Starlet Taotie Chapter 14
Chapter 14 No More Advice
Back at the campsite.
Dong Xianhong and Le Hui wandered around the village for a while, hoping to pick up any possible overlooked spoils, but ultimately returned empty-handed.
After discussing it for a bit, the two decided to exchange their points for a clue as well. However, the clue for the ingredients was already gone, leaving only the seasonings and cookware.
Le Hui suggested, “How about we exchange for the cookware clue? Even without seasonings, we can still boil rice and corn. But if they don’t have a pot, cooking wouldn’t be possible at all.”
Dong Xianhong hesitated briefly before agreeing.
At that moment, Sheng Xibai and a limping, thoroughly disheveled Yang Zhen appeared before them.
Dong Xianhong was startled by their sorry state. “What happened to you two?”
Yang Zhen’s expression was extremely ugly.
After running a long distance earlier, he had realized something was wrong, so he and Sheng Xibai went back to check again and found the hemp rope Jiang Tao had discarded beneath the tree.
He immediately understood that Jiang Tao had scared him into fleeing using nothing but a rope.
Ever since then, he had been trapped in an intensely foul mood.
Chasing after Jiang Tao’s team was already impossible at this point, so the two of them came up with the same idea as Dong Xianhong and Le Hui.
So what if Jiang Tao’s team got the ingredients?
Without cookware and seasonings, they still wouldn’t be able to cook anything. In the end, they’d have no choice but to come begging them anyway.
Unfortunately, Dong Xianhong and Le Hui had already taken the cookware clue, so Yang Zhen and Sheng Xibai could only settle for the seasonings instead.
Meanwhile, following the clue in the photograph, Jiang Tao and Tang Yuxia quickly found the hidden stash of ingredients.
Rice, flour, meat, and vegetables filled an entire basket to the brim.
Jiang Tao happily hoisted the basket onto her back. “Let’s go! Time to head back and cook!”
Zhang Ce hurriedly reminded her, “But these are only the ingredients. You still don’t have the seasonings or cookware, so I’m afraid you won’t actually be able to cook anything.”
Tang Yuxia also realized the issue. “Jiang Jiang, should we go exchange the clues for the cookware and seasonings too?”
Zhang Ce waited eagerly for Jiang Tao to ask him about it.
That way, he could tell her that the clues for the cookware and seasonings had already been taken by the other two teams. Given Jiang Tao’s personality, where she would stop at nothing for food, she would definitely clash with the other teams over the clues.
And once that happened, they’d have plenty of good footage.
However—
Jiang Tao waved her hand dismissively. “No need.”
Zhang Ce: “?”
Then he watched as Jiang Tao casually plucked a few leaves from the grass nearby, snapped off several branches, and somehow found a few dried fruits from who-knew-where.
Zhang Ce stared blankly. “These are…?”
“Seasonings,” Jiang Tao replied.
Zhang Ce: “???”
He quickly took photos of the items and sent them to the expert consultant hired by the production team.
A reply came back very quickly:
【These are all wild seasonings. They’re edible.】
Zhang Ce was even more shocked now.
Meanwhile, seeing Jiang Tao constantly busying herself, Tang Yuxia couldn’t help asking, “Jiang Jiang, is there anything I can help with?”
Jiang Tao froze for a moment.
Tang Yuxia pointed at the identical colored armbands on the two of them. “We’re teammates, aren’t we? We should share hardships and blessings together. How can I let you do everything by yourself the whole time?”
Jiang Tao revealed a confused expression.
Meanwhile, Tang Yuxia had already enthusiastically started copying her by plucking leaves. “Like this?”
Jiang Tao: “...That’s ragweed… nevermind.”
For once, she was at a loss for words. But seeing that Tang Yuxia genuinely wanted to help, she asked her to gather the pine needles scattered on the ground.
As for Jiang Tao herself, she carried the basket of ingredients deeper into the forest.
Seeing her constantly looking around, Zhang Ce couldn’t help asking, “And what are you searching for now?”
Jiang Tao looked up and exclaimed in delight, “Found it!”
Zhang Ce followed her gaze and nearly had his legs give out beneath him.
Hanging high in the tree canopy was a massive wild beehive. The loud buzzing of the bees alone was enough to make anyone’s scalp go numb.
Zhang Ce’s voice trembled. “Something like this should really be handled by professionals—”
Before he could even finish speaking, Jiang Tao had already set down the basket of ingredients and started climbing the tree without any protective gear whatsoever.
Zhang Ce’s breathing nearly stopped.
His finger was already hovering over his phone, ready to call an ambulance.
With a loud buzz, the bees swarmed out of the hive, only to instantly retreat several meters away from Jiang Tao.
Zhang Ce: “...”
