Who Wants to Be the Affectionate Cannon Fodder?! [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 30

007 spoke with visible hesitation: “That is Ning Jinghe.”

The show had invited a total of eight guests. Aside from Shen Xingzhuo and the two leads, the other five were: Pei Yixing, the actor who had previously brought the camera to find Yu Lin; Zhou Luoning and Li Yao, idols from a boy band that debuted last year; Ning Jinghe’s junior colleague Tang Mo; and her co-star from her new drama, Zhuang Wang.

Seeing Yu Lin come downstairs, Tang Mo asked with a beaming smile, “Are you feeling alright? We saw you both fall into the water earlier and it gave us quite a fright.”

Yu Lin nodded. He watched as Ning Jinghe set down the fish soup and found a seat.

The filming of the program had begun at Lucheng Airport. The eight guests were divided into pairs through a “find-a-partner” challenge at the airport. Upon landing on the deserted island, they immediately began a competition, splitting into two routes to reach the wooden cabins prepared by the production team. Because Jiang Shiyan was desperate to be grouped with Ning Jinghe, he ended up exceeding the time limit for the matchmaking phase. As a result, he had to accept a penalty and take the much longer mountain path.

However, for a pampered young master like Shen Xingzhuo, both the water route and the mountain path were a form of immense torture.

His original intended partner was, naturally, Jiang Shiyan. He had not expected to run into Ning Jinghe first and be forcibly bound to him. Later, when the main group reconvened, he saw Jiang Shiyan ignoring him entirely while chatting happily with Ning Jinghe. Consequently, he harbored a fair amount of resentment toward the man. During tasks, aside from his natural daintiness, he would intentionally throw tantrums to trip Ning Jinghe up.

Ning Jinghe seemed to have noticed this hostility as well. After several tests of his patience, any shred of goodwill he had was worn away, leaving only a thin veneer of professional courtesy maintained for the sake of the cameras. Seeing Shen Xingzhuo come downstairs, he did not even bother to glance up, specifically choosing a seat at the very edge of the table to avoid being near him.

Given Shen Xingzhuo’s personality, he would not have wanted to sit with him either.

But Yu Lin was not sure what his own mindset was. Perhaps it was because he felt a strange sense of familiarity with Ning Jinghe; perhaps it was his innate contrarian nature that loved forcing the melon off the vine; or perhaps he simply did not want Jiang Shiyan to get his way.

So, seeing Jiang Shiyan about to move toward Ning Jinghe, Yu Lin jumped straight from the stairs, swiftly collided with Jiang Shiyan to shove him aside, and then pulled out a chair to sit right next to Ning Jinghe.

The movement was seamless. The onlookers only felt a gust of wind pass by. Even Jiang Shiyan did not have time to react.

007 reminded him: “Watch your character persona.”

Yu Lin quibbled: “I’m throwing a tantrum to get his attention. Did you not say Shen Xingzhuo is pampered and temperamental?”

A few seconds later, Ning Jinghe turned his head toward Yu Lin in confusion.

Yu Lin flashed a lazy smile: “Thanks for saving me.”

Ning Jinghe said flatly, “No need. We are teammates; it’s only right.”

“Broad shoulders, narrow waist, long legs, he really looks like my brother,” Yu Lin lamented internally while picking up the communal spoon to scoop the fish soup from the center of the table. “Is Ning Jinghe the top in this world?”

007 read out in a robotic tone: “According to the original world line, they are versatile.”

Yu Lin: “?”

007 explained: “It means they take turns.”

Yu Lin’s hand paused mid-scoop: “You guys certainly know how to have a good time.”

007: “…”

Dinner consisted of ingredients provided by the production team. Since it was the first day of filming, they had to offer a sweetener to avoid scaring the guests away right at the start.

Even so, the ingredients provided were mostly vegetarian items like bean sprouts, carrots, and potatoes. The only fish available was something Zhou Luoning and the others had managed to catch earlier.

Live Comments:

Shen Xingzhuo is so rude. Did he just push Jiang Shiyan away?

