Chapter 60: Filling Their Stomachs

Chapter 60: Chapter 60: Filling Their Stomachs

Lionel clutched his head in frustration. "I... I... you guys decide."

Julian frowned. He didn’t agree with Zara Chapman’s approach, but since he hadn’t found the beehive, it wasn’t his call.

Wendy Aldridge bit her lower lip, her bright eyes full of apology as she tried to smooth things over: "Ms. Chapman’s just like this—she’s blunt and straightforward, she just says whatever’s on her mind. Please, don’t be mad."

Zayed had been quietly listening to all of them. After scanning the group, his gaze finally landed on Julian Prescott: "The beehive you guys found, it should be enough for the four of you to eat. We’ll join up with Renee Morgan’s team instead."

The rabbits they caught, though not enough to fill everyone up, could at least give each person two pieces. If the mushrooms that Renee’s group had were edible, maybe everyone could get half full.

Zara Chapman was displeased. "That won’t do! Isn’t this just isolating us? I’m not insisting everyone eats separately, I just wish they wouldn’t eat those crappy mushrooms. If someone gets poisoned, won’t we get dragged into trouble, too?"

Wendy Aldridge nodded eagerly, "Let’s just eat together. As for the mushrooms, maybe we can find a way to check if they’re poisonous? And if it’s really not safe, then we won’t eat them. We would never let you guys go hungry, Renee."

Renee Morgan listened calmly, then finally spoke: "Let’s just do as Zara Chapman suggested—everyone eat their own food. We’re still a team, but we’ll have independent meals. No one’s excluding anyone."

Wendy Aldridge wanted to add something, but Zara Chapman had already agreed: "Fine, let’s do that."

Wendy shot a look at the beaming Zara Chapman, then glanced at Zayed—whose expression didn’t look so good—looking torn and at a loss for what to do. "Renee, please don’t be upset..."

Renee was stacking firewood, not even bothering to look up as she replied, "I’m not upset."

Wendy, alarmed, quickly stepped forward to help gather sticks, her face pale, stammering as she spoke: "Renee, you can have my share, okay? Please, don’t be mad?"

Renee stood up with the armful of firewood, looking at Wendy’s pale face. If she didn’t explain, people would easily think she’d done something to Wendy, scaring her like that; but if she did explain, it’d just make it look even more like Wendy was being coerced by her.

Renee gave a crooked smile, her tone helpless: "It’s a good thing you guys found the beehive. Even if we can’t eat together, there’s no need to feel so guilty. Just look at you—you’re white as a sheet."

Renee might as well have said it outright: Wendy’s group found the beehive and won’t share, but Wendy’s still here putting on an act—it was just exasperating.

A trace of bitterness flickered across Wendy’s face: "So you’re still mad at us, huh? But this really wasn’t our intention. Zara was just worried about the mushrooms being poisonous. Isn’t there a better way for us to work this out?"

Renee couldn’t be bothered to waste any more time with Wendy, lugged her firewood to the side, and started building the fire to grill mushrooms, not even bothering to look up: "It’s not that complicated. Just relax."

Wendy felt like she was punching cotton. Her attacks had been so obvious—how was Renee still so unruffled?

She’d wanted to create the scene of Renee bullying her, so the netizens would all take her side and attack Renee online.

Disappointed, Wendy walked back to her group. Lionel offered her comfort, making Wendy look even more pitiful in comparison—quite a few viewers online started feeling sorry for her.

[Suddenly I think Wendy is just too kind, always so careful, caring so much about what everyone else thinks.]

[Yeah, everyone else is fine with eating separately, but only she’s still fighting for a better solution, wanting everyone to be happy.]

[...]

Renee found a shaded spot and immediately started making a fire to roast mushrooms. She wasn’t being impatient; it was just that come evening, if anyone returned to camp by the river and smelled the aroma, then the mushrooms would be gone before they got a bite.

Once the fire was going, they cleaned the morel mushrooms, threaded them onto branches and put them directly over the flames.

Apart from Miles Yates, who had tasted morel mushroom soup before, none of the others had ever eaten morels—everyone looked at the mushrooms with hopeful anticipation.

The moment they caught the scent, their bodies, which had been enduring hunger, responded automatically; everyone started swallowing hungrily.

The moment was just too real, and even the viewers seemed to pick up the aroma of the grilled mushrooms through their screens.

"Morgan, it smells so good, it smells so good—this has got to be morel!" Lynn Miller was so excited she was nearly crying. God knows how upset she’d been moments ago, when Zara and Wendy called these mushrooms poisonous.

Renee Morgan, sweating, a faint smile on her face, handed the first batch over to Lynn, "You get to try it first. See if it’s poisonous."

Lynn let out an "ah", staring at Renee in disbelief, making the others burst out laughing.

Kyle Beckett couldn’t wait: "Morgan, I’ll try it—if it’s really bad, I’ll just blow the whistle and let someone carry me out."

Lynn refused to be left out: "If we’re eating, we’re eating together. If we’re getting poisoned, then so be it—we’ll all go down together."

As she said this, Lynn snatched the morel mushroom from Renee’s hand and popped one after another into her mouth without hesitation.

Kyle didn’t want to lose out either. Seeing the skewer in Miles’ hand was cooked, he took it right away and started wolfing it down, mumbling amazement: "This stuff doesn’t need any seasoning and it still tastes unbelievable. It’s just absolutely delicious." They were simply too hungry, and the aroma of the mushrooms soothed their empty stomachs for now.

Even Miles couldn’t hold back anymore. He picked up his remaining skewer, taking small bites, his eyes widening in surprise. The mushroom was plump and juicy, biting in released a rush of delicious, rich flavor. Even a little burnt, it didn’t spoil the taste at all.

Maybe it was just having something to eat—everyone’s earlier doubts vanished, and soon the rest of the mushrooms were divvied up and finished.

Renee ate her fill too. The taste was great, putting her in a good mood. At least this meal was sorted, and they’d make it to tomorrow; as for what to eat then, she’d worry about it when the time came.

They spent two whole hours just eating grilled mushrooms.

Zayed’s group was even quicker. They killed the rabbit, cleaned it, wrapped it in leaves, then coated it with wet mud. When the firewood burned down to embers, they put the prepared rabbit right in the middle and covered the coals with dry mud to trap all the heat inside. After half an hour, they broke open the baked clay, peeled back the leaves, and the fragrant clay-roast rabbit was ready.

As for Julian Prescott’s team, grilling bee larvae was much more complicated. The easiest way was just to eat the larvae raw—it’s supposed to be very nutritious, a tip they’d gotten from another team.

But Wendy Aldridge and Zara Chapman absolutely refused to eat them raw, so in the end they had to figure out how to roast the larvae. But unlike the mushrooms Renee’s group had collected, bee larvae were too small to skewer on sticks for roasting—they simply wouldn’t stay on.