Chapter 43
After dinner, it was still early, and the guests did not keep lying around inside the little wooden cabin.
They went out to the beach and simply lay down to look at the starry sky.
The whole group lay side by side on the sand. Some lay flat on their backs with limbs spread out, while others pillowed their heads on their arms with one leg crossed over the other… Every posture was utterly leisurely.
The virtual world simulated by the production team had exceptional natural scenery, and its night sky was equally outstanding.
The stars glittered, hanging bright across the curtain of the sky, reflecting the clear moonlight. It was a sight rarely seen in today’s cities.
The soft radiance shone over the earth, as if draping a hazy filter over everyone’s faces. It really had that feeling of seeing someone under the moonlight—the longer you looked, the more beautiful they became.
Pressed down upon the sea, the light also made the waves shimmer.
It truly carried a bit of the meaning in Tang Gong’s line: “Drunk, I know not the sky lies in the water; a boatful of clear dreams presses upon the Milky Way.”
“I feel like we’re filming an idol drama,” Gu Shengsheng said. His mind was always full of scenes from films and dramas. “A youth campus idol drama.”
He looked left and right. “And all of us are good-looking.”
He Erwang drawled lazily from the side, “Bro knows bro is handsome. No need to keep praising me.”
Gu Shengsheng: “…Stop. Even handsome guys will become greasy if they talk like that.”
[No, little purple-hair isn’t worthy of the word greasy yet. He’s just chuunibyou hahahaha.]
[So there really is no such thing as being handsome without knowing it. Little purple-hair and Gu Shengsheng never acted this narcissistic in front of the public before. Have they finally liberated their true selves? But the way they’re so seriously praising their own looks is actually kind of cute, not greasy at all hahahaha.]
[LMAO, how many people don’t know they’re good-looking? I’ve only ever seen people overestimate their appearance, never underestimate it. My dad still says every day that he was more handsome than Daniel Wu.]
Qi Xiu asked, “If this were a youth idol drama, what kind of plot would there be?”
Gu Shengsheng pondered for a moment. “There would be a group of boys and girls lying on the beach, an ambiguous atmosphere flowing between them. Under the night sky, everyone falls asleep. Our protagonist, maybe the male lead or maybe the female lead, would greedily gaze at the person they love and gently press a kiss onto his or her forehead, cheek, or the corner of the lips.”
[Wow, that actually sounds pretty convincing. Shengsheng really is a good actor whose mind is full of acting!]
[It really is. Wuwu, so beautiful. Learned something. After I finish the college entrance exam, I’ll ask my crush to go on a beach vacation!]
[No! Please stop talking! If you keep going, Qin Ye is going to take it seriously!]
[Hm?]
That sudden bullet comment directed the viewers’ attention toward Qin Ye, whose side profile could only faintly be seen under the night.
Why could only a bit of his side profile be seen?
Because he had actually turned his head. His whole face was resting sideways against the sand!
And who else could be on the side he was facing besides Shen Jinfeng?
[No way, Ye-god, restrain yourself!]
[There are still so many people beside you! You won’t succeed! Unless you convince everyone to sleep on the beach tonight. Not.]
[Good grief, if they really sleep on the beach, I’m not sleeping tonight either. I’ll stare at the screen and see whether Qin Ye really has little thoughts in mind and whether he has the guts to act on them.]
In fact, Shen Jinfeng had also felt the gaze from beside him.
He lay flat on his back, his whole body somewhat stiff. After several minutes, Qin Ye still had not looked away.
Over there, Gu Shengsheng and Qi Xiu were seriously discussing the later developments of an idol drama.
Mo Fan also joined in and offered his own idea.
“No, ours isn’t a youth idol drama. Ours is a rich-family idol drama.”
“Huh?”
Mo Fan explained, “At a time like this, there should be a male lead facing the person he loves, pointing at this vast ocean, looking toward that forest, holding the female lead and spinning three hundred and sixty degrees, then proudly saying to her: Look, baby, this is the deserted island I bought for you! Beneath the whole island, is there any soil that is not yours? Along the shore, is there any tree that is not yours?”
Pfft.
Gu Shengsheng laughed so hard he almost died. “You’re cueing Ye-ge, aren’t you? Hahahaha.”
