Chapter 59: Everyone Eats Their Own Food

Chapter 59: Chapter 59: Everyone Eats Their Own Food

Knowing that food is scarce in the forest, they all put the mushrooms in their own backpacks, worried they’d get crushed by other gear. They also picked big leaves to wrap them up.

The viewers in the livestream were watching several small camera feeds at once. When Renee Morgan’s feed switched to the big screen, everyone guessed Renee’s group must’ve found something to eat.

But what they didn’t expect was, while every other team couldn’t find even a single wild fruit or veggie, Renee’s group actually stumbled upon the super rare and valuable wild morel mushrooms.

That’s seriously envy-inducing, huh?

The netizens all instantly turned into plant experts, giving science lessons about the wild morel mushrooms Renee’s group found, making a bunch of viewers go "lemon" and sour.

So jealous—they all wanted to try what wild morel mushrooms taste like.

The big screen suddenly switched again. This time it was Wendy Aldridge’s camera.

Everyone watched Wendy walking through the mountain forest, looking around as she walked, making markings, and quietly looking after Zara Chapman, who wasn’t so mobile. For a moment, some viewers thought Wendy was a genuinely kind-hearted girl:

[Just my opinion, don’t @ me, but I think Wendy Aldridge is basically the poster child for ordinary girls: weak but tough, kind but insecure. That stuff she did targeting Renee Morgan—it’s ’cause Renee attracts guys a little too easily, and Wendy just misunderstood. Wanting to call her out is normal, tbh. If you swapped her with any regular girl, they’d all feel the outrage and jealousy. The difference is, Wendy’s jealousy doesn’t come with malice. At least she’s never actually hurt anyone.]

[Agree. Most people don’t like Wendy Aldridge, but I actually kinda like her. As soon as I see her, it’s like the Cinderella heroine from CEO dramas got a real face. She really is the prototype: soft, strong, kind, the ultimate girl-next-door trope.]

[Wait, if y’all like Wendy Aldridge, just go for it—go wild, live stream your love if you want, dig out your heart, whatever. We won’t judge. I’m a pretty regular girl myself, though; I’d never lock a girl and a guy alone together in a room and do anything illegal.]

[Yeah, please stop dragging us normal girls into it.]

As the netizens kept arguing, under the big lens, Wendy Aldridge actually picked up a massive chunk of honeycomb. At first she shrieked, but then everyone crowded over and helped her grab the honeycomb—which was loaded with bee pupae inside.

Julian Prescott was over the moon: "Bee pupae! These are bee pupae! We’ve found food, that’s some real treasure!"

Wendy Aldridge and Lynn Miller, the two women, were visibly disgusted when they saw the pupae—they looked like they’d rather starve than touch that stuff.

Julian was kind of speechless but ended up discussing with Lionel Lincoln how to bring the loot back.

The honeycomb was pretty huge, and their backpacks were jammed with gear, so it wouldn’t really fit. Wendy quickly got over her fear, saying she’d clear out her gear first and put it in Lionel Lincoln’s backpack, then stuff the honeycomb in hers.

Julian saw how proactive she was and couldn’t help but comment: "If you’re scared, I can carry it for you instead."

Wendy’s face was pale, but she still forced a smile and said, "It’s fine. When I found them just now, I actually had this vague feeling, like something was guiding me to discover it. Maybe it’s fate."

The netizens who were just hyping up Renee’s team for their lucky streak instantly decided morels weren’t so special anymore. Bee pupae are proper protein; anyone who’s tasted them knows that stuff fried is crunchy and delicious.

[Wendy Aldridge must be the chosen one. To pick up a giant honeycomb like that, and it’s full of fresh bee pupae—deep-frying or dry-frying them is gourmet heaven.]

[Exactly. Renee’s group spent ages digging for those morels, then Wendy Aldridge just casually picks up a giant honeycomb. Her luck is off the charts.]

[Girls like Wendy Aldridge are perfect wife material: soft personality, kind, a little pretty, but not like Renee who’s drop-dead gorgeous. She’s great for home life, harmonious family.]

Julian’s group, thanks to Wendy finding a giant honeycomb, didn’t bother looking for more food and just headed back home.

On the other side, one team searched forever and still came up empty—not even a single wild fruit. In the end, Zayed had a sudden flash of inspiration and set up a trap, finally catching a big, snowy white, round rabbit. The whole group was over the moon.

Worried someone in the forest might snatch their food, Zayed tied up the rabbit’s paws with vines and stuffed it in his backpack, while the others spread out around him, purposefully keeping him protected in the middle.

By the time all the teams got back to the tents, it was already afternoon.

No one took out their food right away. First, someone went to the riverbank to check if the big guys from the other side were around.

Once they confirmed those guys were gone and wouldn’t be back for a while, everyone relaxed and started digging out their food.

First, Zayed pulled out the rabbit he caught. Then Renee’s group of four took out the morel mushrooms from their backpacks.

Zara Chapman saw the mushrooms Renee’s group dumped out and instantly flashed a barely-noticeable look of disdain, saying aloud: "Ugh, Renee Morgan, why’d you guys pick all those rotten mushrooms? Can you actually eat them? Wouldn’t that poison us?"

Lynn Miller cuddled her precious mushrooms, rolled her eyes: "What do you know? These aren’t rotten mushrooms, they’re morels, called that because they kinda look like sheep stomach."

Zara secretly scoffed; with the mushrooms so mushy, they really did look like sheep stomach. Eating them would probably give you the runs: "I’m not risking it, not eating random mushrooms. What if I die of poisoning? I think we should just eat our own stuff."

Wendy Aldridge was secretly thrilled, but on the surface disagreed: "Ms. Chapman, that’s not cool. We’re teammates—Renee Morgan’s group found some pretty odd-looking food, so if you’re worried about poisoning, just don’t eat it. Still, whatever food we find, we’re supposed to share it with everyone."

Zara made a show of being righteously concerned for everyone’s safety: "It’s nice you care, but they might not appreciate it. If you tell them to toss the mushrooms, would they really do it?"

Toss them? Lynn’s face immediately changed in anger, but Renee reached over and stopped her, otherwise she really would’ve argued right back at them.

"You guys all want to just eat your own food?" Renee looked at Zara’s group and asked calmly.

"Yeah. If you want, dump those mushrooms and go find something else, everyone pitches in and shares. Otherwise, even if we’re fine with it, who knows what the other team will think. I’m just saying this for everyone’s sake, for the long run, so the team can keep going stronger." Zara put her words in a self-righteous way, feeling super vindicated inside. Back when they first entered the forest, she wanted that gear bag, and she’d never forget the way Renee spoke to her.

Renee Morgan looked at Lionel Lincoln and Julian Prescott.