Stranded on a Deserted Island and Entangled by a Green Snake 4

004 Praise

The strange sound was coming from the snake.

It was “huffing” again.

Yu Chujin looked at it, amused. “The last time you were huffing, you were copying me panting. I’m not panting now, so what are you huffing about?”

A moment later, it dawned on her. Yu Chujin had just sighed a few times unconsciously due to her low spirits.

“Are you copying my sigh?”

“Huff huff.”

“A sigh is ‘ai,’ not ‘huff’.”

“Huff.”

“Huff your big head. If you love copying people so much, why don’t you try copying me talk?”

“Hiss hiss.”

Yu Chujin shook her head and smiled. She said that, but if the snake could actually talk, she’d probably faint from fright.

She had circled the entire beach and collected a pile of trash. The most useful items were undoubtedly the plastic water bottles; she had found five in total. Besides the bottles, she had also picked up several tattered bags, both plastic and woven. She had no idea what they had originally been used for. They were filthy, caked in a layer of mud and sand.

Yu Chujin squatted by the sea and gave the bags and bottles a simple rinse with seawater. Finally, she put the bottles in a bag and dragged her haul back to her temporary shelter.

Calling it a shelter was a bit of an embellishment; it was really just a piece of cloth spread out under a tree.

Looking at the situation, she had no idea when she would be able to leave. She had to prepare for living here for a short period. A shelter was a must. At the very least, she needed a roof to keep off the rain. Otherwise, being out in the open like this was fine on a sunny day, but if it rained, she’d be in trouble. Catching a cold from being soaked would just be adding frost to snow.

Yu Chujin tossed the pile of bags and bottles aside, placed her hands on her hips, and looked around, trying to recall how the contestants on those deserted island survival shows she used to watch built their shelters.

The shelter didn’t need to be luxurious. As long as it could provide temporary shade and protection from the rain, it would be enough to get through the next few days.

She held onto the belief that she would only be staying here for a few days.

She planned to build a triangular A-frame shelter. It was relatively simple to construct. No sooner said than done. The first priority was to cut down a few wooden poles to serve as the frame.

Yu Chujin scanned the edge of the forest and found a straight tree, about as thick as her arm, that was perfect for the frame.

With no tools, she had to rely on her bare hands.

First, she used her body weight to push the tree over, then she began to break it with both her hands and feet.

Due to the exertion, her expression gradually contorted, and she bared her teeth.

The large snake circled around to her front and mimicked her expression.

Yu Chujin: “…”

Sometimes, I really want to beat this snake…

“You ugly snake, shoo, shoo, go play somewhere else,” Yu Chujin said, waving her hand to drive it away.

The simple-minded snake grinned, revealing a row of large white teeth. It didn’t move an inch despite her waving.

Driving it away was completely impossible.

Yu Chujin clenched her back teeth, suppressed her anger, and continued to break the tree. Halfway through, she paused.

Her eyes scanned the large snake up and down, finally landing on its row of large, white teeth.

Its teeth were very sharp. It could bite through a coconut in one go, so it should be able to bite through a tree in one go, too.

Yu Chujin’s eyes darted around slyly. She immediately changed her tune, her expression becoming pleasant and her voice gentle.

“Snakey, this tree is so hard to break. My hands are hurting. Look, they’re all red. Can you help me?”

As she spoke, she even showed it her reddened hands.

The large snake tilted its head, blinked, and looked utterly dazed and cute.

“Can you? Please?”

“Just help me out. You’re a good snake.”

“…”

“Are you going to help or not? What’s the meaning of just tilting your head and looking at me?”

After ten minutes of pleading with no effect, Yu Chujin put her hands on her hips, exasperated, her true colors showing.

“You ugly snake! You’re not a good snake!”

“Fine, don’t help! Like it’s a big deal. I’ll do it myself.”

Yu Chujin huffily rolled up her sleeves. Five minutes later, it was clear she had underestimated the branch’s flexibility. After a great deal of effort, she still couldn’t break it.

Exhausted, she rested her hands on her knees, panting.

As for the snake watching the show from the side, it was “huffing” away.

Yu Chujin was about to die of anger. “Don’t copy me!”

The large snake ducked its head, startled by her sudden shout.

