After Transmigrating as Cannon Fodder, I Became the Darling of the Variety Show - Chapter 9

Li Meiwei looked at An Rao in a half-dazed, half-awake state, her features scrunched together in frustration.

“Are you trying to let me die of thirst? I am already like this. What is wrong with drinking a little of your water?”

An Rao squatted down and appraised Li Meiwei. “You still have the energy to scold me. It seems you have not reached your limit yet.”

Yin Xueya also helped plead her case. “Give her a little to drink. I will go help you fill it up later.”

An Rao could not help but lament that these people truly lacked common life knowledge. However, it was understandable. These were children raised in the city, perhaps visiting such a desolate wilderness for the first time. They truly did not know if the stream water was potable or toxic.

He brought the water bottle to the lips of Li Meiwei, his fingers lightly pressing against her chin to force her to lift her head slightly.

He said calmly, “If you ingest excessive amounts of water after severe dehydration, it will cause hiccups. You must first moisten your lips bit by bit. Wait until the symptoms of dehydration ease before drinking normally.”

Li Meiwei froze for a moment. Her nose was filled with the pleasant scent of laundry detergent from An Rao. She stared intently at the face of An Rao, watching as his downward-sloping fringe half-shrouded a pair of starry eyes. Her small heart suddenly skipped a beat.

Li Meiwei sat up and took the water bottle, lowering her head somewhat shyly. “I will do it myself.”

“Then I will go get busy.” An Rao stood up and, under the bashful gaze of Li Meiwei, walked briskly toward the creek.

The director gave the cameraman a look. The cameraman understood instantly and pushed the lens right into the entranced face of Li Meiwei.

Seeing that the condition of Li Meiwei had improved, Yin Xueya walked slowly to the side of An Rao. Watching him focus intently on the stream, she followed suit, bracing her knees and half-squatting to look into the water.

“What are you looking at?”

“Fish,” An Rao said softly.

As soon as the words left his mouth, he suddenly raised his hand and flung out his axe. The axe landed right in front of a catfish that was frantically fleeing. An Rao took the opportunity to free his other hand, grabbing the body of the catfish in one go. The next second, the splashing catfish was tossed into the water basin.

Yin Xueya was shocked. “You actually know how to catch fish?”

An Rao brushed aside the hair at his temples and smiled. “I have watched some videos of fishermen catching fish. This is my first time practicing it personally.”

Yin Xueya could not help but give him a thumbs-up.

Out of a mysterious liking for Yin Xueya, An Rao took the initiative to catch another fish for her. By the time the two returned carrying the basin with the catfish, the others had already prepared their evening rations and were waiting in front of the cameras.

But how could these people know fishing techniques? At most, they recognized some common fruits. Consequently, the table was laid with things like raisin tree fruits and hawthorns. It was not enough to satisfy their hunger, especially after losing half a life climbing up from the bottom of the mountain.

The cameraman busily pointed the lens at the fish in the basin. The fish was jumping and splashing, sending a spray of water droplets onto the lens.

Su Xiangming had actually squatted by the stream for half the afternoon but had failed to catch a single fish. Looking at the two catfish, he could not help but lament, “This one is truly here for wilderness survival. It seems he did a lot of training and preparation before recording.”

Next, everyone could use the existing tools to cook the ingredients in their hands. But what room for culinary art was there with fruit? One just wiped them clean and shoved them into the mouth.

The group of An Rao was the last to set up their tent, so they had received no cooking tools. How to cook this fish was a major problem, especially since he possessed a pair of demon hands that could turn the simplest ingredients into the most lethal poison.

He looked around and saw a rock under a nearby banyan tree. There was a depression at the top of the rock, making it look like a stone pot. Natural stone pot fish—he did not expect to eat a specialty dish on the first night in the mountains.

An Rao was just about to take the fish out to clean it when he suddenly sensed a gaze staring at him. Turning his head, he met the eyes of Lin Jingxi.

Lin Jingxi had his brow tightly knit and his expression was solemn.

