Possessed No More: The True Star Returns to Claim Her Throne-Chapter 107: I’ll Treat You to Something Delicious
["Sparrows are protected animals now? Aren’t they pests?"]
["Some unlucky guy in my village caught a bag of frogs to make a stew. Someone reported him, he got taken away, and they sent the frogs for testing. Turns out they were a Class II protected species, and there were over twenty of them. Not only did he get jail time, but he was also fined a ton of money."]
["Forget sparrows and frogs. A lot of the wild rabbits on this mountain are protected breeds too. If you accidentally catch one, you could still be convicted."]
Riley Perry seemed to have seen the live chat comments and even brought up the wild rabbits. "You all are probably thinking about the rabbit and chicken I caught yesterday. Those were all placed by the production team—purely domestic rabbits and chickens. If they were wild, a little girl like me who can’t even truss a chicken wouldn’t be able to catch them, right?
["Uhh, right... Does Riley Perry have some kind of misunderstanding about the phrase ’can’t even truss a chicken’?"] 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶
["This woman is putting on an act again. But it’s strange, I don’t find her annoying at all."]
["Why is she putting on an act? It’s all because of these keyboard warriors online! People flamed her for having a few extra books on her bookshelf. Does she have any choice but to be careful?"]
["Riley Perry probably doesn’t know her name has already been cleared from all that stuff before, so she’s being super careful with everything she says and does."]
She walked quickly through the forest, but in reality, Riley Perry had already activated her ’radar mode’ and was heading straight for a large rooster. The rooster had flown onto a crooked tree, its high perch giving it a good view. It spotted Riley as soon as she appeared. But the rooster was a bit arrogant, craning its neck and crowing loudly, as if it were challenging her with a non-stop "COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!"
Riley Perry didn’t hold back. Without even unsheathing her dagger, she threw it. The posture was incredibly cool, the movement lightning-fast. With a THWACK, it hit the rooster square in the head. The rooster came FLUTTERING down from the tree and hit the ground with another THUD.
It had a worse fate than last night’s rabbit. It was a goner before its legs even had a chance to twitch.
"My prize: one large rooster. I’ll walk a bit further and try my luck. It would be even better if I could find something else to eat."
Carrying the rooster, Riley Perry continued through the woods. Soon, she spotted a few sweet potato vines. "Looks like my luck is holding. We’ll have dessert."
These things grow near the surface, so pulling on the vine brought the sweet potatoes right out.
"I probably didn’t get them all, but there’s no need to. Leaving some roots will let them grow back next year."
Riley Perry wandered through the forest for another half hour. By the time she was done, she had another rabbit, another chicken, and a large handful of wild vegetables.
"The production team really spared no expense. I wonder how many small animals they released into this forest. They’re a bit stuck in their ways, though. Why didn’t they think to release some ducks and geese? That would give the contestants a change of pace.
Not to brag, but even my mom says my iron pot stewed goose is amazing."
["Sweetie’s Mom-Fan: No, I was just afraid if I didn’t say it was good, no one would help me cook anymore."]
["Riley Perry’s Actual Mom: No, my daughter’s cooking really is delicious."]
["To the person above, I’m a mom-fan too, but we can’t be looking through such rose-colored glasses."]
["Riley Perry’s Actual Dad: But my wife isn’t lying. My daughter’s cooking really is delicious."]
["...Riley Perry even has dad-fans and mom-fans now. Our fanbase is constantly growing. This is a good thing."]
Far away in her hometown, Ruby Marshall gave her husband a helpless look. "But I really am Riley’s actual mom. Why don’t they believe me?"
Patrick Perry sighed. "Well, nobody believes what I said either, do they?"
Just then, his phone rang. He glanced at it and saw a message from the village store, telling him to come pick up a package.
"Did you buy something?"
Ruby Marshall said, "We don’t need anything at home, what would I buy? Just go get it. We’ll find out what it is when you bring it back."
Patrick Perry dusted himself off and, without even changing his clothes, hopped on his tricycle and left.
Ruby Marshall went back to watching her daughter on the screen. It felt like her daughter had learned so much during her four years of college. In any case, the change was huge. After all, she had never been this capable on her previous variety shows.
But no matter how much she changed, she was still her daughter. Her own flesh and blood, for real.
Patrick Perry was gone in a flash and returned even faster. Not only that, but the dark, sturdy man was now beaming. "Ruby, our girl sent us something! That kid... she just sent us so much last time, and now she’s already sent more."
Ruby Marshall stopped shucking corn and got up to look at the items in the tricycle. "How much must all this have cost? It seems she’s really doing well for herself lately." Her tone was light, with a hint of a smile.
The couple carried five large bundles into the house. They started unwrapping the packages while watching the video, the smiles on their faces visibly growing wider.
"Our son’s off for the October 1st holiday. Why don’t we go to Dragonspire and visit our girl?" Ruby Marshall suggested.
Patrick Perry agreed without a moment’s hesitation. "You’re the boss in this house. Whatever you say, goes."
"So, should we take the bus or the train?"
"Let’s take the train. It’s only a three-hour trip, and it’s safer."
"I’ll book the tickets early then, so they don’t sell out."
Patrick Perry was a man of action. He pulled out his phone and started booking the tickets right away. With the internet being so widespread, he’d learned a few things. Booking tickets was no problem for him.
Riley Perry had no idea that she would be getting a family of three as a prize after she finished filming the show.
Right now, she was busy massaging the two chickens. Since there was only one pot, she planned to cook the remaining half-kilo of rice with some wild vegetables to make a congee for lunch. She’d also make two Beggar’s Chickens, slow-roast the sweet potatoes in the embers, and roast the rabbit directly over the fire.
Roxanne Fulton sat by the fire in the shade of a tree, watching Riley Perry with stars in her eyes. "Riley, you’re truly amazing. You actually managed to catch chickens and a rabbit."
Riley Perry replied, "They’re domesticated. They can’t fly well and can’t run fast, so they’re pretty easy to catch."
Riley Perry had provided all the ingredients for lunch, including the water. Best Actor King felt a little embarrassed. "We still have a ham sausage. Do you want to add it to the congee?"
Riley Perry looked at the sika deer resting in the shade of some trees not far away. "No need. The four of us can’t possibly finish all this meat. There’s no reason to add the ham. You guys can save it for dinner."
Best Actor King didn’t insist. Instead, he took over the task of turning the rabbit from Riley Perry and started chatting about filming with Victoria Koenig.
Blue skies and white clouds, green trees and lush forest. In the distance, sika deer grazed on grass. Nearby, a few friends gathered, and on the grill, the rabbit slowly turned golden brown.
Watching this, some viewers started to feel drowsy again.
With quick eyes and nimble hands, one sent a tip, then immediately closed their eyes and drifted off to sleep.
This was great. Besides getting a good night’s sleep, he could now even take a nap in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, orders on Meituan and Ele.me suddenly surged. Orders for barbecue shot up to second place on the charts. First place, naturally, went to Beggar’s Chicken.
"It smells so good! WAHHH, Riley, I don’t want to leave you! What am I going to do?"
Riley Perry patted her on the shoulder and tossed the washed wild vegetables into the pot. Once the vegetables turned a vibrant green, she sprinkled in some fine salt, then removed the pot from the fire. The congee was ready.
’You don’t want to leave me,’ Riley Perry thought. ’You just don’t want to leave the good food.’
"Once the show is over, I’ll treat you to some delicious food back home."
