Gu Ming fell silent, mulling it over.
During that brief silence, Gu Yan’s heart hammered against her ribs. She didn’t dare look Gu Ming in the eye. Desperate for a distraction to pass the agonizing seconds, she picked up a towel and began drying the freshly washed dishes.
Gu Ming knelt down beside her, offering a helping hand. “To be honest, I’ve never considered this kind of genre before. But if it’s with you… I’m down.”
A surge of pure joy rushed through Gu Yan, leaving her so clumsy she almost snapped the chopstick she was wiping clean.
“What about you, Yan? Are you willing to share the screen with me?”
Gu Yan kept her face turned away, terrified that her sheer excitement and desperation would give her away. She forced a restrained, careful nod. “If the opportunity comes up, of course I am.”
A radiant smile broke across Gu Ming’s face. She reached out and fondly ruffled Gu Yan’s hair. “It’s a deal then. Once the right script comes along, we do it together?”
Suppressed joy bubbled up inside Gu Yan as she nodded again. “Mm.”
“No backing out, okay? Pinky swear.”
Gu Yan carefully hooked her pinky around Gu Ming’s. Catching the warmth in the older girl’s smile, she couldn’t help but let out a soft smile of her own.
The rain poured on, showing no signs of clearing up. Finding the constant drizzle a massive hassle, the rest of the crew decided to sleep away the grueling hours.
By late afternoon, Gu Ming prepared to climb down the tree to forage for food again. This time, no matter what, Gu Yan insisted on coming along. Unable to win the argument, Gu Ming relented and let her tag along.
It was only after joining her that Gu Yan realized just how exhausting it must have been for Gu Ming to bring back so much food and firewood that morning. Just finding the right branches and bundling them up was enough to test anyone’s patience. Worse, the stray twigs were incredibly sharp. Gu Yan was pricked several times, hissing in pain.
Sizz—
A stubborn splinter embedded itself deep under her skin. She immediately tried to bite and suck it out, but it wouldn’t budge.
Not wanting to worry Gu Ming, she tried to push through the discomfort and keep gathering wood. But the stinging sensation only grew worse. Finally, unable to take the sharp prick every time she touched something, she had to stop to deal with it.
“What’s wrong?” Gu Ming noticed her hesitation instantly and turned around.
“It’s nothing,” Gu Yan claimed, though her frustrated, pained expression gave her away.
Gu Ming dropped her bundle of firewood and walked over, firmly but gently taking Gu Yan’s hand in hers. “Did something stick you?”
Gu Yan gave an embarrassed murmur and tried to pull her hand back.
“Don’t move,” Gu Ming insisted, gently tugging her hand back into view. She frowned against the falling rain, carefully inspecting her finger. “There’s a splinter, and it’s pretty deep. I’m going to squeeze it out. It might hurt a bit, so bear with me.”
Gu Ming cooed at her as if Gu Yan were a delicate, fragile princess who needed to be shielded from the world…even though, on paper, Gu Yan was supposed to be a sheltered daughter from a wealthy family who had never lifted a finger in her life.
Looking at Gu Yan’s meticulously pampered, smooth hands now, who would ever guess that they had once been covered in chilblains? Who would believe she used to have calluses?
Money truly was a magical thing; it could effortlessly erase any trace of a bitter past.
Gu Yan didn’t want Gu Ming to coddle her like this, yet a deeper, starved part of her craved this exact favoritism and indulgence. Watching Gu Ming delicately work at her fingertip, gently blowing on it for fear of causing her pain, Gu Yan felt herself drowning in the warmth of it all.
When Gu Ming suddenly leaned down and used her mouth to suck the splinter out, Gu Yan’s heart practically leapt out of her chest. The slick, warm sensation sent a jolt of electricity straight down her spine.
If it weren’t for the freezing rain washing over her, her face would have been crimson.
“All done. Be careful from now on,” Gu Ming said naturally, releasing her hand.
A wave of emptiness and bittersweet longing washed over Gu Yan, but she forced herself to snap out of it and follow closely behind.
With enough firewood secured, Gu Ming led her to pick mushrooms.
Mushrooms flourished in this damp forest. Aside from the familiar shiitake and white button mushrooms, they stumbled upon a small patch of shimeji mushrooms. While there were other varieties that looked edible, they couldn’t identify them with certainty. For safety’s sake, they chose to leave them behind.
Most of what they found, however, were wild, toxic mushrooms. Clusters of vibrant, brilliant colors popped out against the dull forest floor, far more eye-catching than the edible ones. But the warnings about wild mushrooms were deeply ingrained in them, so they didn’t dare get too close.
After harvesting the mushrooms, Gu Ming followed the trail markers she had carved earlier to find the banana trees. This time, their luck wasn’t as good as the morning; most of the bananas were still green and unripened.
Gu Ming twisted one off and took a bite, only to spit it out immediately. It was incredibly bitter and astringent. Gu Yan wanted to try it out of curiosity, but Gu Ming blocked her.
