Chapter 67
Since they couldn't pick the coconuts, they had nothing to store water in, so Chu Huaiqin and others simply gave up their previous method of picking coconuts, but did not give up picking coconuts.
The next day came, it was still raining, but the wind was much weaker. Chu Huaiqin walked out early and looked up at the gloomy sky, standing there for half an hour. Lin Zhinan asked him curiously what he was looking at.
"We can go out and pick coconuts." Chu Huaiqin said.
"Even if there's no thunder and lightning today, the coconut trees are too slippery after a few days of rain." Xia En stood next to Chu Huaiqin, staring at him motionlessly with his deep eyes.
Chu Huaiqin felt Xia En's gaze and turned to smile at him. "I have a plan."
Chu Huaiqin donned his straw raincoat and hat, armed with his knife, and headed out. Xia En hurried after him. They reached the spot where they'd found the coconuts the day before, and heaved a sigh of relief at the sight of them. Food had been scarce these past few days, and the food near the camp had been scoured for. Even the banana and plantain trees had been chopped down, so it was a stroke of luck that this particular tree had been left behind.
Chu Huaiqin and his friends have been short of food recently, but fortunately they have shrimp cages. They put the shrimps in the cages every night despite the storm and collect them before dawn. They can get some back, so although they can't eat enough, they won't starve to death either.
After Xia En reached the coconut tree, he took off his raincoat, rubbed his hands in front of Chu Huaiqin's astonished gaze, took off his clothes, and jumped onto the coconut tree. However, before he could hold on tightly, he slipped down too fast and sat down on the ground.
Xia En was a little confused for a moment.
Chu Huaiqin: ...
Live broadcast room: "I have been trained and usually don't laugh unless I can't help it."
Chu Huaiqin couldn't help but smile. Seeing Xia En's face flush red, he coughed twice to suppress his laughter. "What are you doing?"
"Climb the tree." Xia En quickly climbed up and patted his hands instinctively, but realized that his whole body was wet, so he put down his hands in disappointment.
"Let's go up the tree next to it," Chu Huaiqin pointed to a tall tree about three meters away. Compared to the smooth coconut tree, this old tree had loosely spread branches and leaves, and was surrounded by roots, making it easier to climb. "We can use a small tree trunk to tie a knife to this old tree and chop it. It's much easier than standing under the tree for more than ten meters."
Live broadcast room:
"Oh, yes, but why didn't you do it this way before? Why did you waste a whole day?"
"Who would dare to climb a tree when the wind is strong and the thunder is thundering?"
After hearing this, everyone understood.
Upon hearing this, Xia En didn't let Chu Huaiqin show any reaction. After the knife was tied to the small tree trunk, he climbed up in two or three steps. Then he turned around and stretched out his hand to Chu Huaiqin, motioning him to hand over the knife.
Chu Huaiqin, helpless, handed it to him, then turned and walked to a more open area to look up. Xia En, who had climbed up as quickly and efficiently as possible, looked back expectantly, but saw no one under the tree. In his anxiety, he almost fell down, but luckily he quickly saw him looking up at the sky.
With a sigh of relief, Xia Entang stuck the knife on the tree, touched his arm which was scratched by the branches and hurt, removed the leaves that fell on it, and then began to find the best position.
Chu Huaiqin looked up at the sky not to show off at a 45-degree angle, but to see if there was any lightning. If a flash of light appeared in the sky, Xia Entang would have to come down quickly.
"Bang!"
A dull sound with the sound of water was heard. Chu Huaiqin turned around and saw Xia Entang had already started to hook the coconut with a knife. This job was actually not easy. Although the knife was a little curved and sharp, due to the long distance and force problems, the knife often slipped out when pulled.
There were seven or eight coconuts in total, and it took them until after 1 p.m., but they were happy to have successfully retrieved the coconuts. Next came the task of making the kettle. The shells were too hard to cut, so what could they do?
Grinding mill.
Now they had little but plenty of time. The young monk, Su Huaichen, and Xia Entang took on this responsibility, along with a mission: fishing. This so-called fishing wasn't about going out to sea, but rather scavenging along the shore. The magic of nature is that it doesn't change its course for any external reason, even the ebb and flow of the tide, which always brings up a variety of seafood. This is when you're quick to catch it.
