Chapter 9
On the high-definition screen, the cold-looking young man was awkwardly surrounded by a circle of people.
Qi Xiu held the roasted fish, carefully removed the bones, and brought it to his mouth. His gaze toward the fish was incomparably affectionate.
Finally, he could not help saying, “Boss, can I taste a small piece first?”
After receiving permission, he quickly took a tiny bite, his face revealing an expression of utter satisfaction. “Oh my god, this really is the best roasted fish I’ve ever eaten!”
He Erwang held two pieces of wood and was still stubbornly competing with the task of making fire by drilling wood.
Only, his eyes kept drifting from time to time toward the fish by the fire, whose aroma was aggressively tempting. “Boss, are my movements right now?”
Gu Shengsheng hugged his knees and sat eagerly in front of the fire. His bright and flamboyant features were full of drooling desire.
In a slightly spoiled tone, he said, “Boss, give me one more fish. After we leave this deserted island, I’ll have my dad give you ten million!”
Only, although he spoke boldly, after receiving the others’ dissatisfied gazes, he shrank back in fear. Still, his eyes remained fixed on the roasted fish without backing down.
Mo Fan did not quite know what he could do. After thinking for a long time, he copied Qi Xiu and brought over the small bowl of water he had been given but had not drunk earlier.
“Boss, do you want some water?”
Qin Ye looked rather pleased as he glanced at the crowd gathered in a circle, then unhurriedly tossed aside the fish bones that had only scraps left on them.
He reached out toward Shen Jinfeng. “Little Captain, where’s my second fish?”
Shen Jinfeng: “…”
He looked at the five pretty faces in front of him, all written with the word “obedient,” and silently sped up his fish-roasting.
Thus, the third season of What Kind of Person Are You? produced its first famous scene since the broadcast began.
In fact, from the start of the broadcast until now, aside from the official announcement trending-search ad spots that the publicity team leader had bought in advance, the Being Human production team had already rushed onto the trending searches with more than a dozen entries purely through its own discussion value.
#ShenJinfengBigShotPersona
#HeErwangLearnsMannersAfterBeingHumanAgain
#GuShengshengVicious
#ThisIsCalledFightingWhenSomeoneAnnoysYou?
#ShenJinfengSelfless
#TheSixthHeavyweightGuestIsQinYe
#QinYe’sPersonaIsToFindAPartner?
#OldDogSunComeOutAndExplain!
#IsShenJinfengTheFishGod?
#QinYeShenJinfeng
#ShenJinfengMakesFireByDrillingWood
#QinYeKillsFishLikeHeWorkedAtRTMartForThirtyYears
Without a doubt, the moment the third season of What Kind of Person Are You? began airing, it almost crushed the popularity of every other variety show this year. Only a hugely popular xianxia drama from some time ago could still barely compete with it.
And this was only the beginning. With the lineup of Being Human season three, the six guests covered reputation, discussion value, traffic, and national recognition from every angle. It would be difficult for the show not to explode.
However, the dozen or so trending topics could all be said to be the result of the production team’s “personas.”
Although the discussion they triggered was undeniable, only Shen Jinfeng’s perfect fishing skills and his fire-making technique, so fast no one could see his movements clearly, had somewhat broken out of the show’s own circle. After the episode aired, they triggered waves of people rushing to imitate him.
Countless influencers, bloggers, and ordinary people refused to admit defeat, trying to imitate, surpass, and then fail.
And now, the talented people in the bullet comments had perfectly named the current scene in the livestream.
[The big shot and his useless teammates waiting to be fed.]
This “harmonious” scene involving all the guests had a bizarre style, an absurd yet hilarious atmosphere.
It was screenshotted, turned into all kinds of reaction images, and became instantly popular.
The famous scene of “Boss, can I eat fish?” became widely memed for a long time afterward, with even passersby who did not know the context joining in.
Later, after the season three livestream ended, the guests who had personally been the “useless teammates” were asked about it in interviews after leaving the show.
Not only were they not embarrassed, they were exceptionally enthusiastic. “Actually, right now, I still want to ask Boss: can I still eat fish?”
Of course, the current them did not know any of this aftermath yet.