He Erwang shook off the goosebumps all over his body and frowned. “What kind of line is that? Do girls really fall for this?”
Qi Xiu thought seriously and answered seriously, “They do. Boys fall for it too.”
“That is the power of money.”
He Erwang fell into thought.
“I’m dying of laughter. Stop messing with him. My brother might actually believe it,” Gu Shengsheng said, laughing so hard he kept rubbing his stomach.
“Eh, why isn’t Ye-ge saying anything? Where’s the actual person involved?”
Shen Jinfeng looked at the cold, stiff expression of the person beside him. He also laughed until his shoulders shook. “They’re asking you, Qin Ye.”
Qin Ye’s expression twitched slightly, his eyes full of disbelief. “? You think I would say a line like that?”
“You want to hear it?”
Qi Xiu said, “Why are you only asking whether Boss wants to hear it? Why aren’t you asking me? I want to hear it!”
He Erwang joined the fun. “Me too!”
Gu Shengsheng said, “You can do it, Ye-ge. You can definitely act better than Mo-ge!”
Mo Fan: “…Why are you using me as a comparison? I was just giving an example. Please, there really are screenwriters who write lines like that. It’s not something I made up.”
[I want to hear it too!!!]
[Help, I really can’t imagine Qin Ye saying this kind of Mary Sue line. Would it still be swoon-worthy? Hahahahaha.]
[Thank you, Mo-ge! Thank you, big shots! Thank you, everyone else! Let Ye-god act in an idol drama once! This style is fine too. We fans aren’t picky anymore! Hiss, slurp!]
[What a pity… the costume, makeup, and props aren’t keeping up. If he’s really going to say “this is the deserted island I bought for you,” he should be wearing Ye-ge’s natural-born suit! Forever the best!]
Qin Ye expressionlessly prepared himself for a long while, as though he really intended to answer everyone’s call.
He slightly sat up and reached a hand toward Shen Jinfeng.
Shen Jinfeng was startled and immediately refused. “I’m not cooperating with your performance.”
Who wanted to be the “female lead” who got picked up and spun around while enduring domineering CEO lines?
Qin Ye: “…”
He silently withdrew his hand and gestured at the side of his own face. “Little Captain, you have sand on your face.”
“I wanted to remind you earlier.”
Shen Jinfeng was embarrassed for one second.
Following the direction Qin Ye had gestured, he wiped a handful of sand off his own face.
…So the secret admirer had been staring at him all this time because of that sand?
Who would believe that?
Quite a decent excuse he had found.
“Your face is covered in sand too. Your body is covered in sand too.” Could someone lie on the beach and not get sand on them?
Qin Ye silently withdrew his gaze and wiped clean the sand from the half of his face that had just been turned sideways.
“Get up,” he called to everyone.
“What for? Ye-ge, are you inviting me to be your ‘female’ lead?” Gu Shengsheng shot up from the sofa. “My acting is pretty good. I promise I won’t laugh.”
Qin Ye: “…Get up and set up distress signals with me.”
Clearly, coming to the beach to set up distress signals had been their main purpose.
Gu Shengsheng gave a regretful “tsk.” “Fine.”
“Ye-ge, you missed a good chance to learn romance.”
Everyone lazily stood up amid laughter and jokes, then began handling serious business.
On a beach at night, the most obvious distress signal was lighting three fires.
This was also an internationally recognized distress signal.
The six of them split into three groups, measured out equal distances, and occupied the positions of an equilateral triangle.
Then they brought over enough wood and piled it together.
Fortunately, the deserted island might lack many things, but trees were everywhere.
Shen Jinfeng estimated roughly how much wood could burn through the whole night.
All three groups used friction to start fires and lit the wood.
The three positions were quite far apart. The distance between the bonfires reached over fifty meters, so they would definitely be obvious from the sky.
“That’s about right.” Shen Jinfeng clapped his hands and shook the sand and wood shavings off his body.
Qin Ye nodded. “Let’s also go over to the area where the waves can’t reach and piece out ‘SOS’ and ‘HELP.’”
They made many “SOS” and “HELP” signs.
Each letter was spaced around fifteen to twenty meters apart.
They drew them in the sand, arranged them with stones, pieced them together with wood…
In short, as long as a plane flew over the deserted island, it should be very difficult not to see them.
