Chapter 28

Unlike the front beach where they were staying, the back beach was piled high with ocean trash and lots of rotten wood scattered across the sand.

The white sand was speckled with colorful debris that had faded to an old white after long-term wind and sun exposure.

This beach was much larger than the front one. The coastline was bare of trees, with only wild grass and black rocks.

When Li Yuanxi first came here, she had only taken a quick look. She didn’t have time to rummage through everything—she couldn’t bear to leave Wei Shu alone in a strange place. Besides, she couldn’t possibly pick up all the trash on the beach.

The logs piled up on the sand were as thick as a person’s thigh, and the plastic bottles buried in the sand were countless.

Seeing so many treasures, Wei Shu’s eyes sparkled like diamonds. She excitedly let go of Li Yuanxi’s hand and crouched down on the beach to sift through the piles, finding everything useful.

“It looks like you’ve discovered a huge treasure,” Li Yuanxi pouted, looking at her now-empty hand with dissatisfaction. She scanned the beach, checking the surroundings.

Li Yuanxi pulled a half-broken wooden stick from the sand and bent down to search for treasures too.

Wei Shu took a broad look around: there were all kinds of plastic trash. She picked up an empty mineral water bottle and a heavily rusted iron block.

Wei Shu estimated it to be about fifteen centimeters long and set it aside. “I wonder if we can grind a knife out of this for Chuyi,” she thought to herself as Li Yuanxi prepared for her second hunt.

The food in the cave was enough for a few more days. Li Yuanxi planned to hunt again before the next high tide and use the innards as bait. This time, she was determined to make smoked fish.

The conditions for full air-drying were too harsh. Li Yuanxi decided to smoke the fish first, then air-dry it for a while. That way, the sea fish could last for several months at least.

Wei Shu put away her finds and straightened up. She looked around but didn’t see Li Yuanxi. She scanned the area with her eyes.

“Li Yuanxi! Li Yuanxi, where are you?” she called loudly.

She called several times but got no response. Frowning, she raised her voice and called Li Yuanxi’s nickname: “Chuyi! Where are you?”

Still no answer. Wei Shu dropped what she was holding and followed the footprints on the beach. Ever since Li Yuanxi had fallen and gotten hurt last time, any silence from her made Wei Shu’s heart race.

At the edge of the beach, knee-high wild grass swayed sparsely in the wind. A little farther in, sharp cogongrass grew up to thigh height. The razor-sharp blades could easily cut skin.

Wei Shu stepped into the cogongrass patch, calling Li Yuanxi’s name loudly. The howling sea breeze roared in her ears. She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, “Li Yuanxi! Chuyi! Where are you? I’m scared.”

“Don’t be scared—I’m here. Come out of the grass quickly.” Li Yuanxi emerged from the other end of the grass with a stick in her hand.

“Where did you run off to?” Wei Shu grabbed Li Yuanxi’s hand, her expression both aggrieved and a little angry. Her beautiful phoenix eyes glared at her fiercely.

“Hehe, I found a treasure inside.” Li Yuanxi leaned in and whispered in Wei Shu’s ear. She tugged Wei Shu’s hand and coaxed her, “Don’t be mad. There are tons of good things in the grass.”

“Come on, I’ll take you in to see.” After saying that, Li Yuanxi peered around as if afraid someone might be watching. Wei Shu rolled her eyes at her. There were only the two of them on this island—what was with all the secrecy?

Li Yuanxi took Wei Shu’s hand and used the wooden stick to push aside the wild grass ahead, ensuring the sharp cogongrass blades wouldn’t cut Wei Shu.

Wei Shu followed behind Li Yuanxi, watching as she expertly deflected the thigh-high cogongrass. After two or three minutes, they stepped into a large clearing.

Li Yuanxi proudly raised an eyebrow at Wei Shu. “See? My treasure.” Wei Shu walked forward, amazed to see a sailboat broken in half. The rust on the hull and the sailcloth showed it had been here for many, many years.

Wei Shu looked at the coastline, then at the beach that was at least seventy or eighty meters away from the sea. She wondered, “Was it washed ashore by a wave?”

The slope here wasn’t very steep—only about seven or eight meters—but it was still quite far. Could a wave really reach this far?