After finishing the roasted fish, according to the livestream’s time, it was already four o’clock in the afternoon.
The sunlight on the deserted island was still scorching.
All fifteen fish had been completely consumed.
Shen Jinfeng stood up, and Qi Xiu beside him immediately stood up as well. “Boss, where are you going?”
Shen Jinfeng patted his hands and pointed toward the dense forest, which still formed a patch of shade beneath the sunlight.
“I’m going to take a look in the woods. Do you want to come?”
Seeing that everyone looked eager to try, like elementary school students following behind their teacher, longing to go on a spring outing,
Shen Jinfeng quickly added, “Not everyone needs to go.”
He directly named them. “He Erwang, Qi Xiu, you two come with me.”
The two people chosen sprang to their feet and obediently ran to Shen Jinfeng’s side.
Qin Ye, Gu Shengsheng, and Mo Fan stayed where they were to watch the “home base.”
Shen Jinfeng led the two of them toward the forest and discovered that this deserted island was somewhat beyond his expectations.
The dense forest was lush and endless at a glance, just like the boundless sea on the other side.
The few of them stood in the middle of the forest, surrounded in all directions by towering trees that reached the clouds. No matter which direction they looked, it seemed the same.
He Erwang’s eyes blurred from looking. “Should we just pick a direction and walk?”
Shen Jinfeng nodded indifferently.
Qi Xiu suggested softly, “My lucky direction today is east. Can we go east?”
So the three of them started walking east.
Only, He Erwang was a little puzzled. “Qi Xiu, what are you studying? I don’t think horoscopes have lucky directions, right?”
Qi Xiu glanced at him and hesitated for a moment.
“I just did a divination.”
???
He Erwang stopped. “What? You’re a fortune-teller?”
“You’re so young, and you’re doing feudal superstition?”
He paused, then somewhat regretfully closed his mouth. After organizing his words, he spoke again.
“Sorry, what I mean is, you’re very young. It’s impressive that you know this.”
Qi Xiu looked at him strangely.
He Erwang said, “What?”
Qi Xiu opened his lips, then closed them again, moving a little closer to Shen Jinfeng. “I don’t dare say it.”
His hesitant appearance made He Erwang’s heart itch. “Just say what you want to say!”
Qi Xiu raised his head again and looked at him carefully. His voice was extremely soft as he stammered, “It’s just that, from your facial features, you don’t really look like someone who would say sorry.”
???
He Erwang’s face darkened. A curse word nearly came out of his mouth, but he forcefully held it back.
“Then your skills still need more practice. Everyone around me praises me as a gentleman who understands etiquette and propriety.”
Pfft.
This time, even Shen Jinfeng could not help laughing out loud.
The bullet comments also dissolved into laughter.
[Hahahahaha, not gonna lie, He Erwang really never says sorry. It’s always other people saying sorry to him.]
[Qi Xiu calculated pretty accurately. That’s right, He Erwang looks like an arrogant and domineering young master. No offense.]
[He Erwang’s current self-image is actually a gentleman who understands etiquette and propriety. I’m really going to die laughing. Someone should throw his roast compilation right in his face now.]
Qi Xiu did not refute him again.
But clearly, he did not agree with He Erwang’s self-perception either.
Shen Jinfeng glanced at He Erwang, whose face was written all over with unwillingness and sulking.
His purple hair fluttered in the wind, flying through the air in a shape like tangled weeds.
Whose gentleman who understood etiquette and propriety dyed his hair purple?
But He Erwang firmly believed in his own “persona.”
To prove that Qi Xiu was speaking nonsense, he persistently asked, “Then did you calculate what’s to the east?”
Qi Xiu said, “I calculated that we’re about to have food.”
They had already walked a considerable distance. Aside from trees, there was grass; aside from grass, there were trees. Along the way, only Shen Jinfeng occasionally grabbed a handful of grass by the roadside.
By now, Shen Jinfeng’s backpack was already full of strange-looking grasses, but the two of them did not pay it any mind.
Forget food—there was not even a bird’s nest.
He Erwang had just been about to refute him when suddenly, the sight before his eyes shifted.
