After Transmigrating, I Joined a Dating Show with the Fake Heiress Actress - Chapter 17

“I’m over here,” Su Qingwan called out.

Bai Man followed the sound and saw Su Qingwan standing in the tall grass. The grass reached Su Qingwan’s waist, explaining why she had disappeared when she crouched down.

Seeing Su Qingwan was unharmed, Bai Man shifted her gaze, hoisted her basket back onto her shoulders, and walked toward Su Qingwan.

As she approached, she noticed a rabbit nestled in the grass. Bright red bl00d stained its snow-white fur, the extent of the bl00d suggesting a hind leg injury.

Su Qingwan gazed at the motionless rabbit with pity, suppressing her unease and hesitation. She suggested softly, “It looks so pitiful. Should we take it back with us?”

Bai Man picked up a twig and cautiously poked the rabbit.

The rabbit immediately struggled to escape, but after a few steps, it stopped, bl00d seeping from its leg again.

Seeing this, Su Qingwan quickly knocked the twig out of Bai Man’s hand. “Don’t make its injury worse!”

Bai Man tossed the twig aside. “You can’t take it. It’s too wild.”

Her words sparked a flurry of comments in the live stream chat:

Bai Man, is your heart made of stone? Can’t you see how pitiful the rabbit is?

The person above is such a bleeding heart. Didn’t you see how fiercely the rabbit struggled? Forcing it along could mean getting scratched by its claws. We’re deep in the mountains—if the wound gets infected and we can’t get timely treatment, tetanus could be fatal!

We have the basket. We could put the rabbit in there.

What about the mushrooms? Are we just going to leave them? We need those mushrooms to trade for food!

The bunny is so cute! We can’t just abandon it!

Su Qingwan understood Bai Man’s implication and cautiously looked up. “Should we apply some of the herbal remedy you used on me earlier?”

Bai Man glanced at her watch, mentally calculating the time it would take to descend the mountain, before finally nodding.

She returned to the spot where she had gathered the herbs, dug up another plant, and crushed it with a rock. Then, she removed her sun-protective jacket and used a sharp edge of the rock to tear off a piece of fabric.

She handed the crushed herbs and fabric to Su Qingwan while she pressed down the surrounding weeds, gesturing with her hands to find the right angle to restrain the rabbit.

As a precaution, she looked up at the photographer. “Come over here and hold down its hind legs.”

The photographer planted his stabilizer tripod in the ground and moved to Bai Man’s side, following her instructions to grip the rabbit’s hind legs.

As expected, the restrained rabbit struggled violently, sending tufts of fur drifting into the air.

The photographer hadn’t anticipated the rabbit’s strength and nearly lost his grip, but he managed to regain control just in time.

After securing the rabbit, Su Qingwan located its wound, applied medicinal herbs, and bandaged it securely.

With this done, Bai Man carefully lifted the flattened grass to conceal the rabbit.

Still anxious, Su Qingwan kept glancing back, her voice filled with worry: “Bai Man, do you think it will recover?”

“Don’t underestimate the resilience of these little creatures,” Bai Man replied.

Though her words were ambiguous, they reassured Su Qingwan considerably. She gazed at Bai Man’s slender back, recalling her earlier words.

While she couldn’t undo those eighteen years, she could sense that Bai Man harbored no ill will toward her now.

The pair hurried back to the cabin, arriving just as dusk settled.

The other guest groups had already returned and were gathered around the table, where a small piece of beef and two types of vegetables—obtained in exchange for mushrooms—lay.

Seeing them arrive, Yin Xiao immediately jumped up from her seat and rushed over to take the mushroom-laden basket off Bai Man’s back. Her eyes widened at the sight of the full basket. “With this many mushrooms, we can get so much beef!” she exclaimed, jumping up and down with excitement.

Seeing Su Qingwan’s puzzled expression, Yin Xiao added, “The Director is such a pain! We have the ingredients, but we still have to cook ourselves. But every cloud has a silver lining. I just found out Song Sizhe knows how to make a big stew, so we decided to pool our ingredients and cook together.” She turned to Bai Man, asking tentatively, “Would that be okay?”

The mushrooms they had gathered were meager, and the ingredients they had traded for were barely enough to feed everyone.

Bai Man’s group, however, had gathered a substantial amount of mushrooms, allowing them to trade for far more ingredients. If Bai Man agreed, no one would have to go hungry tonight.

Many of them hadn’t even had lunch yet.

Su Qingwan also turned to Bai Man, eager to hear her decision.

Without a word, Bai Man carried her basket over to Cidan, who was sitting under the eaves.

Seeing this, the other guests, including Su Qingwan, assumed Bai Man would refuse. They lowered their heads and sighed in disappointment.

“Since we’re making a stew, we can start the fire now,” Bai Man said quietly. She couldn’t cook herself, so she wouldn’t refuse the chance to trade raw ingredients for cooked food.

Her words lifted everyone’s spirits, and they quickly got to work—some washing the pot, others starting the fire.

For the basket overflowing with mushrooms, Cidan gave Bai Man three pounds of beef.

Yin Xiao, who had been waiting nearby, immediately took the beef and, with Zhang Jiale, began carefully slicing it. Though the pieces were uneven, none were cut thicker than a finger.

Song Sizhe, with practiced skill, waited for the broth to simmer before adding the sliced beef and vegetables.

Liu Heng, who had been eyeing the mushrooms all day, rinsed Yu Meng’s freshly gathered mushrooms twice and dumped them into the pot.

The earthy aroma of wild mushrooms mingled intimately with the rich beef broth. Liu Heng tasted the soup and gave Song Sizhe a thumbs-up. “This is delicious!”

Song Jie then pulled Liu Heng aside, transferred all the ingredients from the pot into a basin, and carried it to the dining table.

Since Song Sizhe didn’t care for spicy food, the hotpot was prepared without chili peppers, catering to the preferences of Bai Man and the other guests who disliked spicy dishes.

Whether it was genuine hunger or Song Sizhe’s mixed stew was truly delicious, the large pot of rice was quickly emptied.

After the meal, everyone worked together to wash the dishes and then gathered around to share stories from their mushroom-picking adventures that day, creating a harmonious and joyful atmosphere.

Bai Man, however, felt out of place in this lively scene. She rose and walked away alone.

Su Qingwan, who had been sitting beside her, noticed the moment Bai Man stood up. Under the lamplight, Bai Man’s elongated shadow looked somewhat desolate.

Compelled by an unspoken impulse, Su Qingwan rose and followed Bai Man to a large rock slightly below the cabin. She sat down and offered Bai Man a piece of candy.

Bai Man stared at the candy for a moment before taking it. She deftly tore open the wrapper, popped the candy into her mouth, and gazed into the distance.

The dim yellow lamplight slanted across her face, as if gilding her with a radiant yet distant glow.

Su Qingwan averted her gaze and looked into the distance. Soon, she noticed a gray shadow floating in the air. She blinked and looked again. The shadow had drifted closer. Leaning toward Bai Man, she whispered with a hint of panic, “Bai Man, do you see that? There’s… something there.”