The CEO’s Substitute Wife Is A Genius
Chapter 236: Stranded on a Desert Island, Yet Rumored to Have Numerous Suitors (4000)

Chapter 236: Chapter 236: Stranded on a Desert Island, Yet Rumored to Have Numerous Suitors (4000)

The next day, bright and early.

The production team woke up the seven members for breakfast.

After breakfast, they had them pack their luggage and prepare to head out to sea.

Jiang Man’s luggage was the simplest and the lightest.

Zhou Ying and Mi Duo’s luggage, on the other hand, consisted of two large suitcases each.

The guys each had their own luggage to carry, and while they occasionally lent a hand to the two women, carrying it all the time was unrealistic.

On the speedboat, with the waves churning, everyone was very excited.

The girls wore sun hats and sunglasses, dressed to kill.

Manman was the exception—beach shorts, a short T, a baseball cap, and a high ponytail made her look both cool and dashing.

"There’s plenty of sunshine and beaches around here, and I looked yesterday—the seaside rooms are cheap, only five hundred yuan a night. Should we consider them?"

Mi Duo asked for everyone’s opinion and couldn’t help but reach out to play with the cool sea water.

"Has anyone planned our Pattaya trip?" Zhou Ying also asked.

"I have!" Wen Rui raised his hand. "During the day we can do water activities, there’s deep-sea diving, snorkeling, underwater walking, parasailing, jet skiing, banana boating... About thirty different activities, and oh, skydiving over the sea! It would take a good day or two to do all these activities. If we’re tired in the evening, we could go see the ladyboy show..."

Toward the end, Wen Rui’s face flushed with embarrassment.

Zhou Ying and Mi Duo were thrilled at the prospect.

"Sounds good, let’s follow that plan!"

"Have you guys prepared your tips?"

"I have. I withdrew quite a bit of cash at the hotel this morning. Anyone short on cash can ask me."

The girls were very lively.

The guys, however, didn’t react much, especially when they heard about the ladyboy show, which they were internally resistant to.

The speedboat slowly approached the shore, with Zhou Ying and Mi Duo being the first to disembark, as the staff efficiently carried their suitcases off the boat for them.

After the speedboat left, Mi Duo looked at a lush green area in the distance and couldn’t help but frown, "Doesn’t this island look a bit off?"

Just then, the director’s voice came through everyone’s earpieces:

[Today’s challenge is—survival on a deserted island. You all need to rely on your abilities to leave this island.]

"What the hell?"

"Come on, Director, you can’t be serious? You threw a ghostly event at us yesterday and now you want us to eat tree bark? Aren’t we supposed to be on a backpacking trip? This is like asking us to undertake the Journey to the West, enduring the eighty-one trials!"

"I don’t want to play anymore! I want out of the show!" Panicked at the thought of a deserted island with nothing on it and harsh conditions, Zhou Ying couldn’t hold back her emotions and yelled to leave.

[Members may choose to leave, as long as they pay the penalty fee.]

The director’s voice came again.

Now, Jiang Man finally understood why this show had such a high penalty fee for dropping out.

If the fee wasn’t high, high enough to make the artists compromise, this group of artists, who couldn’t handle hardship, would definitely quit in a matter of minutes, and the show would no longer be able to go on.

So ruthless!

Are all reality shows this wild nowadays?

The penalty fee was effective; Zhou Ying stopped shouting about going back and instead started sobbing.

Xu Chengzhou stepped over to comfort her, "Since we’re here, we might as well stay calm. This deserted island surely isn’t that dangerous; it’s just for the show."

At this moment, the barrage on the screen flew up:

+Holy crap! Is the production team stirring things up again?

+That’s so mean. Our bro has such tender skin; a day on the desert island would turn him into a charcoal package, right?

+Get lost, the commenter above. Our bro will still be handsome even if he gets tanned.

+Feeling sorry for bro, the production team is so damaging.

+Indeed quite spiteful, but why am I inexplicably excited?

The director wanted exactly this effect—high popularity and discussion levels.

"Alright, since the show’s crew wants us to find a way off this island, let’s split into groups. One team will be responsible for writing SOS in an open area, while another team will look for wood to create smoke signals." Lu Zhan was the calmest one.

Having no better ideas, everyone agreed to follow his suggestion and began to divide into teams.

"Then I’ll be in a group with Bei Ling!" Mi Duo said, deliberately leaning closer to Bei Ling.

"Then I’ll be in their group too..." Zhou Ying also moved over to join them.

Over the past couple of days, they had all come to see clearly that Lu Zhan was not the kind to dote on the ladies; his eyes were only for his junior, Wen Rui.

Jiang Man couldn’t be bothered to choose and took the initiative to move closer to Wen Rui.

Just then, the usually reticent Bei Ling unexpectedly spoke up, "Jiang Man, can you join our team?"

"?" Jiang Man raised her eyebrows with a look of confusion.

+ What’s going on? Big brother actually took the initiative to invite Jiang Man?

+ Jiang Man is really smart. She saw through the show’s ploy so easily last night. I think big brother’s team needs her!

