The hearts of the group clenched at the same time; Bai Wei's gang must not be able to sleep soundly tonight.
However, getting enough rest is the best way to maintain physical strength.
I advised a few women to go to sleep.
After all, no matter what, we must continue to live strong lives.
Wang Xiaoxiao was also very worried and kept asking me if we needed someone to keep watch at night.
"Don't worry, I'll be here no matter what happens. If they really want to hurt you, they'll have to kill me first. You can sleep peacefully, I'll stand guard for you every shift."
With red eyes, Xu Wei tugged at my hand: "Brother Sihai, you can't die no matter what!"
"What are you saying, silly girl? Your brother Sihai has fought wolves, captured bears, and battled lions and tigers. You think you can kill me with a few blond-haired, green-eyed guys? You're underestimating me!"
I coaxed all the women onto the straw bed, and I lay down too.
The campfire inside the cave flickered, but I couldn't help feeling worried.
The next day, I went down the mountain to see Bai Wei and his group.
They were all quite proper, some gathering firewood, others cooking.
When Bai Wei saw me, his face turned grim. He said that they had been making a ruckus on that boat all night, shouting and yelling, and he didn't know what they were doing.
"I don't think they're the kind of people who want to stay away from us. Can we think of another way to get away from them?"
I was sitting in the cabin when I saw Lin Xubo hiding in a corner, his face covered with clothes, and I didn't know if he was asleep.
While we were all trembling with fear, he remained remarkably calm.
Wang Ping sighed as well: "But where else can we go besides here? The depths of the forest are full of dangers, and going there will only make things more dangerous. Besides, Zhao Sihai has a mountain here, and he's living a good life. Wouldn't it be a waste to abandon that mountain? And I'm afraid our situation will only be worse than it is now?"
Wang Ping isn't stupid, because what he's thinking is exactly what I'm thinking.
Moreover, I would absolutely not be willing to leave like this.
We went through so much trouble to find this cave, and we've kept it so well. Now we live in the cave and we're not afraid of the wind or rain.
But to give up on this cave and start all over again, to be honest, I don't have that much confidence, let alone that much courage.
Moreover, no matter how big the island is, as long as these people have bad intentions towards us, no matter where we hide, they will always find a reason to come and cause trouble for us.
So hiding is useless.
"Let's wait and see how things go on their end in a couple of days before we make a decision. But I do have something I'd like to ask for your help with. Of course, I can offer you food or fruit in exchange."
Bai Wei didn't say anything, but immediately lowered his head upon hearing my words.
Of course, I didn't expect him to help me pull straw like he did that day. After all, they already had food, so there was no need for him to "work" for me anymore.
To my surprise, Wang Ping looked at me and nodded: "What do you want to do? I can help you."
Since Bai Wei didn't want to get involved, I didn't bother with him either. I got up and went out, with Wang Ping following behind. Chen Jian saw me and quickly came over, but he looked like he hadn't woken up yet.
"As you know, my cave is usually inhabited by women. Now that so many foreigners have arrived, it's a bit troublesome to take them down the mountain to gather food and firewood. So, I'd like to ask you to help me gather more firewood. I can trade you fruit and short-legged birds for it. You know that short-legged birds can lay eggs. If you agree, how about ten bundles of firewood and one short-legged bird?"
Wang Ping didn't say anything, but Chen Jian looked at me and nodded quickly.
“Brother Sihai has taken such good care of us lately. If you need anything, don’t even mention exchanging things for it. Even if you don’t give me anything, I’ll still do it for you.”
When Wang Ping heard Chen Jian say that, he looked up at Chen Jian, but also nodded at me.
“He’s right. You don’t need to exchange anything. After all, you already hunted a wild boar for us that day. How about this, we’ll eat something and then go with you.”
Chen Jian is truly a promising talent, I nodded inwardly, and remembered this good point about him.
When they returned to the cave, Wang Xiaoxiao had already cooked the meat.
Xiao Qiang's legs have begun to recover gradually, but she still can't exert herself. I feel a little embarrassed seeing her lying in bed all the time, yet she has the nerve to ask others for help so often.
I was thinking of going to the woods later to make her a walking stick so she could support herself and walk around a bit.
After I finished eating, Chen Jian and Wang Ping were already waiting for me at the foot of the mountain, along with another male colleague.
I led the three of us to a nearby grove of trees and started collecting dry branches.
However, we have already collected most of the branches and trunks in this area, and what is left are all the still-living trees.
Wang Ping wanted to cut down the tree, but I stopped him.
Not destroying the ecological environment is a rule that everyone should abide by. Although we are having a hard time here now, it is because of these trees that mushrooms and herbs can grow under them. If all the trees in this area were cut down, the consequences would be unimaginable.
“When I went to fetch fresh water a while ago, I found a lot of dry firewood at the place where we built our treehouse. We could bundle it up, dry it, and then drag it back with vines. Anyway, it’s a round trip, and if we move quickly, we can be back in two hours. We can drag more firewood to save ourselves from having to go back so often.”
Chen Jian's suggestion was good, and since it was daytime, Bai Wei and his group were staying inside the boat and there was no great danger.
The four of us hit it off immediately and quickly hid the prepared branches under the tree. Then we followed Chen Jian to the place where we had built a treehouse for him before.
The treehouse had long since collapsed, and all the dead branches used to build it were pulled out and reused.
While the others were collecting dead branches, I went into the woods and found a relatively sturdy, unbranched stick.
Holding the dagger he had brought, he shaved it round, thinking of going back to find a piece of rag or to tear off the skin from the wolf's tail to tie up Xiao Qiang, so that she wouldn't hurt her hand.
After we finished packing everything up, we each carried four or five bundles of firewood and struggled back towards the cave.
I gave Wang Ping and the others ten apples and a short-legged chicken as a way of repaying them.
They were responsible for helping me carry all the firewood into the cave. Although there was still some firewood in front of the cave, it was better to store more in the current situation.
When I handed the cane to Xiao Qiang, she seemed very surprised and eagerly took it. With my help, she got out of bed and walked around the cave. Her face was full of joy, but her eyes were red.
She slowly walked up to me, looked at me, and sniffed: "Sihai, thank you for the gift. I will keep this cane for the rest of my life."
After saying that, he even kissed me in front of Wang Xiaoxiao and the others, which made me feel both excited and embarrassed.
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