The three of them calculated the time and went out to sea. The other teams did the same. It was common to see dozens of people snatching things on the beach and fighting from time to time.
Chu Huaiqin and Lin Zhinan were tasked with searching for food on land. They found little else on the island except coconuts and bananas, both of which were now nearly extinct. The rainy forest was difficult to navigate. Chu Huaiqin, carrying Lin Zhinan on a vine-woven backpack, led them through the dense forest and bushes. Even with their straw raincoats, their inner clothes were soaking wet, and their hands and feet were covered in cuts, leaving them looking grimy.
The foreign audiences in the live broadcast room were speechless and had no idea what Chu Huaiqin was going crazy about.
"Haha, Team Gun Gun must be starving! Tsk tsk, I let you guys eat alone before."
"Haha, a few breadfruits have been mocking you for so long, how petty are you?"
"Exactly. Even though our team wasn't full, at least we had hot water and soup to drink. Unlike some other teams, they've been eating raw food since the last few days because the fire went out and they've run out of firewood. If they hadn't gotten the injections before we set out, they'd probably be dead by now. They're as stupid as pigs. Ah, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, pigs. Pigs are smarter than you."
"You Chinese people, don't be too cocky. Wait."
"Let's wait...wait, haha, what is that?"
Exclamations and Lin Zhinan's voice were heard in the live broadcast room one after another.
"Brother, brother, is it a pineapple?"
Lin Zhinan pointed to a plant in the bushes. This plant had many branches, and pineapple-like fruits hung on it. However, it was different from the pineapple. Although they looked similar, the pineapple's branches were arranged in a rosette shape, while this fruit was more like a bundle of branches spliced together.
"This is a pandanus, not a pineapple." Chu Huaiqin was also surprised to see this thing, but when he thought about it, it belonged to the Miami Island system, so it was not surprising.
"Ah," Lin Zhinan was disappointed, "Can I eat it?"
"Okay." Chu Huaiqin replied, cut off one of them with a knife, and shook it. Very good, not bad, it's cooked.
When some people in the live broadcast room heard this, their faces turned green. Some people said that it was a slap in the face so quickly.
Lin Zhinan happily picked a dozen pandanus fruits from the two trees and put them in a box. When he was done, he looked up and saw Chu Huaiqin digging for roots.
"Brother, what are roots used for?"
"Its roots can cure colds, so we'll keep them on hand."
"Brother, how did you know?"
"I went to Hainan for a trip, and the tour guide told me that."
"Brother, you are awesome."
"Not really. I usually watch TV, read books, and read scripts. I write down everything I come across. Travelogues, in particular, contain a lot of records about things in the wild."
"Brother, you remember everything? You remember it after just one look?"
"Um!"
Chu Huaiqin responded casually, but the others were shocked. Is this a true genius, or just a character setting?
The roots were quickly dug out by Chu Huaiqin. The advantage of rain is that after washing away the mud in the puddles, the roots were washed by the falling rain, making them especially clean.
The two continued to search and found the fern, and pulled it all out without hesitation.
Foreign audience: "Does GunGun want to eat grass?"
Domestic audience: "Thank you, GunGun does eat bamboo, but it's called pteris fern, a wild vegetable. I'm uninformed."
Foreign audience: ...
Just as they were about to go back, the two of them picked a lot of banana leaves. They were in great demand for this stuff. Lin Zhinan was worried while packing them. Now everyone couldn't find food, so they were cutting down banana trees to take the cores to eat. By the time all the banana leaves were cut down, they would have no banana leaves left.
The backpack was a bit too full, so Lin Zhinan took off two pandanus fruits and held them in his arms. When the two were about to return to the camp, they ran into a team. Their eyes were fixed on the fruits in front of Lin Zhinan. Scared, Lin Zhinan quickly hid behind Chu Huaiqin and cautiously stretched his head to look at them.
These men were tall and bearded, clearly from West Asia. However, they were still somewhat mindful of the cameras, and even though they seemed to be interested, they didn't make a move and simply left.
After Chu Huaiqin left, the group chatted for a while and then continued looking for food. After walking for a distance, they found a mango tree. Several people happily went up to pick mangoes. They picked about thirty or forty mangoes, enough to eat for two days.
