Abstract Art Award Winner

The ship roared as it approached the so-called "dock," which was actually just a simple wooden platform that bobbed up and down with the waves.

It looked as simple as a makeshift stall set up by the water.

"Brothers! Get ready to land! Show our spirit!" Deng Chao stood at the bow of the ship, one hand on his hip and the other pointing forward.

Unfortunately, the boat lurched, and he almost lost his footing and fell into the sea. Luckily, Zhou Le and Lu Han, who were next to him, reacted quickly and grabbed him.

"Brother Chao, hold off on your bravado for now, safety first."

Zhou Le suppressed a laugh and reminded him.

Chen He immediately pulled out his phone: "Wait, wait! Don't go ashore yet! Such a historic moment deserves a group photo! Come on, look at the camera! One, two, three—"

The group quickly huddled together, grinning at Chen He's camera.

"Five-man survival team on the deserted island! Land!"

"We are—Wilderness F4 plus!"

"Why am I a plus?" Sha Yi complained.

"Because you're old, Brother Yi!" Chen He added mercilessly.

Zhou Le smiled and nodded: "It's normal for F4 to have a few more people."

After the photos were taken, the boat finally came to a steady, albeit shaky, stop.

The group helped each other as they trudged onto the creaking dock.

Looking around, the so-called island revealed its true nature.

Sparse vegetation, exposed rocks, rough sand, and a small grove of trees in the distance—it all looked nothing like the "coconut groves, clear water, and fine sand" resort paradise depicted in the promotional photos.

Only a few dilapidated houses that look like they could fall apart with a gust of sea wind can barely be considered as cultural landscape.

"This...this is the luxury island you were talking about?" Lu Han stared wide-eyed at the production team in disbelief.

Chen He was heartbroken: "Scam! This is blatant fraud! I'm calling the police! Where are the photos? Show me the photos I just saw and compare them!"

Deng Chao looked up to the sky and sighed, "I knew it! The production team has absolutely no conscience!"

Sha Yi also had a long face: "It's over, my dream of sunshine, beaches, waves, and cacti is over!"

Liu Haoran, however, was quite optimistic, pointing to the grove of trees: "At least there's still some greenery."

Wang Baoqiang said smugly, "Luckily, I brought some food with me."

Zhou Le looked around, his gaze finally settling on several shallow pits that were clearly newly dug in the open space and a few bundles of tent materials piled up next to them. He turned to the director, his tone calm but with a hint of teasing: "Director, is this situation... right? Where are our big, ready-made tents that we can move into right away? Don't tell me this is it?"

The director, holding a megaphone, spoke with a slightly distorted voice carried by the sea breeze: "Welcome, everyone, to our desert island experience camp! We've prepared tents, and they're luxurious large tents! But—"

He deliberately drew out his words, drawing everyone's hateful gazes, "You all need to fend for yourselves! See the sand over there? The size of the hole you dig determines the size of your tent! The size of the hole you dig will directly determine your living space tonight!"

Everyone: "???"

"Work?! We're here to work right away?" Deng Chao looked utterly bewildered.

"Digging holes and setting up tents? I thought we were here to film a variety show, but it turns out we're here to be construction workers?" Wang Baoqiang's expression was exaggerated.

Liu Haoran looked at Wang Baoqiang with resentment.

Sha Yi wailed, "My old back... is it going to break right here after I just got off the ship?"

Lu Han looked completely bewildered.

But Wang Baoqiang had already rolled up his sleeves: "Let's get to work! I'm good at digging holes!"

Zhou Le sighed and resignedly picked up a shovel: "Alright, what's done is done. Let's finish this quickly so we can rest. Should we split up and dig a few smaller ones, or work together to dig one big one?"

"A big one! It has to be big!" Deng Chao shouted immediately. "If we're going to live together, we should all live together! It'll be lively! We can look after each other!"

"Agreed! Let's dig a giant pit!" Chen He chimed in. "If we're going to dig one, let's dig one that we can live in right away. Maybe the production team will even let us make our home in it!"

Lu Han, Sha Yi, and Liu Haoran also expressed their agreement.

Wang Baoqiang naturally had no objections.

Thus, the first task of surviving on the desert island—digging a hole—officially began.

At first, everyone was full of enthusiasm, wielding shovels with great vigor.

But the gap soon became apparent.

Zhou Le's movements were slow but extremely efficient; each shovelful went deep and full, his rhythm steady, like a tireless excavator.

Wang Baoqiang was also a pragmatist; he kept his head down and dug away, sweat soon beading on his forehead, but he didn't slow down.

Deng Chao belongs to the atmosphere-building group and is intermittently energetic, but he is also quite efficient in his work.

And on the other side…

Chen He would dig for a couple of minutes and then complain of being tired, starting to slack off in various ways. He would either use the excuse of checking the depth of the pit or go off to instruct others. Most of the time, he used his shovel as a walking stick.

