FIG CHAPTER 40

Ever since Tan Qing had moved back into the dormitory, everyone had finally been able to eat breakfast on time again. He didn’t cook often, but after his morning runs, he would conveniently bring back food for them.

They ate while watching Fu Rong shuffle his tarot cards. His slender, elegant fingers moved swiftly as he cut the deck, making it look as though he were slicing it into equal portions—neat and visually pleasing.

For a long time, Fu Rong had been playing with these things that others found mystical. No one knew whether he was just passing the time or if he genuinely believed in them. Zhu Lianzhen often joked with Koty, speculating whether Fu Rong brewed potions at home.

Whenever Fu Rong brought out his divination tools, Ji Yunting was always the most eager participant. His questions were almost always along the lines of “Where is my destined love?” or “Do I still have a chance with her?” But no matter what card came up, Fu Rong always gave him the same answer, “You are destined to be alone for life.”

After Fu Rong finished shuffling the cards, he spread them evenly across the table and gestured for Zhu Lianzhen to draw one.

“Me?” Zhu Lianzhen put down his soy milk and picked one purely on intuition.

Fu Rong flipped it over and said, “The Magician, reversed.”

Then he placed the card back into the deck and continued shuffling and cutting.

Zhu Lianzhen asked, “Wait, aren’t you supposed to interpret it for me after I draw?”

Fu Rong tossed out a single sentence flatly, “Aren’t you already well aware of what problem you’re facing?”

“Tch.” Zhu Lianzhen could tell he was just being deliberately mysterious to annoy him.

Koty leaned over and whispered in Zhu Lianzhen’s ear, “Actually, Fu Rong’s got sharp intuition. Notice how he always has people draw just one card and never needs any other tools?”

“What, you’ve had him do a reading too?” Zhu Lianzhen said. “Wait—you mean he was even willing to do a reading for you? He let you touch the cards?”

Wouldn’t that bring bad luck?

“Oh, not exactly,” Koty admitted honestly. “But he often reminds me that I’m about to encounter a disaster involving bloodshed. So I’ve been cautious for a while after that, and that’s how I’ve managed to stay alive until now.”

Zhu Lianzhen: “Isn’t that basically him cursing you!”

Fu Rong finished shuffling the cards again and placed them in front of Tan Qing.

Tan Qing glanced at him and smiled as he declined, “No thanks, I don’t believe in this stuff.”

Fu Rong silently put the cards away, but as he was tidying them up, one card accidentally popped out and happened to land in front of Tan Qing.

“Eight of Swords, upright,” Fu Rong said.

Zhu Lianzhen glanced at the card. A blindfolded woman in red stood bound at the center, surrounded by a circle of sharp swords. Even without an interpretation, the card clearly carried ominous meaning. Who in their right mind would want to believe in something like that?

After breakfast, they set off for the filming location of the second season of their variety show.

Qiu Hao had told them that this time they would be recording in a place with beautiful scenery and peaceful surroundings, advising them to rest up beforehand and treat it like a vacation.

And they had actually believed his nonsense.

The production team first took them to the airport. After a two-hour flight, they had to take a long-distance bus, and then they were brought to the seaside, where they still had to board a boat.

After all that traveling, it was already afternoon by the time they reached their final destination—

A deserted island.

The beach stretched wide, with dense jungle and pandanus trees in the distance, and hills and woods beyond that.

Waves crashed against the rocks as the members looked around, finally exchanging glances with the production crew.

Qiu Hao cleared his throat twice and explained, “I realized that no other boy or girl group has ever done a variety show where they survive on a deserted island. We have to be the first.”

Ji Yunting: “Well, no one’s ever launched directly into space either. Why don’t you work harder and aim for something even bigger?”

Most of them had seen survival-themed shows before. Gathering fresh water or chopping down trees by hand was still acceptable. But if they were asked to eat bugs raw, that was a definite no.

“Relax, how could I be that cruel to you? Once the show airs, your fans would tear me apart,” Qiu Hao said. “This is deserted island survival—youth edition.”

“First of all, you won’t have to sleep out in the open. We’ll provide a tent big enough to accommodate all five of you. Secondly, the supply packages are all numbered and scattered across the island, so you don’t need to catch bugs to eat like they do on foreign shows.”

Qiu Hao cheerfully explained the process for this episode, clearly enjoying their gloomy reactions.

“But there’s one thing to note: there are a total of fifty supply packages, all chosen fairly based on fans’ top comments after we asked for suggestions on Acemon’s official site.”

“So, no matter whether what you find is useful for your current situation or not… please remember, these are tokens of your fans’ heartfelt intentions!”

Those words gave everyone an ominous feeling.

“Oh, and there’s a house up on the mountain that serves as your temporary bathhouse,” Qiu Hao added. “That was a condition your manager insisted on. She doesn’t allow any of you to appear sloppy on camera.”

