Chapter 573: 574, the only solution to worry is sunflower seeds (second watch)

"Jin brother," Zi swallowed, then continued, "Otherwise, you, you just..." She couldn’t bring herself to say the remaining few words, what she wanted to say was, otherwise, Jin brother, you should just marry Mo Qianjue...

"Just what?" Chu Jin slightly raised his eyebrows.

"Nothing." Zi forced a casual smile, "Jin brother, you should focus on your training."

Since things had already reached this point, she might as well face each day with a smile. To live another day was a gift. With that thought, Zi picked up some melon seeds and began cracking them with a satisfied look on her face.

How to relieve worries? Only with melon seeds.

In the silent night, suddenly there was a rustling sound, like a huge beast crawling through the darkness.

Chu Jin was jolted alert, her consciousness returned to her body, and she opened her eyes, standing up from the ground. She was very vigilant, scanning her surroundings.

The bright moonlight draped a mysterious veil over the earth.

The rustling sound continued near her ear.

Chu Jin moved stealthily towards the back of the tent, the sound grew louder, as if it was right behind her. Chu Jin walked slowly forward then suddenly turned around, but there was nothing behind her.

At that moment, an object suddenly leapt onto her, knocking her to the ground.

It all happened too fast, Chu Jin was totally unguarded and was thus overwhelmed. The person wore a hat that shadowed their eyes, revealing only a lean and delicate lower jaw.

"Don’t make a sound, it’s me."

The voice was very familiar—it was Song Shiqin.

Hearing this, Chu Jin breathed a sigh of relief. She knew that the situation was extremely dangerous, so she didn’t resist.

If it wasn’t for Song Shiqin, she guessed the creature upon her would have been that monster.

At this moment, the rustling sound grew louder, resembling the noise of an animal gnawing on flesh, accompanied by rough breathing. One by one, the sounds seemed to be multiplying.

Chu Jin’s ears were slightly twitching, always alert to the movements nearby.

At times like these, any noise could spell disaster for the students sleeping in the tents.

Suddenly, a familiar medicinal scent entered Chu Jin’s nostrils. Her pupils contracted, she came back to her senses and lifted her eyelids to look at Song Shiqin, only to find his gaze fixed on a corner in the darkness.

Chu Jin frowned slightly.

Smelling this familiar medicinal scent.

She couldn’t help but think of the dream she had in the car that morning.

Was it a dream?

Or did that event really happen? Was that person Song Shiqin?

But if it was Song Shiqin, why was there nobody in front of her the second she opened her eyes?

Moreover, Song Shiqin was driving at the time, steadily following behind the bus all the while.

This indicated that he didn’t stop the car during his drive.

And there was no third person on the car.

Perhaps she was just being paranoid?

It was only a dream.

But if it wasn’t a dream, then why did this familiar medicinal scent emanate from him?

A dream, not a dream.

Even Chu Jin herself was confused.

Why did this medicinal scent seem so familiar?

Something flashed swiftly through her mind, so fast that she couldn’t catch it.

As Chu Jin pondered, the weight on her lifted as Song Shiqin stood up. He looked around first, then lowered his gaze to Chu Jin and said with a hint of apology, "Sorry for being abrupt just now, it was urgent. Song has overstepped."

Immediately, he bent over and reached out his hand to Chu Jin.

The eyes exposed under the brim of his hat were so profound! Like the night itself.

Song Shiqin wasn’t in his military uniform but was wearing a black shirt with a hat of the same color pressed down on his head, blending into the night, emanating a dangerous aura.

Like a black Lycoris radiata.

Chu Jin did not reach out her hand; instead, she leaped up from the ground and stood up, the whole process extremely suave.

Song Shiqin watched her, his expression unchanged, and continued, "There are some large mutated species on this mountain that hide in caves during the day and only come out to forage at night. However, they suffer from night blindness, so as long as we make no noise, they won’t attack us actively. Be extra cautious at night."

Chu Jin nodded, "Alright," she said, and then added, "Thank you for earlier."

Facing Song Shiqin, Chu Jin always had a very strange feeling, an odd sensation that couldn’t be described with words. As for dealing with someone as mysterious as Song Shiqin, it was better to keep a respectful distance.

A son of Heavenly Dao, not to be trifled with.

Chu Jin concealed her gaze, hiding the emotions in her eyes.

At that moment, Zi from the Purple Lightning space suddenly spoke up, "Jin brother, since we can’t find the Soul Resurrection Grass, you could take advantage of Song Shiqin. Absorbing some of the imperial aura from Song Shiqin wouldn’t be bad. Who knows, it might even ward off a disaster."

After all, he possessed the aura of an emperor for three lifetimes, a favored one by Heavenly Dao.