After everything was finally complete, Gu Shengsheng stretched. “All right, let’s go back and sleep!”
Mo Fan nodded in agreement, holding his waist. “Aiyo, I usually lack exercise. Moving around a little really makes me exhausted.”
Everyone walked back, passing by the swing bed Shen Jinfeng had built earlier.
The wooden frame was still there, but the tent cloth and other things had all vanished. They had probably been blown to some unknown corner by the previous typhoon.
He Erwang’s eyes were full of longing and reluctance. “Sigh, what a pity.”
Shen Jinfeng found it a little funny. “Do you want me to build another one tomorrow?”
He Erwang’s eyes lit up. “Yes!”
“But we probably won’t get rescued tonight, right?”
Sun Xinping in front of the screen: “…”
Bullet comments: […]
[Don’t worry, little purple-hair. That concern of yours is really unnecessary hahahaha.]
[Little purple-hair, you’re really thinking too much. You can’t escape even if you want to! How could anyone possibly come rescue you?]
[I’m honestly convinced. In previous seasons, the guests wished the show would end sooner and went through tribulations every day. The guests this season are secretly praying it won’t end! Let me stay a few more days!]
[They’re really working hard! Seeing the guests work so hard to save themselves, production team, doesn’t your heart hurt? Don’t you panic? But to be fair, their methods are indeed worth learning from. If you encounter danger on a deserted island, this really is how you should call for help! Worth studying!]
[Sister above, first of all, thank you for your concern, but you’re really overthinking. In this lifetime, I probably won’t be able to visit such a “niche” place.]
The guests joked as they returned to the wooden cabin, washed up, and peacefully entered a sweet dreamland.
In sharp contrast was the production team after today’s livestream ended.
A group of workers, full of resentment, followed Sun Xinping into the meeting room—to brainstorm.
Honestly, damn it. In the middle of the night, what ghost could they even brainstorm?
Sun Xinping said, “Go on, speak freely. What good ideas has everyone come up with?”
Everyone remained silent.
Sun Xinping began calling names. “Goat, what ideas do you have?”
The equipment team leader looked troubled. “How about we switch the map for them?”
“Something like going from the current deserted island to a desert, then maybe a snow mountain… They can’t possibly be this strong in every place, right?”
Someone expressed agreement. “They’ve had such a smooth time this season because the deserted island has too many resources.”
“Exactly. If they were in a desert, could they still be this comfortable?”
“Then what would the selling point be? May I ask?”
Everyone began arguing for a while.
After listening for a bit, Sun Xinping suddenly realized something was wrong. “No, how are we supposed to change the map? Have a gust of wind blow the guests from the deserted island into a desert?”
“Unreliable, unreliable.”
The equipment team leader said, “Director, that’s not what I mean.”
“We signed contracts with the guests for an originally planned two-month season. But clearly, the current deserted island very likely, probably, maybe won’t hold out for two months. Worst case, after the guests come out, we let them go back in and continue filming in another place.”
He was entirely considering reality.
Sun Xinping’s brows tightened. “The show hasn’t died prematurely yet, and you’re already here thinking of fallback plans?”
He irritably waved his hand. “Enough. Put that aside for later discussion. I’m asking what methods there are right now to keep the guests on the deserted island and at least film for a while longer.”
Xiao Li yawned and said simply, “Feels like there’s no way.”
Pfft.
Someone could not help laughing out loud.
Clearly, they agreed very much.
Old Qian, the head of the publicity team, hesitantly asked, “Find a way to separate the guests?”
“Like in xianxia novels, where a companion encounters danger, or a companion goes missing, and then the remaining people go search for them? We arrange some plot for them?”
Sun Xinping’s face darkened. “Who goes missing?”
“Where did the missing person go? Why would they disappear without force majeure?”
Old Qian shrank his neck. “Old Sun, why are you being fierce with me? We can slowly think through the follow-up. Why don’t you come up with a method yourself?”
At this moment, someone’s imagination ran wild and became inspired. “That’s simple. The missing person fell into the ancestor’s tomb.”
???
