After Dumping the Scumbag Top, I Was Relentlessly Chased by a Top-Tier Idol - Chapter 15

Shen Xu rose swiftly to catch him. The boat was already unstable, and the sudden, forceful movement caused it to rock violently. Neither could keep their balance, and they both tumbled into the sea.

The wooden boat sat low in the water, and the shoreline was shallow—not even reaching thigh-depth before the tide came in. Nevertheless, as they fell, Shen Xu moved with incredible speed to pull Lin Yizhou into his arms and turn mid-air. After hitting the water, he immediately hoisted Lin Yizhou’s upper body above the surface, stood up quickly to pull him out of the water, and lifted him onto the edge of the boat. He wiped the water from Lin Yizhou’s face, performing the entire sequence of actions in one fluid motion.

Even the person involved, Lin Yizhou, hadn’t had time to react. When he opened his eyes, he was met with Shen Xu’s face, filled with worry.

Shen Xu’s strong arms supported him as he sat on the edge of the boat. Looking down at him, Shen Xu’s voice was slightly breathless: “Are you okay?”

Looking at the water-streaked face before him, Lin Yizhou felt his heart, which had seemingly stopped during the fall, begin to beat again. A voice echoed inexplicably in his mind:

He really caught you.

The sudden surge of fear from moments ago seemed to retreat rapidly. As he realized what had just happened, his racing heart gradually began to steady.

“I’m fine.” Lin Yizhou forced himself back to composure as quickly as possible, trying to level his breathing. “Thank you.”

The heart that had been in Shen Xu’s throat finally settled back into his chest. He said, “As long as you’re okay. Get back into the boat.”

Before setting off again, Shen Xu leaned in and asked once more: “Are you really okay?”

Lin Yizhou nodded slightly.

He thought to himself that after what had just happened, if Shen Xu was there, he might actually be able to try facing deeper waters.

Nothing else went wrong after the boat set off. They successfully reached the one-third mark—the tool exchange point. The director welcomed the guests ashore and tried to chatter away, wanting to interview them about their thoughts on rowing. However, everyone was exhausted, offering only non-committal “mm,” “ah,” and “oh” responses to brush him off.

Entering the cabin, each guest found a comfortable spot to collapse in. As Pei Yutai put it: “I don’t want to move. Not a single inch.”

Shen Xu sat down next to Lin Yizhou. He checked the cameras and the positions of the other guests, shifting his body slightly to confirm he was in a blind spot. Only then did he tap the back of Lin Yizhou’s hand with his index finger.

Puzzled, Lin Yizhou turned his head to look at him. Shen Xu sat there looking completely nonchalant, yet his fingertip began writing on the back of Lin Yizhou’s hand.

Lin Yizhou looked away, relaxed his body against the sofa, and closed his eyes.

You

are

so

good

!

Lin Yizhou knew what he was trying to convey. Shen Xu undoubtedly felt that overcoming his fear to come here was something worthy of praise.

Thinking back, since they had met, Shen Xu had praised him at every possible opportunity.

He praised him for having beautiful hands, for being able to fold paper…

But were these things truly worth praising?

Or rather, was he truly worthy of being praised?

He didn’t know.

He felt he wasn’t worthy.

Unworthy of praise, unworthy of love.

After finishing his writing, Shen Xu poked him twice more, like a dog waiting for its owner’s response. But when the owner didn’t respond, he could only pout and pull his “paw” away.

To his surprise, his hand was suddenly grabbed by the owner.

Shen Xu controlled the urge to look back at his hand and suppressed the wild desire to smile, trying his best to look into space as if nothing were happening.

Lin Yizhou wrote three letters on the back of his hand—THS (Thanks).

Though it was just three simple letters, Shen Xu couldn’t help but let his lips curl up slightly. He covered the back of that hand with his other one, wanting to make that lingering warmth last just a little longer.

By the time they reached the shore, the other team’s yacht happened to be docking as well.

Pei Yutai looked at the director behind them in confusion: “How did they only just arrive?”

Director Tu shrugged as if it were obvious: “They won, so they got a reward of taking the yacht for a cruise around the area. Eh? Did I not mention that earlier?”

Pei Yutai took a deep breath and gave a strained smile: “Director Tu, at your age, it’s normal for your memory to fail. Don’t blame yourself!”

Director Tu:

The island they were filming on was massive. Looking into the distance, one could see towering, overlapping peaks. The island’s scenery was beautiful, lush with greenery and various unknown flowers. One couldn’t help but wonder what kind of strange scenes were hidden behind the beauty of that jungle.

The guests stood in a line on the island’s beach. A cool sea breeze blew gently, causing a rustling sound in the jungle. As the sun set, the sky spread with orange and red hues, giving off an inexplicably bleak and desolate feeling.

Director Tu stepped out of the “shadow” of being called old and stood firm at his post. He diligently picked up his exclusive megaphone, but before he could shout, he was interrupted by a voice: “Director Tu, we’ve been filming for several hours now. Can we get some water first?”

