Stranded on a Deserted Island—They All Started Plotting Against Me - Chapter 30 - Chapter 30

The sun gradually sank beneath the sea’s horizon. The dark sky devoured the last glimmer of warmth and light, leaving only the moon and a few gentle stars to cast their cold glow overhead.

Soon, more stars would appear in the sky.

But for Zhang Liu, Qin Ruoshuang, and Anya, the beautiful night sky was nothing more than a small detail. The most important thing at the moment was enjoying their dinner.

Coconut juice, coconut meat paired with jabuticaba fruit, fish head stewed with seaweed, grilled fish liver, and grilled fish meat skewers.

As for the fish tail that was originally planned to be grilled on the stone slab, after a serious discussion, all three of them decided unanimously to save it for breakfast the next day.

On the third night on the deserted island, they finally had a hot meal that could truly fill their stomachs.

Instead of filling their bellies with raw items like coconut juice or coconut meat.

“Finally… can we eat now?” Sitting between Zhang Liu and Qin Ruoshuang, Anya had been eyeing the fish skewers sizzling by the fire like a predator stalking its prey.

Unlike Zhang Liu, who only dared to imagine gnawing on raw fish heads, she was born in Japan and had zero resistance to eating raw fish.

If Zhang Liu hadn’t repeatedly advised against it, she would have started eating it by now.

“Should… be about ready?” Feeling Anya’s intense hunger and the fact she might bite him instead of the fish, Zhang Liu swallowed and hesitated, speaking up.

He wasn’t sure how to judge if the fish skewers were cooked, so he decided to just grill them a little longer.

After all, the metal shard they were using wasn’t very sharp, and often tore the fish meat apart rather than slicing it cleanly.

So while they called them “skewers,” in reality, it was just large chunks of fish being roasted over the fire.

“Actually, it should be fine. I remember that many sea fish can be eaten raw,” Qin Ruoshuang said with a small smile, eyeing the skewers with anticipation.

Under the warm glow of the fire, she could barely hold back the discomfort in her lower abdomen caused by the night’s chill.

“I’ll start!” Anya, unable to wait for Zhang Liu and Qin Ruoshuang’s hesitation, reached over and grabbed a skewer of grilled fish liver, biting off the piece at the front.

Her eyes instantly widened—it was still sizzling with hot oil and had burned her mouth.

But she didn’t want to spit it out; she just let out “ha-chi, ha-chi” sounds like a little dog panting.

After a while, Anya chewed the fish liver, swallowed it, and said, “It’s definitely edible!”

Zhang Liu and Qin Ruoshuang exchanged a glance, both smiling at her cute reaction.

They each grabbed a skewer of fish liver and put it in their mouths.

Zhang Liu had never eaten raw sea fish liver before. After tasting it, he could only think one thing: it was like eating a glob of pork fat with a strong fishy flavor.

Not as disgusting as river fish guts, but definitely not what he’d call tasty. Still, it was oily and went down smoothly.

Qin Ruoshuang, on the other hand, had tried raw fish liver in Japanese cuisine, and she found the grilled fish liver delicious. Her weakened body needed this hot, protein-rich food.

After the fish liver came the fish meat skewers.

There was plenty of back meat, and Zhang Liu had made nine skewers—three for each of them.

Though it lacked salt, the taste was slightly bland…But at this moment, hunger had become the best seasoning.

As for the fish soup with seaweed, it naturally had a little saltiness.

Though both the soup and fish had a strong fishy odor, as long as they held their breath and swallowed, they could still enjoy the fresh taste.

As for the lingering fishy taste in their mouths, it could be masked by fruit or coconut juice.

However, Zhang Liu had to admit that the heat-conducting ability of the giant clamshell was a bit of a problem. After stewing the fish head for an entire afternoon, it still wasn’t fully cooked.

In the end, he had to use the method of boiling water with stones, throwing hot stones into the fish soup.

With the fire heating it from below, stones heating it from inside, and the fish head being completely mashed, the seaweed fish head soup was finally completed just in time for dinner.

