After Transmigrating as Cannon Fodder, I Became the Darling of the Variety Show - Chapter 11

Eleventh Day of Wanting a Divorce.

An Rao stared at the wild vegetables on the plate for a long time before picking one up with his chopsticks and placing it in his mouth.

He had only chewed twice when Yin Xueya suddenly rushed over and grabbed his chin. Her brows were knitted tightly in anxiety as she cried out: “Hurry and spit it out! This is poisonous!”

An Rao smiled, brushed her hand away, finished chewing the vegetable, and swallowed.

The crowd watched this action in disbelief. Was he committing suicide to escape his guilt?

The judge stood up unsteadily and grabbed a nearby staff member. Large beads of sweat poured down his face like rain as he spoke with a weak, failing voice: “Quick, hurry and take me to the hospital.”

The others did not dare to delay, quickly supporting the judge as they headed down the mountain. An Rao, however, acted as if nothing had happened. He picked up a section of the wild vegetable with leaves still attached, placed it on the table, and flattened the leaves with his chopsticks.

He glanced at the braised tofu and then at the honey near Lin Jingxi’s hand.

“There is no need to go to the hospital. Just take some anti-diarrheal medicine.”

When the judge heard this, his eyes widened like copper bells. “Are you even human? How can you say such a thing?”

Lin Jingxi clenched his fists and said with indignation: “It is one thing to ignore those innocent small lives, but now you can joke about a human life so casually?”

An Rao took a deep breath and met the hesitant gazes of the crowd. Pointing to the vegetables on the table, he said:

“Ranunculus sceleratus and water dropwort indeed look very similar and are easily confused. However, Ranunculus sceleratus has yellow flowers while water dropwort has white flowers. The leaves are also different; the former has palmate lobes, while the latter has pinnate lobes.”

As he spoke, he picked up a small white flower from the cutting board and twirled it between his fingers with a smile. “What you ate was water dropwort. Do not worry.”

The staff members froze for a moment and then looked at the section of wild vegetable on the table. The feather shaped leaves were covered in a network of lobes, and the elegant small white flowers swayed in the breeze.

After a long silence, a staff member coughed lightly. “I am sorry, Xiao An. Our knowledge was indeed insufficient, and because the judge had an adverse reaction, it caused a misunderstanding. We apologize.”

An Rao gave a generous smile. “It is fine. I probably would have misunderstood as well if I were in your position.”

Immediately, he looked at Lin Jingxi, who was standing dazed to the side. He tilted his head slightly and studied him with interest. “Xixi, you know quite a lot. Most people would not know about Ranunculus sceleratus.”

Lin Jingxi secretly clenched his hands. Without looking at An Rao, he immediately walked to the judge’s side. “I am sorry. I caused everyone to have a misunderstanding.”

With the camera focused on his face, he turned back and looked at An Rao with an aggrieved expression. “I am sorry. I made a mountain out of a molehill. Can you forgive me?”

An Rao curled the corners of his mouth, but there was no hint of a smile in his eyes. “There is no need to apologize to me. Apologize to nature instead for providing you convenience for survival while you speak ill of it in return.”

Lin Jingxi bit his lower lip and actually turned toward the mountains behind them, bowing slightly. “I am sorry, nature. I.”

“Enough!” A cold shout interrupted Lin Jingxi’s ridiculous apology.

Xu Renyu rushed over and stood in front of An Rao, shouting angrily at the cameraman: “Stop filming!”

The cameraman was startled and nearly dropped the large black camera in his hands.

“An Rao, is there no end to this? Jingxi already apologized to you. Why be so aggressive? He did not do it on purpose.”

An Rao gave a cold laugh and casually adjusted his cuffs. “He did not do it on purpose, yet I almost bore the name of a murderer. If he did it on purpose, would I have any way to survive?”

As the atmosphere grew more tense, the judge had collapsed under the table. His face was as pale as a goose feather, and his voice was weak. “Stop arguing. Hurry and help me get medical treatment. Hurry.”

Only then did everyone react. Since it was not the poisonous Ranunculus sceleratus, why did the judge have an adverse reaction?

Because of the sudden emergency, the program team had to suspend filming for half a day to wait for the judge’s test results. He had certainly suffered an adverse reaction from something he ate, and since that thing might still be hidden among the ingredients, no one dared to act recklessly.

Meanwhile, the audience was like a brood of hungry young birds, opening their mouths and shouting for the second episode to be released. The director felt that stopping here provided both a strong sense of suspense and a good educational message to warn everyone about eating random things in the wild. Therefore, he decided to end the edit of this episode here.

