Wang Lun squatted down, first placing his right hand on Liu Ruoxi's wrist, carefully feeling it for a while, then placing his left hand on it, feeling it for a long time as well. He then stood up and said, "Liu Ruoxi's condition is quite serious." Li Ling asked, "What happened?" Wang Lun said, "Put your hand away first, let's talk by the fire pit." So Wang Lun went to the fire pit. Li Ling quickly put Liu Ruoxi's hand inside her coat, added some firewood to the kang (heated brick bed), and then came back.

Wang Lun said, "Liu Ruoxi's biggest problem right now is her fever, but the most serious issue is her deficiency of both qi and blood. The fever is manageable; there are ways to bring it down, and we can usually manage that now. But the deficiency of qi and blood requires more nourishment, preferably with some precious medicinal herbs. If those aren't available, we'll have to rely on dietary supplements." Li Ling said, "Are you sure? You could tell so much in just a short time?" Seeing her disbelief, Wang Lun said, "She probably wasn't in good health before, and recently she lost a lot of blood. Plus, she did a lot of physical labor, and then she got caught in the rain. That's what caused her current condition." Li Ling looked at Wang Lun and said, "You know all this? Are you sure you didn't peek?" Wang Lun said, "Peek at what? I'm with you every day. Besides, I was outside when you changed her clothes; how could I have seen that?" Li Ling said, "I never said I peeked while she was changing clothes, what are you trying to deny?" Wang Lun shouted, "I'm innocent! I'm more wronged than Dou E!" Li Ling said, "Alright, alright, let's just say you didn't peek!" Wang Lun said, "I didn't peek." Li Ling said, "Then, is it white?" Wang Lun immediately replied, "White." Upon hearing Wang Lun's words, Li Ling immediately stepped forward and twisted Wang Lun's ear, saying, "You still say you didn't peek?" Wang Lun dodged towards the direction of the ear being twisted, saying, "I thought you were talking about her hands? Didn't I just look at her hands?" Li Ling said, "I asked you to take her pulse, and you just looked at her hands." Wang Lun quickly said, "No, no. I glanced at it while taking her pulse, I really didn't look at it specifically." Li Ling ignored him and continued twisting his ear. Wang Lun begged for a long time before Li Ling finally let go.

Wang Lun rubbed his ear, which Li Ling had pinched red, and said, "You used so much force, my ear almost fell off." Li Ling said, "Who told you to peek?" Wang Lun couldn't argue with Li Ling, so he changed the subject, rubbing his ear as he said, "I've taken my medicine, and Liu Ruoling should wake up soon. You should go dry their clothes first; I can't stay shirtless forever." Li Ling said, "Don't you like being naked?" Wang Lun said, "It's cold at night." So Li Ling got up, saying as she walked away, "Don't look back, or I'll punish you." Wang Lun quickly said, "Okay, okay, I definitely won't look back." After Li Ling left, Wang Lun rubbed his ear for a while longer before continuing to weave the straw mat.

Li Ling sat by the heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove), drying their clothes while adding firewood to the kang. Both were busy with their own tasks.

A little over an hour later, Wang Lun suddenly called out, "Li Ling, come here for a moment." Li Ling put down the clothes she was drying, walked to the fire pit, sat down, and said, "What do you want? Don't you know I'm drying clothes?" Wang Lun said, "I think Liu Ruoling will wake up soon. Make her some kudzu root powder, a porridge-like consistency. Don't make too much; start with a little and gradually increase." Li Ling said, "Kudzu root powder? In bamboo tubes?" Wang Lun said, "That's up to you, but it's best to save it for Liu Ruoxi. It won't do much good, but it won't do much harm either. As for Liu Ruoling, she's healthy. Right now, she can eat almost anything except meat. A pot of wild vegetables will do too." Li Ling glared at Wang Lun and said, "Then I'll still make her some kudzu root powder. There's still some left." She got up to make kudzu root powder for Liu Ruoling, but Wang Lun stopped her, saying, "Don't make too much. Just one big bowl is enough for two meals. Make it a porridge-like consistency so it's easier to absorb." Li Ling listened... Wang Lun then turned and sat down next to her, whispering, "I was just thinking, didn't we form an alliance on the cruise ship? I've been wondering if we should still ally with them now. We seemed to be having a pretty tough time before, but after seeing them, I think we're doing alright." Wang Lun thought for a moment and said, "They might be even worse off than us, but we're probably doing badly, considering we don't even have a decent toilet." Li Ling nodded and said, "Should we still team up with them?" Wang Lun asked, "What do you think?" Li Ling said, "I don't know. I want to be with them, but I'm also afraid that living together will be even more difficult." Wang Lun said, "That's for sure. But I think we should wait a bit longer, until they wake up and we can find out the situation. What do you think?" Li Ling said, "Okay, let's wait a bit longer. I'm going to go cook for her now." Wang Lun nodded and continued weaving the straw mat.

Li Ling first poured in some kudzu root powder, then added water and stirred it into a thick paste. She then placed the pot on the fire pit, brought the water to a boil, poured the kudzu root paste into the pot, and continued stirring. After a while, she asked Wang Lun to stir it while she fetched some salt, sprinkled some in, and prepared to put it back. Wang Lun asked her to sprinkle some more, to make it saltier. Li Ling looked at Wang Lun, who nodded and said, "After strenuous physical labor, drinking some salt water replenishes energy. We don't have salt water, but we can make it saltier for her." Hearing Wang Lun's words, Li Ling added some more salt, then put the salt away and placed it on the rack. She returned, took the spoon, stirred it for a while, and it was ready. She then took the pot down and went back to the kang (heated brick bed) to dry the clothes for the two sisters. As for Wang Lun, he naturally continued weaving straw mats.

About half an hour later, Liu Ruoling, lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was the ceiling. Then, suddenly remembering Liu Ruoxi, she quickly got up. Halfway up, a loud shout came from the side, "Don't turn around!" followed by, "Lie down!" Liu Ruoling knew the "lie down" command was directed at her, as she had already felt her naked body as she sat up. She quickly lay back down and turned to look in the direction of the voice. The first thing she saw was Liu Ruoxi lying beside her, followed by Li Ling, who was standing nearby and walking towards her. Liu Ruoling vaguely remembered Li Ling; after all, they were the only ones with food on the first day, and she had even managed to get some herself. Li Ling walked behind Liu Ruoling, then turned to look at Wang Lun, who had just stood up. However, Wang Lun didn't turn around, saying, "I'm going to the toilet. Call me when I'm done." He then walked out of the room without looking back.