The Prime Minister Becomes a Global Sensation After Transmigrating into a Pariah - Chapter 10

Their luck was quite fair; it wasn’t long before they discovered a small river. The water gurgled and flowed, its sound echoing through the woods with a therapeutic quality.

“Let us settle here,” Lou Yishu gestured to Qiao Yuxi. He set down the resources he had gathered and prepared to start the fire.

“What are you doing?” Qiao Yuxi asked, watching Lou Yishu busily move about.

“Making fire,” Lou Yishu replied while working.

“Pardon? How exactly do you plan to do that?”

“Drilling wood,” he answered, his eyes wide and earnest, looking remarkably wise in Qiao Yuxi’s eyes.

“No, wait—” Qiao Yuxi was in disbelief. “Are you sick? How long do you think that’s going to take?”

It wasn’t just Qiao Yuxi; the live comments reacted exactly the same way:

• “I never thought I’d hear such a primitive fire-making method in the 21st century.”
• “How long is he going to be drilling? Until next year?”
• “He’d be better off going to trade for fire from Ye Qi. Just bring some supplies to swap.”
• “Easy to say, but how do they find him? They don’t have a god-view map like we do.”
• “Still better than drilling wood here. Besides, if Qiao-Qiao went to Ye Qi, he wouldn’t even need supplies; they’re so close.”
• “If Qiao Yuxi asked, our Qi-Qi would definitely just give it to him.”
• “Qi-Qi is already eating fruit over there, while they have nothing here?”
• “Why is Qiao Yuxi even with Lou Yishu? Isn’t it a jinx?”
• “Where did all these Ye Qi fans come from?”
• “Is he really going to drill wood? LMAO, watching a clown here.”

“If you have a moment, pray help me find a stone,” Lou Yishu said without further explanation, as if modern people had some deep misunderstanding of friction fire. “Find one about the size of a palm; it would be better if it has a hollow in the middle.”

“You fine, I’ll help you look.”

Qiao Yuxi couldn’t sway the stubborn Lou Yishu, so he let him be. There were many stones by the river, and it wasn’t long before he found one that matched the description.

Just then, the roar of a helicopter approached from the distance, Qiao Yuxi’s airdrop had arrived. The airdrop was a small crate attached to a parachute, drifting slowly down to land near them.

Qiao Yuxi was thrilled. His stomach had been growling for ages, and he immediately called out to Lou Yishu: “My airdrop is here! Let’s eat lunch!”

“Very well. Go see what is inside first; I haven’t finished the assembly here,” Lou Yishu replied. “The stone you found is excellent.”

“It was nothing, really,” Qiao Yuxi thought to himself, secretly delighted by the praise. “I’ll go over first then~”

Lou Yishu, of course, was not foolish enough to use his bare hands to spin the wood, that would be far too inefficient. He planned to use a bow drill. He first found a long, flexible branch with a natural curve, then removed his own shoelaces to tie both ends of the wood, creating a bow. He used the stone Qiao Yuxi found as a handhold to act as a bearing.

Then came the most critical part: Lou Yishu looped a dry wooden spindle into the bowstring. By pulling the bow back and forth, he could make the spindle rotate at high speeds. He sharpened one end of the spindle to a point and placed it against another dry wooden board. Through high-efficiency friction, he could generate embers.

Everything was ready. Just as Lou Yishu was about to implement the plan, Qiao Yuxi returned carrying the crate. His head was bowed, and the hairstyle he had carefully set this morning was now a complete mess.

“What is the matter?” Lou Yishu asked with concern.

“Nothing.”

“You lie.” Lou Yishu looked at the dejected Qiao Yuxi. This man wore his heart on his sleeve; he couldn’t hide anything from anyone. “What has happened?”

“We’re going to starve,” Qiao Yuxi said with a look of conflict. He had overestimated the supplies in the airdrop and now felt exceptionally embarrassed. The crate contained only two bottles of water, a bag of salt, and a flashlight not a trace of food. Just as Qiao Yuxi expected Lou Yishu to get angry or even throw a fit upon hearing this, the youth unexpectedly smiled at him.

“It is no matter. Rest assured, I shall not let you go hungry.” Deep down, Lou Yishu was still an ancient man; he could not allow his “nominal wife” to starve.

However, this response made Qiao Yuxi feel a sense of dissonance. He was a bit different from the man in his memories. No, he was too different. In his memory, Lou Qingtai never gave him a good look; his face was always filled with impatience. Whenever Qiao Yuxi wanted to talk about love, Lou Qingtai would talk about money. Is it because of the cameras? He looked at the nearby lens, lost in thought.

“Qiao Yuxi! Yuxi!”

“Ah?!”

Lou Yishu’s voice jolted him awake. “What are you thinking about? I called you several times and you didn’t hear. After we make fire, we can catch fish or shrimp. Do you not still have the string on your kite?”

“Oh, right!” He had always thought the kite was just a prop with symbolic meaning, completely overlooking its practical value.

Seeing Qiao Yuxi regain his spirit, Lou Yishu continued his unfinished fire-making task.

On camera, Lou Yishu gripped the bow and began pulling it rapidly. The wooden spindle spun at high speed along with the bow’s movement. He had prepared some dry grass to place on the hearth board. Within two minutes, the tip of the wood turned black, and a faint ember began to shimmer.

This operation not only stunned Qiao Yuxi but also silenced the live stream audience, as if they were afraid the tiny spark would go out if they looked away for a second.

Seeing the moment was right, Lou Yishu deftly removed the spindle and grabbed a handful of dry tinder, placing the ember inside. Then came the delicate part: he had to blow on the flame to bring it to life. The wind couldn’t be too strong, or it would blow the spark out, but it couldn’t be too weak, or it wouldn’t ignite.

He slightly lowered his beautiful eyes, focused on gently breathing life into the seedling of flame. A person in deep concentration is always the most captivating. Qiao Yuxi told himself to stop staring, but his eyes wouldn’t move an inch.

The white smoke from the tinder grew thicker, and the wind from Lou Yishu’s breath grew stronger. Finally—the fire caught! The comments ignited along with it:

• “Holy sht!! You really can drill wood for fire! I am guilty of doubting him”
• “Wait? It actually burned? Wait? What?”
• “Learned another useful but practically impossible-to-execute skill today.”
• “Me, who never doubted Lou Yishu, am now in the stratosphere.”
• “Baby Yishu is so amazing, kudos.”
• “If the person above wants to go crazy, do it in private. Why post it and disgust everyone?”
• “Excuse me, this is Lou Yishu’s stream. Can the mad dogs stop peeing on other people’s territory?”
• “Does no one truly find him charming when he’s focused?”
• “Well said! Remember to close your DMs.”
• “Who would believe this is faster than the guy with the fire starter next door? He’s been striking for twenty minutes and only just got a flame.”
• “Why are the comments comparing? Have you ever used a fire starter? If you’re so good, you go do it!”
• “Ye Qi fans are truly ruining his public image. When you weren’t here, the comments were clean; now that you’ve arrived, it’s a mess of toxicity.”

Meanwhile, a trending topic on Boliao was slowly rising: #LouYishuClingingToLinChunyan