Sha Yi was the oldest, and his stamina couldn't keep up. He was panting after digging for a while and had to rest while holding his back. Fortunately, he was very serious about his work.

Lu Han and Liu Haoran, two young men, were energetic but lacked skill. They often used a lot of strength but were not very efficient, and the soil they dug up was scattered everywhere.

As they dug, to relieve their fatigue, everyone started chatting.

"Hey, speaking of which school did you all graduate from?" Deng Chao asked while shoveling dirt.

Chen He immediately perked up: "Me, from the Shanghai Theatre Academy! A proper, formally trained professional!"

Deng Chao: "I'm from the Central Academy of Drama!"

Lu Han: "I... studied business abroad, so it's not considered a formal academic background."

Liu Haoran immediately looked at Deng Chao: "Hey, senior from the Central Academy of Drama!"

Sha Yi: "From the PLA Academy of Arts!"

Wang Baoqiang: "Me... Shaolin Temple... does that count?"

Zhou Le smiled and said, "I didn't go to a formal performing arts school. I'm an amateur."

Wang Baoqiang immediately found a kindred spirit: "Haha, me too! We're the practical type!"

But the conversation was just random chatter, and the topic turned to what we played with as kids.

Deng Chao: "When I was a kid, I used to play with mud and red clay. I would use a bowl to dig into the ground, like setting off firecrackers."

Liu Haoran: "I used to raise chicks and ducklings, but they were really hard to raise. I don't know why they died. Sigh, I stopped raising them after that."

Chen He: "Some classmates in our class raised miniature pigs, saying they wouldn't grow big. But they ended up raising one that was huge and couldn't fit in their house. It was hilarious."

Sha Yi: "My son Anji wants to get a dog now, but I haven't decided whether to agree or not."

Lu Han: "I like playing football."

Zhou Le joined the conversation: "I've also raised chicks and ducklings, from tiny yellow balls to quite big ones, but then..." He paused, his tone a little somber, "they were snatched away by the neighbor's cat."

Everyone: "Huh? And then what happened?"

Zhou Le: "Later... I stopped keeping these kinds of pets. A few years later, I wanted to keep a pet again, so I bought a cat. But when I got it home, I found out it was a sick cat. The seller hadn't told me the truth. I took it to the vet and gave it injections, and I spent a lot of time and effort, but in the end, it still couldn't be saved."

The atmosphere suddenly became even more silent.

Zhou Le continued, "Later, I got another dog, which was very smart. I grew attached to it, but then it was stolen by dog ​​thieves... I searched for a long time but couldn't find it. I cried for several days that time."

He sighed: "So I never kept pets again. It was only then that I realized that life is a responsibility. Really, it's best not to start something before you're sure you'll be responsible for it to the end."

These words evoked a sense of emotion in everyone, and their hands unconsciously slowed down.

The sea breeze blowing across the deserted island carried a hint of saltiness, seemingly dispelling the earlier playfulness and leaving behind a somber reflection on life and responsibility.

After a short rest, they continued working. Finally, with the main contributors Zhou Le and Wang Baoqiang, and the atmosphere-creating main force Deng Chao, a huge, well-equipped pit, large enough to accommodate all of them plus their equipment, was completed.

Roughly estimated, Zhou Le dug nearly a third of the excavation by himself, Deng Chao and Wang Baoqiang worked together to dig another third, and the remaining four people contributed the last third.

"Done!" Deng Chao threw down the shovel and lay down on the edge of the pit. "I feel like my arm doesn't belong to me anymore!"

Chen He immediately imitated him: "My aching back... my delicate hands..."

Sha Yi rubbed her shoulders: "Sigh, at my age, I shouldn't have listened to Yue'er back then..."

Lu Han and Liu Haoran couldn't help but laugh when they looked at each other's disheveled appearance.

Wang Baoqiang looked at the large pit and felt a great sense of accomplishment.

Zhou Le also wiped away his sweat.

However, the production team clearly wouldn't let them have it so easy.

The production team directed the staff to start filling the huge pit with water!
"Hey, hey, hey? What are you doing? We dug this pit with all our hard work!" Deng Chao exclaimed anxiously.

Chen He: "No way? Water burial? We haven't even moved in yet!"

The director, holding a megaphone, announced: "This is the next challenge! All teachers need to jump from one side of the pit to the other! Only after you've jumped can you proceed to the dinner camp!"

Everyone stared in silence at the huge puddle that was rapidly filling with water; its width was almost as wide as a small swimming pool!

"How is it possible to jump over that?!" Lu Han exclaimed.

"Director, are you kidding us?" Sha Yi shouted.

Chen He and Deng Chao were the first to try it.

Chen He took a running start, jumped, and failed.

Deng Chao was similar; his posture was very cool, but he fell into the water in a very embarrassing way.

