Chapter 58: Gathering for
Games
[Hope is really strange, no wonder no one loves her.]
[These things don’t seem very heavy, so case closed, Noah is just double–standard, deliberately not wanting to help Hope carry the backpack.]
“Let Hope explain the use of these items,” the director ordered through his earpiece to the female staff member.
“Hope, do you have any special purpose for bringing these items?”
Hope placed the radio on the table, plugged it in, and pressed a button. A sharp suona sound echoed through the room.
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The staff member instinctively covered her ears, and the cameraman flinched in shock. The viewers in the live stream felt both a visual and auditory shock.
Hope turned off the music. “It’s for clearing the mind, effective, right?”
“Clearing the mind! Very effective!” The female staff member rubbed her ears. “What about the others?”
Hope looked at the stone mortar and pestle.
“The rest are for medicinal use. This isn’t against the rules, right?”
“Medicinal?” The staff member looked puzzled, glancing from Hope to the items.
Her gaze finally settled on Hope’s arm.
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Suddenly, she realized what was going on, but was still unsure.
“Actually, Western medicine would probably work faster!”
Hope smiled lightly. “I prefer herbs.”
She didn’t continue on the topic of herbs versus Western medicine because she knew everyone had their own beliefs.
The female staff member didn’t say anything more and left after completing the check.
Now that everything was laid out, Hope didn’t bother to put it back in her bag.
Hope turned on the radio again. The viewers in the live stream couldn’t help but cover their ears, but Hope wasn’t listening to the suona music. Instead, she switched to a
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music station.
The station played soothing music, while Hope poured what looked like sawdust into the stone mortar, pounding it with the pestle until it turned into powder.
If one looked carefully, it was obvious that what looked like sawdust was actually dried herbal fragments.
“So bored~ Last time I watched her break wood, now she’s just smashing wood chips. ”
“I literally fell asleep, whatever, I’m hopping into another stream.
“Came from Lily’s stream, she’s working part–time picking veggies at a street food stall today, now she’s just chilling on the couch.”
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“Came from Alex’s stream, things got wild in the chat with fans fighting haters, one hater told him to keep his word and leave the show.”
“Wait, I totally forgot–didn’t Alex say if Hope’s here, he’s out? Why’s he still on the show tho?”
“Of course, it’s Hope’s crazy fans causing trouble at our guy’s stream. If anyone should leave, it’s them, not him!
“Hope’s fans, don’t pay attention to the idiot above, just send her a ‘What’s a real man?‘ song and be done with it.
“I came from Benjamin’s stream, the guy’s off playing chess with some old dudes in the village… so boring.”
“Sienna’s cooking something, maybe she’s
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gonna sendususcsome food again!
“This show’s gettining so boring…”
This style should fitfivwell in a casual social al media context whererererevity and tone are key!Such comments were not only in Hope’s live stream but alsosiniotochers.
The director noticed and immediately spoke in everyone’s earpieces.s.
“Everyone gather on the roaftómpetet’s play a game or eat something, createtecsome topics, don’t let it get too dull.”
Hope looked at the powder she hadhgrground, just enough to use.
She poured the powder into the incensese burner, borrowed a lighter from the staff, fárand lit it. A wisp of white smoke rose.e.
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Just in time, Lily and the others came upstairs. Sienna brought sour vegetables and chili powder, Benjamin brought drinks and disposable cups, and Lily brought snacks.
“Hey, is this an incense burner? What kind of incense are you burning?” Benjamin immediately noticed the incense burner.
“High–quality incense!” Hope replied teasingly.
“Ha! High–quality incense! Haha!”
Lily laughed and leaned in to sniff the incense burner. “Smells like herbs?”
“Yep, it’s herbs,” Hope answered truthfully.
“What kind of herbs? What do they do?”
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“Calm the mind, soothe the heart, settle the spirit, repel insects,” Hope said meaningfully while looking at Benjamin.
“If it’s taken orally, it has the same effect, though it’s very bitter. Ancient texts record that even dead people who lost all five senses found it bitter”
Benjamin’s curiosity was piqued. “Really?”
“Professor Benjamin, want to give it a try?” Hope said, picking up a disposable cup, pouring some powder she had left in the stone mortar into the cup, and adding mineral water.
The powder only partially dissolved in the water, and a bitter taste quickly spread.
Hope, fearing Benjamin wouldn’t dare drink
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it, divided it into four small cups.
She took a sip herself and then said to the e others, “Want to try?”
Lily wrinkled her nose. “No, no, just the smella is so bitter! It’s better as incense!”
Sienna took the cup, tried a small sip, and her eyes filled with tears from the bitterness but she still said, “It’s not bad.”
That was very supportive!
Benjamin drank it all in one go and then froze in place.
Lily was startled. “Benjamin, are you okay?”
[@DramaWatcher] “Benjamin looks
straight–up deceased. Bro’s not even blinking -I think he stopped breathing.”
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[@ConcernedFan] “Wasn’t that stuff for Hope’s injuries? Why’s she feeding it to everyone? What if someone dies?”
[@ChillPill] “Relax, Hope drank it herself. If she’s fine, Benjamin’s probably just being dramatic.”
[@Taste Tester] “Nah, I think Benjamin’s just in shock from how bitter it is. That stuff looks like swamp water.”
[@HerbHater] “What even IS that herb? I Googled it and got nothing. Is Hope just making this up?”
[@Conspiracy Theorist] “Same. Zero results. Either it’s fake, or Hope’s secretly a witch. ”
[@CertifiedDoc] “Anyone remember if Hope has a medical license? Maybe she’s into
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traditional medicine or something.”
Lily was genuinely worried about Benjamin. After all, they had known each other for
years.
Seeing that Benjamin wasn’t responding, she hurried over to shake him.
After being shaken a few times, Benjamin finally came back to his senses.
He smacked his lips and smiled. “That’s really bitter!”
At least he could taste something! Even if it was bitter, at least he could taste it!
Hope, seeing his reaction, breathed a sigh of relief. If Benjamin couldn’t taste anything, that meant his taste buds were really beyond saving.
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This was a special herbal mixture she had prepared to stimulate taste nerves. If Benjamin could taste it, there was still hope.
Hope handed him Lily’s cup. “If you like it, you can drink more.”
Benjamin shook his head. “It’s too bitter. Can you add some sugar?”
“No, but you can add some sour vegetables or chips,” Hope teased, pointing at the food Lily and Sienna had brought.
Lily quickly grabbed the snacks and shielded the sour vegetables with her body, glaring at Hope seriously.
“Don’t even think about it! We bought this with our own money, don’t make it all bitter. Who would want to eat it?”
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Benjamin, on the other hand, seemed to have realized something and gave Hope a puzzled look.
Hope smiled faintly at him, and it seemed like he was bewitched.
He wanted to confirm his guess. He believed Hope knew about his illness, and these herbs might even be specially prepared for him!
“I’ll drink it!” He grabbed a bag of snacks and was about to dip it into the unfinished herbal drink when Hope stopped him.
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