“I mean, we don’t have a real thousand-year-old tomb we can copy data from to simulate, but we can learn from film and television dramas. All kinds of mechanisms and hidden arts, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, ancient guardian pottery figurines suddenly reviving and attacking…”
The more this person spoke, the more excited they became, almost imagining the tomb as a treasure inheritance site in a cultivation novel.
Sun Xinping picked up the water cup on the table and downed it in one gulp.
“Enough. Not a single one of you is reliable. Am I filming a variety show or a movie?”
“That fake—who would believe it?”
“If I fell into a place like the one you described, the first thing I’d suspect is whether I’d transmigrated.”
Xiao Li corrected him. “Director, transmigration wouldn’t send you to that kind of place. That would have to be transmigrating into a drama or a book.”
Sun Xinping turned his head and glared at him. “Day after day, you’re the one with the most to say. What do I need an assistant like you for?”
Xiao Li muted himself.
In the end, everyone still failed to discuss an effective method.
“Just drag it out. Respond to all changes by remaining unchanged. That’s the best method.” After the brainstorm ended, Sun Xinping came to this best method that was not really a method at all.
According to domestic sea patrol regulations, even more niche sea areas would have patrols arranged once a week.
But it was possible that due to bad weather, patrols could not go out that week and would be moved to the following week.
Shen Jinfeng and Qin Ye had reached this conclusion, so they could at least drag things out for another week.
Even if another week passed and they still could not be rescued, then what?
Build a boat and drift back by themselves?
Sun Xinping felt that was too absurd.
At this moment, he had not yet predicted that his imagination was still somewhat lacking.
Meeting adjourned.
After reaching the decision to drag things out and let things rot, everyone went back with clear consciences and had a good night’s sleep.
Unexpectedly, the next day, Sun Xinping arrived at the office right on time, cigarette in his mouth and eyes still sleepy, only to be startled by Xiao Li’s scream.
“Director! Something happened again!”
The cigarette in Sun Xinping’s mouth fell straight to the ground. He instinctively looked toward the livestream screen and found that all the guests were gathered in one place, seemingly making something by hand again.
He relaxed a little and asked irritably, “What happened now? Why are you making such a fuss?”
Goat silently pulled up a summary of this morning’s livestream shots for Sun Xinping to see. “Director, take a look.”
Sun Xinping walked up to the monitor and flipped through manually.
The first short video summary: waking up early to exercise and eat breakfast.
Nothing unusual.
The second short video: Qin Ye led the other guests to inspect and improve the distress signal signs they had made last night.
Harmless.
The third short video: Qin Ye led the other guests to light new thick smoke. Clearly, this was a new smoke distress signal.
Sun Xinping’s expression did not change.
The fourth short video: Qin Ye led the other guests to use everyone’s colorful clothes and the leftover tent cloth to make several bright flags.
The flashy flags were hung on the tallest tree, visible at a glance. They seemed to have used some lever principle or some little physics trick—forgive him, he had long since returned all his physics knowledge to his middle school teacher.
The flags slid simply in the wind in midair. If one looked closely, they roughly formed a figure-eight shape.
That was also a common wilderness distress signal.
The fifth short video: still Qin Ye leading the other guests, using Mo Fan’s enamel bowl and the metal pencil cases and silver-bodied pens of the two high school students, Qi Xiu and Gu Shengsheng.
Under sunlight reflection, these tools reflected dazzling beams of light.
When the livestream footage was enlarged, looking down from the air or even from the sea surface, one could very clearly notice the round dots and long lines reflected by the sunlight.
There was something to it.
The sixth short video: Goat kindly provided a 360-degree all-around observation image of the deserted island.
Except for the direction of the forest, on the side facing the sea—
No matter the angle, from the sea surface or midair, the several distress signals could be seen with ease.
If, as Qin Ye predicted, there really was a military patrol—
With so many distress signals there, unless the patrol personnel deliberately kicked someone while they were down and refused to save them, the chances of not being rescued were rather low.
The guests had practically brought the common essential wilderness rescue knowledge into full play.
The more Sun Xinping watched, the quieter he became.
His expression had already changed from casual indifference at the beginning to a tight frown.
He turned to look at the current livestream screen.
Qin Ye was leading the others, apparently trying to make soap.
Mo Fan was in a very good mood as he processed the leftover bayberries from yesterday. He kept aside the portion for today, and used the rest to make wine.
