Chapter 209: She Admitted Defeat
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Tong Tong picked up the red sneaker before he squatted down on the ground to observe it for a few more seconds. Just as he was about to stand up, he suddenly realized that the sand under his feet was loose…
“Sister Yuning…Sister Yuning!”
In an instance, Jiang Yuning watched as Tong Tong started sinking into the light brown sand. Without any hesitation, Jiang Yuning immediately ran over to Tong Tong.
“It’s quicksand. Tong Tong, don’t panic and try not to struggle. The more you struggle, the faster and deeper you will sink into the quicksand!” Jiang Yuning quickly calmed Tong Tong down. “Do not be afraid. I will definitely save you. Just try not to struggle so much.”
“Am I going to die?”
Tong Tong’s body was gradually engulfed by the quicksand and in a few minutes, the quicksand had already reached his shoulders.
“No, you are not going to die. We are here with you. Just trust me, okay?” Jiang Yuning continued rea.s.suring Tong Tong. She did not dare to move at all because she was afraid that Tong Tong would sink deeper into the quicksand if she made a wrong move.
Jiang Yuning had always seen scenes in movies where the quicksand would just engulf a person and that person would be gone in a matter of seconds.
The three of them had already walked almost an entire day and night without encountering any huge obstacles or quicksand. Little did they expect that they would encounter such a dangerous situation at the last minute when they were already so close to the finish line.
“Sister Yuning, please save me…”
The quicksand eventually stopped moving. Fortunately for them, the vortex was not too deep and the quicksand had only engulfed Tong Tong’s body up to his shoulders.
“Tong Tong, make sure that you do not lean forward, but tilt your head backwards instead. Try to kick your feet forward lightly, little by little and see if you can move out of the quicksand slowly.”
Tong Tong did exactly as Jiang Yuning instructed him to but he had already sunken too deep and it was almost impossible for him to move his legs.
At this time, Tong Tong started to panic even more.
“Don’t worry. Keep calm.” Jiang Yuning slowly squatted down and tested the sand surrounding the area that Tong Tong had fallen into. After confirming that the sand was not quicksand, she quickly reached her hand out to Tong Tong. “Let’s do this slowly. Don’t worry even if you can only move your feet a little. Just take your time.”
“Am I going to die?” Tong Tong could no longer hold back his tears. “Sister Yuning, I do not want to die here.”
“Nonsense! Tong Tong, you are not going to die here. Even if you are going to die, I am going to be right by your side,” Jiang Yuning replied as she held tightly onto Tong Tong’s right hand.
At this time, Xu Beishen suddenly walked over to them and held tightly onto Tong Tong’s left hand. “And you have me too!”
Jiang Yuning and Xu Beishen exchanged glances with one another. At this time, there was no compet.i.tion or hatred in their eyes. All they cared about right now was the safety of their own teammate.
“Take it slowly, Tong Tong…just move your feet little by little. We will be right here by your side supporting you.”
The three of them continued in this manner, with Jiang Yuning and Xu Beishen trying to pull Tong Tong out of the quicksand slowly. The sun eventually rose and they were losing more water and moisture from their body. Jiang Yuning quickly took whatever water they had left and fed it to Tong Tong. He was more p.r.o.ne to losing moisture and salt from his body, and he could suffer from dehydration and heatstroke easily as he was trapped inside the sand. After that, Jiang Yuning pa.s.sed the last sip of water remaining in the bottle over to Xu Beishen.
“What about you?”
“I can still hold on.”
Unknowingly, it was already approaching eight o’clock in the morning and at this time, Qi Mo and Brother Zhuang had also made it to the intersection. As soon as they saw the predicament that Jiang Yuning’s team was in, they quickly rushed over to help them.
“Tong Tong, don’t worry. It’s okay. We are here now.”
Qi Mo hurriedly pushed Jiang Yuning and Xu Beishen aside before both of them quickly a.s.sumed Jiang Yuning and Xu Beishen’s positions, then continued to try pulling Tong Tong out from the quicksand.
After all, they were both big and strong men who had greater strength than two girls. Finally, after struggling for another twenty-five minutes, Qi Mo and Brother Zhuang finally managed to pull Tong Tong out of the quicksand.
At this time, it was already a little past eight o’clock in the morning.
The five of them sat on the sand as they panted and breathed heavily.
“Are you okay now, Tong Tong?”
Tong Tong was a little shaken but he nodded his head anyway. It was really good to be free and alive.