At 2:00 PM, the second episode met the audience on schedule. Compared to the first episode, the poisonous wild vegetable topic exploded again, becoming the highest rated episode since the program began.

Strangely, the number of bullet comments seemed to have decreased. Comments like “Xixi is the best” were rarely seen anymore. Instead, most of them were:

【Why is an illiterate person pretending to be an intellectual? He even framed An Rao for not knowing the difference between Ranunculus sceleratus and water dropwort. Can Big Mouth Lin even distinguish the gender of his own parents?】

【Wow, I suddenly feel like An Rao is really capable. He can find bamboo worms and recognize wild vegetables. I announce that from today on, I am a ten year fan!】

【Rao Rao is practically a hexagonal warrior. He can paint, do calligraphy, and survive. He can do anything. I want to start a Super Topic for him. Any sisters joining me?】

【Sister, start it quickly! Love you!】

Of course, there were also:

【This is hilarious. Who does not know that variety shows have scripts? It is probably a script written specifically because that idiot Chu Guannan wanted to help his spouse.】

【Clean up your mouth, the person above. Nannan is also a victim, okay? An Rao’s history has long been exposed. Go search the keyword “drugging.”】

Looking at the bullet comments tearing each other apart, the director smiled with great pride. However, to avoid conflicts, the production team cut the part where An Rao and Xu Renyu argued.

At 3:00 PM, there were four hours left before dark.

Under the current circumstances, let alone making Xu Renyu like An Rao, even speaking normally was a problem.

Xu Renyu did not want to see An Rao’s face after having hurt his own life mentor. He wanted to go out and get some fresh air. He passed through the bamboo forest and arrived at a low cliff. Gazing at the vast and magnificent scenery, his mood finally calmed down a bit.

Even now, he still felt that Lin Jingxi was not at fault. He was only concerned about the safety of the judge. It was likely a simple error in judgment that An Rao had seized upon relentlessly. Thinking of Lin Jingxi’s aggrieved face, Xu Renyu grew angrier and kicked a stone at his feet.

The ground beneath him suddenly gave way. Before he could react, a piece of the earth collapsed. In an instant, he stepped into empty air along with the stone he had kicked and tumbled down the cliff.

Some time passed. When Xu Renyu woke up, the first thing he saw was the brilliant sunset on the horizon, casting an orange red glow on his scarred face. He gasped in pain. Looking around, he found himself lying by a river at the bottom of the cliff.

Fortunately, the cliff was not too high, so he had barely managed to survive. Xu Renyu tried to sit up, but a piercing pain suddenly shot through his right leg. He propped himself up to look; half of his right pant leg was missing, and the bleeding had started to slowly congeal. His knee was swollen and purple like a large bun, and it was faintly visible that the bone was out of place.

He grit his teeth and sat up, looking toward the top of the cliff. “Is anyone there?” he shouted.

But the only response was the whistling wind.

Eventually, he let out a long sigh and lay back down. Looking at the beautiful sunset, he suddenly laughed. If he guessed correctly, it should be after 6:00 PM. He had been missing for three whole hours, yet no one had noticed.

What did being a Best Supporting Actor matter? Those people congratulated him on the surface, but who did not know they still called him a “grassroots extra” in private? If it were Chu Guannan or Shen Yi, the program team would have searched the entire mountain if they were missing for even a second. He was already thirty five years old. How many years were left for an artist who relied on their youth? Perhaps this Best Supporting Actor award was the final note of his acting career.

Xu Renyu took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes.

“Xu Renyu!”

Suddenly, a faint shout came from somewhere. Xu Renyu snapped his eyes open. At first, he thought he had misheard, but in the next second, he saw a familiar figure carefully climbing down the steep slope of the cliff. He thought he was hallucinating and rubbed his eyes vigorously, propping up his upper body.

The person climbing down with great difficulty was An Rao.

An Rao had been searching for over two hours. The mountain top had blind spots, but after coming down, he finally saw Xu Renyu at the bottom of the cliff. Ignoring his own scraped palms, he ran to his side. Looking at the bloodied leg, he asked with a frown: “Are you okay?”

Xu Renyu felt it was ridiculous that the first person to find him was An Rao. He struggled to get up, turning his face away.

“Do not move.” An Rao pressed his shoulder. “Your leg is fractured. If you move recklessly, you might cause a secondary dislocation.”

An Rao looked around and found a broken piece of wood as thick as a thigh by the river. He pulled the axe from his waist and struck it hard. The impact made his palms sting, and fresh blood seeped from the torn wounds into the handle.

