Chapter 3
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The third time Liu Cheng saw Sun Chen, they were both in the airport lounge, waiting for their flight to S Province. In the days ahead, they would spend seven days completely cut off from the outside world in the most mysterious forest of S Province.
Sun Chen, usually dressed sharply, was wearing an orange jacket today. As Liu Cheng walked over with his arm around Gu Qingqiu’s shoulder to join the production team, Sun Chen was giving instructions to the crew. A young girl, holding an open laptop, looked nervous as Sun Chen coldly questioned her about the schedule. Gu Qingqiu quickly stepped forward, “Producer Sun, I have it on my USB drive.” He put down his backpack to search for it, but Sun Chen refused his help, saying, “We don’t need the involvement of an outsider sponsor’s friend in our production team’s work.” Then, turning to the young girl, he continued, “I don’t care how you find that document, but I want everyone to have a printed copy before we get off the plane.”
Liu Cheng caught the flaw in Sun Chen’s words and deliberately, with a slow and gentle smile, said to the girl, “Since Producer Sun doesn’t care how you find the document, let Qingqiu copy it for you.” As he said this, he gave Sun Chen a provocative glance.
Sun Chen pretended not to hear Liu Cheng, walking away without any change in expression. The girl, however, gave Liu Cheng an apologetic smile and shook her head before hurrying off to find someone else.
Liu Cheng was a bit annoyed—today, he had come intending to flaunt his presence. Although he originally enjoyed adventurous activities and was willing to take time for a wilderness survival challenge, this time he specifically brought Gu Qingqiu along to show Sun Chen that he could bring someone even if Sun Chen didn’t want him there. But Sun Chen didn’t give Liu Cheng the reaction he wanted at all.
It was Gu Qingqiu, however, whose face looked unhappy. “Cheng, do you realize you’re putting me in a difficult position?” he said, grabbing Liu Cheng’s arm as the latter was about to follow Sun Chen.
Liu Cheng certainly knew this. He had gone to some effort to convince Gu Qingqiu to accompany him this time. He was aware that his provocations toward Sun Chen would ultimately make Sun Chen dissatisfied with Gu Qingqiu, but then again, once Sun Chen was out of the picture, what would Gu Qingqiu have to worry about? Liu Cheng believed he could protect Gu Qingqiu.
“Being in a difficult position is because you want both sides, but honestly, Qingqiu, you just need to trust me,” Liu Cheng said, patting his lover’s shoulder. He didn’t continue the topic, but instead noticed Sun Chen, who had walked to a water dispenser and was pouring a cup of water before taking a bottle of medicine out of his pocket.
“Does Sun Chen have some kind of illness?” Liu Cheng asked with schadenfreude.
“Producer Sun has a severe fear of heights. He’s afraid of flying, so he times his intake of sleeping pills before boarding the plane.”
This unexpected piece of information made Liu Cheng raise an eyebrow in delight. “Do you think we’ll encounter a lot of cliffs when we head into the mountains?”
Gu Qingqiu, understanding the implication, frowned with concern. “Cheng, don’t joke about this. It’s not something to play around with.”
“Can’t help it, Qingqiu. You just have a boyfriend with a rich sense of humor.” Liu Cheng completely ignored Gu Qingqiu’s warning, already planning his own “joke” in his mind.
—However, in the end, Liu Cheng’s “joke” turned out to be anything but excessive. In fact, it had the opposite effect.
The work of the *Surviving Here* production team was roughly divided into two parts, with the staff also split accordingly. The team responsible for technical tasks like drone filming was stationed in a guesthouse at the foot of the mountain, while the field experts conducting the primary inspection and scouting for activities were camping in a newly registered campsite. Originally, Liu Cheng and Gu Qingqiu were both arranged to stay at the guesthouse at the foot of the mountain. Although staying in the guesthouse meant a daily commute involving an hour’s drive and two hours of walking, it was less rough than camping. To be honest, Liu Cheng, who preferred camping, didn’t find the arrangement objectionable, but his habit of challenging all of Sun Chen’s decisions led him to voice an objection. Sun Chen listened to Liu Cheng’s request with a bored expression and, without a second thought, casually agreed, making Liu Cheng feel as though all his effort had been for nothing, and oddly, as though he’d been insulted in the process.
Because Gu Qingqiu, who wanted to develop a career in television but clearly hadn’t expected to encounter wilderness themes often, believed he could learn more with the camera crew, he and Liu Cheng parted ways once they reached their destination. Liu Cheng joined Sun Chen, two directors, and three survival experts in heading into the mountains. The project team’s task during the inspection was more challenging; they had to not only survey the terrain and find locations with enough risk and challenge to be suitable for the show but also ensure safety. At the same time, after roughly identifying potential activities, the directors would take turns testing them personally to assess the success rate and time required for ordinary participants to complete the tasks.