“It is already past eight o’clock in the morning. Does that mean that all of us have already failed our mission?” Qi Mo asked regretfully since they had already come a long way. However, he also felt a sense of accomplishment because they had successfully saved one of their guest members.
At this time, the production team suddenly arrived at the scene on a helicopter. One of the producers of the show made an announcement through a loudspeaker and said, “Congratulations to two of the teams for completing the rescue mission successfully! We will now transport you back to the supply station.”
Jiang Yuning, Xu Beishen, and Qi Mo were dumbstruck.
So, their mission for this episode was to rescues their own teammate?
That meant that the production crew had placed the red sneaker on that very spot on purpose? The quicksand was also a surprise element that the production team had intended?
Although she was equally as shocked as the rest of the other guest members, Jiang Yuning could not help rolling her eyes at the production team.
Could they not play with someone else’s life like this?
The five of them had mixed feelings as they made their way back to the supply station.
Even so, Tong Tong was extremely moved because even though none of them knew that this situation was one that the production team had intentionally set up for them, all of them had willingly given up on their mission just to save him. Therefore, he quickly thanked each and everyone of them, especially Jiang Yuning.
However, as soon as Tong Tong turned around to look at Jiang Yuning, he immediately knew that something was amiss. “Sister Yuning, are you feeling unwell right now? Why do you look so pale?”
At this time, Xu Beishen suddenly remembered that Jiang Yuning had not drunk any water for the past three or four hours. Furthermore, she had been exposed to the sun for such a long time earlier.
“Hurry up. We need to replenish her glucose now!” Xu Beishen quickly urged the production crew.
The production team flew the five of them back to the supply station and after a short while, they could see a few black dots appearing from the direction of the desert. Needless to say, it must be Jin Mingchen and his teammate wandering around in the desert.
After that, the production crew set out once again to pick Jin Mingchen and the remaining team that was still stranded on the desert.
After returning to the supply station, the production team asked the doctor and medical team who were on standby to check on Jiang Yuning immediately. Although Jiang Yuning looked so small and fragile, no one had expected her to be this tough. “Do not worry too much, she is fine. She is simply too exhausted and she has suffered a heatstroke. She will be fine after receiving IV fluids.”
“That’s good news…” Tong Tong replied immediately, feeling guilty. “Sister Yuning is only in this condition because she was so focused on saving me.”
“Don’t worry too much, young kid. You should come over here and let me take a look at you first,” the doctor replied kindly as he signalled for Tong Tong to come over to him.
A short while later, the other two teams that were picked up by the helicopter finally arrived back at the supply station. At this time, all of them looked extremely tired and haggard.
They thought it was impossible for anyone to have completed the mission, as it was extremely tough. However, when they heard that both Jiang Yuning and Qi Mo’s groups had successfully completed the mission within the designated time frame, they immediately collapsed onto the ground.
They were all human, but why was there such a vast difference between them?
After that, the nine guests were allowed to rest for about two hours before the production team finally announced the results of the compet.i.tion. All of the guests and production team gathered in Jiang Yuning’s room at this time because Jiang Yuning was receiving IV fluids and it was inconvenient for her to move around.
“For the desert island rescue this time, two of the teams have successfully completed the task, namely Jiang Yuning’s team and Qi Mo’s team. However, Jiang Yuning’s team would be given the highest point and ranking because they took the shortest amount of time to arrive at the final destination. Therefore, Jiang Yuning’s group is indeed the well-deserved champion and they have acc.u.mulated ninety points, which means that each member in that team has thirty points now. Qi Mo and Brother Zhuang have come in second place and they have acc.u.mulated a total of forty points, meaning that they have twenty points each. Lastly, the other two teams that did not successfully complete the mission will not be awarded any points at all and they will also receive a punishment or be disadvantaged during the next mission.”
“Oh no…” Jin Mingchen started to whine immediately. “The production team is too evil. You guys have made everything too difficult and impossible to resolve…I am already eight shades darker because of this show. The production team should pay me more for this…”
At this time, the producers could not help but chime in. “Our hairlines are already receding!”
When Xu Beishen saw Jiang Yuning sleeping so soundly on her bed, she quickly took out her cell phone and sent a text message to Xu Liangzhou. “Brother, Jiang Yuning is not feeling well right now. You should ask Brother Lu to arrange for someone to pick her up now.”
She admitted defeat.
She finally, graciously…admitted defeat.