Lu Zhe believed that the territories of different kinds of monkeys were also different.
The mangrove swamps and tidal flats along the coast were the territories of crab-eating macaques.
The deep forests should be the territories of proboscis monkeys.
Lu Zhe brought some equipment and entered the forest. An hour later, he came to the place where Shen Bing was sleeping.
As he went further inwards, the forest became more and more dense.
Lu Zhe circled around for a long time, but found neither banana trees nor monkeys.
He only gathered some berries and vegetables.
Lu Zhe guessed that with the hot weather, the monkey from yesterday must have come running here to look for fresh water!
He couldn't keep searching aimlessly. He still needed the help of the proboscis monkeys.
And to ask for help, he had to show sincerity.
Lu Zhe understood this principle well.
He found a bare rock, unpacked his things, took out some jackfruits and placed them on top. He also took out a bottle of water and unscrewed the cap.
He believed that if any proboscis monkeys explored this place, they would feel the sincerity and warmth of human beings!
Then, Lu Zhe pressed down some branches and carefully set a rope snare trap with sisal twine.
After finishing, Lu Zhe was a little worried that the monkeys might bite through the rope.
Rubbing something on the rope would make it perfect!
With some luck, they might be able to meet their new friend tomorrow.
Having completed these tasks satisfactorily, Lu Zhe nodded with satisfaction and left.
Returning to the camp, Qian Qian was stir-frying yogurt, Tang Xiaoguo and Jiang Yao were preparing ingredients for tonight’s dinner, while Shen Bing and Ning Shu were making a ladder.
They found two thick bamboo poles, and carved a row of holes into them to insert thinner bamboo poles.
"What happened to the staircase you promised? Why is this just a normal climbing ladder?"
Ning Shu gave a wry laugh, "Ideals are plentiful, but reality is bony! The staircase would be too tricky to build for now. Let's not think about that in the near future."
Shen Bing also sighed, "We tried several schemes, this is the most feasible one. As long as Xiaoguo can climb the tree herself, that's good enough! Come over and help!"
"Alright!"
With Lu Zhe’s help, the efficiency improved markedly. Finally, by 4 pm, they managed to build a simple bamboo ladder.
They tied it to a horizontally laid tree trunk. It was indeed much more convenient for climbing up and down now.
Qian Qian also made some honey lemon tea. After cooling it down, she served it to everyone to enjoy.
Drinking something chilled in the scorching heat was an absolute delight.
After dinner, the sun had already set in the west, so they couldn’t do any tough work.
The gang enjoyed the most comfortable time of the day. Lu Zhe wove another shrimp trap, put some fish meat in it and threw it into the rock pool.
After taking a bath, he went into the “freezer”, holding a petite foot.
It looked like a size 35-36, not sure if it was Qian Qian’s or Jiang Yao’s. Anyway, they were both his beloved beauties. Like a baby's foot washed with milk, smooth and delicate. Unconsciously, he fell asleep while fondling it.
August 15th, the 67th day marooned on the deserted island, Monday!
On this day, Lu Zhe had to officially prepare to search for the plane underwater.
Not only did they have to prepare the hardware, some “software” also needed upgrading!
For example, Morse code!
Before going out to sea, everyone must learn it.
For these college students, it wasn’t difficult.
The hard part was mastering and becoming skilled at it.
This required repeated practice and use.
Additionally, when unable to use light signals, they still needed to use flag signals to communicate with each other!
So they could communicate and interact under any circumstances even when separated.
Moreover, there were conventional symbols and signs agreed upon by the five of them.
For example, “pa” stood for safe and sound.
“sz” meant attempting self-rescue.
“qy” signified requesting rescue.
“yd” denoted staying put and waiting for instructions.