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Chapter 7 Lunch and Building the Bamboo House
Looking at the dozens of bamboo poles piled up in the open space, ready to be used to build a shelter, Yuan Linghan, who had finished moving the bamboo, still felt a little tired, even though he had extraordinary physical abilities.
The breakfast he ate before boarding the ship was probably all digested by now. Seeing Chen Duling, who looked equally exhausted, Yuan Linghan decided to cook something for her. Even though those five pounds of rice were precious, they still had to be eaten eventually.
Having decided to get something to eat, Yuan Linghan immediately asked, "Dudu, are you hungry?"
When asked, Chen Duling nodded honestly and said, "A little! Brother Yuan, how about we cook some porridge?"
"Okay! I'll go set up a makeshift stove. You go wash some rice, and we'll cook some porridge later."
"good!"
Using the stones he had collected earlier, Yuan Linghan quickly built a makeshift stove. After lighting the firewood, he placed the soup pot that Chen Duling had washed clean on the stove. There wasn't much rice in it, but it was enough to cook a pot of porridge.
Yuan Linghan handed the bamboo spatula he had made earlier to Chen Duling and instructed her, "Dudu, keep an eye on the porridge in the pot. After the water boils, open the lid and stir it slowly with this spatula to prevent the porridge from overflowing."
"Okay! I'll definitely cook the porridge well!"
"Porridge alone won't fill you up, we need to get something to eat. I saw some bamboo shoots just sprouting in the bamboo grove earlier, I'll go dig some up to eat as a vegetable. You stay here and watch the porridge, I'll be right back."
"Okay, Brother Yuan, leave this to me."
After instructing Chen Duling not to burn the porridge, Yuan Linghan picked up his axe and headed back into the jungle. He dug up five or six bamboo shoots that he had found while cutting bamboo earlier, carefully peeling them off right there in the bamboo forest before turning back to the shelter.
Chen Duling, who was squatting beside the makeshift stove, was also very happy to see Yuan Linghan bring back several fresh bamboo shoots. Just as Yuan Linghan said, drinking porridge alone is not enough to fill you up; eating it with some vegetables will make you feel fuller.
After cleaning the bamboo shoots, blanch them in a separate pot of boiling water. Then, soak them in cold water before Yuan Linghan found the seasoning packets provided by the production team. Although the variety and quantity were limited, at least they wouldn't have to eat boiled vegetables every meal!
"Dudu, we're short on seasonings, so I'll just stir-fry some bamboo shoots. What do you think?"
"Sure! These seasonings will last a month, so we definitely need to use them sparingly."
"Yes! When we have time, we'll dig up more bamboo shoots and dry them into dried bamboo shoots. There will probably be rainy days in the future, and if we don't store some food in advance, we'll go hungry. If we don't dig up these newly sprouted bamboo shoots now, they won't taste good in a few days."
While talking to Chen Duling, Yuan Linghan didn't stop what he was doing. He poured some oil into a small wok, and once the oil was hot, he added the blanched bamboo shoots. After a quick stir-fry, he added some salt and light soy sauce for color, and then stir-fried for a few more seconds before taking it off the heat.
Standing to the side watching, Chen Duling knew very well that her cooking skills were limited to instant noodles and steaming seafood. She had absolutely no experience with stir-fries or cooking rice dishes. Back home, she always cooked in a rice cooker!
They found two relatively flat stones, and with their still-warm porridge in hand, the two sat facing each other and began to enjoy their first meal after arriving on the island. Chen Duling picked up a bamboo shoot with her chopsticks and said with slight surprise, "Brother Yuan, this bamboo shoot is quite delicious."
"These are fresh bamboo shoots; their appeal lies in their freshness. If you stew them with meat, the flavor will be even more delicious!"
"Yes, these bamboo shoots are delicious, which is because the ingredients themselves are of good quality, right?"
