For the second team-building event of “Burning Eternity,” the PD hadn’t given any advance notice. Instead, they chose a seemingly calm night to ambush all contestants at 3 AM when everyone was completely unprepared.
By the time everyone had dragged themselves through makeup and gathered, it was already 5:30 AM. A large bus with the show’s logo was parked in front of the building, picking up thirty walking dead.
The weather had turned cool by late October. At 5:30 when the sun was just peeking out, the world was still covered in a hazy thin mist, and the air held a damp chill.
Jiang Nan’an didn’t care about dressing himself up. Usually in the training camp, he wore the red Class A uniform and the ugly black wide-leg pants issued by the production team. His hair was either casually tied up or simply clipped with a hair clip. As for makeup, he avoided it whenever possible. His image on livestreams and in front of cameras relied entirely on his face. According to his fans, he was “effortlessly handsome without technique.”
But today with professional stylists, it was different. Jiang Nan’an wore a light-colored short denim jacket on top and matching wide-leg pants that made his legs look even longer. His medium-length hair was half-tied at the back, with every loose strand meticulously styled. There wasn’t much visible makeup on his face, and he didn’t look much different from usual.
After boarding the bus, Jiang Nan’an went straight to the window seat in the last row. Yan Jie spotted him immediately and rushed over with inBlue.
“Good morning, Mr. Hang, can we sit here?”
They had already sat down but still pretended to ask for Jiang Nan’an’s opinion.
Jiang Nan’an didn’t even give him a glance:
“Xiao Lan can, you can’t. Go away.”
“Wuwuwu, then where can I go?”
“Get off, find a rope, hang onto the back of the bus and run along.”
“You’re such a living hell.”
“Indeed, remember to breathe in more exhaust fumes along the way, contribute to low-carbon environmental protection.”
Listening to their banter, inBlue shook his head with a smile, opened a pack of milk biscuits, and reached past Yan Jie to offer them to Jiang Nan’an.
Jiang Nan’an obediently took one and said “Thank you.”
Yan Jie stared at their interaction and the pack of small biscuits he hadn’t been invited to share, questioning inBlue: “Am I transparent? You don’t even look at me?”
Hearing this, inBlue took out two more pieces and stuffed the remaining half pack into his hand:
“It’s all yours now. Eat more, eat your fill so you can run after the bus. Don’t get hungry halfway and fall behind.”
The production team’s bus slowly drove out of the film and television park, carrying a bus full of contestants and coaches onto the highway. About two hours later, they arrived at a famous scenic spot near Linyun City-Cloud Mountain.
Cloud Mountain was a must-visit spot for tourists from other places, with mist-shrouded peaks and patches of primeval forest, making for extremely beautiful scenery. The production team avoided most tourists by taking another less popular trail up the mountain and hired local guides to lead the contestants and staff to their pre-prepared team-building location.
It was an open grassland at the foot of the mountain, with many camping tools piled up. Stoves, barbecue racks, alcohol, snacks, projectors, and a small stage were all available.
“First of all, thank you all very much for participating in our second team-building event for ‘Burning Eternity.’ We hope everyone will have a wonderful and memorable day here!”
After all the equipment was debugged, the show’s PD began to cue the upcoming process:
“As you can see, we have prepared many camping tools for everyone. To make our team building more meaningful, 80% of today’s activities will require you to do it yourselves. This includes, but is not limited to, setting up the campsite, preparing lunch, and entertainment programs. So now we need to divide everyone into three groups. The first group needs to set up the site for today’s activities, build tents, and install tables and chairs. Contestants with relevant experience and certain hands-on abilities who want to try can raise their hands.”
Yan Jie was used to traveling alone all over the place for years. He could even repair cars himself, so setting up camping tents was naturally no problem for him. He had originally planned to join this group, but before raising his hand, he suddenly noticed that Jiang Nan’an was still sitting quietly with his hands down, seemingly having no intention of joining.
Yan Jie was somewhat surprised, because from his perspective, of the three groups the PD had divided them into, only tent building seemed to have any connection to Jiang Nan’an.
“Mr. Hang?” Yan Jie gently bumped him with his shoulder.
