Stranded on a Deserted Island—They All Started Plotting Against Me - Chapter 38 - Chapter 38

Faced with Anya’s aggressive and confrontational tone, Zhang Liu lowered his head, not daring to say a word.

Because every time he looked at her now, he couldn’t help but recall the glimpse of soft, snowy white skin he had seen by the sea.

That scene was far too stimulating for a teenage boy like him.

“Qin Ruoshuang! You promised me!” Seeing Zhang Liu looking so “guilty,” Anya’s heart softened, and she chose to let him off the hook. Instead, she turned to Qin Ruoshuang and said, “That kind of thing is absolutely not allowed—”

Only then did Qin Ruoshuang finally register Anya’s sudden outburst. She frowned slightly and said, “Anya, I think there’s been a misunderstanding.”

“Misunderstanding?” Anya stubbornly raised her head and locked eyes with Qin Ruoshuang. “Misunderstanding what, exactly?”

Qin Ruoshuang was a bit thrown by Anya’s unusually hostile attitude. After thinking for a while, she turned to Zhang Liu and said, “Maybe you should…”

“I’ll go back to the reef area to look for more food. You two can come help me later, if you want.”

Sensing that the situation was going sideways, Zhang Liu didn’t wait for Qin Ruoshuang to finish. He quickly demonstrated the wisdom of not staying near crumbling walls and ran off from the cave, even suggesting they come find him later—once everything was over.

Women are terrifying!

As he ran off, he glanced back at the cave and couldn’t help but silently grumble in his heart.

After Zhang Liu left, Anya—who had been all fired up a moment ago—suddenly deflated.

Under Qin Ruoshuang’s scrutinizing gaze, her expression gradually became more unnatural. But she still forced herself to keep questioning: “You said I misunderstood—so what exactly did I get wrong?”

“I wasn’t planning to take a bath with Zhang Liu,” Qin Ruoshuang explained plainly. “I found a natural stone pit near the cave. It’s more than a meter deep and could serve as a bathtub. I just wanted to check it out with him.”

As soon as she started explaining, Anya had already dropped her gaze and avoided eye contact.

Qin Ruoshuang leaned in, as if trying to confirm something about Anya’s condition. Seeing that Anya was soaked from head to toe, she said, “Warm up by the fire first—we need to get your body temperature back up.”

Compared to figuring out why Anya suddenly lashed out, Qin Ruoshuang was more concerned about her catching a cold.

In a place like this, getting sick could be fatal.

“…Okay.” Anya responded softly and walked over to sit near the fire.

Watching Qin Ruoshuang toss several thick logs into the fire, Anya suddenly felt a heavy wave of shame.

Now that she’d calmed down, she began to realize why she had gotten so angry.

It was probably because her own attempt to invite Zhang Liu to bathe had been rejected.

Then she’d happened to overhear Qin Ruoshuang asking him—and Zhang Liu agreed without hesitation?

But thinking about it now, this was all just a misunderstanding that could’ve been cleared up in one sentence.

And yet, she’d been so worked up, so emotional, she hadn’t even allowed time for an explanation. Instead, she’d stormed up and started interrogating her like a fool.

The real trigger must have been last night—when she saw Qin Ruoshuang and Zhang Liu chatting quietly together, leaning close, with Qin Ruoshuang turning her head several times to check if Anya was asleep.

Biting her lip hard, Anya hesitated. Should she ask Qin Ruoshuang directly about last night?

“Take your clothes off,” Qin Ruoshuang said just then. “If you stay in wet clothes by the fire, it won’t warm you properly. Zhang Liu told me the scariest thing here is catching a cold. If one of us gets sick, all three of us are in trouble.”

While Anya hesitated, Qin Ruoshuang was already placing red-hot river stones into a giant clam shell that had been filled with water earlier.

“Sssss…”

As steam roared up, the clam shell began to heat up dramatically.

Anya, who had started to undress as instructed, didn’t understand what Qin Ruoshuang was doing.

She glanced over in confusion.