As they walked, how had a coconut grove suddenly appeared?
He abruptly turned his head and glared at Qi Xiu. “You only said there would be food after seeing the coconuts. That doesn’t count.”
“I can climb trees. Let me go up and pick coconuts! Watch me!”
Shen Jinfeng fell silent for a moment, then nodded. “Go ahead. Be careful.”
[Oh ho, the persona is taking effect again? Is this skill Old Dog Sun arranged reliable?]
[Wasn’t it He Erwang himself who said in an interview that he loved climbing trees and taking bird nests when he was little?]
[Hiss, forgive me for speaking bluntly, but if it was the kind of tree-climbing and bird-nest-taking in the countryside, a tree would be at most three or four meters tall. It can’t be compared at all to this coconut grove that looks over twenty meters high, right?]
However, what no one expected was that when He Erwang said in an interview that he could climb trees, he really could climb trees.
He barely made any preparations. His eyes only shone as he stared at the coconut tree in front of him. He rubbed his fists together, blew on his hands, then began climbing upward with agility.
His movements were clean and efficient, his posture agile and beautiful. In almost the blink of an eye, he had climbed more than three meters up.
Although He Erwang was excited, he was not stupid.
The tree he had chosen was the shortest coconut tree he could see. After the first three meters, climbing required more skill and strength, so he slowed down.
He slowly climbed for nearly twenty minutes and finally reached the top. Full of excitement, he waved at Shen Jinfeng and Qi Xiu. “Isn’t Brother amazing?”
Qi Xiu gave him plenty of face and shouted, “Amazing!”
Then he saw He Erwang, who had been waving his arm as if striking a victory pose in the wind, freeze the instant he lowered his head to look down.
“Holy crap, it’s this high!”
In that instant, He Erwang felt his heart turn cold.
No one knew that the latter half of that interview, which had been cut out, was:
[When I was little, I was an expert at climbing trees and taking bird nests—but every time I got up there, I couldn’t get back down.]
Every time, his dad had brought over a ladder while carrying a stick and taken him down. Once he was down, the beating began.
The bullet comments had not yet noticed anything wrong.
Because He Erwang turned his head away, stopped looking down, and focused on breaking off the coconuts.
There were only three sparse coconuts on this tree. He spent tremendous effort breaking off the three coconuts and shaking them down to the ground.
The netizens watching the livestream all looked at He Erwang with new respect.
[Not bad. My Brother Wang talks big, but he’s also fierce!]
[His tree-climbing and bird-nest-taking is actually at this level! 666!]
[With He Erwang around, the team won’t have to worry about having no coconuts to eat in the future!]
Qi Xiu’s eyes shone with excitement, and for the first time, his volume rose quite a bit. “He Erwang, come down!”
He Erwang instinctively looked toward the source of the voice, then instinctively hugged the trunk even tighter.
[What’s going on?]
He Erwang hugged the trunk even tighter and turned his head away, not daring to look down. “I’ll rest for a bit.”
[Oh, he climbed the tree and picked coconuts. He should rest for a bit.]
Then, all the netizens watched helplessly as He Erwang rested for a bit, then rested for a bit more, resting until the sunlight began to dim.
Qi Xiu had already sat down in place, split open one coconut, and eaten until his face was full of satisfaction.
Shen Jinfeng had gone around the surroundings by himself and returned with his backpack bulging to an outrageous degree.
“He Erwang, are you still not coming down?”
After returning, he saw that the person who had said he would rest for a bit was now hugging the tree trunk, still gripping it so tightly he did not dare let go.
He Erwang had not expected that when he said he would rest for a bit, the two teammates below would really let him rest by himself.
Now the sun was about to set. As long as his gaze drifted downward even slightly, all he saw was a dark, bottomless height.
In reality, it was a psychological effect.
But it was truly too terrifying.
He tried hard to keep his tone calm. His voice was forceful, but the content was weak.
“I can’t get down.”
“I don’t dare.”
Qi Xiu raised his head blankly. “Ah?”
Bullet comments: [Ah???]
Shen Jinfeng: “…”
Why did this somehow feel completely within expectations?