Xu Renyu looked at him and frowned.

An Rao carved the wood into two boards, tore off a strip of his shirt, and fixed the boards to Xu Renyu’s leg. He then tied the two boards together with the cloth to prevent the bone from shifting again. He tied the remaining piece of cloth tightly around the thigh to prevent further bleeding. By the time he finished, the wounds on An Rao’s hands had opened to three or four centimeters long.

He squinted at the top of the cliff. All electronic devices had been handed over when entering the mountain, so he had no way to contact the program team. Xu Renyu truly could not afford to wait. If An Rao climbed back to call for help, Xu Renyu’s leg would be ruined by the time the team arrived.

An Rao thought for a moment and suddenly pulled Xu Renyu up gently. He crouched halfway down and said in a low voice: “Get on. I will carry you back.”

Xu Renyu looked at An Rao’s back, and a strange emotion flashed through his eyes. Although An Rao was about the same height as him, his frame was much thinner. If he planned to carry him up the cliff, Xu Renyu wanted to tell him to give up.

An Rao waited for a moment without hearing anything. He turned his head and saw Xu Renyu standing there crookedly with a vacant look in his eyes.

“Do you think I cannot carry you?” An Rao smiled and reached out to pull Xu Renyu’s arm over his shoulders so he could lean on him.

Then, he exerted all his strength to stand up straight. Blue veins bulged on his slender white neck.

He was truly heavy. Carrying Xu Renyu, the weight of over one hundred fifty pounds made his legs tremble. He walked very slowly, step by step, but with determination. No matter what difficulties lay ahead, he would carry his partner back.

When he was very young, his older siblings would bully him while their parents were away, making him stand outside as punishment. At only six years old, he had huddled alone in the small flower bed by the door until after midnight because his siblings refused to let him in. At that time, he thought how wonderful it would be if someone could fall from the sky and take him away from that painful home.

Xu Renyu must be thinking the same thing right now.

It was already difficult for An Rao to walk on flat ground while carrying Xu Renyu. While climbing the slope, he almost tumbled down with him. He crawled up inch by inch, almost on his knees. The sunset gradually faded, and the grey blue night melted and dripped from the edge of the darkness.

“Do not worry about me. Go on your own,” Xu Renyu said, unable to bear it. Seeing An Rao’s pants torn and his legs bleeding, he could not help but speak up.

An Rao said nothing and continued to climb with grit teeth.

Xu Renyu was silent for a long time before speaking in a low voice: “You clearly know I hate you. Why are you helping me?”

An Rao asked in return: “If it were you and you saw someone lying there injured, would you sit by and do nothing?”

Xu Renyu turned his head and said with a bit of awkwardness: “That depends on who is lying there.”

An Rao managed a pale smile and looked up at the stars.

“To be honest, I still do not have a single bit of good feeling toward you even now. But most of the time, we have no right to decide our own lives, nor do we have the right to decide whether the person lying there is an enemy or a benefactor. Since I was given this script, I can only do my best to perform it well, even if it is not what I wished for.”

Xu Renyu’s eyes trembled. He looked at the back of An Rao’s head, and his heart jumped.

“I think you understand this better than I do, do you not?”

An Rao turned his head slightly, a smile as gentle as a summer evening breeze on his lips. Xu Renyu’s eyes widened, his pupils reflecting An Rao’s bright smile. He slowly tightened his hands and hugged An Rao’s neck tightly, resting his head gently on his shoulder. After a long silence, he said in a nearly inaudible voice: “Yes, you are right.”

“Is that all?” An Rao raised an eyebrow and asked with a smile.

Xu Renyu thought for a moment and tightened his grip. As if gathering great courage, he said softly: “I am truly lucky to be your partner.”

By the time they returned to the camp, An Rao was completely exhausted. After using the last of his strength to settle Xu Renyu, he slowly collapsed onto the ground, only capable of breathing.

The staff members were gathered in the workroom playing cards. Not a single person had noticed that Xu Renyu had been missing for several hours. Seeing the two of them covered in wounds, they finally realized what had happened and hurried Xu Renyu to the hospital.

An Rao closed his eyes in exhaustion. Sweat dampened his hair and flowed slowly down his pale cheeks. Suddenly, the view in front of him went dark.

He slowly opened his eyes and met the serious face of Chu Guannan. He was looking down at him with an indifferent expression.

An Rao managed a weak smile. Still remembering his persona, he struggled to raise his hand and said in a tired but coquettish voice: “Husband, I am so tired. Help me rub my legs, okay?”