Chapter Forty-Seven

In the morning, Li Ling woke up to the sound of raindrops outside the shelter. She got up and opened the door; it was indeed raining, the raindrops pattering down. Braving the rain, Li Ling ran to the makeshift shelter she had erected against the wall the day before, found a corner, and relieved herself. There was no other way; a toilet hadn't been built yet, so she usually had to find a bush outside the camp to do it. But today, with the rain, she had no choice but to find a sheltered spot.

Li Ling tidied up the scene and then ran back to the shelter in the rain. Wang Lun was already up, adding firewood to the fire pit. Seeing Li Ling's head was soaked, he said, "Come sit down, your head is all wet, warm yourself up." Li Ling sat down and said, "It's raining today, there's nothing I can do but get soaked." Wang Lun said, "It's okay, I'll make you a straw hat after breakfast." Li Ling asked in surprise, "You can make that?" Wang Lun said, "No, but since it's raining, I'll figure it out slowly." Li Ling was speechless for a moment, then thought about it. Yes, on rainy days they had to stay in the shelter and couldn't do anything, so having something to do was good. Wang Lun said, "You watch the fire, okay? I'll go get some water to wash up first, then I'll cook." With that, Wang Lun carried the stainless steel pot out of the shelter. In the rain, Wang Lun, with the stainless steel pot on his head, walked to the water pool. Reaching the pool, he took the pot off his head, scooped out half a pot of water, and then quickly walked back to the shelter.

Back at the shelter, Wang Lun noticed he was still a bit wet, so he called Li Ling over to wash up. Li Ling was still fiddling with her hair by the fire pit, her hair disheveled and messy. After Li Ling arrived, she first fetched two bowls of water, then used the pot as a basin to wash her face. She then picked up a bowl and squatted by the door, rinsing her mouth with charcoal. Wang Lun then washed his face in the same pot of water, conserving water.

Soon, the two finished washing up. Li Ling went back to the fire pit to fix her hair, while Wang Lun emptied the water from the pot and then fetched another pot of water to prepare breakfast.

When Wang Lun returned with water, he saw the fire in the hearth was already burning, so he placed the pot on top of it. Seeing Li Ling still fixing her hair, he said, "Turn around, I'll help you." Li Ling turned around, and Wang Lun gently brought her hair close to the fire, drying it little by little. He then found a piece of dry grass and tied her hair up. Meanwhile, the water in the pot had boiled. Wang Lun took out a fish and a handful of dried wild vegetables. He put the vegetables in the pot to cook first, then cut the fish into pieces. After the vegetables had cooked for a while, when they were almost done, he added the fish to the pot. He then took out a bamboo tube containing salt, poured some salt into the pot, and tasted it. It was just right, not too salty or bland. After cooking for another two minutes, it was ready to eat.

The taste was as bad as ever. But it was still much better than boiled vegetables and fish in plain water, which were bitter and fishy. Now there was salt, so although it was unpalatable, it was much better. The two ate and chatted. No one knew exactly what they talked about; they talked about everything, from how long the rain would last to how to cook the fish. They weren't in a hurry, so they chatted about everything under the sun. They had a sturdy shelter, a wall, and plenty of food. To be a little unethical, they even wished the rain would get heavier, ideally knocking all the other contestants out of the competition. But neither of them said it aloud; they just kept it to themselves.

Although the rain didn't force many competitors out of the competition, some still had to withdraw. While the two were having breakfast, one competitor developed a high fever due to a leaking shelter and had to withdraw. His teammate, also suffering from a leaking shelter and the relentless rain that had lasted all night with no end in sight, finally succumbed and withdrew with his teammate. It's worth noting that if an entire team withdraws, all their tools will be collected. However, if only one competitor withdraws, the remaining competitors will possess all of the team's tools, except for clothing.

From last night to this morning, a total of eight teams were eliminated, mostly due to leaky shelters caused by the rain. Unable to withstand the downpour outside and the drizzle inside, they opted to leave. This doesn't include the three teams that withdrew, leaving only one teammate to continue. Of course, one of these eight teams went out in the rain last night to cut tree branches to reinforce their shelter, but instead of finding branches, they were bitten by a snake and, for their safety, chose to withdraw. Fortunately, after examination by the rescue team's doctor, it was found to be a non-venomous snake, so they were relatively lucky. Thus, from the initial two hundred participants on the island, only one hundred and eighty remain, and only ten days have passed.

After having breakfast, Wang Lun and Li Ling started working. Wang Lun studied how to make a bamboo hat, while Li Ling twisted rope from tree bark and dry grass. After all, they would need a lot of rope when building the earthen house later, and vines alone wouldn't be enough. It would be better to twist more rope now that they had time.

On the other side, outside the cave, Wu Jing took off her shirt and dug dirt outside the fence. Yesterday, the construction of the wall was slow because there was no water. Today, it rained, so Wu Jing took advantage of the rain to dig a large pit to store water. When the rain stopped, she could start building the wall directly. Inside the cave, Zhang Shengnan was cooking hot soup so that Wu Jing could drink it directly after she finished digging, reducing the risk of catching a cold.

Meanwhile, the Liu sisters, Ruoxi and Liu Ruoxi, are doing quite well inside their treehouse. While the others are trapped in shelters, their treehouse offers them more freedom of movement and a space beneath it, making their situation much better than the others. Furthermore, the shelters of the other teams (except for Wu Jing and her companion who live in a cave) are all open-air and prone to leaks, including Wang Lun's. Liu Ruoxi and her sister's treehouse, however, has a canopy above and a treetop roof, providing double waterproofing and further reducing the risk of leaks. However, there are some inconveniences. Because there was no prior planning, the ladder is currently outside the treehouse eaves. Although the canopy provides some shelter, some water still drips onto the ladder, making it a bit slippery. But these are minor issues that can be easily resolved.

The two sisters are now sitting under the treehouse playing Connect Four. They have no choice but to do something to pass the time, since they have basically finished all their work and the rest is in the wild. They have also finished their work at the campsite. They can't just sleep through this rainy day.