“It’s way too bitter, don’t even try it.” With that, Gu Ming tossed the banana far into the brush.
Gu Yan could only stare in amusement.
Fortunately, on their way back, Gu Yan spotted a grove of guavas. At first, she didn’t recognize the fruit, mistaking them for green-skinned pears. Excited, she called Gu Ming over to harvest them. It wasn’t until she took a cautious bite that Gu Ming told her they were actually guavas.
After picking a handful, they made their way to the beach to gather coconuts.
Coconuts were incredibly versatile. The meat could be added to their porridge for a touch of sweetness, the coconut water provided essential potassium to quench their thirst, and the empty shells could serve as disposable bowls.
However, harvesting them was a grueling test of strength and technique. The palm trees were notoriously difficult to scale, forcing Gu Ming to brace herself fully just to make the climb.
As usual, she managed to bring down three. The rainy weather made it incredibly hard to grip the trunk, but three would suffice for a single meal, especially since they now had guavas.
Even better, while Gu Ming was up in the tree, Gu Yan spotted two sand crabs scurrying out for air on the tidal flats. Once Gu Ming climbed down, Gu Yan eagerly dragged her over to the flats to hunt for them.
Though coconut leaves were a bit sharp and rough on the hands, their fibers were incredibly tough—perfect for tying up the crabs. Along the way, they dug up a few clams and razor clams. They didn’t find many; after all, digging bare-handed in the pouring rain without proper tools was brutal on the fingers.
Still, it was a wildly successful harvest.
“Does this count as a successful beach combing trip?” Gu Yan laughed, unable to hide her delight.
“It absolutely does,” Gu Ming replied with a warm smile. Her eyes crinkled into soft crescents as she gazed at Gu Yan. Even though Gu Yan knew the look was completely platonic, she couldn’t help but fall, just a little harder, for that effortless tenderness.
Over and over, she felt a profound sense of gratitude for the face she had been born with…the face that looked so much like Gu Ming’s.
By the time the two girls made it back, darkness had completely set in. Midway, they ran into Xu Wen and Cheng Ming, who had come out looking for them. Seeing the massive haul the girls were dragging behind them, the men looked utterly stunned and impressed.
“Man, it feels like us guys are completely useless in this survival crew,” Cheng Ming muttered self-deprecatingly.
“Seriously! You girls are way too badass.”
Gu Ming offered a reassuring smile. “You guys have been working hard too. We’re a team, there’s no need to keep score. Since you’re here, why don’t you help us haul this up? It’s a bit much for just Yan and me to manage.”
With the team leader giving the word, the men wasted no time putting their muscles to work.
Technically, Cheng Ming didn’t have to do any heavy lifting…per last night’s agreement, the five losers of the challenge were supposed to handle the chores. But with Yin Shi and Yusa busy preparing dinner, Kang Yu resting in the tent with an injured leg, and He Xin and Song Ai helping out in Gu Ming’s tent, he couldn’t just sit around and watch.
When the haul was finally brought into the main tent, everyone gasped. Yusa practically threw herself forward, cheering, “Leader, you are absolute royalty! Long live the leader!”
Zeng Jiu dramatically wiped away a fake tear. “This is a miracle. A literal miracle. It’s only been three days without meat, but I feel like I’ve been living a vegan lifestyle for three lifetimes.”
“Tell me about it! Eating vegetable porridge every single day… I feel like I’m turning into a vegetable myself,” Yin Shi added, shaking his head at their shared misery.
Back when they had to strictly manage their diets for the cameras, going without meat was normal. But out here, surviving on a deserted island, three days without protein felt like torture.
“It’s a shame seafood doesn’t have much meat on it. It’s just enough for a taste,” Xu Wen sighed. “If only it would stop raining, I could dive in and spear some real fish and shrimp.”
“The rain should let up in another two days, judging by the patterns,” Song Ai estimated based on experience.
“Does that mean we’re stuck drinking miserable porridge for two more days?” Xu Wen groaned.
“Hey, be grateful we even have porridge,” Yusa sighed, looking worried. “You guys aren’t the ones cooking, so you don’t know…I’m genuinely terrified our rice supply won’t even last the full twenty-one days.”
“I wonder if there’s any wildlife on this island we can hunt,” Yin Shi mused aloud.
“Even if there is, who knows how to catch it? Who would even dare to?” Yusa shot down the idea immediately. “And what if it’s a protected species? We’d get slammed.”
“Wild game carries too many health risks anyway,” Song Ai agreed.
“Don’t waste your energy thinking about it,” Zeng Jiu scoffed. “The production crew calculated all of this to torture us. If it were easy to cruise through twenty-one days, they’d lose a fortune on ratings.”
“So insidious!” Yusa cried out.
“Guess we can only pray for clear skies so we can catch fish, or head deeper into the woods to scavenge for bird eggs,” Xu Wen concluded.