The scene suddenly became quiet.
The numerous fans and netizens in the livestream were also confused by his sudden action and flooded the barrage with messages.
“???Did I miss it? What happened between Su Mengran and Hu Feifei??”
“What’s going on? Is Su Mengran trying to make a scene? I just saw that Hu Feifei didn’t say a word, but he suddenly made such a big fuss and moved aside, what is he hiding from?”
“What’s wrong with Ranran?”
“I never liked Hu Feifei’s green tea persona, and it turns out she really caused trouble! My shy Ranran was even scared to move aside, what did she do?!”
“You Su Mengran fans, can you have some shame? What did our Feifei do to deserve being called a green tea bitch?”
“The Su Mengran fans are as disgusting as ever, someone didn’t even say a word and they accused her of making a scene, it’s really just blindly following their idol, isn’t it?”
…
The livestream was in an uproar. Su Mengran, who was at the scene, probably also felt that his action was a bit too much. Looking at everyone with an embarrassed expression, he said in a soft voice, “Sorry. I just wanted to give Hu Feifei a bit more space, and then I didn’t stand very steadily.”
As he finished speaking, he apologized sincerely to Hu Feifei, bowing his head deeply.
“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Hu Feifei, who seemed startled by his action, shrank back involuntarily, then quickly bowed her head in response.
“Okay, if you didn’t know, you’d think you two were performing some kind of ceremony.” Ling Mei, unable to bear their politeness any longer, couldn’t help but tease them, giving them a way out.
As she spoke, she also handed the pheasant to Jing Li, asking him to take care of it.
Jing Li smiled and took it, quickly making some cuts on the pheasant, then brushing on the honey that the two female guests had brought back, and stuffing it with wild vegetables and mushrooms, finally wrapping it in a large leaf to be pickled.
Hearing Ling Mei’s words, Hu Feifei and Su Mengran also finally calmed down. Both looked embarrassed and stopped their actions.
The atmosphere seemed to have returned to its original state.
However, Jing Li raised his head and stared at Su Mengran a few more times, then subtly narrowed his eyes.
Although there was nothing wrong with Su Mengran’s words, they could not deceive Jing Li’s eyes. Su Mengran’s involuntary actions just now clearly showed that he was afraid of something. Especially when he apologized, his attitude was too humble, as if he was fearful of retaliation.
Moreover, he was so busy covering up for himself that he didn’t even realize he didn’t dare to look at Hu Feifei the whole time, and the two hands at his sides were subconsciously grasping the air, as if he was struggling to control his emotions.
Jing Li was pondering this, when suddenly he felt someone leaning against his thigh. Turning his head, he saw Hu Li giving him a meaningful look, obviously noticing that something was off with Su Mengran as well.
He regained his composure and subtly signaled Hu Li to stay calm. Then he stirred the seafood in the pot, seeing that it was almost done, he smiled and said to the others, “The seafood is ready to eat.”
“Let me try it first, I’m so hungry after running around for so long.” Hu Li played along, immediately picking up his chopsticks and tasting a piece. “Mmm, the taste is surprisingly good.”
The others were attracted by his words and also started to taste the food with small spoons.
Su Mengran waited until Hu Feifei picked up her chopsticks before pretending to eat as well. But in fact, he didn’t taste anything, or rather, he didn’t have much mind to eat.
Since Hu Feifei sat down next to him, he felt like he was sitting on needles every second, wishing he could just jump away and escape, but he had to endure it because the program was still going on.
But more than that, he was terrified of being retaliated against by some unknown being, threatening his life.
Yes, some unknown being.
He didn’t know how it happened, but earlier on the plane, he suddenly received a strong impact from behind, causing him to lose his balance and lunge towards Jing Li, accidentally pushing the other off the helicopter.
At first, he was in a state of panic and didn’t have time to think deeply about it. However, when Jing Li was later questioned by Hu Li after being rescued, he instinctively told the truth, only to be told that Hu Feifei had accidentally stumbled and bumped into him, and Hu Feifei’s coach had also testified to that.
Under the suspicious gazes of everyone, he initially thought he was just too nervous and had perceived it wrongly, so he didn’t dare to argue further.
But since then, he always felt like there was something following him from behind. When they were in the forest, he subconsciously looked back and saw a large mass of red and black mist not far behind, its shape resembling a skull, and when it met his gaze, it opened its hollow mouth and grinned at him, nearly causing him to scream in fright.
However, it seemed that only he could see the skull, as if the others couldn’t see it at all. He kept turning back to check its position, terrified that it would approach him.
Walking all the way like this, Su Mengran was almost on the verge of a breakdown.
In the end, the more he thought about it, the more horrified he became, and he even dared not be alone anymore. He shamelessly went to ask Hu Li to accompany him to look for food, hoping that having someone to talk to would make him feel better.
