Stranded on a Deserted Island—They All Started Plotting Against Me - Chapter 23 - Chapter 22

Qin Ruoshuang wasn’t planning on doing anything strange.

Picking up the metal piece Anya had sharpened the previous night, she intended to cut open her gathered bra and take out the sponge pads inside.

These could be used as tools to clean her body.

As for the distribution… one for her and one for Anya.

As for Zhang Liu…

Well, she felt guilty about not giving him one.

This was partly because there wasn’t enough, and partly because she really felt embarrassed to give him one.

Carefully cutting the bra, Qin Ruoshuang’s thoughts wandered.

She knew that starting tonight, she would have to remain in a “vacuum” state in front of Zhang Liu…

That was the main reason she took a deep breath to prepare herself mentally.

Anya’s metal-sharpening skills were quite good, and soon Qin Ruoshuang had completely removed the two white sponge pads from the bra.

As for the tattered bra, she carefully placed it with her stockings and underwear.

Before taking off her red sports pants, Qin Ruoshuang walked to the entrance of the cave, poked her head out to check if Zhang Liu and Anya had returned.

Once she confirmed they hadn’t, she dared to take off her pants and quickly wet the sponges in the clean water, using them to clean the bloodstains from the inner side of her thighs.

Soon, the refreshing sensation from cleaning made Qin Ruoshuang smile with pleasure.

On the other side, Anya was trying to explain to Zhang Liu.

“It’s not me—it’s the bottle, okay?!”

She was on the verge of a breakdown.

She had clearly rinsed the bottle with seawater in advance, but when it got to Zhang Liu, the moment he unscrewed the cap, that faint odor still lingered.

“Mhm!” Zhang Liu nodded seriously, fully accepting Anya’s explanation.

This kind of faint sour smell would dissipate on its own after sitting overnight. Not a big deal at all.

“So, I don’t have bad breath!” In response to Zhang Liu’s almost unconvincing “hmm,” Anya continued to defend herself.

Faced with Anya’s stubborn insistence, Zhang Liu was briefly at a loss for words.

He stared at her awkwardly for a long moment before scratching his head with a wry smile and saying, “Well… in the future, having bad breath might be inevitable.”

“…” Anya immediately stopped speaking.

She of course understood what Zhang Liu meant.

Under these circumstances, they had no way to brush their teeth. After some time, as Zhang Liu said, they would inevitably start facing this problem.

And that wasn’t even the worst part.

As a girl, Anya could already feel a sticky, unpleasant sensation… especially between her legs.

If she were at home, she could just soak in a hot bath whenever she wanted. But out here…

“Actually, it’s not impossible. Once we succeed in starting a fire today, we’ll have charcoal.” Seeing the confusion on Anya’s face, Zhang Liu continued, “I heard that charcoal can be crushed to clean teeth, and we can also figure out how to boil water for a bath.”

“A bath?” Just hearing the word made Anya instinctively press her legs together.

For her in the current situation, Zhang Liu’s suggestion sounded irresistible.

“Actually, it’s not really a bath; it’s more like a soak!” Zhang Liu caught the spark in her eyes and immediately pressed on, “We can dig a big pit on the beach, line it with stones, use big leaves to prevent leaks, then fill it with water. Voilà—an open-air bath!”

“A hot spring…” Anya swallowed in a very unladylike way, her breathing subtly quickening.

“Let’s head back for now,” Zhang Liu said, smiling at her hopeful face. “We’ll start working on the fire this afternoon!”

“Mm!” Carrying a full bag of jaboticaba fruit, Anya followed eagerly behind him, her face glowing with anticipation for the so-called hot spring.

Carrying a bundle of wood, Zhang Liu glanced at Anya and secretly sighed to himself.

Friction fire…

That was going to be a huge pain.

“You’re back?”

When Zhang Liu and Anya arrived at the cave, Qin Ruoshuang had already cleaned up her lower body and was feeling refreshed. Standing at the cave entrance, she was filling coconut shells with clean water while smiling gently at the two of them.

“Mm, I picked a lot of fruits, and Zhang Liu said he will drill wood for fire and boil water for a bath!” Anya, speaking without a filter, quickly climbed into the cave and emptied the fruits onto a foam board.

She then tossed the T-shirt she had used to wrap the fruits to Zhang Liu, who was drinking water.

Standing next to Zhang Liu, whose upper body was bare, Qin Ruoshuang gently lowered her head, not saying anything. Her long hair fell beside her face, like delicate curtains covering her slightly shy expression.

“Anya, you’re being too rough.” Taking the T-shirt, Zhang Liu noticed the fruit juice already soaking through the chest area and couldn’t help but comment, “Washing it is such a hassle.”

“I’ll wash it for you!” Qin Ruoshuang adjusted her breathing and turned to Zhang Liu’s T-shirt, whispering, “You need to make the fire anyway, right?”

“Really?” Zhang Liu looked a bit embarrassed. He’d never had a girl wash his clothes before.

“Mm, of course!” Nodding sincerely, Qin Ruoshuang gently took the shirt from his hand. “I’ll take care of it in a bit.”

“Well, thanks! That’s a big help.” Zhang Liu smiled and nodded, then picked up another coconut shell and resumed drinking.

Anya stood near the cave entrance, watching the simple exchange between the two, and suddenly felt a strange, indescribable pang in her chest.

Wasn’t that her who tossed Zhang Liu the shirt?

So how did it end up in Qin Ruoshuang’s hands?

“I want some water too.”

Mulling it over, Anya suddenly scrambled down from the side of the cave, reached out, and snatched the coconut shell from Zhang Liu’s hand, gulping down a few mouthfuls.

“Didn’t you already drink a whole bottle?” Zhang Liu gave her a helpless look.

She had just downed an entire bottle of mineral water not long ago!

“Not enough!”

But when she met Qin Ruoshuang’s amused glance, Anya faltered. In the end, she didn’t have the nerve to drink from the same side Zhang Liu had just used. She simply shoved the coconut shell back into his hands and muttered, “Forget it, you drink.”

“Huh?” Zhang Liu was a little confused by Anya’s behavior, but in the end he continued to drink gulps of water.

That morning, Qin Ruoshuang had managed to collect eight coconut shells’ worth of water—which was pretty much all she could get from the tiny spring pool.

Between rinsing her lower body and drinking, she used up four shells.

Zhang Liu had just finished his third, leaving only one left.

Now, Qin Ruoshuang was pouring the last bit of water over Zhang Liu’s black T-shirt to soften it before washing. As she occasionally glanced at his back, a faint pink tint crept up her cheeks.

Until now, she had not dared to face her breasts towards Zhang Liu and Anya.

The white school uniform turns semi-transparent once soaked with sweat, and right now, she was sweating.

Anya sat nearby with a handful of jabuticaba fruits, eating while watching Zhang Liu prepare the tools for drilling wood for fire. Her gaze was full of anticipation for the fire and hot water.

As for Zhang Liu, who was the focal point of both their attention, he was fully focused on his preparations.

Zhang Liu began by attempting the bow-drill method for fire-starting.

He didn’t think his hands, which had only solved math problems four days ago, were suitable for manual wood drilling.

With Anya holding her breath in anticipation, Zhang Liu sharpened a stick, then placed it directly over the small hole in the wooden board he had prepared earlier.

Using a bent twig as the bow and a belt as the string, he started to pull back and forth with force.

The screeching sound of the wood rubbing together echoed for the first time in this desolate place!