The Villain Mom Awakens — Going Viral by Parenting on a Reality Show-Chapter 48 - 49: New Task: Pitching a Tent

Please complete the tent-building task within the allotted time. The first-place winner will receive a special food package prepared by the production team.

—The production team of My Super Mom

Naomi Kenway put the card away after reading it. ’Just as I thought,’ she mused. ’We’ll definitely have to pitch tents to spend the night here. All that time I spent researching tent-building techniques wasn’t wasted after all.’

The other guests also finished reading the task card and had no objections.

Renee Jennings breathed a silent sigh of relief. She had been an avid traveler before getting married, so pitching a tent was a piece of cake for her.

Ruby Preston glanced around. "Where are the tents?"

The tour guide let out a little "ah." "You have to build them yourselves."

"How are we supposed to build them without tents?"

"You have to *build* the tents yourselves."

...

The air suddenly fell silent.

"Wait a minute." Renee Jennings frowned, her voice full of disbelief. "Are you saying the production team wants us to find wood and leaves in the forest to build our own shelters?"

"Everyone needs to work with their children to find materials and build your shelters. The more challenging the task, the more exciting it is to win the prize, right?" The tour guide glanced at the time. "It’s getting a little late. We’ve set up lights in the immediate area, so please don’t wander too far."

"You never said the conditions would be this harsh when we signed the contract! If I’d known it would be this much suffering and exhaustion, there’s no way in hell I would’ve come on this crappy show!" Chelsea Raines snapped.

Renee Jennings tugged on her sleeve, signaling for her to calm down.

Chelsea Raines shook her hand off. "What do you take us for, sparrows? You expect us to gather twigs and build our own nests?"

"Please calm down, Ms. Raines. The tasks are meant to be challenging. We did mention that before, didn’t we?" the tour guide said.

Jared Woods hadn’t yet grasped the situation, but Chelsea Raines’s negativity was affecting him. A strange fear of the unknown rainforest crept into his heart.

"Mommy..." Jared Woods hugged Chelsea Raines’s waist and started to cry.

"Chelsea, I think you’re scaring Jared..." Renee Jennings said, her words trailing off.

Chelsea Raines quickly patted Jared Woods on the shoulder, trying to soothe him.

[I thought they’d give them ready-made tents. I can’t believe they have to build them from scratch!]

[The difficulty level is a bit high. This would be pretty extreme for any reality show with kids. Doesn’t the production team consider the reality of the situation? None of these guests have any wilderness survival experience. Making them build their own shelters is asking way too much!]

[I used to think Chelsea Raines was straightforward and genuine, but now I see she has such a bad temper. She brought her kid along, for crying out loud. Did she even consider that he might get scared?]

[Jared Woods is such a big kid. How can he be so timid?]

[Building a shelter is a bit hard, but there’s no way the production team doesn’t have a backup plan. They’ll probably help them later. No need to criticize the show, right?]

[This is kind of new. Not sure what to think. I’ll keep watching.]

...

Faced with the daunting task, all the guests looked grim.

Naomi Kenway spoke up, her focus different from the other guests. "What’s in the food package?"

The tour guide paused for a moment. "Some easy-to-carry instant food products."

Naomi Kenway nodded. ’I thought it might be some lavish ingredients, but if it’s just instant food, what I’ve already prepared is more than enough.’

Hearing Naomi Kenway’s question, Renee Jennings looked up warily. ’What does Naomi mean by that? Is she asking because she’s confident she’ll win first place?’

Worried, Renee Jennings asked, "Nina, have you ever done any wilderness survival before?"

"No."

"Wait..." Renee Jennings seemed to recall something, covering her mouth in surprise. "Weren’t you on Extreme Survival: 24 Hours before? I was a huge fan of that show."

Extreme Survival: 24 Hours was a massively popular large-scale reality survival show produced by Mango TV.

Naomi Kenway didn’t answer right away. She had indeed been on that show. As she recalled, she had even spent a hefty sum to participate, only to quit in less than half a day because she couldn’t stand the harsh conditions. The show was live-streamed, and Naomi remembered trending online for days, becoming the target of widespread ridicule.

"So?" Naomi Kenway looked up at her. "What are you trying to say?"

Renee Jennings hurriedly explained, "No, that’s not it! I don’t mean anything by it, Nina. I’m just... a little worried you won’t be able to build a shelter..."

"Oh? So, you’re saying you’re an expert at building shelters, Ms. Jennings? Are you offering to build one for me?"

Seeing that Naomi Kenway was trying to set her up for a fall, Renee Jennings quickly said, "I never said that. I have a lot of travel experience, but I’ve never tried to build a shelter from scratch with my bare hands."

"Oh..." Naomi Kenway feigned disappointment. "So you don’t know how to build one either. In that case, your worrying about me doesn’t seem very useful. I really thought you knew how, but it turns out you don’t. I got my hopes up for nothing."

"I..." Renee Jennings’s expression soured after being mocked by Naomi. "Even if I don’t know how, I’ve read books on the subject. With a try or two, I could probably succeed. Nina, why don’t you stick by me and learn?" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"No, thanks." ’I’ve looked at so much information and researched it for so long on the way here,’ she thought. ’With a couple of tries, I can build one too.’

"No, thanks?" A suggestive look crossed Renee Jennings’s face. "Nina, you’re not planning to just sleep on the ground, are you?" She then glanced worriedly at Ian Shaw. "What about Annie? It would be terrible if a child caught a cold."

The corner of Naomi Kenway’s mouth twitched. "I’m not that wild."

Chelsea Raines came over and pulled Renee Jennings back. "Rachel, why are you being so kind? Naomi Kenway doesn’t appreciate anyone’s goodwill. If she wants to sleep in the dirt with Annie, let her. Some people have to learn their lesson the hard way before they stop being so stubborn."

Renee Jennings’s dark eyes glinted, and she said no more. She had originally planned to help Naomi Kenway build her shelter to bolster her own image, but the thought of Naomi shivering on the ground in the middle of the night filled her with a secret, vengeful pleasure.

Naomi Kenway couldn’t be bothered with the two of them. She shifted her gaze toward Ruby Preston and Margaret Jennings. "I looked up a lot of information on building shelters on the way here. Do you want to team up with me?"

Renee Jennings quickly interjected, "That might not be a good idea, Nina. If you’re not sure you can do it, you’ll just drag others down with you. It’s already getting dark, and we don’t have much time for trial and error. You should just stick with me."

Chelsea Raines folded her arms. "I thought you’d become a little more humble, but I see you’re still as arrogant as ever. Back on Extreme Survival: 24 Hours, you made such a big deal about your ’max-level survival skills,’ but you quit in less than half a day because it was too tiring. I didn’t even want to bring it up!"

Naomi Kenway ignored her, simply waiting for Ruby and Margaret’s response.

Margaret Jennings hesitated before walking over. "The wilderness is very risky. We need to get our shelters built as quickly as possible so we can rest. Nina, since we have kids with us, it’s better to be safe. Let’s just go with Rachel! She has some experience, after all. Just reading about it might not be enough to actually do it."