Wilderness Survival: The Moon in the Water

Zhuang Zhou dreamed he was a butterfly, confused by the dream. Wang Lun participates in a wilderness survival challenge and is placed in the same team with the person he likes.

From then on, ...

Chapter 19 Li Ling's Decision

Li Ling changed her clothes and sat down by the campfire. Wang Lun said, "You dry your clothes here, I'll go set up the temporary shelter." Li Ling said, "I'll help you." Wang Lun said, "No need, it's simple. I'll call you if I need help." Wang Lun moved the bundle of live branches to the base of a large tree, used two thicker branches to build a tripod-like structure, and tied the ends together with vines. He then found a long wooden stick, the one he used to carry firewood, probably two or three meters long. One end of the long stick intersected with the part connected to the tripod, and the other end was placed directly on the ground. After tying the intersecting part together, it was basically complete. Next, he placed branches on both sides, tied them together, and secured them. The basic structure of the simple shelter was now complete. He then found some small twigs with leaves and wove them onto the branches to provide waterproofing and wind protection. He also brought over the fence and placed it about three meters in front of the shelter entrance, weaving it with small twigs with leaves to block most of the sea wind. At this point, the temporary shelter was finished. During this time, Wang Lun went to collect the fish baskets once. Since there were four baskets, there were four fish. Li Ling remarked, "Wang Lun wasn't lucky; let her collect them next time." Wang Lun replied, "Unless you only take one or two baskets at a time and go ashore first, then it'll be more manageable." Wang Lun understood that he couldn't do everything himself; there would always be things Li Ling needed to do. He also knew he was already quite exhausted. Li Ling agreed.

After Wang Lun built the temporary shelter, he moved the firewood under the tree and told Li Ling to put the fire in front of the shelter, behind the fence, preferably in a pit. By the time Wang Lun finished moving the firewood, Li Ling had already moved the fire over and collected all the other tools, even the two stones used for the pot and the two stones they used to sit on. Li Ling told Wang Lun to go outside, and she changed her clothes in the shelter, then told Wang Lun to put his clothes back on. Then, estimating that about half an hour had passed, she said, "I'll go get the fish basket." Wang Lun and Li Ling went together; Wang Lun stayed on the shore while Li Ling went into the water to get the fish basket. This time, there were no surprises; Li Ling had to go in two trips to retrieve the basket. She poured the fish onto the sand and saw that she was indeed luckier than Wang Lun—this time there were five fish. Then came the repetitive work: gutting the fish and putting them in the basket.

Before returning to the shelter, Wang Lun said, "I'll rest for a while. Call me if you need anything." Li Ling said, "Okay, go and rest." Wang Lun went straight into the shelter, lay down, and fell asleep immediately, snoring loudly. Li Ling looked at Wang Lun with concern, couldn't help but pat his head, and suddenly smiled before resuming her usual self. Sitting by the campfire, Li Ling had nothing to do. Suddenly, she saw the fish drying on the beach and thought: "They can dry fish during the day, but there's no sun at night. Could we smoke or dry the fish?" She started thinking about how to do it. After a while, Li Ling found four small branches, cut them to the same length, tied them together with vines to form a square, and added some horizontal branches on top. She tested it and found it sturdy. Then she found three thick branches, made a tripod, placed it over the campfire, and then tied the square drying tray to the tripod with vines, adjusting its position to prevent the flames from directly contacting the drying tray. After estimating the time, Li Ling checked that Wang Lun was still asleep, so she went to get the fish basket by herself. This time, Li Ling was extra careful, so nothing went wrong, and she caught five fish and one octopus. Then she put the fish basket down again. This time, Li Ling didn't put the fish out on the beach to dry, but instead put them on a drying tray to dry them.

While Wang Lun rested, Li Ling did many things, such as collecting fish baskets, weaving fish baskets, filling the pot with water, and cutting a slit in the float and filling it with water as well. While they were weaving the fish baskets, Wang Lun woke up, went outside the shelter, and saw the drying trays on the campfire. The sun was setting, and Li Ling, weaving the fish baskets, said, "The sun is about to set, let's go collect the seafood. The idea of ​​drying fish is great." Li Ling smiled and said, "Of course, don't forget who came up with that idea." Wang Lun smiled but didn't say anything. The two collected the seafood, but still found nothing to put in it. Wang Lun said, "Let's put it next to the shelter for now, and I'll try weaving a basket tonight." Li Ling said, "Okay, the tide's probably going out. Should we go check the harvest at the dam?" Wang Lun said, "Okay, let's go catch some fish now, and then collect the fish baskets again, and then we'll come back and cook the coconut crabs." Li Ling smiled and said, "Great idea, let's hurry!"

The two, carrying baskets, discovered the tide had receded considerably, and they could see fish moving in their dam. They quickly went to catch them. After a flurry of activity, they caught seventeen fish of varying sizes, the larger ones weighing three or four pounds, the smaller ones around half a pound, along with some other seafood—all edible. Wang Lun retrieved the baskets again, but this time his luck wasn't so good; he only caught three fish, and one basket was empty. Li Ling joked, "Your luck isn't good. I'll fetch the baskets next time." Wang Lun said sheepishly, "Okay, maybe the fish weren't home this time." Li Ling didn't want to offer Wang Lun a weak explanation; as long as she could fetch the baskets herself, she was happy to share the burden with him. The two returned to the campfire. Li Ling placed the pot on the fire, while Wang Lun took the milk powder can, opened it, and found the coconut crab was dead, presumably suffocated. That was fine, though, as it meant they didn't have to tie it up to cook. They simply took it to the beach, washed it, and then put it directly into the pot to boil.

As time passed, the coconut crabs in the pot became increasingly fragrant, making mouths water. Finally, seeing that they had been cooking for quite some time and the shells had turned red, Wang Lun said, "They should be ready soon, let's eat." He then took the pot off the stove, used two sticks to place the coconut crabs on a pre-prepared rock, pried open a large claw, handed it to Li Ling, and then pried one open for himself. The two immediately began eating without saying a word; it was simply too delicious.

In the live stream: "Sigh, when can I live like this? Seafood for lunch, coconut crab for dinner." "I wish I could, but then I think about my 3,000 yuan salary, forget it, there's no hope." "I'm okay, although I can't afford coconut crab, I can still afford regular crab. I'm going downstairs to eat now." "I've already started, I'm all ready, cooking with Wang Lun and the others." "You're cooking it fresh? I ordered takeout beforehand, we'll eat together." "Don't say that, my phone got wet." "How did it get wet?" "From drool." "Sigh, I'm not working overtime anymore, let's go eat first. I was saying I'd take advantage of overtime to fish, but it's too tempting." "Go ahead, maybe you'll meet a lot of like-minded people." "I don't know about others, but we've already gathered in Shenzhen." ...

This time, the live stream has become a food live stream.