Chapter 16: Desperate Measures and Daring Challenges

Xu Chen ultimately chose restraint over letting his power erupt.

Yang Yuan’s words were repugnant, yet they held true—at this point, the Xu Family had virtually no chance of a comeback.

Right now, giving in to anger will only make things worse for the Xu Family!

“Alright! I’m out!”

Bang! A few minutes later, Xu Chen hefted his packed suitcase and slammed the office door shut.

“Mr. Yang, the people in the Xu Family are not only average in ability, but they also have big tempers.”

No sooner had Xu Chen left than a young man in a suit burst into the office.

“Apart from that one old man with some skill, the rest of the children are all disappointingly weak—utterly not worth mentioning!”

Yang Yuan gave a cold, mirthless laugh as he settled into the seat once occupied by Xu Chen.

“Mr. Yang, what’s the company’s plan now?”

The young man hurriedly placed a cup of coffee in front of Yang Yuan.

“Keep the current projects moving forward for now, but we need to launch the new project as soon as possible.”

After a moment’s thought, Yang Yuan spoke.

“New project? You mean that costume comedy you mentioned earlier?”

The young man brightened instantly and asked eagerly.

His name was Liu Qing, a long-time follower of Yang Yuan. He handled casting for every TV drama and film, pocketing both commission and perks along the way.

“Exactly! Costume comedies are all the rage. If we get this off the ground quickly, we could snag a ratings bonanza.”

“Mr. Yang, shall I gather the team tomorrow for the kickoff?”

Liu Qing asked in a flurry.

“No rush. For now, focus on overseeing our survival show in collaboration with KuaiDou.”

Yang Yuan took a small sip of his coffee before replying.

“Survival show? But weren’t we supposed to keep our current momentum? Besides, the show is performing well—its buzz is high.”

Liu Qing couldn’t help but scratch his head.

“This kind of work can be handled by someone else. There’s no need for you to babysit it personally.”

“Hmph, what do you know? Our company runs on buzz and traffic. Do you really want everyone to finish the challenge and then claim a five-million bonus?”

Yang Yuan set his coffee cup down slowly, giving Liu Qing a sidelong glance.

“Of course not. I understand—down the line, we’ll ramp up the difficulty artificially. That way, it not only becomes exciting viewing but also forces competitors to drop out one by one.”

Liu Qing, a seasoned guy who’d been with Yang Yuan for years, grasped his boss’s meaning immediately.

“Not bad. Just remember—no one must ever succeed in the challenge.”

“Rest assured, Mr. Yang. That part is a piece of cake!”

“Also, check the contract between Tianchen Culture and the local authorities. I heard they sold that desert area—wonder if it will affect us?”

Pausing briefly, Yang Yuan suddenly recalled something and asked again.

“Mr. Yang, I’m aware of that! It appears the local department sold the land to a newly established company whose actual controlling party hasn’t been revealed.”

“But it won’t impact our project! According to the contract, once the challenge is over, we simply leave the desert without needing to pay extra fees.”

“No extra fees are fine, but honestly, who buys a fifty-by-fifty kilometer desert? That’s 2,500 square kilometers of nothing! Desert greening is a bottomless pit; no domestic conglomerate can shoulder that expense.”

“Exactly! It’s laughable—locals in Mingsha County all thought a big boss had come to tame and develop the area; they were overjoyed all day long.”

“Enough chatter. This is beside the point. Once this matter is settled, you’ll be put in charge of the costume comedy project.”

“Thank you, Mr. Yang.”

“Alright.”

Time flew by, and before long it was already 10 a.m.

Su Province, Mingsha County.

Xu Hao had no idea that Tianchen Culture had already been taken over by a new operations team—he’d just woken up.

He had worked too late last night; if not for the rising heat, he might have managed at least another hour or two of sleep.

“Ugh…”

After a lazy stretch to shake off sleep, Xu Hao first wandered over to the well. The bottom, once muddy, was now cleared.

An entire night of clarification had raised a half-foot of clear water at the bottom. It was nearly perfect. Later, he planned to install a well cover to prevent sand from floating in.

“The jumping rabbit meat looks pretty good. I’ll cook one more today!”

After checking the well, Xu Hao strolled over to the cooking area. Last night, he had stored his smoked jumping rabbit meat in the cooking cave to both preserve it and prevent animals from stealing it—a twofold win.

“Next up, I’ll build a log cabin!”

With his food and water secured, Xu Hao glanced at the Dry Willow he’d hauled back the previous night.

Today’s main task was to prepare the necessary beams, rafters, and planks. Tomorrow and the day after that, he would start assembly.

As for the nails and wood glue that netizens constantly worry about—they were no concern for him.

The wisdom of our ancestors was anything but ordinary; mortise and tenon joinery was a testament to that genius.

The connections between planks included the groove joint, skew joint, dovetail joint, through tenon joint, and pin joint.

Point-to-point connections featured the scarf joint, double tenon, double clasp joint, hook joint, chisel tenon, half tenon, and open tenon.

There were even more complex connections between components, such as the support joint, long-short joint, shoulder joint, and sticky joint.

In short,

If our ancestors could use mortise and tenon techniques to build the Forbidden City, surely we could assemble a small log cabin!

Just as Xu Hao began planning his tasks for the day, a distant live stream erupted in chatter as viewers noticed movement from him.

“Xu Hao is finally awake!”

“If he doesn’t get moving soon, we might have to call the police.”

“Look at him—so sluggish. This morning, Lord Bei caught a desert snake in the Gobi; Lord De bagged two moles and even snagged a few pieces of cactus; and Matt’s luck was even better—he caught a fish in a small lake.”

“What can you do when he’s that lucky? Those jumping rabbits should last him at least a week.”

“At least a week? Ha! This challenge lasts a hundred days! The more food we store, the better.”

“Also, Lord Bei and his crew have finished building their shelter. It might not look impressive, but it does a great job of blocking the sandstorms. All they need now is to forage daily.”

“But Xu Hao is different—he still needs to build his log cabin, so he doesn’t have time to hunt.”

“When you add it all up, Xu Hao is really at a disadvantage.”

“Enough bickering. According to the wager, if Xu Hao can’t finish his cabin in three days, he must withdraw from the challenge. Who needs all that extra food anyway?”

“Fair enough.”

“When Xu Hao steps in front of the camera, ask him when he’s going to start building his cabin. I don’t care about anything else—I just want to see him put those logs together without using nails or glue!”

PS: Thanks for all the likes and recommendations, everyone. Lao Ba is truly grateful! With my new book on the way, please keep supporting us.

“Thank you all!”