist.
Liu Yinxi blinked inside her diving mask. Oh right, the original text did mention that Huang Heshan discovered a reef hole beneath the largest red coral tree, where Jinzhou pearl oysters often hid.
Heh heh.
Liu Yinxi extended her left hand and made a heart shape at the furiously pointing Huang Heshan: Thanks for nature’s gifts!
Glub glub—splash.
The current suddenly quickened.
Oh no. Huang-jie was charging at her like a shark. Liu Yinxi swam with everything she had, forgetting the pain in her arm entirely, racing desperately for shore.
A few minutes later, the current behind her gradually calmed. Liu Yinxi swam while looking back. Huang Heshan had turned and swum into the coral gully, no longer chasing her.
Whew.
Escaped an underwater brawl.
Really, they were pressed for time to buy supplies. No need to damage the harmony over a little shell.
Approaching the coast, Liu Yinxi’s leg brushed the fine white sand at the seabed. She kicked forward, her feet finding the bottom sand, and slowly walked upward, breaking the surface.
Water cascaded down. The scorching sunlight fell on her face. Liu Yinxi removed her respirator and wiped her face with her hand, squinting against the sun’s glare.
Her soaked compression top and shorts clung tightly to her body, outlining her athletic curves. Her wet hair, plastered to her scalp, dripped water, accentuating her excellent cranial shape.
Liu Yinxi raised one hand to shield her brow and kicked through the seawater onto the beach. Two drones buzzed in the air above the sea, following her on either side.
【Xixi’s figure is amazing Y^o^Y】
【OMG Liu Yinxi can actually pull off the slicked-back look3! Wet hair plastered to her head! (shocked)】
【Xixi’s head shape, I’m in love4 ≥3≤】
【Liu’s head shape is even prettier than Xue Yunshao’s. Xue is mainly elegant in posture and temperament.】
【Xixi’s temperament has improved too, okay? Wild strength—look at the lines of her shoulders and back, so gorgeous5 (sending flowers)】
【Suddenly I don’t blame Ying Luoling for keeping Liu for three years…】
【Purely in terms of looks and body, it’s only human nature (pat on shoulder)】
【Whoa, Xixi’s vine net is full of shells, time to open pearls~】
【This time she can get first place! Xixi, go! (happy)】
【If Yu Yan used the pearl around her neck, no one else would even have a chance (sigh)】
【Definitely can’t, that’s a gift Huang-jie gave Yu-yu. Yu-yu wouldn’t use it, and Huang-jie wouldn’t let her.】
【Sisters help me look, is that a red mark on Xixi’s right inner arm?】
【I see it too! It’s bleeding!】
【Ahhh? No! Xixi’s injured! (screaming)】
【Watch out for Vibrio vulnificus infection!】
【Request outside help! Don’t you have two chances?】
Waves rushed up the beach, leaving winding white lines.
Liu Yinxi walked smiling toward Nan Huaixu, who had come to meet her. The surf washed over their pale ankles.
“Teacher Nan, make a wish.” Liu Yinxi untied the vine knot at her waist and pulled out the largest dark-shelled oyster.
Nan Huaixu’s gaze softened. She gently brushed aside Liu Yinxi’s wet bangs. “Alright. What should I wish for?”
Liu Yinxi opened the backpack beneath the coconut tree and took out a knife to open the shell. “Wish for a big, round pearl.”
“The vending machine doesn’t limit the pearl’s size or shape. One small one is enough. What do you need a big, round one for?” Even as she said this, Nan Huaixu closed her eyes, pressed her palms together, and silently made a wish.
Liu Yinxi smiled. “For Teacher Nan to like it.”
Nan Huaixu slowly opened her eyes. Liu Yinxi held one hand flat before her. In her palm lay a large, lustrous pearl, round and glowing white in the sunlight.
So beautiful.
This was… a gift from her?
Nan Huaixu smiled, the curve of her lips suddenly freezing. A splash of crimson on Liu Yinxi’s arm pierced her eyes.
Footnotes
- An internet slang term (zhū duìyǒu) meaning an incompetent, unreliable, or troublesome teammate who drags others down.
- A mesh bag woven from vines, used for gathering shellfish underwater.
- Literally 'Great Brightness Peak' (a location in wuxia fiction), this is internet slang for slicking all hair back tightly against the scalp, considered a difficult hairstyle to pull off as it reveals one's true head shape and facial features.
- An internet slang term where 'i' represents the English word 'love' (phonetically similar to 'ai' in Chinese). Repeated twice for emphasis, it expresses strong adoration or falling in love with something or someone.
- Internet slang (hǎo mǐ) where 'mǐ' (rice) sounds like 'měi' (beautiful). Used to describe something or someone extremely attractive.
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