After Being Blackened All Over the Internet, I Ruled the Military Variety Shows-Chapter 94: Beneath the Lake Surface

After hearing the story of the panda cub and the few extra people in the team, Xu Ai directly gave Jiang Lingxi a thumbs up.

"Zhou Yi and I are considered veterans in the field of outdoor adventures, and we’ve never seen a panda in the wild. We’ve seen a few tigers and lions, but we only dared to stay far away. Lingxi, you are amazing!"

A panda cub is not only an incredibly rare species but also one you can hold and cuddle—it’s enough to make her die of envy.

It’s worth waiting for this day just to get a chance to hold it!

She enthusiastically invited, "We just caught some fish in the lake and found a rabbit warren in the woods, so let’s eat together later to celebrate our reunion."

It wasn’t until they reached the lakeside that Xu Ai began counting the number of people present and realized that a guest was missing.

"Aren’t we missing someone? What’s that girl’s name again?" Xu Ai asked as she looked at Yu Hui.

If she remembered correctly, the missing person initially teamed up with Yu Hui.

When Jiang Xiyu was mentioned again, Yu Hui was utterly calm, "She dropped out halfway."

"Was it an accident, or..." Xu Ai pointed to the give-up button on her chest pocket.

"It was a bit of both."

Xu Ai nodded in understanding and looked at Jiang Lingxi, who was holding the panda cub and walking towards the lakeside. She whispered to her boyfriend, "At first, I thought neither of the sisters would make it to the end, but I didn’t expect Jiang Lingxi to last till the end and even save a panda cub along the way."

Zhou Yi nodded lightly, "I didn’t expect it either."

Since the team was now complete, the live stream naturally switched from split screens to a single stream.

The viewers in the live stream, after hearing their whispers, started typing bullet comments to add their thoughts.

—"Jiang Lingxi not only lasted till the end but also led the way!"

—"Speaking of which, Jiang Lingxi must have gained the most from this program. The biggest gain was naturally saving the panda cub; the second one could be clearing her name. Live-streaming is the easiest way to expose a person’s true character, but this time she didn’t have any black marks, which says something."

—"Maybe it’s all just gossip. It seems you really can’t trust the entertainment circle’s rumors."

—"Personally, I think Jiang Lingxi’s development path was wrong from the start. I suggest she participate in more survival live streams in the future."

—"I’d love to see this girl shoot arrows again; there wasn’t enough material from before."

—"Are there any celebrity sports meets in the entertainment industry lately? You could recommend Jiang Lingxi to participate."

—"Historical martial arts dramas might also work."

Jiang Xiyu had already closed the bullet comments in the live stream, but hearing Xu Ai mention her made her reopen them, curious if there was any discussion about her, only to find almost all the comments were about Jiang Lingxi.

Jiang Yuting, who was cutting fruit in the open kitchen outside, paused when she heard a loud crash from the direction of the bedroom. She nonchalantly instructed Xiao Tao, who was cleaning in the living room, "Xiao Tao, go clean up the broken glass in the bedroom."

Xiao Tao pursed her lips, took a broom, and entered the room. When she came out, her hands bore several cuts.

Jiang Yuting saw this and said, as if it were routine, "Go take a rest; you know where the first aid kit is, deal with it yourself."

Entering the bedroom, Jiang Yuting placed a glass of iced water in front of the somewhat pale Jiang Xiyu, "Drink some water to calm down. I’ve told you, you’ve already dropped out, so why keep watching the live stream? Aren’t you just tormenting yourself?"

Jiang Xiyu took a sip of the cold water and glanced at Jiang Yuting. After a moment of hesitation, she decided not to mention seeing their aunt.

Sometimes she sincerely questioned if Jiang Yuting was truly their aunt’s biological daughter—their relationship was the strangest she’d ever seen.

The aunt was very cold towards her daughter, advising Jiang Yuting not to visit her unless necessary. Yet, despite the coldness, she specifically arranged for Jiang Yuting to work by her side as a manager.

