Although Lu Aotian’s face was turned towards Ji Nuo, his words were clearly meant for Han Cheng.
Han Cheng could naturally feel the little guy’s full hostility toward him. From the moment the child woke up and saw him, there had been strong rejection.
The man extended his slender, elegant fingers, resting them on the lock of the car window while remaining alert to the subtle movements around them.
Ji Nuo, sitting between the two, noticed a flash of smugness cross the little guy’s face. A sudden inspiration struck, and he reached out, pressing down on Han Cheng’s arm. “Wait.”
Ji Nuo stood up and looked at Ruirui, who was leaning against the window in the front row. He asked Mother Chu, “Teacher Peng, is Ruirui feeling carsick?”
Before he even finished speaking, Ruirui’s small body lurched forward again. Accompanied by the sound of retching, muffled by the roaring wind, a fresh batch of egg paste splattered against the outside of the window next to Han Cheng with a ‘splat’.
The Chu couple finally noticed their child had vomited his entire breakfast. They immediately opened their backpacks to get water for him to rinse his mouth. “Ruirui, why didn’t you say you were carsick?”
Ruirui took the water and nodded sensibly. “It doesn’t hurt after I throw up.”
A touch of helplessness appeared in the Chu couple’s eyes, but they could only rub their child’s head affectionately.
After Ji Nuo sat back down, both he and Han Cheng looked at Lu Aotian.
Han Cheng’s brow was slightly furrowed, but his eyes held more interest than anger. Why was this child so hostile toward him? Just because Ji Nuo had used his “braised beef brisket” to make a bowl of congee?
Ji Nuo, on the other hand, was puzzled. Teacher Han was so outstanding, and Ao’ao cub was so adorable. They clearly looked so alike, so why were they like fire and water when together?
As for Lu Aotian, not only did he think he did nothing wrong, but his gaze towards Ji Nuo practically shot sparks.
This little brother ruined his plan, and now was he going to scold him for this man?!
Even if he, the magnificent Long Aotian, didn’t care for it, hadn’t Ji Nuo always treated him like the one and only treasure?
~
Ji Nuo didn’t need to ask to know the kid had done it on purpose. He didn’t have much experience with children, but living with the cub these days, he had always treated him as an equal friend. So, at that moment, he didn’t force the child to admit his mistake or apologize.
The kid’s strange behavior since waking up and his deliberate attempt to make Han Cheng get vomited on… both boiled down to one thing: the child was excessively self-centered and had an extremely strong possessiveness over everything.
Ultimately, it stemmed from a childhood lacking parental love and growing up wild after hardship, making him vastly different from most children raised with care in a greenhouse.
‘Only when the granary is full do people learn courtesy; only with sufficient food and clothing do people learn honor and disgrace.’ The latter group has plenty of relatives and elders to teach them about sharing. But for Little Friend Lu Ao’ao, fighting, seizing, and occupying all available resources to survive was the ‘education’ he received from his external environment.
Though Ji Nuo hadn’t grown up as a vagrant, he’d experienced similar phases during times of cold and hunger. He understood the crux of the child’s awkwardness and planned to find some material during the day’s tasks to help enlighten the cub.
~
In less than half an hour, the bus stopped in front of a dense bamboo forest.
The production team’s equipment had been set up in advance, and another luxury MPV business vehicle was parked in the area.
By the time they got off the bus, Lu Aotian’s mood had calmed considerably. After all, Han Cheng and Ji Nuo both acted as if nothing had happened. Naturally, he thought that although these two were colluding and in cahoots, they didn’t use their seniority in terms of this body’s age to put on adult airs in front of the live broadcast cameras. They were sensible enough, so he, the magnanimous one, wouldn’t hold it against lesser men.
Arriving at the competition site, they became a team again. Lu Aotian could still distinguish between what was important and what was trivial.
The three families disembarked one after another and stood in front of the cameras. The MPV door slid open, and Kang Feier emerged, carrying Zhenzhen.