“What is this?” he questioned sternly.

An Rao glanced at the motionless catfish in the basin that had given up the struggle. He brought the basin before the eyes of Lin Jingxi and smiled. “Fish. Have you never seen one?”

“Do you not think this is too cruel?” Lin Jingxi looked at the catfish, his tone restrained.

An Rao thought: “?”

Hearing this, Yin Xueya had just lifted the catfish onto the cutting board and was about to gut it when her hand stopped awkwardly.

“Fish are also living beings. They also feel pain. If you were the one caught and waiting to be gutted, what would your mood be?” Lin Jingxi knelt down, his finger lightly touching the head of the catfish. “How pitiful.”

An Rao rubbed the bridge of his nose. Did the original author think this kind of persona was cold, elegant, and noble?

Yin Xueya held the catfish and gave a dry laugh. “But I am not a fish, and I need to stay alive.”

“So, for the sake of your survival, you ignore all living creatures and destroy nature? Is that truly fair?”

Shen Yi walked over and lightly took the shoulder of Lin Jingxi. Seeing his aggrieved and heartbroken expression, Shen Yi immediately spoke up, “Jingxi is right. Since there is plenty of fruit now, we should try our best to avoid killing.”

Xu Renyu pondered for a moment. Naturally, he stood on the side of Lin Jingxi unconditionally. He said deeply, “How about this: since everyone holds their own opinion, let us have a show of hands. Those who disagree with eating the fish, please raise your hand.”

An Rao felt as if his throat were blocked. Putting aside the fact that Xu Renyu was in the same group as him, what right did Xu have to decide the right of someone else to eat fish? Usually, they did not miss out on chicken, duck, or pork, but now, at a moment of survival, all things have spirits.

What, is fruit not a living thing?

As soon as the words were spoken, Shen Yi, Lin Jingxi, Xu Renyu, and Li Meiwei all raised their hands. Li Meiwei had abstained from meat for a year to maintain her figure. She did not want to go against An Rao and felt the matter was trivial. But the director was giving her looks, hinting for her to create conflict and increase viewership. What else could she do?

“It is a four to four tie,” Xu Renyu said.

Just as everyone was agonizing over whether to kill the fish, Lin Jingxi looked at An Rao. He reached out to hold the hand of An Rao, his eyes filled with hope. “Rao Rao, I picked a lot of fruit. I will eat less and share some with you. Please do not kill that little fish, okay?”

That posture was exactly like a saint attempting to use love and kindness to reform a psychopathic killer.

An Rao smiled at him. “What if I say no?”

“Woof!” Suddenly, a cheerful dog bark rang out.

Everyone instinctively turned to look and saw the husky with the large catfish in its mouth. Its expression was high-spirited, as if showing off to the crowd: “Foolish humans, I shall graciously accept the fruits of your labor.”

Everyone was speechless.

An Rao gave a cold laugh. “Satisfied now?”

Lin Jingxi let out a grief-stricken sigh, as if he could not bear to watch the pitiful catfish struggle for its life in the mouth of the husky. He turned around and staggered away from the scene of the crime.

The production crew edited the first video and posted it online. Everyone had been waiting thirstily. As soon as it updated, they rushed in to watch with great interest.

At the beginning, the bullet comments were very harmonious:

【Little Dog Shen protected his wife the whole time. Ahhh, this is killing me!】 【The mysterious guest is actually my Nan! Did they not say my Nan took on a new movie?】 【He definitely came for Xi Bao. After all, the ability to give a Reventón as a gift is enough to prove the position of Xi Bao in his heart.】 【Hahaha, Little Dog Shen and Lion Chu should fight! I want to see a crematorium scene!】 【Goddess Xueya is too beautiful! Even without makeup, she is this stunning. Sister, give me a chance!】

In the midst of the howling for love, an extremely inconspicuous comment drifted by: 【An Rao is the best.】

But it was instantly buried by the army of comments. However, when the program played the segment of the fish eating battle, the atmosphere of the comments changed abruptly. The volume rose rapidly, blocking the screen entirely.

