The two ate and chatted for almost half an hour before finishing the snake meat and wild vegetables stew in the pot. After eating, Wang Lun continued making mud bricks, while Li Ling washed the pot and then joined him. The two worked for another three or four hours, piling up a large heap of mud bricks before finally going to rest.
The next day, Wang Lun got up early, but instead of cooking breakfast, he continued mixing mud and made ten mud bricks, each one meter by one meter and about ten centimeters thick, reinforced with thin twigs horizontally and vertically. Only after finishing these did Wang Lun begin cooking breakfast.
It was only around eight o'clock. Li Ling had done a lot of work the day before and stayed up late the night before, so she was still sleeping. Of course, Wang Lun didn't intend to wake her. He waited until he had cooked breakfast before calling Li Ling to get up.
After the two had breakfast, Wang Lun began moving the dried mud bricks into the earthen house. He first built a stove along one side of the wall, and then built a kang (heated brick bed) next to the stove. This was done for the sake of space layout; with the stove on one side and the kang on the other, they could sit together and take care of both sides. At the same time, firewood could be placed in the area between the stove and the kang, since the kang was planned to be quite large. This would cause the stove to protrude, and the head of the kang could be used to pile up firewood for easy access.
Wang Lun first drew the approximate location on the ground, and then began building the stove. He used adobe bricks to build the stove, while Li Ling helped smooth them out and also prepared some thin mortar. This mortar was used to bond the bricks together and later fill in the gaps to prevent smoke from leaking out. The two worked for most of the day before finally finishing the stove and the earthen bed; by then it was already past 2 PM. Li Ling quickly cooked some food, and the two ate a little.
After dinner, it was already past 3 p.m., and they wanted to go out, but it was getting late. So Wang Lun asked Li Ling to use the remaining dry grass to weave a straw mat the size of a kang (a heated brick bed). Then Wang Lun mixed some mud and smoothed out the gaps between the kang and the stove. He also leveled the surface of the kang. Although the mud slab had a certain degree of flatness, it was still a bit uneven. So Wang Lun planned to smooth out these uneven areas and then lay a straw mat on top, which would make it more comfortable to sleep on.
Li Ling then went to get some hay. Since the hay was still a bit prickly, Li Ling first rubbed it to make it less prickly before weaving it.
After a while, Wang Lun came out of the earthen house and saw Li Ling kneading dry grass. He asked, "What are you doing?" Li Ling replied without looking up, "So it won't prick my skin when I sleep." Wang Lun said, "Oh, it's my fault for not telling you. That straw mat is at the bottom; you need to put another mat on top. I'm going to peel some bark now." Li Ling exclaimed, "What? Then all my work will be for nothing!" Wang Lun said, "Oh, it's okay. Just don't knead this dry grass later." Li Ling was a little angry, but she managed to control herself. After all, she hadn't thought of adding another mat, and she hadn't asked beforehand. She took a few deep breaths and continued weaving the straw mat. Seeing that Li Ling had calmed down and was also starting to weave a straw mat, Wang Lun picked up a basket, grabbed his machete, and left the camp.
Li Ling was weaving straw mats in the camp. Although it was a mat laid down on the ground, Li Ling was still very serious about weaving, pulling each strand of straw very tightly. This resulted in a slow pace, but the quality was very good.
It wasn't until the sun set and the sky grew dim that Li Ling put down the straw mat she was holding and called out to Wang Lun several times, but there was no response. Li Ling searched the entire camp again, but still couldn't find Wang Lun. She thought, "Could it be that he hasn't returned yet? No, he usually comes back quite early. Could something have happened to him? That shouldn't be possible." But then she remembered that they were on a deserted island; anything was possible. So Li Ling grabbed her military knife and spear and ran to the camp gate.
Upon reaching the campsite entrance, Li Ling looked around at the desolate landscape. She had no idea which way Wang Lun had gone. A sense of panic washed over her, but she managed to regain her composure. She considered the situation: there were two possibilities. One was that something had happened. This could be serious, forcing Wang Lun to withdraw. In that case, the production team would surely notify her, but they hadn't, so that possibility was ruled out. The other was that it wasn't serious; perhaps he was delayed by something or hiding from some animal. If that were the case, Wang Lun would return after some time or when it was safe. If she went out to look for him and encountered him along the way, that would be fine, but if not, it would be disastrous. The other possibility was that nothing had happened, in which case he would definitely return after some time, and she couldn't go out to look for him. Therefore, the only thing she could do now was wait for him in the campsite until he returned. So, Li Ling returned to the campsite, took some firewood from the shed, placed it outside the campsite entrance, and lit a large campfire that could be seen from afar. Then Li Ling sat by the door, holding a wooden spear and with her military knife beside her. She just kept waiting like that.
About half an hour later, some noises came from afar. Li Ling immediately became alert, stood up, and shouted, "Who's there?" Wang Lun's voice came back, "It's me." Hearing Wang Lun's voice, Li Ling was overjoyed. She quickly picked up a burning stick and ran towards the direction of the sound—or rather, ran towards it.
Soon, Li Ling saw Wang Lun. He was disheveled, with two leaves stuck in his hair, his face and body covered in mud. He was using a stick to probe the way ahead, and his other hand was tightly gripping a large machete. Upon seeing Li Ling, Wang Lun said, "Why did you come out? It's not safe outside at night." By the light of the fire, Li Ling saw Wang Lun's condition and choked up, saying, "I thought something had happened. I wanted to go out and find you, but when I got to the door, I didn't know which way to go. I was so worried, afraid you wouldn't be able to find your way back, so I could only build a bonfire at the door and wait for you... I..." As she spoke, tears streamed down her face. Wang Lun placed the knife in his other hand, gently wiped away his tears, and whispered, "I'm back now. Come on, let's go home and cook. I'm a little hungry." He then took Li Ling's hand and started walking. After a few steps, Li Ling pulled her hand away, saying, "The road is difficult. I'll light the way for you; just follow." Seeing that Li Ling was about to leave, Wang Lun grabbed her hand again, saying, "It's okay, I know this way well." Li Ling said somewhat flusteredly, "Let go." Wang Lun playfully replied, "I won't let go, I won't." Then he led Li Ling towards the camp.
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