Anya didn't say a word, but her delicate fists were clenched so tightly they trembled.
She had even gripped Zhang Liu's black T-shirt so hard that the fabric made a faint tearing sound.
I've already said this much, haven't I? You don't need to say anything else—just tell me it's beautiful… Then we could maybe start something.
And you ask me if I ate something wrong?
A tsundere girl had finally let go of her pride, leaving only her vulnerability, only to be deeply hurt by her partner's response.
At that moment, she felt utterly deflated.
"Huh?" Seeing Anya's silence, Zhang Liu grew even more concerned.
Could that snake really have been poisonous?
"I didn't eat anything wrong. Let's head back."
Anya knew Zhang Liu probably wasn't in the mood to discuss whether the view was beautiful or not. But right now, she just felt awful.
Her voice grew softer as she spoke, and she leaned her head on Zhang Liu's shoulder, gazing at the fiery clouds in the sky once more.
She had thought the scenery was breathtaking before, but now, it felt like nothing more than that.
"Alright."
Zhang Liu was quietly worried, but given the situation, his concerns wouldn't change anything. After taking a few deep breaths to steady himself, he started walking back toward the cave.
Inside the cave, Qin Ruoshuang was resting with her eyes closed.
After Zhang Liu and Anya had left, she had started cleaning and organizing.
After most of the day, her efforts had paid off.
She had taken the foam board near the small rock and laid it flat on the ground.
The coconuts were handled the same way, though Qin Ruoshuang couldn't climb with them, so they were simply stacked at the base of the cave.
The cave itself was spacious—at least twenty square meters—so she didn't clear out all the stones. Instead, she stacked some of the flatter ones near the entrance, about a meter high, to create a small windbreak.
She knew Zhang Liu had been woken up several times the previous night by the chilly sea breeze.
Back then, she hadn't felt comfortable inviting him to share the foam board with her. So she had pretended not to notice, though she felt deeply guilty about it.
After all, Zhang Liu had been the one to find the foam boards and other supplies, and she had no right to claim them all for herself.
But the reason she was lying down now wasn't because she was truly exhausted—it was because she was scared and worried.
On one hand, she was anxious about Zhang Liu and Anya. On the other, she was nervous about the liquid in her stomach.
Knowing that Zhang Liu was their main labor force, Qin Ruoshuang had made a bold decision: she would be the first to test the water for poison.
She had drunk from the puddle several times.
The water was clear, slightly bitter, but definitely better than the sticky coconut water that clung to her mouth.
Still, she only drank it after finishing her work cleaning the cave.
Even if she were to get poisoned, she was determined to get some work done first!
That was her resolve. But now, after some time had passed, she felt no strange effects in her body.
In fact, she felt surprisingly comfortable, finally able to lie down and rest properly for the first time in a while.
Soon, she heard the rustling of footsteps and the faint voices of a man and a woman talking.
"Zhang Liu, I'll drink that water later. You still need to test the fruit."
"But…"
"No buts! You can handle testing both!"
"Can we test it tomorrow?"
"No way, I have to do something!"
"Don't drink it! You're a girl—how could I let you put yourself in danger?"
Hearing Zhang Liu's firm refusal, Qin Ruoshuang couldn't help but smile faintly.
She slowly stood up, walked to the cave entrance, and poked her head out.
Under the dim, reddish glow of the sunset, Zhang Liu was walking along the beach, shirtless, with Anya trailing behind him, carrying a bag.
"You're back?" Qin Ruoshuang called out with a smile, her hair fluttering in the evening breeze.
"We're back!" Zhang Liu waved enthusiastically.
Behind him, Anya pulled a handful of fruit from her T-shirt and said, "Ruoshuang! We found new food!"
"Welcome home!" Qin Ruoshuang waved back, the last traces of worry in her heart melting away.
With Qin Ruoshuang's help, Zhang Liu carefully lifted Anya into the cave.
Then he handed his T-shirt to Qin Ruoshuang and said, "Don't eat the fruit yet. I'll try some tonight. If I'm fine by tomorrow morning, we can all eat."
"Okay."
Qin Ruoshuang nodded, understanding his intent as she took the bundle. She turned and poured the jaboticaba fruit into a small corner of the foam board.
She handed the T-shirt back to Zhang Liu, who was still waiting below.
"I'm going to the beach to see if I can find anything else useful. Fill this bottle with water later. Clean Anya's wound first, then add more water. I'll test if it's drinkable tomorrow."
Zhang Liu pulled a Nongfu Spring bottle from his pocket, handed it to Qin Ruoshuang, and turned to leave with his T-shirt.
But before he could walk far, he heard Qin Ruoshuang's startled exclamation from the cave—likely because she'd just learned Anya was injured.
Taking a deep breath to push aside his worries, Zhang Liu continued toward the beach.
With Anya now in Qin Ruoshuang's care, he was ready to search for other resources—especially materials to make a fire.
On the way there and back, Zhang Liu had acted confident, but now, at least thirty-six hours had passed, and no help had arrived.
It was starting to weigh on him.
It was possible they'd have to survive on this deserted island for real, just as they'd planned.
According to wilderness survival knowledge, the key priorities were fire, water, food, shelter, survival resources, and medical supplies.
For water, as long as they could confirm tomorrow that the puddle water was safe, that issue would be resolved.
For food, they had coconuts, jaboticaba, and other unfamiliar fruits they'd seen, so that wasn't a problem either.
Their shelter was the cave.
What worried Zhang Liu most was fire.
It was the top priority among the six key points, yet it was the one he felt least equipped to handle.
It was also the most urgent need.
Take the snake from earlier today, for example. If they had fire, Zhang Liu wouldn't have just thrown it away. Roasted, it would've been pure, chicken-flavored protein.
He walked to the beach and bent down to wash his T-shirt repeatedly.
Though it would dry stiff with salt crystals and be uncomfortable to wear, salt was better than rotten fruit juice that would attract flies and insects.
But washing clothes wasn't his only goal. He also planned to search the nearby rocky beach.
The rocky beach was scattered with oddly shaped stones and puddles of various sizes left behind by the receding tide.
From videos he'd seen about beach foraging, he knew there could be plenty of good finds here.
Zhang Liu didn't dare eat unfamiliar fish raw, fearing parasites that could kill him.
But he was bold enough to eat familiar oysters—mussels, as some called them—raw, especially the big ones!