The group spent some more time scooping out and eating the coconut meat before heading to the beach to collect clams. Since they could transport it a distance by raft, they figured they'd be happy to bring back a little more.
The four spent over an hour beachcombing, harvesting a basketful of supplies. After processing their catch, they returned to camp. Back at camp, Wang Lun and Liu Ruoling went to the stream to fetch water, while Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi hung the fresh fish on the windbreak wall. Some of the seafood was given to Wang Lun and Liu Ruoling to clean, while the rest was left on mats to air dry.
Tonight, I'll just cook some seafood and add three fish, that should be enough for us.
After dinner, Liu Ruoxi told Wang Lun and Li Ling to go and rest first. The two sisters would keep watch for the first half of the night, and Wang Lun and the others could get up in the second half. Wang Lun thought about it and agreed. So he and Li Ling went to sleep in the shelter.
Only the two sisters, Liu Ruoxi and Liu Ruoling, remained outside. Since it was already dark, they didn't go out again, even relieving themselves behind the windbreak wall. The two chatted and played chess, and time passed quite quickly.
In the middle of the night, Wang Lun woke up first and went out to relieve Liu Ruoxi and her sister. He made Liu Ruoxi wait a moment while he went to the nearby shed to gather some branches to make something later. When Wang Lun returned with a pile of branches, he let Liu Ruoxi go inside to sleep. Although Liu Ruoxi didn't understand what Wang Lun was planning, she was very sleepy and didn't ask; she just wanted to sleep. So she went inside to rest.
Wang Lun arranged the branches side by side and tied them together with vines. This created a large plank. Just then, a voice came from behind Wang Lun, "What are you doing with this?" Startled, Wang Lun turned around and saw Li Ling leaning against the door. Relieved, Wang Lun said, "Come sit down quickly, that was terrifying." Li Ling sat down next to Wang Lun and asked, "What are you planning to do with this?" Wang Lun said, "You'll find out soon enough." He then tied two long vines to the front of the plank before turning back and asking, "Now do you know what it's for?" Li Ling asked uncertainly, "To transport things?" Wang Lun smiled and nodded, saying, "I plan to moor the raft on the beach and use this plank to transport supplies. It should be easier than carrying them on my back." Li Ling looked at the sandy beach and said, "Easy than carrying them on your back? It's practically..." "It'll be much easier. I reckon the three of us women could manage to pull it." Wang Lun said with a smile, "If we pack a little less, it should be fine." Li Ling said, "Sometimes I really want to crack open your head to see how you think, how you can come up with so many ideas." Wang Lun laughed and said, "It's just laziness. If you want to save effort, you have to use tools." Li Ling said, "That's true. Should we make a few more?" Wang Lun said, "One more will do. Tomorrow, oh no, it should be this morning, one person will load the supplies here, one person will unload the supplies on the beach, and the remaining two will be dedicated to hauling the supplies." Li Ling nodded, and then she and Wang Lun began making these trolleys.
The two spent some time making a slipper. Then, with nothing else to do, Wang Lun told Li Ling to go back to sleep, saying he could keep watch alone. Li Ling, of course, objected. After all, Wang Lun woke up early and had many things to do; he hadn't even had a proper rest himself, how could he let him keep watch alone?
So the two of them took turns keeping watch at night. When they got bored, they would play chess for a while, chat for a bit, or just look at the night sky and the ocean together. Time passed quite quickly like that.
Soon, a red glow appeared on the horizon. Wang Lun immediately called Li Ling, and the two of them came out and sat in front of the windbreak wall, leaning against each other, to watch the sunrise over the sea.
A long time passed, yet it seemed like only a short while. The sun rose above the sea. Wang Lun then came to spoil the view, saying, "Alright, we've seen the sunrise, we should get to work." Li Ling rolled her eyes at Wang Lun. Wang Lun knew he shouldn't spoil the scenery at this time, but he had no choice; they needed to prepare early to get back to camp as soon as possible. Of course, Li Ling understood this too, which is why she only rolled her eyes at Wang Lun and wasn't angry.
The two stood up. Wang Lun went to fetch and boil water to prepare for their journey. Li Ling, on the other hand, packed some supplies onto the trailer. After Wang Lun returned, she would take charge of boiling water and cooking.
Wang Lun fetched two pots of water, intending to use them for drinking on the journey. Then, he pushed the raft into the water and paddled to the nearest beach. He then collected the fish basket; the three fish inside would serve as breakfast. He caught eleven more fish from the fishing trap, which he would take back to camp. As for the rest of the sea creatures, he would cook them with the ones from the previous night. Of course, he wouldn't cook the octopus and squid, since both are generally edible, and would save them for later. The crabs, lobsters, and shellfish would be eaten there; they were difficult to carry, and more importantly, they were quite heavy.
When Wang Lun brought the harvest back to camp, the Liu sisters, Ruoling and Li Ling, had also gotten up. Just then, the second pot of water in the pot boiled, and it was time to cook. So Wang Lun and Li Ling packed up the various tools. After they ate, they loaded the fish and other supplies onto the raft.
Soon, both pots of food were cooked, and the four of them began to eat breakfast.
After breakfast, Liu Ruoxi was in charge of loading and organizing supplies at the camp. Li Ling was responsible for unloading supplies from the rafts and also loading them onto the rafts. Wang Lun and Liu Ruoling were responsible for hauling the supplies, and of course, they also had to help with loading and unloading; they couldn't just stand by and watch.
Wang Lun and Liu Ruoling dragged the raft back and forth, taking turns. Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi felt like they hadn't stopped, constantly loading and unloading supplies. Liu Ruoxi was alright, since it was flat ground, she only needed to load the items onto the raft. But Li Ling had to unload the supplies and neatly stack them on the raft, making sure they weren't too high or too close to the edge. If they were too high or too close to the edge, they were afraid they would fall off.
The four of them worked for over an hour to load all the supplies onto the raft, then covered it with a net to prevent anything from falling off. Liu Ruoxi and Liu Ruoling carried baskets on their backs, along with pots, pans, knives, shovels, and of course, water for all four of them. They set off first.
Li Ling and Wang Lun first checked the supplies on the raft. Once they were secured, they started the raft and began paddling back to the camp.
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