Qin Ruoshuang was right.
The fire was indeed about to go out.
Zhang Liu thought he had planned everything meticulously. Before drilling wood to make fire, he arranged the dry wood in a hollow structure, expecting that placing the kindling inside would easily start the blaze. That's how it worked in the videos, after all.
But reality proved different. The fire, hot enough to burn his palms, failed to ignite the wood as expected.
Was the wood too thick?
Or perhaps not as dry and flammable as he'd thought?
Or maybe the flame was just too weak?
None of that mattered now. The real problem was that the spark he'd worked so hard to create was on the verge of dying out.
It can't go out!
Zhang Liu's eyes reddened with urgency as he scrambled for a solution. He used his fingernails to tear off thin strips of dry wood, wincing as the tough fibers dug into his skin, and held them to the flame to catch fire.
Anya and Qin Ruoshuang, standing nearby, followed his lead, breaking down the piled wood and passing the pieces to Zhang Liu as he carefully nurtured the flame.
Through their combined efforts, a small fire finally took hold, and the hollow woodpile began to burn.
"It shouldn't go out so easily now," Zhang Liu said, breathing a sigh of relief as he watched the thicker logs catch fire. He sank onto the beach, staring at the flames in a daze.
Even now, he felt a bit surreal.
Did I really just start a fire by rubbing sticks together on this deserted island?
He turned his head, his expression a mix of gratitude and bewilderment, to look at Anya and Qin Ruoshuang behind him.
The two girls mirrored his complex emotions, their faces glowing with a quiet sense of accomplishment.
Despite the scorching sun, which made the fire's heat almost unbearable, the flames brought a strange warmth to their hearts.
"I… I'll roast a coconut first?" Anya suggested, her eyes lighting up as she thought of a way to use the fire.
"Do whatever you want," Zhang Liu replied with a smile. "I'm going to head out and gather more wood. When the tide goes out tonight, I'll check the beach for any stranded fish. If we're lucky, we could have grilled fish for dinner."
"Grilled fish!" Qin Ruoshuang's face lit up with excitement at the words.
While she never complained about the taste of coconut meat like Anya did, the thought of hot food was incredibly enticing.
"Yeah…" Zhang Liu nodded, but his gaze inadvertently drifted to Qin Ruoshuang's chest.
Through her translucent clothing, two faint pink spots were subtly visible—not glaring, but noticeable enough.
He froze.
He distinctly remembered Qin Ruoshuang wearing a purple bra. What had happened to make her, a girl, remove the underwear covering such a private part of her body?
He wanted to ask, but the words caught in his throat. It was an awkward topic, after all, involving something so personal.
"Zhang Liu! What are you staring at?"
Anya's sharp voice cut through as she returned with a coconut in hand, glaring at him unhappily.
Qin Ruoshuang, realizing she was the focus of his gaze, flushed with embarrassment and lowered her head in silence.
"N-Nothing… It's nothing!"
Startled by Anya's outburst, Zhang Liu scrambled to his feet, practically tripping over himself as he fled toward the grove where he'd collected wood earlier.
After Zhang Liu left, Anya and Qin Ruoshuang exchanged a glance and fell into an awkward silence.
The sun had shifted, and the fire, once blazing under the scorching sunlight, now sat in the shade, its flames burning brighter and more vivid.
The crackling of the fire filled the air, but the two girls remained quiet, sitting on the beach for what felt like half the afternoon.
Anya had brought the coconut to roast but hadn't cracked it open yet.
Qin Ruoshuang occasionally tossed thicker logs into the fire, and they both watched as the wood caught, burned, and eventually turned to ash.
"Are you… not wearing underwear on purpose?"
Anya finally broke the silence, turning to Qin Ruoshuang with a worried expression.
Unlike Qin Ruoshuang, who was into science, Anya, a literature enthusiast, had read plenty of deserted-island survival novels—ones with stewardesses and goddesses who inevitably fell for the male protagonist, vying for his affection in exaggerated ways.
She hadn't thought much of it before, but seeing Qin Ruoshuang's shy reaction sparked a troubling thought.
Is she trying to make a move?
"No!" Qin Ruoshuang shook her head quickly.
She'd been silent because she was too embarrassed to explain, but now that Anya had asked, she decided to be honest.
She explained that, sooner or later, they might end up without clothes on the island, so she'd removed her underwear to get used to it. Plus, the sponge pads inside could be repurposed for hygiene.
"Really?" Anya's expression softened, and when Qin Ruoshuang nodded earnestly, she relaxed further.
"That's good, then…"
Anya cracked open the coconut, pouring the milk into two prepared coconut shells—one for herself, one for Qin Ruoshuang.
Then, using a metal sheet, she began carving out the coconut flesh, cutting it into small pieces and skewering them onto freshly broken branches.
She was going to roast coconut meat, preparing two portions, just like the coconut milk—one for each of them.
"Anya, there's another reason I was quiet for so long," Qin Ruoshuang said, carefully holding her coconut skewer over the fire to roast it without burning the stick.
She glanced at Anya, who looked puzzled, and continued slowly, "I was worried you might like Zhang Liu, and when he saw my chest, you got jealous."
Anya froze, her skewer hovering over the fire.
After a moment, she responded in a serious tone, "I thought about it a lot that day, and I realized my feelings for Zhang Liu were probably just the suspension bridge effect."
"You're right. There's no future between me and him," she continued. "Once we're rescued or escape, he'll go back to being an orphan taking care of his two younger sisters, and I'll still be the heir to the An family conglomerate in Japan. What kind of future could Zhang Liu possibly offer me?"
Qin Ruoshuang stared at Anya, stunned, and fell silent for a long time.
Finally, she sighed softly and murmured, "You're right."
"But that's not what I meant," she added. "I was trying to say that if we get out of this, there could still be something between you and him…"
Just as Qin Ruoshuang was about to clarify her thoughts, a loud, awkward cough interrupted them.
It was Zhang Liu, standing behind them.