Chapter 54 – Affection

Wenren Yi had just wanted to be a little sour, but Lin Ganzhi’s words almost made her feel guilty for a lifetime. He had elevated a simple public display of affection to a whole new level.

Who said Yan Shengping was cold, ruthless, and cruel? He was so sick, yet he still forced himself to open the car door and spend a little more time with Lin Ganzhi. She had sinned!

“Ganzhi, don’t be sad. Mr. Yan is such a good person, his illness will definitely get better. And he’s still young. He’s not working as hard as before, so with more rest, he’ll surely recover.” Que Jin comforted him from across the aisle. As expected of the Best Actress known for her gentleness, even though Lin Ganzhi was exaggerating, her words brought him a great deal of comfort.

Wenren Yi shot Que Jin a grateful look, which Que Jin accepted with a smile.

Lin Ganzhi nodded, moved. He roughly understood his boss’s plan: to make the outside world think he was bedridden, thereby lowering their guard against him. At Qin Taotao’s banquet, so many eyes had been on him. Of course, the biggest obstacle was still Zhong Jingyi. That man was green with envy and was probably brewing a storm of trouble. If he didn’t offer a little bait now…

Lin Ganzhi was quite satisfied with his analysis. He continued, “I also want him to get better quickly. When we first got married, he would get sick almost every time I called, and he’d be sick for days. Injections and IV drips had minimal effect. He clearly has a stomach problem, but he hates eating. I always have to find ways to make something light that he can stomach. I used to suspect he had an eating disorder. Sometimes he’d get up in the middle of the night to throw up, but nothing would come out, just stomach acid. Now he’s basically lying in bed all the time. I really want him to get better. I want to go to so many places with him.” Lin “Exaggeration” Ganzhi wiped his reddened eyes, looking for all the world like someone hopelessly in love with Yan Shengping.

Wenren Yi and Que Jin had no idea Yan Shengping’s condition was worse than they imagined. Just hearing about it was distressing. Wenren Yi had felt that Yan Shengping was trying to assert his dominance over her at the airport today, but now she realized she had been far too narrow-minded!

The two of them began to take turns comforting Lin Ganzhi, calling him “baby” and assuring him that “it will be okay.”

Meanwhile, sitting behind them, Zhong Jingyi’s expression was clearly much more cheerful. Luan Yuanzhou, sitting beside him, took it all in.

“Jingyi,” Luan Yuanzhou called out uncontrollably.

Zhong Jingyi immediately turned back, his face adorned with the same bright smile as usual. “What’s wrong?”

The smile pulled Luan Yuanzhou back to his senses. He reached out and pulled the thin blanket on Zhong Jingyi’s body a little higher. “It’s almost noon. What would you like to eat?”

***

The location for this episode was a rainforest—hot, humid, and teeming with complex species. For survival novices like them, it was an almost impossible task. Director Fang really knew how to play. However, after the incident last time, Director Fang had started to pay more attention to the guests’ safety. This time, he had brought no fewer than ten professionals and had spent a week with local guides and experts planning a safe route.

But the promotional material released online wasn’t nearly as considerate. Director Fang directly released a pre-filmed and edited montage of the rainforest’s ecosystem. There were gorillas leaping through the trees, forest elephants leaving huge footprints on the soft moss, and a violent thunderstorm with massive trees swaying in the downpour. Some newly grown saplings were snapped by the wind. After the storm cleared, the murky river revealed the writhing figure of an anaconda…

As soon as the trailer was released, it shot to the top of the trending topics with the title: “Director, Please Be Human!”

Among the comments were fans worried about their idols. After all, this environment seemed to be the polar opposite of the island, and many people were cursing the director.

There were also those who had simply become fans of the show, expressing their excitement. Some rational fans also commented, saying that for an adventure of this level, there would definitely be professionals following along, so there was no need to worry about safety. Besides, the artists participating in the show hadn’t said anything; it was all fans stirring things up. Were they going to ruin a good show?

Some of the younger fans, of course, wouldn’t listen to such reasoning. The two factions began arguing the day before the show started filming, turning the comment section into a lively battlefield.

Lin Ganzhi, who had eaten three airplane meals and drunk three cups of soda, was oblivious to the fan wars. After getting off the plane and into the production team’s car, he had to hand over his phone.

In the final second before his phone was confiscated, Lin Ganzhi opened Yan Shengping’s chat and quickly sent a message: [Take care of yourself. Wait for me to come back.]

The cameraman sitting opposite them was the same one from before, an old acquaintance. He was filming some behind-the-scenes footage of them in the car. Since it was the same group, the conversation was more relaxed.

Seeing Lin Ganzhi’s focused expression, the cameraman couldn’t help but tease, “Ganzhi, was that last message for your husband?”

The tips of Lin Ganzhi’s ears turned red, his eyes filled with affection. “Mhm.” He looked just like a young man hopelessly in love. Lin Ganzhi was very confident in his acting skills!

The cameraman captured this moment. Later, with permission, he even submitted the photo to a competition and won a silver medal internationally. The title was: “Affection.”

The production team’s car drove for about two and a half hours before reaching the destination. When Lin Ganzhi and Que Jin got out, their faces were pale. Wenren Yi held a thermos in each hand, feeding them in turns.

The production team had set up a temporary tent just before the entrance to the rainforest. Inside was a long table, just like the one they had on the boat. This time, however, there was no food, only a pile of pretty but useless fresh flowers.

Director Fang and Zhuang Wenduan had been waiting for a long time.

Lin Ganzhi recovered for a moment before going over to greet them.