Because after bayberries were picked, they could only last a day at most.
Although the guests were working very hard, this still could not be considered a big incident, right?
No, wait—
Where was Shen Jinfeng?
“Where is Shen Jinfeng?”
Xiao Li’s expression was subtle. Looking carefully, there was even a bit of admiration in it. He pointed at the final short video.
Goat switched the livestream split screen for Sun Xinping. “Actually, you can just watch the livestream directly…”
“What kind of trick are you all hiding?” Sun Xinping had a bad premonition in his heart.
He narrowed his eyes, his nerves tightening as he looked toward Shen Jinfeng.
Then, the expression on his entire face went blank for a long while.
On the screen, Shen Jinfeng was holding a familiar transparent plastic packaging bag.
It was still the leftover bag from when they ate bread earlier, but it had been supported with small wooden sticks, and now the bag had been propped into a cylindrical shape.
Of course, that was not the main point.
The main point was that in the middle of this cylindrical packaging bag, there was actually a familiar cluster of light.
A small enameled wire was wound between magnetite and the wooden supports of the packaging bag.
At the very bottom of the bag was a piece of rush, which seemed to have already been lit before. At this moment, its tip showed a bald blackened dot.
Shen Jinfeng had made a switch on the side. A wooden switch on the magnetite—press once, and the light turned on; press again, and the light went out.
Wasn’t this… an electric lamp?
Even though Sun Xinping thought he had fully prepared himself mentally, he was still completely shocked by the scene before him.
“How did he make that?” Even his voice was trembling slightly.
On an uninhabited deserted island, without any modern instruments or equipment, he had created an electric lamp out of thin air? Who would believe that?
He came back to himself and, with fingers trembling faintly, opened the seventh and final short video.
Sure enough, the last short video showed the entire process of Shen Jinfeng making the lightbulb.
It looked rather simple.
The magnetite was ready-made. Though he had no idea how Shen Jinfeng had turned magnetite from merely a magnetic ore into a usable tool capable of electromagnetic induction.
The rush was something Shen Jinfeng had picked yesterday.
At that time, some netizens had analyzed that he might have picked it to make candles.
Good grief. Now he had not made candles, but had instead used it inside an electric lamp to burn and consume oxygen first.
As for the enameled wire…
Who would dare believe it! Shen Jinfeng had actually taken it apart from the broken phones and power banks!
Sun Xinping watched until he was stunned.
He watched the video over and over several times.
“Just like that… he made an electric lamp?”
It even looked quite simple and effortless?
But the problem was…
Weren’t they on a primitive deserted island without any modern traces, not even a signal?
How had something so modern suddenly appeared?
What exactly had Shen Jinfeng done in the past?
Was he really a phone repairman?
Or a lightbulb repairman?
With physics this good, why did he enter the entertainment industry?
At this very moment, a sense of absurdity and a somewhat fearful admiration rose from the bottom of Sun Xinping’s heart.
He did not know that this inner thought of his was also exactly the thought of the vast number of netizens prostrating themselves in admiration.
“My goodness, this really is a big incident,” Sun Xinping murmured.
Just considering the fact that there was an electric lamp on the deserted island, it did not count as some major event that would affect the whole situation.
But the implication behind it…
He was just thinking this when he saw the calm-looking young man on the screen examine the electric lamp in his hand, seeming not very satisfied.
Shen Jinfeng casually put the electric lamp aside and complained in a low voice, “What a pity the enameled wire is a little short. I can’t make a high-power generator.”
Making enameled wire—or a substitute sample—would also take too much work. He did not want to move.
He sighed, picked up the coconut water beside him, and took a sip.
“Forget it. I’ll just slack off instead.”
W-What?
Sun Xinping’s face twisted for an instant.
You call this slacking off???
Then what did that make him?
[I… Forget it. There really is a wall between big shots and ordinary people. Wuwuwu.]
[Watching until now, I really have the illusion that Big Boss Shen is omnipotent.]
[Handmade electric lightbulb? What kind of science channel is this? And from what Big Boss Shen means, he originally wanted to handmade a generator too? My heavens, why not continue and handmade an atomic bomb while you’re at it!]
[I understand now. So this is slacking off… Your slacking off and my slacking off seem to be different.]
