In the middle of the night, Li Ling woke Wang Lun up. It turned out that Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi were on the first half of the night shift, and were also discussing how to make lingerie. Liu Ruoling, on the other hand, was sent to sleep by the two of them, waiting to join Wang Lun on the second half of the night shift.

Wang Lun got up and washed his face by the pool, feeling more refreshed. He then returned to his room, where Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi woke Liu Ruoling. Seeing Wang Lun back in his room, Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi went to rest on the kang (heated brick bed).

Wang Lun went to sit by the fire pit and continued firing pottery. A short while later, Liu Ruoling returned, but she was still drowsy. So Wang Lun told her to rest her head on the table, and that he would watch the fire alone. Liu Ruoling knew this wasn't good, but she couldn't resist her tiredness, so she decided to lean against the table and keep Wang Lun company by the fire pit.

Not long after, Liu Ruoling fell asleep on the table. Wang Lun heard her heavy breathing, turned his head to look, and sure enough, she was asleep. So Wang Lun moved even more quietly so as not to wake Liu Ruoling.

During this time, Wang Lun pondered when he would go to the beach. He also calculated how much time it would take to get there. After careful calculation, he realized that if he only needed to collect the banana tree bark, it would be quick. However, transporting it back would take much longer, at least five days. In fact, the majority of the time would be spent on the round-trip transportation, which was very time-consuming.

So Wang Lun started thinking about how to get the time ahead of schedule. Surprisingly, he came up with an idea: first use rafts to transport the bark to the path, and then carry it on the main transport. However, this would only save half a day. Still, it was a significant saving. Then Wang Lun wondered if he could also fish while transporting the bark.

So Wang Lun continued to think, but this time he didn't get any good results. Because whether it was fishing or transporting the bark, both tasks required Wang Lun's help. There was no other way but to do them one by one.

So Wang Lun planned to first go to the banana grove and, in the afternoon, build a simple shelter to protect them from the dew. The next day, he would begin felling the banana trees. At the same time, he would transport the bark to the beach. Wang Lun estimated that the felling would take at most a day, but the transportation would likely take longer. Therefore, Wang Lun rowed a raft alone, transporting the bark to the roadside and then returning to continue. Li Ling and the other two continued carrying the remaining bark to the beach.

It was expected that by the third day, all the bark would be transported to the roadside. At that time, they could also move to the seaside camp. From the fourth day onwards, Liu Ruoling and Li Ling took turns working with Wang Lun to transport the bark back to the camp. The person resting would then work with Liu Ruoxi at the seaside camp, doing logistical work such as boiling salt and gathering seafood.

During this time, Wang Lun had a sudden idea: he wanted to bring goats along, since goats could carry some supplies and reduce the consumption of grass in the camp. So Wang Lun planned to try it out during the day when he went to cut grass to see if the goats had been successfully domesticated.

If the goat were more obedient, Wang Lun could give it more freedom to roam, but of course, he would also put it under more responsibility. If the goat knew this, it would probably want to run headfirst into Wang Lun. What does "more responsibility" mean? It just means he wants it to transport supplies.

Wang Lun had made up his mind, so he wondered if he should take advantage of this time to do some fishing. He hoped to catch enough fish this time to last a month, and then next month he could search the mountains and fields for ripe fruit. After thinking about it and calculating the time, Wang Lun decided to catch more fish to try and make sure he could eat for the rest of the month.

So Wang Lun took some vines he had casually cut the day before and soaked them in the pool to keep them elastic. Even the fishing nets from before were kept soaking in the pool, only being taken out every other day to air dry some of the water, to prevent the vines from rotting.

Although Wang Lun really wanted to twist tree bark into rope and make a fishing net that would last a long time, he couldn't. Time was too tight right now, so he just wrote it down and would make it when he had time later.

Wang Lun finished making his plans for the near future and continued watching the fire pit. Little did Li Ling and the others know, Wang Lun had already devised a new plan during this night watch. Whenever a new plan emerged, Li Ling and the others would be exhausted for a while, but they couldn't skip it, because Wang Lun's plans were always for the benefit of the entire team.

Soon, the sky outside began to lighten slightly. Wang Lun then took the earthenware pot, filled it with water, and boiled it to prepare water for his trip to cut grass. Next, he prepared the four baskets, placing the necessary tools inside. Only then did he return to his seat by the fire pit, tending the flames.

Not long after, it became bright daylight. Wang Lun went out to chop up some grass and feed it to the pheasants and rabbits. Then he took a pile of grass to feed the goats. He even interacted with one of the goats—basically, he patted it and then talked to it for a while, telling it to behave well and try to share the load. He also threatened that if the goat didn't comply, he would have to eat a whole roasted lamb. In short, it was a carrot and stick approach, used skillfully, but only on a single goat.

Next, I went to the sink to wash up. Of course, I rinsed my mouth with charcoal, since I haven't found anything else yet. If I had some mint, it would have made my mouth feel fresher.

Wang Lun returned to the house and saw Liu Ruoling shaking her sore neck and waving her hands to help her recover from the numbness. Wang Lun greeted her and then went to get a bamboo tube to fill with water.

Seeing this, Liu Ruoling asked, "What are the plans for today?" Wang Lun was carrying four bamboo tubes; usually, when the two of them went out, they only carried two, as bamboo tubes were quite heavy. Wang Lun said, "This morning I'm going to cut grass and take the goats out for a walk." Liu Ruoling was surprised and asked, "What?" Wang Lun said, "What's wrong? Why are you so alarmed?" Liu Ruoling said, "Didn't you say taking the goats out is dangerous?" Wang Lun said, "It's alright. There are four of us together today, so the risk isn't high. Besides, time is of the essence." Liu Ruoling asked, "What?" Wang Lun said, "Nothing, I'll tell you later." He then ignored Liu Ruoling and turned to fill the bamboo tubes with water. Seeing this, Liu Ruoling went to help.