Catching Fish

Athlete Wang Zhen stood at the lakeshore, reaching out to Xie Tiantian but unable to figure out how to help her. Just as he was growing frantic, Yi Wan patted him on the shoulder. "Brother Wang, move aside."

Yi Wan extended the long pole and had Xie Tiantian grab hold of it so he could pull her up. The knot he had tied was unexpectedly secure. Once she was ashore, Xie Tiantian whooped without a thought for her image, threw her arms around Yi Wan, and cheered, "Little Wan, thank you so much!"

The livestream comments were somewhat shocked as well, and viewers who had not been led astray by paid commenters began to speak up.

"What were some people in such a rush to criticize just now? Yi Wan was obviously off looking for tools, and every last one of you acted like some self-appointed know-it-all."

"He tied that rope so skillfully. It looks like he's practiced."

"And being the second one down is already pretty good. Look at Jiang Zefang—he keeps calling himself a real man, but isn't he still off 'fishing for excuses' on the helicopter?"

At that moment, Chi Jixia received some heartbreaking news on set.

"Yi Wan and Ding Biehan went on a variety show? Uh... I think I heard something about that... Oh, I don't really care about it... What?! Wilderness survival?!"

Chi Jixia looked as if the top of his skull had been blown off. As soon as filming ended, he raced to the makeup room to remove his makeup and pulled out his phone to watch the livestream.

Looking at the jungle in the livestream and Bateman in the other feed, Chi Jixia wore the expression of someone mourning his parents.

Several makeup artists and supporting actors were curious about what the young acting genius was watching, so they crowded around to sneak a look.

After Xie Tiantian, the others jumped down one by one. Jiang Bei was third from last, and his legs shook even as he jumped.

An accident happened after they got ashore. Qu Pingqiu's and Yao Yue's makeup had run in the water, leaving their eyes a smeary mess. Even Jiang Bei's concealer had turned to sludge. As they wiped their faces, viewers made a new discovery.

With everyone barefaced, Yi Wan's good skin gave him a tremendous advantage. Standing among people whose makeup was either smeared or ruined, he looked as clean and striking as a crane among chickens.

"These traffic stars come on a survival show and still wear makeup? So unprofessional."

"Looking at it this way, Yi Wan is actually the most eye-catching one there."

Ding Biehan was the last to return to the group from the jungle. He had not found anything in the forest worth being wary of. When he saw Yi Wan's pole, he wore that thoughtful expression again.

As if he were assessing the difference in strength between himself and Yi Wan.

"All right. Congratulations on escaping the crashed helicopter alive. Now that everyone has survived, your next task is to determine your direction and find the target campsite."

The production crew gave them only the direction of their first-day destination and a simple map. When handing over the map, they even played a little trick. "Without using a compass, whoever can correctly point out north will earn bonus points."

Everyone was immediately stumped. Qu Pingqiu looked at Jiang Bei. "Little Bei, do you know what to do?"

"Um..." Jiang Bei was a little embarrassed. Helplessly, he said, "When you go out into the wilderness, of course you need to bring a compass. Without one, there's no way to determine direction."

"It's fine, it's fine," Xie Tiantian said. "We aren't professionals, anyway."

Qu Pingqiu and Yao Yue, who had been sticking close to Jiang Bei, began chiming in with reassurance and complaints.

Ding Biehan frowned as he thought it over. He was merely an infinite-flow male lead with superhuman physical abilities who excelled at extreme sports; it wasn't as though he specialized in wilderness survival.

At that moment, Chi Jixia, resting on set, suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

"Why can a watch determine direction?"

Yi Wan's nightmare-inducing words from that golden-finger dream appeared in his mind again... The next moment, he saw Yi Wan indeed take out a watch.

Yi Wan laid the watch flat and pointed the hour hand toward the sun. Indicating the angle between the hour hand and the twelve o'clock mark, he said, "South is here."

Seeing those smooth, practiced movements, Chi Jixia put on an expression that said, "I want to die."

Yi Wan's answer earned the production crew's approval and drew amazement from viewers. Most were surprised that Yi Wan, who looked the least capable, was the first to find a solution. A small number stubbornly resisted, saying it was common knowledge anyone could look up on Baidu.

