The sea fish, pan-fried in oil, released its original aroma and eliminated the fishy smell. This made it fine even if the innards weren’t removed.
Li Yuanxi picked out the innards and set them aside, then placed the other fish in Wei Shu’s bowl. “Save this for your evening meal.” Seeing the fish in her bowl, Wei Shu was about to move it.
“No need. We’ll just see what there is for dinner. You eat it.” Li Yuanxi wouldn’t let her move it, forcing Wei Shu to finish the fish.
Wei Shu finished the last piece of slightly tough thunder bamboo shoot and over half the fish before she couldn’t eat anymore. She looked at the remaining fish, wondering what to do. She was afraid the leftover fish would go bad by evening.
“Give it to me. I don’t mind.” Li Yuanxi’s tone was somber, but her eyes were fixed on the last half bowl of fish. Wei Shu was stunned. She looked at Li Yuanxi. Give you what? My leftovers?
Li Yuanxi swallowed. Taking advantage of Wei Shu’s momentary shock, she quickly reached out, snatched the bowl, and, with a pained grimace, finished off the fish in one go.
Seeing her action, Wei Shu was so surprised her mouth fell open. It was the first time she had seen anyone snatch her leftovers. When she came to her senses, she took a sharp breath. Seeing Li Yuanxi eat her leftover fish without a trace of disgust, her earlobes grew hot.
She wanted to say something sarcastic, but she didn’t know where to start. She could only glare weakly at Li Yuanxi, who was still chewing loudly, and then bury her face in her hands, deciding to pretend she hadn’t seen it.
“Burp~ I really don’t mind.” Li Yuanxi was finally full. She patted her little belly, her eyes squinting happily. It felt so good to be full. She and Wei Shu had been hungry for so long that wasting food was now an instinct.
Wei Shu rolled her eyes and said, weakly, “Yeah, I know you don’t mind.” She got up to clean up the dishes and utensils, planning to take them to the beach to wash later.
Li Yuanxi grinned. She knew Wei Shu wasn’t really angry, just a bit shocked. She would get used to it after a while. Li Yuanxi absolutely refused to waste a single grain of food. Even a rich landowner couldn’t afford to be wasteful.
Wei Shu washed her hands, ground up some more Dichondra repens to extract the juice, and stood over Li Yuanxi, looking down at her. “I’ll apply the medicine one more time. Put some on before you go to sleep tonight, and it’ll scab over by tomorrow.”
Li Yuanxi shrank back a little and quietly said, “Oh.” She obediently raised her hands for Wei Shu to apply the medicine.
She watched the curls at the ends of Wei Shu’s hair, a loose strand resting on her fair, slender neck. Li Yuanxi unconsciously licked her lips, then quickly averted her gaze.
Wei Shu was oblivious. She bent down, carefully and meticulously smearing the green juice from the Dichondra repens onto Li Yuanxi’s wounds. When she reached her ribs, it tickled. Li Yuanxi, sensitive, twisted away and couldn’t help but laugh.
Watching the person twisting like a pretzel, Wei Shu put her hands down in resignation. “Hold still.”
“I’m not moving. It’s just ticklish~” Li Yuanxi pouted, refusing to admit she had moved. Some of the green liquid dripped onto the floor. Wei Shu extended her leg to prop against Li Yuanxi’s lower back. Spreading her arms wide, she almost hugged Li Yuanxi completely.
A wave of Wei Shu’s scent suddenly enveloped Li Yuanxi. She felt the faint warmth on her back and stiffened, holding her arms up and her back ramrod straight.
“What are you doing?” Li Yuanxi asked shakily, her ears completely red. She was terrified of touching Wei Shu’s body, so she kept leaning forward. Wei Shu’s fingers lightly traced over her wounds. The coolness felt soothing.
Wei Shu frowned as she watched Li Yuanxi moving further and further away. Her tone turned a bit cold. “I’m applying medicine for you. If you move forward one more time, Li Yuanxi, you can just get into bed!”
Scolded, Li Yuanxi silently moved back to her original position and obediently let Wei Shu put the medicine on her. Occasionally, Wei Shu would hit a sensitive spot. “Hahahaha~”
Feeling the vibration of Li Yuanxi’s laughter under her fingertips, Wei Shu found herself laughing too. After that, she applied the medicine to Li Yuanxi’s leg wounds.
Li Yuanxi awkwardly tried to cover certain parts of herself, trying to make things less awkward for Wei Shu. But both their faces were redder than apples.
After applying the medicine to the last wound, Wei Shu breathed a sigh of relief. “All done. Sit here and let the air dry it. I’m going to wash my hands.”