Did they really need that much hot water just for a rinse?

The clam shell in front of Qin Ruoshuang was over a meter in diameter and contained nearly two-thirds of the fresh water they’d managed to collect all morning.

“Alright, the temperature’s just right.” After putting in five stones and waiting for the water to calm down a bit, Qin Ruoshuang dipped her hand in to test the temperature and nodded with satisfaction. Then she turned to Anya and said, “Use this water to rinse off any leftover seawater on your skin. Make sure to soak your clothes too before putting them back on.”

Seeing Anya’s surprised expression, she smiled and continued, “Next time, don’t put your clothes on right after coming out of the sea. When they dry, they’ll leave white salt stains.”

Thinking for a moment, she added, “I’ll go find Zhang Liu now—just in case he comes back suddenly and things get awkward again. Don’t pour out the water; I’m planning to dump it into the stone pit later so we can use it as warm bathwater this afternoon.”

With that, she gave Anya’s small head a playful rub, then carefully climbed out of the cave.

Left completely naked by the fire, Anya curled up and didn’t move.

She couldn’t understand.

She had just lashed out at Qin Ruoshuang. So why would she still go through the trouble of heating water for her?

But what Anya felt even more than confusion… was shame.

Because when Qin Ruoshuang had rubbed her head, there’d been a warm, comforting feeling.

Damn it… I’m the sole heir of the An family conglomerate in Japan.

One day, I’m going to return to my motherland and make headlines with my legendary comeback—bringing hundreds of billions in assets with me!

How can I let a single head-pat and a pot of warm water completely disarm me?!

With a sponge pad dipped in hot water, Anya scrubbed herself down from head to toe.

Then, while scrubbing her underwear vigorously in the same hot water, she made a silent vow:

I’m going to heat two shells of water next time!

One for Zhang Liu.

And one for Qin Ruoshuang.

And I’ll use even more water than this—

Just to win my pride back!

Poor Anya didn’t realize how petty her resolve was to begin with.

Meanwhile, on the beach, Qin Ruoshuang had successfully met up with Zhang Liu — who was now wearing nothing but his underwear.

“Um… Qin Ruoshuang, do you mind if I’m like this in front of you?” Zhang Liu asked nervously, hiding behind a rock while Qin Ruoshuang stood under the sunlight with a smile, openly examining his body.

He was really worried she would mind.

Because if she did, he would only have two options:

One, wear his clothes while continuing to look for shells in the sea — which would soak them in seawater and leave them stiff and crusty once dried.

Or two, give up this food-gathering task and obediently go do something else — which would delay his plan to investigate the plane wreckage, and impact the overall timeline for escaping.

“I don’t mind. I came to help you sort these,” Qin Ruoshuang replied as she stepped forward and gathered the various shellfish Zhang Liu had pried off the rocks.

After checking which ones had meat inside, she sorted them — meat inside stayed, meatless ones were discarded. Broken shells were placed on the left, intact ones on the right — all into two coconut shells being used as containers.

She smiled the whole time, clearly in a very good mood.

Although she didn’t know why Anya had gotten so angry earlier, Qin Ruoshuang — well-versed in the art of managing people — understood one thing clearly:

That her previous gentle and generous act would definitely calm Anya down.

It was also a form of active compromise.

Even if Anya really was the kind of person who would push her luck and go overboard—getting angry after showing goodwill was actually a great way to educate and correct such behavior.

“Phew… I’m exhausted,” Zhang Liu said, placing two mussel-like shells near Qin Ruoshuang before leaning back against a relatively smooth rock, panting heavily.

Once he caught his breath, he went over to the shore, standing under the sun to dry off so he could put his clothes back on.

At the same time, he gently knocked on his waist with a fist.

He’d spent the entire afternoon bent over collecting shells, without taking a break — now his waist muscles were sore and tight.

“Hmm? Your back hurts?” Qin Ruoshuang asked as she picked up two black shells and looked at Zhang Liu, who nodded.

“How about I give you a massage?”