Chapter 41

The milky white cassava soaked in the cold boiled water. Li Yuanxi dropped the last root into the bucket, letting it soak. She dug a hole and buried all the cassava peels in the dirt. It served as both fertilizer and disposed of the toxins.

Looking at the three racks of smoked meat on her left and the two buckets of soaking cassava on her right, she wiped the sweat from her forehead. Their luck wasn’t bad. She hoped it would last.

Her gaze fell on the cassava in the bucket. The reason they had to soak it to remove the toxins, unlike back home where you could just peel and steam it directly, was because the cassava back home had been domesticated and improved by humans for generations, evolving into finer varieties.

The cassava they had brought back was completely wild. The safest way to prepare it was to soak it before steaming. That would be much safer and prevent both of them from getting food poisoning.

When Li Yuanxi entered the cave, she saw Wei Shu sleeping soundly on her pillow, her face sideways. She hadn’t even taken off her shoes. Her long, slender, straight legs were still hanging over the edge of the bed.

She went over, took off her shoes and socks for her, and was about to lift her legs onto the bed when Wei Shu slowly opened her eyes and sat up, asking groggily, “What’s wrong??”

Li Yuanxi looked at Wei Shu, whose hair was disheveled and face was full of fatigue. She wrapped her arms around her. “I took your shoes off for you. Go to bed and sleep.”

Wei Shu shook her head and rubbed her face against Li Yuanxi’s shoulder, her voice sleepy. “No. I’m too dirty. I don’t want to sleep.” Her coquettish, soft little voice held a hint of a plea. She grabbed Li Yuanxi’s clothes and closed her eyes again, resting.

Li Yuanxi rubbed her cheek against the top of Wei Shu’s head. “Wait for me in bed. I’ll heat up some water. You can take a bath and then go to sleep.”

“Hurry up then~” Wei Shu yawned, letting Li Yuanxi lay her down. She closed her eyes and slipped back into dreamland.

Li Yuanxi poured filtered cold boiled water into a square iron water barrel. A few minutes later, she woke Wei Shu up again. She crouched down and called softly, “Shu Shu, the water is ready. Go take your bath.”

Her gaze fell on Wei Shu’s fair, delicate face. Her black lashes cast a slanted shadow over her eyelids. Her thin, vibrant lower lip made her look incredibly cool and captivating.

Wei Shu covered her eyes with her hand, waited for a minute in bed, then lowered her hand and opened her eyes. There was a watery mist in her dark pupils. She reached out limply, asking to be held.

Li Yuanxi hugged her completely in her arms. Holding the soft, fragrant body of Wei Shu made Li Yuanxi want to meld her into her very being.

“My legs hurt,” Wei Shu murmured by Li Yuanxi’s ear. Her legs were really aching, especially the soles of her feet. It felt uncomfortable just to stand on them.

Li Yuanxi carried her around like a big child. Wei Shu clung to her like a koala. Li Yuanxi had to coax her. “I’ll put the bathwater outside first. After you finish, I’ll bring you back, okay?”

“No. Put me down.” Wei Shu, hearing Li Yuanxi’s words, blushed and struggled to get down. Li Yuanxi had to let her go. She carried the iron barrel out of the cave.

The barrel was placed in a spot sheltered by the forest. Li Yuanxi looked around. She realized for the first time how open this area was. She had never noticed it before.

Now, she realized they needed a place to bathe and a place for a toilet. Li Yuanxi looked around, searching for a suitable spot to build a bathroom.

When Wei Shu came out after changing her clothes, she found Li Yuanxi still lingering near her bathing spot. She glared at her shyly. “Why aren’t you gone yet!”

“I was thinking, we should take the time to build a bathroom. It’s getting colder. A bathroom would at least block the wind and rain,” Li Yuanxi said bluntly, pointing at the open area around them. This was the space they had cleared specifically for bathing.