Ears still burning, Li Yuanxi gave a low “Mm.” She watched Wei Shu’s busy back and thought to herself, [She’s so gentle.]
“I need to go to the beach again. Wait for me at home. I’ll bring you a present.” Wei Shu dried her hands and turned to speak to Li Yuanxi. “Okay.” Li Yuanxi turned away, glanced at her inner thigh, and responded quietly.
Wei Shu looked at Li Yuanxi’s back, thinking she was just shy. She didn’t think much of it. She picked up her basket. “Then… I’m off?”
Li Yuanxi quickly turned around and said, “Bye.”
“Bye.”
Now, as she walked through the woods, Wei Shu no longer felt the fear she had before. She could even take her time looking around for any plants she might have missed.
Walking out of the forest onto the beach, Wei Shu saw a few small crabs scurrying quickly into the woods. “Are those coconut crabs?” Before she could get a better look, the crabs were gone.
She gave up the idea of chasing them. Wei Shu walked to the tidal flat, slowly pulling out the bowls and chopsticks to wash them. When she finished, she went back to the reef cluster. She noticed the water level was actually higher than it had been that morning.
“It’s high tide again.” Wei Shu took a quick look and left. She felt that Li Yuanxi’s calculation for the tide schedule wasn’t right.
Based on their observations on the island, the tide rose and fell once every three days. They had hardly ever seen a semi-diurnal tide pattern.
A semi-diurnal tide meant the water rose for only half a day. The timing varied by sea area—some places had high tide from midnight to noon, others from noon to eight at night.
Wei Shu’s intuition was right. In a place she couldn’t see, a small tsunami had occurred, and a storm was brewing.
Wei Shu stood under a coconut tree, touching the half-dry blanket before heading to retrieve the black suitcase.
That morning, the water hadn’t reached the black suitcase. Now it was dangerously close.
Carefully stepping on the rocks, even with her shoes on, walking on the stone-covered beach was tough.
She crouched next to the suitcase, patted it, and bent over to try and lift it. The suitcase itself, along with its contents, must have weighed thirty or forty jin. It was impossible to carry. She abandoned that approach.
Wei Shu looked around, thinking she could just drag it slowly. She couldn’t just leave it here for Li Yuanxi to haul.
She grabbed the broken handle of the suitcase and, bumping it over the rocks, began to drag it out. “Huff… huff…” Her face was flushed, covered in sweat. She turned to see that she was just a few steps away from getting out of the rocky section.
She straightened up to catch her breath. As she did, she noticed the tide was still rising, starting to creep onto the shore.
“Did a tsunami happen somewhere?” Wei Shu stared at the eerily calm sea. She had a bad feeling. She needed to get these things back home as quickly as possible.
Back on the sand, the water was already creeping past the normal high-tide line. Wei Shu hurriedly collected the blanket, shouldered her basket, grabbed the black suitcase from the edge of the woods, and started rushing home.
The sea breeze picked up. The flat horizon of the sea began to churn, sending urgent waves crashing towards the shore.
Li Yuanxi sat at the cave entrance, watching the thick clouds deepen in color. She saw the salt inside the cave beginning to turn damp. “It’s going to rain.”
Li Yuanxi stood up, a worried expression on her face. She was afraid Wei Shu couldn’t read the weather and was still fiddling around in the reef area. A storm meant the tide would come in.
“No, I can’t just wait here at home.” Li Yuanxi grabbed her pants and quickly put them on. The movements pulled at her muscles, sending sharp pains through her. She alternated between gasping and hissing.
She put on her shoes, grabbed a wooden stick to use as a cane, and left the cave.
Wei Shu was still struggling to drag the suitcase up the mountain. When she was about two-thirds of the way up, Li Yuanxi appeared. Leaning on her stick, Li Yuanxi looked down the mountain. Wei Shu was still heaving and tugging at the heavy suitcase.
She saw what Wei Shu was dragging. “So the present you mentioned was a suitcase.” Li Yuanxi’s sudden voice startled Wei Shu, who immediately looked up at her.
Wei Shu straightened up, frowning. Her face hardened in disapproval. “Why are you here?”
Li Yuanxi pointed at the sky. Wei Shu looked up and saw that the sky had indeed darkened. “The tide suddenly came in,” Wei Shu explained. “Look at the present I got you.”
She bent down, ready to continue dragging it home. Li Yuanxi walked over and patted her on the shoulder. “Let me.”
Li Yuanxi lifted the suitcase with one hand. Wei Shu grabbed her wrist, her expression stern and disapproving. “No. You can’t tear your wounds open again.”
“If we keep wasting time, it’s going to rain. That’s even worse for my recovery.” Li Yuanxi pointed at the sky, which was about to rain any second. She grabbed Wei Shu’s hand and pulled her forward.