【Are you really that greedy for these few ounces of meat? Will you die if you do not eat it?】 【Xi Bao is truly so gentle, sob sob sob. Fanning him is the most correct decision I have made in my life.】 【An Rao must have been a butcher in his past life. Yin Xueya is not a good person either. A woman handled a knife so skillfully. The two of them should partner up and be called the Male and Female Killers.】 【Speak about that showy guy if you want, but leave my Little Ya out of it. Reported.】

Seeing the fans and audience tearing into the topic and driving it to the top, the director hooked his lips in satisfaction. He looked at the PD nearby. “I told you to prepare sacks to catch the money. Look, did we not hit the top of the hot searches?”

Night

An Rao, who had only eaten fruit, had no desire to sleep. He sat up silently, looking at Xu Renyu who was sleeping with his back to him. After a moment, he rose quietly and walked out of the tent.

The moonlight was beautiful, reflecting on the leaves so they appeared milky white like jade. It reminded him of the song by Lan Jiao, The Moonlight Is Thick. But his stomach was hungry now. The more fruit he ate, the less satiated he felt. Taking advantage of the rest of the production crew, An Rao quietly went to the creek and looked into the depths by the moonlight.

Just as he was focusing on waiting for a small fish to sacrifice itself, a slight movement came from nearby. An Rao thought the production crew was lying in wait, so he instinctively crouched down to hide in the darkness and looked toward the sound.

By the gurgling stream, a tall and slender figure stood quietly on the bank. A slightly open collar revealed a patch of skin, covered with a soft light filter by the moonlight.

Chu Guannan? Was he also hungry and out foraging for food?

Seeing it was Chu Guannan, An Rao stopped hiding. He walked to the side of Chu Guannan and reached out to hook his arm, saying coquettishly, “Hubby, why are you not asleep yet? Are you hungry?”

Chu Guannan seemed to have known An Rao was hiding nearby. He did not react much to his sudden appearance. He looked down slightly at An Rao, his pupils melted into crushed jade by the moonlight.

An Rao knew Chu must be disgusted with him because of the catfish incident during the day, so he struck while the iron was hot. “I am almost starving to death. I could not eat the fish I caught. Lin Jingxi really loves to mind the business of other people. Hubby, if he does this again, can you help me scold him?”

Chu Guannan pushed him away gently. “Solve it yourself.”

It was unclear why he had come out in the first place, but after dropping that sentence, he turned and left. However, after only a few steps, he suddenly stopped. The hand in his trouser pocket moved slightly, and then he pulled something out. He turned around and stuffed it into the hand of An Rao.

An Rao looked closely. It was a piece of chocolate.

“You are hoarding snacks!” he said with feigned surprise.

Chu Guannan did not even look at him as he turned to leave. “The production crew allowed a special exception.”

An Rao looked at the chocolate in his hand and felt something was wrong. Putting aside the double standards of the production crew, this chocolate was a sign of something. Was Chu Guannan concerned about him? Why? He had clearly acted out to such an extent, yet Chu Guannan showed no intention of wanting a divorce. Instead, he was concerned for him?

Returning to the tent, An Rao held up the chocolate with a tired expression. He had once prepared a lot to travel the world. He had studied extensive wilderness survival knowledge and regarded Bear Grylls as a guiding light. He truly wanted to see the vast world that could not be found in those books, rather than huddling here participating in a nutritionless variety show.

While he was lost in thought, a light suddenly flashed outside, and someone knocked on the tent door. Looking at Xu Renyu, who was still snoring, An Rao got up and walked out of the tent. He saw a production crew member smiling mysteriously at him, handing over a card.

“A lucky guest suffering from insomnia has been randomly selected for a hidden mission. If the mission is not completed before dark tomorrow, you will have to accept an inhumane punishment.”

An Rao opened the card. A line of large characters read: “Have your partner sincerely exclaim: It is truly the blessing of three lifetimes to be in a group with you!”