"Nowadays, with the development of the era, more and more environments are polluted, trees are felled... I am very happy that so many friends can participate in this tree-planting activity."
A man in a striking orange outfit stood at the front, looking at the five volunteers before him. His straight eyebrows lifted slightly, revealing his joy.
"For these seven days, as long as everyone can keep one sapling alive, that's enough.
Little by little, as more and more volunteers join us, this mountain will eventually return to its original state."
"Original state?" the elite man asked at an opportune moment.
"Yes," the man's face showed a hint of recollection. "Legend has it that a long time ago, this mountain was the best-growing in the surrounding villages. The older generation often found life-saving ginseng, herbs, and the like in the mountains.
It also attracted many spiritual little animals. The villagers called it Blessed Mountain."
The group knew this was the beginning of the story's background and listened attentively.
"Until thirty years ago, a cunning mountain spirit, disguised as a human, stole the mountain's treasure one night.
The villagers pursued with all their might and only managed to recover half of it. Since then, this mountain has become what it is today – half barren, half green."
The man sighed as he looked at the barren land beneath his feet.
"We tried every method imaginable, and finally discovered that watering the plants with spring water from Yingying Mountain would allow them to survive on this land."
Yingying Mountain?
This time, before anyone could ask, the man pointed in a direction.
Jiang Lin and the others followed his gaze and indeed saw a mountain.
This mountain was also quite unusual.
The foothills were earthy brown, the mountainside was a stretch of green, and the summit was covered in white snow.
As their gaze fell upon the mountain, Jiang Lin seemed to truly hear a 'ying ying ying' crying sound.
"Alright, let's start planting trees," the man said, clapping his hands to bring everyone's attention back.
"I will now distribute the saplings. If you have any questions later, feel free to ask me."
The man bent down and carefully took out six saplings from his backpack.
The elite man stepped forward first, taking a sapling from the man's hand.
The sapling was growing well, with a few tender green leaves at the top and its roots wrapped in a ball of soil.
The elite man didn't leave immediately and instead asked, "Can we only take one sapling? What happens if it doesn't survive?"
The man replied, "You can come back to me to get a new sapling the next day."
The elite man hesitated for a moment and then asked, "What is the mountain's treasure?"
The man answered, "The mountain's treasure is the mountain's treasure."
It was as if he hadn't said anything at all.
Knowing he wouldn't get any more information, the elite man nodded and walked away with the sapling.
Afterward, the young man stepped up to receive his sapling. He had held back for a long time but couldn't resist asking, "Um, what should I call you?"
The man smiled and said, "Just call me Uncle Feng."
"Uncle Feng?" the young man blinked. "You don't look that old. What do you do? Do you live nearby?"
Uncle Feng didn't seem bothered and good-naturedly replied, "I'm a forest ranger, and I live on the mountainside over there."
"Are you the only one here?" the young man asked.
"Pretty much. The other villagers live at the foot of the mountain."
Uncle Feng answered while distributing saplings to the others.
"You'll be staying at the foot of the mountain tonight as well. Accommodation has been arranged for you there."
The young man asked, "Is food included?"
"The villagers will provide food," Uncle Feng said, pointing to the forest they had come from earlier.
"You can also find food for yourselves in the forest."
"Of course, you can't harm the little animals. But there are still many small snacks like fruits and sweet grass inside."
While the two were chatting, the others listened carefully.
At the same time, a thought couldn't help but surface in their minds.
This young man… his name is Qi Liu, right?
Is he actually an extrovert?
...
Qi Liu originally wanted to ask more questions, such as about the outside world, whether there was a mobile phone, and if it could connect to the internet.
Up until now, he still held out some hope.
Expecting this to be a normal place.
But after sharing his and the village's basic information, the forest ranger Uncle Feng stopped chatting.
No matter what Qi Liu asked, he would just smile and say, "Everyone must be careful with the roots when planting the saplings. If you don't understand anything, feel free to ask me."
The repetitive words made him seem no different from a machine NPC.
Qi Liu's heart sank.
His emotions were easy to discern, and his eyebrows immediately drooped, looking dejected.
Qi Liu looked at the sapling in his hand. For now, he could only do as instructed.
He turned around, preparing to go back to his backpack to get tools to plant the tree. In his peripheral vision, he suddenly saw the last man who had come forward to get a sapling from Uncle Feng.
The man was dressed ordinarily, in a light-colored mid-length down jacket and black casual pants.
He also had short hair and wore a light-colored woolen hat.
But for some reason,
In that moment, Qi Liu's heart skipped a beat.
He felt a strange sense of familiarity.
Although he hadn't seen clearly, his persistent intuition made it impossible for him to ignore this person.
Who is it?
Qi Liu stopped in his tracks.
Without any pretense, he took two steps back, returning to his original position.
Then he glanced at Jiang Lin.
Indeed, he looked very familiar.
He looked again, still unsure.
One more look...
Jiang Lin, who had just received his sapling, noticed someone looking at him.
He raised his eyelids and glanced at the other person. Seeing no reaction, he turned and headed towards the open space.
"Hey, hey, hey... that... handsome guy!"
Qi Liu hesitated for a long time before realizing he didn't know the other person's name.
Did this person follow them all along?
How did he not notice?
Qi Liu quickly followed, carrying the sapling. He wanted to take another look.
He really looked so much like him!
"Host..." Liu Yao was about to ask the host where it would be best to plant the trees.
But then she saw Qi Liu catching up, and the words caught in her throat.
Normally, Qi Liu would have greeted Liu Yao first to get acquainted.
But now, with something weighing on his mind, he didn't have time to pay attention to her.
After catching up, he kept circling Jiang Lin, and being too embarrassed to directly ask, "Let me see your face."
He asked instead, "Um, what's your name? I think I've seen you somewhere before..."
Liu Yao: "..."
You've probably watched too much of Lin Mei Niang, haven't you?
...
"Good heavens, you finally noticed!"
"Finally, someone recognizes the host. I thought they wouldn't find out the truth until the grand finale."
In the live stream, the viewers who had been anticipating this moment couldn't help but burst into laughter.
While chuckling, they also complained.
"The host is too low-key. Usually, in this kind of story development, they'd make a dramatic entrance during a crisis for a moment of glory and to show off."
"Life should have fewer schemes, isn't it better to win early? (doge)"
"It's hard to find a brainless cannon fodder these days..."
If the elite man had been arrogant and looked down on others from the start,
He probably wouldn't have survived this long.
Based on the few sentences he summarized, he had at least gone through two 'games' already.
As for the beautiful and delicate woman in the red dress,
She had misjudged the situation from the beginning,
Only wanting to survive, she had no intention of being arrogant.
"Teaming up harmoniously is the correct way to play. Infighting is too stupid. Ψ(￣∀￣)Ψ"
Each person can only get one sapling per day.
If, by the last day, the sapling still hasn't survived... what would be the consequence?
No one knew.
Without the host,
These volunteers would have found it difficult not to engage in infighting.
...