+ Don’t overthink it, this is a travel variety show, not a romance one.

"Fine." Jiang Man glanced at Bei Ling, thought for a moment, and didn’t refuse.

Maybe it was because the other person was too good-looking? So she couldn’t bear to refuse?

"Then the three of us will form one team. We’ll be responsible for writing SOS, and you four will look for wood." Lu Zhan arranged the tasks.

The group of seven quickly reached a happy consensus.

"We should leave the luggage here and carry just the essentials on us," Xu Chengzhou said.

Zhou Ying and Mi Duo began to sort through their bags, wanting to take this and that.

"Take it easy you two, Bei Ling will have to carry these later. Be careful, his fangirls might bash you online," Xu Chengzhou couldn’t help but joke.

Although it was a joke, Zhou Ying and Mi Duo were quite scared.

After all, among them, only Bei Ling and Lu Zhan had high popularity.

Lu Zhan’s fans were relatively mature, mostly white-collar workers.

Bei Ling’s fans were a different story, lots of high school students, and their fighting power was formidable.

Eventually, the two ladies only took some water and sunscreen.

Jiang Man didn’t need to change her luggage and continued to carry her backpack.

"Let’s go, stop dawdling."

She eyed the sun’s position and, taking advantage of the current absence of direct sunlight, hurried to leave the island.

Otherwise, when the sun hit directly, and the carried water ran out, finding a water source would become a troublesome task.

Jiang Man didn’t say a word more and walked at the front, with Bei Ling following closely behind her.

Zhou Ying and Mi Duo, acting daintily, kept calling from behind, "Slow down" and "Wait for us".

"These trees are all so big, and we didn’t bring any tools for chopping down trees. How are we supposed to get wood?" Zhou Ying looked around, pouting her lips, feeling quite aggrieved.

Jiang Man kicked at the fallen leaves beneath her feet, "All of this can be used to start a fire. You two pick up fallen leaves. Bei Ling and I will gather branches."

"These leaves are so wet, will they really burn?"

"Just pick them up if I tell you to. Why do you have to talk so much?" Jiang Man got annoyed, and didn’t care that this was a variety show being filmed.

Zhou Ying bit her lip and didn’t dare to retort again.

"You’re not a top student... Bei Ling hasn’t said a word yet, and here you are acting all knowledgeable... How are we supposed to light a fire with these wet, rotten leaves?" Mi Duo, unaware of Jiang Man’s capabilities, started to grumble without restraint.

Her tone was defiant, and so was her heart.

"The Amazon rainforest is very humid and yet forest fires occur. Whether a fire can start doesn’t necessarily relate to how wet materials are; temperature and combustible materials are key."

Bei Ling sharply retorted Mi Duo. It sounded like he was simply providing knowledge, but in reality, he was annoyed by her.

"I see, worthy of being a Harvard academic, you know so much." However, Mi Duo didn’t realize his aversion at all and eagerly sidled up to him, trying to flatter.

...

Half an hour later, Jiang Man and Bei Ling arrived where Lu Zhan and the others were with arms full of small branches.

The SOS on the ground had already been dug, deep trenches formed.

Jiang Man tossed some small twigs into the very center of the O and took out a pack of toilet paper.

Xu Chengzhou smoked, he’d brought several lighters with him.

"I really want to see if it can actually be lit."

Jiang Man lit the toilet paper first and threw it onto the fluffy fallen leaves.

A plume of black smoke rose, but no flames were in sight for a long time.

"Tch, it feels like this is going to fail."

Not only was Mi Duo throwing cold water on the situation, but the audience in the live stream was also doubtful.

+Could it really not be lit? Those leaves look soggy to me.

+But didn’t my brother say it would light? We have to believe in him.

Just as the barrage of comments became chaotic, flames suddenly burst out from the mound of leaves that had been smoking.

Seeing this, Bei Ling quickly threw the twigs over and even circled around to build a nest.

"This wood will burn for two hours." Jiang Man spoke indifferently, "Take your time burning it."

Having said that, she found a shady spot to sit and pulled out her phone.

As usual, there was no signal after boarding the speedboat, and now it showed ’none’ on the deserted island.

But she was not panicked at all—even the slightest. Her phone was equipped with satellite positioning. As long as she pressed the emergency call button, the Red Alliance would receive the signal and immediately dispatch someone to rescue her.

It was just a minor program; it wasn’t significant enough for the Red Alliance to make a move.

Besides, since it was a program, they would certainly ensure the members’ safety—the producers wouldn’t possibly let anyone die on this deserted island.

Compared to her calmness, Zhou Ying and Mi Duo grew increasingly agitated.

The two looked up at the sky, nearly in tears, "We haven’t seen any helicopters, and not a single boat in sight!"

"We’re not really going to stay here the whole day, are we? Director, director, say something!"

[If you haven’t successfully left the island within three days, the crew will come to rescue you.]

After what seemed like an eternity, the director’s voice finally came through the earpiece.

"Three days?" Upon hearing this, Zhou Ying almost stumbled and fell.

Forget three days, she couldn’t even stay for three hours!

