Liu Ruoling gathered a bundle of firewood, estimating it would be enough, and returned to her basket, quietly waiting for Liu Ruoxi to arrive. After a while, Liu Ruoxi, carrying a pot in one hand and a woven vine basket in the other, walked over to Liu Ruoling. She started a fire, and after it was lit, she fetched a pot of water and placed it on the fire. Then she took out a bird, preparing to remove the arrow so she could pluck its feathers later. At this moment, Liu Ruoling came to help, also taking a bird from her basket. Throughout the entire process, the two sisters didn't say a word, and Liu Ruoxi didn't ask Liu Ruoling to do anything; she did everything herself, and then Liu Ruoling would come to help. This continued until the last bird was finished, and Liu Ruoxi cleaned up the mess by herself. She collected some feathers, buried the entrails, washed the pot and the bird, then filled a pot with water. She prepared to carry her basket back, but when she called Liu Ruoling to come with her, Liu Ruoling grabbed the basket first, saying, "Sister, what are you doing? You won't let me do anything. Are you sick?" Seeing Liu Ruoling carrying the basket, Liu Ruoxi walked ahead, saying, "No, I just thought you were tired from hunting, so I did more." Liu Ruoling said, "How could I be tired? I just shot arrows, nothing else. I wasn't tired." Liu Ruoxi said, "No, you are tired." Liu Ruoling took two steps forward... Pulling on Liu Ruoxi's arm, she said, "Sister, what's wrong? You were fine this morning, how come you're like this this afternoon?" Liu Ruoxi sighed and said, "Ruoling, since we arrived on the island, apart from that rabbit last time, we haven't had any protein. We finally managed to shoot a few birds, but you're not happy about it. In that case, we might as well go back sooner and think of other ways. We'll eventually raise enough money." Liu Ruoling lowered her head in thought, recalling the past few days when she had eaten wild vegetables almost every day and was almost sick of them. Now that she could finally shoot birds, she thought she could shoot large prey and didn't want to shoot birds anymore. So she said, "Sister, I know. I'll just shoot birds from now on. Anyway, I can't shoot other animals." Liu Ruoxi then smiled and said, "Okay, as long as you can shoot five birds every day, you can do whatever you want the rest of the time." Liu Ruoling asked happily, "Can I just lie down and do nothing?" Liu Ruoxi nodded, and Liu Ruoling immediately jumped up with joy. Seeing Liu Ruoling happy, Liu Ruoxi said, "Let's go, it's getting dark. Let's go back early and cook. We'll have roasted birds tonight." Liu Ruoling asked in surprise, "Sister, are we not planning on celebrating?" Liu Ruoxi sighed and said, "One for each of us, to celebrate today's bountiful harvest and that we'll have meat to eat from now on." Liu Ruoling thought it made sense; five birds a day couldn't possibly be finished. Suddenly remembering something, she asked, "Sister, so will we still eat two meals every other day from now on?" Liu Ruoxi looked at Liu Ruoling and said, "What, you want to eat three meals every day?" Liu Ruoling quickly nodded. Liu Ruoxi thought for a moment and said, "It's not impossible. Once we find a large quantity of food or have a stable food source, we'll eat three meals a day. Otherwise, in a few days, let alone three meals a day, even two meals a day will be difficult." Liu Ruoling said, "No, we're gathering wild vegetables every day, and we'll also shoot a few birds every day. That's enough to eat." Liu Ruoxi said, "What if winter comes? After it snows, where will we find wild vegetables? The birds will all fly away, so where will we shoot them?" Liu Ruoling thought about it and realized that it made sense. Winter was coming, and food sources would be scarce, so her older sister was already starting to stock up on food for the winter. So she didn't say anything more, and the two hurried on their way back to the shelter as soon as possible.

On the other side of the camp, Wang Lun and Li Ling had just finished work. Wang Lun had dug out a corner of the earthen house that afternoon. Li Ling, on the other hand, had erected the pillars for the two walls and filled the foundation with mud. The pillars were buried in the middle of the foundation, spaced one meter apart, with some branches laid horizontally and tied with vines for support. The two then started preparing dinner, again wild vegetables and fish. While Li Ling cooked the fish, Wang Lun went to get some thicker branches to make two wooden molds for the evening. Simply put, he would lay several sticks flat and fix them at both ends with tree trunks to prevent warping. When building the wall, he would place the molds in the planned positions according to the desired thickness, fix them in place, pour mud inside, and then tamp it down with sticks or other tools. When it was halfway done, he would add horizontal branches, pour more mud, and tamp it down again. Then, he would wait until it dried a bit the next day, remove the molds, and continue building. So, they needed to make several more templates to try and raise all three walls at once. They expected to be busy for a long time that evening. The two quickly finished dinner and started making the templates together. The larger areas were relatively easy to work on, but the doorway required more attention, though it wasn't too bad. They spent two or three hours finishing before the moon was high in the sky. After a quick wash, they returned to the shelter to rest. Since they still didn't have time to widen the bed, they squeezed together, but having slept there once before, and being quite tired, they weren't as tense as before. They chatted for a while after lying down before finally falling asleep.

On the other side, the two sisters, Liu Ruoxi and Liu Ruoling, were watching the roasting bird over the campfire. Liu Ruoxi was careful not to burn it, while Liu Ruoling was simply craving it. She couldn't help it; for the past few days, aside from the rabbit, they'd only had wild vegetables. Finally seeing meat, how could she not be tempted? After all, they weren't like Wang Lun and his brother, eating fish every day and almost sick of it. Seeing that the time was almost up and the bird was sizzling with oil, Liu Ruoxi handed Liu Ruoling a larger one—though they were actually about the same size, Liu Ruoxi just thought it was heavier. Liu Ruoling took it and bit into the wing, only to gasp in pain from the heat. Liu Ruoxi laughed and said, "Slow down, it's still so hot." Liu Ruoling, at that moment, completely ignored Liu Ruoxi's words, only focused on the roasting bird in front of her. Seeing this, Liu Ruoxi didn't say anything more. She simply picked up her bamboo bowl, intending to drink the wild vegetable soup first. After drinking about half a bowl, she tested it and found it wasn't too hot. So, she tore off a wing with her beak, put it in the bowl, and took a bite of the wing while drinking the soup. Soon, she finished the bowl of soup and the wing. At this time, Liu Ruoling had already started drinking her wild vegetable soup. Liu Ruoxi saw that Liu Ruoling had finished eating. Liu Ruoxi took her military knife, split her own wing in half, and handed the good half to Liu Ruoling. Although Liu Ruoling really wanted to eat it, she shook her head. Liu Ruoxi said, "Take it. Hunt more next time, and then I'll eat more." Liu Ruoling thought it made sense, but didn't take it, saying, "Sister, just tear off a wing for me. I've already eaten one; I can't eat yours." So, Liu Ruoxi tore off a leg, along with some belly meat, and handed it to Liu Ruoling. Seeing that Liu Ruoling was still shaking her head, she threw it into her bowl and ignored everything else. Upon seeing the bird legs in the bowl, Liu Ruoling secretly resolved to shoot as many birds as possible. She no longer harbored the previous thought of only wanting to shoot the larger prey, since bird meat tasted far better than wild vegetables.