“Pei-jie is the best!”

Qiu Hao: “See? You’ve got everything you need. I wasn’t lying when I said you could treat this like a vacation, was I?”

Starting now, they were going to stay on the island for four days and three nights.

They hadn’t had lunch yet and were starving, so the five of them decided to pitch the tent first. The production crew had only provided the tools, without leaving any instructions, so it was up to Tan Qing and Ji Yunting to figure out how to assemble it by studying the parts.

Since there wasn’t much he could help with at the moment, Koty wandered around, trying to find some small fish or shrimp washed up on the shore. The waves soaked the pant legs he had rolled up, and when he turned his head, he noticed a dark shadow in the sea near the beach.

He wanted to take a closer look and instinctively walked toward it.

Suddenly, Fu Rong’s voice sounded from behind him, neither loud nor soft, but leaving no room for argument. “Step back.”

Koty didn’t know why, but he obediently took a few steps back.

He craned his neck to look toward the sea. The shadow gradually became clearer, and this time he finally saw it.

Koty let out a startled cry and hurriedly told Fu Rong, “There’s a shark!”

Fu Rong turned halfway back, looking at him with disdain. “That’s why I told you to step back.”

Hearing the commotion, Zhu Lianzhen came running over to join the excitement. “Where? Where?”

Koty pointed it out to him.

Zhu Lianzhen remembered seeing on a survival program once that sharks sometimes surfaced from deep waters. “It’s probably a female shark about to give birth.”

Koty, currently starving, was quite curious about what grilled shark might taste like. He wondered if the production crew had any suitable fishing tools. But even if they managed to catch it, no one would dare kill it. After all, it was a pregnant animal, and nobody wanted to be cruel. If it happened to be a rare species, they’d be in serious trouble.

“If the shark’s here to give birth, what about us? This is our territory now, right?” Koty asked.

“Uh.” Zhu Lianzhen thought for a moment. “Then should we have a wedding toast to celebrate?”

Over by the tent, Tan Qing and Ji Yunting had already figured things out and called them over to help with the setup. The tent was just big enough to fit all five of them for sleeping.

After finishing the physical labor, everyone felt even hungrier. Zhu Lianzhen volunteered to go up the mountain to search for supply packages. He wanted to act first so the good stuff wouldn’t fall into his teammates’ hands.

“I’ll go with you.” Tan Qing stood up.

“Ah, okay.” Zhu Lianzhen watched Tan Qing walk over, feeling a little uneasy. His eagerness faded a bit.

He still wanted to avoid Tan Qing’s gaze, still couldn’t help but feel guilty.

Fortunately, a few cameramen and directors were following them. As long as the two of them maintained their variety show personas, they wouldn’t have to force any fanservice interactions.

They followed the path up the hillside and quickly spotted a transparent package hanging from a tree. Zhu Lianzhen figured he could probably jump and grab it, but he didn’t want to do something so undignified in front of the camera.

So he glanced at Tan Qing.

Tan Qing understood immediately and reached up on tiptoe to take it down.

Package No. ①: an industrial-grade flashlight, definitely an essential tool for surviving on the island at night. It seemed the crew had placed the most important items in the easiest spots, so they wouldn’t be left completely helpless.

“That tree stump looks hollow.” Tan Qing pointed out to Zhu Lianzhen. The two of them immediately went over and found a cooking pot inside.

After roughly figuring out the route, they wandered around for a while but only managed to find a few random things that made no sense.

Which fan could possibly explain what use an “inflatable toy hammer” had on a deserted island? And what was going through the mind of the person who voted for a “pencil sharpener”? After much effort, they finally found a large item, only to open it and discover it was an air fryer. Where on earth were they supposed to plug this thing in out here in this godforsaken place?

Zhu Lianzhen lost his patience and asked Qiu Hao, “Didn’t your production team review the submissions at all?”

“That’s what makes it interesting. After all, everything was chosen by the audience.” Qiu Hao noticed the two of them could barely carry anything more. “Head back, it’s getting dark.”

Zhu Lianzhen sighed. “I feel like your whole job is just setting traps for us to fall into.”

“Don’t think of me as that bad. Whenever there’s a good opportunity, I always think of you guys first… Oh right, HTV is planning a new dating reality show. They asked me to be the planner,” Qiu Hao said. “I suggested to the producer that they could pick someone from your group as a guest, but I don’t know if they’ve decided yet.”

Zhu Lianzhen was playing with the inflatable hammer when his hand paused for a moment. “Who are they picking?”

“Hasn’t been decided yet. My guess is probably Tan Qing.” As he spoke, Qiu Hao turned to glance at him.

Zhu Lianzhen gripped the handle of the inflatable hammer tightly but kept walking forward with his back to them, eyes fixed straight ahead, his tone light and casual. “That’s great. He’s the perfect choice.”