Chapter 21: The Joy of Wilderness Survival

After He Tiantian fell into the water pool, Wang Xingyu began to complain, "He Tiantian, you are too clumsy. Not only did you fail to pull me up, but you fell in yourself. Now we are both stuck in the pool; what are we supposed to do?"

These words left He Tiantian speechless. She thought to herself, "It was clearly your clumsiness that dragged me down with you; how can you blame me?"

However, considering Wang Xingyu’s status as the son of the city lord, she swallowed her frustration and apologized repeatedly. "I’m sorry, Young Master Wang. It’s all my fault for being so clumsy."

Wang Xingyu, pushing his luck, retorted with a huff, "What good does an apology do? Hurry up and find a way for us to climb out!"

He Tiantian thought for a moment and said, "Young Master Wang, the only way now is to call for help loudly. Hopefully, Lin Feng is nearby, hears us, and comes to rescue us."

"What?" Wang Xingyu was stunned by this suggestion. He waved his hands frantically. "No, we cannot ask Lin Feng for help. Besides, he wanted to kill me earlier; he certainly won't help us." He thought that asking Lin Feng for help would be a humiliating slap to his own face.

He Tiantian countered, "Then, is there any better way?"

Wang Xingyu fell silent, clearly unable to come up with anything better. He frowned and muttered, "But I destroyed the pool..."

He Tiantian interrupted, "Young Master Wang, regardless, we have to try. Otherwise, we are doomed." She thought to herself, "You wouldn't listen when I tried to stop you from ruining the pool, and now you regret it?"

Wang Xingyu considered the situation. The deserted island was cold at night, and staying in the water would lead to colds or fevers even if they didn't freeze to death. Without medicine, that could be fatal. Furthermore, if Lin Feng came to fetch water, they would definitely have to ask for his help anyway. He nodded, "Fine, call for help!"

"Help!"
"Someone, come quickly!"

The two began to shout at the top of their lungs from within the pool.

...

Meanwhile, Lin Feng returned to the shelter with the water. He noticed that Cheng Xiangyu was not just tending to the fire; she had taken some of the mushrooms, was meticulously cleaning the dirt off them, and tearing them into small pieces.

Lin Feng smiled with satisfaction. "Hey, not bad. You’ve learned to take initiative." He added with a grin, "What surprises me most is that you dared to take the mushrooms out of that black dress. Are you no longer afraid that they belonged to a dead person?"

Upon hearing Lin Feng's praise, Cheng Xiangyu smiled happily. "I said I would help you and stop living off you for free. As for the items belonging to the dead, I’m not afraid anymore because I know you were right. In our current situation, we can’t afford to be picky; nothing is more important than survival."

Lin Feng nodded with a smile. It was worth scaring her so many times; she had finally overcome that psychological barrier. He used one bottle of water to clean the large clay pot, and another to rinse the mushrooms. Finally, he set the pot on the fire, poured in the water, and once it boiled, added the mushrooms to cook.

"To be safe, we’ll boil them for twenty minutes before we eat," Lin Feng said. He glanced at his watch and added, "It’s a good thing I kept this watch. Otherwise, if I were too impatient and miscounted the time, we might end up poisoned."

Cheng Xiangyu remained silent. After all, this watch originally belonged to Wang Xingyu, and as the daughter of the Cheng family, she knew that the city lord’s son was someone she dared not offend. She decided to change the subject and chatted with Lin Feng, "How old are you?"

Lin Feng didn't want to be bored, so he answered, "Twenty-one. And you?"

Cheng Xiangyu replied, "Don't you know that a lady's age is a secret?"

Lin Feng was left speechless and decided to ignore her. Fortunately, the twenty minutes passed quickly. Lin Feng grabbed some leaves to insulate his hands and lifted the large clay pot off the fire. Cheng Xiangyu just watched from the side, not moving an inch.

Lin Feng couldn't help but say, "What are you staring at? Go get the bowls!"

"Oh, right!" Cheng Xiangyu replied, quickly grabbing two clay bowls and handing one to Lin Feng. She then fashioned a pair of chopsticks out of twigs and handed him a pair as well. She reached her chopsticks into the pot, ready to taste a mushroom.

Seeing this, Lin Feng huffed, "What are you doing? I haven't started eating yet." Despite his words, he was quite pleased. This pampered socialite, while not used to working, was at least willing to listen to him now, and her haughty attitude had diminished significantly. He added, "Go ahead and eat. I was just worried you’d burn yourself; this clay pot retains heat quite well, and the broth won't cool down easily."

Cheng Xiangyu had felt a bit uncomfortable, but hearing this, she felt much better. She smiled and replied, "Okay, thank you." She then tasted some mushrooms, finding them crisp, fresh, and delicious. She praised him, "This is delicious! These mushrooms are really good. Lin Feng, you’re amazing for finding such good food."

Lin Feng smiled faintly, thinking to himself that this might just be one of the small pleasures of surviving in the wild.

"Help!"
"Someone, come quickly!"

Just as they finished the mushrooms and most of the broth, they heard faint cries for help.

Cheng Xiangyu listened carefully and said, "Lin Feng, listen closely. Is someone calling for help?"

Lin Feng nodded. "Yes, I hear it too." He looked around and finally turned toward the water pool. "It must be He Tiantian and the others. I saw them there when I went to fetch water earlier."

Cheng Xiangyu became anxious. "Then why aren't you going to save them?"

Lin Feng waved his hand. "No, I’m not going."

Cheng Xiangyu was stunned. "Why?" She felt even more urgent now.

Lin Feng retorted, "Damn it, they stole the water-cress I found and ate it. I didn't even mind that, but they stepped on all the rest and ruined it. That was my emergency food supply. If I can't find anything else, I’ll go hungry. They deserve what happened to them; I won't save them!"

Cheng Xiangyu was dumbfounded. She had never expected them to destroy the food, and she agreed that it was excessive. After a moment of thought, she said, "Lin Feng, I know you dislike Wang Xingyu, but surely you can't just leave He Tiantian to die? She’s the best friend of your girlfriend, isn't she? Aren't you afraid your girlfriend will be heartbroken if she finds out?"

Lin Feng frowned, sighing that she had a point. "Fine, I’ll go and see what happened to them and why they are calling for help."

He stood up and began to walk. Seeing that Lin Feng had agreed, Cheng Xiangyu said, "I’m going too." She had originally wanted to persuade him to let He Tiantian and Wang Xingyu join them, but she hadn't succeeded earlier. Now, she wanted to try again. More importantly, she didn't dare to be alone with Lin Feng after he had almost forced himself on her, and since Wang Xingyu was the city lord's son, helping him could lead to significant rewards if they were ever rescued.