The sun slowly dipped below the horizon, and the darkening sky swallowed the last traces of warm light. Only the moon and a handful of gentle stars remained, casting a cool glow over the night.
Soon, more stars would speckle the sky, but for Zhang Liu, Qin Ruoshuang, and Anya, the beauty of the night sky was irrelevant.
Right now, their focus was entirely on the feast before them: coconut milk, coconut meat paired with jaboticaba, fish head stew with kelp, grilled fish liver, and fish skewers. The slate-grilled fish tail they had planned was set aside for breakfast the next morning after a group decision.
On their third night on the deserted island, they finally had hot, filling food—far better than the cold, raw coconut milk and meat they'd been surviving on.
"Finally… can we eat?" Anya sat between Zhang Liu and Qin Ruoshuang, her eyes locked on the sizzling fish skewers by the fire, dripping with juices.
Unlike Zhang Liu, who could only imagine eating raw fish heads, Anya, born in Japan, had no qualms about raw fish. If Zhang Liu hadn't kept persuading her to wait, she would've already dug in.
"It's… probably almost ready, right?" Zhang Liu swallowed hard, feeling Anya's hungry gaze as if she might devour him instead of the fish.
He wasn't sure how to tell if the skewers were fully cooked, so he opted to roast them a bit longer. The metal sheet they used wasn't great for slicing, often tearing the fish rather than cutting it neatly. So, despite being called "skewers," they were really just large chunks of fish roasted over the fire.
"It shouldn't be an issue. I've heard many sea fish can be eaten raw," Qin Ruoshuang said, her lips pursed in anticipation as she eyed the skewers. The warm glow of the fire helped her push aside the discomfort in her stomach caused by the surrounding darkness.
"I'm going first!"
Anya, tired of Zhang Liu and Qin Ruoshuang's hesitation, reached for a skewer of grilled fish liver and bit into the juicy tip. Her eyes widened instantly as the scalding, oily liver burned her mouth.
Unwilling to spit it out, she panted like a puppy, making "ha-chi, ha-chi" sounds. After a moment, she chewed repeatedly and swallowed.
"It's definitely edible!" she declared, her most straightforward review before taking another bite.
Zhang Liu and Qin Ruoshuang exchanged glances, small smiles tugging at their lips. Anya's reaction was just too adorable. They each grabbed a skewer of fish liver and began eating.
Zhang Liu had never tried raw sea fish liver before. To him, it tasted like a greasy, fishy lump of lard—not as bad as river fish offal, but far from delicious. Still, it was oily and smooth.
Qin Ruoshuang, familiar with raw fish liver from Japanese cuisine, found the grilled version delightful. Her frail body craved this warm, protein-rich food.
Next came the fish skewers. The fish's back meat was plentiful, so Zhang Liu made nine skewers, three for each of them.
Without salt, the flavor was bland, but hunger was the ultimate seasoning. The kelp and fish head stew had a slight natural saltiness. Though the soup and fish carried a fishy smell, holding their breath while swallowing let them savor the taste.
Any lingering fishiness was masked by eating jaboticaba or drinking coconut water.
The giant clam shell used as a stew pot was a challenge. Even after simmering all evening, the fish head wasn't fully cooked. Zhang Liu resorted to boiling pebbles in water and tossing the hot stones into the soup.
With heat from the fire below and the stones inside, and after mashing the fish head, the kelp fish head soup was barely finished before dinner. Its appearance, however, was ghastly.
After eating, Qin Ruoshuang and Anya busied themselves peeling and pitting jaboticaba, placing the fruit in small clam shells as a post-meal treat.
Zhang Liu tidied up, burning fish bones, skewers, and wooden sticks in the fire. The giant clam shell, charred at the bottom, was retired from its role as a pot.
"Here, have some fruit," Qin Ruoshuang said, placing a portion beside Zhang Liu as he stared into the fire, lost in thought.
He glanced at her, his eyes briefly catching the two faint pink spots on her chest, visible through her clothing. Qin Ruoshuang noticed his gaze and instinctively raised her hands to cover herself. After a moment's hesitation, though, she lowered them and sat beside him.
The flames danced chaotically, mirroring Qin Ruoshuang's tangled emotions.
"Why are you crying?" Zhang Liu's confused voice snapped her back to reality. He called Anya over, who was struggling to scrape coconut meat from a shell.
"Crying?" Qin Ruoshuang touched her face, realizing tears had been streaming down without her noticing. She curled her legs up, hugging her knees, her chest pressed against her thighs.
Glancing at Anya, then at Zhang Liu, she whispered, "Are we… hopeless?"
Anya froze, then resumed scraping the coconut meat, though she didn't eat it. The coconut shell was already clean, yet she kept digging, water seeping out from the pressure of the metal sheet.
"There's still hope," Zhang Liu said cautiously, looking at the two girls. "Just because no one came within 72 hours doesn't mean rescue isn't coming."
He had mentioned the golden 72-hour window for search and rescue to comfort them earlier.
He knew no rescue had arrived that day, which was why he'd gone to such lengths to prepare a hearty meal—to lift their spirits. But now, seeing Qin Ruoshuang on the verge of despair and Anya retreating into herself, he felt the weight of the moment.
Zhang Liu sighed deeply. "I think we need to have a serious meeting."
"A meeting about what?" Anya responded reluctantly, still focused on the coconut.
"About how we're going to keep living on this island," Zhang Liu said, his gaze flickering to Qin Ruoshuang's chest again.
The firelight had dimmed the visibility of the pink spots, but he could still recall their location. If we don't address this, it could become a big problem, he thought, his adolescent mind racing.
After a brief silence, he turned to Anya. "Anya, are you wearing underwear?"
Anya's head snapped up, her eyes wide with shock. She clutched her chest, retreating until her back hit the stone wall, her gaze wary.
"Why are you asking that?"
"Huh?" Zhang Liu was caught off guard by her reaction. After a moment, he stammered, "That's not what I meant! I just thought if you're wearing underwear, you could take off your outer clothes…"
"No way!" Anya interrupted, her voice loud at first, then softening as she clutched her chest tighter.
"Why would you say that in front of Qin Ruoshuang? And… and it's too soon for that kind of thing…"
By the end, her voice was a whisper, her face flushed as she covered her cheeks with her hands.
Qin Ruoshuang, who had been silently despondent, looked up at their exchange. The gloom on her face gave way to surprise.