They continued until Wang Lun had cut down enough banana trees, and the other two peeled the banana bark and bundled it together. As dusk approached, they carried two bundles of banana bark back to their temporary camp.
Back at camp, Wang Lun and the other three didn't even rest. Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi stayed at camp to cook and tidy up, while Wang Lun took Liu Ruoling to check the fishing traps on the beach and replenish their food supplies.
At night, Li Ling and Liu Ruoling sat by the campfire, enjoying the sea breeze, listening to the sound of the waves, and Wang Lun's deafening snoring beside them, interspersed with Liu Ruoxi's soft snores.
The day's work left all four of them exhausted. Wang Lun had been snoring like this ever since he arrived on the island. Li Ling was already used to it, and even Liu Ruoxi and the other woman were used to it now. Sometimes, they even felt uneasy not hearing his snoring.
Of course, normally Li Ling and her two friends don't snore. They only snore when they're extremely tired, and today was a special case.
When Li Ling and Liu Ruoling woke up in the morning, they only saw Liu Ruoxi cooking by the campfire, but Wang Lun was nowhere to be seen.
Hearing the two of them get up, Liu Ruoxi turned her head and said, "You're awake? Someone come and watch the pot. I'm going to go and collect seafood with Wang Lun." Li Ling came over and took the spoon from Liu Ruoxi's hand. Before Li Ling could say anything, Liu Ruoxi quickly walked past the windbreak wall.
Liu Ruoling was about to follow when Li Ling quickly stopped her, saying, "Wait, Ruoling, if you leave, are you going to eat breakfast?" Liu Ruoling had no choice but to return. The two took turns going to the toilet, washing up, and watching the cooking. Then they moved some of the goat droppings to another location and covered the urine stains with sand from the beach.
When Wang Lun and Liu Ruoxi returned, Li Ling and Liu Ruoling had already tidied up the camp and prepared breakfast. A pot of boiled fish and a pile of banana cores were enough to feed the four of them.
While eating breakfast, Wang Lun adjusted his plans for the day based on yesterday's situation. He decided to spend most of the day cutting down banana trees and then transport the bark to the beach in the afternoon.
If time permits, some more bark will be transported to the beach on the other side of the cliff, while the rest will stay here to rest. The remaining bark will be transported over the next day, followed by taking Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi to the seaside camp. There, the two will boil salt, repair the camp, and set up fishing traps. Wang Lun will then take Liu Ruoling to transport the banana bark to the stream, to a place where the raft cannot proceed. Later, this bark will be transported back.
At the same time, Wang Lun also wanted to boil more salt, catch more fish, and store more grain during this period.
The other three had no objections to Wang Lun's plan, since the most tiring tasks would be done by Wang Lun himself. Although the others could do them, they certainly wouldn't do as much as Wang Lun.
The four quickly finished their meal. Wang Lun led out the goat, Liu Ruoxi and Liu Ruoling went to wash the pots and pans, while Li Ling emptied out all the seafood. They couldn't leave it all in the basket; the temperature was still quite high, and it would spoil easily. It was best to process and dry it properly—that was the best way.
But Liu Ruoling should have stayed at the camp this morning to watch over the food. After all, the banana chips haven't dried yet, and the seafood we've collected recently also needs to be dried, so someone needs to keep an eye on them.
Once everyone was there, Wang Lun led Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi towards the banana grove, while Liu Ruoling stayed at the camp to handle the seafood, guard the food, and take care of logistics.
In the evening, Wang Lun returned to the camp with the last two bundles of banana bark. He put them down and sat down, panting heavily. Liu Ruoling, also panting, asked, "Do we have to transport these over today?" Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi turned to look at Wang Lun when they heard Liu Ruoling's question.
Wang Lun glanced at the large pile of tree bark in front of the campsite, then at the sky, and decided it was getting late. He was also exhausted, so he said, "Forget it, let's rest. We won't transport any more today; we'll just take it to the stream tomorrow." Liu Ruoling cheered, saying, "Let's go catch coconut crabs later; we should be able to catch some today." Wang Lun nodded, saying, "Okay, and while we're at it, let's collect some coconuts too. Dried coconut meat has a long shelf life." Liu Ruoling exclaimed, "Great!"
Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi also wanted to go, but the camp needed someone to stay behind, and they both knew that one of them would definitely have to stay. Liu Ruoxi said, "Sister Ling, you go ahead, I'll stay at the camp." Li Ling wanted to say something, but didn't, after all, she also wanted to go. Although she was the oldest of the four, she had never caught coconut crabs before and wanted to see it for herself. So she remained silent, and the atmosphere became somewhat tense.
After Wang Lun had rested, the other three shouldered their baskets and set off. Liu Ruoxi then realized what was happening. All four of them were going this time? Weren't they going to guard the food? Li Ling, Liu Ruoxi, and Liu Ruoling all looked at Wang Lun. Wang Lun said, "What are you looking at me for? Let's go." Liu Ruoxi said, "Maybe I should stay. I don't know how to catch crabs. I should stay." Wang Lun said, "Why stay? It's alright. How much can those seabirds eat? Besides, let them eat some first. If we don't catch any coconut crabs, we can catch a couple of seabirds when we get back." With that, he shouldered his basket, picked up his spear, and walked forward. Liu Ruoxi was still hesitating when Li Ling pulled her forward, and Liu Ruoling also pushed her along.
Before long, they arrived at the coconut grove. Wang Lun led Li Ling and the other two to search for coconut crabs. Each person kept a few meters apart, searching like a net. Whenever they saw a suspected coconut crab burrow, they would poke it with a spear. If they found one, they would catch it; if not, they would continue forward.
At first, Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi were hesitant to catch them themselves. Later, the two of them worked together, one holding the coconut crab in place while the other used her hands to tie it up with vines and toss it into the basket.
The four of them swept through the coconut grove like autumn leaves in the wind. They successfully caught five coconut crabs, enough for two meals for the four of them. Of course, it wasn't that one crab per person couldn't finish them, but rather that it was simply unnecessary. Although coconut crabs are delicious, moderation is still necessary.
The four of them started picking coconuts again. Although the coconuts on the trees were fresh, climbing up and down them was still quite dangerous. So they just picked up some that were still relatively fresh from the ground; as long as they weren't spoiled, they could eat them.
The four of them didn't start their journey back until they had filled a basket with coconuts. This was a very fruitful trip: five coconut crabs and a basket of coconuts—enough to last a long time. Of course, it would be difficult to find coconut crabs in this coconut grove again. But that's alright; after all, it's such a large deserted island, there must be other places to look for them.
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