Although Lu Zhe had been trying to distract himself all along, attempting to avoid this from happening. But he was after all not a saint free of desires. When the emotions came, that feeling deep down still needed an outlet!
The waves lapped at the beach, the chirping of unnamed insects in the bushes, and the rustling sound of the banyan trees. Shen Bing bit down on a towel, afraid that her voice might wake up Ning Shu and the others, sweat streamed down from her perfect waistline, exceptionally charming...
Two hours later, Lu Zhe lay on the beach, letting the waves wash over his body.
Shen Bing sat beside him:
"I'll say, you're quite capable!"
Lu Zhe panted: "Let me put it this way, if my grades weren't so good, I would have gone into arts or sports."
Shen Bing tied up her hair with a rubber band, smiled charmingly: "What's wrong? Not afraid anymore?"
"Afraid! But there are some things that you eventually have to face right? I've also opened up my mind, keeping watch over you few young beauties, even if I recited the entire Great Compassion Mantra it would be useless!"
Shen Bing chuckled, looking up at the starry sky and waves, murmuring: "Actually I feel the same! Without having gone through it, I thought I could be free of desires and worldly temptations, but after experiencing it, I realised I'm just a commoner unable to resist the lure of the mundane world."
Lu Zhe nodded: "I understand, long live!"
The two bumped fists tacitly.
He got up and went to the cooler to take out two bottles of water, handing one to Shen Bing: "Sweated quite a bit huh, have some water!" By now the water temperature had indeed become much cooler.
Shen Bing took a sip and nodded approvingly: "You even remembered to take water, not bad! I heard from my married seniors that many men just roll over and sleep after they are done."
"That's because..." Lu Zhe thought for a moment: "My love for you is true!"
Shen Bing felt quite touched inside: "Alright, enough nonsense, hurry up and sleep, we still have to go into the jungle tomorrow!"
"Mm, give me your hand..."
"What for?"
"Feels more assured holding it while sleeping!"
Shen Bing smiled and put her hand into Lu Zhe's palm.
And so, the two fell asleep hand in hand.
At the crack of dawn, they were jolted awake by the girls' screams!
The two beautiful young ladies Qian Qian and Jiang Yao stared at the flowers on top of cow dung, their bewildered big eyes seeming to no longer believe in this ridiculous world!
"How could this be..."
"Did the flowers finally decide to elope with the cow dung they loved deeply, abandoning their warm residence?"
Next was Tang Xiaoguo.
The sustained high temperatures had killed off the few small fish she was keeping.
"What happened last night that made you collectively commit suicide?"
Lu Zhe consoled: "Don't fuss, there was too little oxygen left in the cans, and the excessive heat accelerated oxygen consumption, that's why they died. But don't worry, when we find an aquarium in the future with an oxygen filtration pump, you can properly raise fish then!"
"Is it possible to find something like that?" Tang Xiaoguo pondered: "Use a bin?"
"No, we need that to store water!"
Jiang Yao protested: "Then what about our flowers? Why were they stuck in cow dung?"
Shen Bing said: "That was done to allow them and us to live better lives, come look at this!"
The few girls saw the flower pots on the ground covered by wet towels, they lifted the towels curiously, feeling a stream of cool air rushing out!
The girls were shocked again: "What kind of high tech is this??"
"It's not any high tech, just a cooler made from soil."
Sure enough, after one night, although it was still over thirty degrees Celsius outside, the temperature inside the soil cooler was only around twenty degrees.
"Too amazing!"
"Who made this?"
"Lu Zhe and I did!"
In that instant, all the girls felt somewhat ashamed and guilty!
So that was why!
It turns out it was because of this!
Thinking back by comparison, whenever it was their shift, they would only fool around clinging onto Lu Zhe doing intimate things!
And now looking at Sis Bing!
From the start of her shift she had been busy thinking of ways to improve everyone's lives, making four soil coolers, she must have been exhausted throughout the night!
Sneaking another peek at Sis Bing, her slightly dishevelled hair, and those weary, fatigued eyes, it seemed like she really didn't sleep well!
The few girls felt heartache and guilt.
Ning Shu plucked up her courage and said considerately: "Sis Bing, why don't you take a break, I'll cover your shift for you today, don't worry, I won't charge overtime!"
Tang Xiaoguo muttered: "Sis Bing, don't trust that sly monitor!"
Shen Bing smiled: "It's nothing, I can manage! Let's eat something and discuss what we need to do today! Lu Zhe, share that idea of yours with everyone too!"
Lu Zhe nodded: "Mm!"
"What's the matter, so mysterious?"
"Our next plan!"
The few girls looked at one another: "Wasn't it to continue developing our home?"
Lu Zhe nodded: "We must develop our home, and developing our home encompasses more than just shelter and planting and raising livestock! It also includes comprehensively enhancing our standards of clothing, food, housing and transport. Take a look at what we are all wearing now!"
The girls sized each other up. After two months of surviving, all their clothes were already tattered beyond recognition. Occasionally they would find some clothes but those had been soaked in salt water for so long they were all brittle and rotten, tearing with the slightest inattention.
Now they truly looked no different from beggars.
"I'm thinking, look for an opportunity to make a trip to the plane and bring back some supplies!"
They did jokingly talk about doing this before, but everyone knew how enormously difficult it was to go to the plane wreck, so no one took it to heart.
But this time Lu Zhe spoke very seriously, clearly not joking at all.
"Too dangerous!"
"That's right, our lives now are totally self-sufficient, no need to take risks."
"Sharks, heat, and fresh water..." Ning Shu said worriedly: "Lu Zhe, have you forgotten how we escaped onto this island in the first place?"
Lu Zhe nodded: "Exactly because I remember clearly, so I know, although this is tremendously difficult, it is not necessarily impossible!"
The girls raised their heads, as Lu Zhe began laying out his thoughts!
"We landed on Volcano Island from the southwest of the small island, so the approximate direction of the plane should be southwest of Volcano Island."
"We know the approximate direction...but the most crucial problems are still unsolved!"
"Listen to the rest of what I have to say!" Lu Zhe drew on the ground with a stick:
"Due to the El Nino phenomenon, huge amounts of seawater along with the north and south equatorial warm current flowed into Southeast Asia, converging into the Kuroshio Current flowing north from the south, covering up that small branch of southbound Oyashio Current! But our winds here are still the southwest monsoon due to the planetary rotation! Do you understand what this means?"
The girls shook their heads blankly.
Shen Bing pondered: "Let me guess, does it mean we could build a bamboo raft, and make a large sail. Going there we can rely on the wind force against the ocean current to reach our destination! Coming back we can take down the sail and go with the ocean current to return to Volcano Island?"
Lu Zhe snapped his fingers: "Bullseye!"