novelraw Chapter 149: Anyway, I Won’t Lose Out
Chapter 149: Anyway, I Won’t Lose Out
Honestly, it must have been tough for Director Warren to find a hotel like this. The two rooms they got were probably just vacated on the spot.
When Holly Summers and her roommate came out of their room, they both looked furious.
Once all eight guests had gathered, Director Warren, who never did anything remotely humane, appeared. The first order of business was to confiscate all their cash and phones, after which he once again issued each of them a watch phone.
Live Comments: [Director Warren is being so evil this season. He snatched the guests’ luggage and still hasn’t given it back. Looks like he has no intention of returning it.]
[They should have taken their phones and wallets at the airport. Then we could’ve watched them struggle to walk all the way back to the hotel.]
[Believe it or not, as long as Riley Perry is around, there’s no way she’d just obediently walk back to the hotel!]
[Exactly. I feel like at the airport, Director Warren wanted to make everyone flat broke and then watch them scramble to make money to get back to the hotel. Too bad for him, with a wild card like Riley Perry in the mix, his plan failed.]
[Director Warren: Plan? What plan? There is no plan! This show has no script! Because Riley Perry shredded it!]
Director Warren, who was also reading the live comments: ’This director is suffering, but this director isn’t saying a word.’ Because saying anything more would just bring tears to his eyes!
After confiscating their phones, Director Warren mercifully allowed the guests to eat lunch.
"Order what you want. The mission will officially begin after lunch."
The menu was placed on the table, closest to Ethan Shaw. Ethan picked it up and started ordering immediately. "Well, we’d better order a few more dishes for lunch. After all, it’s hard to say if we’ll even get to eat dinner. Besides, we should take every chance we get to rip off Director Warren."
With that, he rattled off an order of three dishes from the menu.
Simon Ford didn’t hold back either, ordering four dishes.
Silas King felt that with seven dishes already ordered, adding more would be inappropriate. This was a live broadcast, and if they ordered a table full of food they couldn’t finish, there was no telling how badly the online viewers would flame them.
"Roxanne, why don’t you and the other young ladies order? I’m fine with anything."
Riley Perry said, "I’ll just have the cucumber with yuba."
She had heard clearly that the two men had ordered nothing but expensive main courses, without a single vegetable dish among them.
Holly Summers shot Riley Perry a disdainful glance. ’So unsophisticated,’ she thought. ’Coming to a place like this and not ordering something good. Just cucumber and yuba. How cheap.’
"I didn’t believe it before when you said you had a hard life at home, but now it seems it must be true.
You’re a celebrity now, after all. Even if you’re not making millions a day, you still earn money more easily than ordinary people. And you’re just ordering cucumber and yuba? Besides, it’s not like you have to pay for it, right?"
Yep, everyone at the table could tell what she was implying—that Riley Perry was being cheap and petty.
Riley Perry, however, wasn’t angry. She just smiled pleasantly at Holly Summers. Chloe Sterling thought to herself, ’Here we go, time for another good show.’
"Let me clarify something. I’ve said before that my family is from the countryside, but I never said we had a hard life. We’re not poor. We have a good bit of land, we grow our own vegetables and raise chickens and ducks in our yard, so we never lack for food. My dad also has a formal job that brings in a few thousand yuan a month, which is more than enough to support me and my younger brother.
Also, money is money, no matter whose it is. The way you’re talking, it sounds like you think we’re just mooching off a clueless sponsor. Don’t you think that’s a bit inappropriate?"
Holly Summers: ’...Didn’t you fucking rip off Director Warren for a whole feast last time? You think I didn’t see that?’
Riley Perry: ’How is that the same? I was ripping off Director Warren, none of the food went to waste, and he was perfectly happy to be ripped off by me.’
’This time, we’re eating on the sponsors’ dime. The sponsors are watching.’
Holly Summers’s mouth twitched. ’This bitch. Can’t she just shut up?’
"Riley, that’s not what I meant. Forget it, if you want to misunderstand, go ahead. I remember you love seafood, don’t you? You always ordered plenty of it when we used to eat together. Relax, it’s not my treat this time, so let me order some for you."