“Can we talk about this after I’ve finished my bath? If you don’t go now, the water will get cold.” Wei Shu hooked a finger under Li Yuanxi’s chin, her expression playful. “Or do you want to stay and join me?”

Wei Shu raised an eyebrow, her gaze roving over Li Yuanxi’s face. The cold, seductive look in her eyes made Li Yuanxi’s chin feel cool. She instantly flushed bright red and ran off without a backward glance.

Back in the cave, Li Yuanxi slapped her burning cheeks vigorously, her eyes darting around. The suggestion Wei Shu had just made… for a moment, she was tempted.

Li Yuanxi clenched her fists, trying to calm her pounding heart. She looked down, barely suppressing the crazy palpitation that had just surged through her.

The moment Wei Shu had lifted her chin, Li Yuanxi wanted nothing more than to hold her and kiss her without a second thought. Good thing she ran away in the end, or she would have done something wrong.

Li Yuanxi patted her chest and let out a heavy breath, then slapped her face hard with both hands. Was she becoming impure? In the past, no matter how Wei Shu teased her, she had never reacted like this.

Little did Li Yuanxi know, women in love always want to be close to their partners.

When Wei Shu came back from her bath, Li Yuanxi had already stir-fried a dish of gracilaria with swan egg. The translucent sea grapes, blanched in boiling water, were fried in deer oil and placed on the wooden table.

Sliced dried venison was stewed with water, lemon leaves, and the remaining gracilaria.

Wei Shu tied up her hair, revealing her fair, jade-like neck. A few strands that hadn’t been completely tied up brushed against her snowy neck.

Li Yuanxi’s gaze followed the strands. When she came back to herself, Wei Shu was looking at her with a knowing half-smile. Li Yuanxi blushed and sat down obediently.

After dinner, seeing they still had at least two hours until sundown, Li Yuanxi went to the seaside, leaving Wei Shu to rest at home.

Arriving at the beach, Li Yuanxi took off her shoes and, as usual, walked along the sand to see if any fish had washed ashore, a possible addition to their evening meal.

Her bony, beautiful toes sank into the sand. The waves washed over her feet. Li Yuanxi looked out at the endless sea. There was no land in sight. The crashing sound of the waves came from far and near.

She went back to the salt pond she had built before. She knelt on the beach and cleared out the sand that had buried the pond, discarding the surface debris.

The bottom of the salt pond, paved with broken shells and stones, needed to be leveled again to prevent the brine from seeping away. Li Yuanxi used a wooden stick as thick as a fist to crush the shells she had collected.

She crushed shell after shell. Then she rolled up a bunch of leaves to use as a broom, swept the crushed shells into a pile, and carefully filled the bottom of the salt pond with them.

She didn’t plan to dig up any cassava tomorrow. She wanted to finish all the necessary preparations first before going to the pond to dig up and carry back the cassava.

Li Yuanxi knelt on the white sand, doing each step meticulously. This time, she planned to make at least five jin of salt. After this batch, she wouldn’t make salt again for at least the next four months.

First, the weather. Winter was a rainy season. Second, it was too cold. She didn’t have enough clothes to be on the beach making salt.

Making salt took over a dozen hours. The larger the quantity, the longer it took.

After laying the base of the salt pond, she went to collect firewood nearby. Most of the wood nearby had already been taken. Li Yuanxi planned to go to the beach where they found the big iron barrel and bring back the wood there.

Barefoot, she climbed over the rocks to the beach on the right. She pulled out the axe from her waist and walked towards the dead trees. She grabbed two logs as thick as a bowl, placed them on the ground, and started chopping.

She stood on one log, pressing it down with her foot, and swung the axe with a rhythmic thwack, thwack. Wood chips flew everywhere. Li Yuanxi didn’t blink, just kept up the steady rhythm.

When the log she was cutting was halfway through, she flipped it and continued. When only a small piece was left connecting it, she stomped on it. There was a sharp crack, and it broke cleanly. She picked it up and started on the next one.

