"We can make fire by drilling wood!"
Facing the collected wood, Teacher Piao confidently drew his conclusion.
Before participating in the competition, he had proactively studied various wilderness survival knowledge, which included essential fire-making skills.
His teammate, Little Zhongma, was full of hesitation and asked back, "Can you do it?"
"Of course, I can!"
Teacher Piao nodded as a matter of course.
"Before coming here, I was already prepared to make fire by drilling wood."
"I not only watched videos and read professional books, but I also specifically trained my arms."
"Come, look at my Qilin arms!"
As Teacher Piao spoke, he rolled up his sleeves, demonstrating his training results with action.
A man who was about one girth fatter than average naturally had arms that were also about one girth larger.
Merely by patting his hand, the flesh trembled slightly.
Little Zhongma looked as if he had something to say but wasn't sure if he should.
The viewers who saw this scene were almost dying of laughter.
"So flashy, just like you, Teacher Piao! If you weren't showing me your biceps, I would have believed you."
"Hahaha, Little Zhongma really wants to speak but holds back, and holds back but wants to speak. I'm afraid he'll get an internal injury."
"Putting aside the facts, making a fire shouldn't be that difficult for two grown men, especially with extensive theoretical knowledge [wacky]"
The audience was actively posting bullet comments, but deep down, they felt that Teacher Piao's team was definitely going to fail.
To begin with, all the surrounding wood was wet.
Drilling wood for fire itself was a skill that required practice and strength.
These two streamers, who looked like they were not in good health, certainly wouldn't be able to do it.
In the studio, Le Le couldn't help but chuckle at the content of the bullet comments.
"It seems like everyone has no objection to the final outcome for this pair of contestants, huh."
"However, with Teacher Piao's physique, even if he can't make fire or find food, he can probably last a few days."
Le Le's teasing added another layer of humor to the live stream.
While they were chatting, Teacher Piao found all the materials needed for drilling wood and, with a flourish, untied his shoelaces.
"Look, I was prepared! I specifically wore shoes with laces."
"Now is the moment to witness a miracle!"
He said, mimicking the videos he had watched, using a shoelace to tie a branch into a bow and wrapping it around another wooden stick.
Below, he placed a piece of hard wood with a hole drilled into it, and beneath that, he put wood shavings.
Then, under the gaze of nearly ten million viewers in the live stream and Little Zhongma, Teacher Piao began.
He exerted all his strength, making the wooden stick spin rapidly on the hard wood.
The posture, on the surface, was not much different from that of a professional.
This gave Little Zhongma a faint glimmer of hope.
Maybe Teacher Piao would succeed after all?
With his hands behind his back, he couldn't help but lean forward, like an elderly man in a park watching a chess match.
The audience, too, had no time for teasing and stared at the camera, becoming anxious along with them.
One minute passed.
Two minutes passed.
Three minutes passed...
Teacher Piao stopped his actions, touched the wood, and stiffened.
He looked up, revealing an embarrassed smile.
"Hey, why is this wood wet?"
"Cough, cough, this... making fire is really not easy. Let me rest a bit."
"Little Zhongma, do you want to try?"
His words instantly made everyone understand—
Indeed, one couldn't rely on Teacher Piao.
Little Zhongma's spirits immediately sank, and he sighed.
"It's already hard to make fire with wet wood, what was I expecting?"
"Teacher Piao, if I trust you again next time, I'll be..."
He stopped there, unable to finish his sentence.
There were still a hundred days ahead; who knew if there would be times when he would have to rely on Teacher Piao.
He couldn't be too definitive with his words, at least not...
Watching this pair of contestants was like watching a comedy show.
The laughter of the viewers in front of the screen never ceased.
Lin Yang was also remarking.
"Wet wood is full of moisture, as you can imagine, it can't be used to make fire by drilling."
"To even attempt it is truly bold."
He shook his head, not optimistic about Teacher Piao and Little Zhongma's team.
