Chapter 62: Mao-Style Counter Question Literature

Chapter 62: Chapter 62: Mao-Style Counter Question Literature

[Hey, the dude with id2086, come out for a sec. Didn’t you want to marry Wendy Aldridge? Take a look at Julian Prescott and Lionel Lincoln—that’s probably your future, right there.]

[And all you guys who say Wendy Aldridge is kind, mild, pretty, and perfect wife material—I’d suggest you go get your eyesight checked.]

Back when Wendy Aldridge picked up the beehive, the netizens were singing her praises—now they’re tearing into her just as viciously, especially when they saw that nothing even happened to her and she’s still there crying, which just makes everyone even more annoyed.

Wendy Aldridge never had many fans to begin with, and after this? She’s basically got none left now.

Renee Morgan finally caught her breath by the fire, face pale and gray, not all that happy about driving away The Stingers.

Zayed and his team walked over, and Renee looked at them, saying flatly, "Sorry, I should’ve been more alert—they warned us. The scariest thing in the forest isn’t the people... it’s the animals. I got careless."

The screams from Julian Prescott and Lionel Lincoln still echoed in her ears. Even knowing the production team wouldn’t really let anything happen, Renee still felt awful.

Zayed suddenly stepped forward, gave Renee a quick, polite hug, then let go and said, "No need to apologize. You were really brave."

The rest of Group One scrambled to comfort her: "Renee, you’re super brave—way tougher than any of us."

"Renee, we saw the good and noble qualities of Z Country people in you."

"Renee, just now you were the Expel bees hero."

Lynn Miller, Miles Yates, and Kyle Beckett were even more moved, rushing up in tears to hug Renee Morgan.

Renee didn’t have time to be upset, frantically soothing them: "It’s okay now, we’re safe."

Even the netizens watching from the screen were touched—it was a real tearjerker, boohoo...

Wendy Aldridge and Zara Chapman stared at Renee Morgan being surrounded, their eyes practically on fire.

Wendy Aldridge pulled back her glare, tears brimming in her eyes, and shuffled over to Renee Morgan, sniffling: "Boohoo, it’s all my fault. I never thought the hive would attract so many bees and hurt Julian and Lionel. If I’d known it’d turn out like this, I never would’ve picked it up, boohoo..."

Compared to dodging responsibility, facing mistakes and apologizing sincerely is easier for people to accept—because even if they don’t want to, they have to. That’s what you call forced acceptance.

The others looked pretty pissed, but no one said anything harsher.

Wendy Aldridge watched their faces, saw them stay silent and not blame her, and silently let out a breath of relief.

Wendy Aldridge: "Renee, thank goodness for you this time, or who knows what would’ve happened to Julian and Lionel. Let me thank you for them."

Then she bowed humbly and guiltily to Renee Morgan.

She just wanted to push Renee to say something, preferably angrily curse her out, so the netizens could see her true colors—far from as kind and selfless as she seemed.

Renee Morgan: "No need to thank me—I wasn’t the one hurt. If you really feel guilty, you should apologize to Julian and Lionel. I’m sure they’ll forgive you."

Wendy Aldridge cursed inwardly—Renee Morgan sure knows how to play it—crying: "Yes, I will. I really appreciate you. If it weren’t for you, I don’t think I could ever forgive myself."

Renee Morgan: "Oh, so if you can’t forgive yourself, what would happen?"

Wendy Aldridge: "...I’d feel guilty... boohoo..."

Renee Morgan: "Oh, got it."

Wendy Aldridge: "..."

Watching Wendy Aldridge finally shut up, netizens all said they learned something—Renee’s style of rhetorical questioning, how to reply politely but subtly, with just a hint of offense, is perfect for any occasion, any time.

Renee Morgan walked past Wendy Aldridge and looked at the others: "It’s not dark yet—everyone, go find as much dry wood as you can. Animals are afraid of fire."

Lighting the fire might not guarantee absolute safety, but it’s the only defensive thing they can do right now.

Knowing animals are scared of fire, everyone paired up and headed to the nearby woods to gather dry wood.

Wendy Aldridge and Zara Chapman were scared, tagging closely behind Renee’s group. If they could help it, they wouldn’t do this either, but Group One’s team looked at them like they were the plague. Even Wendy, thick-skinned, didn’t dare approach and mess things up.

Renee Morgan and Lynn Miller might dislike them, but everyone’s still teammates and from the same country, so they wouldn’t leave them behind on camera.

They went to the woods to gather firewood. Wendy Aldridge cried again—she was hungry but didn’t say it, just rubbed her stomach and kept giving Renee pitiful looks.

Isn’t Renee Morgan supposed to be all about unity and sacrifice for her teammates? She’s starving like this—surely Renee won’t ignore her, right?

But Renee didn’t even look up the entire time—just picked up the firewood at her feet, moved on, and quickly left Wendy way behind.

By the time everyone had enough firewood, Wendy Aldridge’s hands were still empty, staring hopefully at Renee Morgan.

Renee Morgan rolled her eyes inwardly and sighed: "If you really feel guilty, you can go out and take care of Julian and Lionel more. That’ll help with the guilt, too."

Wendy Aldridge: "??" Guilt, my ass—I’m hungry! Didn’t you see I was doing the pregnant lady gesture?

Wendy Aldridge’s face turned red, biting her lip: "I..."

Miles Yates: "Yeah, with you like this, we’re really worried something might happen to you."

Wendy Aldridge, barely audible: "I’m..."

Kyle Beckett: "Ah, I get it—you’ve got a stomach ache, need to go to the bathroom, right?" Seeing how embarrassed she looked.

Wendy Aldridge’s face instantly flushed: "No, it’s not..."

Kyle Beckett nodded knowingly: "Let Zara go with you a bit further inside, there aren’t any cameras there. We’ll wait for you outside."

He didn’t even let Wendy explain, just grabbed Miles and bolted.

Renee and Lynn Miller carrying firewood didn’t linger either, following them out.

Wendy Aldridge was so pissed she almost stomped—if there weren’t cameras, she’d have started cursing people out.

Night hadn’t totally fallen yet, and Renee Morgan and the others made a fire in front of the tent.

Wendy Aldridge and Zara Chapman were so hungry they could barely stand, just kept crying.

Zara was super aggrieved—after all, she was senior to several here, and yet they ate their fill while she starved. What kind of logic is that?

"No, seriously, I’m way too hungry—everyone think of something, let’s find more food," Zara said, giving up on pretense.

Miles Yates looked troubled: "It’s almost dark. Where would we find more? The spot we got mushrooms from before—we already picked it clean. We were so hungry, we even took the baby mushrooms."

Zara stared pleadingly at Group One’s teammates: "Can we set up a trap and catch a rabbit or something?"