BXBX NOVEL Chapter 196: The Cave
Chapter 196
Slap!
An ear-piercing slap louder than a high note from a Pagani Huayra echoed through the air!
The bearded man spun two rounds in midair before crashing to the ground!
He spit out a mouthful of blood, mixed with two of his teeth!
His face swelled up rapidly. His already big face now looked as if a face-swelling special effect had been added!
Staring at the bloody teeth on the ground, he nudged the now empty back molars with his tongue.
When he raised his head again, his eyes seemed to harbor boundless resentment!
Qin Zhao looked at him indifferently and said, "Watch that filthy mouth of yours.
If I hear anything like this from you again in my presence, you can look forward to the consequences!"
With that said, Qin Zhao strode forward and headed to the director team\'s camp alone.
After the black bear and thunderstorm incidents, the director team was worried they might not be able to respond quickly in case of an emergency.
So they set up camp less than 500 meters away from the celebrity contestants\', with the location disclosed for ease of access whenever they needed to find the directors.
When Qin Zhao arrived, she saw An Hongyu waving his arms around angrily, complaining about something to Xu Lianggong.
Xu Lianggong was resting his chin on his hand, nodding occasionally as if in response.
Seeing Qin Zhao walking over there, everyone turned to look at her neatly in unison.
An Hongyu pointed at Qin Zhao furiously and yelled, "That\'s the woman! Director Xu, you must punish her and preferably expel her from Survivor!
Keeping dangerous individuals prone to violence like her is asking for future troubles!"
Xu Lianggong got up and greeted Qin Zhao, "Welcome, Miss Qin".
His attitude clearly showed he had no intentions of punishing her.
An Hongyu frowned to show his dissatisfaction.
Qin Zhao asked, "Director Xu, did you ask me to come over for something?"
Xu Lianggong said, "I just wanted to ask what exactly happened between you.
Hearing only from them is not enough for me to judge who was right or wrong.
So I\'d like to hear your side of the story."
Qin Zhao: "It\'s very simple. An Hongyu harbors hatred towards me and got Yu Xiao to help him deal with me.
But they both got beaten up by me in the end."
Xu Lianggong: "Hmm... The footage we saw on the monitors is consistent with Miss Qin\'s account.
I\'d like to ask, what kind of apology does Miss Qin require from them to forgive them?"
Before Qin Zhao could reply, An Hongyu blew up.
He demanded angrily, "What do you mean, Xu Lianggong? My sister\'s company pays you and this is how you treat her brother?"
Xu Lianggong reiterated his previous stance, "Our director team is impartial and will only side with whoever is in the right.
If you don\'t apologize to Miss Qin, we\'ll consider disqualifying you."
An Hongyu felt a tightness in his chest. He then yelled at Xu Lianggong, "I\'ll make my sister fire you when I get back to Earth!"
Qin Zhao secretly ridiculed in her mind, "Why does every male protagonist in recent novels seem to be either a mama\'s boy, papa\'s boy, big sister lover or little sister lover? Can\'t they be a little more independent?"
Xu Lianggong calmly stated, "We provide services for the contestants and the audience with clear conscience."
"You!"
An Hongyu pointed at Xu Lianggong but couldn\'t get any words out for half a day. It seemed that such anger was the first time for him.
He didn\'t even know how to react.
Xu Lianggong patted his arm and said, "Just make your decision quickly, don\'t agonize over this kind of thing."
Clearly, neither An Hongyu nor Yu Xiao had any intentions of apologizing.
They had been beaten up and were now expected to apologize to their assailant? That was simply absurd.
Yu Xiao spoke first, "Director, I quit the show!"
Xu Lianggong said calmly, "Very well. No loss without gain, no gain without loss.
If you are unwilling to apologize, quitting is just and fair."
After Yu Xiao left, only An Hongyu was left who needed to apologize.
He thought to himself that if he quit too, then there would be no one left to contend with Qin Zhao and Sheng Xi over the prize money.