On the other side, Xu Chengyi stretched out his long legs and stood firm. He adjusted his diamond cufflinks before turning back to scoop his son up by the armpits, lifting the Little Fatty down.
The other three families didn’t show much reaction, but Kang Feier looked very embarrassed. Xu Chengyi, however, was quite accustomed to special treatment.
Weng Kai’s family happened to be positioned right next to them. It wouldn’t do to just ignore them. Making small talk, Weng Kai asked the Little Fatty, “Linlin, are you feeling better?”
Little Fatty shot him a sidelong glance, turned back, leaned against Xu Chengyi, and whined, “Daddy, I’m hot. I want iced watermelon juice!”
Xu Chengyi rubbed his precious son’s head and replied to Weng Kai with a smile, “A bit better. This kid is a little shy around strangers.”
Kang Feier stood at the far edge holding her daughter, almost a meter away from Xu Chengyi. Hearing her stepson fuss for watermelon juice, her inner annoyance grew another notch.
Weng Kai smiled and nodded without saying anything. Beside him, Weng Tiantian wrapped her arms around her Movie Empress mother’s waist and whined in a super low voice, “Mommy, I’m hot too, I also want iced watermelon juiiice—”
Ming Yu lowered her head and pinched the elaborate little braids atop her daughter’s head, smiling very gently. “You look just like a watermelon juice— to me!”
The danmaku was once again amused by the mother-daughter interaction:
[Wow, I never expected the unattainable Ming Yu to be a deadpan comedian hahahaha, no wonder she got together with Weng Kai.]
[Laughing so hard. Seeing Weng Kai’s baby photos, I always thought Tiantian was a delicate little princess, but it turns out she’s an entire violent, drama queen loli! So cute!]
[Honestly, I used to think Weng Kai wasn’t good enough for Ming Yu, but whether a marriage is happy can be seen on their faces. They’re so much better than that so-called ‘golden couple’.]
The little dumpling Zhenzhen had been nestling in her mother’s arms the whole time, not even looking up when Director Bai Yong walked to the center of the field and spiritedly announced the mission.
It wasn’t until she heard the voices of Ji Nuo and Lu Aotian talking that she slowly turned her little head towards the pretty older brother and his father.
Zhenzhen’s expression was listless. It was only when her gaze, traveling upwards, reached Lu Aotian’s and Ji Nuo’s eyes that a faint light seemed to appear…
The little dumpling’s large, black-grape-like eyes suddenly stopped, and then, as she clearly saw Han Cheng beside Ji Nuo, they abruptly burst with radiance.
—This new big brother was too good-looking!
Little dumpling Zhenzhen instantly felt her tiny heart was stuffed completely full, crammed with two big and two little ‘sweethearts’. It was truly an overload for her.
Kang Feier had naturally noticed the family of three standing opposite her, seemingly glowing.
Though she had drifted in and out of the entertainment industry over the years, she was nowhere near the level to work alongside Han Cheng. This was also her first time seeing Han Cheng in person, confirming the legend that Han Cheng didn’t photograph well.
What was a natural-born star! What was face card lethal! These three, one big, one small, and one… standing together were practically trying to kill her!
She suddenly felt that all the annoying problems at home weren’t problems anymore!!
~
Bai Yong smiled with sunny enthusiasm, first telling everyone a story.
The gist was that there was an eighty-year-old granny in town who had married here from D Province. Due to health reasons, she hadn’t returned in twenty years and now deeply missed her hometown’s famous dish, renowned as the most delicious under heaven—Chicken Stewed with Fish.
So, today’s Mountain Wilderness Journey ultimate challenge for the guests was centered around fulfilling Granny’s dream.
—Using the best chicken and the most famous fish in the area to make a special Jade Mountain version of Chicken Stewed with Fish.
The first team to gather all the ingredients and complete the task would not only enjoy the delicious Chicken Stewed with Fish together with Granny, but could also spend the last night of the Jade Mountain trip at the nearest five-star hotel. Furthermore, they would get first choice of accommodation for the first night on next week’s “Island Trip.”