He seemed to have forgotten that even wild boars had been frightened into suicide by her. What were a few bees compared to that?
Jiang Tao carefully scooped out some honey from the hive, packed it into a bag, and only then jumped back down from the tree.
Zhang Ce was surprised. “I thought you were going to take the entire hive.”
After all, considering Jiang Tao’s obsession with food, it wasn’t impossible.
Jiang Tao shot him a look. “Of course not. I just want to eat, not kill them.”
“Besides, if the hive stays here, the bees will come back and keep making honey. That way, when I come again later, I’ll still have honey to eat!”
The disdainful look on her face, as though saying ‘How do you not understand something this obvious?’, nearly shattered Zhang Ce’s composure.
He completely shut his mouth after that.
From this point onward, no matter what Jiang Tao did, he decided he would no longer offer any advice.
Jiang Tao found a few more wild spices nearby. Then, as though she had caught a certain scent, she twitched her nose and walked toward a pine tree.
She crouched down and carefully brushed aside the pine needles at the base of the tree, revealing a plump, rounded mushroom cap underneath.
A delighted smile spread across her face.
With utmost care, she dug the mushroom out, then gently covered the hole back up with pine needles again.
The round little mushroom was carefully placed into the basket with the other ingredients.
“Alright, let’s go!”
She moved so quickly that Zhang Ce barely had time to react.
On the way back, he spotted plenty of other mushrooms, yet Jiang Tao ignored every single one of them.
Zhang Ce held himself back again and again, but in the end, he still couldn’t resist asking as he pointed at her basket, “What kind of mushroom is that?”
“That?” Jiang Tao licked her lips. “Pine mushroom.”
(TLN: Pine mushrooms (tricholoma pine) grow wild in fir and pine forests. They smell like cinnamon and spice and are super expensive, with premium varieties fetching up to $2,000 per kilogram.)
Zhang Ce: “!!!”
…
By the time Jiang Tao and Tang Yuxia returned to camp, the other two teams were already starving.
The moment they saw the basket behind Jiang Tao stuffed full of ingredients, all of them revealed eager expressions.
They had already reached an agreement.
If Jiang Tao came over later to borrow cookware or seasonings, they absolutely couldn’t start fighting among themselves. They had to cooperate during negotiations. Even if they couldn’t secure an even split of the ingredients, the two teams together had to get at least half.
Yet Jiang Tao didn’t even glance at them and walked straight past.
The four other guests: “???”
Le Hui looked incredulous. “What does Jiang Tao mean by this? Is she doing it on purpose?”
Sheng Xibai hesitated. “Maybe she just didn’t notice us? Should I go ask—”
“No!” Yang Zhen immediately cut him off. “This is definitely their strategy. They want us to make the first move so they can gain the upper hand in bargaining. We absolutely can’t fall for it.”
The other three: …True!
Tang Yuxia dumped the dry pine needles she had gathered from her clothes onto the ground. “Jiang Jiang, what are these for?”
“To start a fire,” Jiang Tao replied.
She found some bricks in the courtyard and quickly built a simple stove on the spot.
Then she placed a few pieces of wood inside and used the dry pine needles as kindling.
Very soon, flames sprang to life.
The dry pine needles crackled as they burned, releasing the fresh fragrance of pine into the air.
Dong Xianhong froze for a moment. “They’re planning to cook just like that? But without a pot, how are they supposed to do it?”
Then they watched as Jiang Tao pulled out a large stone slab, washed it clean, and directly placed it over the stove she had just built.
Dong Xianhong: “?!!”
Le Hui hurriedly comforted him. “So what if they have a way to cook? They don’t even have bowls or chopsticks. How are they supposed to eat later?”
Tang Yuxia excitedly held up several tree branches and large leaves. “Jiang Jiang, I found these! How about using them as our plates and chopsticks?”
Jiang Tao nodded. “That works.”
Le Hui: “?!!”
Under the heat of the flames, the stone slab quickly became scorching hot.
Using her make-shift chopsticks, Jiang Tao laid slices of pork belly onto the slab. The instant the meat touched the surface, it began sizzling loudly.
After only a short while, the edges of the meat curled slightly, lard bubbling out as an irresistible aroma spread through the air.
Both speculating groups swallowed involuntarily at the exact same time.
Yang Zhen forced himself to stay calm. “Even if they’re using a stone slab as a pan, they still don’t have proper seasonings. The meat won’t have any flavor…”
Jiang Tao washed the wild seasonings she had gathered, crushed them with a stone, and evenly sprinkled them over the grilled meat.
The unique fragrance of the herbs instantly mixed with the rich fatty aroma and smoky char of the barbecue, aggressively invading everyone’s noses.
And that wasn’t all. Jiang Tao even pulled out a small bag of honey and used a brush made from pine to glaze the meat slices with it.