Expressionless, Li Yuanxi chopped two logs, turning into an emotionless wood-chopping machine. She looked at the pile of wood on the ground and nodded in satisfaction.

Half of this wood would be used for making salt, the other half would be taken back to the cave. Half-meter long logs as thick as a calf could burn for about an hour.

There were about twenty pieces she had chopped. She tied the wood into two bundles with vines, upper and lower, found a long, thin branch, and used it as a carrying pole.

As a first-time firewood carrier, she was grimacing from the pressure. The pole on her shoulder wobbled constantly, hurting her shoulder bone. It was hard and painful. She stabilized the two bundles of wood with her hands and gritted her teeth, continuing forward.

As she walked, her back bent lower and lower. It was just too painful. Finally, she had to give up on the pole. Without even looking, she knew her shoulder was already red from the pressure.

“In the movies, people carrying firewood make it look so easy. Why is it so hard for me?” she grumbled, rubbing her shoulder. In the end, she could only leave one bundle behind and carried the other in her arms towards the beach.

Carrying the wood in her arms made it hard to see the ground, so she changed how she carried it. A high reef blocked her path. She had no choice but to swim through the sea with the wood in her arms.

By the time she got back to the salt pond, Li Yuanxi was drenched, dripping water with every step. The sun was already tilting westward. She hurried to get the second bundle of wood.

When she was swimming back with the second bundle, the sun had disappeared, and the pitch-black night was slowly overtaking the deep blue sky.

As Li Yuanxi finally emerged from the sea, she saw a bright flame on the beach, flickering in the sea breeze, looking like it might go out at any moment.

Wei Shu seemed to have heard something. Holding a torch, she walked towards Li Yuanxi step by step. She saw Li Yuanxi soaking wet, walking on the sand, still holding a bundle of wet wood in her arms.

Her face shifted instantly from worry and tension to a cold, ruthless glare. She stared at Li Yuanxi hard, her eyes practically shooting fire.

“I… I was wrong,” Li Yuanxi said, lowering her head in a pitiful apology. Seawater dripped from her hair. From a distance, they almost looked like tears, especially with her wet lashes.

Wei Shu suppressed her anger and pinched her earlobe hard. “Do you realize how dangerous it is to go into the water at night?” she asked, furious.

“I just wanted to bring back this last bundle of wood,” Li Yuanxi said, letting go of the wood to take Wei Shu’s hand, trying to act cute. She was on the sand now, so she didn’t need to carry it anymore. Her arms were sore.

“Couldn’t we have brought it back together tomorrow? I called for you, and you didn’t answer. Do you know how worried I was?” Wei Shu slapped Li Yuanxi’s hand away, turned around, and walked away holding the torch.

Li Yuanxi touched her wet head, reflecting for a few seconds. “What are you standing there for?! Come home!!!” Wei Shu yelled, turning around. Li Yuanxi grinned, immediately ran to her side, and grabbed her hand, insisting on holding it as they walked.

Wei Shu wouldn’t let her. So Li Yuanxi hugged her shoulder and pleaded, “I’m sorry, Shu Shu. I know I was wrong. I know, I know~”

“Hmph. We’ll talk about this when we get back,” Wei Shu said, glancing at her. She was clearly not as angry as before. She had come looking for Li Yuanxi with a torch when she didn’t come home and the sky was getting dark.

When she reached the beach and couldn’t find her, she called her name but got no response. All she could hear was the sound of the waves on the pitch-black sea. The sea seemed to have turned into a bottomless, monstrous abyss.

She panicked. Seeing the bundle of wood still dripping water on the ground, she figured Li Yuanxi must be swimming in the sea.

Wei Shu lit a small fire by the salt pond and waited. With every minute that passed, her fear grew. Her hands trembled. Her eyes were fixed on the horizon, hoping her Chuyi would come back soon.

When Li Yuanxi finally emerged from the sea, Wei Shu got angry again. Furious. Nothing was more important than Li Yuanxi.