Zhou Ye let out a tsk.
"There's nothing that can be done. After all, everyone learned to make fire with dry wood. Not many people would expect it to rain right from the start."
"But this is good too; I won't lack material."
As he spoke, he reviewed the recorded scene of Teacher Piao's embarrassed smile, a satisfied grin on his face.
His glasses reflected white light from the screen.
This made Lin Yang shiver, thinking that YouTubers in the "demonic ghost" category were indeed different.
And the people themselves were quite "demonic ghost-like."
His eyes swept over and he saw that the camera angle in the live stream had switched again, causing him to pause.
"My Brother Jiang has also started making fire."
As he spoke, Zhou Ye looked at the screen.
Indeed, Jiang Fan and Zhou Niannian were both crouching on the ground, seemingly doing something.
The director was very perceptive, switching to a closer shot, allowing the audience to see their actions and hear their voices.
"This won't work, you should give up."
Zhou Niannian, crouching on the ground, was not optimistic about Jiang Fan.
"Only these two pieces of wood are dry; the rest are wet."
"I saw it on trees before, wet firewood requires more heat, and we don't have a lighter. Even if you create a spark, you won't be able to ignite the wood."
Although she had accepted the fact that Jiang Fan was her teammate, she was unwilling to believe that he could successfully make fire.
Jiang Fan, paying no attention, continued to proceed with his task in an orderly manner.
He picked up a sodden log.
First, he shook the water off the log.
He drilled a hole in the center of the top part and filled it with shaved wood shavings.
Then, he drilled another hole in the center of the side, connecting to the hole in the middle.
After that, he paid no further attention to the log.
Seeing Jiang Fan's actions, Zhou Niannian became even more anxious and couldn't understand.
Whether it was making fire or finding food, it shouldn't have anything to do with that log.
Why bother with the log?
With that time, she could have done something more useful.
Jiang Fan noticed her impatience.
Knowing that she couldn't wait, Jiang Fan felt a bit helpless but didn't stop her.
"If you're really in a hurry, you can go look for some wild fruits, or scout the surrounding environment. Just don't go too far."
Making fire by drilling wood was inherently a time-consuming and low-success-rate endeavor.
It wouldn't be bad to look for some wild fruits first.
He thought to himself and then focused on his own work.
Seeing that he was still not giving up, Zhou Niannian abandoned the idea of waiting there and turned to walk towards the woods.
The audience in the live stream, seeing that the two seemed to be arguing, also voiced different opinions.
"It's so hard to make fire after it rained. Why is Brother Jiang so persistent about getting a fire going? Wouldn't it be better to get some food to replenish his energy first?"
"Is it unfair to ask Sister Zhou, a woman, to go look for food? With the time it takes to make a fire, she might as well find more food."
"I don't know who gave him the confidence to try. Who would dare to try making fire now? Isn't that just embarrassing? Is it a show or laziness?"
"The previous comment is too much. Drilling wood for fire requires a lot of effort, and it's fine to divide labor. Don't speak if you don't understand."
"Sister Zhou isn't incapable of doing anything. Don't bring up gender conflict. Besides, I believe Brother Jiang must have his own considerations."
Although there were some who spoke carelessly and tried to stir up trouble out of misunderstanding, more viewers were rational.
Jiang Fan's previous actions seemed to have guaranteed something for himself.
At least the audience who followed him didn't believe that Jiang Fan would do something destined to fail.
Although they didn't quite understand, they chose to believe.
In the studio, seeing the debate in the bullet comments, Le Le was about to say something to ease the tension.
But suddenly, he heard Bear Grylls next to him let out a confused "Hmm," with a surprised expression.
"Staff, please adjust the camera to look at that log."
His words attracted the attention of Le Le and the audience.
Everyone's gaze shifted to the log that Jiang Fan had handled and then set aside, not quite understanding.
What was wrong with the log?