The entire prize would end up in their hands, which was unacceptable to An Hongyu. He was unwilling to let them win so easily.
Eventually, An Hongyu apologized to Qin Zhao, saying, "I\'m sorry.".
Qin Zhao cared little for his apology and turned her head to ask Xu Lianggong instead, "May I leave now?"
Xu Lianggong told everyone, “You can all leave now. Miss Qin and I still have something to discuss.”
Everyone slowly left one by one.
Soon only Xu Lianggong and Qin Zhao were left there.
Qin Zhao asked, "What\'s the matter?"
Xu Lianggong said, "I\'d like to ask you for a favor."
"Speak."
"Help me kill An Hongyu!
If successful, you\'ll receive a reward far exceeding 100 billion."
Qin Zhao sounded intrigued as she asked, "Why, do you have a feud with him?"
Xu Lianggong saw that she didn\'t even flinch at the word "kill", indicating her fortitude.
He silently marveled at An Xin\'s keen judgment.
Soon Xu Lianggong said, "He once had an extramarital affair with my wife.
He thought I didn\'t know and actually dared to fool around at my house.
I\'ve hated him to the core for long."
Qin Zhao frowned, "When you were talking just now, your eyes kept shifting left and right...that\'s a sign of insincerity.
You\'re lying!
If you want my cooperation, you should show sincerity."
Xu Lianggong applauded and praised, "Miss Qin is sharp and perceptive, no wonder she\'s valued by Ms. An."
Qin Zhao asked, "Who\'s Ms. An?"
"An Hongyu\'s elder sister."
Qin Zhao felt more puzzled, but still caught the key point "His sister wants to kill him?"
Xu Lianggong told Qin Zhao about all that An Xin had instructed him to say.
Qin Zhao nodded thoughtfully and said, "Her motives for killing An Hongyu are quite compelling.
I really admire her resolve.
But I cannot partake in your scheme."
After saying that, Qin Zhao turned around to leave.
The male protagonist cannot die. Not only can she not kill him, but she also has to stop his sister if she tries to make a move on him.
Just thinking about that ticked her off.
Xu Lianggong sighed and said upon seeing Qin Zhao\'s back, "It\'s you who gave up the chance to survive. Fortunately Ms. An has prepared a contingency plan."
After Yu Xiao left, there were only three contestants left on Survivor.
Evidently all three had the ability to survive in the wild.
So barring any accidents, they would likely last until the end: all fierce competitors.
And their popularity rankings remained unchanged all along.
On July 28th, nine days remained until the 50-day countdown ended.
At dawn when the morning light was dim, Qin Zhao felt extremely hot in a semi-conscious state between dream and wakefulness!
Sheng Xi was still clinging to her like an octopus.
It got even hotter. The parts of their bodies in contact were like a furnace.
Qin Zhao turned over and pushed Sheng Xi away, saying, "If you keep hugging, I\'ll be roasted alive."
Sheng Xi also sensed something amiss as she opened her eyes.
Qin Zhao went out to observe and returned to tell Sheng Xi, "The weather has turned abnormally hot.
It\'s even hotter outside than inside the tent.
We need to find a shaded area to avoid heat stroke."
"Alright."
The two did a simple cleanup and tidying before packing up their belongings, moving to a location of higher altitude.
Luckily they found an unlit mountain cave sheltered from the sun.
Reluctant to abandon the wooden house he\'d painstakingly built, An Hongyu laid inside it for two whole days.
Unable to endure the heat any further, he finally left the wooden house.
He too found a mountain cave!
Since the cave had no owner, anyone could live there in principle.
And that was exactly what An Hongyu did.
He looked for a vacant spot inside the cave, keeping a deliberate distance from where Qin Zhao and Sheng Xi were.
He reckoned it should be fine that way.
Yet Qin Zhao still strode right over.
An Hongyu warily asked, "What do you want? Am I not allowed to stay here just because you are? This is not solely yours!"