Li Ling lay on the kang (a heated brick bed) and quickly fell asleep. When Wang Lun returned from washing the pot, he saw Li Ling asleep. He put the bowl back on the shelf, placed the pot on the stove to boil water, and went to take a shower first. After all, he had sweated a lot on the journey, and the weather was so hot. A shower would cool him down and refresh him.

After the water cooled down, Wang Lun put it into a bamboo tube before waking Li Ling. Actually, Wang Lun didn't want to wake Li Ling, as he was quite tired from traveling all morning, but he had no choice; they needed to get back to the seaside camp before nightfall. So he reluctantly woke Li Ling.

Fortunately, Li Ling was sensible. After waking up and calming herself down, she got off the kang (a heated brick bed) and followed Wang Lun out of the earthen house. While Wang Lun was closing the door, Li Ling went to the pool to wash her face and refresh herself. Wang Lun came over, and together with Li Ling, they closed the camp gate and turned back to the seaside camp. This time, however, Li Ling only had the wooden spear in her hand; she had nothing else. Wang Lun, on the other hand, carried two baskets on his back, each containing two bamboo tubes of water, a large machete, and a wooden spear in his hand. He had taken nothing else.

At the seaside campsite, the Liu sisters, Ruoxi and Liu Ruoling, finished grilling the fish and began to eat. After finishing one, they felt it wasn't enough, so they grilled another. However, Liu Ruoxi didn't eat any, as her appetite was smaller than Liu Ruoling's. But Liu Ruoling couldn't finish both grilled fish, so Liu Ruoxi helped share some.

After dinner, Liu Ruoxi told Liu Ruoling to take a nap, since she had been on guard duty for so long the night before. If it weren't for the fact that someone couldn't leave the place unattended, Liu Ruoxi would have liked to sleep too. Whether it was because she was full or genuinely tired, Liu Ruoling lay down and soon fell asleep.

Liu Ruoxi shook her head, picked up all the roasted fish bones, and threw them into the campfire to burn them all, lest they attract any animals. Then, with nothing else to do, Liu Ruoxi sat on the sand, looking at the distant sea through the windbreak wall.

The waves were vast and magnificent, seabirds soared, and occasionally fish leaped into the air. This gave Liu Ruoxi a different perspective on the scenery. But no matter how beautiful the scenery was, what difference did it make? She was still alone, and she would eventually get tired of it.

So when Liu Ruoxi got tired of the scenery, she turned to drawing something on the ground. It was just to pass the time, so she doodled randomly. When she got tired of drawing, she would turn to count the seabirds, see how many there were, think about which kind of seabird would taste better, and how to catch them. The more she thought about it, the faster the time passed.

This time, Liu Ruoling didn't sleep for long. She woke up after just over an hour, whether from the heat or wanting Liu Ruoxi to sleep longer, she didn't know. Once awake, Liu Ruoling told Liu Ruoxi to go to sleep and catch up on her sleep. Liu Ruoxi didn't refuse because she was genuinely tired. Similar to before, Liu Ruoling fell asleep soon after lying down. Now, it was Liu Ruoling's turn to be bored. After all, being alone here, aside from occasionally getting up to chase away the birds, there was basically nothing else to do.

Wang Lun knew that this kind of thing would happen during night watch, so he would always do something to keep watch, otherwise it would be very difficult to endure.

Along the way, Li Ling and Wang Lun walked relatively quickly, but Wang Lun kept a close eye on the stream. Li Ling noticed this and asked, "What are you looking at? You almost fell!" Wang Lun replied, "I'm checking if a raft can cross the stream. If it can, we can use it to transport supplies a certain distance, reducing the journey." Hearing Wang Lun's explanation, Li Ling immediately became excited. After all, reducing the distance would be a significant relief. Carrying supplies for three or four hours each time was very tiring. So, she and Wang Lun watched the stream together. In some shallower sections, Wang Lun even went down to test if a raft could pass.

And so they continued on, observing the scenery along the way. What should have been a two-hour journey took them a full four hours. Of course, it wasn't a loss. Wang Lun estimated the raft could cover at least a quarter of the distance, meaning he could carry less on his back in the future. If one of the large rocks could be moved, it would reduce the distance by at least a third. Even reducing it by a quarter would have been more than satisfactory for Wang Lun, considering he had previously carried everything on his back.

When Wang Lun and his companion arrived at the camp, Liu Ruoling and Liu Ruoxi came forward to greet them. After they sat down, Liu Ruoling brought out coconuts, and each of them opened one and drank some coconut water.

Liu Ruoxi asked, "Was everything alright on the way back? Why are you back so late? The sun is almost setting." Li Ling replied, "Nothing happened on the way; on the contrary, there's good news!" Liu Ruoxi looked at Li Ling with suspicion. Li Ling said, "On our way back, we surveyed the stream. Wang Lun thinks we can use a raft to transport goods for a distance. After the survey, we can reduce the distance by at least a quarter." Liu Ruoxi was immediately shocked by Li Ling's words. Reducing the distance by a quarter would save them a lot of effort. She turned to look at Wang Lun, who nodded and said, "Although it can reduce the distance by a quarter, I don't have much experience rafting on the stream, so it might be much slower the first time. But it shouldn't be a big problem, since the water is quite shallow." Liu Ruoxi said, "It's okay, every little bit helps. Reducing the distance will make things much easier for us." Wang Lun nodded. He had already thought of this; otherwise, he wouldn't have come to survey the area.

Liu Ruoling distributed the chopped coconuts to the other three. The four of them sat down, drinking coconut water and discussing their plans for tomorrow's trip.

Wang Lun decided that tomorrow they would load the fish and other supplies onto the raft. Li Ling and Wang Lun would operate the raft together, with Wang Lun primarily in control and Li Ling assisting. Liu Ruoxi and her companion would carry baskets and tools on their backs and continue along the path. They were not to stray too far from the raft, as Wang Lun feared an accident that would prevent them from making it in time. Of course, Wang Lun also wouldn't let the raft stray too far from them to avoid any unforeseen circumstances. Naturally, this time Wang Lun and his companion would likely lag behind, as this was their first time crossing a stream. They might move slowly and might run aground, requiring them to relaunch the raft. If a section of the path became impassable, Wang Lun and his companion would have to decide whether to deepen the stream. Wang Lun hoped to cover as much distance as possible using the raft, as carrying everything on their backs would be extremely tiring.

After Wang Lun finished explaining the plan, none of them had any objections. They were just all daydreaming about how wonderful it would be if the raft could reach the camp directly.