Zhuang Wenduan nodded lightly. Director Fang was particularly happy to see Lin Ganzhi. Seeing his pale face, he asked with a smile, “Ganzhi gets carsick too, huh?”

Lin Ganzhi: Hah, you look very happy about it.

After waiting for about another half hour, Zhong Jingyi’s car finally arrived. In the meantime, Lin Ganzhi, out of boredom, kept pestering Director Fang for food. Director Fang, who had been in a good mood, saw his happiness instantly vanish.

The situation went something like this:

“Director Fang, I didn’t get enough to eat on the plane. Do you have any more food? Fruit is fine too.”

“No.”

“Not even water? I don’t believe you.”

“…There’s water.”

“Then give me six bottles to wet my throat.”

“…”

“Director Fang, when you were talking to me just now, I smelled banana.”

“That was the banana candy I ate before I came.”

“What kind of banana candy has such a strong smell? I’ve never had it before. Do you have any more?”

“Nope.”

“Really? I don’t believe you. How are you going to eat later?”

“I’m not eating.”

“Really? Then I’ll be watching you the whole time.”

“…There’s one bunch of bananas left.”

“Then I’ll just have five.”

The cameramen all stifled their laughter and filmed the interaction between Lin Ganzhi and Director Fang. Although Zhuang Wenduan didn’t join in, he watched from the side with a smile. Lin Ganzhi never kept the food he found for himself; whatever he managed to scrounge up, Wenren Yi and Que Jin always got a share. As a result, by the time Zhong Jingyi arrived, the three of them were already full.

Director Fang was visibly annoyed, but for the sake of the show’s progress, he didn’t get into an argument with Zhong Jingyi, even though the driver who brought him over had told him that Zhong Jingyi had insisted on changing cars because he found the one the production team sent too bumpy, and refused to come otherwise.

For the sake of fairness, Director Fang ended up giving them a bottle of water and a banana each.

Fan Feimiao started wailing on the spot when he saw the meager provisions. “Director Fang, you used to prepare a huge feast for us!”

Director Fang huffed, “Cherish it. You were originally not even going to get a sip of water today.”

The staff all smiled mysteriously. Lin Ganzhi let out a satisfied burp~

Once everyone was in place, the camera crew officially began their work. The live broadcast started at four in the afternoon. As soon as the stream went live, nearly ten million fans flooded in, and the screen was instantly filled with a never-ending barrage of comments.

This time, everyone had learned from Lin Ganzhi and Wenren Yi and dressed simply in long-sleeved shirts and pants to avoid being bitten by insects in the rainforest.

However, the viewers in the live stream soon noticed that several people were missing from the show.

[Excuse me, where is my big Sister Qi Lan?]

[And Film Emperor Bi is gone too!]

[Ahhh, where’s my Brother Luo! I came here specifically for him, I’m going to cry! Don’t tell me there’s some inside story!]

In response to these bullet comments, Director Fang’s next words confirmed their suspicions: “Welcome everyone to the second episode of ‘Survive!’ I’m sure you’ve noticed that our Qi Lan, Bi Wu, and Luo Tingzhou are not here this time. Qi Lan and Bi Wu had to miss this episode due to scheduling conflicts. Ting Zhou had to rush back to release his album. He asked me to tell everyone that it’s expected to be released in March next year, and I wish him the best of luck. This show has a high turnover rate, and we’ll have guest stars in every episode. Participation is entirely voluntary. If you think your favorite idol or goddess would be a good fit, feel free to @ them. ‘Survive!’ warmly welcomes them.”

Director Fang spoke with great sincerity, but his last few sentences were laced with a hint of malicious glee, causing the live stream audience to burst into laughter. You’d have to really hate your idol to invite them onto this show.

With this explanation, the fans of the absent artists instantly felt better, flooding the bullet comments with congratulations, celebrating that their idol had escaped this ordeal.

Among the guests present, Fan Feimiao was the most boisterous, frantically cueing his own management company to find any excuse to pull him out. He wanted to go home.

The atmosphere on set was exceptionally lively.

Director Fang continued, “So, this time we’ve downsized to two teams. We have two new guests for this episode. Let’s welcome them!”

After he spoke, two young men appeared from seemingly nowhere. One was over 1.8 meters tall, with handsome features and sharp, cold facial lines that made him seem a bit unapproachable. A row of conspicuous blue agate stones was embedded in the cartilage of his left ear.

The other looked to be around 1.75 meters tall and had the kind of face that mothers adored. He looked very well-behaved, especially with his thick, fan-like eyelashes. However, his nose was a little red, as if he had just been crying.

Director Fang smiled. “Why don’t you two introduce yourselves.”

The taller young man stepped forward. He didn’t smile much, but his tone was polite. “Hello everyone, my name is Qi Yushuo. I’m a trainee who debuted with Starlight this year. I’m currently the lead singer and guitarist for ZS. It’s an honor to participate in ‘Survive!’. I hope my seniors will take good care of me.”

He was a newcomer, but he was very popular. Even Lin Ganzhi, who didn’t pay much attention to this area, knew of ZS. Qi Yushuo had just debuted and won first place with a landslide victory. It was easy to imagine what the live stream chat was like right now.

Everyone applauded cooperatively. Qi Yushuo nodded and then walked straight to the seat next to Lin Ganzhi. Lin Ganzhi didn’t think much of it, but after he sat down, he gently sniffed the air.

“What’s wrong, Senior?” Qi Yushuo was probably around the same age as Lin Ganzhi, maybe even a little younger. Perhaps because he was a singer, his voice was quite magnetic up close, with a hint of youthful rasp. All in all, it was a very nice voice.

Lin Ganzhi said with certainty, “Did you just eat a cantaloupe? It smells so good.”