Before long, Wang Lun had piled up all the firewood. Seeing that Li Ling and the others hadn't returned yet, he went out to look for them. Before he even stepped out of the camp gate, he suddenly remembered that he hadn't finished digging the drainage ditch. Last time, he had only widened the ditch behind the house, not the one in the yard. So Wang Lun turned back, grabbed an entrenching tool, and began widening the drainage ditch in the yard.
On a grassy field not far from the campsite, Li Ling and her two companions were cutting grass. They gathered any wild vegetables and other edible or usable items they came across. They carried two baskets on their backs, intending to fill them before heading back. After all, according to Wang Lun's estimate, this trip to the seaside and back would take about three days. During those three days, the pheasants and rabbits would need a lot of grass, especially the rabbits, who ate a lot and were numerous.
After widening the drainage ditch in the yard, Wang Lun also widened the drainage ditch outside the camp to prevent water from flowing back into the camp if drainage was not timely. By the time Wang Lun finished doing this, Li Ling and the others had returned.
Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi cooked dinner, while Wang Lun and Liu Ruoling continued carving cards. They aimed to finish before dinner so they could try out new cards afterward, adding another form of leisure and entertainment.
Liu Ruoling and Wang Lun hurried along, finally finishing carving all the cards before dinner. Wang Lun found a basket and put the cards away.
Knowing the cards were already carved, dinner was eaten quickly. Even Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi washed the dishes much faster. Before, when they came back, a single piece of firewood would probably burn more than halfway. Today, that piece of firewood came back the same way it went out.
Seeing this, Wang Lun didn't say anything, but simply put all the cards on the table. After all, he actually wanted to play too; he worked every day and wanted to rest.
The four of them sat around the table, discussing what to play. They finally decided on four-player Dou Dizhu (a popular Chinese card game). There was no other game they knew how to play. Since the cards were made of wooden blocks, they simply shuffled and arranged them like in mahjong. Surprisingly, it actually felt quite fun.
After playing for half an hour, Liu Ruoxi got impatient. Every time she went to Liu Ruoling's place, she would grab cards regardless of whether they were good or bad. In all the time they had played, she had only been the landlord once, and that was only because Liu Ruoling spoke first.
So they discussed it again and decided to play a game with stakes. Wang Lun took out the acorns they had collected, and everyone counted out twenty acorns, one acorn in a handful. Whoever ran out of acorns first would have to cook breakfast the next day. Everyone agreed this time, except for Liu Ruoling, who was forced to agree.
As expected, Wang Lun lost in the end. There was no way he could defeat them alone; the three of them combined were too much for Wang Lun to handle.
After Wang Lun finished collecting all the acorns, he went to wash up and go to bed. He took a quick shower in the shower room that night. Li Ling and the others, on the other hand, took showers one by one after they finished harvesting and moving the acorns back, and found that the water tank wasn't leaking. Of course, they only took showers, and there was no shower gel or shampoo, only charcoal.
After Wang Lun went to rest on the kang (heated brick bed), Li Ling and the other two played for another hour or two before finally going to bed.
The next morning, Wang Lun got up, while the other three were still asleep. Wang Lun went to wash up, fed the chickens and rabbits, and returned to find them still asleep. Wang Lun then went to fetch water and cooked rice. After the rice was cooked, they still hadn't woken up. So Wang Lun woke Li Ling and the others one by one, and while they went to wash up, Wang Lun packed their belongings for the beach trip into a basket.
After Li Ling and the others finished washing up, everyone ate together.
After the meal, Liu Ruoling washed the dishes, while Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi helped pack what they needed to take. They packed one basket, but the remaining three were also carried on their backs. Wang Lun, fearing the spoils wouldn't fill one basket, decided to carry them all, determined not to return until they were completely full. Even if the food wasn't enough, they'd fill a basket with sand to bring back.
After packing everything, Wang Lun carried a basket full of things on his back, Liu Ruoling carried three empty baskets, and Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi simply carried spears. Then Wang Lun closed all the doors and set off for the beach.
At first, Liu Ruoling was quite excited on the way. But as time went on, she became increasingly listless. She stopped jumping and running around like she did at the beginning.
Fortunately, they encountered some wild vegetables along the way, which Wang Lun dug out. After all, he had only brought twenty fish with him on this trip as emergency food. It's best to avoid using emergency food if possible. Of course, it's necessary when needed. Wild vegetables like these, which are readily available by the roadside, can be dug up without taking up too much time.
After about three hours of travel, the four of them finally arrived at the estuary where Wang Lun and the others had stayed before. However, the surrounding area had changed drastically due to the typhoon. If it weren't for the estuary and those few trees, Wang Lun and Li Ling probably wouldn't have recognized this as the place they had been before.
They placed the basket under the tree again. Wang Lun told Liu Ruoxi to tidy up there, while Li Ling and Liu Ruoling followed Wang Lun into the woods to gather firewood and start a fire. Liu Ruoxi could then begin cooking, while the three of them cut branches to build a temporary shelter for their rest over the next few days.
Soon, they gathered two bundles of firewood and had Li Ling and Liu Ruoling take them to Liu Ruoxi before returning. After Li Ling and Liu Ruoling left, Wang Lun began cutting branches and collecting vines.
Soon, Wang Lun had cut five bundles of tree branches, some thick and some thin. He also collected a bundle of vines. He used the excess to make several fish baskets; after all, they were now by the sea, so catching fish would be good. Although they were getting a little tired of eating, it was better than nothing.
Wang Lun and the other two moved the branches back under the big tree. Liu Ruoxi's rice was already cooked, and they were just waiting for Wang Lun and the others to return so they could eat. Liu Ruoxi had even set up a pot to boil salt.
So Wang Lun and the others put down their things, washed their hands and faces by the water, and came back to eat.
After dinner, Wang Lun asked Liu Ruoxi to continue boiling salt, using two pots together. Li Ling took Liu Ruoling to the beach to make fishing traps, something Wang Lun had taught her before. Catching fish would be ideal, but if not, it wouldn't take too much time or effort. Wang Lun himself set up a temporary shelter. Although it was quite hot by the sea, it got very cold at night. The sea breeze made it even colder. If it rained that night, having a temporary shelter was much better than getting soaked.
In addition, Wang Lun planned to search the nearby beaches again to see if there was any usable marine debris. Even if it wasn't useful now, it didn't mean it wouldn't be useful in the future, and besides, something was better than nothing. So Wang Lun had Li Ling and the others make traps while he built a temporary shelter. Splitting up would be faster.
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