As for the appearance, it could only be described as “tragically unappetizing.”

After eating, Qin Ruoshuang and Anya busied themselves peeling the jabuticaba fruit and placing it in a small clamshell as a post-meal fruit.

Zhang Liu, on the other hand, efficiently cleaned up the kitchen scraps, throwing fish bones and the wooden skewers from the fish into the fire to burn them completely.

The giant clamshell, which had been used as a pot, was forced into retirement because it had been charred from the bottom.

“Eat fruit.” After finishing cleaning, Zhang Liu was staring at the fire when Qin Ruoshuang placed the fruit beside him.

He turned and looked at her for a moment, beginning to think about how to address the two little pink spots on her chest.

Sensing his gaze, Qin Ruoshuang instinctively covered her chest.

But after a moment of hesitation, she lowered her hand and decided to sit next to him.

The flames above the fire danced in chaotic patterns, much like Qin Ruoshuang’s emotions.

Very chaotic.

“Why are you crying?” Zhang Liu’s confused question snapped her back to reality, also drawing Anya, who had been intently eating coconut meat, over.

“I cried?” She hadn’t realized tears had been running down her face until she touched her cheek, finding it wet.

With her legs bent, she hugged her knees, letting her chest press into her thighs.

Qin Ruoshuang glanced at Anya, then at Zhang Liu, before softly saying, “Do you think there’s no hope for rescue anymore?”

Hearing this, Anya froze for a moment before continuing to peel the coconut meat.

But although the thick, white flesh piled up in the coconut shell and was even getting squeezed into juice under the pressure of the metal shard, she didn’t put a single piece into her mouth. She just kept scraping the already-clean interior of the coconut, over and over.

“Technically… there’s still hope,” Zhang Liu said cautiously, glancing at the two girls beside him. “Just because no one came within seventy-two hours doesn’t mean there won’t be a rescue.”

The “golden seventy-two hours” was the best window for search and rescue after an accident—that was what he had told them earlier, to reassure them.

And the fact that no one had come during the day today… Zhang Liu had noticed too.

That’s why he had gone to great lengths to cook the fish for dinner, to raise the morale of the group.

But now…

Looking at the two girls beside him—one already withdrawn, the other on the verge of shutting down…

“Ah…” Zhang Liu sighed deeply, then spoke: “I think it’s necessary for the three of us to have a proper meeting!”

“A meeting?” Upon hearing Zhang Liu’s words, Qin Ruoshuang remained silent, while Anya, reluctantly, responded with a question.

“A meeting about how we’re going to live on this island from now on.” Zhang Liu glanced at Qin Ruoshuang’s chest.

At that moment, under the roasting heat of the campfire, the two pink spots were no longer as clear. However, he could still somewhat identify their general location by memory.

If this wasn’t dealt with soon, it would become a big problem!

As someone still going through puberty, Zhang Liu couldn’t help but think this.

After a few seconds of silence, he turned to Anya and asked, “Anya, did you put on a bra?”

Upon hearing this, Anya first froze, then quickly covered her chest with both hands, her gaze becoming cautious.

Her legs kicked wildly, and she shrank back about two meters until her back hit the stone wall.

Then, she glared at Zhang Liu and demanded, “Why are you asking that?”

“Eh?” Zhang Liu was dumbfounded by her extreme reaction. After a pause, he hurried to explain, “That’s not what I meant. I just thought… if you’re wearing underwear, you could take your shirt off—”

“No way!” Anya interrupted loudly before he could finish. Still clutching her chest, her voice gradually softened into a whisper: “How can you say something like that in front of Qin Ruoshuang… and… and besides, it’s way too early for something like that…”

By the end, her voice was barely audible, and her little face had turned bright red.

Finally, she stopped covering her chest and raised her hands to block her face instead.

Qin Ruoshuang, who had remained withdrawn and silent up to this point, finally turned to look at them after hearing their conversation.

The depressed, silent expression on her face began to turn into one of surprise.