Substitute Alpha Gets Confessed to by Her Ex’s Aunt on a Survival Variety Show – Chapter 68
by Little PandaWe Were Platonic
Warm water billowed into white mist.
Liu Yinxi’s gaze darted about in panic, catching sight of Nan Huaixu’s hardshell jacket peeking out from behind the screen.
Nan Huaixu caught the surprise in her tone and explained, “We agreed at dinner, didn’t we? I’d help you wash your arm and back. Be careful—don’t get your wound wet. I’ll change your dressing again before you sleep. The doctor said to change it frequently the first two days.”
Liu Yinxi hurriedly grabbed a banana leaf from the storage rack and placed it over the opening of the big white barrel, leaving only a small gap above chest level. “I think I can wash myself. Why don’t you rest first?”
Nan Huaixu paused. “Are you shy?”
“No.” Liu Yinxi smoothed her disheveled wet hair, trying to make it look neater. “I just think this is a small thing, no need to trouble you.”
Nan Huaixu was a big star. If Liu Yinxi—a regular person—got shy about having her help wash up after an injury when she hadn’t even been shy asking for help bathing before, that would be too awkward.
Nan Huaixu said, “Then call me when you’re ready. I found a bigger sponge—it’ll be more comfortable for scrubbing. I’ll bring it over.”
Liu Yinxi’s face was flushed from the steam. She sank lower into the barrel. “Oh… okay.”
Nan Huaixu came in carrying a bucket of hot water, a sponge floating inside.
“Don’t worry, I won’t look at your front.”
“Teacher Nan, we’re livestreaming,” Liu Yinxi whispered.
“Don’t worry. I covered the dog’s head with a leaf.”
“Huh? The viewers will have complaints.”
Nan Huaixu whispered in her ear, “Let them have complaints.”
Liu Yinxi didn’t dare turn around. “Teacher Nan, that’s so you.”
Only someone with Nan Huaixu’s fame and fanbase could get away with being this willful. In past seasons of 《Survivor》, if a camera was blocked for more than five minutes, viewers would flood the livestream and official platforms with angry complaints. That’s why contestants signed an agreement before the competition: unless there were special circumstances, blocking the camera was prohibited. Even then, it couldn’t exceed ten minutes.
Living rough in the primitive rainforest, even with clothes on and plenty of ointment applied, bodies were still bound to have rashes and insect bites.
Nan Huaixu glanced at the banana leaf covering the barrel and curved her lips. She lathered the sponge with coconut oil soap, spreading the foam evenly across Liu Yinxi’s marked back, massaging with practiced strength.
Liu Yinxi listened quietly to the soft rustling of the sponge against her back, her hand sinking into the water to feel the inner wall of the big white barrel.
Nan Huaixu worked steadily. She noticed a small patch of scab peeling off in the shadow beneath Liu Yinxi’s shoulder blade. She reached out and gently lifted it away, her fingertips tracing slowly along the curve of her protruding shoulder blade.
Liu Yinxi couldn’t see what was happening behind her. She could only feel Nan Huaixu’s touch—a bit ticklish. She gave a small shiver.
Nan Huaixu withdrew her hand without a word. With her other hand, she held the sponge and slowly wiped around Liu Yinxi’s neck. Each time the sponge passed over the skin near her neck, the soft foam would drift down into the hollow of her collarbone.
Liu Yinxi lowered her head and blew away the mischievous bubbles. She heard Nan Huaixu behind her ask in a calm voice, “How did you and Luo Ling break up? Can you tell me in detail?”
When Luo Ling slandered her on the riverbank, claiming she was deceiving Nan Huaixu to gain sympathy and resources, Liu Yinxi knew Nan Huaixu would ask about it when she returned.
But she hadn’t expected questions about the breakup details.
Liu Yinxi turned her head, catching a glimpse of Nan Huaixu’s face from the corner of her eye. “You believe what I said?”
Nan Huaixu didn’t look at her. Her gaze remained focused on Liu Yinxi’s back, scrubbing slowly and carefully. “I may not know you well enough, but I know Luo Ling well enough.”
“Liu Yinxi, tell me. The more detailed, the better.”
“After you finish washing, tell me everything—from how you met online, to meeting in person, to moving in together, where you went on dates, what gifts you gave… everything you can remember.”
Liu Yinxi shivered again for no reason.
Why was Teacher Nan asking so much…
The understanding Teacher Nan answered her unspoken question the next second: “The more I know about your past with Luo Ling, the better I can judge who’s telling the truth.”
Liu Yinxi thought to herself—asking how they met and broke up was understandable, but would knowing where they went on dates and what gifts they gave really help analyze who was right?
But she nodded obediently. “Mm-hm, I understand. I’ll tell you everything I remember. I trust you won’t wrong me.”
She could only do her best. Because the memories she inherited from the original owner were chaotic, blurry, and incomplete. There were many gaps.
So she began.
Starting with the breakup details.
Then Luo Ling asking to meet in person, signing her to the Luo family’s entertainment company, inviting her to live together, giving her ninety-nine roses.
Given Nan Huaixu’s detailed requirements, Liu Yinxi was as detailed as possible: “Luo Ling decorated a room for me in the Rococo style I used to like. She gave me a diamond necklace and silk pajamas. The bath gel was a sweet buttercream cake scent. That bed was really comfortable to sleep in—soft, with good bounce. She told me a bedtime story about a little kitten kissing a puppy.”
“Ow.” Liu Yinxi let out a small cry and turned her head. “Teacher Nan, could you be a little gentler? That last bit hurt.”
“Sorry.” Nan Huaixu held the sponge and made gentle circles, giving her a small smile. “Then did you kiss on that bouncy bed?”