"You call it common knowledge, but your beloved Brother Jiang Bei didn't know it at all," someone retorted. "And if I remember right, wasn't this a scene in the movie Wilderness Survival?"

"Exactly. It was in the movie, so how does a loyal fan not know?"

The celebrities exchanged looks. Ding Biehan gave them a cold glance, then became the first to speak, his meaning pointed. "You're very impressive, Yi Wan. You actually make a habit of preparing methods to determine direction in your 'everyday' life."

"Mm." Yi Wan did not seem to care. "Let's get moving. We still need to find somewhere to have lunch later."

"Mm. Let's hope none of us encounter any danger in the jungle," Ding Biehan said with a smile.

Only then did the group enter the jungle awkwardly. Jiang Bei still had no idea that the persona built on his lies was hanging by a thread. Following behind the two of them, he noticed that Ding Biehan kept watching Yi Wan.

The camera crew noticed as well and repeatedly filmed the interactions between them. Watching from behind, Jiang Bei recalled the intimacy the two had shown in that photograph.

What would it be like if he stole Ding Biehan's attention from Yi Wan right in front of him? he suddenly wondered.

Ding Biehan walked ahead, staring at Yi Wan's back.

What secrets were hidden within that seemingly slender back? Ding Biehan narrowed his eyes. If he fought Yi Wan, who would win?

If he made a move against Yi Wan tomorrow or the day after, at the waterfall, how would Yi Wan react?

Then the voices behind him gradually grew lively. Jiang Bei quickly hit it off with Qu Pingqiu and the others. He was good at livening up the mood, and they walked along laughing and joking.

Ding Biehan: ...His train of thought had been completely interrupted by Jiang Bei!

Jiang Bei noticed that Ding Biehan had finally shifted his gaze away from Yi Wan's back and glanced over at him. He felt immensely pleased with himself.

Yi Wan, meanwhile, walked at the front. He took a bag from his pack and gathered all sorts of plants along the way, without joining their conversation. Ding Biehan's suspicions deepened.

At last, they arrived at a relatively open place to make camp. The production crew said, "You've been walking all morning. Please prepare your own lunch here."

Only then did the laughing, joking group remember lunch, and they were dumbfounded. The production crew would not provide them with lunch—at most, it would give them an empty bowl. If they wanted food, they had to get it themselves.

"It's fine. We all brought plenty of compressed biscuits. If we ration them, they should last us a few days," Jiang Bei reassured them.

Although the camera had been on their lively group the whole way, Jiang Bei was already quite thirsty. About eleven pounds did not sound like much, but carrying it all the way here had indeed been heavy. The moment he sat down, he opened a bottle of mineral water and started drinking.

Still, the livestream comments did think their group had more variety-show appeal and a stronger team dynamic, while Yi Wan and Ding Biehan were isolated and withdrawn, doing who knew what.

Dry compressed biscuits really were no fun to chew. As Jiang Bei gnawed on one, Yao Yue beside him spoke up. "Hey, what are they going to do?"

She watched Yi Wan ask the production crew for a bowl and sort the plants he had gathered into categories.

He had collected green plants and wild fruit along the way, but no mushrooms. He separated the plants into several groups on a clean waterproof tarp. Then he headed to the little river from before.

The river was not deep. Ding Biehan followed at Yi Wan's side, watching every movement he made. When Yi Wan reached the riverbank, he asked curiously, "Are you planning to catch fish here?"

Yi Wan nodded.

"With your bare hands?"

"No way, do these little traffic stars think catching fish is as easy as it is in TV dramas? hhh"

The comments, which had developed a little goodwill toward Yi Wan after he rescued someone, started turning hostile again. Not all of that was necessarily malicious; more of it was mockery of his overestimating himself.

Ding Biehan looked at Yi Wan's slender limbs and narrowed his eyes. He watched Yi Wan study the river and the nearby bank for a while, then, as though he had found something, walk away from the river.

Had he given up? Or was it that...

He had some other purpose?