Yu Chujin couldn’t be bothered with the snake anymore. She took a deep breath and started breaking the tree again. At one point, she even found a sharp rock and started hacking at the base of the tree.

The tree looked only as thick as an arm and seemed easy to break, but in practice, it was incredibly difficult.

After struggling for about ten minutes and exerting all her strength, with a snap, the tree finally broke!

Yu Chujin jumped in excitement.

She brandished the tree in front of the large snake, her chin held high, and said smugly, “See? I can do it even without your help.”

The large snake blinked its large, innocent eyes.

Yu Chujin scoffed, feeling a little disappointed.

To build a triangular shelter, she needed at least three poles of the same size. So far, she had only collected one, and it had taken her nearly half an hour.

If only I had a knife as a tool. But reality was cruel. There was no knife; she could only use the most primitive methods.

She walked along the edge of the forest, searching for a while before finding another tree that wasn’t too thick but was straight. She set to work breaking it again.

The process was, naturally, just as arduous.

As she was concentrating on breaking the tree, a small green claw suddenly reached out.

The claw swiped lightly across the trunk, and with a crack, it snapped. The break was clean.

Yu Chujin stared blankly at the severed tree on the ground, then looked up, equally blankly, at the large snake, which had gotten very close at some point.

The large snake patted its claws on the sand, its tail wagging behind it, as it looked at the biped with an expectant expression.

Why is it willing to help now?

Whatever, it’s not important.

Yu Chujin gave it a thumbs-up. “You’re amazing. Very impressive.”

The large snake’s pale green pupils instantly sparkled. Its claws patted the ground more joyfully, and its wagging tail wagged even more vigorously.

Yu Chujin suppressed a laugh. Is it really that pleased by such a perfunctory compliment? What a silly snake.

With a free and useful laborer, it would be a waste not to use it.

Yu Chujin picked out another tree and pointed at it. “Here, give it another swipe with that claw of yours.”

After being praised, the large snake was full of energy and more than willing. One swipe, one branch. Another swipe, another branch.

With the large snake’s help, Yu Chujin quickly collected all the wood she needed to build her shelter.

Holding a bundle of wood, Yu Chujin was so happy she was grinning from ear to ear.

If she had to do it all by herself, just cutting the wood might have taken a whole day. With the large snake’s help, the whole process took less than ten minutes.

Yu Chujin couldn’t help but look at the large snake with a newfound appreciation.

“You really are a good snake.”

Her praise was sincere, but this time, the large snake didn’t react.

Yu Chujin pondered for a moment, then tentatively added a thumbs-up gesture and adjusted her fixed praise phrase, “You’re amazing. Very impressive!”

The large snake’s eyes lit up. It grinned, revealing a row of large white teeth, and its small claws patted the sand, looking every bit the happy fool after being praised.

Yu Chujin raised an eyebrow. So, if she praised it in a different way, it didn’t understand.

So when I pleaded with it for ten minutes earlier and it didn’t react, was it not because it didn’t want to help, but because it didn’t understand at all…?

Yu Chujin slapped her forehead. It was very possible. She had been the stupid one. If she had known, she would have used the fixed gesture and fixed words to praise it from the start. If she had praised it from the beginning, she wouldn’t have had to go through all that trouble.

But then again, since it loved being praised so much, wouldn’t it be easy to get it to do things in the future? All she had to do was praise it more.

The terrifying human, Yu Chujin, had already begun to ruthlessly plot against this simple, large snake.

Step one of ordering the large snake around.

“Hey, can you help me drag this wood back?”

“You’re amazing. Very impressive!”

Step one failed. Because although Yu Chujin gestured for a long time, the large snake understood the praise but not what she wanted it to do.

It just blinked its eyes and tilted its large head.

Yu Chujin gritted her teeth. It understands when I praise it, but it doesn’t understand when I ask it to move branches?

She was highly suspicious of this.

Left with no choice, she had to painstakingly move the wood herself.

She dragged the wood, panting all the way. The large snake followed behind leisurely, occasionally mimicking her with a “huff huff.” It had no intention of lending a hand.

When the large snake was helping her cut the trees, Yu Chujin had found it pleasing to the eye. Now, looking at it again, she found it displeasing in every way.