Jiang Yuting, on the other hand, was quite afraid of her mother, though not like a mouse in front of a cat. Still, when the mother and daughter were together, Jiang Yuting wouldn’t dare to breathe loudly.

Of course, she didn’t dare to verify this suspicion either.

"I don’t have any work right now, why can’t I watch the live stream?"

Jiang Yuting couldn’t help but roll her eyes, "Actually, we might have a chance with Director Wei’s play if we try something."

Jiang Xiyu shifted her gaze from Jiang Lingxi to Jiang Yuting’s face, "What’s the plan?"

"An open audition. Everyone knows Director Wei likes to discover talented new actors. His new play is likely to have some roles chosen through auditions. Do you want to..."

Jiang Xiyu shook her head without thinking, "Joining a crowd of newcomers to compete? I can’t bring myself to do that. Is there no other script than Director Wei’s new play?"

"There are, but not many, and the quality is generally mediocre and can’t compare to Director Wei’s new play. Do you want to act in those?"

Jiang Xiyu bit her lip.

Her aunt said her recent bad luck was due to Jiang Lingxi; they were in a mutually exclusive relationship. When one thrived, the other would not. But what was it about Jiang Lingxi that made her uneasy? She still hadn’t figured it out.

*

The thought-about Jiang Lingxi was at the lakeside, washing the little cub’s paws.

The lake water under the sunset was clear, with light that seemed to penetrate straight to the lakebed.

Perhaps because few people visited this dense forest, some fish in the lake weren’t afraid of humans and swam to the shore curiously blowing bubbles.

Jiang Lingxi thought she could string at least three such fish with one arrow.

However, since they had already caught enough fish to eat, she didn’t bother making a move.

After washing the last little paw, Jiang Lingxi laid the cub on its back on the grass by the lake, "You have to let the fur on your paws dry before you can roll over."

Fortunately, the little cub, although unable to understand human speech, lay there basking in the warm light of the sunset and was too lazy to move.

Seeing him behave, Jiang Lingxi turned to wash her hands.

As she finished washing and shook the remaining water from her hands, preparing to stand up, she suddenly paused, looking at the water’s surface where ripples were beginning to form quietly.

The water was so clean that there were only a few leaves drifting down from the breeze, but beneath the surface, she thought she saw a large shadow quietly disappear at the lake’s bottom.

After waiting a moment longer, the lake’s surface completely calmed, as if the shadow she saw was just a figment of her imagination.

Jiang Kaiyuan turned to look at the lakeside and saw Jiang Lingxi strolling along the shore, the silhouette in the sunset so gracefully beautiful that he hesitated to interrupt.

But the fish was already cooked!

"Xixi, come quickly to eat fish! Sister Ai and Brother Zhou found a peppercorn tree by the lake too, making it taste even better!"

Jiang Lingxi waved at Jiang Kaiyuan to come over and then pointed to the soil at her feet, "With such rich water sources, why aren’t there any footprints of animals big or small by the lake?"

Jiang Kaiyuan was taken aback by the question and thoughtfully followed Jiang Lingxi’s hand to look for a while. Suddenly realizing something, he looked terrified, "Could this water not be drinkable?"

As he spoke, he was ready to stick his fingers down his throat.

Jiang Lingxi: "...Xu Ai and Zhou Yi should have drunk the lake water already a day ago."

"Oh yeah," Jiang Kaiyuan nonchalantly put his hand down, quickly thinking of another possibility. His expression was a mix of terror and excitement, "Xixi, could there be a lake monster scaring away the animals from drinking? Over time, they just stopped coming. I’ve read similar news, but I’ve never seen a lake monster myself. They say the smallest ones are the size of a house!"

Jiang Lingxi: "..."

She’s genuinely curious about how this kid’s mind works!

If there is a chance that some massive creature lurks in the lake, fear is understandable, but why such excitement?