Substitute Alpha Gets Confessed to by Her Ex’s Aunt on a Survival Variety Show – Chapter 93
by Little PandaIt Is Time to Consider Making a Hunting Bow
I didn’t make a mistake saying it like that, did I?
Liu Yinxi felt apprehensive. She quietly observed Nan Huaixu’s expression, hoping the other woman would cool down a bit.
She secretly resolved to break her bad habit of blurting things out without reading the room. She had to turn over a new leaf and thoroughly reform herself.
Nan Huaixu stared at her for a moment, the look in her eyes shifting slightly. Suddenly, a corner of her mouth curved upward. “Tell me, what kind of relationship remains good for an entire lifetime, all the way into old age?”
The question caught Liu Yinxi off guard, leaving her thoroughly embarrassed. A lifetime? What other kind of relationship could that possibly be?
Liu Yinxi lowered her head and murmured, “Family.”
She had left a bit out.
“Or… very, very good friends,” she added softly.
“Exactly.” Nan Huaixu smiled faintly. “Liu Yinxi, you say you’ll treat me well for the rest of your life. Are you trying to become my adoptive niece?”
Liu Yinxi’s heart tightened, and she scrambled to explain, “No, no, no! I’m just incredibly grateful for all the things you’ve taught me. I want to repay you.”
Nan Huaixu nodded, kicked out her foot, and held onto a tree trunk as she made her way down the mountain path. “Tell me then. How do you plan to spend a lifetime repaying me?”
Liu Yinxi’s mind raced. Outside of the competition, what could she possibly do for Nan Huaixu?
She was just an ordinary citizen drowned in a mountain of debt, while Nan Huaixu was a stunningly gorgeous, incredibly wealthy megastar from an influential family.
It seemed the only thing she was capable of offering was endless flattery.
“Um, Teacher Nan…” Liu Yinxi muttered, not daring to look at the camera as she spoke awkwardly. “Are you looking for an assistant? The kind who can cook, raise dogs, and rescue you in the event of an earthquake or a flood?”
Nan Huaixu actually adopted a look of serious contemplation. “Hmm… I don’t lack cooks, and I don’t raise pets. But one with built-in escape functions is quite novel. It’s not out of the question.”
Liu Yinxi snapped to attention. “As long as there is any place where you can use me, I will work myself to the bone, dedicating myself entirely until my decrease1!”
Nan Huaixu corrected her. “It is ‘decease’—to pass away. Not ‘decrease.'”
“Oh, oh. Decease. I’ve got it now.”
“Leaving your devotion aside for a moment, I suggest that both you and Yuan Fang sign up for an adult remedial language crash course after the competition ends.”
“Oh…”
Liu Yinxi scratched the back of her head, turning away from Nan Huaixu to hide her grin.
Sometimes she felt she had gone a bit too far in playing the fool to play the original host.
Yet Nan Huaixu was always so earnest. She treated everything about Liu Yinxi with genuine care, suggesting classes to help her improve herself and even finding her a classmate in advance.
“Alright, Xiao Liu,” Nan Huaixu called out. “Let’s go. We need to reach the shelter before one o’clock so we can have an early lunch.”
Liu Yinxi took a few quick strides to get ahead and clear the path. “Yes, Teacher Nan! Mission guaranteed!”