The people in the live broadcast room were also very happy and shouted that the food can be found not only in China.
The Chinese audience was speechless: Who said you can't find food? Haven't you cut down almost all the banana and plantain trees?
Although the abundant food was classified as fruit, it was still a good harvest. Especially the pteris fern, which was considered a culinary food. After so many days of eating fish, they finally had something to eat.
It can't be fried without oil, and it won't taste good if it's boiled without salt. So just throw it into the seafood stew and cook it together. Seafood has a light salty taste, which is barely acceptable even though a few people haven't eaten salt for a while.
The addition of the fern made the soup completely different and even more delicious. Thanks to the addition of the fern, everyone finally had a full meal today.
After dinner, Chu Huaiqin opened a ripe pandanus fruit and threw it into the sea water to soak. Because its bulge is convex, it can be pulled out by hand. The flesh that comes out is tender yellow and has a strong fruity flavor. Even if it is not edible yet, it needs to be soaked for at least half an hour, which is like looking for a donkey when there is no horse.
After boiling a pot of water, the stove fire was extinguished, and the door was moved away. Chu Huaiqin took the coconut water bottle made by the three people to examine it. There was a small opening at the top, which was convenient for taking out the coconut meat inside and it was very clean. The three people wove five net bags based on the principle of shrimp cages, which could be placed in the coconut water bottle to prevent it from spilling when walking. The lid was sealed with several large wooden plugs. However, Chu Huaiqin took the knife with him today, so he was ready to start.
Chu Huaiqin said: "Then let's go find a boat tomorrow."
The situation on the island is still unknown, but it is already the twelfth day. If they don't hurry up and something unexpected happens after they get ashore, they will still waste time.
However, not all of them set out. Instead, three people left and two stayed.
When the young monk heard that he had to stay, he was unwilling to do so. Just as he was about to say something, Chu Huaiqin glanced at him and he stopped in his tracks.
Yes, the things here must be watched by someone. If Su Huaichen and his sister are left behind, what if those people cause trouble?
But can’t Xia Entang be allowed to stay?
Before the little monk's resentful gaze could meet Chu Huaiqin's, Xia En kicked him, causing him to gasp in pain.
After the decision was made, some people packed up their things for tomorrow's departure, and some were making corks for coconut water bottles. This continued until 11 o'clock in the evening. When a few people were about to go to bed, they suddenly heard a commotion. A short while later, people from the Sheep Country appeared panting.
After a quick conversation, the five people understood.
He came over because Sang Guo went out to look for food today and found a fruit called mango. He started vomiting soon after eating it. They heard that Chu Huaiqin also found wild fruit today, so they came over to see what was going on.
"elder brother!"
Lin Zhinan was a little scared and grabbed Chu Huaiqin's hand.
"It's okay, we eat pandanus fruits and they eat sea mangoes." Chu Huaiqin comforted Lin Zhinan.
"Can't sea mango be eaten? It looks like a mango." The people of the Sheep Country were very curious.
The audience in the live broadcast room was also very curious, but the audience from Sang Country was so anxious that they cried, urging Chu Huaiqin to continue speaking in the barrage. Some people even apologized for the Sang Country team's previous prevention of Chu Huaiqin and others from going ashore.
"This thing is poisonous," Chu Huaiqin then asked, "Where's the doctor?"
"We're on our way, but their tent is a bit far away, and it's windy and rainy, so it'll take another five or six minutes." Hearing that Chu Huaiqin and the others were fine, the people from the Sheep Country breathed a sigh of relief. Just as they were about to say goodbye, they saw that Chu Huaiqin had a heavy face, and they didn't know what he was thinking.
"You guys stay home, I'll be back soon."
After he finished speaking, Chu Huaiqin grabbed an unopened coconut and a knife and rushed out instantly.
Live broadcast audience:
"You want to disembowel me?"
"Slit throat?"
"Gastric lavage?"
Anyway, it was dark, windy, and raining heavily, and it was scary to rush out with a knife in hand.
The author has something to say: Xia Entropy Diary
XX month XX day
I've been sleeping in the same bed with my brother a lot lately, and I feel like I've become a little braver now...
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