However, this method obviously did not work. When he and Hu Li went to the seaside, and Hu Li went into the sea, the feeling came back.
At that time, the beach was deserted, and the sun was blazing overhead. Although he didn’t know if the thing couldn’t appear under the sun, so it hid and let him not see it, he still felt an icy chill in his heart. In the end, he could only follow Hu Li and dive into the sea to look for seafood as a way to hide.
It wasn’t until he returned to the guests that he felt a little better.
However, when Hu Feifei suddenly came and sat down next to him just now, that feeling of being targeted by something returned, and it was even stronger than any previous time, which was why he had acted so impolitely.
But that feeling did not disappear even after his apology. In fact, since Hu Feifei sat beside him, not only did he feel something behind him, he also sensed that Hu Feifei was occasionally emanating that terrifying black and red mist, making him start to suspect that Hu Feifei might not be human.
The more Su Mengran thought about it, the more afraid he became. His hands holding the chopsticks were trembling, and he dropped the food back into the pot several times. In the end, to hide his abnormality, he simply picked up the pot itself.
However, the others did not notice his strangeness, as they were all hungrily focused on their meals after their long hike.
“Oh, it’s really quite delicious.” Ling Mei finished the seafood in the pot and couldn’t help but take a sip of the broth, sighing, “This is the first time I’ve had seafood cooked this way, and although it’s a bit fishy, the fresh flavor is more pronounced.”
The others also nodded and agreed with her.
*
With so much food, the lunch was naturally bountiful.
After the group finished the seafood in the pot, the pickled pheasant was also almost ready.
Jing Li dug a hole under the fire pit, buried the pheasant in it and covered it, then added some dry firewood to the fire.
“Wow, Jing Li is really talented!” Ling Mei watched in awe, “I feel like we won’t have to worry about just eating dry bread for the next two days!”
“Of course not.” Hu Li smiled and raised his eyebrows, glancing at Jing Li, “I’ve been craving his cooking for a long time, and now’s the perfect chance to have my fill!”
“Now’s the time to tag Wang Lele online.” He then turned to the camera, making a provocative expression, “Wang Lele! See that? Eating Jing Li’s cooking twice is nothing, your big brother Hu is going to enjoy it for three whole days!”
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone present burst into laughter.
The viewers watching the livestream were also amused by Hu Li’s antics, and the screen was immediately flooded with “hahaha”.
“Hahaha, so Hu Li is online fighting with Wang Lele over who gets more of Jing Shao’s favor!”
“Wang Lele (disdainfully): Eating for three days is nothing, I’m the one who’s eaten BBQ at Jing Li’s place!”
“The sister above has poison! I instantly imagined Wang Lele saying that line!”
“As expected of a prickly and arrogant gong, he even gets jealous of his friend having Jing Shao’s homemade food!”
“Haha, the sister above, better watch out in case the local tyrant comes and blasts you!”
…
However, in this lively atmosphere, Su Mengran’s fans were concerned about something else.
“What’s wrong with Ranran? I feel like his complexion looks a bit off?”
“I noticed it earlier too, Ranran’s condition seems to not be very good, is he sick?”
“It’s just that Ranran works too hard. Even when he participated in competitions before, he would practice dance day and night to perform at his best, it’s heartbreaking.”
…
As more comments like these from Su Mengran’s fans appeared, the others also noticed that something was off about him.
He seemed incredibly tense, his face pale, just like someone watching a horror movie who’s forcing themselves to keep their eyes open at the scariest moment.
“Although I really dislike Su Mengran’s fans, this version of Su Mengran somehow looks…quite pitiful?”
“What is Su Mengran up to, is he acting up again?”
…
The barrage was buzzing with discussions again, but the guests present were completely unaware, still chatting away.
“Oh right, I found a card in the forest earlier, it should be a clue left by the production team,” Jing Li suddenly spoke up, taking out the card from his pants pocket and opening it.
“What does it say?” The others quickly asked.
“Heart of the Ocean,” Jing Li read the words printed on the card.
“Just four words?” Hu Li leaned in to take a closer look, confirming that there was nothing else on the card besides those four words, and couldn’t help but furrow his brows. “Heart of the Ocean, could it be hinting that the treasure this time is related to the ocean?”
“I feel like it might be hinting that the treasure is hidden in the sea as well.” Ling Mei looked thoughtful, glancing at Su Mengran’s face, then suddenly said, “Mengran, you and Hu Li went to the sea to gather seafood before, did you find anything particularly special?”
Ling Mei finished speaking and saw that Su Mengran was still staring at the ground, obviously not having heard her. She couldn’t help but call out to him again, “Mengran? …Su Mengran?”
Hu Feifei also reached out and tugged at Su Mengran’s sleeve.
Su Mengran suddenly snapped out of his daze, meeting the gazes of the few around him, and blurted out in a panic, “I don’t know! I really don’t know!!”
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