Substitute Alpha Gets Confessed to by Her Ex’s Aunt on a Survival Variety Show – Chapter 12

Bad Mosquitoes, Making Repellent for Jiejie

The replenished campfire burned brightly, illuminating Liu Yinxi’s spirited face.

I’ll win and show everyone!

The prize money would be theirs.

A smile appeared on Liu Yinxi’s face. Nan Huaixu was so good to her, encouraging her instead of siding with her own niece.

Nan Huaixu handed her a sharpened wooden skewer, signaling for her to help grill the fish. Liu Yinxi quickly rolled up her sleeves, skewered the two silver pomfrets, and propped them over the fire. Then she used the mess tin to boil the flower crab and tiger prawns.

Nan Huaixu opened the airdrop crate, took out the instant noodle seasoning packet she had saved from the morning, and sprinkled a little on the grilling fish.

Liu Yinxi stirred the soup with wooden chopsticks. Bubbles gurgled to the surface, releasing the savory aroma of shrimp and crab.

“Smells so good.”

Liu Yinxi couldn’t wait to crack open the crab shells and eat the meat. Aside from half a serving of instant noodles in the morning and the banana tree core she’d gnawed on at noon, she hadn’t eaten anything else and had been starving for half the day.

Nan Huaixu glanced at the pot. “Not done yet. Let it cook a little longer.”

The fish on the wooden rack sizzled as the flames licked at it. The surface of the fish gradually turned golden brown, and oil slowly dripped down.

Liu Yinxi turned to the grilling fish, smacking her lips with eyes shining.

Nan Huaixu flipped the fish. “The fish needs a little more time, too. Wait a bit longer.”

Dejectedly, Liu Yinxi slumped over, resting her stomach on her thighs with a sigh. “I think I lost four catties today.”¹

“That much of an exaggeration?” Nan Huaixu glanced at her. Was it that easy to lose weight? If she could drop the scale that fast, maintaining her figure wouldn’t be so difficult. Of course, Nan Huaixu couldn’t deny that she was a bit of a glutton…

Liu Yinxi leaned back, her upper body lying inside the shelter. “You have no idea what I’ve been through today.”

“I know you’re tired. I wasn’t in good shape today, so you had to work hard. You can rest more tomorrow.”

Liu Yinxi didn’t reply. She closed her eyes, feigning sleep, and felt a touch on her arm. She opened her eyes to see Nan Huaixu offering her a piece of whole wheat bread.

The scent of flour danced at the tip of her nose, a fragrant temptation.

Nan Huaixu shook the piece of bread in her hand. “Liu Yinxi, return, soul! Up—”

“Hey, why are you calling my soul back?”

Liu Yinxi shot up with a carp jump² and sat up, biting the bread between Nan Huaixu’s fingertips. Her lips seemed to brush against her skin, which was a little soft.

Nan Huaixu abruptly pulled her hand back, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly. “Waking up your hungry soul.”

She tore off another small piece of bread and dangled it in front of Liu Yinxi. “Is it good? Want some more?”

Liu Yinxi crossed her arms, her eyes following the bread. “Slower, turn slower.” Finding the right moment, she bit down on the bread and savored it. “Aowuwu, mmm, so good.”

Nan Huaixu placed the rest of the bread back on a banana leaf and turned to flip the fish.

Liu Yinxi chewed the bread many times, savoring the taste before reluctantly swallowing it.

“Why do I feel like you were just teasing a dog?”

“Is that any way to talk about yourself?”

“You’re right. I take that back.”

Nan Huaixu’s voice was composed. “But what a coincidence. I used to have a stray dog named Xixi.”

Liu Yinxi frowned and tilted her head. “What was its name?”

Nan Huaixu answered with perfect enunciation, “Xi. Xi.”

“Which ‘xi’?”

“The ‘xi’ from ‘dong nan xi bei’—west.”

“Oh.”

“I’m the ‘Xi’ from ‘Great sound is faint, great form is formless’.”³

Nan Huaixu looked at her. “Why are you explaining?”

Liu Yinxi looked baffled. “Jiejie, I didn’t.”

The moment she opened her mouth, Nan Huaixu held out the bread to her. “Eat.”

Liu Yinxi shook her head. “No more. That’s specially for you. Refined carbs are easier to digest than this wild food. Every little bit helps, it’s better for your stomach.”

Nan Huaixu decisively popped the bread into her own mouth and ate it.

“Then the crab is yours, and I’ll give you two extra shrimp for protein. The bigger fish is yours, too.”

