Chapter 293: The No-Name Star Beckons, the Benefactor Becomes a Simp 64

Chapter 293: A Nobody Actor Crooks a Finger, Sugar Daddy Turns into a Simp 64

Seeing his host still hesitating, maybe weighing other options, the system decided not to push it.

After all, restarting or not was just a matter of time.

The host's vitals were already dangerously close to the red line.

Plus, with the harsh environment and scarce food, the host could only hold out another two or three days at most.

By then, a restart would be unavoidable anyway.

Lin Huaiqing got lucky and found shelter from the rain under a giant banana tree.

He sat on his backpack and curled up into a little ball, trying to conserve energy.

The hot breath he exhaled felt like it was burning him. He'd probably gotten spooked earlier and bolted without thinking, which made his fever spike even worse now.

Meanwhile, back with the team, they'd also realized Lin Huaiqing, who'd been trailing behind, was gone.

At first they figured he'd collapsed from exhaustion, but when they backtracked, there was no sign of him.

"Fei Xiu! What's going on?! Didn't I tell you to look after Lin Huaiqing? Now he's gone! He's running a fever—what if he runs into danger?!" Brother Yue's angry shouting at Fei Xiu got swallowed up by the heavy rain, making it hard to make out.

The team immediately started bickering.

"You're the leader! You didn't watch out for everyone! Why are you taking it out on me? I'm already dead tired—how the hell was I supposed to look after him? Was I supposed to carry him on my back or something?!"

"Enough! Brother Yue! Fei Xiu! Knock it off! Finding Brother Lin is what matters right now!"

On reality TV, drama within the group is usually what viewers eat up the most.

But this time, even the viewers watching from outside were stunned and jumped into the comments.

"Wait, what?! They're still pointing fingers right now? Finding Qingbao should be the priority!"

"OMG! This can't be scripted, right?! He's actually gone?! I don't buy it."

"If this is scripted, that's just too absurd! There's only six of them including the leader—how do you even lose one?"

"Fei Xiu is a walking red flag! He was supposed to watch the injured guy, but he lost him and now he's making excuses?"

Qin Group.

The board meeting kicked off on schedule to go over the company's H2 strategy and the multinational project's progress.

"In the second half, we expect our market share to climb to..."

After wrapping up his speech, Qin Song sat back down. The second he unlocked his phone, a comment made his heart skip a beat.

"If this isn't scripted, that little star is screwed. Lost in the rainforest—no way they're finding him."

Qin Song rubbed his eyes in disbelief, watching the team on screen devolve into a blame game.

He scanned the screen frantically but couldn't spot that familiar figure anywhere.

Could the missing person actually be Lin Huaiqing?!

And then Brother Yue, the team leader, confirmed it.

"Everyone, stay calm. Lin Huaiqing's got a walkie-talkie on him. Even if that fails, he's got a tracker. We will find him!"

The show's PD made an emergency call to contact staff outside the rainforest, pinpoint Lin Huaiqing's location, and send in a professional rescue team.

"What about us? Aren't we gonna go find Brother Lin?!"

Su Man was still fretting over Lin Huaiqing's safety.

The rescue team would take a while to get here, and they were way closer to Lin Huaiqing than the pros were.

"We don't have the energy to go looking for Lin Huaiqing. Don't worry—the rescue team's got this. They'll find him way faster than we could."

Brother Yue was the team's leader. Their remaining energy and supplies were just barely enough to get them out of the rainforest.

Finding Lin Huaiqing and hauling him back was just not realistic.

So they had no choice but to keep pushing forward and meet up with the staff waiting outside the rainforest.

But to Qin Song, all that high-and-mighty talk just meant they were straight-up abandoning Lin Huaiqing.

Even if the rescue team knew where he was, it'd take a whole day just to get to Lin Huaiqing's tracker location.

And Lin Huaiqing was already running a fever—how the hell was he supposed to last that long?

"Next up, let's have President Qin come up and walk us through the multinational project's progress."

The conference room erupted in applause.

"President Qin? President Qin, you're up."

Someone tapped Qin Song on the shoulder, but the next second, he shot up out of his chair.

"Directors and executives of Qin Corporation, my apologies, but there's something urgent I have to handle. Hold the meeting until I get back!"

With that, Qin Song marched out of the conference room, leaving a bunch of old guys staring at each other in confusion.

Since it was a top-level board meeting, even Qin Song's dad, Old Mr. Qin, was there.

"Qin Song?!" Old Mr. Qin called out a couple of times, but Qin Song was already on the phone and booking it, not hearing a word.

"Unbelievable! More irresponsible by the day!"

"President Qin must've gone to deal with something big. Chairman Qin, take it easy."

"Dad! Is my brother dating someone or what? He's acting all jumpy."

Qin Qi had nailed it.

Young people get impulsive, especially over love—they act like a bunch of reckless kids.

Qin Song never dealt with this when he was younger. Now at thirty-two, he's just starting to date, so getting a little rattled makes sense.

"Fine. Since it's his first relationship, I'll let it slide. Tell your brother—if he ditches a room full of directors again, I won't forgive him!"

"Got it! Dad, look at me! When I date, I don't act like that. How about you just hand me the company instead?"

"You?!" Old Mr. Qin shot Qin Qi a look of disdain. "Did you forget when a girl dumped you in school and you came home saying you were gonna jump off a building?!"

"Pfft! Young President Qin, so you were a real heartthrob back in the day?"

"Aaaah!! Dad, why are you saying that in front of everyone? That was forever ago!"

Meanwhile, Qin Song, after lining things up with the subsidiary's staff in Country B, boarded his private jet and headed straight there.

The whole trip took just over five hours to reach Country B, where the nonstop rain had finally stopped, and rescue operations were about to begin.

The branch in Country B was just a small-to-medium enterprise the Qin Group had acquired a few years back.

This subsidiary ran the local tourism business, and its CEO, also a Beijing native, had been assigned there several years ago.

He'd only met Qin Song once, and never expected him to show up in person—especially not for something unrelated to the company.

Qin Song's assistant filled him in on what was going on.

This guy was quick on his feet; in under an hour, he'd already gotten in touch with the production team and confirmed their location.

"Mr. Qin, please don't worry. We've reached the production team, and I'll send someone over right away."

"No need. I'll go myself. I have other arrangements for you. Handle this well, and you'll be rewarded."

"What?! In... in person? Mr. Qin! That area is already at the edge of the rainforest. It's very dangerous for you to go there personally."