For a moment, Wei Shu worried that someone lived on the island. Li Yuanxi saw her concern and stamped her foot on the bleached, yellowish-white boat frame. “A wave couldn’t, but a tsunami could. This sailboat has been here for years. If anyone lived here, it wouldn’t be in this state.”

“Yeah, that’s right. The first two small tsunamis were pretty strong too.” Wei Shu relaxed. She walked around the seven- or eight-meter-long sailboat and sighed. “There’s nothing on it that we can use.”

“The frame is useless, but look what I found.” Li Yuanxi stepped into the sailboat, bent down, and opened a storage compartment below. The food cans inside had long gone bad.

But that wasn’t all the compartment held. “I opened it just now when I heard you calling. I haven’t had a chance to see what’s in this blind box yet.” Li Yuanxi used a stick to sweep out the contents.

Wei Shu followed her in and crouched beside her, looking at the rusted, dried-out cans and items that crumbled at the slightest touch.

“Is this a distress flare?” Li Yuanxi poked at two red tubular objects. “Probably,” Wei Shu said after a glance. It looked similar to the flare sticks on their yacht.

Li Yuanxi opened all four storage compartments. She found a navigation log inside, but the paper crumbled as soon as she touched it.

There were also many tools for repairing the hull, but they were all unusable. A scattering of miscellaneous items lay around. In the end, Li Yuanxi picked out a small axe and a sealed knife.

“We didn’t come out here for nothing today.” Li Yuanxi picked up the rusty knife. It was the same length as a dagger, just a common short blade.

Li Yuanxi tore a piece of sailcloth to wrap the handle. The upper half of the blade was covered in rust, but fortunately, it was still intact. If she could heat it and grind off the rust back home, it might still be usable.

The axe, however, was no good. Its head was broken in the middle, so even if she took it back, it wouldn’t work. Besides, the rust had eaten through it so much that gaps were visible.

“One touch of that rust and you’ll get tetanus, won’t you?” Wei Shu looked at the short knife in Li Yuanxi’s hand. She didn’t really want Li Yuanxi to use it.

“Don’t worry. I’ll heat it first with a strong fire to burn off the initial rust, then grind it down slowly. Having a knife will help us do a lot of things.” Li Yuanxi explained, repeatedly promising that she wouldn’t touch it directly and would protect herself.

Wei Shu reluctantly believed her. She tore off a large piece of sailcloth to wrap the knife—which had been lying there for who knows how many years—and prepared to take it away.

“Wait, there are more good things over there.” Li Yuanxi pulled Wei Shu, who was about to leave, and walked to the right front of the sailboat. In a crevice between a reef and a sandy slope, three large iron barrels were piled together.

This time, Wei Shu was genuinely surprised. Such big barrels were usually only found on large ships, used to store fresh water or hold oil. One of these barrels would hold at least two hundred liters.

Wei Shu and Li Yuanxi exchanged a glance, sharing a feeling of striking it rich. They walked down the small sand slope toward the barrels. Three iron barrels—they could use them for anything.

One of the big blue barrels, about a meter tall, was half-exposed and half-buried in the sand. “This barrel looks so new.” Wei Shu touched its surface. The blue paint was almost completely intact on the barrel.

There wasn’t much rust on it, just a few dents and scuffs. Wei Shu saw the number “01” written on the side and said softly, “This barrel might have been on a plane, just like us, and drifted to this island.”

Li Yuanxi had already opened one of the barrels. The top had a snap-on lid that came off entirely. She looked at the shiny metal interior. “It probably is. The barrel is very clean inside, brand new.”

Li Yuanxi walked around the three barrels, very satisfied. With these, storing water in them would be better than in plastic bottles.

Long-term use of plastic bottles could cause trace amounts of plastic to accumulate in the body. Many of the things they used now were made of plastic, and it was easy for non-eliminable plastic particles to build up inside them.

She had been thinking about how to solve this problem. Now, with these three barrels, the things she needed to do later wouldn’t be a worry.

Li Yuanxi lifted a barrel upright and tried to move it. It weighed at least thirty jin. Carrying it back would be inconvenient, especially since many places required climbing.

Li Yuanxi listened to the sound of the waves crashing and watched the foam disappear into the sand. An idea came to her.

“I’m going to bring this barrel back using the buoyancy of the waves.” She explained her plan to Wei Shu: she intended to float the barrels back with the waves, but she’d have to be careful not to let the current sweep them away.