He started eating without a care before everyone else even sat down. And his fans still brag about his rich second-generation and noble young master persona? What kind of rich kid acts like a starving ghost?

He just nearly drowned and exhausted his energy; can’t he just eat? Stop being so dramatic.

There were six dishes and one soup on the table. Someone had made the tofu, but it was fried black on both sides and tasted bitter. The dry-fried carrots and potatoes were as bland as chewing wax. The others took a few bites, their chewing slowing down as their faces collectively fell into expressions of quiet despair.

None of those present, except for Ning Jinghe, had any cooking experience. However, since they could not leave all the work to one person, they had all volunteered to help out. Unfortunately, the creations of these kitchen killers did not just look bad; they tasted like pure darkness.

Only the few dishes Ning Jinghe personally handled were somewhat acceptable.

Jiang Shiyan took a bite of the shredded potatoes and spat them out immediately, frowning. “Why is this so salty?”

He then took a piece of carrot as if facing a great enemy, only to coldly spit it into a tissue as well.

Ning Jinghe instinctively glanced at Yu Lin out of the corner of his eye. He saw him drinking the fish soup as if nothing were wrong, skillfully using his chopsticks to remove the fine bones from the meat. His cheeks puffed out like a hamster’s while he chewed.

He did not know why he was observing Yu Lin; likely out of fear that the young master would start another annoying scene.

However, Yu Lin stuffed several slices of dry-fried carrots into his mouth. His only thought was that Ning Jinghe’s cooking was on par with Lin He’s, and the flavors were strikingly similar.

The fish soup was a milky white, with tiny golden droplets of oil floating on the surface. Only salt had been added, giving it a fresh, sweet taste and tender meat. It was exactly like the craftsmanship he had tasted countless times in his previous world.

The stir-fried carrot slices were crisp and sweet, and the bean sprouts were crunchy and refreshing. As for the dishes made by the others, Yu Lin picked away the burnt skin of the tofu and stuffed the soft inner part into his mouth, crushing it with his tongue. Although it was far inferior to Ning Jinghe’s skill, it was not inedible for the sake of filling his stomach.

The others had lost their appetite after just a few minutes. When they put down their chopsticks and looked up, they saw Yu Lin picking up a strangely shaped potato pancake and putting it in his bowl.

Tang Mo asked curiously, “Don’t you think it tastes bad?”

Yu Lin, who had just bitten half of the potato pancake, looked up blankly. “It’s okay.”

Zhuang Wang also asked, “What about the tofu?”

Yu Lin spoke the truth: “It’s also okay, just a bit bitter.”

The two creators of the dark cuisine looked at each other, a flash of joy from being acknowledged passing through their eyes.

Ning Jinghe looked down at him as he ate heartily. Yu Lin’s long eyelashes fluttered with every movement, and the red mole on his fair skin looked like a vivid drop of ink. His red lips were moistened by the fish soup, and the dim yellow light from the cabin ceiling cast a shimmer of gold over them. He was exceptionally beautiful.

A moment later, Yu Lin swallowed the food in his mouth and said indistinctly, “The carrots and fish soup are the best, though.”

Ning Jinghe’s mind went blank for a moment. After a while, he finally spoke up to remind him, “You don’t have to eat the burnt parts. It’s not good for your health.”

After saying this, he rubbed his knuckles. It felt as if he had uncontrollably wanted to reach out and grab something just now. He felt a hint of confusion regarding the sudden shift in his and Shen Xingzhuo’s dynamic.

Jiang Shiyan’s eyes flickered as he watched Ning Jinghe. He was irritated by the slight tenderness Ning Jinghe had unintentionally shown Shen Xingzhuo, but when he turned his gaze to Yu Lin, he carefully masked his impatience. “Yeah. But I remember you used to hate carrots the most. Even though the production team might be cruel and not give us food tomorrow, don’t force yourself too hard.”

Yu Lin glanced at him and said, “I’m not. I just think Ning-ge worked hard to make so many dishes; it would be disrespectful to let them go to waste.”

