Chapter 287: Chapter 286: Misstep

Xu Ying noticed Lu Jinyu looking eager and reminded him, “But everyone, when laying moss, pay attention to the technique. Don’t sacrifice quality for speed and quantity, or you’ll end up with a shoddy project!”

“When laying it, level the ground and clear away small stones. Lay the moss blocks in a staggered fish scale pattern and press them down to prevent wind erosion.”

All of this went in one ear and out the other for Lu Jinyu. “Got it, got it, we understand the rules as we play the game!”

After the five celebrity guests drew lots and were assigned five baskets of mouse rabbit teammates, Xu Ying blew a whistle, and the moss-laying battle officially began.

As the whistle blew, Ye Jie dashed out with the moss but ended up slipping on the permafrost with a loud “thud.”

She scrambled to her feet, with bits of moss stuck in her hair, earnestly muttering, “It’s fine, as long as the moss isn’t damaged!”

She didn’t notice that her pant leg had sunk into the melting permafrost, and she continued reaching out her arms for a distant moss block.

“Just a little further!”

She lunged forward again, landing directly on the pile of moss this time.

Perhaps Ye Jie’s efforts were too touching; the mouse rabbits actually came over to help.

They divided the work: two dug up the ground to clear stones from the permafrost, six carried the moss over, while Ye Jie only needed to use a snow water spray gun to fix the moss, simulating meltwater infiltration.

The remaining two mouse rabbit inspectors rolled over the moss, leaving their fur to help secure it.

[The way the mouse rabbits use their paws to dig is too cute, rolling is adorable too~]

[I have a question, how do these mouse rabbits willingly help? Is it just because Ye Jie looks so pitiable?]

Seeing the barrage of comments on the live streaming screen, Xu Ying explained, “Moss can cool the surface by 6°C. Laying one square meter of moss is like providing air conditioning to 100 mouse rabbits, so they are very cooperative.”

[No wonder the animal guests participating this round are all highland mouse rabbits, who wouldn’t want an air-conditioned room?]

Meanwhile, Lu Jinyu had already entered “game mode.”

His eyes scanned and analyzed quickly; the flatter areas of the glacier reserve were easier for laying moss. So he divided the 10 mouse rabbits into two groups and began directing his teammates, “Quick, Team A runs southeast, Team B runs due west! Capture strategic locations quickly!”

However, the 10 mouse rabbits on the ground just tilted their heads in confusion, looking at him.

“I give up, my teammates’ understanding is way too poor!”

Frustrated, Lu Jinyu had no choice but to manually pick up two mouse rabbits, placing them in the area he had just scoped out. But the rabbits were restless; once put down, they scattered everywhere.

Lu Jinyu was exasperated! “Forget it, I’ll just develop myself first; these teammates are useless!”

“Use a zigzag path for laying, increasing efficiency by 37.5%!” he muttered to himself while laying moss at an astonishing speed.

Fans of Lu Jinyu, upon seeing him in this serious gaming state, began praising him fanatically.

[Brother Lu is so smart, as expected of a pro gamer! His hand speed is incredible!]

[Say something, haters! Brother Lu dominates every game he plays, okay?]

[Wait a minute, Lu Jinyu didn’t even lay the moss in a fish scale pattern or press it down like Little Xu Station Chief advised!]

[So what? Brother Lu’s method is faster and more effective! Smart people like Brother Lu break the rules to use them, unlike Ye Jie who is rigid and mechanical.]

Unfortunately, reality isn’t a game. The moss blocks he threw down quickly were scattered chaotically like fallen dominoes; a few even slid down the slope.

“Area A is short on moss! Team B mouse rabbits, fill in the gaps!”

Seeing this, Lu Jinyu commanded his mouse rabbit team, even making a tactical gesture.

But the mouse rabbits just looked bewildered again.

One even took moss over to help Ye Jie right in front of him.

“Oh come on, what kind of sassy maneuver is this, why are my teammates defecting to the enemy?”

“There are too many glitches in this darn game!” Lu Jinyu was so frustrated he almost threw the measuring tape on the ground, unable to hold back his complaint to Xu Ying: “Little Xu Station Chief, are you playing favorites with Ye Jie because you’re on good terms with her, giving her obedient mouse rabbit teammates?”

“The difference between our teammates is huge!”

Xu Ying shrugged innocently, “The allocation of mouse rabbit teammates was decided by your own lot drawing, how could I manipulate the results?”

“Since you seem quite unlucky, let me ask why it defected.”

The mouse rabbit that defected to Ye Jie explained, upon Xu Ying’s interview: [I noticed the atmosphere with that lady was particularly nice, while ours was chaotic and directionless, so I couldn’t help but want to join her.]

After Xu Ying translated, Lu Jinyu was even more flustered: “You’re definitely mistranslating!”

Many netizens began to criticize that Lu Jinyu just couldn’t handle losing.

[Classic case of blaming teammates for failure.]

[Lu Jinyu always gets flustered during competitions, errors had to be covered by teammates, if they didn’t succeed, fans blamed the teammates. Now it’s the same with these mini-games.]

[He’s treated like a prince at the club, but the little animals here won’t pamper you.]

At this point, Lu Jinyu was ready to quit. He threw the moss block on the ground: “The matchmaking system is terrible, I’m not playing anymore!”

“Whoever wants to lay this moss, go ahead!”

Seeing Lu Jinyu give up, Xu Ying hinted with a wink, “Are you sure? If a guest quits, that means the task for this round lacks a person.”

“We can’t unlock the 200,000 public welfare reward for this round, so who will everyone blame then?”

Xu Ying shook his head with a disapproving click.

Usually prone to being criticized as a freeloader relying on teammates, Lu Jinyu was triggered by Xu Ying’s words and stood up again.

He reluctantly mimicked Ye Jie’s earnest approach and diligently went to work.

*

“We actually have to touch these filthy lumps of moss?”

Su Zhining looked with disdain at the blocks of moss everyone was scrambling for, slowly putting on gloves.

Meanwhile, the 10 mouse rabbits at her feet were anxiously circling: [Hurry! Hurry! Everyone else is way ahead of us!]

Unhurriedly, Su Zhining pinched a piece of moss between her fingers. Everyone else had taken the relatively flat permafrost areas, so Su Zhining had to climb up the dirt slope. Afraid her shoes would get stuck in the permafrost, she walked very carefully, feeling like she was doing a ballet across the slope.

With her fingertips elegantly holding the moss, she placed it on the slope as if crafting a work of art, her efficiency far behind everyone else’s.

“There!” she leisurely dusted off the dirt on her hands after laying the first block of moss.

Just as she was about to step back, the permafrost unexpectedly gave way beneath her feet, sending her rolling down the slope!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep