After four or five hours, Wang Lun and Liu Ruoling finally managed to transport all the tree bark to the stream. They returned to the camp once to replenish their fresh water supply. Fortunately, Liu Ruoling and Liu Ruoling had boiled the water beforehand, let it cool, and were ready to leave immediately.
That afternoon, Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi collected a lot of firewood, a large portion of which was branches. But it didn't matter; the campfire kept burning as long as they didn't add too many branches at once, the fire wouldn't go out, at most it would just produce a lot of smoke.
In the evening, the four of them put away their fishing nets, harvested the fish in their baskets, and then caught the fish from their fishing traps. They decided not to go beachcombing today and would all rest.
So, in the afterglow of the setting sun, the four of them lay on the beach, their backs to the windbreak wall and their front to the boundless sea, the edge of which was bathed in the glow of the setting sun. From the moment the sun touched the sea until it completely disappeared behind it, they lay quietly on the beach, no one speaking, no one thinking of anything else. They simply wanted to enjoy this hard-won sunset.
After the last rays of sunlight were swallowed by darkness, Liu Ruoxi said, "I shouldn't have listened to you. It's already dark, how are we going to cook?" Liu Ruoling said, "We've all prepared. We're having grilled fish tonight." Li Ling looked at Wang Lun, and Wang Lun nodded.
In the afternoon, Wang Lun and Liu Ruoling returned first. When they got back, they tidied the fish basket and found six fish and three octopuses inside. Wang Lun decided to treat them to a nice meal, both as a reward for their hard work the past few days and as encouragement for the days to come. He and Liu Ruoling cleaned the fish, marinated them with the salt they had brought, put them in a pot, and covered them with banana leaves.
After Liu Ruoxi and Li Ling returned, he took them with him to collect the fishing nets, check the fish baskets and traps, and then process the catch, hanging the fish on the windbreak wall to dry. After finishing these tasks, he continued with the two of them, and the four of them lay down on the beach together, quietly watching the sunset.
To be honest, since arriving on the island, I've been constantly busy, never stopping, and dared not stop. Today, I took advantage of this time to let the three of us relax and relieve some stress. According to a later conversation, Wang Lun learned that watching the sunset was very effective, and the other three all agreed. So, we added another activity: the four of us sat in the courtyard, drinking tea and watching the sunset until it went completely below the horizon before returning inside to prepare dinner. However, they all felt that it wasn't as beautiful as the sunset they saw that evening, even though every sunset was the same.
Wang Lun took out six skewered fish from the pot and distributed them to Li Ling and the other two. Each person was responsible for grilling two fish, while Wang Lun himself grilled three octopuses and a crab.
Soon, the octopus and crab were grilled. Wang Lun was going to let the three of them eat the octopus first, but none of them wanted to, preferring to wait and eat together. So Wang Lun put the grilled octopus and crab aside and went to get a pot to boil some water. He planned to drink some hot water after eating the grilled fish so they wouldn't be too thirsty.
Before long, the grilled fish was ready. The four of them then began to eat, starting with the octopus and crab. Of course, the three girls ate the octopus, while Wang Lun ate the crab. To be honest, Wang Lun didn't really like eating shellfish or thorny things, but they were close to the sea, and finding food in the sea was much easier than finding food in the wilderness.
Wang Lun finished the crab in a few bites, then went to get some grilled fish, grabbing a smaller one at random. After being salted and then grilled over firewood, the fish really wasn't very tasty.
But there was no other way; I needed to fill my stomach and replenish my energy. Otherwise, who would eat such an unpalatable fish? Besides being salty and fishy, it had no other flavor.
Of course, Wang Lun and the three women, although they don't like the food, have gotten used to it. Having something to eat is much better than having nothing at all.
After nearly an hour of wolfing down their food, the four of them finally finished their dinner.
While throwing fish bones into the campfire, Wang Lun explained the arrangements for the next few days to the other three.
Wang Lun planned to take Liu Ruoling and the goat with him tomorrow. The two of them and the goat would first transport banana bark back to the camp, and at the same time, cut some grass for the pheasants and rabbits in the camp to prevent them from starving. When there was time, he would also clean out the droppings in the chicken and rabbit pens to prevent the rabbits and pheasants from staying in the dung heaps.
The other two continued boiling salt and fishing. The more fish and salt, the better. More salt would help preserve the food better. More fish meant more food. This would allow the four of them to survive on the deserted island for a longer period.
After that, Liu Ruoling and Li Ling took turns, one person per day, until all the bark was transported back to the camp, which marked the end of the task.
The above is only the first stage.
In the second phase, Wang Lun planned to fish at the seaside until he had enough food reserves for four months. Two fish per person per day, sixty fish per month, two hundred and forty fish in four months, and nearly a thousand fish for four people. Of course, Wang Lun's estimate was six hundred fish, as there were other seafood options available, making it relatively easy to accumulate enough for four months' worth of food.
Of course, that's what they say, but in reality, it might not be easy to achieve. It's also possible that if they succeed in one fell swoop, they'll already have half the goal. It's hard to say. But Wang Lun decided to set the goal first, and the four of them would work together towards it.
The other three, though surprised by Wang Lun's goal for the second phase, didn't say anything. Instead, they all planned to do their best to achieve it. They knew that winter came to the island, and with their combined abilities, they would likely find no food. Therefore, they figured they might as well fight for ten days or so, then rest for three months.
Under the shocked gazes of Wang Lun and Liu Ruoling, Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi went back to the shelter to rest. According to them, Wang Lun and Liu Ruoxi had to return to the camp the next day and were worried that they would not have enough time, so they asked them to keep watch for the first half of the night and come to take over for the second half of the night so that Wang Lun and Liu Ruoxi could get some more sleep.
After the two returned to the shelter, only Wang Lun and Liu Ruoling remained outside. Liu Ruoling asked, "Do you think we can catch that many fish?" Before Wang Lun could answer, Liu Ruoling nodded firmly and said, "Definitely! We will definitely catch enough fish, and we will definitely persevere to the end." Hearing Liu Ruoling's words, Wang Lun also nodded, his resolve strengthened. He was determined to persevere to the end, not just for the ten billion yuan prize, but for the ten billion yuan prize itself.
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