"What kind of crap show is this, crappy director!" Even the usually composed and collected Xu Chengzhou couldn’t help but curse out loud.

"Everyone calm down. Instead of wasting energy swearing at people, better think about how to spend the night on this island," Lu Zhan said calmly.

When they heard they had to spend the night on the island, everyone went silent.

Fear spread within them, accompanied by feelings of aggrievement and confusion.

There was a long silence, with no one speaking anymore.

The sun slowly reached its zenith, and the scorching sunlight beat down on them, prompting the group to finally stir.

They all looked for shady spots to hide and drank almost all of the water they had brought.

"What do we do? There’s no water left," Wen Rui said as he shook his empty bottle.

The group’s gaze unanimously fell on Bei Ling.

At this moment, knowledge could change their fate.

"School top student, you know how to obtain fresh water in the wild, right?" Xu Chengzhou asked as he approached Bei Ling.

Bei Ling was very calm, leisurely whittling a stick with a small knife, sharpening it to a fine point.

"I know, you use the Siphon Method, but it’s slow."

"Go dig up seaweed," Jiang Man stood up and dusted the mud off her clothes.

"Dig up seaweed? What for?" Zhou Ying blinked her eyes in confusion.

"Don’t we need to drink water?" Jiang Man gave her an unimpressed look, speaking coldly.

He turned to Bei Ling and said, "You get some fresh water, and I’ll figure out a way to get some more."

"Okay." Bei Ling nodded, a willing and obedient look on his face.

Apart from the two of them, everyone else was clueless, not understanding what siphoning meant or why looking for kelp would be useful.

Seeing Jiang Man head to the shore, Wen Rui and Lu Zhan hurried to follow her.

In no time, the three of them returned with three gigantic pieces of kelp.

When Jiang Man took Wen Rui’s scarf to tie the kelp, turning it into the shape of a ladle, everyone’s eyes widened.

Jiang Man busied herself with her work, picking up some seafood by the beach and then filling bottle after bottle with seawater to bring back.

It wasn’t until the kelp-ladle was placed over the fire that everyone finally realized what was happening.

So Jiang Man was going to make kelp soup!

Raw seawater is undrinkable, the more you drink the thirstier you get, but boiled seawater can be drunk, and there’s no need to add salt anymore.

"Ruirui, keep an eye on the fire."

After finishing her instructions, Jiang Man cut an empty mineral water bottle and rolled the toilet paper into a thin strip, placing one end in the dirty water that Bei Ling had collected and the other end on the mouth of the empty bottle.

"Is this the siphon method?" Wen Rui blinked his large eyes, asking like a curious baby.

Jiang Man nodded and looked up, "What are you standing around for? Go find puddles to collect water, learn this method and do it!"

"Oh, okay."

A group of people scattered, all going to find water sources.

What they sought were puddles on the island, which were fresh water; filtered through siphoning, it could be drunk directly.

As for the kelp soup, it’s only a temporary fix.

+ Learned a lot! This isn’t backpacking travel at all, it’s a survival guidebook!

+ Jiang Man is really smart, how does she know so much about these obscure facts?

The director noticed the increasing discussion about Jiang Man among the audience, so he quietly instructed the cameramen of Xu Chengzhou and Zhou Ying to follow Jiang Man and give her more screen time.

...

At this time, over 3200 kilometers away in Beicheng.

The Lu Family’s old residence was having lunch.

No sooner had Lu Xuemei taken her seat at the table than she took out her phone to show the matriarch.

"Mom, look, something new and exciting!"

"What new and exciting thing?"

"Manman has joined a reality show; this reality show is quite ruthless always stirring trouble, but our Manman is really smart, winning fans over and over again!"

"Really? Can I see?" The old lady took the phone, and the video was just showing the scene of Jiang Man collecting fresh water.

Meng Lian and Lu Yaobang, hearing this, also leaned in closer.

"This show seems interesting. Is that deserted island real or fake? It’s not just for show, is it?" Lu Yaobang murmured.

Lu Xuemei immediately glared at him, "How could it be a fake deserted island? This is in Pattaya, Thailand; there are plenty of undeveloped deserted islands there!"

Seeing the elders discuss Jiang Man, Wen Jingya sneered secretly and deliberately placed a chicken rib in Jiang Man’s bowl.

"Sister-in-law is really smart indeed, not highly educated, but rich in life experience," Wen Jingya chimed in cheerfully with the elders.

"I’m also watching this program. This male guest named Bei Ling is supposedly a Harvard graduate, but he pales in comparison to sister-in-law," she added.

"That impressive? A Harvard graduate can’t compare to our Manman?" Lu Xuemei couldn’t help but look up.

"Yes, sister-in-law is so excellent, no wonder she has so many admirers," Wen Jingya changed the subject smoothly.

"Admirers?" The matriarch perked up upon hearing the keyword, suddenly becoming tense.

Manman had always refused to make her relationship with Zhou’er public, and the matriarch had been puzzled about the reason.

"Indeed? Among those admirers is the president of Nan Group, Nan Juefeng," Wen Jingya said animatedly as she deliberately glanced at Jiang Man’s face while speaking.