“Speaking of which, do you know how to make salt?” I scratched the back of my head, somewhat embarrassed as I spoke. Wang Yan and the others all cast me surprised glances, and Jiang Dandan said disdainfully, “What were you doing during your high school chemistry classes? Evaporating salt from seawater seems like a pretty important question for scoring points!” I coughed awkwardly and said, “I studied liberal arts in high school.” As soon as I said this, everyone burst into laughter, and Jiang Dandan mercilessly added, “A scholar is utterly useless!” I didn't like hearing that, and I glared at Jiang Dandan, secretly thinking that one day I would let her truly experience the might of a scholar! We continued chatting, and the atmosphere within the team became much more harmonious. Jiang Dandan no longer deliberately targeted Wang Yan, and Wang Yan stopped fussing with Jiang Dandan; everything was moving in a positive direction. Around eight o'clock, seeing that it was about time, we dispersed and prepared to return to the cave to sleep. Lin Xian'er took the opportunity when everyone was heading back and came to my side, asking softly, “Lu Yuan, what did you and Xi'er talk about on the cliff top?” Feeling somewhat guilty, I swallowed and glanced at Lin Xian'er, then countered, “Why do you ask?” “It's nothing, it's just that Xi'er couldn't stop talking about you today. Has she fallen for you?” Lin Xian'er asked. I pretended to look very helpless and said, “I just gave her some advice, surely not!” Lin Xian'er looked at me and said, “Zhang Xi'er is a very sweet and silly girl; don't hurt her.”

I scratched my head, pretending to be at a loss, and she sighed, turning back into the cave. Seeing that Lin Xian'er had left, I rubbed my eyes and took a long breath of relief. I thought Lin Xian'er had figured something out, which scared the hell out of me. I threw some firewood into the fire and then returned to the cave. I noticed that Zhang Xi'er seemed to deliberately lean against me; she was chatting with Xia Lan, who looked at me with a meaningful smile and started laughing. I glanced at Wang Yan and Lin Xian'er, feeling somewhat annoyed, and lay down to sleep quickly. That night, I felt someone snuggling into my arms. I opened my eyes and, by the moonlight, saw it was Zhang Xi'er, her hand already inside my pants. 'Xi'er, what are you doing!' I exclaimed in surprise. Wang Yan and the others were just sleeping beside us; had this girl gone mad? Zhang Xi'er looked up and whispered in my ear, 'Sister Xia Lan said that men all like this. Brother Lu Yuan, do you feel comfortable?' As she spoke, she actually started to misbehave beneath me. As a man, I naturally became aroused. 'What on earth did Xia Lan teach Zhang Xi'er?' I thought to myself. 'I must ask her about it someday.' 'Brother Lu Yuan, what's wrong with you!' She moved up and down, and those delicate, smooth hands actually began to knead the most sensitive part of me, sending a tingling sensation through my heart. I immediately grabbed Zhang Xi'er's arm and said, 'Xi'er, stop it, I need to rest!' Joking aside, I had expended quite a bit last night, and if we continued tonight, my body would surely be exhausted.

They are still counting on me to find them food, but a life of revelry every night is a sure path to death. "Brother Lu Yuan, don't you like this?" Zhang Xi'er said with great disappointment. I kissed Zhang Xi'er's forehead and said, "Xi'er, be good, just wait for a couple of days." Zhang Xi'er looked disappointed and said, "Brother Lu Yuan, I'll be out of my safe period tomorrow, I'm afraid..." I was slightly taken aback, then smiled calmly and said, "Don't worry, I won't force you to do anything for me, let's just let nature take its course." Zhang Xi'er withdrew her hand, gently pecked at the corner of my mouth, moved out of my embrace, and whispered, "Okay, Brother Lu Yuan, good night." Soon after, Zhang Xi'er fell into a deep sleep.

I adjusted my sleeping posture and struggled to calm the flames of desire in my heart. It took a long time before I finally drifted off into a groggy slumber. The next morning, we got up early and started to get busy. Zhang Xi'er was talking to Xia Lan about something, and Xia Lan was comforting her. I didn't know what they were chatting about. We simply drank some coconut milk, ate a bit of flat-stemmed vine fruit and bird eggs, and then headed together to the beach not far from the cave below, searching for a suitable place to build salt fields. The tides on this island are of the semidiurnal type, with two rises and falls within twenty-four hours. There is one low tide at around six or seven in the morning and another at around five or six in the evening. It was now about half-past seven, and it happened to be low tide. We chose a very flat tidal flat and prepared to dig and build salt pans. After selecting the site, we first went to look for some flat stones and long wooden sticks. I did some simple processing with an iron hammer and chisel, then tied the sticks with ropes to make six stone hoes. After completing these tasks, we carried the stone hoes to the chosen tidal flat and built a square salt field.

We don't need much salt; just enough to preserve our food, so the salt fields we've constructed are not very large, and we finish them before the high tide arrives. Once completed, as the seawater rises, we channel it into the two salt fields. After they are filled, we block the entrance. The seawater in the salt fields, through exposure to wind and sun, reaches a certain level before being transferred to another two fields for crystallization, yielding crude salt. To process the crude salt into refined salt, several steps of filtration and evaporation are required, a principle I do not understand because I chose to study liberal arts back in the day and hardly paid attention during chemistry classes. Although I don't comprehend it, the six beautiful women with a background in science from high school know it by heart. Zhang Xi'er kindly explained it to me, but I was still confused at the time. I simply delegated the task to Wang Yan. However, although the island has abundant sunlight and strong winds, it still takes at least a dozen days to produce crude salt. Wang Yan and the others decided to start by boiling seawater to make salt. This method isAlthough it's very difficult，The output is also very low，But the purity is still relatively high，And enough salt for our daily use。 In the past, the hardworking coastal elders relied on this method to sustain their daily salt needs. Wang Yan and the others began setting up fires, preparing to boil salt in stone pots.

I am planning to take Zhang Xi'er to investigate that bamboo forest. Zhang Xi'er and I returned to the cave, grabbed some ropes made of fibers, and then set off towards the bamboo forest. Along the way, Zhang Xi'er chatted and laughed, affectionately looping her arm through mine, occasionally teasing me. I didn't know if these things were innate or if Xia Lan had taught her, making me really want to consummate our relationship right there in the dense woods. But then I thought about how she was now out of her safe period, and I secretly warned myself not to do anything outrageous. Getting a woman pregnant on such a deserted island would undoubtedly be a death sentence for her.