After Crossing Over, I Just Want to Live Well – Chapter 28

Ch 28: Arrival at Barren Star

“Then I’ll take this chance to share my thoughts with everyone.” Yu Duoduo paused, looking at the seven people. Seeing their expectant gazes fixed on her, she felt a bit embarrassed and faked a few coughs.

“Don’t look at me like that. I just want to tell you my idea. I think we’re a team now, and as a team, we should have a team leader to guide us.”

“That person needs to have the ability to lead everyone. You all know each other pretty well and should understand one another. Hurry up and pick someone.”

The seven exchanged glances. Yan Pinxuan spoke first, “Don’t look at me. I don’t know any of you well. I just want to follow along and not hold anyone back.”

The remaining six looked at each other but stayed silent.

After a long while, Lezheng Kexi spoke up, “I don’t think I’m fit. I don’t consider things thoroughly enough. Like earlier with forming the team, I nearly got us all assigned by the school.”

Yi Bai chimed in, “I’m not good either. I’m too impulsive and might not control my emotions, which could harm everyone.”

Mi Jiayu sat quietly, not saying a word.

Ye Jingcheng also sat there silently, calmly watching Nan Yangyuan.

Bai Xuekai hesitated, wanting to step up and test himself, but he felt timid, afraid of affecting the team.

Nan Yangyuan didn’t say anything either. To him, being a team leader or not didn’t matter—when something came up, everyone would pitch in anyway.

The room fell into complete silence.

Yu Duoduo looked at them, exasperated.

“None of you are saying anything? No one wants it? Fine, let’s vote by raising hands.”

Besides Lezheng Kexi and Yi Bai, Mi Jiayu and Ye Jingcheng also declined to participate. That left only Nan Yangyuan and Bai Xuekai.

The eight began voting by raising hands, but the two always tied. With no solution, Yu Duoduo recalled a video she’d seen online in her previous life. It was about a first-grade class where the teacher assigned every student a class role.

Yu Duoduo thought it might work here.

So she tentatively suggested, “This isn’t getting us anywhere. How about this: one of you becomes the main leader, and the other the deputy? Or maybe one handles logistics and the other directs combat?”

The five who’d been agonizing over it immediately agreed, leaving Nan Yangyuan and Bai Xuekai—the two directly involved—shocked but also in agreement.

The eight then named their team “Duoduo Team”! The name passed with seven votes. With that, Yu Duoduo’s team was officially formed!

With the important decision settled, the team members began resting to recharge. They all entered safety pods to sleep, Yu Duoduo included.

While Yu Duoduo and her team rested, members of other teams chatted excitedly. The live broadcast orbs on the starship floated around, streaming everything.

So the audience in the live broadcast room saw that while most teams were buzzing with conversation, one team was fast asleep in their safety pods.

The live broadcast room filled with comments like “Admirable!” and “Role models for our generation!”

Only three people, seeing the sleeping figures clearly, smiled with delight.

Shi Yichen: “Duoduo’s still the same. She falls asleep the moment she’s in a safety pod.”

Leng Ruoheng: “She hasn’t changed a bit!”

Jimo Yao: “Even sleeping, she’s so cute! Wait, cute? What’s wrong with me?”

Yu Duoduo woke up to an alarm—it was System Tutu sounding off.

Before sleeping, she’d specifically asked Tutu to wake her if anything came up.

As soon as she woke, she saw seven people gathered around her safety pod, startling her.

Opening the pod, she heard them say, “Duoduo, you’re awake! Get ready quick—we’re up soon!”

The group arrived at the starship’s exit. A teacher there handed out supplies—one space button per person. Another teacher fitted everyone with buffers （to protect students during high-altitude drops, specially designed to slow descent to a speed the interstellar human body could handle）.

The teacher equipped them swiftly while demonstrating and explaining, moving at an astonishing pace.

In the live broadcast room, each departing team was followed by eight broadcast orbs tracking their every move.

Yu Duoduo stepped out of the starship with her team, greeted by a vast expanse of green. That’s when she realized she was afraid of heights.

Terrified, she quickly shut her eyes, mentally reassuring herself, but it didn’t work—she fainted.

When she came to, she saw the seven gathered around her. She was lying in a military tent.

“Duoduo, you’re awake. Come drink some nutrient solution!” Lezheng Kexi was the first to approach.

Yu Duoduo had countless edibles in her space, but she couldn’t take them out now, so she settled for the nutrient solution.

“What happened to me?” Her voice was hoarse.

“Duoduo, you passed out from the fall!”

“Passed out from the fall? Am I that weak now?” She thought this to herself and asked it aloud.

“Yeah, we landed first. When you came down, we found you right away, but you were already out.”

Lezheng Kexi didn’t mean to blame her. He’d always thought that growing up on Garbage Star had made Yu Duoduo’s body weaker than others’.

The other five felt the same, which made them even more indulgent toward her.

After hearing this, Yan Pinxuan felt a kindred sympathy for Yu Duoduo and became more lenient with her too.

So, over the next few days, the seven doted on her in their own ways. They only asked her to identify plants and purify some essential drinking water each day.

During those days, Yu Duoduo worked hard to prove herself.

Still unaware of the full situation, she asked Lezheng Kexi, “How many days was I out?”

“Not days—just three star hours. It’s late now, and we all agreed to rest first and set out tomorrow!”

Yu Duoduo checked her optical brain and saw it was indeed late, so she let it go.

She got up and wandered around, discovering many edible mutated plants.

She collected some varieties she didn’t have in her space, storing them there, and gathered the rest to prepare for enhancing them later to make dinner for everyone.

Noticing only she and Lezheng Kexi were at the campsite, she asked and learned the others had gone hunting mutated animals nearby.

Wanting to explore a bit farther, she was stopped by Lezheng Kexi.

Helpless, she took a different path back to camp. On the way, they found a small stream. Yu Duoduo prepared to purify some water to bring back for everyone to drink.

But Lezheng Kexi kept stopping her, which annoyed her. “Lezheng Kexi, what are you doing? If I don’t purify water to take back, what will everyone drink?”

“Duoduo, we’re just worried about you. Do you know how anxious we were when we saw you unconscious on the ground?”

“I didn’t pass out from the fall—I’m afraid of heights! I’ve never dropped from high up like that before, and it scared me. I didn’t faint from the impact.”

Yu Duoduo explained desperately, but she noticed Lezheng Kexi didn’t seem convinced.

“Have you forgotten how we first met?”