“No! We were Platonic.”
Nan Huaixu: “Not even once in three years?”
Liu Yinxi hadn’t just not kissed in three years—she hadn’t kissed in thirty years. “Right. Luo Ling’s rule—no intimate contact beyond hugging.”
“Oh… I see.” Nan Huaixu drew out her words slightly, her eyes holding a gentle light.
Liu Yinxi felt her back was thoroughly clean. She extended her left arm behind her. “Teacher Nan, I can wash my arm myself. Thank you.”
Nan Huaixu thoughtfully let her rest her arm on the edge of the barrel. “Don’t stand on ceremony for something this small. Keep your right arm still—be careful not to get it wet.”
The foam-covered sponge glided smoothly from Liu Yinxi’s shoulder down her upper arm, slowly working its way down.
“Okay.” Liu Yinxi responded quietly, unilaterally ending the topic about Luo Ling.
Fortunately, Nan Huaixu didn’t continue asking. She only asked a few questions about whether she was tired, whether she’d eaten enough, and if her body felt uncomfortable anywhere else.
As for Nan Huaixu’s judgment about who was right, Liu Yinxi didn’t dare ask.
She didn’t know. Anyway, Teacher Nan seemed to be treating her well.
This whole day had been one thing after another—racing for airdrops, hiking, diving. She was exhausted.
Liu Yinxi had her dressing changed and collapsed into sleep, like a machine powering down. When she opened her eyes again, it was past nine the next morning.
She’d slept a full twelve hours. Her alarm hadn’t even woken her. Nan Huaixu had heard it and turned it off without calling her, letting her wake naturally.
Liu Yinxi smelled roasted cassava and sat up, rubbing her messy hair as she emerged from the partition and looked down.
“Teacher Nan, good morning.”
“You’re awake. Come down and eat.” Nan Huaixu looked up, raising the roasted cassava in her hand to show her.
Liu Yinxi’s voice was still a bit hoarse from just waking. “You’re only eating now?”
Nan Huaixu said, “I got up at eight, walked around the area, and just came back. Come eat, and I’ll change your dressing after.”
Liu Yinxi climbed down the wooden ladder. Nan Huaixu handed her a cassava wrapped in a banana leaf. There was also a bowl of honey water on the box.
Nan Huaixu sliced the preserved roasted meat and put it in Liu Yinxi’s mess tin. “This afternoon we’ll check the traps and the new fish traps we set.”
Liu Yinxi’s muffled voice mixed with the sound of chewing. “Okay.”
After eating, she rubbed her stomach for a while and took her medicine.
Nan Huaixu sat beside Liu Yinxi and carefully removed the paper tape, taking off the gauze with the medicine.
She soaked a clean corner of the gauze in hydrogen peroxide and gently cleaned the wound’s secretions and remaining ointment, observing the condition inside the wound.
The wound was already showing signs of healing. There was no sign of infection—she was recovering well.
Liu Yinxi looked down at her right arm. “I told you it was fine. Feel better now?”
Nan Huaixu took out a cotton swab, dipped it in iodine, and dotted it over the wound surface. “Two-thirds relieved. The last third will have to wait until it’s fully healed.” Then she spread the ointment evenly, applied the gauze, and secured it with paper tape wrapped around the arm.
Liu Yinxi sighed. “Even ‘feeling better’ has to be done in three steps. Teacher Nan, you’re so rigorous.”
Nan Huaixu gave her a smile and stood up, walking to the storage rack. She opened a box and took out a package containing a mosquito net.
“Here.” Nan Huaixu held up the bag and handed it over.
Liu Yinxi caught it and opened the package to look. It had been too dark last night to examine it properly.
Nan Huaixu tidied up the dishes and the fire pit. “There’s only one mosquito net.”
“Liu Yinxi, we need to take down all the partitions upstairs and merge the mattresses for this mosquito net to work. Otherwise, one of us will have to sleep inside the net while the other feeds the mosquitoes outside.”
“Fine, let’s take them down.”
Liu Yinxi took a breath. The partitions had been built for privacy and to avoid suspicion, but from the feedback on how they’d worked, they’d backfired—no ventilation, and no way to properly hang a mosquito net.
Though the lack of ventilation was something Nan Huaixu had pointed out. Liu Yinxi herself hadn’t minded, but since Teacher Nan said it wasn’t good, she’d actively fix it.
Liu Yinxi unfolded the mosquito net. It was a hanging style. She dug through the tool box on the storage rack and found some wooden stakes. “I need to make eight curved hooks to hang the net. For the big mattress, we’ll also need palm bark and large banana leaves.”
Nan Huaixu moved aside a screen. On the clothesline hung heat-dried palm bark and washed banana leaves, neatly arranged in the sun.
Under the sunlight, Nan Huaixu smiled slightly. “I’ve already prepared everything.”
Liu Yinxi: “!!”
So fast.
Liu Yinxi exclaimed, “Teacher Nan, your efficiency is incredible.”
So when Nan Huaixu said she’d walked around the area in the morning, she’d actually gone to collect leaves and bark.
Nan Huaixu gestured toward Liu Yinxi’s arm. “You’re the patient. I should do as much work as I can. Besides, gathering materials isn’t hard—I can handle it alone.”
“Mm-hm.” Liu Yinxi examined the bark and leaves, confirming there were no bugs or mold. They could be used directly.
She touched the drying vine rope and suddenly remembered something.
Liu Yinxi quickly walked around to the back of the big white barrel.
The ground was empty!
Liu Yinxi anxiously looked around.
Nan Huaixu asked softly, “What’s wrong?”
Liu Yinxi pointed beside the big white barrel, her voice tight. “Teacher Nan… did you see the clothes I changed out of?”
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