"Press? Massage?"
When Zhang Liu heard Qin Ruoshuang's teasing words, he froze in shock. Turning around, he met her captivating gaze, her eyes fixed on him with a playful smile. His gaze involuntarily drifted downward to her slightly see-through top…
His heart skipped a beat.
The vivid memory of seeing Anya's flawless, pale figure earlier came rushing back, overwhelming him in that moment. For a fleeting second, Zhang Liu's mind wandered, imagining what Qin Ruoshuang might look like without her clothes.
But in the next instant, he forcefully pushed those inappropriate thoughts away.
"Qin Ruoshuang, let's drop this topic," Zhang Liu said, his eyes clearing as he stepped closer to her. With a wry smile, he added, "I'm a teenage guy, okay? I can't handle this kind of talk…"
"Hmph! Just as I thought—guys your age only have one thing on their minds," Qin Ruoshuang quipped, her lips curling into a mischievous grin. "I just mentioned 'helping with a massage,' and your mind immediately went there, didn't it?"
"…" Zhang Liu was at a loss for words.
He couldn't argue with her logic. Truth be told, he had read too much into her words. His face flushed red, and he stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do next.
"Don't be so embarrassed! I was just teasing," Qin Ruoshuang said, brushing off her earlier comment about the massage as a joke.
She stepped closer to Zhang Liu, struggling to keep her eyes from lingering on his toned abs and chest, which made her heart race. Clearing her throat, she continued, "By the way, you've got a great physique. Do you train specifically for that?"
"Yeah… I've worked on my chest and abs a bit," Zhang Liu admitted honestly, then added, "I'm planning to start dating in college."
"???" Qin Ruoshuang's expression turned puzzled.
She was confused. From what she'd gathered from Anya and their conversation the previous night, Zhang Liu came from a modest background. Dating, let alone marriage, wasn't cheap. How could he be so confident about finding a girlfriend in college?
"You don't know my situation," Zhang Liu said, rubbing his nose awkwardly as he noticed her confusion. "Actually, I'm hoping to find a rich girlfriend. I mean, I'm pretty good-looking, right?"
"Pfft!" Qin Ruoshuang couldn't hold back her laughter.
Her usually cool and composed face broke into a grin before she quickly tried to suppress it.
"Are you laughing at me?" Zhang Liu frowned, genuinely puzzled. What was so funny about his plan to find a long-term "meal ticket"? Wasn't it a solid strategy?
"No!" Qin Ruoshuang bit her cheeks, trying to keep a straight face as she shook her head vigorously.
But her composure cracked, and her face contorted as she struggled to contain her laughter.
"I'm not talking about some old, rich lady!" Zhang Liu protested, his voice growing quieter as Qin Ruoshuang's expression became increasingly comical. "I just want to find…"
He sighed in defeat. "Fine, laugh if you want!"
"Hahahahaha!" Qin Ruoshuang burst out laughing, clutching her stomach as tears streamed down her face.
Zhang Liu, his face darkening, pulled on his shirt and began gathering driftwood nearby.
Not far off, a figure in red approached quickly—it was Anya, who had just returned.
"Work-study program, you get it!" Zhang Liu called out, trying to justify himself as he carried a bundle of driftwood. "You two have to understand! It's called a work-study program!"
Qin Ruoshuang, holding two handfuls of shellfish, nodded along, barely containing her laughter as she echoed, "Yeah, totally! It's a work-study program!"
Anya, still processing Zhang Liu's bold college plan to find a wealthy girlfriend, couldn't stop laughing either.
But seeing his exasperated expression, she wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded, trying to keep a straight face.
Patting Zhang Liu on the shoulder, Anya said with mock seriousness, "I get why you were so nice to me at school now, but sorry, I'm not the kind of rich woman who's into young, handsome guys!"
She glanced at Qin Ruoshuang, who was still stifling her giggles, and the two of them burst into laughter again.
