Chapter 99 Pick A Side
Henry continued to look for seafood on the beach, while Kendall turned back to the campsite to get the rope she would need from her tent.
As Kendall returned to the camp, she happened to run into Jasper, Daniel, Ezra, and the others emerging from the forest.
Jasper was holding an already-opened supply bag in his hands. Upon seeing Kendall, he stood tall, like a general returning victorious. "Kendall, we just found two supply bags in the forest! One supply bag has bread and water, and the other has apples, oranges, and a grapefruit!"
He was boasting, demonstrating that even if Kendall didn't share her food, they could still get their own through their own efforts!
Jasper intentionally glanced at Kendall's empty hands. "What are you eating tonight?"
"Mind your own business," Kendall didn't even look at him, simply unzipping her tent and stepping inside.
Kendall's indifferent reaction made him look like a person with no sense, getting so excited over some bread and fruit.
Jasper's face darkened. He turned and said to Daniel, Ezra, and Elijah. "We can't share what we found with Kendall. You've all seen the friction between us. You need to think carefully about whose side you're on."
With that, Jasper walked forward, holding the supply bag, giving Daniel's group time to think.
user @SiSiOnTop: "Which side you're on? What does Jasper mean by that?"
user @SuperHero: "How old is he, and he's still forcing people to pick sides?"
user @CalmMind: "With this kind of character? It seems the netizens haven't done enough to boycott the Reed family's products."
user @DiligentStudent: "Hahahaha, am I the only one who thinks this is funny? He's showing off what he has to Kendall, but he doesn't know that Kendall is eating meat tonight! Meat!"
After Jasper finished speaking, Ezra was the first to follow behind him. Ezra's handsome face wore a fawning smile, "Brother Jasper, of course I'm with you! Kendall's character is terrible, and she's especially violent. Only someone with a screw loose would want to be grouped with her!"
Jasper is the eldest young master of the Reed family, and many of the Reed family's companies are involved in the entertainment industry.
The reason Ezra participated in this program, besides boosting his visibility, was to network with people who could help his career. Now, the benefactor who could help him was right in front of him, how could Ezra possibly give that up?
user @TopCommentor: "Ugh. Gross. I remember when Ezra first debuted, he was praised for exposing a program team's inside corruption, not fearing power.
Even though he was eliminated halfway, netizens single-handedly made him a trending topic, allowing him to successfully debut.
Now... his flattering look is truly disgusting. "
user @ColdAsIce: "What's wrong with Ezra? He ate Kendall and Henry's breakfast this morning! He truly 'eats from the bowl and curses the cook' when he puts the bowl down."
user @WorkHard: "Why not team up with Kendall? Why hang out with this arrogant guy Jasper?"
user @AngryTeen: "The Reed family has many businesses in the entertainment industry. Kendall... is a commoner who is hated across the entire internet. I wouldn't be surprised if they all chose Jasper."
user @CynicalMind: "Right, people are realistic."
user @HopelessRomantic: "Ah ah ah ah, how could this be! Daniel! Why are you walking toward Jasper too?"
Undoubtedly, besides Ezra, Daniel, Elijah, and Sophia, who had been standing still, all chose Jasper.
The reason, the same as Ezra's. Both the Reed family and the Hansen family own large companies. Even if what happened today made everyone realize the online rumours were false, Kendall, no matter how innocent, was still a commoner with no background.
They couldn't afford to offend the Reed family and the Hansen family for Kendall, who was unrelated to them.
Liam had been beaten by Kendall earlier and was having trouble walking, so he didn't join everyone in searching for the supply bag in the forest and was resting in the tent. Mia also didn't go to the forest because she stayed in the tent to take care of Liam.
Seeing Jasper and the others return loaded with supplies, Mia happily came out to greet them.
The food in one supply bag was roughly a two-person portion. Jasper's group found two supply bags, which contained a total of 6 loaves of bread, two bottles of water, two apples, two oranges, and one grapefruit.
