Chapter 574: Camel Riding in the Desert
Chapter 571 of "Brother Dao Took the Entertainment Industry by Storm, Fans Beg Me Not to Kill Anymore" opens with dynamic events: Everyone's long-awaited heating system had not arrived.What arrived was a camel caravan.It turned out the... Read on for more!
Everyone's long-awaited heating system had not arrived.What arrived was a camel caravan.
It turned out the production team's rented camels had arrived.
Pu Rong looked at the camels, then at the ice-cold tents, sadly realizing that while the heating hadn't come, they still had to prepare for filming.
"Teacher Pu, Teacher Xiao, could you please come over here?"
One of the staff members jogged over. "We need to coordinate with you on some things here."
"Okay."
Xiao He and Pu Rong stood up, casually waving to Qu Qiuyan as they followed the staff member to the camel group on the other side of the tents.
Standing in the center of the group was a middle-aged man wearing a military green cotton jacket and a hat. His skin was dark, his face weathered, his eyes somewhat cloudy, and when he smiled, he revealed several large yellow teeth.
This seemed to be his first time meeting big stars from television. When dealing with Xiao He and Pu Rong, he appeared quite reserved, his hands rubbing together as if unsure where to place them. His smile was particularly shy, yet carried a hint of the forthright boldness of a northwestern man: "Hello, hello!"
"This is Master Yang, also the owner of these camels. The two teachers can communicate with him, then each choose a camel for filming later," the staff member introduced.
"Hello, Master Yang."
Xiao He and Pu Rong greeted politely.
Master Yang then proactively extended his hand, shaking each of their hands in turn.
"I know you, you're that child star, what's your name again... you filmed Little Master Chef with Brother Hua before!"
"And you, you, Meng Zetian! Oh my, you were really so bad! After watching back then, I was so angry I ate two extra bowls of rice at night... I never expected such a handsome young man in real life!"
Master Yang clearly wasn't much of a star-chaser. His deepest impressions of the two still lingered from long ago. When he spoke, he carried a very distinct local accent. Xiao He and Pu Rong only half-understood, barely grasping the general meaning from fragments of words. So they didn't feel awkward, just smiled and nodded in agreement.
A few minutes later, they began discussing the camel caravan behind them.
About a dozen camels had arrived at the scene at once, all already fitted with saddles and ancient-style decorations in advance. It was unclear whether the production team had prepared these beforehand, or if these camels normally served as filming props for the scenic area.
They were linked together by reins, their formation loose and not particularly neat, yet there was order within the chaos. Some were moving their hooves, stamping unique camel footprints in the sand, while others simply sat in the sand, chewing something from time to time.
Truth be told, the desert paired with camels, the faint sound of bells in the distance, and that sliver of morning light faintly spilling over the sand dunes behind them—this scene before their eyes perfectly matched the grand desert scenery of the northwestern frontier, refreshing one's mind and spirit at a single glance.
Under Xiao He and Pu Rong's curious gazes, Master Yang explained somewhat sheepishly, "They usually receive guests at the scenic area. Their temperaments are very docile, they won't hurt people, you can rest assured."
"Master Yang, what breed of camel is this?"
Pu Rong, sensing his nervousness, smiled and asked a question about the camels to ease his mood.
"These are Bactrian camels, the most common type of camel here. They have gentle temperaments, are drought and hunger resistant, and walk very steadily in the desert. So when it's time, you can just sit on them for filming, they absolutely won't move around randomly..."
Master Yang immediately began talking nonstop about the camels before them.
"Has it just eaten something? Why is its mouth constantly chewing?"
Pu Rong asked curiously while listening to Master Yang, reaching out to stroke one of the camels sitting on the ground, chewing intently.
Seeing the chewing camel, Xiao He's expression turned somewhat odd.
"It's ruminating," Master Yang explained.
"What thing?"
Due to Master Yang's heavy accent in his Mandarin, Pu Rong didn't quite catch it clearly at first and instinctively asked for clarification.
"Ruminating," Xiao He chimed in to help explain. "Like cows and sheep, it's a ruminant. That means it stores food it's eaten first in its rumen to soften and ferment. Then during rest, it regurgitates the food from its stomach back into its mouth, slowly chewing and grinding it... that's rumination."
Pu Rong immediately withdrew his hand, his expression somewhat disgusted.
It wasn't really discrimination against animals, just imagining—whether human or animal—bringing something already swallowed back up from the stomach, then chewing it in the mouth again before swallowing, however you thought about it, it was disgusting.
"Damn, I think I can never look at them the same way again."
Pu Rong rubbed his arms, speaking to Xiao He with utter despair.
Xiao He suppressed a laugh. "Actually, this is just their way of survival. You'll get used to it."
As he spoke, Xiao He chose one of the camels that looked more pleasing to his eye, turned to Master Yang, and asked, "Can I ride it directly?"
"Sure, sure."
Master Yang walked over, preparing to help Xiao He onto the camel.
"No need."
Xiao He grabbed the reins, smoothly and coolly flipping himself onto the camel's back.
And this camel, quite understandingly, began taking small, pacing steps.
Master Yang immediately untied the reins restraining it, allowing it to carry its rider separately to other parts of the group.
Indeed, as Master Yang said, the camel's temperament was relatively docile, and it naturally had two humps to stabilize the body. So riding it wasn't as difficult as riding a horse. Aside from walking somewhat sluggishly, there was no discomfort.
Meanwhile, Pu Rong beside him was still hesitating, his gaze sweeping back and forth across the camel army before him, trying to find a camel that wasn't "ruminating." Finally, he managed to pick one that was dozing off.
So the two forgot the morning chill and began happily riding camels on the sand.
—Riding camels in the desert was a novel experience for both of them.
And this feeling was completely different from riding a horse. Paired with the scenery of golden sand and blue sky, both their moods improved greatly.
Xiao He even managed, without being taught, to learn how to make the camel run.
Camels in the desert naturally could run too, but their endurance wasn't as good as horses. They couldn't gallop for long periods, basically needing to stop for rest and panting after running a while.
Moreover, the bumpiness when they ran was even more intense than when riding a horse. Sitting between the humps, one easily got bumped from the front, then from the back, feeling like sitting in a cart without suspension—attacked from both front and back, truly asking for trouble.
Xiao He stopped almost as soon as he started running.
Ouch—while not injuring himself, the front bumped painfully and the back collided painfully. After such a rough ordeal, Xiao He felt phantom pains all over.
Probably for filming purposes, many of the camel's safety padding had been removed.
Forget it, forget it. They wouldn't need to run during filming anyway. Trying it once was enough.
Xiao He rode the camel back to find Pu Rong.
Unaware of Xiao He’s unspeakable pain, Pu Rong only thought his camel-riding running posture looked extremely cool. So, curious, he asked Xiao He to teach him how to make a camel run—he wanted to try that feeling too.
Xiao He smiled slightly, mischief rising in his heart.
"Come on, I'll teach you—"
A few minutes later, Pu Rong, jolted "into pieces" by the camel, legs clamped together, hands supporting his waist, trembling and unsteady, climbed down from the camel.
He lay on the sand, feeling as if his soul had been taken away by the camel.
And that damn camel, showing no remorse, actually sat down too, lowering its head to nudge and sniff Pu Rong's head.
Recalling the other's rumination system, Pu Rong felt he might have smelled the stench from its mouth. Instantly, the pain in his body vanished. He scrambled away, retching: "Ugh—I never want to ride a camel again! Ugh!"
Xiao He stood to the side, heartlessly clutching his stomach and laughing mockingly: "Hahaha—"
That's what brothers are for—finding suffering together!