Ding Biehan grew more intrigued. He took out the wooden stick he had found in the jungle. He had patiently sharpened its tip. Rolling up his pant legs, he stepped into the current.

The current was fairly swift, and spearing fish in water like this was not easy. Ding Biehan did not look particularly graceful as he waded through the river, either. The cameraman hurriedly trained the lens on him, watching as Ding Biehan held his balance, narrowed his eyes slightly, and a sharp glint flashed through them.

He struck like lightning and quickly speared a fish!

Of course, the struggling fish soon splashed him all over, leaving him looking rather bedraggled. But compared with his catch, that was nothing.

"Wow!!" Cheers immediately erupted in the livestream. Even the exacting explorer Bateman smiled.

"Ding has very good skills," he said.

Ding Biehan returned to shore with the fish on his spear. His lower half was soaked and he looked a little disheveled, but that fat, huge prize was already his medal of honor.

"By the way, what did Yi Wan go off to do?"

"Did he realize he can't hack it and decide to mooch off someone else?"

Just then, Yi Wan returned. The audience, whose curiosity and impatience had long been stirred, was somewhat shocked when they saw what he was carrying.

Yi Wan had actually... brought back a pile of leaves and a bowl?

"What are the leaves for?"

"Where's the stick? Isn't he going to use one to spear fish?"

"But with Ding Biehan's brilliant performance right before this, no matter what Yi Wan does, it won't match Ding Biehan's skills. Ding Biehan moved over the mountains like he was walking on level ground earlier, while Yi Wan had much more difficulty."

As everyone watched in curiosity, Yi Wan crouched by the river. To everyone's surprise, he did not use a stick. Instead, he placed the small bowl in front of him, squeezed the leaves in his hands for their juice, and poured it into the bowl. Then he carried the bowl toward the riverbank.

"???"

"Is he planning to scoop up fish with a bowl?"

Amid a screen full of question marks, Yi Wan crouched at the riverbank. He poured the juice from the bowl into the river and waited quietly.

A moment later, something that stunned every viewer happened!

Several fish swam dazedly from the riverbed toward the shore!

Yi Wan swiftly caught all three fish, one in each hand, and put them into his bag. As docile as though they were drunk, they came plump and fat straight into Yi Wan's hands.

No fighting the fish barehanded, no wading into the water, no getting drenched all over by struggling fish as Ding Biehan had...

He was simply like a magician working miracles in the wilderness!

Everyone broke into an uproar.

"Those are ma-liu leaves." In another livestream, Yu Rongshi was unexpectedly the first to speak. The most exquisitely featured person there unexpectedly smiled and said, "When I was little, back in my hometown, I often used them to catch fish with the other children."

Zheng Zilong was also moved. "He actually knows about that? Not many young people these days do."

"Holy shit, what kind of amazing thing is that?"

"Actually, you can use ma-sang leaves, walnut leaves, or birch leaves too."

"I've realized Yi Wan is actually the most capable of all these people. The way he does it so skillfully makes me think he suffered quite a bit as a kid."

"Were all those plants he picked along the way useful too? I repent—I was just saying he wasn't a team player."

"He was the one who pulled Xie Tiantian ashore earlier, too. Honestly, I think he seems like a pretty decent person."

The comments began excitedly discussing this knowledge instead of the previous entertainment-industry fan wars and hate. Without anyone noticing, Yi Wan's actions had already reversed the trend of opinion in the livestream.

Rather than focusing on the fact that these were "people" in the entertainment industry, they cared more about what they had done and what knowledge they brought.

They had not even realized that they had begun looking forward more eagerly to the surprises Yi Wan might bring.

Only Chi Jixia watched the livestream with the agonized face of "The clown who handed over the golden finger was me.jpg."

Especially when he saw Bateman's approving gaze.

This was something he had once proudly demonstrated to Yi Wan under the identity of "Brother Bei"!

Author's Note:

Please don't imitate this, everyone! I only wrote it after looking up information; I've never caught fish myself.

Also, a note: the wilderness-survival knowledge in this story draws on The U.S. Army Survival Manual, Illustrated Encyclopedia of Wilderness Survival Skills, and knowledge from several survival variety shows. I have not personally verified it.