Chu Jin ignored Zi. The level of danger that Song Shiqin represented was no less than Mr. Mo from before. It was better not to take that risk; it could well lead to being stuck in the mire.

Moreover, what good could come from a woman approaching a man with an ulterior motive?

Better not to provoke any.

Life and death are predestined.

Song Shiqin spoke in a bland tone, still looking like that stern instructor, "No need to thank me, just doing my duty." With that, he added, "Rest well, I’m leaving now. You don’t have to worry about the safety of others. There are more of our people around keeping watch."

Chu Jin smiled slightly, the smile stopping at politeness, her voice light, "Instructor Song, take care."

When he heard the title "Instructor Song."

Song Shinqin’s steps seemed to freeze for a moment, but quickly returned to normal, and his tall figure disappeared into the night.

Chu Jin watched as he left, her eyes deepening.

She did not sleep all night.

Soon, day broke, and the sunrise over the mountain was spectacular, with the sun casting a golden sheen over the earth.

Chu Jin dug up some edible wild vegetables in the nearby jungle, then found about half a pound of white rice. She gathered some mushrooms, cleaned them, and put them in a pot to simmer on a low heat.

An hour later, the vegetable and mushroom porridge was ready, fragrant and soft, a delight that perfectly offset the greasiness from last night’s barbecue.

A large pot of porridge was devoured completely; everyone wished they could even swallow their tongues.

Girl A rushed to wash the dishes.

Boy A and Boy C cleaned up the ashes left from cooking.

Boy B went to fetch water.

Only Qiao Muyan sat there, staring blankly at a branch nearby; if she was not mistaken, that should be a miniature camera. Qiao Muyan’s pupils contracted! No wonder Chu Jin was so proactive, cooking and keeping watch! It turned out she wanted to show off!

Every move they made on this side was under surveillance by the instructors down the mountain!

This Chu Jin! She’s really too calculating!

No, she couldn’t go on like this!

She had to let the instructors watching the screens see a different side of her! Why should Chu Jin steal all the glory?

With that in mind, Qiao Muyan got up with a smile and walked over to Chu Jin, "Classmate Chu Jin, do you need any help with anything?"

Chu Jin was holding a spade and digging a hole in the ground nearby. Seeing Qiao Muyan approaching, she handed the spade to her, "Then you dig a hole. It doesn’t have to be too deep, about 1 meter is fine. Remember to dig it round. I will look for other things; thank you for your hard work."

Qiao Muyan took the spade, her smile unchanged, but she cursed Chu Jin a thousand times in her heart! She had merely asked if she could help, and Chu Jin actually put her to work!

And it was a 1 meter deep hole! Was this preparation for burying someone?

Should a young lady of wealth like herself be doing such physical labor?

It seemed that Chu Jin really had it in for her!

Qiao Muyan felt aggrieved but also wary of the cameras, daring not to show her true feelings. She had to dig strenuously, and in less than ten minutes, her pale palms were covered with blisters, hurting terribly.

This task was simply not meant for humans to do! Chu Jin was clearly doing this on purpose to target her!

Qiao Muyan’s eyes reddened from the pain.

When had she ever done such rough work in her life?

She used the shovel to scoop the dirt out bit by bit, weakly. Male Student A couldn’t stand watching and walked over to Qiao Muyan, "Let me do it. If you keep digging like this, it won’t be ready until next year."

Qiao Muyan, a far cry from her usual haughty self, handed the shovel to Male Student A and whispered a "Thank you."

This "thank you" really startled Male Student A, giving him a feeling of shock and surprise, and he couldn’t help thinking, was this really the haughty Qiao Muyan?

Could the sun have risen from the west?

In the moment he took the shovel, Male Student A saw the blisters on Qiao Muyan’s hands, was shocked, and quickly grabbed her wrist, "You’re injured. Come with me; I’ll apply some medicine."

Without further ado, Male Student A pulled Qiao Muyan away to apply medicine.

After coming out of the tent, Qiao Muyan seemed to experience feelings she had never had before. Looking at her hands covered in white ointment, she said to the student very sincerely, "Yang Yuan, thank you."

Yang Yuan scratched his head and chuckled lightly, "It’s nothing. We’re all classmates, and it’s the right thing to do. I’ll go dig now, and you get some rest." Suddenly, Yang Yuan realized that Qiao Muyan wasn’t as unbearable as he had imagined.

"I’ll help you," Qiao Muyan followed him.

The two worked well together. Despite Qiao Muyan’s injured hand, she still endured the pain, doing whatever she could.

In the following days, Qiao Muyan seemed like a different person altogether, always eager to help. Everyone’s opinion of her began to change, resulting in a six-person group that was unified and had a clear division of labor, earning nods of satisfaction from the instructors and school leaders.

This group undoubtedly stood out among all the new students in the school.