Wei Shu agreed with the method. She put on Li Yuanxi’s backpack basket, and together they walked toward the sea. Li Yuanxi heaved the barrel onto her shoulder and threw it into the sea, splashing up a fountain of water.

They walked along the shore. Li Yuanxi wouldn’t let Wei Shu come too close. She used vines to tie the barrel and moved it along the sand—the flat beach made it much easier.

Except for a few tricky areas, Li Yuanxi swam in the sea, pushing her big barrel along.

Wei Shu climbed onto a rock and watched Li Yuanxi swim out of the area. Only when she saw Li Yuanxi stand up and walk with the barrel did she come down from the rock and follow her.

In the distance, a flock of birds suddenly appeared, blotting out the sky as they flew straight into the forest on the island.

Both Li Yuanxi and Wei Shu looked up at the circling flock. The island suddenly became lively. The two met up on the beach.

Li Yuanxi was soaked through. She pushed the barrel ashore, let out a heavy breath, and sat down on the sand to rest.

Wei Shu came over, took a bottle of water from the backpack basket, unscrewed it, and handed it to Li Yuanxi. She sat down beside her too. The blazing sun above didn’t make Wei Shu move away.

Once Li Yuanxi had rested enough, she hoisted the barrel onto her shoulder and headed for the coastline.

In the forest, the chirping of birds rose and fell, as if hundreds of people had suddenly appeared.

The birds circling overhead occupied every part of the island. As Li Yuanxi and Wei Shu walked along the path, they occasionally saw a few birds flitting through the woods.

“Those are wild geese, aren’t they?” Li Yuanxi looked at the birds with broad wings. “Yes, wild geese,” Wei Shu confirmed, watching the geese burst out of the forest. A bad idea formed in her mind.

Li Yuanxi watched the plump, vigorous geese charge out of the woods, her mind already wandering. Could she eat wild geese? She wanted a change of flavor. Geese looked a lot like swans, so they should taste good too.

“Wild goose meat isn’t good,” Wei Shu tugged at Li Yuanxi’s sleeve, interrupting her fantasy. “Oh.” Li Yuanxi hoisted the barrel and kept walking. After a few minutes, she set it down again to rest.

The barrel was round and slippery, making it hard to carry on her back. Wei Shu tried to help, but Li Yuanxi wouldn’t let her—she was afraid Wei Shu’s thin frame couldn’t handle the weight.

“Geese are very faithful to their mates,” Wei Shu said softly beside Li Yuanxi. Li Yuanxi looked into Wei Shu’s gentle, watery eyes and understood.

When they finally reached the cave entrance, Li Yuanxi set down the barrel she’d been carrying all the way. She didn’t plan to bring it into the cave. The barrel’s circumference was only slightly smaller than the cave opening, so carrying it inside would be difficult.

“Let’s just leave it here. Go inside and rest first.” Wei Shu pushed open the door woven from dry, yellow coconut leaves. Li Yuanxi shook her sore arms and went back to the cave, where she sat down and didn’t want to move.

“Want me to rub your arms for you?” Wei Shu stirred the fire, adding more wood. The flames grew taller. She turned and asked Li Yuanxi.

The pile of firewood inside the cave was full. Every day, the two of them unconsciously collected firewood, afraid that a sudden rainstorm would leave them without dry wood.

“Sure.” Li Yuanxi happily stretched out her long arms, waiting for Wei Shu to massage them.

“Go wash your hands first. I’ll be right there.” Li Yuanxi’s eyes lit up, and she cheerfully went to wash. She cleaned up, sat down on a stool, curled up her long legs, and eagerly awaited Wei Shu’s arrival.

In the past, after she finished exercising, Wei Shu would always help her relax. Back then, before either of them had presented, Wei Shu would complain about her being drenched in sweat while sternly helping her massage her muscles.

Wei Shu had always had an aloof, goddess-like aura. She was a cool, lonely girl with few friends, except for Li Yuanxi, her childhood sweetheart.

Wei Shu’s slender, soft fingers pressed into the muscles of Li Yuanxi’s arm, gradually applying pressure. She lifted Li Yuanxi’s arm upward, then pulled it back to stretch it.

“Ahhh… go easy, sis…” The intensity of the stretch was all summed up in that single sentence.