The speaker was a male singer from Nan Qiguang’s team with eye-catching blue hair. He fanned himself with his hand and continued, “If I don’t drink water soon, I think I’m going to die of thirst.”

His words received full support from everyone. As the saying goes, a person can live three days without food, but they won’t last three days without water.

The guests had been filming since noon. Everyone’s electronic devices had been confiscated, so they didn’t know the exact time, but looking at the sky and the setting sun, it was at least five or six in the evening.

Director Tu changed what he was going to say and avoided answering the question directly. Instead, he said, “Have you all forgotten what kind of show this is? It’s wilderness survival, you handsome guys and beautiful ladies.” Then, his tone shifted to a serious yet annoying pitch: “So, you want water? Find a way yourselves.”

The guests:

“Caw, caw, caw…”

Several crows flew over their heads at just the right moment.

Director Tu twitched his lips: “That’s actually quite fitting.”

The crowd remained silent, offering no response.

“Alright, enough nonsense.” Director Tu stubbornly continued to hold up his megaphone. “Since we’ve split into teams for ‘group’ survival, each team must choose a captain so that everyone can survive better on this deserted island, right?”

In previous seasons, the captain was chosen by drawing lots or by a member vote… but this season was different. The production team handed the right to choose the captain over to the viewers in the live stream.

“Viewers in the live stream, you heard right.” Director Tu looked unusually excited, as if he were hosting a gala. “Click the voting link in the bottom left corner now and choose your candidate for each team’s captain. The guest with the most votes will become the captain of that team.”

“One-minute countdown begins.”

(Live stream comments) I love watching incompetent people panic and act helpless when they have to take responsibility. Sisters, you know what I mean. I love seeing the contrast of the strong versus the ‘vase’ (eye candy). Family, you get my drift.

The voting ended. Director Tu said, “The results are out. Before I announce the answer, I want to give the guests a chance. If you can correctly guess the captains of both teams at the same time, you can get a bottle of ‘life-extending’ mineral water. How about it?”

The blue-haired singer was the first to respond: “Deal.”

The guests expressed their support one after another.

“Pei Yutai, as the youngest member among the guests, who do you think is most likely to be the captain?”

Pei Yutai said without hesitation, “First of all, our team definitely won’t be Lin Yizhou.” He looked at each member of his team and pondered for a moment. “I guess… it’s Senior Shen.”

His gaze lingered on Shen Xu, but seeing the other man’s reserved smile, he quickly looked elsewhere, muttering in his heart: Where did I offend him again?

Director Tu: “And the other team?”

Pei Yutai looked over at the members of the opposite team, thought for a bit, and said, “Senior Nan Qiguang, probably.”

Director Tu: “Jiang Siyuan, as the eldest among the guests, who do you think the captains are?”

(Live stream comments) What did I just hear? Is he the oldest? How old? To provide some info: Jiang Siyuan is 36 this year, followed by Goddess Wen at 29, and third is Lin Yizhou at 28… These three are actually… well, I can only say their faces are too deceptive.】

Jiang Siyuan teased with a laugh, “There’s no need to add prefixes like ‘eldest.’ It’s quite embarrassing.”

Director Tu: “Hehe, no need to mind such small details.”

Jiang Siyuan responded with a faint smile as he carefully looked over his team members to make his selection. He had originally thought about choosing Lin Yizhou to show his “kindness,” but his throat was currently parched, and considering Lin Yizhou’s current reputation… it was absolutely impossible for the audience to elect him as captain. He said, “For our team, I guess it’s Shen Xu. As for the other side… Nan Qiguang.”

Director Tu: “Now two members of the same team think the captain of the other side will be Nan Qiguang. So, Nan Qiguang, who do you think it will be?”

Nan Qiguang smiled gently, his expression warm and genial. “If it really is me, I would feel very honored. Personally… I’ll choose myself for our team. As for the other team, I choose Lin Yizhou.”

Director Tu’s eyes lit up for a split second before he quickly masked it, saying naturally, “Oh, we have a different candidate. Why do you think it’s Lin Yizhou? Can you tell us your reason for choosing him?”

“A feeling?” Nan Qiguang smiled softly. “I personally place a lot of weight on my intuition. From every aspect, I think very highly of him.”

His words seemed to carry a hidden meaning, causing Shen Xu to instinctively look over. He saw that the other man’s gaze was fixed on Lin Yizhou, his eyes brimming with tenderness.

Shen Xu was not unfamiliar with that look; it was the same way his father often looked at his mother.

Shen Xu looked at the oblivious Lin Yizhou, shook his head, and let out a helpless sigh. He thought to himself: Fine, it seems the number of love rivals is only going to increase.

What he needed to do was focus on winning the “internal” battle while maintaining a strong “external” defense.

“Understood.” Director Tu’s gaze swept over the guests, finally landing on Shen Xu. “Shen Xu, what are your thoughts?”

Shen Xu curled his lips slightly, without a hint of hesitation: “For our team, Lin Yizhou is the most suitable to be captain. As for the reason, I won’t explain—everyone will naturally find out as they continue to watch the show.”

“As for the other team, Nan Qiguang.” He paused, then added his reason: “Because I think he has very good taste.”

