Huayu: I'm reborn, but you still force me to be a scumbag?

Chapter 577 Big News

"Sean, is that really you? Wow, why did you two suddenly appear? Where have you been? Why haven't Vivian and I found you after searching for days? Were you following us?"

Dora rattled off a string of questions at breakneck speed.

Vivian rolled her eyes at this.

This attitude doesn't sound like questioning an irresponsible jerk who vanished after a one-night stand. It's more like suddenly bumping into a long-lost friend on a street corner.

She really didn't understand why the two of them had taken such great risks and followed this hiking route, which was almost called the "Road of Death," all the way.

"Sorry."

The man who had restrained her released his grip and then casually tossed out a sentence.

Vivian's anger flared up instantly.

"My gun!" the girl said, shrugging.

The man shook his head, flicked his wrist to remove the magazine, then reached his hands to his waist, and the Glock 26 in his hands disappeared. He then took a step back and stood against the wall of the room.

"Ashiba!" Vivian was so angry that she couldn't help but utter a curse word from her hometown.

But neither the men nor the women on the side were paying attention to her.

Upon hearing Dora's question, Chen Nuo was momentarily at a loss for words. However, with his vast experience, he hesitated for only 0.01 seconds before immediately turning the tables and asking, "I wasn't following you, but I'd like to know what you're doing here? It's probably dozens of miles from the main road of the PCT. Weren't you going to hike the PCT? How did you end up here?"

Dora stammered, then said, "We, um, we're lost."

Upon hearing this, Chen Nuo was unsure whether to believe it or not, but he still said, "OK, rest for one night, and I'll tell you how to get there tomorrow morning."

……

The two men started setting up tents inside the house, while the two girls crawled back into their own double tents.

As soon as they entered, Vivian lowered her voice and said angrily, "Lost? Dora, what are you talking about?"

Dora looked like she was about to cry. "Vivian, but what can I say? He's pretending nothing happened. I can't just tell him, 'Hey, I'm here to settle scores with you. You, Motherfucker, took my virginity and think you can just walk away? Fuck you asshole.' I can't say that, can I? The problem is, his bodyguard has your gun!"

Vivian was speechless, but still complained, "But you can't be so friendly! You should at least give him some hints. Besides, I just got to the window and that bastard grabbed me! Look at my wrist! You weren't even talking to him!"

After saying that, Vivian rolled up her sleeves, revealing several deep red finger marks on her wrists.

Upon seeing this, Dora immediately whispered, "Fuck, he used way too much force! Vivian, I'm going to settle the score with him!"

Vivian grabbed her and said, "Never mind, I'm fine. The most important thing now is what you're going to do? We've found him now, so you should tell him what happened and see what he says. Then we can head back tomorrow and go to our PCT again. But now, what are you going to do?"

Dora tilted her head and stared blankly for a while before saying, "Vivian, why don't you go to the PCT by yourself?"

"What? And you?"

"I'm thinking... should I go with Sean?"

"What the hell are you talking about!" Vivian's temples throbbed with anger, and she felt her blood pressure rising. "You're letting me walk alone? Aren't you afraid I'll get eaten by a bear?"

Dora chuckled and said, "It's winter, there are no bears. Besides, don't you have a gun?"

"Dora, you bitch who forgets your friends as soon as you see a man, I'm going to teach you a lesson!"

After Vivian finished speaking, she pounced on Dora.

Dora gasped and quickly covered her chest with her hands.

The two girls immediately wrestled together, rolling around on the tent floor like two fighting kittens, scratching each other and giggling for a while before finally stopping, panting, and lying down side by side.

By this time, the sounds of setting up tents outside had stopped, and the crackling of firewood burning could be heard, accompanied by a faint smell of smoke. Clearly, they had set up their tents and were cooking over a fire outside.

Although the gun was taken away, strangely enough, Vivian now felt much more at ease.

She said, "Dora, are you really sure? This road is really difficult. Just look at the map, and you'll see that Donner Pass is just ahead. If we go any further, we'll leave California and enter Nevada. At that point, many places will be very desolate and remote, with no roads at all, and there will be a lot of dangers. It will be really, really difficult."

Dora said, "I've thought it through, Vivian. He's my first time... I just want to know who he really is."

"And then what? What are you going to do after you find out?"

"Nothing much. I just can't just let it go. I want to know more about him. I don't want to be in the future not even knowing who my first man was or what he looked like. I don't want that. I want to have a complete memory."

Vivian sighed, "Dora, this is dangerous for you. Do you understand? The more you know, the easier it is to get yourself involved. What will you do if you fall in love with him, but he has a wife or girlfriend?"

Dora was silent for a moment, then said, "I won't."

Vivian turned her head and looked at Dora.

