Chapter 157
Chapter 157
Not long after Christmas, Eileen and Janice headed to Rivertown.
The show was set to start recording right after Christmas.
Early in the morning, Eileen was fast asleep in the hotel, when a knock at the door jolted her awake.
She glanced at the clock-4:30 am.
She got up to open the door.
Outside stood a woman soldier in military attire, along with a few crew members and a cameraman.
The cameraman was pointing the camera at Eileen, but she didn’t care, her attention was on the woman soldier.
The woman soldier stood still and said sternly, “Get cleaned up immediately, wé gather downstairs in ten minutes.”
Ten minutes.
Eileen instantly woke up and replied, “Roger that!”
Five minutes later, Eileen, barefaced and in a ponytail, with her suitcase in hand, arrived at the first floor.
!
Once she got out of the elevator, she saw two officers standing in the middle of the hall, a man and a woman. The woman was the same one who had woken her up, and the man was probably the one in
charge of waking up the male guests.
Eileen walked up to the two officers, seeing that they didn’t acknowledge her, she put her suitcase down and stood there upright.
The two officers glanced at her, then at their watches, then back at her.
They seemed a bit taken aback that she could assemble in such a short time.
After a while, the ten-minute assembly time was up, but no one else had come down.
The officers’ faces turned gloomy.
After five more minutes, the elevator finally opened.
A disheveled young man, his clothes buttoned incorrectly, came running out barefoot, shoes in hand.
He ran to Eileen’s side, and seeing her, exclaimed with joy, “Eileen!”
Eileen turned to see it was Colin.
She did not know Colin was part of this show, Ophelia hadn’t told her.
“No talking!” The male officer suddenly reprimanded sternly.
Colin was startled. He immediately shut his mouth and stood obediently.
A few minutes later, the elevator opened again and a man came out leisurely pulling his suitcase. Seeing the situation, he immediately picked up the pace and jogged over.
The man stood next to Colin, and seeing Eileen, he immediately greeted cheerfully, “Ms. Lopez!”
Eileen turned to see it was Eddie.
Eddie was also on this show?
Thinking about it, it made sense. The director of Defender’s Honor was also the director of Survival. If the director invited her, he would probably also invite Eddie, who had also participated in Survival and ranked third.
With this thought, Eileen began to feel anxious again.
Would Hubery and Hedy, the two troublemakers, appear?
Fortunately, Hubery and Hedy did not appear.
An hour later, all eight guests had finally gathered.
The last to arrive was a very young and beautiful girl.
Eileen remembered her. Her name was Jaqueline, and she was an obscure actress. Although she had been in the industry for over a year, she didn’t have any well-known works. However, due to her beauty, she still had many loyal fans.
In Eileen’s memory, she and Jaqueline had a past grudge. During the casting of a web drama, the investors had chosen Eileen over Jaqueline. Afterwards, Jaqueline’s team started attacking Eileen online, attacking her looks, family background, identity, and cultivation.
They even spread rumors claiming Eileen had landed the role through improper relations with the director. During that period, Eileen faced a lot of abuse and attacks from netizens. The netizens didn’t care about the truth, they just felt that Eileen had a lot of negative news, so blaming her was only natural.
At the time, Ophelia had issued a statement and even sent a lawyer’s letter, but none of these had any effect. The tweets they posted had only a few dozen comments, while the tweets spreading rumors had
forty to fifty thousand comments. Netizens only wanted to see what they wanted to see, they didn’t care about the truth.
Now, seeing Jaqueline on the show, Eileen was surprised. Not because she disliked Jaqueline, but because in her memory, Jaqueline was a very delicate girl. How could she participate in a military show like this? Could she withstand the hardships here?
But regardless, Eileen didn’t want to meddle in other people’s business. She didn’t actually dislike Jaqueline, because in her past, many people had maliciously attacked her, and Jaqueline was just one of them, not even the most memorable one If she hadn’t seen Jaqueline now, Eileen might have already forgotten her. When Jaqueline arrived, she was already made up and her hair was styled. It was obvious she took her time getting ready. Seeing her, the other guests’ expressions became somewhat complex.
The male officer then said, “Eight people, seven late. Can you not understand what we’re saying?” For a moment, everyone was silent. Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.
The female officer suddenly said, “Eileen, step forward.” Eileen quietly stepped forward.
The male officer then said, “The rest of you, get down. Men, do thirty push-ups. Women, do thirty squats.” Everyone looked at each other.
Colin was the first to get down. He often worked out, so thirty push-ups were no big deal for him. After Colin got down, the other men slowly followed. The women also squatted down.
Suddenly, a soft sobbing sound came from the crowd. Everyone looked over and saw Jaqueline crying. Jaqueline squatted on the ground, covering her face, and started crying. She sobbed, “I twisted my ankle when I came down.”
An injured guest was no small matter The crew and the two officers discussed briefly, then took Jaqueline aside and called over the medical staff to check on her leg.
By the time everyone had been reprimanded and was ready to go, Jaqueline, tear-streaked, limped back into the group. Only then did the bus, meant for eight people, start to move.
On the bus, Eileen sat in the last row, Colin and Eddie darted over to sit next to her. Eileen shot them a glance, not saying a word.
Colin then whispered to Eileen “When Jaqueline was inside just now, she was limping on the left leg. When she came out, she was limping on the right.”
Eddie chuckled, “How could she? We’ve waited for her for so long, and she still had time to do her makeup and hair!”
Suddenly, a female artist named Edna from the front shouted, “Eileen, come sit at the front.”
Eileen looked surprised, “Why?” she asked, looking at Edna.
Edna immediately retorted, “With so many empty seats, why do you have to sit with two guys?”
The bus fell silent at her words.
Eileen frowned, coldly retorting, “Since when do I need your approval for who I sit with?”
Edna was about to say something when another female artist named Patti interjected, “Leave her alone, Edna. Maybe she just likes being around guys. Don’t stick your nose into it”
The words didn’t sit well.` ̄
Eddie’s and Colin’s faces darkened.
Suddenly, Eileen spoke, “You talk so much. Is your tongue on fire or what?”
Patti turned her head to look at her in disbelief.
Eileen raised an eyebrow, “I’m talking about you. Got a problem?”
Patti was about to stand up when an officer from the front shouted, “Enough!”
With an officer present, silence fell over the bus.
But for the next half an hour, no one spoke.
Half an hour later, they entered the military area of Rivertown.
As the bus drove through the camp, everyone saw shirtless soldiers doing their morning exercises.
Eileen’s eyes lit up immediately.
A little while later, everyone got off the bus, men and women split into two lines, moving forward.
Eileen was at the end of the female guests, dragging her suitcase, a bit behind the others.
Suddenly, Eileen felt someone watching her.
She squinted, looking up, and saw an open window on the third floor of the nearby rest building.
In front of that window stood a man in a military uniform.
Due to her angle, Eileen couldn’t make out the man’s face, only his outstretched hand.
The hand was long and clean, resting on the window frame, catching her eye.