Chapter 111
Chapter 111
Angeline’s team aside, no one else doubted Evander’s credentials, so everyone proceeded to get on the open-air gondolas parked at the hostel entrance.
Since Evander chose to sit with Angeline’s team, the vehicle felt more crowded than usual.
As the gondolas moved into the dense forest, a cool breeze brushed against everyone’s cheeks, putting everyone in a relaxed mood.
Seeing no one was shooting in their gondola, Evander glared at Angeline with Floretta in her embrace and questioned, “So, are you really not explaining anything? You talk a lot usually, don’t you?”
Angeline felt nervous at his interrogation.
“I thought I shouldn’t leave Floretta alone at the airport. Besides, I did send you a text before that,” she replied softly.
“What about you?”
Evander glowered at Floretta, who gradually showed her face from Angeline’s lap like a duckling.
“Daddy, I asked for your permission before as well. You promised you would bring me out on Labor Day,” she answered, smiling sheepishly.
Evander was left speechless at her reply because he knew he had fallen for her trap for his own carelessness. This belongs to NôvelDrama.Org.
Despite being just five years old, his daughter was clever and scheming.
Jacob pouted in dissatisfaction when he saw how frightened Angeline and Floretta were. “Just so you know, we’re at Summerbank now. This is not your turf anymore, so stop scaring them like that.”
Evander’s face gloomed the moment Jacob spoke, making the ambiance in the car tense and cold suddenly.
“I can always make them leave. You know that, right?”
“You…” Jacob gazed up and met Evander’s eyes.
Feeling the deterrence from Evander’s glare, which sent a chill down his spine, Jacob did not utter the rest of his sentence.
As I said, he is exactly like an old fox.
It was true that Jacob was no match for Evander, who had experienced and seen many things in life.
“Carry me, Daddy.”
Just as things were escalating, Floretta suddenly went over to Evander and sat on his lap with her arms circling his neck.
“Don’t be angry with us, Daddy. Jac has kept my identity a secret since the show started. Also, they pay a lot to get us on set, so I’m helping you earn money in a way.”
Her words appeased Evander, who then fixed his gaze on her as he reminded her, “Floretta, you’re still young. I don’t need you to earn money.”
“I beg to differ,” Angeline weighed in with a frown.
“Mr. Golding, I think this is good training for Floretta. You shouldn’t always be so strict on her,” she continued.
“Yeah. I agree with Angel. I really like the exploring they make us do,” Floretta added readily, raising her two hands in agreement.
When Evander saw the two working together to come up with excuses for what Jacob did, he had no choice but to compromise.
Looking deeply at Angeline, he told himself he should just let it slide that once.
After all, he had not been spending time with Floretta due to his busy schedule, so he figured he might as well make full use of that opportunity to make it up to her.
I suppose Angeline won’t accuse me of being an irresponsible father now.
It did not occur to Evander that he had changed, for in the past, he would not have gone easy on Jacob after what he did, but that time, he decided to let him off the hook because he considered Angeline’s feelings.
Despite their little digression in the gondola, the group met their shooting destination very soon.
The forest was so thick and vast that they could not see the end of it. The tree branches blocked off the sun, and little butterflies flew around, catching the children’s attention.
Once Evander got down, the other two teams quickly pulled him over, trying to get his attention.
“Mr. Golding, am I tying this knot correctly?”
“Hold on, Mr. Golding. Which direction should we go? What should we do if the children get a heatstroke?”
Angeline laughed heartily when she saw Evander trying to conceal his anger as the people poured in around him.
I bet he didn’t expect himself to be answering simple questions like that when he signed up to be our mountain guide.
“Floretta, make sure you stick around, all right? I don’t want you going missing.”
Despite having fun watching Evander caught in a conundrum, Angeline still took Floretta’s safety seriously when she tied the rope around Floretta. Having learned her lesson, Angeline even tied a red string around her and Floretta’s wrists.
“All right.” Floretta blinked her eyes in eagerness as she waited for their adventure to begin.
Once the host blew his whistle, everyone set out, with Evander being pulled to another team.
Although Angeline did not feel good about it, she still held on to Floretta’s hand as they went deeper into the forest.
As for Jacob, he felt relieved that Evander was elsewhere and followed behind Angeline chirpily with his small bucket, reminding them constantly to be careful.
“Slowly, guys. Both of you just need to look pretty for the cameras. Let me do all the digging.”
“Haha. I can do it too,” Floretta volunteered happily in her floral dress as she ran around in the bush.
Since she was more intelligent than her peers, to begin with, it did not take her long before she found a pan used for cooking and some vegetables and meat.
Behind her, Jacob had been catching up, carrying all their belongings. It did not take long before he was soaked in sweat and panting.
“Hold up. I need a rest,” he cried out, stopping where he was.
Yet, energetic as she was, Floretta showed no sign of stopping when she dug even more furiously.
Afraid that she would lose the girl, Angeline gave her bottle of water to Jacob and said, “You rest here. I will go after her and come back for you later.”
Since Jacob was spent, he could only go with Angeline’s plan despite his disapproval. Feeling sorry for Angeline, he gazed at her pitifully and whined, “All right, then. Sorry for the trouble, Angie.”
“It’s okay,” Angeline assured before hurrying over to Floretta.
Angeline realized there were fewer ingredients as they went further into the forest. From her calculation, they would need at least salt and chicken stock if they wanted to make a decent meal.
Navigating with the map they had, the two soon reached a river, where the host had been waiting for them on a rock, wearing his bamboo hat.
“Congratulations. You guys are the first family to reach here, but this is not the end of the game yet,” he informed with a smile.
“What do you mean?” Angeline asked.
Here, the man pointed at the middle of the river, where three bundles attached to red flags could be seen.
“The adults will need to finish the last part. The winner will be the first person to swim to the bundles and remove the flags. They can even request other ingredients they do not have from the production team.”
Now, this is tempting, but…
Angeline glanced at the gurgling water in the river as she swallowed hard.
Although she could swim a little, she was aquaphobic.
When Floretta saw how pale Angeline was, she pulled her hand and said nervously, “It’s okay, Angel. We can just wait for Jac to come.”
Just as she finished her sentence, another team was spotted coming in their direction.