The mixed-race girl from Venezuela lay quietly on the ground, her profile revealing the bone structure unique to South American ancestry, presenting a sculpted, exquisite beauty in the dim light.

Her eyelashes were long and thick, like two rows of fine brushes, trembling gently with her breath.

His deep brown eyes were like a tranquil lake, with light flickering deep within his pupils, giving him a dreamy look.

Her nose was high and straight, her lips were soft and full, the color of rose petals, and they were slightly parted, exhaling a faint white mist.

Vivian stared at her for several seconds, and suddenly felt a pang of sadness in her heart.

—No wonder she's Berkeley's famous beauty queen; even she herself is somewhat captivated, let alone men. But this beauty, inexplicably, in the middle of nowhere, was defiled by an ugly, nameless man in a dirty, dilapidated shack, and he even denies it?!

That damn Sean! If those guys at school find out, they'll beat him to a pulp.

Vivian sighed and said, "I understand, Dora. You're my best friend, I'll help you."

"Thank you, Vivian."

……

The next morning, Chen Nuo woke up from a nap and wasn't too surprised when he heard from the two girls that they were planning to leave with him without looking back.

It's not that simple.

Based on his experience, in this situation, verbal persuasion would only provoke a rebellious attitude, so he didn't say anything unnecessary, silently nodded, and agreed.

And so, what started as a trip for two became a trip for four.

But the increase in the number of people did not make the journey easier.

The Tangna Pass is just a thin curve on the map, but you will only understand what kind of challenge it is once you actually set foot on this road.

The wind during the day, carrying snowflakes, scraped against their faces like knives. The snow here was so deep that it reached above their knees, and at night, the temperature plummeted to below minus ten degrees Celsius. The four of them had to take turns breaking through the snow during the day and huddle together in the narrow tent at night to keep warm.

In this situation, the same distance will take three times longer than on flat roads.

Ultimately, it took them six days to walk out of the mountain range that stretches about 30 miles between California and Nevada.

When they stepped out of the mountain pass and saw the distant wilderness for the first time, the next supply point was still nearly fifty miles away—a journey that would take at least three days.

Ruined.

When Vivian emerged from the snow-covered mountain pass, her legs nearly gave way, and she collapsed onto the ground.

She looked up at the boundless wilderness before her, her breath quickly dissipating in the cold wind, her heart filled with worry.

A few days ago, due to her mistake, a crucial supply package fell off a cliff. After that, the group had to melt snow for water and began rationing food daily. Although no one blamed her, now their water and food supplies were almost gone. Water was manageable, but with food nearly exhausted, how were they going to survive the next three days?

Dora sat down next to her to rest. After catching her breath for a while, she actually stood up again, took out her Canon SLR camera, and started shooting videos. While shooting here and there, she kept saying, "Look at this mountain, look at this snow, it's so beautiful. Vivian, come and hold this for me, I need to record a voiceover."

Vivian suppressed her worries, took the camera, and pointed it at her. Dora tidied her wind-blown hair, took out a lipstick from her pocket, quickly touched up her makeup, and then nodded to Vivian.

Vivian then pressed the record button, and the red dot on the camera started flashing.

"Hello everyone, this is Dora." Dora flashed her signature sweet smile at the camera, her voice tinged with excitement. "I'm out of the Donner Pass now. Really, we were so close to dying in there. But now, we're finally safe."

We'll be at Kelso in about three days, the first supply depot on this stretch of road and the first small town we'll encounter after leaving Nevada.

I think we should be among the first to cross the Tangna Pass in winter, you know, a lot of people will say I'm crazy. But that's how you see the most beautiful scenery.

Next, you will see the scenes I recorded along the way. If you like them, please remember to like and follow.

"OK, cut!"

Dora chuckled and said, "How about it?"

Vivian gave a thumbs up and said, "Perfect."

"Do you think we should do it again?"

"Need not."

"OK."

The two girls sat down again, and Dora said with a grin, "We filmed so much great footage this time! I'll edit it all up and upload it when we get to town. My channel's viewership is going to take off this month!"

When Vivian heard the word "town," her heart sank again, and she didn't reply.

After Dora finished speaking, she noticed that her companion hadn't responded, so she turned to ask, "Vivian, what's wrong?"

Hearing Vivian express her worries.

They were stuck in a situation where they could neither advance nor retreat. Ahead lay an endless wasteland, and behind them stretched snow-capped mountains that no living being would dare to set foot on.

There was no signal, and supplies were running out. Although there was indeed a trail built along the old railway that led all the way to Reno, Nevada, the snow had buried all the road signs in this season, and the lines on the map were just a void under the vast white snow in reality.

If it were just the two of them here, they would probably just have to wait until they ran out of energy, or they would simply get lost in the snow and become another skeleton in this wilderness.

