Wang Lun smoothly rowed into the estuary from the shore and saw the Liu sisters waiting by the stream. Wang Lun told them to keep going. Seeing Wang Lun and the others arrive, Liu Ruoxi continued walking; this time, although they were walking, they were faster than Wang Lun and his companions. Along the way, when the sisters felt there was something wrong with Wang Lun and his group's passage, they stopped to wait for them. Of course, there were also places where they felt they were too far away, so they stopped there as well.

Li Ling didn't dare sit down the whole way, but stayed with Wang Lun the whole time. Wang Lun poled the raft in front, and Li Ling poled it from behind. This made the journey a little easier.

After half an hour, the four met up at a bend in the road. There, a large rock protruded, preventing the raft from going any further. Wang Lun stopped the raft there. The four loaded all the supplies from the raft onto their backpacks, then lifted the raft and placed it in the roadside grass. They rested for a while, then shared a coconut—of course, all four of them shared it, since Li Ling had collected six coconuts last time. Li Ling had eaten one on the way, and four the night before, leaving only this one.

After eating the coconuts, the four of them, each carrying their own baskets, began their journey back to the campsite. Although the distance was shorter this time, the weight in their baskets was no less; in fact, Wang Lun's basket was considerably heavier. However, it wasn't just him; everyone else's baskets were also heavier. This was after Wang Lun and his companion had carried back some bananas yesterday; otherwise, they would have needed even more. But this wasn't an unbearable weight for the four of them; after all, they had been able to before, and with so much training, they were even more capable.

The four men carried a quarter less of the distance, but it still took them nearly three hours to reach the camp. By the time they returned, they were utterly exhausted. After putting down their baskets, they didn't want to do anything but sit quietly, perhaps taking a sip of water. It was Wang Lun who, forcing himself to stay awake, got up and fetched some dried fruit so they could replenish their energy; otherwise, they would have needed even longer to rest.

Wang Lun ate two pieces of dried fruit, drank some water, and rested for more than ten minutes, finally regaining some strength. Then Wang Lun got up, took the pot, and went to fetch water. Liu Ruoxi also wanted to force herself to get up and help, but Li Ling stopped her. Apart from Wang Lun, there was basically no one else with the strength left, so it was better to rest a little longer to avoid causing any problems.

Normally, Liu Ruoling and Li Ling should still have some energy left, but Li Ling had already run around with Wang Lun yesterday and was completely exhausted. As for Liu Ruoling? Both sisters had started their periods. Luckily, Li Ling had brought two sanitary pads yesterday, otherwise they probably would have had to go back to camp with bleeding.

Wang Lun knew that the three women were basically at their physical limit, so he didn't ask them to get up and cook. Wang Lun fetched two pots of water before starting a fire.

After starting the fire, Wang Lun scooped some tapioca flour into a large bowl, added some water, and mixed it into lumps, then set it aside. Next, he took a piece of venison, diced it, and a handful of seafood, washed them clean, and put them all into the earthenware pot. Then he waited patiently. Once the water in the pot boiled, Wang Lun moved the fire from one stove to another. He added some firewood to the hearth, preparing to light it once the rice was cooked to maintain the fire.

Wang Lun waited until the venison and seafood in the earthenware pot were tender before adding the cassava dumplings. He stirred constantly, adding some salt and crab shell powder, and continued stirring. Once the cassava dumplings were cooked, he moved the fire from the stove to the hearth. He then placed the earthenware pot on the hearth and called Li Ling to come and eat.

As for why he didn't put it on the table, Wang Lun was afraid the table would tip over and break the only earthenware pot, which would be a huge loss. After all, it was the only earthenware pot. Wang Lun served rice to Li Ling and the other two before serving himself a bowl. Then, Liu Ruoling started preparing her second bowl, and Wang Lun quickly lowered his head to take a sip. But as soon as he looked up, he saw Li Ling also coming over to get her second bowl. Wang Lun still didn't understand the seriousness of the situation, simply assuming they were eating voraciously.

Even after finishing his meal, Wang Lun was still in a daze. How could he have only eaten two bowls of rice from such a large pot? Usually, one person would have five or six bowls (the bowls were small and the pot was big). How could he have only eaten two bowls today? Where were the other four? Li Ling didn't give Wang Lun a chance to think further. She immediately took the empty bowl from her hand and went to wash the dishes with Liu Ruoling and the other woman.

Wang Lun was still inside wondering how he could have eaten only two bowls of rice before the pot was empty. Outside by the pond, Li Ling and the other two were already talking. Li Ling said, "I just ate six bowls, how about you?" Liu Ruoxi said, "Five bowls, I feel like I could eat a little more." Liu Ruoling said, "Seven bowls, sister, why didn't you say so earlier? I could have just eaten a little less." Liu Ruoxi was somewhat shocked to hear Liu Ruoling say seven bowls, then worried, and said, "How are you feeling now? Are you feeling too full? Should we ask Wang Lun to get you some to help with digestion?" Liu Ruoling waved her hand and said, "It's okay, it's just a little bit. Besides, I'll go cut some grass this afternoon to help with digestion." Liu Ruoxi thought that made sense; cutting some grass in the afternoon would help with digestion. Li Ling said, "You're really amazing! I ate six bowls, and then the pot was empty." Liu Ruoling said, "Of course! For the last bowl, I scraped the bottom of the pot. The crispy rice at the bottom was so delicious, but there wasn't much." Liu Ruoxi said, "Don't even mention it, I didn't get any." Li Ling said, "Me too." Liu Ruoxi then said, "I wonder how much Wang Lun ate. It probably wasn't much, right?" Li Ling said, "I didn't pay attention, but he was so close, he must have eaten four or five bowls." Liu Ruoling said, "Yes, he was so close, he must have eaten several bowls." Liu Ruoxi saw that Li Ling and the others said Wang Lun ate four or five bowls, but then she thought that she only seemed to have seen Wang Lun add rice once. Could there have been several times she missed? So Liu Ruoxi didn't think too much about it. Anyway, he would find something to eat when he got hungry.

So the three of them continued washing the dishes. After washing the dishes, each of them took a knife and went to the camp gate to cut some grass. When they had cut enough, they returned and closed the gate behind them.

Back at camp, the three women took turns showering. While they were cutting grass, Wang Lun prepared the water. He then inspected the camp again, finding nothing amiss.