The group huddled together and quickly finished all the food. Everyone was still a little hungry but felt much better than when they were starving earlier.
Jasper rubbed his stomach, feeling unsatisfied. "We saw several rabbits and chickens in the forest earlier. We wanted to catch them, but they were too fast. We tried for a long time but didn't catch any."
"Meat..." Mia felt hungry just hearing about it. Before joining this program, she ate salad every day to lose weight. Now, in just one day, she understood the preciousness of food.
"It was too late today. We were afraid of getting stuck in the forest after dark if we didn't leave, so we didn't keep trying to catch them," Jasper said, feeling regretful about the few rabbits and chickens. "We'll go catch them early tomorrow."
———
(Please be advised that this section contains vivid descriptions of gore. Feel free to skip if you prefer to avoid such content.)
After bringing the rope, Kendall thoroughly cleaned the two rabbits. She discarded the rabbit fur since it was useless, but she set aside the internal organs she had removed, keeping them for the moment.
Henry searched around and found three discarded plastic drink bottles. Kendall took them and felt they could be turned into a few simple fish traps, which would prevent the rabbit organs she'd just set aside from being wasted.
Kendall cut open the three plastic bottles Henry had just found, creating three simple automatic fishing tools.
She then placed the rabbit organs into these three plastic bottles.
She strung the three bottles together with a rope and threw them into the nearby shallow water.
The organ's bloody scent should easily attract fish.
To prevent the bottles from being washed away by the sea during the high tide at night, Kendall specifically tied the other end of the rope to a stone, so they wouldn't run off.
After finishing the task, Kendall clapped her hands and said to Henry, "Time to go back."
"Okay!" Henry pried off the largest oyster he could find on a nearby reef, then quickly got up.
Henry turned his head to look at the two rabbits that Kendall had completely processed and said wistfully, "How should we cook these two rabbits?"
Kendall thought for a moment, "Let's roast them."
Although spicy rabbit and cold-eaten rabbit were the tastiest, resources were limited, so they would have to make do.
(The explicit scene ends here. You may continue reading comfortably.)
———
The two returned to the camp with their belongings. As dusk fell and night descended, Henry, just as he had done for breakfast, brought out his cooking gear. He threw the seafood into the pot with water and wild ginger.
There was plenty of firewood in the nearby forest. Kendall skewered the meat and rubbed seasoning on them.
Henry quickly went to the forest to gather firewood.
After running back and forth two or three times, he quickly accumulated a pile of wood.
With a small stove nearby, lighting the fire was easy.
They were clearly well-coordinated.
Henry's heavy, quick movements while gathering wood caused a significant commotion. Mia and Jasper's group, sitting in their tents, couldn't possibly have missed the noise.
Sophia's eyes darted around, "It's almost dark, and they're just starting to cook?"
Elijah pondered, "They seemed to have been at the beach the whole time. They must have been collecting seafood."
Ezra sneered, "It's almost dark, they came back so late, they probably didn't catch anything at all! Let's go out and see!"
The others figured they had nothing to do sitting in the tent anyway, so they followed suit and poked their heads out. As soon as they emerged from the tent and turned their heads, they saw Kendall roasting meat nearby.
The titanium pot on the small stove next to them was steaming profusely. After the seafood was cooked, Henry tore two pieces of flatbread, lifted the lid and placed them on top to steam and soften.
A gust of wind blew the aroma of sea crabs and oysters directly into the guest's noses, instantly making their already-unsatisfied stomachs rumble with hunger.
Mia, Jasper, and the others who had come out of their tents: "..."
user @LoveShowingOff: "Jasper, I bet you didn't see this coming! Compared to your meager bread and fruit, our Kendall is already feasting on a complete, balanced dinner!"
user @TiredOfLife: "Hahahaha, I'm laughing so loud!"
user @DancingMachine: "Jasper! I just have to ask, does your ego hurt?"
user @BeautyAdmirer: "That's so satisfying! Kendall is awesome! Her ability is top-notch!"
(End of Chapter)