Unexpectedly, Dora laughed after hearing this and said, "Don't worry, Sean will definitely have a way. We'll ask them when they get back."

After a while, the two men who had scouted the way returned.

Sean picked up his luggage from the ground and slung it over his shoulder. "Let's go, there's a place to camp up ahead."

On the way, when Dora shared her thoughts, she didn't expect the man to turn his head and look at her with a strange expression.

"What? Did I say something wrong?"

"Are you living in the 19th century? There are no roads on the ground, and no roads in the sky?"

"But... how do you locate me? My phone has no signal."

Do you understand satellite phones?

Uh……

The man's attitude was far from pleasant, but Vivian had grown accustomed to it. Throughout the journey, he had treated the two girls this way, as if he wanted to get rid of them.

So she didn't pay attention to that, but was speechless because of what the man said.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha."

It was Dora's clear, cheerful laughter.

Vivian glared fiercely at her heartless companion who couldn't distinguish between friend and foe.

Although her family is well-off, who would expect things like helicopter resupply or satellite phones from a recent graduate? Can you blame her for that?
The next morning, Vivian was awakened by a buzzing noise. She went out of her tent and saw a light gray helicopter circling the camp twice. Then, an orange-red waterproof supply box slowly fell from the fuselage cable and landed in the snow.

With supplies in hand, the rest of the journey was no problem.

After three days of traveling along the railway, the four finally arrived in Kelso, Nevada—a small town left behind by the railroad workers when they built it. Although it is now sparsely populated, the four almost simultaneously stopped when they saw a Dodge pickup truck drive by on the road.

At first, no one spoke.

But with Dora's shout, everyone cheered.

……

……

"For three days in a row, look at the kind of articles you've submitted! Amy, I need big news, you understand? Big—news!" The editor-in-chief slammed his hand on the desk, making the coffee cup shake.
“I want Britney Spears, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Rihanna! I want you to find out what they’ve been up to lately!”
Have you sunbathed on an open beach? Have you gone to nightclubs to get drunk with your friends? Have any photos of you licking a big dick circulated online?

And what did you give me?
Nicole Richie walking her dog on the street? Vanessa Hudgens going to the supermarket to buy milk? Please tell me, I don't care what the milk is, who the hell wants to see news about Vanessa Hudgens?!

“Understood, Editor-in-Chief,” Amy Rogers replied softly, bowing her head.

Amy Rogers is an entertainment reporter for an entertainment website called PopSugar.

PopSugar is a small entertainment website in San Francisco with fewer than 100,000 registered users. It mainly reports on celebrity street style, romantic relationships, and gossip, often using "Spotted" as a column title to attract readers.

Amy, 24, graduated from NYU's Graduate School of Journalism and Communication last year and just started working here this January. As a "digital native" who has been immersed in social media since high school, she took over the website's newly established "Social Media Hot Topics Tracking" section. Her job is to spend all day on platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, sniffing out potential news stories from the massive amounts of short videos, selfies, group photos, and trending posts.

"Amy, you joined the company last December, right?"

"Yes, editor-in-chief."

"Okay, I don't care who hired you or what they told you, but I'm telling you very clearly now, if you still can't produce a single manuscript that I can accept this month, you can pack your things and leave next month. Understand?"

"clear."

As Amy walked out of the editor-in-chief's office, she glanced back.

She felt that this cramped office was even more terrifying than the Donner Pass she had crossed during her spring break hike on the “Road to Death” during her senior year of college.

There lies the cruelty of nature, while here lies the cold-blooded reality of the workplace.

"Hehe, poor Amy, you got scolded again. Can't find any news? Want me to help you?" Back at her desk, a flamboyant woman immediately appeared next to her—it was Katie McGinn.

This woman had competed with her for a reporter position on the "Social Media Hot Topics Tracking" section, but ultimately lost and was relegated to odd jobs like writing gossip reviews for website celebrity columns and compiling paparazzi material. Because of this, Katie vented almost all her resentment and bitterness on her, seeing her being criticized as an opportunity for revenge.

Amy really wasn't in the mood to argue with her today. She glanced at her, didn't retaliate, plopped down in her chair, and started working frantically.

To be honest, how could she not understand what the editor-in-chief was saying?

Even an idiot knows that if there's news about Britney Spears or Justin Bieber, who the hell would report on Vanessa Hudgens?

The problem is, there really isn't any!

So, despite a busy day, with tears streaming down her face from staring at the computer screen, Amy still couldn't find any of the big news leads the editor-in-chief had mentioned.

But she still had a mountain of student loans to repay and monthly rent bills to pay. She couldn't afford to lose her job, so after work, she went home, turned on her computer, and started browsing aimlessly.

Ps:

A tiny bit less today.

I'll shamelessly ask for your monthly votes again.

(End of this chapter)