Chapter 159 Warm-Up Together
“But this dish is not cruel at all! Is it cruel to use sausage?” Lu Hua recalled the flavor of that dish while speaking in a cold voice.
Xiaolu grinned and said, “There is a popular joke among Guangdong people that claypot rice is the cruelest dish. In Cantonese, “Zai” means “son”. Claypot rice means to cook your own son. Is it not cruel enough?”
Lu Hua said with a smile, “You’re playing a trick. If you really cooked your son in this dish, you can be the winner.”
Xiaolu was also drenched with ice, but fortunately, he was young and strong. He did not feel bad.
Long Xi was the winner in the end. She not only avoid losing her chips, but also won a good meal for her three teammates. That meal was precious for those who had been on that desert island for a long time.
She said, “There are still a lot of beef balls left from the batch I made while the soup could be the water to be had along with them. Xiaolu made one more pot of claypot rice deliberately. Xiaolu, brother Wangchuan, and Bai Bing, you can eat first. I will make you some more vegetables and scallion beef for you.”
Bai Bing said, “I have looked around but found no name brands there. There is a simple bedroom, which can be considered as a kind of equipment. Shall we get there to have some rest?”
Long Xi and the others were also tired, so they agreed in unison.
Yan Wangchuan said, “I have eaten some when I tried the dishes, so I am not that hungry now. Xiaolongnv, you should eat more.”
Xiaolu also said, “Master Xi, you just had a package of instant noodles and must have consumed them for a long while. You have never tasted my claypot rice before. Now, have a try! I don’t need to eat anything, because I also secretly ate a lot when trying the dishes.”
Long Xi was cooking some vegetables with the meat soup and saying with a smile, “I also ate something when trying the dishes and don’t feel hungry. Brother Lu and brother Wangchuan, you should eat more. Men will always consume more energy! Bai Bing, you should eat at once, because you have eaten nothing all this time!”
Bai Bing did not refuse, sitting down and starting to swallow the food. She was hungry indeed!
Yan Wangchuan could not persuade Long Xi, so he had to eat some.
Xiaolu looked at granny Piao who was trembling near the corner and felt worried. He took his food over to her and asked her to have it.
Granny Piao tried to refuse, but Xiaolu was quite sincere, so she expressed her appreciation and ate it all.
Lu Hua said, “You don’t have to worry too much about food. They asked me to design two games and both are related to food. At noon tomorrow, if you won’t find any other food, you can come back to play another game.”
Long Xi made a scallion beef while saying with laughter, “Ah, Uncle Lu, you really are our savior! If we feel hungry, we can come to you and don’t have to worry about food!”
Lu Hua said, “But as far as I know, all the games on this island can only be played once per person. Moreover, only my games and the Wait For You To Fall In the Trap designed by Qiuzi are related to food.”
Long Xi had finished her cooking and served them the delicious scallion beef, saying, “Oh, I have played the game of poisonous instant noodles. I still feel scared about it. A woman’s mind is always the most unpredictable thing in this world! Fortunately, I am not a woman, but an invincible beauty!”
Yan Wangchuan was eating while saying with a smile, “I remember that the first dish you learned was my favorite scallion beef. I haven’t tasted it for a few years, so I really miss the taste!”
Long Xi said sincerely, “Brother Wangchuan, you should eat more! I also miss our childhood, when we were in a pure world without complex motivations! However, we can’t go back!”
Yan Wangchuan was stunned and lowered his head. He nearly ate all the scallion beef. He knew what Long Xi tried to express in her words, but he did not want to understand it!
Long Xi said, “I think the most important thing for us now is to find some water. Seawater surrounds us, but it can be drunk. We can’t not survive without water. Without food, we can still live for three weeks. Therefore, water should be the priority to think about. Have you bottled up the mineral water? Give me the bottles, and I can collect some rainwater.”
Bai Bing handed the empty mineral water bottle to her and said disgustedly, “Can we drink the rainwater? Isn’t it dirty?”
Long Xi took their empty bottles and said seriously, “Normally, we can only drink the water after sterilizing it. But when we are in urgent situations like these, we can only choose to drink it. I can collect some in case of emergency. It will be better to find some clean water later.”
She collected some rain. After they finished the meal, it was already three o’clock in the morning.
The rain stopped; a few players walked inside, drenched, with wounds on their bodies. The smell of blood and rain mixed in the air.
After they listened to the rules, they started to play that game.
Xiaolu dragged granny Piao aside and said in Korean, “Do you want to have a rest? There is a bedroom inside.”
