"Brother Steve, can we eat this cooked conch?" Bai Xiaolu asked eagerly, her nose twitching as she inhaled the delicious aroma rising from the pot.
Seeing her impatient expression, Steve chuckled and replied, "Of course. They're all cleaned and fully cooked, so they're safe to eat. But—"
Before Steve could finish his sentence, Bai Xiaolu had already grabbed a piece of snail meat and stuffed it into her mouth.
She chewed twice, then her face froze. Her expression twisted in discomfort, her small face scrunching up like she had just bitten into something awful. She wanted to spit it out but hesitated, and at the same time, swallowing it seemed impossible.
Steve smirked and finished his sentence, "—it's going to be pretty salty."
"Ugh! Why is it so salty?!" Bai Xiaolu finally spat it out, grimacing as she stuck out her tongue in distress.
Steve burst out laughing. "Hahaha! Well, it was cooked in seawater. Of course, it's salty."
Bai Xiaolu glared at him with wide eyes. "Steve, you knew, and you didn't tell me?!"
Steve put on an innocent expression. "Hey, I hadn't even finished speaking before you shoved it in your mouth. How is that my fault?"
Bai Xiaolu wasn't buying it. She pouted and protested, "No! You have to eat one too!"
"Why should I? I'm not dumb," Steve retorted.
"Huh? Are you saying I'm dumb?" Bai Xiaolu narrowed her eyes.
Steve gave her a mock look of surprise. "Wow, you figured that out? You really are a clever little Lulu."
Bai Xiaolu caught the sarcasm instantly. Her face turned red, and she quickly snatched another piece of snail meat, attempting to shove it into Steve's mouth.
"You have to eat one!"
"Nope!" Steve dodged skillfully.
The live broadcast chat room exploded with activity as their playful fight unfolded.
Even though it was already past 1 a.m., countless night owls were still awake, eagerly watching the live stream.
Viewers flooded the chat:
"Bai Xiaolu, stop! Let go of that man and come to me instead!"
"Steve, you lucky bastard! If Bai Xiaolu fed me, I'd eat even a rock with a smile."
"Get outta here! Our Lulu won't feed just anyone!"
"Is no one going to talk about how close Bai Xiaolu and Steve are getting?"
"That nobody Steve got lucky being on this show. If it weren't for Lulu, he wouldn't be famous at all."
"Why does Steve have to do all the work? Bai Xiaolu should help too!"
"Both are human. Why should Steve do everything while your idol gets a free ride?"
"Our Lulu is working too! Do you think she's just sitting around?"
And just like that, the chat room turned into another war zone. It wasn't the first time.
Any time Steve got a little too close to a female contestant, their fans immediately went on the attack.
When he interacted with Jarvis, he got scolded by Jarvis' fans.
When he corrected Mina, her fans criticized him.
When he played around with Bai Xiaolu, he got dragged again.
Even when he directed Peng Peng to do some work, Peng Peng's fans jumped on him.
No matter what he did, there was always someone ready to curse him out.
But oddly enough, the more people criticized him, the more fans he gained.
Within a single day, Steve's fan base had grown tremendously. His Douyin account alone had gained over 100,000 new followers.
It wasn't hard to see why. Steve's survival skills and leadership had won him admiration from casual viewers.
But the real reason for his sudden rise in popularity? He was being unfairly scolded.
Passersby who saw the constant attacks couldn't help but feel sympathy for him.
"Why is everyone blaming Steve?"
"He's done way more than your idol. What the hell?"
"This guy's actually useful. Why are y'all hating?"
And before they knew it, these defenders became Steve's fans.
It was ironic—getting criticized had made him famous.
If Steve knew about this, he'd probably be grinning ear to ear. As long as people kept talking about him, even if it was negative, he'd still get attention. Whether blacklisted or loved, he was becoming well-known.
Seeing Steve and Bai Xiaolu's playful fight, Jarvis frowned slightly but quickly masked his emotions.
He smiled and said, "Alright, stop messing around. Finish up so we can sleep. We have to get up early tomorrow to look for fresh water."
Bai Xiaolu pouted but relented. She stuck her tongue out at Steve and teased, "Hmph! I'll let you off for now. But next time, I'll make you pay!"
Steve smirked. "At your service."
Bai Xiaolu huffed but turned her attention back to the food.
Just as they were finishing up, the rest of the group returned from the shore.
"Hey, guys, check out what we caught!" Chen Chichi boasted as he held something up.
Everyone's eyes widened.
"A lobster?!" the girls gasped.
Steve was just as surprised. "Wait… you actually caught a lobster?"
He had seen people try to catch lobsters in the wild before, but the odds of success were laughably low. It was practically impossible unless you were ridiculously lucky.
Yet here it was—a real, live lobster.
It wasn't particularly big, about two kilograms at most, but still an impressive find.
Chen Chichi grinned. "Yep! Pure luck! Let me tell you, if the tide hadn't started rising, I could've caught a few more! I saw several lobsters in a ditch about to escape into the sea, and with lightning-fast reflexes—"
Before he could continue bragging, Chris cut in. "Alright, cut the crap."
Chris rolled his eyes. "You just got lucky. That lobster was already injured and stranded. If it hadn't been wounded, you wouldn't have caught anything."
Chen Chichi gasped dramatically. "Jealous! You're just jealous! Oh, I get it—you're mad because I'm handsome and caught a lobster. Sorry, buddy, but not everyone can be me."
Chris glared at him. "I swear, one of these days—"
Before a fight could break out, Sister Bird stepped in. "Enough! Everyone, help clean up so we can get some rest. We need to wake up early."
Everyone quickly got back to work.
Steve and his group continued drying the conch meat. They also had abalone and small fish drying in the sun.
The remaining shrimp, crabs, and octopus were set aside for immediate cooking.
By the time everything was processed, it was already past 2 a.m.
After washing their hands, the exhausted team collapsed onto their makeshift beds.
No one even wanted to move.
It had been an incredibly long day, but at least they had enough food to last a while.
Tomorrow, they would face a new challenge—finding fresh water.
But for now, all they needed was sleep.
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