Chapter 302 I Need You By My Side
They talked about all sorts of things over the meal and sorted out the things simultaneously. Unknowingly, it was already eleven fifteen in the evening.
After Gu Mingchen had the ladder ready, Bai Rong looked in the direction of the bed and noticed they were completely surrounded by a pitch-black environment.
She was afraid of the unknown lingering in the darkness.
Out of fear, she stuttered, “It’s dark…”
“Don’t worry.” Gu Mingchen sprinkled some animal fats on the thickened strand of rope and wrapped it around the wooden stick, lighting it as their source of illumination.
Leading the way ahead of her, he brought the ladder along with him and held on to the knife.
On the other hand, she held on to the man-made torch and brought the parasol back to their bed.
Previously, Gu Mingchen had paved a wide and long path that would enable them to make their way through easily.
If they noticed the presence of any beasts, they could make their way back to their bed at top speed.
Other than that, they could gain better visual. If any boat passed by, they would be aware.
It would be crucial to pave an accessible path to prevent accidental arson caused by the torch.
After they returned to their bed, Gu Mingchen took a seat on the chair to test its sturdiness. It turned out to be steadier than he thought.
He installed the parasol and noticed the boar on their bed. No one could possibly get used to sleeping with a boar.
Therefore, he suggested, “Rong, let’s make another trip back to the beach and hide the boar under the shack.”
“Sure. In fact, I think we should bring a few stones back with us and start a fire here. Otherwise, we can’t really set up a fire here. I don’t think this torch will last all the way to morning,” Bai Rong replied apologetically.
“Alright. Let’s go.” Gu Mingchen agreed without a second thought.
He brought the boar along with him and made their way back to the beach.
Thankfully, Bai Rong had moved a lot of slabs to the beach. As a result of her effort, they could complete the shack within a short time.
After making another few round trips, they brought a lot of slabs back to the bed with them. A new fire was set up once they made a circle using the stones and the bamboos.
By the time they tucked themselves in, it was already one o’clock. Nonetheless, Bai Rong had a hard time falling asleep.
She opened her eyes and noticed they were surrounded by complete darkness. Along with the sound of the insects, she could hear the ambient noise of the fire.
The cowardly woman couldn’t help but feel as though there were a few pairs of eyes staring at them in the dark.
In spite of being heavy-eyed, she was afraid of the dark and brought herself up to keep the fire pit burning. She finally fell asleep at the crack of dawn.
She woke up after some time and panicked when she noticed Gu Mingchen wasn’t by her side. Yelling, she ran in the direction of the beach. “Gu Mingchen! Where are you?”
As soon as she reached the beach, she caught a whiff of pleasant scent and saw a pile of stones. It turned out Gu Mingchen had prepared pork stew for their meal.
Along with a bunch of branches and leaves, there were twenty-four bamboos left by the shack.
However, Gu Mingchen was nowhere to be seen.
“Gu Mingchen!” She yelled again and again as she surveyed the surrounding in search of the man, but her effort was to no avail.
After a short while, she ran in the direction of the forest and saw him returning with bamboos from afar.
She catapulted in his direction and reached him within a few seconds.
The man, who was completely drenched in sweat, asked gently, “Are you awake? If you notice I’m not around in the future, stay on the trees, okay? It’s far too dangerous for you to wander around on your own.”
Staring at him, she felt her heart ached. “Why didn’t you rouse me from sleep? Have you been working since day break?”
He padded his shoulders with the bark of trees to reduce the friction associated with moving the bamboos over such a long distance.
Undeniably, he was a smart and capable man with high survival skills.
“You didn’t sleep well last night, right? I didn’t want to rouse you from sleep after the long night. I have covered up the site with bamboos to keep you safe.” Gu Mingchen cast an intimate gaze at her and beamed.
She dared not look at him in the eyes because she was afraid she would not bear to let go when it was time for her to die.
In the end, she looked elsewhere and expressed her gratitude. “Thank you.”
“It’s part of my duties to take care of the woman I love wholeheartedly.” He made it sound as though it wasn’t a big deal.
Bai Rong looked at him and suggested, “Let me share some of your burdens!”
“It’s fine. You need to weave the ropes and handle the boar we have hunted. There are a lot of things you need to deal with on your end as well.” Actually, Gu Mingchen didn’t want her to be involved with these heavy-duty tasks.
He started cutting the bamboo in half after they returned to the shack.
He brought the splintered ones back to the site and compared them to the processed ones before making another trip back to retrieve the parasol.
Bai Rong took a section of the splintered bamboo and divided it into half to prepare simple bowls. She prepared a bowl of pork stew for each and put them aside.
Holding on to the parasol, Gu Mingchen said, “I have compared the bamboos and noticed they are of different lengths and widths. Since we have thirty bamboos with us, let’s alter the bed accordingly.”
The confused woman asked, “We have thirty bamboos that are about thirty-two feet each. After cutting it for other things we need, I think we still have a lot of extras. Don’t you think we have a tad bit too many?”
“We need to make use of a complete bamboo to set up a sturdy site. On top of that, we’re going to build another shack on the beach to store our food and for us to rest. Then, we don’t have to worry about the rain,” he explained the rationale behind his decision.
She nodded and found his words reasonable because it would be better to plan ahead.
When she handed over the bowl of pork stew to him, he took it over and joined her, savoring the stew she had prepared.
It was delicious because the boar was bred in the wild without any artificial feed. Similarly, the bamboo shoots were organic as well and tasted naturally sweet.
It was about fifteen minutes away from one o’clock in the afternoon. Since Gu Mingchen had started preparing the stew in the morning, the stew was well seasoned after being simmered for hours.
“It tasted delicious!” Bai Rong couldn’t help but exclaim because of the delicious meal.
Gu Mingchen was equally thrilled as it was written all over his face with a proud grin. “You should have another serving because you’re way too skinny.”
“I have never once been more than skinny over the past twenty-seven years, okay? Don’t you think it’s going to be hilarious if I end up becoming a chubby woman after spending some time on a deserted island?” Bai Rong said self-deprecatingly.
“I’m afraid that’s going to be the case because of the abundant fresh supply from the land and the sea without any competitors.”
She played along with him and started pulling his leg. “Ha! You’re not allowed to pick on me when I turn into a chubby woman because you’re the reason behind it!”
“That’s impossible because along with your weight, you’re going to gain an increasingly important position in my mind proportionately,” he replied with a straight face.
She chuckled and asked, “May I know if I’m one of the heavyweight personnel in your mind as of now?”
“You’re not there yet, but you’re not far from there either.”
“Fine!” Bai Rong countered and focused on finishing her pork stew.
Judging by her petulant reply, Gu Mingchen knew he had gotten himself carried away with his joke. Therefore, he asked, “Are you angry?”
Bai Rong shook her head and said, “Nope! You need to stop getting in my way because I’m on a journey to become a heavyweight woman!”
“Calm down, okay? That won’t be necessary because you’re already an important person in my life that I can’t possibly live without.”
She knew very well that he meant it. Taking over his bowl, she served him another serving of the stew. “Unfortunately, you’re not a heavyweight figure in my life. That’s the reason you need to finish this.”
Staring at her gorgeous face, he couldn’t suppress his urge anymore. He was completely intrigued by her velvety and glossy-looking lips. After he kissed her gently, he asked in a husky voice, “I think I have finished more than I need. What else should we do next?”