Granny Piao gratefully nodded.
Bai Bing took them to the front of the innermost hole.
Long Xi saw there was a simple but spacious bedroom. Besides, there was a wooden door that could be locked from the inside. Straw mats were placed on the ground while a battery lamp was standing over the corner. It was turned on.
The five walked in and locked the door, lying on the mat to rest.
Xiaolu showed his care to granny Piao and asked her to join them.
Both Yan Wangchuan and Bai Bing were opposed to it; only Long Xi agreed with him.
That two-to-two stalemate made the atmosphere embarrassing.
Long Xi was really sleepy and said, “Tomorrow is another new day! We should have some rest and make a decision tomorrow!”
Yan Wangchuan yawned and said with a smile, “I agree!”
Xiaolu lay down and said with his feet lifting, “I agree with my feet!”
Then, the five fell asleep.
Long Xi originally had a problem to sleep in a new place, but at the moment her body was too tired to figure it out. She even fell into her dreams despite Xiaolu’s hearty snoring.
They dared not sleep too much, because time was limited. They only slept for three hours and got up.
They opened the wooden door and saw two players sitting over the gate, leaning against the wall between sleeping and waking. Finding they were coming out, the two stood up with tiredness, walked into the hole, and locked the door inside.
They went to the cave where they had played a game before, finding no other player except for Lu Hua snapping over his chair.
They did not bother him and walked out at a low voice.
Long Xi stretched out her arms and said with a smile, “Today is a cool and sunny day without any clouds in the sky. Bi… confirmed.”
Xiaolu said with a smile, “Master Xi, you really know how to be happy in bitter times!”
Yan Wangchuan hurried to say, “She is like this since she was young. You just found out today?”
Xiaolu smiled and ignored him.
Bai Bing asked, “Where should we go now?”
Xiaolu said, “Let’s go around to see whether there is a creek or a spring. I see there are lots of birds and insects surrounding us, a water source might be around. Otherwise, birds could not survive. Would they fly to the shore to drink water everyday?”
Long Xi said, “I have read some books about survival in the wilderness. It said that water might be preserved in hollow plants such as bamboo. Some vines also have potable juices, like the fruit and stems of palms and cactuses.”
Yan Wangchuan said, “Should we take action in two separate teams or together?”
Long Xi looked at granny Piao who was quite tired, saying, “We should leave granny Piao resting in the hole, to keep her safe. To be honest, even if she goes with us, it’s difficult for her to get chips and might meet some dangers. How about we do it this way? If we can get enough chips, we can give her some. Brother Lu, please help to translate for her.”
Xiaolu spoke to granny Piao in Korean, but she insisted on going with them.
Long Xi understood her anxiety to save her son, so she discussed with Xiaolu, Yan Wangchuan, Bai Bing to take granny Piao with them.
They saw several early birds flying to the top of the mountain. By their estimations, the water source might be over there. Then, they headed towards the top together.
Granny Piao walked slowly, so the others stopped and waited for her from time to time, which made them feel somewhat worried.
They passed by a bamboo forest.
Yan Wangchuan took out a Swiss army knife to cut off a bamboo in the middle. Selecting a section of bamboo, he really discovered some fresh water inside.
Xiaolu and he took turns to cut off the bamboo. They cut off five sections for each of them.
The five filtered the dross in the water and toasted with them.
After drinking it up, they could use them as bamboo tubes, so they were not willing to discard them.
Xiaolu proposed to make a parcel, to place all the bottles and bamboo tubes in the package.
Long Xi said, “We don’t have enough cloth.”
Xiaolu hesitated for a moment, pulled the yarn and veil, then passed them to Long Xi. He said, “I can’t care too much! We don’t know whether we can survive in the end!”
Bai Bing glanced at Xiaolu and also took off the veil and yarn to Long Xi.
Long Xi made a few knots with her skillful hands to form a simple package, just like the baggage used by the ancients.
Everyone placed the mineral water bottles filled with rainwater, five bamboo tubes, the name brands and their chips into the package. Long Xi wrapped them up and asked Xiaolu to carry them.
Xiaolu accepted at once! After all, he had the best energy and combat power among them!
Next, they passed by a small fruit forest.
There were more than 10 kinds of fruit trees. Under each fruit tree there was a big chicken coop with 10 more pheasants and three cages inside.
Several players were catching chickens in the chicken coops. The scene was a mess.
Next to each chicken coop stood a man in a black suit. It was surely the judge.