The climate of Volcano Island was unpredictable!
One second it was like a smiling, amiable young girl, and the next second it had turned into a fierce, aggressive shrew.
There was never a steady, proper moment.
The changes in the weather here always caught one unawares.
As the heavy rain poured down, thunder rumbled incessantly.
The two of them were huddled in the “bird’s nest”.
“Crack!”
A thunderclap sounded right above their heads, frightening Tang Xiaoguo to the point where she burrowed into Lu Zhe’s embrace.
“What if it strikes us and Sister Bing and the others?!”
Lu Zhe shook his head, pondering:
“There are iron ore deposits all over the top of the volcano, and because it is the island’s highest point, it acts like a natural lightning rod, attracting all the lightning to the peak of the volcano, which is why it sounds so loud to our ears. But don’t worry, it’s like when lightning strikes a 33-story building’s lightning rod - it may be deafening, but it won’t affect the residents one bit.”
“But this much thunder is still so scary.”
Lu Zhe couldn’t help feeling a little worried too.
Although when he had come before, the camp already had some protective measures, the key was that it would be too abnormal for the girls to remain completely calm in the face of such dense lightning.
But then again, he figured it shouldn’t be so shocking - after all, the lightning was very near to them, while it was probably quite far away from the banyan tree, so the sound would be weaker there.
“Let’s get a good night’s rest today and go back to check on them tomorrow morning.”
Tang Xiaoguo nestled into Lu Zhe’s embrace, murmuring a faint “Mm”.
She wrapped her arms around his waist, but her body kept trembling uncontrollably.
Lu Zhe understood she must have been badly frightened, otherwise she wouldn’t be acting so out-of-character with no cheeky antics whatsoever.
He kissed the top of her head affectionately. “Go to sleep, it’ll be fine with me here.”
But that was easier said than done when it came to actually getting any shuteye.
The two of them chatted until late into the stormy night amid the thunder and rain.
At this time, Ning Shu encountered a new problem!
The relentless pouring rain caused the water levels inside the volcano to rise higher and higher.
Eventually it submerged the bird’s nest.
“Oh no, what if we drown in here?!”
Lu Zhe shook his head. “That definitely won’t happen. It won’t flood entirely here!”
“What do we do now?”
“First make sure neither of us kicks the bucket! Let’s relocate camp first! This might not necessarily be a bad thing - the wet soil will make digging easier. We can take advantage of the moisture to put in some more stakes tomorrow.”
After another hour or so, 70% of the volcano floor was flooded by the rising waters.
Just as Lu Zhe had predicted, the water levels stopped rising at this point.
30% of the ground remained exposed above the water’s surface at all times.
Lu Zhe guessed it was because of the siphon principle, reaching the highest water level of some exterior pool it was connected to.
What was more fortunate was that the tract of wasteland Lu Zhe had cleared lay within that 30% of dry land.
The fire had been doused by now, but luckily the weather wasn’t too cold either.
The two of them huddled together and weathered the night.
The next morning, the rain finally ceased!
The water levels inside the mountain began to gradually recede, leaving many fish stranded on land where lucky birds came to snatch them away.
Tang Xiaoguo also gathered a bag of fish.
Lu Zhe heaved a sigh of relief and was just about to go back to check on the others when he saw Shen Bing and the three girls crawling out of the hot springs.
Lu Zhe was rather puzzled. “What’s going on, you guys abandoned camp?”
Ning Shu sighed. “Oh, with the thunder and rain last night, we couldn’t get a wink of sleep in camp. The winds positively drenched us. We were all very worried about you guys so we unanimously decided to come see if you were alright first thing in the morning.”
Lu Zhe nodded. “Compared to outside, there’s practically no wind here, but it wasn’t much better either. The thunder was deafening, it nearly burst me and Xiaoguo’s eardrums.”
Shen Bing said, “We heard it too. It’s barely let up this entire month of July.”
“Nevermind everything else, what about the cows?”
Shen Bing replied, “We brought them into our camp. There's fodder and water inside, they probably won't die.”
Lu Zhe nodded. Apart from his few lovers, the creatures he cared most about on this deserted island were those two cows.
He had no need of them to work the volcanic land, but when it came to the farmland outside the volcano, they were as helpful as tractors.
Lu Zhe pondered some more. “Since that’s the case, why don’t we change up our strategy! For now, we’ll all live here together and concentrate our efforts on developing this tract of land first!”
“What about the protective netting then?”
“No rush with that. We can slowly weave it once the land development here is done.”
Jiang Yao eyed the tract of forest Lu Zhe had cleared. “Huh? Doesn’t this look just about cleared already?”
Lu Zhe shook his head. “Felling trees is easy. The crux lies in removing those tenacious tree roots.”
He kicked at a tree stump. “Even severed, these things aren't dead yet. Underground, they'll continue wresting nutrients away from crops, hindering their growth. With the torrential rains last night, the soil here is nice and loose, perfect for eliminating these obstacles once and for all.”
Gazing at the 20-30 tree stumps dotting the earth, the girls couldn't help but sigh. “Wouldn't that be far too laborious?”
Shen Bing retorted, “Which is why Lu Zhe can't tackle this alone! We need to pool all our efforts on resolving fundamental issues before individually sweeping away the rest of our foes.”
Lu Zhe nodded approvingly. “See that? As expected of Madam Officer, even the way you talk brims with revolutionary awareness and caliber.”
Ning Shu nodded. “So, how do we start?”
"I'll carve digging sticks out of branches for everyone. You all can dig around the stumps - if you encounter roots, sever them with axes or shovels. Whoever manages to dislodge one, just holler and I'll come to pluck it out."
"Okay!" The girls earnestly bobbed their heads.
Lu Zhe had assumed this was a perfectly upright job, but working alongside them, the atmosphere quickly took on a dubious bent.
"Lu Zhe, the roots on this one are too thick to break through!"
"This tree's indecent, there's water spurting from it here!"
"Lu Zhe, Lu Zhe, mine's loose, hurry and pull it out for me!"
"I can't reach the bottom of this hole at all, it's too deep."
"Ooh, so hard!"
...
With a renewed burst of potential, Lu Zhe readily took them all on!
In but a single day, they had uprooted five mature tree stumps and 18 sapling stumps. Surveying the 10-odd square meters of vacant land, Lu Zhe marveled at how even cultivating urban fruits on this remote isle entailed such tribulations!
The group lingered in the depths of the volcano for five more days.
Rain poured relentlessly over those five days.
Finally, on August 3rd, their 55th day marooned on the island, after six individuals’ unflagging efforts, the roughly 100 square meter tract of wasteland had been completely reclaimed at last.
Meanwhile, Lu Zhe and Tang Xiaoguo had rebuilt a bird’s nest shelter on higher, drier ground. Their companions also evaluated the volcano floor’s habitability.
The unanimous verdict – it was certainly feasible as a temporary stronghold or storm shelter!
But ill-suited for a lasting dwelling place!
The biggest issue was that it was far too stuffy!
Also, living cooped up at the bottom of a crater induced a strange sense of oppression.
Secondary grievances: while bird calls could still be tolerated, their droppings were unpredictable aerial mines liable to plop onto one’s head anytime.
And the thundering rainstorms, lingering whiffs of rotten eggs, etc - all problematic.
It was high time to head back and inspect their camp!
Once protective netting was properly woven and some more farming tools forged ahead, they could resume advancing crop cultivation efforts.