Wei Shu couldn’t argue with her. She was led along, twisting her wrist a few times before she managed to pull it free. “Don’t hold my hand. Lean on your stick.”
Without the suitcase weighing her down, Wei Shu’s walk was much easier. Back in the cave, Li Yuanxi put down the suitcase. Before she could even sit down, she was being forced by Wei Shu to take off her clothes.
Pointing at Li Yuanxi’s shirt and pants, Wei Shu said anxiously, “The wounds must have torn again. Take them off and let me see.”
“Huh?” Li Yuanxi clutched her pants, reluctant. “Now.” Wei Shu’s face grew cold, her gaze pressuring her.
Li Yuanxi had no choice but to reluctantly take off the pants she had only just put on half an hour ago and spread her arms for Wei Shu to inspect.
Looking down-hearted, she let Wei Shu inspect her from head to toe. Suddenly, she found it funny and asked, “Are you going to be responsible for me after this?”
“What?” Wei Shu frowned at her, as if asking her what nonsense she was talking about. Li Yuanxi stuck out her tongue. “Never mind.”
Wei Shu finished her inspection, relieved. “Good thing they didn’t tear.”
Li Yuanxi breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn’t expected Wei Shu to be so concerned about her injuries, even more than she was herself.
Li Yuanxi squatted excitedly in front of the black suitcase. She looked up at Wei Shu’s dark eyes, anticipating. “Does that mean I can open it and see what treasure is inside now?”
“Be my guest.” Wei Shu made a gesture of invitation. Li Yuanxi’s eyes lit up. She couldn’t wait to open the suitcase.
The first treasure to catch her eye was a pair of pink, four-cornered underwear. “Ah, she actually got this limited edition pair!” Li Yuanxi exclaimed, picking up the pink briefs in a sealed bag.
Wei Shu tilted her head, not understanding. Li Yuanxi explained regretfully, “These undies are so comfortable to wear. They’re a master’s version, limited edition. I tried to grab a pair several times but never managed.”
Wei Shu scratched her cheek. She hadn’t expected alphas to like buying limited edition underwear too, in pink. Maybe they all just wanted to look good.
Li Yuanxi sorted through the clothes and pants from the suitcase. “Are these beach pants?” She picked them up and quickly compared them to her own body. She could change her pants too! So exciting.
“First, look for some kind of ID for the suitcase’s owner.” Wei Shu sat to the side, directing the excited Li Yuanxi, who was already trying on the beach pants.
“Oh, oh, got it, got it.” Li Yuanxi quickly agreed, feeling around one side of the suitcase. Her fingers suddenly touched something hard, like a bank card.
Li Yuanxi pulled it out. It was a stack of bank cards and an ID card held together by a rubber band. The name on the card read: Anna Bell.
Li Yuanxi and Wei Shu exchanged a look. They solemnly placed the ID and bank cards together with Li Xin’s work badge. If they ever got the chance, they would take them back.
They sorted through the suitcase, finding three sets of clothes, and at the very bottom, a small iron pot.
Li Yuanxi lifted the pot and looked at the logo on the bottom. She said softly, “I didn’t expect Ms. Anna Bell to truly know how to live. This is the best handcrafted iron pot from D Country. It weighs about five jin.”
“No wonder her suitcase was so heavy.” Wei Shu put her hand to her face. Someone actually brought a pot with them? She hadn’t expected that.
“This pot is really convenient for us. It’s just the right size for two people.” Li Yuanxi gestured with the pot. It was about eight centimeters deep, and wider than her palm.
Li Yuanxi sighed. “Our poor family has become rich all of a sudden.”
Just then, a thunderclap exploded in the sky. The rumbling sound startled them both. Wei Shu stepped outside and saw that it was already pouring rain.
Li Yuanxi changed into the blue-and-white beach pants. After organizing the clothes, she zipped up the black suitcase and placed it next to the red one. This was where she and Wei Shu kept their clothes.
Li Yuanxi felt the wounds on her back beginning to heal. They itched. She wanted to scratch but had to hold back.
“How long is this rain going to last?” Wei Shu asked from the entrance. “Maybe a few hours.” Li Yuanxi took out all their water bottles and also the iron bucket they used for boiling water.
Wei Shu set up the collection spots, placing the buckets where they could catch runoff from the rock face. This time, they could fill all their containers, ensuring they had enough water.
This rain had solved their fresh water problem. Now, they could actually rest for a bit, without having to frantically search for fresh water.
They could also take the time to explore the forest, to find some carbohydrates. Their bodies couldn’t handle eating nothing but meat.