Hearing Chen Duling's evaluation, Yuan Linghan smiled and said, "What you said makes sense! Although we don't know what the other challenge groups are doing after landing on the island, we should try to build the shelter within three days."
"Yes, Brother Yuan, if there's anything I can help with, please don't hesitate to ask."
"Sure! I just hope that after the show airs, the audience won't say I don't know how to cherish women."
"Definitely not, you've already taken good care of me. Before I came, although I was prepared for hardship, I still overestimated myself. Luckily, I had you as my partner; if I were alone, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to make it even a day."
"Since we're partners, we should definitely help each other. Besides, I have to live up to your trust!"
During their meal, the two had a rare opportunity to chat. Meanwhile, the other challenge teams that had arrived on the island were also encountering various problems. In particular, many of the invited celebrity contestants were having second thoughts.
Considering the contracts signed with TT platform, if they can't even stay for a week, the promised appearance fee will naturally shrink significantly. This would likely cause considerable damage to the celebrities' image.
For these celebrities, their job in the entertainment industry is simply to pursue fame and fortune. Now that they're already here, they're willing to at least get through the first week. As for whether they can persevere to the end and receive the promised prize money, they're all pretty uncertain!
After dinner, Chen Duling volunteered to wash the dishes, while Yuan Linghan began building the shelter. To keep out the moisture from the ground, he first needed to build a platform off the ground. Later, he built two cubicles on the platform.
In addition to shelter from the wind and rain, a kitchen, bathroom, and toilet will need to be built later. The first two will be built next to the shelter, while the toilet's location needs to be carefully chosen. The best solution is to connect the toilet to a water source as well.
After using the toilet, flush away the waste with running water to keep the toilet clean and hygienic. Otherwise, the waste will accumulate and easily attract mosquitoes and flies. Secondly, over time, it will also smell terrible!
After determining the excavation site, Yuan Linghan, instead of choosing an entrenching tool, picked a wooden stake about the thickness of a bamboo pole, sharpened one end with an axe, and then used brute force to continuously chisel downwards until he had created a pit large enough for the bamboo to stand upright.
After washing the dishes and kitchen utensils, Chen Duling saw Yuan Linghan working hard and knew very well that she couldn't help with this kind of physical labor. Knowing she would be staying there for a month, she began gathering firewood from the surrounding area.
After the dozen or so foundation pillars were in place, Yuan Linghan threaded the previously cut, wrist-thick logs through the pre-drilled holes in the bamboo stakes. Before long, the basic framework of the temporary shelter was almost complete.
Seeing that it was still early, Yuan Linghan found some younger bamboo and split the nodes with an axe. After splitting one side and cleaning off the remaining nodes, he obtained a simple bamboo board. He then used stones to weigh down the bamboo board to prevent it from deforming before rolling it into a ball.
Once enough bamboo planks had been made, Yuan Linghan laid them flat on the base frame. Because there were no nails to hold them in place, the laid-out bamboo planks were prone to curling up, so he immediately said, "Dudu, can you do me a favor?"
"Brother Yuan, tell me! What do you need me to do?"
"Find some stones to weigh down these rolled-up bamboo planks. Once I've laid out the other bamboo planks, I can tie them up and shape them."
"Okay! I can do this job!"
Although standing by as a supervisor wasn't tiring, Chen Duling felt ashamed. Now that she could help and do what she could, she naturally wouldn't refuse. After all the bamboo planks were laid, Yuan Linghan found bamboo strips to bind and secure them.
According to Yuan Linghan, although there are many gaps in the base platform, it can only be made do for now. The remaining frame, roof, and fence of the shelter will have to be completed gradually later.
For Chen Duling, however, having this platform, which is about 60 or 70 centimeters off the ground, would make her feel safer if she pitched her tent there at night. But then she wondered, with only one tent, how would Yuan Linghan rest at night?
She'd be sleeping in a tent, but she couldn't very well let Yuan Linghan sleep in the open, could she? The problem was, she also couldn't possibly let Yuan Linghan sleep in the tent with her!