CHAPTER 397: CHAPTER 397: LIKE THREE FOOLS ON A SLED

Lian Qi shivered as he walked over. A group of people had already formed a tight circle around the fire, leaving not even a spot for him to stand.

A cold wind blew past, straight into Lian Qi’s mouth. He shuddered repeatedly, his teeth nearly chattering to pieces from the chill.

Forcing himself into the space between Qin Feng and Hu Yirun, Lian Qi said, "Two kind gentlemen, would you mind making some room?"

Before his words even finished, Qin Feng and Hu Yirun wordlessly bumped their elbows into each other with perfect coordination, squeezing Lian Qi—who had barely managed to poke his head in—right back out.

"Damn traitor, crawl away! There’s no room for you here!"

Lian Qi wasn’t the least bit surprised at being excluded.

After all, Qin Feng and Hu Yirun had dragged him out of freezing waters earlier, risking the bone-chilling cold. The fact that they hadn’t beaten him to death already was, frankly, courteous.

Brushing off their rejection lightly, Lian Qi didn’t bother arguing with the two and instead turned to squeeze in on the other side.

Huang Chengzi, however, quickly moved away in disgust the moment Lian Qi, soaked to the bone, tried to cozy up next to her.

At last, Lian Qi managed to worm his way to the fire, leaning in closer. He stretched out his hands in mid-air, feeling the blistering heat from the flames finally start to chip away at the icy chill gripping his body.

Once his body began warming up a little, Lian Qi realized Wei Lejun was standing right beside him. Her face was expressionless, her gaze cold and piercing.

Even someone without a shred of social tact could tell that Wei Lejun was extremely displeased right now. Yet, Lian Qi, the master of poor timing, decided to plaster on a cheeky grin and edge even closer. With a face that practically begged for a beatdown, he said, "Sister Wei, I really gotta apologize. Those two idiots dragged me back, so I didn’t manage to snag first place."

Wei Lejun acted like she hadn’t even heard him. She stayed silent, didn’t spare him a glance, and simply turned and walked away without the slightest acknowledgment.

Lian Qi scratched his nose awkwardly. Had he gone and royally pissed her off this time?

Meanwhile, Sang Ning was on the other side of the fire, tossing more logs onto the flames. Her eyes briefly flicked to Lian Qi, then landed back on the fire as she spoke with a hint of mockery in her tone. "What an idiot."

Stupid enough to cut off countless golden opportunities with his own hands.

Hearing this, Lian Qi wrung out the water from his clothes and looked up at her. "What’s that supposed to mean?"

Sang Ning poked at the fire with a stick, sending sparks flying. Then, she casually chucked the stick to the side, right in front of Lian Qi. With the faintest smirk tugging at her lips, she said, half-amused and half-mocking, "I’m guessing some poor sap will never get their teammates’ affection in this lifetime."

Lian Qi felt a jolt, like that stick Sang Ning just threw had smacked him square in the gut.

It was freezing cold, and wearing wet clothes for too long could easily make you sick. When Sang Ning first started the fire, she deliberately picked a secluded spot so the three soaked fools could strip down and dry off.

Once enough logs were added and the fire was blazing, Sang Ning and the other girls left the area, leaving the fire entirely to the three unlucky sods.

As soon as the girls left, Qin Feng and Hu Yirun hesitated for a moment before quickly stripping off their clothes, wringing them dry with some force, and hanging them by the fire.

Lian Qi didn’t hold back either, joining them in shedding his wet clothes to dry them out.

Soon, the three of them were down to their boxers, huddling close to the fire. The chill biting into their skin made them want to scream, but none of them dared move too far away. They crouched by the flames, hugging their knees in what could only be described as an utterly ludicrous sight—three hapless figures looking like a trio of wayward youth.

Qin Feng felt an itch in his nose and turned toward Lian Qi, letting out a colossal sneeze right in his face. The spray hit Lian Qi’s cheek as Qin Feng casually rubbed a finger under his nose.

Lian Qi wiped at his face with the back of his hand in disgust, thinking Qin Feng might apologize. Instead, he was met with Qin Feng snarling directly in his face, "You damn jinx! Not only did you screw us out of the supplies, but you got drenched too. Were you born to bring bad luck or what?"

Not one to back down, Lian Qi retaliated by loudly mimicking a sneeze in Qin Feng’s direction, his teeth grinding in frustration. "And whose bright idea was it to drag me down with you, huh? Serves you right!"

The two immediately launched into a shouting match, neither willing to back off. Naturally, Hu Yirun sided with Qin Feng, chiming in to hurl insults at Lian Qi as well.

Words eventually weren’t enough to satisfy them, so Qin Feng and Hu Yirun pinned Lian Qi down and gave him a good beating. They only stopped once he shouted for mercy, thoroughly overpowered.

Their ruckus was loud enough to reach Sang Ning and the other girls, even from a distance. None of them moved to intervene, letting the three idiots fight it out among themselves.

Wei Lejun was even less inclined to step in. On the contrary, she looked like she wouldn’t have cared if Lian Qi got beaten to death—he truly was insufferable.

It wasn’t long before all three stopped fighting, falling into a strange, shared silence. They sat by the fire with their wet clothes in hand, flipping them repeatedly to dry them.

Drying the clothes was taking forever, but Sang Ning wasn’t about to wait for the three losers. She led Huang Chengzi and the other girls to continue wrapping up the final steps to build a makeshift raft.

It seemed Wei Lejun had completely given up on Lian Qi. Even when he whined obnoxiously about the cold, she didn’t so much as glance in his direction.

At that moment, Sang Ning couldn’t help but think how annoying men could be sometimes. If it weren’t for Qin Feng and the others messing things up, they might have finished already.

Sure enough, despite their efforts dragging into the afternoon, Sang Ning and the girls still hadn’t managed to launch their raft first.

Several teams of students who had managed to collect supplies had already collaborated to build their rafts and were heading to the riverbank, ready to set sail.

Though Qin Feng and his crew were still sneakily drying themselves by the fire, they couldn’t ignore the commotion at the riverbank. Their clothes were still damp, but they hastily threw them on and rushed out.

Seeing other groups preparing to depart, Qin Feng tried to shamelessly call out, asking if they could hitch a ride. Of course, all he got in return were unapologetic waves goodbye.

Sang Ning wasted no time dragging them back. "We’re already behind because you idiots held up the raft-building process—and don’t think for a second I’ve forgotten you were hogging the fire we built for you. If you try to leave now, think again!"

Not that it mattered; the rafts of other teams barely had enough space to begin with, so no one was going to let Qin Feng and company tag along, even if they wanted to.

Besides, Sang Ning had no intention of letting them leave ahead of her group.

If they had the energy to cause trouble, they could damn well stay to deal with the aftermath too.

It wasn’t long before Qin Feng and the others learned the hard way what it meant to be utterly exploited.

Sang Ning had blatantly snatched an engine from Lian Qi, which ensured their raft would have plenty of power.

But that wasn’t enough for her. Insisting the propulsion still wasn’t strong enough, she made the three men act as grunt labor up front, playing the role of paddling boatmen.

In the end, Sang Ning built a set of interconnected rafts, with the engine mounted on the first one. Naturally, Qin Feng and the other two unlucky guys were stationed there as free labor.

Even with the engine helping, rowing was still exhausting. In no time, Qin Feng and his crew felt like they’d emptied every last ounce of strength they had.

The scene on the water was laughably absurd. The three of them resembled nothing so much as a trio of sled dogs pulling a sleigh.

The only difference? Sled dogs trudged through snow, while these three dragged their companions across the water.