Luo Nuanfeng shook his head. He got down from the tree and handed a fruit to Ye Xi, saying, "Dunno, but it should be edible. It smells pretty good."
Ye Xi didn't take it, and instead said, "Why don't you try a bite?"
Nan Gonghai had also come down from the tree and said, "Better to die of poison than starvation, right?"
Then, he raised the freshly picked fruit in his hand and took a bite. While he was still chewing the fruit, he said, "It's a bit sour, but it's mostly sweet. Should be edible."
And so, Ye Xi took the fruit from Luo Nuanfeng's hand.
The fruit was green and a little smaller compared to her palm. It didn't look unusual and seemed edible.
Ye Xi took a bite. Sweet? What sweet! This is all sour! With how numb her mouth was from the sourness, she reckoned she wouldn't even be able to bite down on tofu at this moment.
She kept a straight face and was silent for a moment. Then, she swallowed the fruit and squeezed out a smile. "Sweet and tasty. I'm going to go pick a few more, who wants some?"
Ding Xiuxiu had been mad with hunger since a while ago. She was the first one to say, "Me! I want one!"
Ye Xi turned back and gave her a reassuring smile before handing the unfinished fruit to Nan Gonghai, motioning for him to help her out a little. Nan Gonghai was just about to reach for it when Wei Shenglan snatched it before him.
Ye Xi didn't care who took it, she wouldn't take another bite anyway. Only after climbing up the tree did she realize that the fruits were not from this tree, but rather another tree that grew alternately with it. Since they were nearly fused together, it was a bit difficult to tell.
Ye Xi observed it for a little and picked a few fruits. She came down from the tree and handed them to Ding Xiuxiu.
Ding Xiuxiu couldn't wait to take one and took a big bite. Suddenly, her face went stiff.
The sourness came so suddenly that by the time she reacted, her entire face was distorted.
The others who were also planning to take one suddenly hesitated.
Ding Xiuxiu understood what Ye Xi was trying to do. She forced out with much difficulty, "It's delicious, too delicious. I've never eaten such a delicious fruit in my life!"
If there were no tears in her eyes, then her words may actually be credible.
But even though everyone knew it was a lie, the greatest temptation to a boy was curiosity. And so, Wei Shenglan and the others still took one out of curiosity and carefully tried a bite.
Then, they formed an entire circle of bitter faces.
Suddenly, Ye Xi had a realization. She said, "I think these are unripe plums."
Nobody knew what immature plums looked like, but that was not important. So, they all nodded casually.
Then, Luo Nuanfeng asked, "So why did you guys come looking for us?"
Wei Shenglan and Ding Xiuxiu looked at Ye Xi.
So, Ye Xi could only explain, "We talked about it a little and figured that there may be some unknown dangers in these mountains, so it's better if there's more of us together. In case we meet any beasts or whatnot, we'll be stronger with more people."
Everyone felt that what she said was reasonable so they did not linger on that issue.
Dong Fangyu asked, "Then, should we go look for Bing Yiyi and Shang Guanxi?"
Everyone looked at each other, and Ding Xiuxiu said, "Why should we look for them? We wouldn't be here if it weren't for Bing Yiyi. We'd happily be in our cool rooms in school, drinking our favorite beverages, eating our favorite foods. Not like this, being bitten by mosquitoes, being bitten by bugs..."
The more she talked about it, the angrier she felt. She was so angry she almost wanted to cry.
Everyone felt sad.
Dong Fangyu nodded. "Once we go back, I definitely have to eat a whole tub of ice cream."
Luo Nuanfeng nodded as well. "I want a big bottle of champagne."
Nan Gonghai said, "I'll never leave my computer again."
Wei Shenglan pondered for a moment and said, "I want to drink an entire liter of water."
Generally speaking, you'd only say things like this for your last words if you were dying, you know?!
Please don't set up any more death flags!
Ye Xi was almost broken-hearted dealing with these people who didn't know anything, but she also couldn't help herself and said, "I want to eat hot pot, barbecue, fried crepes, fried chicken, beer, stewed fish, fried fish, noodles, Coca-Cola, ice cream, roast duck, sweet and sour pork ribs, vinegar and osmanthus pork slices, spicy crayfish, steamed fish, baked shrimp...that's all I want."
The crowd swallowed.
Starving under the beating winds was going to force them on the road to madness soon.
Ye Xi took a deep breath to scatter away her desires for food and said, "Let's go look for Shang Guanxi and Bing Yiyi."
Ding Xiuxiu was the first to object. "Why?"
Ye Xi said, "It's because of Bing Yiyi that we're here. But as for what's going to happen to her, we should leave that up to the police. Besides, they're also our schoolmates and your friends. Didn't I say earlier? The more people we have the stronger we are. No matter how you look at it, we should go look for them."
Ding Xiuxiu opened her mouth, but no matter how she thought about it, she could not refute her.
The others found Ye Xi's words reasonable, so it was approved by a full vote.
After tidying up, they set off to look for Shang Guanxi and Bing Yiyi.