novelraw Chapter 159: Retribution
Chapter 159: Retribution
[I was actually pretty happy when I saw this scene. Anyone with eyes can see Grandma Dixon’s living conditions are terrible. She even steams rice in a big wok; she doesn’t have a rice cooker. She uses firewood for cooking; she doesn’t have a gas stove. The only thing in her house is a 21-inch color TV, and I bet it’s a hand-me-down someone else threw out.]
[The few thousand yuan Riley Perry offered would have genuinely improved Grandma Dixon’s life, but then disgusting comments like that pop up. It’s because there are too many people like Seraphine that fewer and fewer people are willing to do good deeds these days!]
[Judge people by their actions, not their intentions; if you judge by intentions, no one is perfect. All I know is that Riley Perry paid way more than what Grandma Dixon’s things were worth, and her heart was in the right place. If she gets a good reputation out of this, she deserves it.]
[I’m an insider, and I can tell you Riley Perry’s appearance fee for this show is the lowest of all the guests. After taxes and the cut for her company and agent, she’s not left with much. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be so cheap.]
Of course, this staff member was referring to the situation before the first episode aired; he didn’t know that her contract had been renegotiated after the show became a hit.
[That’s right. Earlier, when she heard Best Actor King was going to give her all the car money, her eyes curved into crescents from smiling so much. And the fare was only 158 yuan.]
[Other people are like, "Ride a bike to the bar—save on the trip, splurge on the fun." She’s more like, "Pinch pennies every day, then blow it all at once." She doesn’t end up saving anything and spends every last cent!]
[Ahem~ Sorry, to the poster above, but it was *Director Warren’s* pocket that was left without a cent.]
[HAHAHA, the comment section is full of geniuses. That was a pretty good rhyme, too.]
Victoria Koenig was the last to be scored. She was unlucky enough to draw the task of helping a villager feed their pigs. The family raised over forty of them, and after spending the whole day feeding them, she still had to clean the pigsty and shovel manure. Even with all that work, her score only ranked her third out of the eight contestants, but from her cheerful expression, she seemed quite satisfied.
Victoria Koenig couldn’t help but ask, "Director Warren, you aren’t going to make us do more manual labor for the villagers tomorrow, are you? I can’t take much more of this." The pigsty truly reeked, and she had no desire to feed pigs again—or chickens, for that matter.
Director Warren said, "Of course not! Tomorrow’s task is much easier. You’ll just climb a mountain, enjoy the scenery, and grab a flag before noon to complete the mission. The rest of the day is free time. In the evening, we’ll have a barbecue, film a few closing scenes, and that’ll be a wrap for this episode."
"It’s that easy this time? Is there still a one-million prize?"
"Of course. Whoever gets to the summit and grabs the flag first wins the million-dollar prize."
Everyone grew excited again.
And with that, the live broadcast for the day came to an end. The production team had rented two adjoining houses in the village, with the guests assigned two to a room. The villagers all slept on traditional heated brick platforms, so even with two people sharing, the rooms didn’t feel crowded.
The moment the live stream went offline, everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.
The fake smile on Holly Summers’s face vanished instantly. Her gaze turned malicious as she looked at Riley Perry. "Riley, I’m so jealous of you. Your luck is just incredible. You got the easy task of repairing a house, while the rest of us were stuck tilling fields or chopping wood. Victoria had it even worse, feeding pigs and cleaning out a sty."
Anyone could tell her words were dripping with insinuation.
Everyone who had been about to leave stopped in their tracks. They all knew that whenever Holly Summers provoked Riley Perry, Riley would fire right back. A free show was about to begin, and no one wanted to miss it.
This time, however, Riley Perry changed her tune.
She walked right up to Holly Summers, an impeccable smile on her face, and patted her lightly on the shoulder. "What’s to be done? You can be as jealous as you want, but it won’t bring you any luck. Because, you see, people with wicked hearts never have good fortune!
And when you do too many bad things, karma has a way of catching up. I just wonder when yours will arrive."
Holly Summers was speechless.
She couldn’t see it herself, but her face had turned as black as ink.
And with an expression just as sour was Miles Ford.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that Riley Perry’s comment had been a veiled jab at him.
’For a second,’ he even wondered, ’maybe the... problem I’ve been having is because I’ve slept with too many girls. That must be why...’
"Riley Perry, you spout one more piece of nonsense and I swear I’ll sue you!"
Holly Summers couldn’t take it anymore. ’That damned Riley Perry has no filter,’ she fumed. ’If I let her keep running her mouth, my reputation will be completely ruined.’
"Go on, then. Hurry up. Do you want me to ask Director Warren for your phone?"
Holly Summers gritted her teeth. "Fine, fine, fine. So high and mighty now that you have a powerful backer. You just wait. I’d like to see how long you can keep hopping around like this!"
With that, she turned to storm away. But before she could even take three steps, her left foot tripped over her right, and with a SMACK, she face-planted on the spot.
Riley Perry immediately doubled over with laughter and started clapping. "Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! See? What did I tell you? Karma’s here already! But Holly, you’re being a little inconsiderate, don’t you think? You’ve gone and put a crater in the villager’s floor! I never realized you were so... substantial!"
’How dare she imply I’m fat?’ Holly Summers seethed. ’That bitch Riley Perry! She deserves to die!’
Staff members hurried over to help her up. Holly Summers glared at Riley Perry through clenched teeth. "You just wait! HISSS... so painful... mah tongue..."
’What rotten luck,’ she thought. She’d only wanted to threaten Riley Perry, but she’d ended up biting her own tongue. It wasn’t a serious injury, though. It would probably just hurt for the night and be better by morning.
"Oh, I’ll be waiting," Riley called back. "Waiting to watch you get exactly what you deserve!" With that, she paid Holly Summers no more mind and walked away.
Chloe Sterling hurried to follow, afraid she might burst out laughing if she stayed a second longer.
The two of them quickly returned to their room to get water and wash up. Once they were lying on the heated brick platform, Chloe Sterling hugged Riley Perry’s arm and whispered, "Tell me the truth. Did you have something to do with Holly Summers suddenly falling over?"
Lying on the platform, Riley Perry shifted away to put some distance between them. "Why would you think that?" she asked in surprise.
"Hehe, I’ve been binging a ton of wuxia novels lately. The great heroes in them, once their skills reach a certain level, can project their internal energy. Like this..."
She raised her right hand, extended a finger, and made the gesture for the Six Meridians Divine Sword, which sent Riley Perry into a fit of laughter. "Your imagination is running wild! You’re killing me!"
Chloe Sterling started laughing along. That gesture had been pretty dorky, she had to admit.
’But,’ Chloe thought, ’Riley didn’t actually deny it, did she?’
’Oh, I get it, I get it. She’s just never going to admit it. I promise I won’t say a thing.’
"Hey, do you think I could learn martial arts?"
Riley Perry gave her a sidelong glance. "If you have that much free time, it’d be more practical to have your dad hire a few more bodyguards for you."
"Sigh..." Chloe Sterling let out a dejected sigh. "Forget it. I guess I’m just fated to be a pampered princess. I can’t handle the slightest hardship. So be it."
"Alright, hurry up and go to sleep, or you’ll wake up tomorrow with huge dark circles under your eyes."