“What?”
“You’re not building tents?”
“Why would I build tents?” Jiang Nan’an looked completely puzzled.
“But we’re divided into just three groups.”
“Yes, so?”
“If you’re not building tents… are you going to sing and dance for everyone?” Yan Jie’s pupils shook.
“…” Jiang Nan’an tugged at the corner of his lips, quite speechless:
“Are you still dreaming?”
“Then what do you want to do?”
“What else could I do?”
“Yes, what else could you do?”
“…Can’t I cook?”
“You can cook???” Yan Jie barely controlled his volume.
“What, is cooking some high-end skill that I’m not worthy of having?”
“No, you? You cook??” Yan Jie confirmed repeatedly.
“Not allowed?”
As everyone knows, Jiang Nan’an’s rhetorical questions generally indicate affirmation.
So Jiang Nan’an once again overturned Yan Jie’s perception of him.
After all, Yan Jie had witnessed how Jiang Nan’an’s agent and assistant treated him like a child, attending to every detail, checking if he was hungry, sleepy, thirsty, or needed to add clothes when it was cold. So in Yan Jie’s mind, Jiang Nan’an’s image was that of a little emperor who expected food to be served and clothes to be handed to him, who was picky about what he would and wouldn’t eat-precious beyond measure.
Would a little emperor know how to cook?
It was truly hard to believe.
Jiang Nan’an couldn’t be bothered with this person’s inexplicable shock. Just as the PD began selecting people for the second group, the culinary team, he immediately raised his hand.
The culinary team was finally set with Jiang Nan’an, Yan Jie, inBlue, and four other contestants. The seven of them stood in front of the tools prepared by the production team and found that while pots, bowls, ladles, and barbecue racks were quite complete, the ingredients seemed a bit limited. inBlue roughly looked through and only saw beef and half a box of hot pot noodles in the ingredient box, plus some basic seasonings.
“Tsk.” inBlue stood up with his hands on his hips and asked the staff:
“Is this all you need seven cooks for? Couldn’t we just stew a pot of beef noodles and be done with it?”
The staff member smiled mysteriously:
“It’s like this-I don’t know if you’ve heard, but one of Cloud Mountain’s special features is that there are many wild mushrooms in the mountains. To better experience the local specialties, you can explore and go into the mountains to pick mushrooms to enrich your ingredients. Besides mushrooms, if you follow the path further back, there’s a small river. We’ve asked the locals in advance, and there are fish in the river. We’ve also prepared fishing gear that you can use. As for vegetables… there are local residents nearby, and you can find ways to exchange or purchase from them. With luck, you might even find a local mobile market.”
“Great, I regret this. Your production team is too tricky. At least the tent group has ready-made tents, but we cooks are starting from scratch to create a full imperial feast?”
Yan Jie mercilessly criticized, and the staff member beside him was amused, quickly helping them find more people.
Among the thirty contestants, those who couldn’t build tents, couldn’t cook, and had no singing or dancing talents were arranged into a miscellaneous duties group, which, as the name suggests, would help wherever needed. Now they were all called over to help the culinary team find ingredients.
Among the options of picking mushrooms, fishing, and begging at the market, Jiang Nan’an chose to put on gloves, carry a basket, and go up the mountain to pick mushrooms. Yan Jie, being a qualified piece of chewing gum, naturally went wherever Mr. Hang pointed, so the two formed their own group and followed the staff’s directions to a nearby forest.
Yan Jie was in a good mood, humming “Little Girl Picking Mushrooms” as they walked. Listening to his cheerful humming, Jiang Nan’an thought he was wasted as a cook-he should be on a big stage singing for everyone, just like how he had serenaded him with the Black Cat Sheriff song at his bedside this morning.
The two walked a bit deeper into the forest. The autumn forest was quite cold, but the air was damp and exceptionally fresh.
They searched separately in the same area. Yan Jie was diligently picking on his own side, and after a while, he jogged back to Jiang Nan’an:
“How’s it going, Teacher Xiao Shan? Any harvest?”
Jiang Nan’an didn’t answer, just turned around to show Yan Jie the small basket on his back.
