Possessed No More: The True Star Returns to Claim Her Throne-Chapter 110: Woodworking

[This is pure a cappella! No autotune, no backing track. This is Victoria Koenig’s real skill! Who was it that said Victoria Koenig couldn’t sing?]

[Do people actually believe that stuff online? All I can say is, you’ve got to be pretty clueless. Could an ordinary person with no real talent get second place on a competition show?]

[And he only got second because some industry plant was buying votes. Otherwise, he would’ve been number one—the all-rounder who excels at both singing and dancing!]

[SOB... People online used to smear our Vick, saying he lip-synced or that his vocals were bad, and no matter how we fans tried to explain, nobody believed us! Today, his name is finally cleared! Thank you so much, Riley Perry!]

The comments below were filled with messages of thanks.

A little over two hours later, the bamboo raft finally reached the shore. The two of them shouldered their bags, and Riley Perry carried the fish basket. After walking for a bit, they came across a few villagers chatting and went over to ask for directions. "Ma’am, we’re trying to get to Goldcrest Village. Which way should we go?"

The woman, seeing how pretty and well-spoken she was, enthusiastically pointed the way. "Just follow this main road west for about a kilometer, and you’ll be there."

Riley Perry and Victoria Koenig thanked her and continued on their way. They happened to come across a motor tricycle heading to Goldcrest Village and managed to hitch a ride.

’...This damn show,’ the cameraman thought. ’Next time, whoever wants this assignment can have it. I’m not coming back, even if it kills me. Riley Perry and Victoria Koenig get to ride deer, I have to walk. They get a bamboo raft, I have to chase them along the bank until a colleague finds a boat to catch up. They get a tricycle, and I have to hire another car to chase them. It’s like I’m going through a heavenly tribulation or something.’

The motor tricycle jostled them all the way to Goldcrest Village. They politely thanked the driver, and after they got off, Victoria Koenig remarked, "Even though I come from an ordinary family, that was my first time on a tricycle. It was so bumpy."

"We’re lucky we got a ride at all. The villagers here are so genuine; they didn’t even ask for a fare. Let’s go. I doubt we’ll be this lucky again."

Riley Perry then looked at the cameraman. "About this task you mentioned... you’re not going to make us go door-to-door asking, are you?"

The cameraman tilted his camera up and down in a nod.

"If we’re unlucky, it could take us half a day just to find the person giving out the task. Director Warren must use all his brainpower just thinking up ways to torment people." After a moment, Riley Perry smiled. "But there is an advantage. The teams that get here early might be able to switch to another task if they can’t complete the first one. So this time, it really is all about luck."

Victoria Koenig suggested, "Why don’t we split up? We can search separately, and once one of us finds the task-giver, we can meet back up. We’ll save some time that way."

"Sounds good," Riley Perry agreed. "I’ll start from the north end of the village, and you take the south. Call me when you find them."

Having agreed on a plan, they went their separate ways, going door-to-door to knock and ask the villagers.

The production team must have made arrangements with the village beforehand. The villagers were all friendly, not surprised by the interruptions, and would even chat patiently for a moment. After searching for over half an hour, Riley Perry’s watch rang. She immediately answered it. "Ria, I found it! The bed in this house is broken. The owners need us to help them build a new one."

"Where are you?"

"Third row from the south end, seventh house from the east. The family’s name is Chenning. I’ll wait for you at the door."

Five minutes later, they were reunited.

"Ria, this task is really hard," Victoria said. "Maybe we should just give up. I don’t know the first thing about carpentry."

The man of the Chenning family stood at the door, smiling at them. "It’s alright if you don’t know how. We have a carpenter in the village. you can learn from him and then come back to build the bed."

’The entire show is only five days long,’ Victoria Koenig thought, ’and two and a half days are already gone. By the time we learn how to build a bed, the show will be over.’

Riley Perry understood. The production team wanted to promote local artisans. Whether it would be effective was another question, but the intention was good. "And what makes you think you’d know how to do a different task?"

’...Knowing Director Warren’s sadistic nature,’ Victoria thought, ’the other two tasks are probably just as difficult.’

"Then what should we do?"

Riley Perry turned to Mr. Chenning, who had spoken earlier. "Sir, could you take us to see that carpenter?"

"Of course, of course. I’ll take you there right now."

The carpenter lived on the west side of the village, not too far from Mr. Chenning’s home. They arrived a few minutes later.

The carpenter was a man in his fifties with a dark complexion. The deep wrinkles around his eyes and mouth suggested he smiled often.

"Old Shaw," Mr. Chenning said, "these are the celebrities filming a show in our village. They want to learn how to build a bed from you, so be sure to teach them well."

Riley Perry was speechless.

Mr. Shaw chuckled. "No problem, no problem at all. I’ll certainly teach them with care. I can’t say I’ll turn them into real carpenters, but they should be able to make a small item, no problem."

With that, he led Riley Perry and Victoria Koenig to the side room where he kept his tools.

Riley Perry asked Mr. Chenning, "Does the production team expect us to handle everything ourselves, starting from preparing the wood? Are there any style requirements?"

Mr. Chenning replied, "Old Shaw has pre-cut wood right here, and a standard design is fine. You just have to follow his instructions and build one. It’s a bit time-consuming, though. It’ll take at least half a day to finish."

Victoria Koenig exclaimed, "It takes that long?"

"You should be grateful. If they had required a specific style, half a day wouldn’t be nearly enough," Riley Perry said, rolling up her sleeves. "Mr. Shaw, I know how to use all these tools, I’ve just never built a bed myself. If you could walk us through the process and point out anything we need to be careful about, we can get started right away."

Modern carpentry uses power tools, so cutting the planks was a quick job. Under Mr. Shaw’s guidance, Riley Perry swiftly cut the wood to the required dimensions while Victoria Koenig assisted. Sawdust and sweat filled the air in the Shaws’ small courtyard.

Watching Riley Perry deftly cut the planks until they were perfectly smooth and then assemble them into a standard double bed under his guidance, Mr. Shaw praised her repeatedly. "Young lady, are you sure you’ve never done this before? My own apprentice has been with me for three years, and he’s not as nimble as you."

Riley Perry shook her head. "I’ve wanted to learn, but I never got the chance."

’In my past life, I was too busy with my studies. When would I have had time to learn anything else?’

’Later, when I went to the Cultivation Realm, I learned many things, but no matter how eclectic my skills became, I never would have picked up carpentry.’

’There was already too much to learn about the proper disciplines.’

Just as their bed was nearing completion, Ethan Shaw and Miles Ford arrived in Goldcrest Village. The two had entered from the west side of the village and had good luck, finding their task-giver after checking only four houses. Miles Ford was stunned. "Weaving fish baskets? Is that something you can learn in a day or two?" 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"Yes, yes, you can," the villager said. "You two just need to weave one basket that’s a meter tall, and you’ll have succeeded. If you study hard, it’ll go quickly."

Even though they knew the task wouldn’t be easy, the two men couldn’t refuse. So, the two of them grabbed a large pile of wicker strips and began the miserable task of weaving baskets. They worked in sullen silence, completely frustrated.

"HISS!" A bamboo strip sliced a small cut on Miles Ford’s middle finger, and blood immediately welled up.

"Mr. Ford, what’s wrong?"

Miles Ford scowled at the woman teaching them how to weave. "I’ve hurt my hand."