Seeing Jiang Shiyan’s expression freeze for a few seconds, Yu Lin added another jab: “Oh, you couldn’t tell? No wonder you spat it out because you thought it was gross.”

Jiang Shiyan: “…”

Once Yu Lin had finished the leftovers, the production team finally appeared to announce the schedule for the next day.

The cabin provided on the first day was a newbie perk. Starting tomorrow, all guests would have to leave this safe point and head deeper into the deserted island to begin true survival. Aside from a change of clothes, guests were not allowed to take any other items. However, the production team would provide essential wilderness survival tools.

Upon hearing this, Pei Yixing said aggrievedly, “I dragged my 30-inch suitcase through a ten-kilometer trek. If I’d known, I would have ditched it the moment I got off the helicopter.”

The production team replied heartlessly, “It’s fine. Your suitcases can be left in the cabin for us to look after.”

The essential tools provided included knives, sleeping bags, flashlights, emergency rations, and over a dozen other items. However, there were conditions for obtaining them. While they were cooking and eating, the production team had set up targets outside the cabin. Each person would have three chances to shoot an arrow from a distance of twenty meters. The tools and departure routes for tomorrow would be selected based on the ranking of the combined scores of each pair.

As soon as the rule was announced, the live chat was filled with complaints. After all, everyone knew that the actors present had experience filming historical dramas and had undergone archery training. The two idols had also participated in an archery competition at a certain company’s sports meet three months ago. Only Shen Xingzhuo stood out. All his action scenes were done by body doubles, and with his thin limbs, people doubted he could even draw the bow.

“Everyone has two minutes to practice.”

The bows provided were traditional bows. Ning Jinghe had just picked one up to gauge its weight when he saw Yu Lin nonchalantly lean over, his eyes fixed lazily on him like a cat patrolling its territory.

Ning Jinghe looked away, forcing himself to ignore the gaze. He drew the bowstring and fired a test shot, a 7.

“Hm, it’s quite simple.”

After Yu Lin said that, he also picked up a bow and aimed at the bullseye across from him, mimicking Ning Jinghe’s posture.

The next moment, the arrow left the string. Under the watchful eyes of the viewers, the arrow traced a bizarre parabola and flew right over the top of the target.

Live Comments:

What a big talker, hahahaha! Bro, can you stop bragging? Does your face hurt from that slap?

I’m starting to feel bad for my man. I can already smell the dead-last ranking. Jiang Shiyan clearly knows what he’s doing. Shen Xingzhuo should just score a zero and be done with it.

Ning Jinghe must have killed someone in a past life to end up on this cursed show paired with a useless person like Shen Xingzhuo.

Ning Jinghe sighed and said reassuringly, “It’s okay. Life is full of accidents and surprises.”

Tang Mo also joked, “It’s okay, Senior Ning. We’ll go easy on you.”

Live Comments:

Hahahahaha, Ning Jinghe already wants to give up.

I’d say it’s full of pig teammates and failure. [Smoking.jpg]

Two minutes were up, and the whistle blew.

Several arrows were fired simultaneously, the bowstrings snapping with a crisp sound. When it was Ning Jinghe’s turn, he stood ready and fired three arrows: 9, 9, and 8, the highest on the field so far.

But as he put down his bow, he glanced at the scoreboards for Tang Mo’s and Jiang Shiyan’s groups. Yu Lin would need to average at least a 6 to turn the tide.

However, he turned his gaze toward Yu Lin, who was still there studying the fletching of his arrow. Averaging a 6 seemed like a bit much to ask of him.

“Just do your best,” Ning Jinghe said. He did not even notice his tone had become softer and more gentle.

Yu Lin flicked the bowstring expressionlessly and resumed his stance. The taut string pressed against his face, indenting the soft flesh of his cheek.

“Start thinking about which tools you want to take when we win, Ning-ge. I’ve already learned how.”

His “ge” (brother) was spoken so softly and sweetly that Ning Jinghe’s heart skipped a beat for no reason at all.