Yan Jie peered in and saw that it was already half full with a colorful array of red, orange, green, purple, and blue mushrooms, as vibrant as a spilled palette.
“This…” Yan Jie fell into deep thought.
Jiang Nan’an then handed him a beautiful mushroom he had just picked-a red cap with many white spots, sharing the same appearance as mushrooms in cartoons.
Red cap, white stem, eat it and lie on a board.
A classic among classics.
Rarely at a loss for words, Yan Jie chose his words carefully and asked:
“…What made you choose this one?”
“Because it’s a mushroom,”
Jiang Nan’an replied frankly.
“It’s also a beautiful mushroom,” Yan Jie added for him.
“Isn’t that a bonus?”
“Unfortunately not. Have you heard the saying that the more beautiful and alluring something is, the more dangerous it is? It has the appearance of ‘eat me and die’ written all over it.”
“Oh…”
Jiang Nan’an hesitated for a moment, his gaze moving back and forth between the little mushroom and Yan Jie’s face:
“But doesn’t Mario eat these?”
“Mario would also game over if he touched it. The difference is he can reload, we can’t. Teacher, please be more clear-headed.”
Jiang Nan’an seemed to have completely given up. He nodded:
“So it can’t be picked… What about the others?”
Yan Jie observed Jiang Nan’an’s expression and, seeing that he genuinely seemed to like this beautiful little mushroom, thought for a moment and decided not to tell him to throw it away:
“Never mind, if you like it, keep it. There’s nothing that can’t be picked. But eating it is out of the question. These colorful ones are just for looking at. Don’t mix them with other mushrooms. Put all the mushrooms you pick from now on in my basket.”
As he spoke, Yan Jie took out a white mushroom from his basket and showed it to Jiang Nan’an:
“Edible mushrooms should be like this one, it looks very safe.”
Jiang Nan’an examined the mushroom carefully, committing its appearance to memory:
“Oh. So pick white ones with rings on the stem?”
Yan Jie nodded confidently:
“Yes, what does white represent? It represents kindness! Kind mushrooms won’t be poisonous. Look at king oyster mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, and button mushrooms-they’re all white. Other white mushrooms must be edible too.”
Jiang Nan’an was skeptical about the first half of his statement, but the examples in the second half seemed reasonable, so he hesitantly nodded.
The two of them spent two hours picking mushrooms deep in the mountains and returned with a full harvest.
“Alright, keep those pretty mushrooms of yours to the side to play with, but don’t put them in your mouth!”
The two happily returned to the filming location. After Yan Jie gave Jiang Nan’an this warning, he was about to hand his basket of white mushrooms to inBlue for stewing, but the accompanying staff member said something to the PD, who then walked over with a serious expression, grabbed both of their baskets, and dumped all the mushrooms on the ground.
The local guide came over, circled around the white mushrooms and colorful pretty mushrooms on the ground, and finally, wearing gloves, picked out two mushrooms and threw them aside with disgust:
“This one… and this one.”
“What’s going on? Are these two poisonous?” Yan Jie asked, watching the guide’s actions.
The guide hesitated, sighing wearily:
“Only these two are edible.”
“?”
“But since they’ve been mixed with poisonous mushrooms for so long, to be safe, let’s throw them all away. You two, quickly dispose of your gloves and go wash your hands with disinfectant.”
After saying this, he walked away with his hands behind his back, muttering loudly to the PD:
“First time I’ve seen people go into the mountains and specifically pick poisonous mushrooms. The others who came back earlier only dared to pick the ones they recognized. These two are too reckless. Not knowing porcini, chanterelle, and termite mushrooms is one thing, but there are so many oyster mushrooms in the mountains they didn’t pick either?”
“All two baskets are poisonous?”
“Yes.”
The guide looked up at the sky wearily:
“You’re really lucky. You’ve probably collected all the poisonous ones in the mountain-even the mountain god couldn’t gather such a complete collection. Fly agaric, inky cap, death cap, and green-gilled parasol… sigh, two living Yama kings.”
“…”
—
(advanced chapters available on kofi)