Having previously participated in some extreme sports, Liu Cheng eagerly joined in the tests, outperforming the directors. Two days later, he realized he was essentially working for free for Sun Chen—if he didn’t participate, there would only be two directors, and the test data would be insufficient. So, when it came to a project involving heights, Liu Cheng stopped volunteering. He was secretly amused at the thought that Sun Chen might have to step in due to the lack of manpower. Unfortunately, while Sun Chen did participate in tests when there weren’t enough people, for all tasks involving heights, only the two directors ever took part. Watching from the sidelines, Liu Cheng, itching to get involved, found himself increasingly frustrated with Sun Chen’s indifference and started seriously considering pulling his investment.
Afterward, one of the directors, who was good at reading people, privately spoke with Sun Chen and then came to Liu Cheng, explaining that Sun Chen didn’t require Liu Cheng to participate because his athletic ability was too good, making his test data less useful. If Liu Cheng was truly interested in the activities, they could arrange for an expert to stay behind and coach him in private.
After thinking it over calmly, Liu Cheng was inclined to believe the director was telling the truth. Sun Chen likely had objective reasons for not wanting Liu Cheng to participate. The most annoying thing about Sun Chen was his arrogance, and as a result, he wasn’t the type to deliberately pick a fight with Liu Cheng. Although this realization didn’t improve Liu Cheng’s opinion of Sun Chen, it did convince him to take advantage of the special service offered. Each day, after the production team finished their work, Liu Cheng would continue challenging the activities with a coach’s assistance.
On this day, the production team’s latest concept involved crossing a waterfall, a task that required close cooperation between two people. It was a challenge Liu Cheng particularly enjoyed but one he couldn’t complete alone. After all, working with an expert would defeat the purpose of relying on his own abilities, and he couldn’t do it by himself. Liu Cheng watched as Sun Chen and the two directors took turns partnering up, with Sun Chen failing twice to complete the task with different directors. Watching this made Liu Cheng anxious, wishing he could jump in himself.
Unfortunately, the task, which had a success rate of only one in three, was temporarily retained without Liu Cheng getting a chance to participate. In the afternoon, the group moved to a fast-flowing stream to try upstream navigation. However, after some attempts, they decided to go downstream due to the rapid current. After the coach tested the route, Sun Chen and the two directors entered the water. Liu Cheng, observing from the shore, was the first to notice something was wrong. The already turbulent stream seemed to be growing even more intense, and the lead expert soon detected an undercurrent. The path they had started on had become dangerous. The most experienced expert quickly realized the situation and instructed everyone to climb onto a large rock. After that, they had no other escape route. While jumping off the rock wouldn’t necessarily be fatal, the only relatively safe way out was to jump down a small waterfall from the rock. The drop was only three to four meters, but the situation was urgent. The three experts jumped first to test the depth of the water below and to help others land safely. The two directors, following the experts’ guidance, quickly jumped down with their eyes closed, leaving only Sun Chen standing on the rock.
The experts weren’t mind readers, so Sun Chen’s avoidance of all height-related tasks hadn’t led them to any particular conclusions. Thus, when everyone looked in confusion at Sun Chen, who was still on the rock, only Liu Cheng understood that his reaction was due to his fear of heights.
The increasingly strong current began to wash over the rock. If Sun Chen didn’t jump soon, he risked falling off and getting hurt. Liu Cheng didn’t have time to relish the situation—after all, he couldn’t just stand by and watch someone get hurt, and heroically stepping in was something he particularly enjoyed. Quickly removing his shoes, Liu Cheng didn’t hesitate to jump into the water. He was decent at swimming—though it still took him a good while to reach the rock—and when he finally climbed up, Sun Chen’s face was pale, staring at Liu Cheng in a daze. Without hesitation, Liu Cheng did something immensely satisfying: he reached out and unceremoniously shoved Sun Chen off the rock and into the water below.
By the time Liu Cheng jumped down, Sun Chen had already resurfaced with the help of the experts. Due to this unexpected incident, the production team, realizing they couldn’t fully control the mountain streams, decided they needed to return and have a detailed meeting to discuss the feasibility of this project. The day’s field inspection was temporarily halted.
After getting ashore, Sun Chen approached Liu Cheng for the first time. Liu Cheng wondered if Sun Chen was going to confront him about what had happened, but before he could figure it out, Sun Chen, in a tone that lacked much sincerity, thanked him. After a brief pause, Sun Chen added, “Were you still interested in trying out the project we tested today? The one in the morning, crossing the waterfall as a pair—I can stay behind and be your partner.”
Liu Cheng knew that Sun Chen wasn’t the type to waste effort lying to someone he didn’t consider worth his time, so this offer was likely his genuine way of showing gratitude. However, Liu Cheng steeled himself, deliberately adopting Sun Chen’s signature cold attitude: “No need, Producer Sun. I saw you make your partners fall into the water twice this morning. There’s no way we’d have enough trust and rapport to complete that task together.”