Chapter 27: A Coincidental Turn of Fate

No way, this actually works?

In the hall, the staff looked utterly dumbfounded, and Liu Qing’s blood pressure spiked so high that he even started swearing.

While they were talking, a giant vulture suddenly swooped over the Shadou area where Xu Hao was, its massive claws clutching two rather large birds.

Upon closer inspection, one was a colorful bird and the other a gray pheasant – anyone with basic knowledge would tell them apart as male and female.

The vulture, which had been circling normally in the sky, suddenly released the pheasants and, after snatching something bloody by the water’s edge, dove off so fast that its wings vanished in the blink of an eye.

The poor pheasants ended up flailing desperately in a muddy pool.

They stared at the screen, watching intently.

Xu Hao unexpectedly emerged from the grass.

Armed with a wooden stick and some dry hay, he fiddled for a moment by the pool before cheerfully dashing toward the log cabin with the two pheasants in tow, his swagger impossible to miss.

“Air-drop pheasants? What a ridiculous twist.”

After a while…

The staff in the hall finally regained their composure. The sudden spectacle had completely left them stumped.

For Xu Hao, those two live pheasants meant far more than just food.

“Could this kid really be blessed with fortune? Even a vulture came to his aid!”

Some couldn’t help but remark.

They had guarded every measure, yet who would have thought that a vulture would suddenly show up mid-air to assist Xu Hao?

“It’s not as mysterious as you think. Xu Hao planned this all along; his luck is just a bit better than most.”

After a long, silent analysis, Liu Qing furrowed his brow and finally spoke.

At that moment, his grim expression was laced with a hint of helplessness.

“Planned all along?”

“Exactly. Do you know what the vulture just grabbed?”

“What it grabbed? Oh, now I remember—it was the offal from those jumping rabbits that Xu Hao had tossed aside earlier!”

A staff member suddenly realized.

“Right—jumping rabbit offal! With two days of scorching heat, the offal had started to rot. Naturally, the vulture opted for that over the pheasants.”

Liu Qing rubbed his temples.

How laughable—when Xu Hao discarded the jumping rabbit offal, many online viewers lambasted him for not knowing wilderness survival. Turns out, this kid was just playing possum to pull off a brilliant move.

While others used bait to fish, he literally lured a vulture from the sky.

“But where did the pheasants come from?”

“The challenge site is only five kilometers from the outermost village of Min Shaxian. Beyond that lie farmlands—plenty of them.”

“Boss, what now?”

After a long pause, once the cause was understood, a staff member murmured so softly you could barely hear him:

“What do we do? I’ll go ask Yang Yuan! With these two live creatures, Xu Hao’s food is sorted; we just need another plan.”

Liu Qing ceased his reprimanding and stormed off toward President Yang Yuan’s office.

The dramatic spectacle not only stunned the Tianchen Culture staff but also left viewers on KuaiDou’s wilderness survival short videos jaw-dropped. Within moments of regaining their senses, they swarmed Xu Hao’s live stream to demand an explanation.

In just minutes, Xu Hao’s live viewership skyrocketed past 100,000. “What just happened?”

“Exactly!”

“How did a vulture suddenly appear from thin air and drop two live animals for Xu Hao?”

“Damn it—while Lord Bei, Lord De, and Matt were busy searching for desert lizards and jumping rabbits, this kid did nothing and yet managed to pull off another stunt!”

“Surely, that vulture wasn’t deliberately trained; otherwise, how could it be such a sheer coincidence?”

“It’s not merely a coincidence—it’s ridiculously infuriating.”

Just like the last time Xu Hao accidentally caught a jumping rabbit, many viewers began spinning wild conspiracies and doubts.

It appeared Xu Hao hadn’t really searched for food since the challenge began, which was hard to swallow.

But unlike before, Xu Hao already had a growing fanbase.

They didn’t question him at all; instead, they were overwhelmed with joy.

“Hahaha! That cracked me up!”

“Right? Who would have thought Hao-ge’s luck was this incredible. I’m totally impressed!”

“I’m starting to believe that even fate wanted to see Hao-ge build an octagonal pavilion, so it lent a hand.”

“I believe it too.”

“No, no—it’s all about Hao-ge’s talent. He definitely wasn’t given a fair shake before.”

New viewers couldn’t help but chime in:

“Wait, what are you saying? Things are so coincidental, yet people are still picking on Xu Hao? Could it be that he paid for shills?”

“Shills? Your whole family is the shill!”

In the next moment, one fan fired back immediately.

“Then explain why the vulture dropped the two live animals and flew off?”

“Simple—earlier, Hao-ge tossed several pieces of jumping rabbit offal by the pool. With the scorching heat these past two days, they were nearly rotten. The vulture, picking up on the smell, naturally went for its preferred meal.”

Every viewer in the live stream was sharp; if Liu Qing could piece it together, so could the audience.

“Wait, jumping rabbit offal?”

Some skeptical viewers remembered clearly that tens of thousands witnessed Xu Hao tossing the offal without any hitch.

Yet some persistent naysayers remained unconvinced. “Alright, even if the vulture is fine, why was Xu Hao hiding in the grass, ready to snatch it the moment it fell?”

“Why was Xu Hao hiding in the grass?”

“Hmm!”

“Hahaha!”

When a new viewer questioned this, many fans responded with a barrage of laughing emojis in the chat.

“Come on, tell us—why?”

“Why? Tell us, didn’t our Hao-ge spend all day lurking in the grass? I really just want to know if he even bothered to wipe off after grabbing that live creature.”

“Wipe off?”

The doubting viewers in the chat fell suddenly silent.

“Hehehe, who knew Xu Hao’s live stream could be this entertaining.”

Meanwhile…

In Yan City’s Second Ring, Li Jue, the director of the Long Kingdom Ancient Architecture Research Institute, couldn’t help but laugh while peering at his phone.

“Old Li, this is insanely coincidental, but I’m actually more intrigued by what he mentioned about something else.”

In the office, Deputy Director Liu Shan was also present.

“You mean the octagonal pavilion?”

Li Jue put down his phone.

“If he really pulls it off, our institute has discovered a true gem. The position and benefits offered to him will be more than worth it!”

Liu Shan slowly leaned back in his chair.

“Exactly. Keeping an octagonal pavilion in pristine condition has been a headache for years. If little Xu can construct one and take charge of restoring Wanchun Pavilion, there’s no doubt about it.”

His words carried the promise of earning respect from even the most disgruntled old-timers in the unit.

Returning to serious matters, Li Jue’s expression turned stern.

“Actually, forget about Wanchun Pavilion—in the desert, if little Xu can set up an octagonal pavilion, those doubters will finally have to concede. Oh, by the way, Old Li, HR just sent over Xu Hao’s background check. Want to take a look?”

Nodding, Liu Shan replied, “Yes.”