The rewards were great, but there’s no such thing as a free lunch. The guests instinctively felt these two “mosts” would be extremely difficult and frowned as they listened to the director’s further explanation.
Bai Yong spoke with glowing animation, “Does anyone know what the best chicken to eat on Jade Mountain is?”
Everyone shook their heads. With a grand wave of his hand, Bai Yong pointed to the bamboo forest behind him. “It’s precisely the Jade Mountain Bamboo Forest Free-Range Chicken!”
There were many types of free-range chickens across the country. The Jade Mountain Free-Range Chicken’s characteristic was being raised in the bamboo forest, eating tender bamboo shoots, bamboo worms, fresh mushrooms, and grass seeds. Their meat was fresh and delicious, with a unique bamboo fragrance, making them top-grade among chickens.
As for the most famous fish, it was the wild Cold-Water Catfish raised in the Jade Mountain Cold Springs.
The production team divided the ingredient gathering into four parts: catching bamboo worms, fishing for free-range chicken, digging up bee pupae, and fishing for Cold-Water Catfish. They also required the children to participate, independently completing the task of fishing for free-range chicken.
“Fishing for free-range chicken” actually involved tying the chicken’s favorite food, bamboo worms, to a bamboo pole and gradually luring the chicken into a trap, thus capturing the agile, running-and-flying free-range chicken.
The difficulty of catching the chicken was honestly not low for the children. Starting from the simplest part, using bamboo worms as bait was enough to make some kids scream.
As for the later part of fishing for the chicken, besides the children’s agility and reaction speed, it also depended on the chicken’s own standard. If a child absolutely couldn’t pass this stage, parents could complete it on their behalf after two hours.
Based on Director Bai Yong’s observations of Lu Ao’ao during this time, he felt this was a remarkably precocious child.
Such a trait would make the child look down on everything and have even less patience compared to peers. Because things usually went his way, such a child often couldn’t withstand frustration.
Moreover, this child had some mysophobia. If Ji Nuo’s care hadn’t been meticulous and comprehensive enough, he probably would have caused trouble many times by now. If anyone else were taking care of him, it definitely wouldn’t have worked.
Therefore, Bai Yong had specifically arranged the dirtiest and most agile free-range chicken for Lu Ao’ao—effectively, the hardest-to-catch Chicken King on this mountain.
Thinking of this, Bai Yong felt he could already foresee the look on the haughty little guy’s face as he was toyed with by the Chicken King until he broke down crying.
~
The four families quickly divided the tasks. Basically, one person was responsible for catching bamboo worms and bee pupae, while the other went into the Cold Spring to fish for catfish.
Ji Nuo volunteered to take on the bamboo worms and bee pupae. The former were fat, white, wriggling grubs that looked utterly sanity-blasting, and the latter came with the risk of being stung by wasps even with protective gear.
As one of Han Cheng’s earliest die-hard fans, Ji Nuo had remained a fan until now and truly couldn’t bear for Han Cheng to do these things.
But he also hadn’t forgotten his supporting role mission. He deliberately found a pretext that sounded utterly pretentious: “My body is weak, I can’t stand in cold water for long. Brother Cheng, can you take the fish-catching part later?”
Ji Nuo’s live stream now gathered a large number of Han Cheng fans, besides the haters and malicious trolls whose hate ran deeper than love.
Although most Han Cheng fans were well-behaved, there were always a few jumping around. Ji Nuo’s existence was an eyesore to them to begin with. Now, hearing him choose a task before their idol, they immediately started:
[What is Ji Nuo being so pretentious about? If it weren’t for you, would Brother Cheng need to come to this trash variety show to do tasks?]
[So disgusting, who do you think you are? Picking and choosing. When will that plastic surgery freak get lost!]
[Ha, they’re a couple, so what if he chose a task first? Han Cheng happily agreed, you eunuchs are worried about nothing.]
