I Am A Prodigy

“The first part is over. Next up is the second part—drawing straws!”

Zhang Yong spoke with a smile. There was a mischievous playfulness in his eyes that gave everyone else a bad feeling.

Without waiting for anyone to say anything, there were already six long straws in front for everyone to draw!

Each person took one and opened it.

“Director, it says here ‘one tent’,” Dalei said.

“I also got ‘one tent’,” Brother Yang said immediately before having an afterthought, “It is possible that one of us here doesn’t have a tent? This is too cruel.”

As expected, Arnelle wailed the next moment and showed everyone the straw she drew. It was blank.

“I don’t have anything either,” Chen Xiaoyan also drew a blank.

There were a total of six people, but only four tents.

“Uh, I can squeeze in one tent with Dalei. I’ll offer up this tent,” Brother Yang said. He most certainly would take care of the girls.

“Friendly reminder, the tent is very small! Two people might not fit inside.” Director Zhang duly added insult to injury.

In fact, the purpose of that level was to test everyone’s unity, allowing the audience to see the guests modestly helping each other. Plenty of subsequent activities will also have tents used as a reward.

Sure enough, Director Li’s words made Dalei hesitate slightly. In the end, he finally said, “Since that’s the case, I’ll offer up my tent. We’re men. We’re strong and burly. We can sleep anywhere as long as we have a blanket.”

It was a virtue for a man to give way to a girl, more so when they were three amazing beauties.

However, everyone instinctively shifted their attention to Ye Lingchen soon after, since he was the only one who did not give any indication of offering up his tent.

“Hey, Mr. Y, us two girls don’t have tents. Aren’t you going to be more considerate?” Arnelle could not help but remind him.

That was the effect of a live stream. If Ye Lingchen did not show his sincerity, he would probably be attacked by haters and give them something to condemn him.

Chen Xiaoyan looked eagerly at Ye Lingchen. Whether genuine or otherwise, Ye Lingchen need only pretend to show her some courtesy, as that would suffice to momentarily fill her heart with sweetness.

However, Ye Lingchen froze for a moment before shaking his head. He said indifferently, “I refuse!”

What?!

Everyone could not believe their ears! His joke went a little too overboard!

Dalei and Brother Yang were already frantically giving Ye Lingchen a couple of looks. Zhang Yong’s expression was bitter too. It was a live stream and there was no way to cut out that shot. Many people have probably already seen it.

[He’s a steely straight man[1]! This guy is definitely a steely straight man!]

[No, Y is so talented, his EQ can’t be that low! Wouldn’t it be better if he pretended to say something nice!]

[Did you notice Chen Xiaoyan’s expression? It dimmed down in an instant! Heartbreaking!]

[How can anyone be happy with this man? Such a waste that Chen Xiaoyan is infatuated with him!]

…

The audience shook their heads and sighed. Every single one began scolding Ye Lingchen.

However, Ye Lingchen ignored the stunned crowd and crouched instead. He rummaged through his suitcase.

Amidst everyone’s skeptical looks, the first thing Ye Lingchen did was take out a machete used for agriculture and placed it on the ground. Then, he took out various little tools one-by-one and placed them on the ground too.

Then, he brought the machete and went into the depths of the deserted island.

That was…

Everyone’s heart skipped a beat. They thought of only one possibility and immediately began following him.

The cameraman followed too of course, with the lens constantly pointed at Ye Lingchen.

They then saw Ye Lingchen wander around the desert island for a while. He stopped at a bamboo thicket, and after eyeing a few good-looking bamboo sticks, he lifted his machete and sliced the bamboo!

Bang, bang, bang!

Every cut was filled with power and the crowd seemed to look at him rather dumbfoundedly. No one stepped forward to disturb him.

“Mr. Y is so handsome!” Arnelle stared at everything for a moment and could not help but exclaim, “So…MANLY!”

As for Chen Xiaoyan, her vision was blurry and she had long been trapped in a daze.

Ye Lingchen raised his hand and chopped down in an extremely rhythmic manner. Although he was wearing clothes, his bodily muscles were still slightly exposed whenever he lifted his hand, displaying his ample strength.

Chopping bamboo was a very unsophisticated action, but for some reason, it looked pleasing to the eye when Ye Lingchen did it. Every move seemed so natural, like an artful performance.

Soon, ten bamboo poles were chopped off by Ye Lingchen and he dragged them across the ground.

“Hey, what are you all gathered here for?” Ye Lingchen reached out and waved his hand in front of everyone’s eyes.

Everyone snapped back to their senses and gave Ye Lingchen some very strange stares.

“Mr. Y, what are you doing, could you be thinking of building a house?” Arnelle asked in surprise.

“That’s right!” Ye Lingchen nodded, then smiled. “You and Xiaoyan don’t have a tent, so where are the two of you going to live in if I don’t build a house?”

Arnelle stuck out her tongue. “Why didn’t you say so earlier. Told you Mr. Y is a gentleman.”

“Y, we’ll think of something, you don’t need to tire yourself,” Chen Xiaoyan said worriedly.

The actions of chopping bamboo appeared effortless, but it actually used a lot of power. Furthermore, building a house was not an easy task either.

“It’s fine. There’s nothing to do anyway, and it won’t take much effort,” Ye Lingchen assured.

[F*CK! Turns out, we blamed Y wrongly! Phew, he scared me there. I knew that my idol would not be like that.]

[Awesome, he actually wants to build a house. How amazing!]

[Ah, Y is incredible. He chops bamboo like he’s cutting vegetables. He’s a real man!]

[I think that each of Y’s moves are super handsome. Simple and unassuming, but also confident! So handsome!]

…

“Choosing a location must be done with care. The ground on the beach looks flat, but it’s not a good place for tents, because we might have to deal with the problem of high tide at any time. The direction has to face the interior, and at the same time, we must be very particular with the terrain. Choosing higher ground is desirable because you can avoid snakes and other critters.”

Ye Lingchen walked and explained it to everyone, leaving them nodding continuously in total admiration.

“Here.” Ye Lingchen placed the bamboo down. “The view here is wide and you can see the sea when you look up. There are many tall trees around it, which can block the wind from the sea. Very good.”

When he finished his sentence, he took out the machete yet again and began to refine the bamboo.

There was no room for error in that kind of situation, so Ye Lingchen rejected everyone’s proposal to help. He began getting down to business without delay.

He chopped the bamboo into different shapes and sizes, then left different-sized openings at the top sections for easy joining. At the same time, Ye Lingchen used the surrounding trees as a ladder to piece together the bamboo along the openings that he intentionally left earlier.

Soon, a simple and practical outline of a house was built. The benefits of bamboo were clear to see at that moment—it was more convenient to process than solid wood and it could be pieced together without requiring overly-complicated tools. As long as the shapes were arranged properly, they could potentially be very sturdy.

…

PS: I [the author] is not a professional in architecture and is just randomly writing this. Everyone, please don’t be too serious…

[1] 钢铁直男 is translated as ‘steely straight man’. This refers to a straight (as in hetero) man who is straightforward and does not go with the flow. A man like that most probably does not show his emotions often too.