Yang Zhen: “?!!”
This was way too f*cking unfair!!!!
The fully cooked meat had completely changed color, its rim charred into a fine sear, coated in tiny flecks of seasoning and releasing an overwhelmingly tempting aroma.
Tang Yuxia was still on a diet but the smell was simply too criminally tempting.
She stood at the side staring eagerly at it.
Le Hui couldn’t help revealing a gloating expression.
So what if Tang Yuxia teamed up with Jiang Tao? Jiang Tao clearly had no intention of sharing food with her. After working hard all morning, she’d end up with nothing in the end—an even worse outcome than theirs!
However, in the very next moment, Jiang Tao picked up a freshly grilled slice of meat and held it out in front of Tang Yuxia.
Tang Yuxia was stunned by this. “F-For me?”
Even though she hadn’t known Jiang Tao for very long, she already understood just how protective Jiang Tao was of her food.
Jiang Tao nodded. “Mhm. We’re teammates! We share hardships and blessings together!”
Tang Yuxia: “...”
That would’ve sounded far more convincing if you weren’t saying it with your eyes shut and a deeply reluctant expression on your face.
Tang Yuxia opened her mouth and bit into the slice of meat.
In the next instant, an overwhelmingly rich aroma exploded straight into her senses.
The seasonings didn’t overpower the flavor of the meat itself. The pork had been grilled to absolute perfection—one second longer would’ve made it too tough, one second shorter too raw.
The crispy char and tender juiciness burst together inside her mouth, so delicious she nearly swallowed her own tongue.
“I’ve never eaten barbecue this good before!”
She immediately picked up another slice and fed it to Jiang Tao.
Jiang Tao swallowed the meat in one bite with an “ah-woo,” yet her hands never stopped moving. From the basket, she took out the pine mushroom, carefully sliced it into pieces, and gently laid them onto the stone slab.
The sizzling sound rang out once more.
Along with it came a domineering and uniquely rich fragrance that instantly swept through everyone present.
As Jiang Tao grilled the mushroom, she also began kneading dough. Dividing the dough into equally sized pieces, she then flattened them and stuck them around the edges of the hot stone slab.
Grrrrooowl—
Nobody knew whose stomach growled first, but both remaining groups of guests immediately revealed awkward expressions.
Meanwhile, over on the other side, Tang Yuxia was already eating to the point of hiccuping from fullness.
All the other guests wore expressions of grief and indignation.
This was pure torture!!
At this point, they no longer cared about saving face. One after another, they crowded around Jiang Tao, hoping to get some food from her.
After all, with the cameras rolling, surely Jiang Tao couldn’t be that unreasonable, right?
Why, she absolutely could.
With a swift motion, Jiang Tao swept all the food into the leaf-plates, then turned her back toward everyone and started eating.
Her refusal to share could not possibly have been more obvious.
Grinding her teeth, Le Hui directly turned to Tang Yuxia instead. “Xia Xia, you helped find these things too, so you should have a say in how they’re handled, right? Are you really willing to watch me go hungry?”
Tang Yuxia replied honestly, “No, not really. Jiang Jiang was the one who found most of the stuff.”
“And if we give it to you, then Jiang Jiang will go hungry. So… I think it’s better if you stay hungry instead.”
Le Hui: “...”
The four other guests were exhausted and starving. After being tormented so badly by the aroma, they finally went directly to the production team for help.
Director Zou was also left with no words.
He had designed this game hoping the three teams would either compete or cooperate, making the episode more entertaining.
Although Jiang Tao’s outrageous tactics had completely exceeded their expectations, technically she still hadn’t broken any rules. If the guests couldn’t handle Jiang Tao and instead came to complain to him, weren’t they just bullying the easy target?
Still, they couldn’t exactly let the guests starve to death, so in the end, they reluctantly handed out boxed meals.
On one side were fragrant grilled meat, pine mushrooms, and flatbread.
On the other side were dry, uninspiring boxed lunches.
The two teams ate with extremely mixed emotions.
They secretly resolved to work hard that afternoon and teach Jiang Tao a lesson.
…
After lunch and a short rest, Director Zou immediately announced the afternoon’s game.
Same reward as before: the team that finished first would get a luxurious feast.
The two other teams were instantly filled with fighting spirit.
Yet Jiang Tao, for once, looked completely lazy and unmotivated.
Curious, Director Zou asked, “Xiao Jiang, why aren’t you trying so hard today? Don’t you want tonight’s feast anymore?”
“Don't you people already owe me one luxurious feast to begin with?” Jiang Tao’s expression instantly turned dangerous. “What? Trying to weasel out of the debt?”
Everyone else: “...”
Damn it, they had completely forgotten about that!!
TL Note:
