After listening to Li Ling and Liu Ruoling's account, Wang Lun and Liu Ruoxi were now certain that the two women had truly not eaten and had been on the move the entire day, consuming only some wild fruits and a few bananas. They were filled with admiration for Li Ling and Liu Ruoling, but also felt a pang of sympathy for them.
Seeing the situation was turning sour, Liu Ruoling changed the subject, saying, "Li Ling said banana tree bark can be used to make clothes, is that true?" She then stared at Wang Lun, as did Li Ling, except for Liu Ruoxi, who knew the truth. Wang Lun smiled helplessly and repeated what he had told Liu Ruoxi earlier. Li Ling said, "I can't weave cloth, but I can knit a little." Seeing the three of them staring at her, Liu Ruoling immediately said, "How could I possibly know how? I can't even knit a sweater, let alone cloth." Wang Lun said, "Since you can't, then when you get some yarn, use it to knit sweaters. It should be about the same, since they're both wearable." Since no one knew how to weave cloth, they had no choice but to accept this solution. But are sweaters and cloth clothes really the same? Probably not. They all knew this, but they had no other option but to passively accept it.
The four chatted for a while longer. Seeing that it was almost time, Wang Lun told Li Ling and the other two to go and rest. He would keep watch for the first half of the night, and Liu Ruoxi would keep watch for the second half. He told Li Ling and the other two to get a good rest tonight and be well-rested before heading back to camp tomorrow. He wondered if the pheasants and rabbits at home were behaving well, if the pheasants had laid eggs, and if the rabbits had dug burrows and escaped.
The three of them went outside to take care of their personal matters and then went to sleep together. Wang Lun tended the campfire, thinking about a method he'd seen before for processing tree bark. It seemed to involve soaking it until it was mostly rotten, then extracting the fibers for weaving. Since they didn't have the means to weave cloth, they decided to make rope from the fibers and use it to knit sweaters. He figured that would be successful.
Wang Lun rehearsed the process in his mind several times to familiarize himself with it before he felt relieved. Then he considered his future plans.
Soon, it was past midnight. Seeing that the three of them were sound asleep, Wang Lun didn't wake Liu Ruoxi, but continued his night watch. He could go a day or two without sleep; it wouldn't be that easy to die suddenly. Besides, going home early today would allow him to catch up on some sleep. But keeping watch alone was incredibly boring. His mind was racing with thoughts, a jumbled mess.
I simply cleared my mind, thought of nothing, and sat quietly, occasionally getting up to add some firewood. Since only one person was on night watch, and both pots were occupied, I only wiped them with sand and didn't use them to boil salt anymore. Now I have two bamboo tubes of fine salt; tomorrow morning, after filtering the remaining coarse salt, there will probably be about half a bamboo tube of fine salt left. In total, two and a half bamboo tubes will hold four or five pounds, enough to last a long time.
Around three or four o'clock, Liu Ruoxi slowly woke up. After getting up, she saw Wang Lun still by the campfire, so she went over, sat down beside him, and said, "Go to sleep, I'll keep watch for a while." Wang Lun was also extremely sleepy, so he agreed. However, he still gave her a few words of advice, the most important being, "Don't go out alone; it's still hard to see outside, so don't go out alone." Liu Ruoxi said she understood, and Wang Lun then went to sleep on the pile of grass where Liu Ruoxi had been lying.
Seeing Wang Lun sleeping in the spot where she had slept, Liu Ruoxi couldn't help but blush. What did this mean? Did it count as sleeping together? Or did it count as sharing a bed? Fortunately, no one saw, or Liu Ruoxi would probably be even more ashamed.
More than an hour later, Liu Ruoling woke up. She found herself holding someone, and upon opening her eyes, she saw it was Wang Lun. But wasn't Liu Ruoxi next to her before? Why was Wang Lun here? How long had he been here? Did he even know she was holding him? These questions swirled in Liu Ruoling's mind.
Li Ling, who was next to Liu Ruoling, also woke up, but instead of looking at Liu Ruoling, she got up and sat with Liu Ruoxi by the campfire. Seeing that Li Ling had also gotten up, Liu Ruoling released her grip on Wang Lun and got up as well.
The three sat around the campfire, chatting about this and that. They were getting happier and happier as they talked. At first, they were mindful that Wang Lun was sleeping next to them, but then they got louder and louder. After being reminded, they quieted down for a while, but then they started talking loudly again.
Soon it got a bit brighter outside, and at least they could see further. Seeing that they could see the road more clearly, Li Ling discussed going to retrieve the three bundles of banana leaves they had left behind the day before. Li Ling had originally planned to go with Liu Ruoling, but Liu Ruoxi also wanted to go; after all, they had come to the beach and couldn't just stay in one place. So Liu Ruoxi had to go, even though Liu Ruoling didn't want to go at first, but Liu Ruoxi pulled her outside. Li Ling wanted to go with Liu Ruoxi, but Liu Ruoxi refused, mainly because she was worried about leaving Liu Ruoling alone. So, it was the two sisters, Liu Ruoxi and Liu Ruoxi, who went, while Li Ling stayed behind.
Liu Ruoxi slung her basket over her shoulder, grabbed her spear, and pulled Liu Ruoling out of the shelter. After seeing them off, Li Ling went to the stream to wash both pots, then went to the seaside to fill them with water and continue boiling salt.
On the way, Liu Ruoling was clearly unhappy, but Liu Ruoxi ignored her. Mainly, she didn't know how to put it. Should she say that Liu Ruoling liking Wang Lun was a mistake? But what if Liu Ruoling just felt happy having fun with Wang Lun? Besides, Liu Ruoxi herself liked Wang Lun, so this was something she couldn't say; she had to rely on herself.
After walking for half an hour, the two arrived at the place where Wang Lun and Li Ling had met the day before, and also saw the banana leaves lying on the beach. Liu Ruoxi wanted to carry them back herself, but Liu Ruoling still loved Liu Ruoxi very much, so she carried the basket on her own. Although they didn't say a word the whole time, some things couldn't be hidden.
Inside the shelter, Li Ling kept an eye on the pot over the campfire, occasionally glancing up at Wang Lun. Gradually, as time passed, it grew brighter outside.
Seeing that it was light outside, Li Ling went to the beach to check her fish baskets. After a whole night, she figured there should be some fish. Sure enough, each of the four baskets contained a catch: three fish, two crabs, one shrimp, and one octopus. Li Ling cleaned them up on the beach and then put the baskets back.
Just as Li Ling was putting away the fish basket, Wang Lun got up. After getting up, he found the shelter deserted. Where had the three of them gone? Wang Lun first checked the salt boiling in the pot and found there was still some water. He then went outside the windbreak and saw Li Ling processing fish on the beach. But Wang Lun didn't go over; instead, he turned back and went into the woods.
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