In those ten days, everyone had grown.

Even the most timid Male Student C learned how to cook, fry dishes, and identify wild vegetables.

Qiao Muyan experienced a joy she had never known before.

During that time, she tasted food she cooked herself and even wild fruits she picked with her own hands.

This joy made her forget her prejudice against Chu Jin and even her identity as the third young miss of the Qiao family...

If possible, she wished it could continue this way.

Untouched by worldly concerns.

In the blink of an eye, it was the last day of survival in the wilderness.

That day,

everyone got up early.

Tomorrow, they would leave this place.

After living here for ten days, the thought of leaving was hard to bear, as nearly every spot had memories of their group of six.

Since it was the last day, everyone decided to catch fish in the river together and have a feast of fish in the evening.

So all six rolled up their trousers and ran towards the river.

The river wasn’t really deep, the water level reaching only around the knee at the edges, and the deepest part was waist-high, with a bed of pebbles instead of mud.

Under the sunshine, it was all laughter and joy.

With the united effort of the six, in just three hours, they caught a bucket full of fresh and plump fish.

After fishing, the boys started swimming directly in the river.

The girls were on the shore, preparing the fish.

Steamed fish, fried fish, grilled fish, stewed fish, braised fish—everyone was surrounded by all types of fish that evening, eating to their hearts’ content.

"Chu Jin, can I talk to you alone for a moment?" In the evening, after dinner, Qiao Muyan said to Chu Jin.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked over at the two of them.

Over the past 10 days, the six people had gotten along really well, so much so that everyone had forgotten about the rift between Qiao Muyan and Chu Jin, and also forgotten about Qiao Muyan’s past actions.

Now, with Qiao Muyan suddenly saying this to Chu Jin, everyone’s hearts were lifted again, a bit nervous.

"Sure," Chu Jin said with a faint smile, standing up.

Actually, through these 10 days of interaction, Chu Jin could feel that Qiao Muyan wasn’t inherently bad.

Qiao Muyan followed Chu Jin to a big tree.

"Chu Jin, I’ve realized that I don’t seem to dislike you as much as I did before." Qiao Muyan started off, realizing in these 10 days that Chu Jin wasn’t as poor in character as she had imagined.

Rather, she was excellent and genuine.

Although Qiao Muyan really didn’t want to admit it, after all, it was the truth.

What seemed like a brief ten days taught Qiao Muyan quite a few lessons: in this world, no one is more noble than someone else, whether you’re a billionaire or a poor student; in these tough situations, you have to rely on your own hands to survive.

A good living environment is something you have to create for yourself.

Otherwise, the day you lose your shelter, the day you lose your external halo, you will have nothing.

People are born equal.

Suddenly, she realized how stupid her former self was.

Qiao Muyan even felt a bit ashamed to admit that person was really her.

Chu Jin raised her eyebrows slightly, her eyes filled with mirth, "So should I thank you for finally not disliking me?"

Hearing such words from Qiao Muyan’s mouth was truly not easy!

"No need for that," Qiao Muyan said, her tone cocky, continuing, "Although I don’t dislike you now, it doesn’t mean that I will like you. I just simply don’t dislike you anymore, that’s all."

Who would like Chu Jin?

She would certainly not like her love rival!

Thinking of Song Shiqin, the light in her eyes dimmed again. She must be deluding herself, right? Song Shiqin didn’t come for her. She could only blame her own overactive imagination.

But even if Song Shiqin didn’t come for her, it didn’t stop her from liking him!

She just liked Song Shiqin!

From childhood on, it was always others circling around her.

She had many boyfriends and a few bed partners, but she never really loved.

This time, she was determined to act for love.

"Actually, I don’t dislike you either," Chu Jin said with a light smile, then reached out her right hand towards Qiao Muyan, her tone earnest, "Qiao Muyan, I’m glad to meet you."

Qiao Muyan extended her right hand and shook hands with her, "I’m also glad to meet you, Chu Jin."

Fate is really a wonderful thing. Qiao Muyan had never thought that one day, she would actually shake hands with Chu Jin.

Not right! It was just a handshake, nothing more! They hadn’t reconciled!

Looking seriously at Chu Jin, Qiao Muyan began to speak slowly, "Chu Jin,"

"Hmm," Chu Jin knew Qiao Muyan had something to say, her expression equally serious, "Go ahead."

"I..." Qiao Muyan hesitated, weighing her words in her heart. She knew her request was too much, but for the sake of love, she had to speak.

Qiao Muyan blurted out the words that had been pressing on her heart, "Could you maybe not like Song Shiqin anymore?"

At that, Chu Jin laughed out loud.

"What are you laughing at?" Qiao Muyan’s face fell stern, "Are you trying to compete with me for Song Shiqin?"

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read