Riley Perry gave her no opportunity to sling mud, maintaining her pleasant smile as she spoke. "We’ve eaten together at least a hundred times, and the only time you ever paid was last time at that private kitchen. No wonder you remember it so clearly."
’Bring it on. Who’s afraid of who? I’m not about to lose out on anything, no matter how small.’
This time, Holly Summers really did quiet down, looking like she wanted to hide her head under the table. ’This damn bitch,’ she fumed. ’Can’t she just ever shut her mouth?’
Having enjoyed the show, Roxanne Fulton picked up the menu and passed it to Holly Summers. "Alright, hurry up and order. I’m getting hungry. Weren’t you going to order some seafood for Riley?"
Holly Summers felt another dagger pierce her heart, but to save face, she still ordered three seafood dishes, each one outrageously expensive.
Next up were Victoria Koenig and the other two. Victoria glanced at Riley Perry. "Ria, do you really like seafood? This king crab looks pretty good. Should I order one for you?"
Riley Perry smiled at her. "Listen to your big sis. Let’s not."
Victoria Koenig showed another side of herself; she was very obedient. "Then I’ll just order a cold dish too. The garlic eggplant."
Roxanne Fulton followed suit, ordering the boneless chicken feet, and that was it.
Chloe Sterling also ordered just one stir-fried dish.
The food arrived quickly. Riley Perry happily enjoyed her meal. Of course, her plate of cucumber and yuba was the first to be polished off.
After the meal, Director Warren popped up with a smug grin. "Finished eating? If you’re finished, then it’s time to settle the bill."
Everyone: ’...Settle what bill?’
Only Riley Perry showed no sign of surprise.
’There’s no such thing as a free lunch from Director Warren!’
Soon, everyone found out Director Warren’s method for settling the bill.
Whoever ordered it, pays for it!
No money? Then go out and earn it!
Only after paying off the cost of lunch and the fee for their rooms tonight would they complete the day’s mission.
Everyone was dumbfounded.
Silas King, who hadn’t ordered any dishes, should have had it the easiest. But—and it was a big but—his room was the most expensive. His celebrity status was the highest, so everyone had respectfully deferred to him and given him the best room. The room rate was 800 per night.
Next was Roxanne Fulton. Her room was 700, and adding her boneless chicken feet, she needed to earn 768 yuan.
Ethan Shaw’s room was 600, but with the dishes he ordered, he had to earn 1,040 yuan.
Chloe Sterling’s room fee was 500 yuan, plus her food cost, for a total of 568 yuan to earn.
Victoria Koenig’s room fee was 400 yuan, plus food, making her total 428 yuan.
When they arrived at the hotel, Riley Perry had deliberately hung back, choosing the worst room among the six of them. Her room fee was 300, and her cucumber with yuba was 28, meaning she had to earn 328 yuan.
That left Simon Ford and Holly Summers. The two of them were actually in a similar boat. Simon Ford’s dishes cost over 600, and with his 200 yuan room fee, he needed to earn 898 yuan. Holly Summers had the worst room, at only 100 yuan, but her few seafood dishes added up to over 1,000. She had to earn 1,136 yuan, the highest amount of all eight guests.
As soon as Chloe Sterling heard the director announce the totals, she threw her arms around Riley Perry. "Waaah, Riley, thank goodness for you! Otherwise, I’d have to earn a lot more than 568! Director Warren is such a scammer! Why didn’t he say something earlier?"
’Silly girl,’ Riley thought. ’If he’d said something, how could he have scammed anyone?’
"Alright, stop with the fake crying. Let’s figure out how we’re going to earn money this afternoon."
Among the eight of them, even the lowest amount was over three hundred yuan. No part-time job could earn that much in half a day. They would have to rely on their talents.
"Director, isn’t this a little unfair? We all ate those dishes. The cost should be split evenly."
Miles Ford wholeheartedly agreed with that sentiment. He felt that even though Simon Ford had ordered a few extra dishes, they were for everyone to share. Why should he be forced to earn all that money by himself?