Wang Lun brought the raft ashore and secured it. Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi took their baskets off the raft, and Wang Lun caught them underneath before placing them on the sand. After Wang Lun and the others had taken the baskets and other items off the raft, Liu Ruoling led the goat off the raft.
After the goat disembarked from the raft, Liu Ruoling removed the blindfold. Seeing that it wasn't a familiar scene, the goat immediately bleated. However, Wang Lun and the other two were busy packing up their belongings and ignored the goat. Liu Ruoling led the goat to the bushes on the bank, where the goat ate tender leaves.
Wang Lun and Li Ling first dragged the raft ashore. Then they went with Liu Ruoxi to move the other things. However, Wang Lun only moved things once before going into the woods to find firewood to start a fire. The rest of the work was left to Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi.
Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi placed their baskets and other belongings under a large tree, where the shade would provide some shelter from the sun. With everything mostly packed, the two of them moved everything over in no time.
Li Ling picked up a military shovel, preparing to dig a large pit to store food and water. After all, the weather was very hot, and leaving food and water in the sun would affect their preservation. Liu Ruoxi, on the other hand, went to gather some tinder and small pieces of firewood to start a fire.
Everyone was busy with their own things, and soon the fire was lit. Liu Ruoxi took out an iron pot, washed it clean at the beach, and then rinsed it with fresh water. She then poured in most of the pot of fresh water. However, it wasn't for cooking rice; instead, she used it to boil some water, let it cool, and then drink it as cooled boiled water.
Once the water in the pot boiled, Liu Ruoxi placed another pot on the fire to cook lunch. Li Ling then went to relieve Liu Ruoling. After all, Liu Ruoling was tending to the goats under the blazing sun and was getting quite hot.
Before long, the water in the pot boiled, and the firewood gathered on the beach was almost gone. Just as Liu Ruoxi was about to go further afield to gather more firewood, Wang Lun emerged from the woods carrying two bundles of firewood. These two bundles should have been enough to burn for more than a day, but Wang Lun thought it would be better to gather one or two more bundles in the afternoon; more is better than less.
Wang Lun put down his firewood and sat in the shade of a tree. Liu Ruoling handed him a bowl of cooled water. Wang Lun took the water, drank it all in one gulp, and immediately felt as if his life had been restored. Wang Lun handed the bowl to Liu Ruoling, then went into the woods and cut down a long stick.
Wang Lun took a wooden stick and went to the coconut tree, intending to knock some coconuts down. Seeing this, Liu Ruoling abandoned Liu Ruoxi, who was cooking, and ran over to collect the coconuts.
Of course, when Wang Lun was knocking down the coconuts, he made sure Liu Ruoling stood a little further away to avoid being hit by a falling coconut. Wang Lun and Liu Ruoling took turns, and it took them nearly twenty minutes to knock down four coconuts, but that was enough for the four of them. So they put down the long pole, each carrying two coconuts, and returned to the shade of the tree.
However, Liu Ruoxi had already cooked lunch, so the coconut had to be saved for later. Since the freshly cooked wild vegetable and fish stew was still very hot, the four of them waited for it to cool down a bit before eating. Liu Ruoling insisted on eating the coconut first, and what could Wang Lun do but open it, of course?
While Wang Lun was opening the coconut, he sent Liu Ruoling to call Li Ling back. The goat had been eating leaves for quite a while and was probably almost done. He told Li Ling to lead the goat back, tie it to a nearby tree, and give it some water later, and it should be ready.
As Wang Lun was opening his third coconut, Li Ling, leading the goat, and Liu Ruoling, herding it behind, returned. Just as they finished tying the goat, Wang Lun opened his third coconut, and Li Ling and Liu Ruoling each opened one and drank the coconut water. Of course, Liu Ruoxi was the first to drink the coconut water, since she was right next to Wang Lun and hadn't left.
After they drank the coconut water, Wang Lun opened a coconut for himself. The four of them finished the coconut water and were basically full, but they still wanted to eat the whole pot of wild vegetable and fish stew. Otherwise, it would spoil quickly in this hot weather. So, without even eating the coconut meat, the four of them picked up their bowls and started eating the wild vegetable and fish stew.
However, Wang Lun was a little later. He scooped all the coconut meat out of his coconut, poured some fresh water into it, and brought it over to the goat. For the past few days, the coconut shell had been the goat's drinking water.
The four of them ate for over an hour, because they were so full. They shouldn't have each had a coconut; they should have shared one between each other, then they wouldn't have been so stuffed. In the end, there was some fish soup left, and no one could eat it all, so Wang Lun told them to save it and use it as bait to make a fishing trap later, hoping it would attract some silly fish.
After resting for about half an hour, mainly to digest their food, Wang Lun took Li Ling to the woods to cut some branches to build a shelter. Liu Ruoxi and Liu Ruoling then determined the size of the shelter and dug holes for the pillars. Once Wang Lun and Li Ling returned with the branches, they could start building the shelter. If they finished digging before Wang Lun and Li Ling returned, they would dig a fishing trap by the sea; regardless of whether they caught any fish, it was worth it. If they did catch fish, they could save on food. Besides, they had only brought two days' worth of food; they would have to replenish their supplies at the beach.
Before long, Wang Lun and Li Ling had cut enough leaves and tree trunks to build the shed. Each of them carried two bundles of branches and headed towards the beach.
Wang Lun and Liu Ruoxi put down the branches, and each poured a bowl of water from the bamboo tube. After drinking the water, Wang Lun went back into the woods to fetch the remaining two bundles of branches. Li Ling stayed behind and began building the shed with Liu Ruoxi.
Before Wang Lun and his companion returned, Liu Ruoxi and her partner had already dug the pit. After resting for a while, they went to the beach to dig fishing traps. By the time Wang Lun and his companion returned, Liu Ruoxi and her partner had almost finished digging their fishing traps.
Not long after Wang Lun left, Liu Ruoxi and the other woman returned carrying entrenching tools. Li Ling poured them a bowl of water and told them to rest for a while before starting to build the shed.
Liu Ruoxi wanted to wash the pots, but Li Ling stopped her. They had just returned and should rest for a while. Li Ling took the pots to the trap, poured in the remaining fish soup, washed the pots clean by the sea, and then brought them back.
The three rested for a while before starting to build the shed. Li Ling and Liu Ruoling first erected the four pillars, while Liu Ruoxi went to build the windbreak. After all, the sea breeze is quite strong at the beach, and without a windbreak, they were very likely to catch a cold at night.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com