Chapter 88


    Egbert rang back, sensing something off about the camp vibe.


    “What’s up?” he asked..


    Eileen shot him a nce, but didn’t answer. Burton and ine seemed to want to say something, but


    seeing Eileen’s sour face, they swallowed their words and kept their heads down, packing their bags.


    Ten minutester, they started moving. Eileen was still leading the pack. They walked all morning.


    By noon, they found a creek to rest by.


    Eileen’s anger towards Egbert from the morning had dissipated by lunchtime. While ine and Burton


    were busy preparing lunch, she walked over to Egbert with a de of grass in hand and sat down next


    to him, “Hey.”


    Egbert nced at her.


    Eileen jerked her chin towards ine and Burton, “You knew them before, didn’t you?”


    Egbert nodded without hiding it, “In terms of family rtions, I’m their elder.”


    Eileen scratched her face, “Why do they call me auntie then?”


    Egbert was taken aback, then looked at her. Eileen raised an eyebrow, “Didn’t you hear? ine has


    identally called me auntie a few times.”


    Egbert furrowed his brows, kept quiet for a moment, then said, “They might have made a mistake.”


    Eileen examined Egbert carefully.


    At that moment, ine finished preparing lunch and called out, “Mr. Reed, Au… Eileen,e eat.”


    Eileen said to Egbert, “See, they did it again.”


    Egbert didn’t respond. He stood up, extending a hand to help Eileen up. Eileen red at him, refusing


    his help, and stood up on her own, walking towards ine.


    Lunch was fruits and a soup made from leaves.


    Burton, at 18, was still growing. This little food could hardly fill his stomach. After eating, he fetched a


    pot of creek water to stave off -his hunger.


    Eileen wasn’t full either. Ever since they entered the rainforest, she was constantly hungry. But she


    learned to cope. Back in the Lopez family, she often came homete from school to find no food, she


    got used to the hunger after enduring it so many times.


    “Here’s water.” ine handed Eileen some water.


    Eileen took the water bottle and had a sip.


    Looking at ine, she was still curious, “Is it a custom where youe from? To call me auntie?”


    ine’s eyes lit up. She was nervous all day because she couldn’t answer Eileen’s question that


    morning. She didn’t expect Eileen toe up with this exnation after pondering on it all day!


    She quickly responded, “Yes, yes, that’s how we address older female rtives!”


    Eileen frowned, “How strange.”


    ine awkwardly responded, “It’s just a custom.”


    Eileen stared at her for a moment, then suddenly stood up. ine thought that since she had a valid


    reason now, she grew bolder and asked aloud, “Auntie, where are you going?”


    Egbert, resting under a tree, and Burton, fetching water by the creek, both looked over.


    Eileen, holding her pocket knife, didn’t look back and said, “Wait for me here.”


    When Eileen left, Burton immediately ran over and asked ine, “What was that about just now…”


    ine exined what happened. After hearing it, Burton scratched his head and muttered, “She


    seems a bit slow.”


    ine immediately red at her brother, “Don’t you dare speak ill of her!”


    Burton quickly shut up, then turned his head to look at Mr. Reed, who was still resting with his eyes


    closed.


    Burton quietly asked, “Mr. Reed, do you know what we were saying?”


    ine also looked at Mr. Reed and shook her head, “Mr. Reed’s reaction is weird.”


    Eileen returned after ten minutes with a bag in her hand. ine and Burton were shocked to see what


    was in the bag, “How…how can there be so many bugs?”


    Eileen opened a pack of bugs, threw them into the pot, then took the pot to the creek. She cleaned the


    bugs, then came back and poured some oil into another pan.


    The pan and oil were from the bandits. Although they had been using the pan these past few days,


    Eileen had always kept the oil to herself and never used it, this was the first time she took it out


    voluntarily. A few minutester, the bugs in the pan were fried to a plump perfection.


    After frying, Eileen picked up a bug herself and tasted it. Feeling that it was a bit nd, she sprinkled


    some precious salt on it.


    Then she handed it to Burton and ine, “Eat up.”


    Burton and ine’s eyes widened, their faces filled with horror!


    Eileen waved her hand, urging them, “Eat up, I made this because you guys treat me as an elder, it’s


    my duty to take care of you youngsters. These bugs are rich in protein, very nutritious, ine, you are


    injured, you need to eat more, and you, Burton, you are a big guy, you also need to eat more.”


    Burton and ine’s faces were full of resistance.


    Seeing them refusing to eat, Eileen instantly became upset. With a grumpy face, she took the pan to


    Egbert, trying to get him to eat.


    “It’s really good.” Eileen said to Egbert earnestly, “Look, I’ll eat some for you to see.”


    She took another bite, then picked up a chubby bug with a fork, enthusiastically brought it to Egbert’s


    mouth, and whispered, “You try it.”


    Egbert didn’t really want to try, but when he saw Eileen’s pitiful face. He opened his mouth. Eileen


    immediately fed the bug into his mouth.


    Egbert reluctantly chewed it, but found it to be surprisingly good. He nodded at Eileen, “It’s good.”


    Eileen was happy now. She sat next to Egbert, even shot a triumphant nce at ine and Burton.


    Eileen and Egbert couldn’t finish all the bugs, so Eileen packed up the leftovers forter, nning to


    snack on them on the road.


    When night fell and they picked a campsite, while others were busy starting fires and setting up tents,


    Eileen took off to dig for bugs again. The rainforest might be short on a lot of things, but bugs ain’t one


    of them.


    She then fried up a big pot of them and went off with Egbert to munch away.


    Burton noticed that his aunt was totally ignoring them. He huddled with his sister and suggested,


    “Maybe we should have some?”


    ine sighed heavily and gave a nod of agreement. “Alright.” They needed to butter up their aunt.


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    The duo slowly approached Eileen, who thought they were hungry and immediately started teasing


    them, “You gave me the cold shoulder yesterday, and today you’ll be begging for my attention!”


    Burton and ine squat down, looking all pitiful. Eileen finally took pity on them and gave them the


    green light to eat the bugs.


    With eyes closed and teeth gritted, Burton and ine swallowed the bugs. A few secondster, the


    aromatic aftertaste hit.


    Huh? Burton and ine instantly dropped their resistance and went for another. Wow! It was actually


    really tasty! The pot of bugs was quickly finished by the four of them.


    The next morning, as Eileen dragged herself out of bed, she was greeted by Burton and ine’s


    beaming smiles.


    “Mornin’.” They chimed in unison.


    Yawning, Eileen responded, “Mornin’.”


    At that moment, Burton pulled out two big bags from behind him, all squirming with bugs.


    ine, blushing, handed the bugs over and shyly asked, “Auntie, shall we fry them now?”