“Stupid snake!”

The large snake was cheerful. It didn’t understand when she cursed it, so Yu Chujin’s punch landed on cotton.

Crash!

She threw the wood she had dragged back onto the ground and sat down, exhausted.

It was noon, and the sun was fierce. Yu Chujin wiped the sweat from her forehead and felt thirsty. She found the remaining coconuts, picked one up, and started to drink.

After one sip, she paused and frowned.

The coconut had gone bad; it had a sour smell.

It made sense. The coconuts had been opened yesterday, and after a night and a morning in this heat, it was normal for the coconut water to spoil.

Should I go pick a new coconut and painstakingly open it myself?

No, no, no.

Yu Chujin looked at the large snake with a fawning expression and pointed at a coconut. She had expected the snake not to understand and that she would have to gesture for a long time for it to get the meaning.

To her surprise, she had barely pointed when the large snake shot up a coconut tree like lightning.

In a few seconds, its tail was coiled around one coconut, and its claw was holding another. It came over cheerfully with two coconuts.

With an easy bite, a hole was opened in the coconut, and it was placed in front of Yu Chujin.

Yu Chujin didn’t rush to drink. Instead, she gave it a thumbs-up and praised it first.

The large snake was clearly susceptible to this. Its small claws patted the ground, and its head swayed slightly.

Yu Chujin smiled. It was quite easy to please.

She picked up the coconut and drank in small sips.

The sweet coconut water soothed her throat, relieving some of the heat and fatigue.

After drinking the water, she ate the meat. After finishing the meat from two coconuts, she was full, but not completely satisfied.

Looking at the coconut shell in her hand, she couldn’t help but worry. Eating coconut meat for a day or two as an emergency food source was fine, but it wasn’t a long-term solution. For one, drinking too much coconut water would cause diarrhea. For another, the nutrition was too singular. If a person didn’t supplement with other foods for a long time, their body would develop problems.

She didn’t want to get sick in this deserted place. There were no doctors here. Once she fell ill, even a small cold could be fatal.

Yu Chujin looked at the azure sea in the distance. Perhaps she could try fishing or catching crabs to eat.

But before that, she had to find a way to make fire. She couldn’t eat raw fish and crabs. It wasn’t that she was picky, but her stomach was weak. Eating raw food would definitely give her diarrhea.

Making fire was a major challenge, but it was something that had to be done.

Yu Chujin frowned in thought, considering how to obtain a fire source.

But now didn’t seem to be the time to think about that. Making fire was important, but it wasn’t the most urgent task. There were too many things to deal with, like building the shelter first.

Tossing the empty coconut aside, Yu Chujin got up from the ground and began the unfamiliar task of building her shelter.

She arranged three wooden poles into a triangle and tied them together with rope. She had plenty of rope, having salvaged a lot from the paraglider.

After an hour of hard work, dripping with sweat, she had finally managed to put together a passable frame. The last step was to cover it with leaves.

First, she laid down a layer of the woven bags she had found on the beach for waterproofing. Then, she added a layer of leaves on top for reinforcement. The leaves were coconut leaves she had picked up from under the trees, which were perfect for a roof.

Just before nightfall, she finally finished building the shelter.

Yu Chujin clapped her hands, placed them on her hips, and looked at the final product, nodding in satisfaction.

Although it was built rather poorly, it was enough.

It was a narrow A-frame shelter that one could only crawl into, not stand up in. It was just big enough for one person to squeeze in and lie down to rest.

Yu Chujin eagerly crawled inside, lay down sprawled out, and let out a long sigh of relief.

Tonight should be more comfortable. With a shelter, I won’t have to worry about the rain.

Yu Chujin hadn’t had much time to rest when she felt a vibration from above the shelter.

With a thump, Yu Chujin was startled.

It was the sound of a heavy object hitting something.

The already precarious shelter instantly swayed, almost collapsing from the blow.

She hastily crawled out of the shelter, only to see the large snake hitting the newly built shelter with its large tail, thwack, thwack, thwack.

The large snake was hitting it with gusto, and then there was a crisp crack.

A cloud of sand rose. The shelter had collapsed.

Amidst the flying sand and dust, one snake and one person, four eyes met, staring at each other.