【Hahahahaha, language—Liu Yinxi’s ultimate nemesis! (laugh-cry)】
【It’s Boss Yuan’s ultimate nemesis too. I still remember when Boss Yuan talked about making her humble home shine2! (facepalm)】
【Xiao Liu, complete your remedial classes before applying to be an assistant!】
【Does Manman need an escape assistant? Give Liu a way out! 0v0】
【I want to apply to be Manman’s assistant too! Manman can leash me to the front door and feed me Xixi’s leftovers in a bowl~ (ready to lick with my tongue)】
【Tsk, tsk. What a devious masochist.】
【My focus is so weird… aren’t the ones who grow old together usually wives? (blushes)】
【Wives are a type of family! But there are many other kinds of family who can stay together for a lifetime too.】
【Who told Liu Yinxi to complain about Manman’s age in the first place?】
【She wasn’t complaining! Xixi just had a slip of the tongue3. (facepalm)】
【Sigh. Though I admire Xixi’s survival skills, some of her comments are so embarrassing they make me physically cringe. =.=】
【Me too… Manman was nice enough to let her bathe first out of consideration for her hard work, and she went and spouted all that nonsense.】
【Xixi is just like that. She’s actually gotten better; her mouth is way more behaved now compared to when the competition first started.】
【Just think back to those ‘life questions’ she asked Manman. Honestly, listening to them was enough to make you want to hit someone. Liu Yinxi and that friend of hers are truly birds of a feather4.】
【When interacting with others, you really need to be socially compatible5. Look at what Xixi said to Manman—she wants to repay her but doesn’t even know what she can do. They aren’t in the same social class.】
【That’s why I’ve drifted apart from so many people along the way. Our lives simply don’t cross paths anymore. My college roommate and I used to be best friends, but we grew distant after graduating. On weekends, she’d go horseback riding, listen to concerts, and visit art auctions. Knowing my financial situation was average, she always offered to pay for me. To her, that small amount of money was nothing, but after it happened too many times, I felt too embarrassed and started politely declining. Over time, we just drifted.】
【@Melted Ice Cream Cone, (pats head). Personally, I don’t think she saw you as a true friend either. You were always the one accompanying her to her things, but she never accompanied you to yours. To put it bluntly, she was like a fairy refusing to descend to the mortal realm.】
【@North Wind Blowing a White Boat, maybe. But I was also too insecure. I never invited her to anything. I felt like inviting her to street stalls or night markets would be too embarrassing. The fault lies with me too. (sighs)】
【Isn’t Liu Yinxi planning to start a channel and make outdoor survival videos later? She can just work for Nan Huaixu and earn a living that way.】
【It fits perfectly. Nan Huaixu just started a new studio; she can sign Liu Yinxi as an artist.】
【But Liu isn’t an actress.】
【That doesn’t matter. As long as she produces content. A company doesn’t have to sign only actors. Besides, Liu’s looks are definitely good enough; she could easily transition into acting in dramas.】
【That’s a great idea! There are so few high-quality survival-themed dramas domestically. If they did something like a wasteland or survival game genre, Xixi as the lead would look absolutely stunning!】
【Just hearing this gets my blood pumping!】
After hiking down the mountain for over an hour, they were close to the area where they had set their traps.
Crossing a stream and pushing through a cluster of shrubs, they discovered a wild banyan tree with countless fallen fruits scattered beneath it, though most had already rotted.
Nan Huaixu sighed with regret; she had hoped to find a few good ones to eat.
Suddenly, Liu Yinxi crouched down, making a hushed gesture toward Nan Huaixu and pulling her down as well.
Nan Huaixu looked at her in confusion, only to see Liu Yinxi staring intently at a patch of grass behind the banyan tree. The blades of grass were swaying back and forth; something was moving inside.
Liu Yinxi motioned to Nan Huaixu, signaling her to stay put while she crept closer to the grass.
Circling around to the side of the banyan tree, Liu Yinxi lay flat inside the bushes. Gently and slowly, she retrieved her slingshot from her pack, loaded a small pebble, and aimed at the rustling grass near the roots of the banyan.
Seizing her moment—Twang!
Rustle!
A grayish-brown wild hare bounded out of the brush, and before she could strike it with a second stone, it fled with lightning speed.
Liu Yinxi laughed as she climbed out of the bushes, putting her slingshot away. “I knew there was a high probability of missing, but I figured I’d give it a shot.”
Nan Huaixu didn’t puncture her pride. “Indeed. Slingshots are fine for birds, but a rabbit is a bit too large.”
Looking toward the direction where the hare had vanished, Liu Yinxi sighed, “What a shame. Otherwise, we could have had roasted rabbit legs for lunch.”
“You really do love eating rabbit.”
“Eating fish every day, I want a change of taste. I’m so greedy for a change. Aren’t you tired of it too?”
“Mm.”
Liu Yinxi checked the compass on her wrist, reorienting herself to resume their hike.
She couldn’t stop herself from thinking about that roasted rabbit she was destined never to taste.
Naturally, her mind drifted to the compound bow Huang Heshan had held when she tried to rob them.
If she had a hunting tool like that compound bow, complete with feathered bamboo arrows, would that rabbit have stood a chance?
Liu Yinxi crossed her arms, adopting a grave expression. It seemed it was indeed time to craft a hunting bow.
Where on earth had Huang Heshan found bamboo?
So stingy, not even sharing the coordinates with her.
Jinzhou Island’s tropical rainforest certainly didn’t lack bamboo; in fact, there was a rich variety of species here. Unfortunately, Liu Yinxi had simply run into bad luck and hadn’t crossed paths with any.
The original novel stated that the bamboo in the competition area was distributed in the higher-elevation mountainous terrain. Liu Yinxi deduced that they would need to head further upstream from the waterfall to find it.
Since they had already gone down the mountain, she would explore the mountainous terrain from the campsite next time after making proper preparations.
“Are you thinking about making a bow?”
Nan Huaixu’s voice sounded abruptly from her side.