“Thank you, Captain!”

Liu Yinxi shaved off a piece of banana tree core to chew on, admiring Nan Huaixu’s elegant side profile. “What happened to that stray dog you raised?”

“It ran away. The second month after I took it in, it chose freedom. Some puppies just love the unrestrained wild life.”

The soup boiled over the side of the mess tin with a sizzle. Liu Yinxi quickly scooped out the crab and shrimp, placing them on a plate made of folded banana leaves.

“Guess it couldn’t tell the difference between one full meal and a lifetime of full meals.”

“It means it was self-sufficient.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. It lost its chance to become a big star’s pet.”

Nan Huaixu lifted a skewer to check the fish. The skin was crispy, and the meat was white and tender. “It’s about done. Here, for you.”

Liu Yinxi took it and had just bitten into the fish skin when she hissed through her teeth. “Hoo!”

Nan Huaixu passed her some water. “It’s hot. Slow down.”

Nan Huaixu hadn’t eaten much in the afternoon either, having only boiled some fiddlehead ferns before foraging on the shore and chewing on banana and palm cores. She was hungry now, too. She used a leaf to fan the boiled shrimp and crab to cool them down. Once they weren’t so hot, she started peeling them, dipping the meat in the instant noodle seasoning powder to eat.

The freshly caught seafood was sweet and delicious. The crab and shrimp meat was springy and smooth, and the fish was succulent and juicy with every bite. Eating it hot was incredibly satisfying. A wave of warmth spread from her stomach throughout her body, comforting her weary frame after a long day of labor.

Nan Huaixu carefully put away the instant noodle seasoning packet, placing it back in the airdrop crate.

“Once the instant noodles are gone, we won’t have any more salt. Next time, we’ll just dip our fingers in it to be more frugal.”

Liu Yinxi gnawed on the fish, holding the skewer. Even the bones were roasted until they were crispy, crunching delightfully. “It’s fine. We have the ocean.”

Nan Huaixu shot her a look. “You can’t drink seawater. It’ll cause dehydration. Even a child knows that.”

“We can’t drink it, but we can boil it for sea salt.”

Nan Huaixu’s interest was piqued. “You know how? I’ve heard that boiling sea salt isn’t as simple as it sounds. I think it involves several steps.”

Liu Yinxi picked out fish bones as she ate. “It is a bit of a hassle because seawater has a lot of impurities besides salt. The primitive refining method isn’t pure, but we’re just in a competition, not living here for the rest of our lives. Boiling some sea salt to replenish our salt intake is necessary.”

“That sounds reasonably reliable,” Nan Huaixu said. She swept her long hair from her chest and scratched her collarbone. Many new red rashes and mosquito bites had appeared on her shoulders and arms.

Nan Huaixu asked, “Where did you learn all this? Don’t tell me the mountain villagers taught you this, too?”

Liu Yinxi pulled her gaze away from Nan Huaixu’s collarbone and looked at the dancing flames. “My chemistry teacher.”

Nan Huaixu made a sound of surprise. It seemed that even as a little aunt who didn’t pay much attention to her big niece, she knew that her niece’s ex-girlfriend wasn’t very educated.

Liu Yinxi feigned a cute pout. “What’s that supposed to mean? This one went to junior high, okay!”

Her real self had received a proper university education, graduating from the Forest Police Academy with top marks in both academics and physical fitness.

Liu Yinxi hummed in dissatisfaction, drank the rest of the shrimp broth, and put the mess tin back on the fire to boil water.

“True knowledge comes from practice. Let’s try boiling salt in a couple of days,” Nan Huaixu said, sitting in the shelter and brushing her teeth with a banana tree core while watching her bustle around the stone stove.

First, Liu Yinxi found an empty coconut shell to use as a container and soaked the long pepper husks in it, waiting for the impurities to settle before she could decoct the water for drinking.

Next, she took another empty coconut shell, chopped up the leaves and stems of the fish poison vine, and mashed them with a stone. She then added water infused with Pandan⁴ leaves and mixed it all together to create a simple mosquito repellent ointment.

Pandan, also known as banlan, was a common herb in Southeast Asia. It had a unique fragrance, antibacterial properties, could boost the immune system, and was often used in cooking and beauty products.

Liu Yinxi dabbed a little of the green herbal paste on a mosquito bite on her leg. There was a slight stinging at first, but soon the skin felt cool and less itchy. The effect was quite good.