"Aaargh! This school trip is such a disaster!" Zhang Liu groaned, realizing he couldn't explain that he wasn't after a stereotypical "rich woman" but just a practical long-term partner.
Overwhelmed, he had his first mental breakdown in the middle of this desolate wilderness.
Clutching his head and wailing dramatically, he finally understood the pain of being misunderstood.
Qin Ruoshuang and Anya, still laughing, had gotten such a kick out of his innocent remarks. All he wanted was to save some money with a reliable partner, not chase after some caricature of a wealthy older woman!
After this lighthearted moment, the trio returned to their cave, chatting and laughing.
Zhang Liu and Anya carried bundles of driftwood, while Qin Ruoshuang held two portions of shellfish.
Their haul was impressive. The intact shellfish would be stored in seawater for future meals, while the broken ones were boiled with kelp slices for seasoning and carbohydrates.
Their jaboticaba fruit reserves were depleted, and Zhang Liu hadn't had time to pick more that morning due to Anya's invitation to bathe.
So, their only fruit option was coconut meat.
Fortunately, coconuts were plentiful. Zhang Liu had done a quick count while passing through the coconut grove and estimated over two hundred coconuts, not including those still on the trees.
But this abundance didn't mean they were free from hunger. For the two girls with smaller appetites, fruit was enough to keep them satisfied.
For Zhang Liu, however, a growing teenage boy, fruit alone couldn't sustain him. After working outside for a while, his stomach, initially full from fruit, would soon growl with hunger.
Their current diet of seafood—high in protein and carbohydrates but low in fat—didn't fully meet the nutritional needs of a teenage boy, especially since the carbohydrate content was still insufficient.
Holding a stone, Zhang Liu walked to the side of the cave and scratched half of the Chinese character "正" into the wall, leaving out the final horizontal and second-to-last vertical strokes.
Next to it, he wrote the date: 2022/11/12.
"Zhang Liu, what are you doing?" Anya asked, puzzled, as she dug into a coconut.
Qin Ruoshuang, tending the fire, also turned to look at him curiously.
"Keeping track of time," Zhang Liu replied, tossing the stone aside and clapping his hands clean. He gave them a gentle smile. "We need to have a sense of time so we know when winter's coming, right?"
Anya nodded, understanding, and went back to scooping out coconut meat.
Qin Ruoshuang's expression grew solemn. She understood the deeper meaning behind Zhang Liu's words: they needed to start preparing for the long term.
Her thoughts drifted to her sister, Qin Ruoyan, and her parents, a pang of longing hitting her hard.
Blinking back tears, she focused on the fire and the simmering shellfish soup, determined not to cry in front of Zhang Liu and Anya.
They all had families to think about.
Sitting down with the girls, Zhang Liu took a coconut from Anya and began digging out the flesh. "I'm heading to the woods this afternoon," he said. "Anya, could you look for something nearby to store water?"
He was hesitant about letting Anya go to the beach alone to collect giant clam shells. The area where they were found was experiencing high tide, and he'd had to be extra cautious when fishing for them the day before.
"Actually, I think that stone cave could work," Qin Ruoshuang suggested before Anya could respond.
"How about this: this afternoon, Anya and I will fill the cave with water. You come back early before dark, and we'll take turns bathing. Then we'll scoop out the water, and starting tomorrow, we'll use it as a reservoir."
"But…" Anya hesitated, glancing at the giant clam shell in the cave.
She wanted to mention she'd already bathed, but the idea of a deep stone cave—over a meter deep—was tempting.
For a girl raised in Japan, where bathing was a cherished ritual, the difference between a quick rinse and a proper soak was night and day.
"Hmm…" Zhang Liu thought for a moment, then said, "Why don't we check out the cave first? The shellfish soup will take a while to cook anyway."
"Sounds good!" Qin Ruoshuang nodded, standing up eagerly. "I'll lead the way!"