Even if that taste meant they were now rivals in love.

Director Tu:

Is it because he chose Lin Yizhou?

Once the round of questioning was finished, to ensure the guests’ right to know, Director Tu had the female guests from both teams come forward to announce the results and reveal the names of their respective captains.

When Wen Yue saw the name, she initially looked slightly disappointed, but that was quickly replaced by a look of relief. She looked at her teammates and, instead of saying the name directly, took a detour: “Congratulations to our team’s Shen Xu for being the only member… who correctly guessed the captain.”

Shen Xu raised an eyebrow at the result. Although the person he had chosen was Lin Yizhou, to be honest, he hadn’t expected the audience’s vote to actually be Lin Yizhou; that was why he had phrased it as “Lin Yizhou is the most suitable.”

But on second thought, he quickly understood the audience’s reasoning. They undoubtedly wanted to see Lin Yizhou make a fool of himself. His own reasoning, however, was completely different from the audience’s.

After a brief thought, he said nothing.

He didn’t need to say much; he believed Lin Yizhou could prove himself on his own.

Pei Yutai made no effort to hide his shock: “So our captain is Lin Yizhou?”

Wen Yue nodded with a smile. “I’m a bit sad I didn’t guess correctly, but congratulations, Yizhou, on being entrusted with this heavy responsibility.”

Upon hearing this, Pei Yutai clutched his head with both hands, looking like he was in a state of “it’s over, it’s all over.”

Jiang Siyuan patted his shoulder and comforted him with a smile: “It’s fine. Who knows, maybe he’ll give you an unexpected surprise.”

A surprise? Thinking of the “facts” about Lin Yizhou circulating online, he only felt despair.

The female guest on the other team, Xiang He, had a round, cute face and dark eyes that sparkled like stars. With her long, straight black hair, she was known by fans as the “National First Love.”

The slight curve of her lips revealed a dimple as she announced the answer without keeping them in suspense: “Our team’s captain is Senior Nan Qiguang.”

Since all the guests had correctly guessed Nan Qiguang, but only Shen Xu and Nan Qiguang had correctly guessed Lin Yizhou, only the two of them received a bottle of mineral water.

As soon as Shen Xu got his, he handed it directly to Lin Yizhou. Meeting the other’s confused gaze, he said matter-of-factly, “I am voluntarily handing this bottle over to the public; the Captain shall decide what to do with it.”

Lin Yizhou hesitated to take it, but Shen Xu stuffed the water directly into his hand.

“Then let’s all share it,” Lin Yizhou said after a moment’s consideration, adding an explanation. “I should remind everyone that water resources are currently scarce. When you drink later, don’t gulp it down just because you’re thirsty. If you do, your body will quickly excrete the excess moisture. If you take small sips and swallow slowly, repeating the process, your body can fully absorb the water and it will better solve the problem of a dry mouth.”

Pei Yutai scoffed dismissively, “Tch, what’s the point of a reminder like that? Isn’t that just common sense?”

“Common sense?” Shen Xu directed a cold gaze toward him. “When you finish playing ball at school and drink water, do you swallow slowly?”

Pei Yutai:

After playing ball, he could finish a 500ml bottle of water in five seconds. His friends often joked, “A-Yu, at this speed, even a water buffalo wouldn’t dare compete with you.”

In extreme situations, people always seem to overlook so-called “common sense.”

“If I were the captain,” Shen Xu said, looking at Lin Yizhou with eyes full of praise, “I certainly wouldn’t have thought of such a small detail.”

Wen Yue strongly agreed: “Yizhou is still as meticulous as he used to be.”

Faced with the praise, Lin Yizhou’s expression remained calm as he handed the water back to Shen Xu: “You earned this water. You drink first.”

During the break, Director Tu picked up his megaphone and shouted, “Everyone, look over here!”

The group looked over to see a large, long table set up on the beach, piled with various wilderness survival tools.

Seeing this, Pei Yutai was so excited he almost sprayed a mouthful of water out. Fortunately, he covered his mouth in time, not wasting the hard-earned resource.

Swallowing the water slowly, he was the first to run to the table, saying in surprise, “Are these tools prepared for us?”

Director Tu smiled slightly and said mysteriously, “Yes and no.”

After several hours of filming, Pei Yutai had a general idea of the production team’s tactics. He put down the military knife in his hand and said speechlessly, “We have to play some kind of game to get them again, don’t we?”

Director Tu snapped his fingers and chuckled, “Correct. And each team can only choose two tools.”

All the guests had now gathered at the long table, inspecting the items.

Shen Xu picked up a flashlight, turned it on to test the brightness, and nodded in satisfaction. “Better than nothing. Tell us, how are we competing?”

Lin Yizhou looked at the flashlight in Shen Xu’s hand but said nothing.

Director Tu: “The game is simple. The captains of both teams will have a breath-holding challenge in the ocean. Whoever holds their breath the longest gets first pick of two tools.”

Hearing this, Lin Yizhou’s eyes widened behind his sunglasses.

Does this mean… I have to go into the sea?

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