[+1, Although I’m indifferent to Ji Nuo, the bamboo worms and bee pupae he “chose” make me want to die just looking at them, definitely not easy tasks.]
The danmaku was lively. The viewership data, which should have dipped on a Monday, surged sharply in the opposite direction due to Han Cheng’s unexpected drop-in. Discussion across danmaku and various platforms also skyrocketed.
Under the camera lens, the master broke open a bamboo shoot, revealing the full appearance of the bamboo worm inside.
Director Bai Yong grinned mischievously as he explained, “This is the larva of the bamboo weevil, also known as the bamboo shoot worm. It has plump, delicious flesh, a sweet, creamy flavor, and a light bamboo fragrance. Not only is it the favorite of our Jade Mountain Free-Range Chickens, but it’s also a rare delicacy on many gourmets’ plates. Ones this size can sell for 150 yuan per jin.”
Not to mention the guests on-site, even the live stream viewers stopped arguing, with a flood of “barf” and “The Lonely Brave”:
[150 yuan a jin? I wouldn’t want it even if it were free, aaaaaah don’t give close-ups!!!]
[Holy crap, Yong Dog, go to hell!]
[This Orange is suddenly slightly thankful Ji Nuo snatched the worm-digging task…]
Little Friend Lu Ao’ao watched from afar as the big, fat grub placed in the master’s palm wriggled non-stop. His facial expressions twitched, and he wished he could retreat thirty thousand miles.
He was just purely disgusted. Little dumpling Zhenzhen, who was standing closer to the master, had already been ugly-cried by the bug. Sobbing, she turned and burrowed into her mother’s arms.
Ruirui and Tiantian were a bit further away and their reactions weren’t as strong, but their expressions were still very resistant. The absolute best kid on the scene was none other than Kang Feier’s stepson, Linlin.
Little Fatty thought his little sister was frightened. He curled his lip disdainfully, took two steps forward, and picked up the white grub. Swaggeringly, he showed it to Xu Chengyi. “What’s there to be scared of? Cry, cry, cry, such a delicate crybaby.”
Zhenzhen, who had been softly sniffling in her mother’s arms, instantly fell silent. Xu Chengyi first smiled and praised his son for being so brave before patiently explaining, “Little sister is a girl, it’s normal for girls to be afraid of bugs.”
Little Fatty looked towards Lu Aotian, who had been disgusted into repeatedly retreating by the big fat grub. Mockingly, he pointed at Lu Aotian and asked his father, “Is he a girl too? Such a coward!”
Lu Aotian’s breath hitched. Why did this piglet talk so much nonsense?
He knew children liked to bicker, tattle, and show off. So, as a mature soul, the Long Aotian naturally wouldn’t mind such drivel.
Thus, facing Little Fatty’s provocation, Lu Aotian folded his arms, sneered coldly, and walked back, looking extremely steady and composed. However, his lower body stomped the entire way.
Ji Nuo and Han Cheng, who had been silently observing the child’s entire range of changes, exchanged a glance. A hint of laughter appeared in both their eyes. Little Fatty was indeed annoying, but their own little pufferfish, stomping back with puffed cheeks, was simply too cute.
Ji Nuo cleared his throat. “Does Ao’ao hate this bug too?”
Lu Aotian was internally repeating, “I am the magnanimous one,” “I am the mighty Long Aotian,” “I…” while shooting Rainstorm Pear Blossom Needles from his eyes towards the opposite side.
Hearing Ji Nuo’s words, he let out a light snort, pointing at someone while scolding someone else, “White and fat, wagging its head, utterly disgusting!”
Ji Nuo pretended not to understand the real target, suppressing his laughter to steer the topic back. “Then, for the task of using bamboo worms as bait to attract the free-range chicken later, are you confident you’ll finish first?”
Lu Aotian’s eye-daggers slanted towards the questioning Ji Nuo. “A joke! I, Lu Ao—’m destined to be number one from birth!”
