Chapter 41
Elizabeth had whipped up some pizza.
Brenda stepped into the kitchen to make breakfast too. Besides the soup she cooked, she fried up two eggs for each person.
So, both groups ended up having breakfast around the same time. Raymond and his crew were thrilled with their meals. They polished off all the pizzas, leaving them with a sense of lingering satisfaction.
On the other side, no one had much of an appetite; they just sipped soup and nibbled on fried eggs.
Brenda smiled at Kevin and said, "Kevin, I made this soup just for you. Have some more."
Kevin felt like crying. Could he tell her he didn't want any more soup? He'd been drinking it all day yesterday, and now just the sight of it made him want to puke. He craved pizza! Elizabeth used to make pizza at home that was even better than the stuff from restaurants. Just thinking about it made him nostalgic.
But since Brenda had made the soup especially for him, he couldn't refuse her kindness. He nodded and said, "Alright, I'll have another bowl." He quickly finished one bowl of plain soup and then served himself another. He downed it fast. Fearing Brenda might offer him another bowl, he quickly wiped his mouth and said, "I'm done eating!"
Seeing him quickly down two bowls, Brenda thought Kevin liked her soup. So she said, "Kevin, if you like soup, I'll make more for you tomorrow."
Kevin's smile froze. He forced a grin and said, "You don't have to spoil me." Then he added, "Tomorrow, make what Eugene and Lisa want to eat. My stomach's much better now." He really couldn't handle any more soup.
Eugene saw Kevin's distress and felt a bit sorry for him. He said, "How about we have pizza or egg pancakes tomorrow?" He missed Elizabeth's pizza and egg pancakes.
Lisa stayed quiet; she knew her opinion didn't matter.
Brenda, hearing Eugene's suggestion, didn't think much of it. She believed her soup was pretty good. Being considerate, she naturally wanted to meet her group's needs. So she nodded and said, "Alright, I'll make egg pancakes for you tomorrow." It was simpler than making pizza, after all.
Kevin sighed in relief. "Egg pancakes sound great. Just hearing about them makes me hungry."
[Hahaha, poor Kevin.]
[Feeling sorry for Kevin. Brenda really has no clue; it's obvious he doesn't want any more soup.]
[Kevin needs to work on his acting skills.]
[Brenda: Here, Kevin, have some soup. Kevin: Oh, thank you so much.]
[Suddenly feeling sorry for Kevin. With a sister like Brenda, his stomach must be under a lot of pressure.]
Kevin's fans watched the live stream and couldn't help but feel sorry for their idol.
Today, Elizabeth and her group didn't go to the farmers' homes to look for work. Instead, they stayed in the yard, where Elizabeth repaired appliances and tutored the village kids.
Raymond and his crew kept up with their teaching.
At noon, the families of the kids who came to study had agreed to each make a dish and bring it over. So for lunch, Elizabeth and her group had a full table without even leaving the house.
Raymond snapped a photo of the spread and posted it in the group chat.
Raymond: [We didn't even have to go out, and we have a full table of dishes. I'm afraid we won't be able to finish it all.]
Kevin and the others heard the notification and opened the group chat. The four of them fell silent.
Kevin cursed, "I shouldn't have opened it."
Lisa looked at the photo of the feast and then at the plate of pasta in front of her. She suddenly regretted choosing this group.
Today, they had found work helping to harvest wheat. She and Brenda didn't go into the fields to cut the wheat; they just bundled what others had cut and carried it to the cart. However, after less than an hour, they couldn't take it anymore; their backs and hands ached. So they slowed down considerably.
Eugene and Kevin went down to the fields to help with the wheat harvest, but they only lasted a little over an hour. The host family wasn't satisfied with their work, so the promised lunch turned out to be just a portion of pasta for each of them.
Lisa suggested, "Should we also teach the village kids to sing and dance?"
Brenda immediately refused. "No need. Otherwise, the other group might think we're trying to steal their students."
It was Elizabeth who had proposed teaching the village children. Brenda didn't want to pick up what Elizabeth had left behind.
Lisa was speechless. "But we're really not good at this kind of work. The host family said if we keep this up in the afternoon, they won't pay us."
This farmer wasn't giving them any leeway.
Brenda was also speechless; she thought the farmer was being too strict. She pondered for a moment. "How about we go to town to make some money?"
Elizabeth and her group had even learned a puppet show recently, which was way more interesting than just doing manual labor. To stand out in the live stream, they needed to come up with something unique.
Eugene asked, "How do we make money? Find a job?" He didn't want to harvest wheat anymore; he had never done such work before, and now his back and hands ached.
The afternoon sun was scorching. Working in the fields would only make his face darker, maybe even cause peeling.
Brenda said, "We can perform. I can play the guitar, my brother can dance. Eugene, you and Lisa can sing." She had learned to play the guitar from her third brother, Arnold.
Earlier that morning, Brenda had secretly asked a staff member about her popularity. The staff member told her that her yoga sessions weren't as popular as Elizabeth's boxing fitness. She was infuriated and even more determined. How could her graceful yoga be less appealing than Elizabeth's rough boxing fitness? What kind of taste did those viewers have? This was why she came up with this idea, mainly to show the audience her versatile talents.
Hearing Brenda's suggestion, the other three didn’t object. They really didn't want to do hard labor anymore. Harvesting and bundling wheat wasn't very interesting to watch. Performing would likely be much better. So they told Arthur about their idea. Arthur provided them with a car to take them to town. Their live stream indeed needed a change to become more interesting.
While the four were on their way to town, Elizabeth and her group went to Terry's house, the man who did puppet shows.
Terry had already prepared the puppets needed for the performance, and now the four needed to rehearse. He said, "I'll teach you how to manipulate the puppets, and then you can voice your own characters. But there's one problem we need to solve, or the performance will be flawed."
Ronald asked, "What problem?"
Terry replied, "The music. My son used to provide the music for our puppet shows." He sighed. "But he's no longer with us, and my grandson isn't skilled with those instruments. So we might need your show's team to bring in someone for the music."
Arthur, who was sitting in a corner of the room, asked, "Terry, what instruments do you need?"
Terry took them to a separate room. He pointed to a cabinet filled with instruments. "These."
Arthur and the others looked over and saw a violin, piano, drums, harmonica, guitar, and bagpipes.
The old man said, "I can play the harmonica and bagpipes, but I'm not skilled with the others."
Arthur said with some difficulty, "Then we need people who are skilled with the violin, piano, drums, and guitar. If we have to bring them in from outside, I'm not sure if there's enough time."
The performance was scheduled for the day after tomorrow. Bringing in several skilled musicians from out of town might not be feasible in time.
At this moment, Elizabeth raised her hand. "How about I give it a try?"
Everyone present looked at Elizabeth in astonishment. She could do this too?
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