Zhou Le looked at it and said, "Let me demonstrate for you first. You can stand on both sides and watch."

He took a running start, jumped, and deliberately didn't use his full strength, but still landed in the water with a splash. Moreover, he deliberately used the "descending geese on the sand" style when he landed, and the splashing water was like a bomb, soaking Deng Chao, Chen He, and Sha Yi who were standing on the edge of the pit.

"Zhou Le!!!"

The three of them wiped the water off their faces and shouted angrily.

Zhou Le emerged from the water, suppressing a laugh: "Sorry, sorry, I didn't control the force well... I mainly wanted to demonstrate how to be more forgiving."

Everyone grimaced and quickly moved away.

Then, Zhou Le tried a second time.

This time he got serious, took a short run-up, and leaped into the air. His movements were light yet powerful, and he landed steadily on the other side, even having the luxury of choosing a Webster-esque landing.

"Wow!!!" A chorus of exclamations erupted from the other side.

"That's incredible!" Lu Han and Liu Haoran exclaimed.

"That jumping ability! It's outrageous!" Chen He complained.

Deng Chao: "Zhou Le, did you put springs in your legs?!"

Zhou Le shouted from the other side, "Actually, it's not that difficult. Just master the rhythm and the starting point... or..." He looked at the directing team, "Director, the rule is that as long as the person gets across from this side, they don't have to land in the middle, right? It doesn't matter what method you use?"

Director: "...Yes."

Zhou Le laughed: "That's easy, Haoran, come here, I'll show you how."

Liu Haoran was skeptical, but Zhou Le simply picked him up, took a running start, and jumped!

It was successful on the first try.

Next was Wang Baoqiang, and Zhou Le helped him get through in the same way.

Lu Han hesitated for a moment, then chose to trust Zhou Le, and succeeded as well.

Now only Deng Chao, Chen He, and Sha Yi are left on the opposite side.

Deng Chao stared at the puddle, swallowing hard. "Um... Le... you see, I'm usually pretty good to you, right..."

Zhou Le instantly understood: "Got it, Brother Chao, I'll come pick you up."

He jumped back to the other side, then crouched down: "Come on up, Chao Ge."

Deng Chao was a little embarrassed, but after looking at the puddle, he still climbed onto Zhou Le's back.

Zhou Le weighed it in for a moment and then complained, "Brother Chao, you should lose weight."

Deng Chao: "Hahaha, come on! This is solid!"

Zhou Le carried Deng Chao on his back, took a few steps back, and then began to run.

His steps remained steady, showing no sign of clumsiness despite carrying someone on his back.

When you reach the take-off point, tense your leg muscles and exert force!

"Holy crap!!!" The photographers on the other side were stunned. They had never seen such a fierce person in all their years of filming!

Chen He's mouth gaped open in an "O" shape: "This...this is like carrying someone on your back for a long jump?!"

Sha Yi: "It's so good to be young!"

Zhou Le carried Deng Chao on his back, drawing an arc in the air before landing steadily on the opposite bank!
It landed even a little further forward than when he jumped!
Upon landing, Zhou Le slightly bent his knees to cushion the impact, remaining as steady as a mountain.

Deng Chao, still shaken, climbed off his back, then immediately became incredibly excited: "My God! Zhou Le, I felt like I was flying! You were so stable! Your core strength! Your explosive power! How about becoming my fitness coach when we get back? Name your price!"

Zhou Le smiled and took a breath: "It's alright, Brother Chao, you were gentler than I expected."

Finally, Chen He and Sha Yi looked at each other in bewilderment.

They didn't want Zhou Le to jump back and forth twice more.

But I really can't do it.

Puddles are always a safe haven.

After overcoming numerous hardships, we finally arrived at the dinner camp.

However, dinner wasn't readily available either.

Some of the ingredients they need to win are obtained through games, while others require them to gather food from the beach themselves.

Zhou Le immediately perked up upon hearing this!
"Beachcombing is great! I love watching beachcombing videos when I have free time!"

Upon arriving at the beach, Zhou Le seemed to have switched on a switch; his eyes sharpened and his movements became swift.

"Brother Le, there's a little crab here!" Liu Haoran shouted.

"It's too small, let it go." Zhou Le glanced at it.

"Brother Le, where's this seashell?"

"empty."

Zhou Le was seen turning over stones and observing the small holes in the sand. He dug accurately every time, finding all kinds of clams, razor clams, and even a sizable octopus. Soon his bucket was full.

Lu Han and Liu Haoran's buckets only contained a few small sea snails.

The crew was stunned, and the camera followed Zhou Le intently.

Lu Han exclaimed in surprise, "Le'er, you're so good at beachcombing?"

Zhou Le, carrying a heavy bucket, smiled modestly: "No, I just watched a lot of beachcombing videos before coming, so I have a lot of theoretical knowledge and experience. This might be... the newbie protection period?" (End of Chapter)