She only used a small handful of fish poison vine for the medicine. She took a larger bunch, divided it into several bundles, tore the leaves to release the scent, and hung them upside down around the shelter to repel mosquitoes. Once dried, they could also be burned to create insect-repelling smoke.

Liu Yinxi handed the coconut shell filled with the herbal paste to Nan Huaixu. “Nan-jiejie, use this on your rashes. It repels mosquitoes.”

Nan Huaixu accepted it with both hands, then choked on the strong, fishy stench. “Cough, cough. Where did you pick this?”

“By the creek. There’s a small slope there where a lot of it grows. Back home, we call this fish poison vine. It stops itching, repels insects, and can even treat eczema.”

“Cough… I figured as much. The smell is so pungent. Bugs hate smelly plants as much as we do.”

Nan Huaixu dipped her ring finger into the paste, dotted it on a red rash, and rubbed it in circles. After a moment, she had to turn her head to take a deep breath before holding it and continuing to apply the medicine.

An image of Ying Luoling complaining that her hands stank flashed through Liu Yinxi’s mind for some reason. She sniffled and asked, “Nan-jiejie, this smells so bad. Can you stand it?”

She had already added Pandan to flavor it, but unfortunately, its fragrance was powerless against the fishy odor of the vine.

“It’s not pleasant, but it depends on the situation. In a primeval rainforest, we’re lucky to have any medicine that can stop itching. We can’t expect to have nice-smelling floral water⁵ during a survival competition. If we did, we might as well quit and go back to the hotel to enjoy ourselves.”

Liu Yinxi nodded repeatedly as she listened.

Nan Huaixu looked up. In the dim twilight, only the glow of the campfire cast a warm, orange-red layer over her fair face.

She studied Liu Yinxi and parted her red lips. “I think I should be the one asking you that question.”

Liu Yinxi was scraping long pepper husks with her Mora knife when her eyes suddenly met Nan Huaixu’s. “Why!”

“Because when I first met you, I felt you were a very fus—,” Nan Huaixu stopped herself before saying the word fussy, changing it to, “a very delicate and dainty girl.”

Liu Yinxi puffed out her cheeks, acting cute. “Am I not delicate?”

In response to her deliberate attempt at acting cute, Nan Huaixu said, “You are when you act like that.”

Liu Yinxi took it as a compliment and grinned. “Hee hee.”

Night enveloped the rainforest. Apart from the sound of the wind and the chirping of insects and birds, there was only the crackling of the campfire and the scraping sound of Liu Yinxi’s knife on the long pepper.

After applying the medicine to the rashes on her legs, Nan Huaixu moved on to her arms and chest.

“Are you still making medicine?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t you have enough? I won’t use this much.”

“It’s not mosquito repellent, it’s anti-diarrhea medicine.”

Nan Huaixu leaned out, curious to see what Liu Yinxi was up to.

“Anti-diarrhea medicine? You’re making it yourself from herbs? Did you study Chinese medicine?”

“I’ve read the 《Treatise on Cold Damage and Miscellaneous Diseases》⁶ and have some small insights. Does that count?”

Nan Huaixu’s lips tightened. “Even modern Chinese medicine practitioners wouldn’t dare to casually pick wild herbs. If you haven’t studied it, don’t mess around.”

Liu Yinxi used her wristband’s light to illuminate the coconut shell. Seeing that the long pepper husks had soaked clean, she picked them out to decoct. “Don’t worry, jiejie. Back home, we often dry these husks to make tea. It helps regulate the digestive system. I’ll drink it first. If I’m fine after tonight, I’ll give it to you tomorrow.”

Seeing her confident expression and remembering that her mosquito repellent was indeed effective, Nan Huaixu was half-believing, half-doubting.

“Where’s the creek? I’ll go get water tomorrow.”

“I got enough for two days. We can go together the day after tomorrow.”

“Alright. What should we do tomorrow? How about we look for some food in the rainforest? Then we can go shore foraging in the evening.”

“Okay, I’ll listen to whatever jiejie says.”

The water in the mess tin bubbled as it boiled. The two chatted desultorily.

Sitting on the bed, Nan Huaixu took off her jacket and pulled open the collar of her base layer. She gathered her long hair to one side and tried awkwardly to apply the medicine to the red spots on her back. But the mosquito had bitten her just below her butterfly bones,⁷ and she couldn’t reach it after several attempts.

Liu Yinxi watched her try and fail several times. She sat down behind her, reached over her rounded shoulder, and took some ointment from the coconut shell in her hand. “I’ll do it.”

Nan Huaixu froze, feeling puffs of warm breath brush against the back of her neck, one after another.

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