Liu Yinxi jolted, looking at her in shock. “Teacher Nan?! Can you read minds?”
Nan Huaixu glanced at her and drifted her gaze away darkly. “If only I had mind-reading powers. I’d peer straight through your heart to see what fills your atria and ventricles.”
Liu Yinxi shivered for some reason.
Nan Huaixu continued, “Given your sheer obsession with roasted rabbit, I imagine if you had a bow like Huang Heshan’s just now, you definitely would have secured that catch.”
Liu Yinxi nodded. “Yeah.”
“Let’s make one.”
“Sure. Wait, what?”
Nan Huaixu was entirely serious. “Let’s make a bow. How do we do it?”
Liu Yinxi ran a hand through her hair, her eyelids drooping slightly. “Well, first, we need to find some bamboo.”
Nan Huaixu noted it down. “Alright. Bamboo. I’ll keep an eye out during our hikes from now on.”
Liu Yinxi tilted her head slightly. “We also need animal sinew. We can’t get our hands on that for now, so we can try twisting some banana fibers first.”
“To make the bowstring?”
“Yes. And then there are the arrows. Luckily, we kept a lot of feathers from the wild jungle fowl.”
“Then we’ll start twisting the banana fibers first. Once we find bamboo, we can make the bow and the arrow shafts. But how do we twist banana fiber?”
“First, we soak it in water for two to three days, then we extract the threads and twist them into strands.”
“Won’t that be too soft? What about curing vines?”
“That works too. We can try both.”
A smile of anticipation blossomed on Nan Huaixu’s face.
She, too, wanted to taste the roasted rabbit Liu Yinxi was so obsessed with.
Liu Yinxi’s lips curved upward as well. “If all else fails, I’ll just sneak over and steal a rabbit caught by Huang-jie one of these days.”
Nan Huaixu asked, “But wouldn’t that ruin the sense of accomplishment?”
“You’re right. Stealing lacks the thrill of a successful hunt. Teacher Nan, do you think Huang-jie would let us borrow her bow for a couple of days if we offered to trade some ice blocks?”
Nan Huaixu pondered for a moment, then shook her head.
Both of them fell silent for a few seconds. Then, they spoke in unison: “Bamboo.”
The moment the word left their lips, they looked at each other. After a brief two-second stare, they broke into laughter at the same time.
Although they occasionally had their little spats, the silent understanding between them as teammates had not degraded in the slightest since the start of the competition; if anything, it was only growing deeper.
“The rainforest is so hot during the day. Ice is not only a luxury but also a hard currency. If we use it to trade for the coordinates of the bamboo, Huang-jie will definitely agree,” Liu Yinxi said confidently.
“Trading for coordinates is still too tedious. We should directly ask her for processed bamboo sheets. Since she has to make arrows, she must have stockpiled plenty. If she hesitates, we can sweeten the deal with chilled coconut eggs and chilled fruit puree. In this heat, we can suggest she bring some refreshing desserts to Yu Yan,” Nan Huaixu strategized.
Liu Yinxi snapped her fingers excitedly. “As expected of you, Teacher Nan.”
Nan Huaixu tilted her chin up proudly.
Re-packing her slingshot, Liu Yinxi talked as they walked. “Huang-jie is actually pretty good to her teammate. She gives her flowers and even treats her to desserts.”
Nan Huaixu brushed a stalk of grass against Liu Yinxi’s ear. “You aren’t half-bad either.”
Liu Yinxi scratched her itchy earlobe, muttering softly, “My rating has gone up, has it? You used to say I couldn’t compare to her.”
Nan Huaixu curved her lips, her beautiful eyes sweeping over Liu Yinxi’s slightly sullen expression. “Do you care that much?”
Footnotes
- Liu Yinxi mispronounces the classic idiom 'jū gōng jìn cuì, sǐ ér hòu yǐ' (鞠躬尽瘁，死而后已), meaning 'to exert oneself to the utmost until death.' She mistakes 'yǐ' (已, to cease) for the visually identical 'jǐ' (己, self).
- Péng bì shēng huī (蓬荜生辉) is a polite expression meaning 'to bring light or glory to my humble home.' Yuan Fang previously misused this in the wilderness.
- Zuǐ piáo (嘴瓢) is northern Chinese dialect slang for a slip of the tongue or verbal blunder.
- Yī qiū zhī hé (一丘之貉) literally means 'jackals from the same lair,' describing people who are birds of a feather or cut from the same cloth.
- Mén dāng hù duì (门当户对) literally means 'families of equal standing' or 'matching doors and windows,' referring to a traditional marriage or social custom where families should have equal socioeconomic status.
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