Stranded on a Deserted Island—They All Started Plotting Against Me - Chapter 39 - Chapter 39

“Massage? A massage?”

Hearing Qin Ruoshuang say that with a cheerful smile, Zhang Liu was instantly stunned.

He turned around to look at the charming and graceful face staring at him seriously… then his eyes drifted down to the faintly see-through fabric over her chest…

His heart suddenly lurched violently.

The visual shock he had received earlier from seeing Anya’s flawless naked body seemed to explode all at once now.

For a second, Zhang Liu even started fantasizing about what Qin Ruoshuang would look like without any clothes on.

But in the very next second, he forcefully suppressed and extinguished those wicked thoughts!

“Qin Ruoshuang, maybe we shouldn’t talk about things like this,” he said, walking over to her. His eyes gradually cleared up, and he gave a wry smile. “I’m a teenage boy—I can’t handle this kind of stuff…”

“Hmph… I knew it. Boys your age all have women on their minds.” Just as Zhang Liu thought he was being all righteous and proper, Qin Ruoshuang smirked teasingly and said, “All I did was casually mention giving you a massage, and you immediately took it as some kind of sexual innuendo, didn’t you?”

“……”

Zhang Liu was instantly left speechless.

And the worst part was… he really couldn’t refute her logic.

Thinking it over, he realized he had interpreted it way too suggestively.

Face turning red, Zhang Liu stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do.

“Don’t be so stiff. I was just messing with you.” Pretending her massage comment was just a joke, Qin Ruoshuang stepped closer, trying hard not to let her gaze drift toward the abs and chest muscles that made her heart race. Then she said, “By the way, your body’s in pretty good shape. Did you train specifically for that?”

“Mm… I worked out my chest and abs,” Zhang Liu nodded honestly. Then he added, “I was planning to start dating once I got into college.”

“???” Qin Ruoshuang looked visibly confused.

She didn’t quite get it.

Though she didn’t know Zhang Liu’s exact family situation, from both Anya’s words and their chat last night, it was pretty clear he came from a poor background. And dating—especially marriage—wasn’t exactly cheap.

How could Zhang Liu even be thinking about dating in college?

“You don’t understand my situation,” Zhang Liu scratched his nose awkwardly as he noticed her puzzled expression, then said, “Actually, I’m planning to find a rich girlfriend. I mean, I’m kinda handsome, right…?”

“Pfft—” Before he could even finish, Qin Ruoshuang couldn’t hold it in anymore. The cool and elegant look on her face broke into a grin—then she quickly tried to compose herself.

“You’re laughing at me?” Zhang Liu frowned. He couldn’t figure out what was so funny about trying to find a long-term meal ticket. Wasn’t this a flawless plan?

“No, I’m not!” Qin Ruoshuang said seriously, puffing out her cheeks as she stared at him and vigorously shook her head.

But eventually she gradually couldn’t hold it in anymore, and her face showed the pained expression of muscle distortion.

“I’m not talking about some old rich hag with a steel wool wig—I just want to find someone who—” Seeing her increasingly twisted expression, Zhang Liu’s explanation got quieter and quieter. Eventually, he sighed and said, “Fine! Laugh all you want!”

“Hahahahahaha!”

With Qin Ruoshuang clutching her stomach and laughing so hard she nearly cried…

Zhang Liu put on his clothes with a blackened face and began gathering driftwood nearby.

Not far away, a red figure was also rapidly approaching – it was Anya, who had finished washing up.

“Work-study program, you know!”
“You two must understand! That kind of behavior of mine is called a work-study program!”

Carrying a large bundle of driftwood, Zhang Liu turned around and tried hard to explain to Anya, who was also laughing to the point of tears.

“Mm-hmm! That’s totally what this is—hard work and saving up for education!” Qin Ruoshuang held shellfish food in each hand, then began earnestly agreeing with Zhang Liu’s words.

But clearly, Anya still hadn’t fully processed the idea that Zhang Liu’s university goal was to find a meal ticket.

Still, seeing his utterly defeated expression, she wiped away her tears and nodded along while suppressing her laughter.

Eventually, she forced herself to keep a straight face, patted Zhang Liu on the shoulder, and said sincerely, “Now I understand why you were always so clingy to me in school. But sorry—I’m not the kind of rich woman who likes young fresh meat!”

After that, she exchanged a look with the barely-holding-it-in Qin Ruoshuang—and both of them broke down into another round of uncontrollable laughter.

“Ahhhhh! This ridiculous study trip!”

Realizing there was no way he could ever explain himself now—that he wasn’t actually trying to date a rich woman, just looking for a long-term financial backer—Zhang Liu had his first full-blown mental breakdown on this desolate island.

Clutching his head and howling in despair, he finally understood what it meant when people said “disaster comes from the mouth.”

Just from carelessly saying such simple few sentences, Qin Ruoshuang and Anya could laugh like this.

He clearly just wanted to find a long-term meal ticket to save some money, not to take steel wool and find rich old ladies to make money!

After that little episode, the three of them returned to the cave, chatting and laughing along the way.

Zhang Liu and Anya each carried a bundle of wood on their backs, while Qin Ruoshuang held two servings of shellfish seafood.

They had quite a good haul.

The intact shells were kept submerged in seawater to be preserved as future food stock, while the broken ones were thrown into boiling water along with strips of seaweed to act as both seasoning and a source of carbs.

Their supply of jaboticaba fruit had run out. Because of Anya’s bath invitation that morning, Zhang Liu hadn’t been able to go pick any.

So their fruit choice was limited to coconut meat.

Fortunately, coconuts were plentiful. When passing through the coconut grove, Zhang Liu took a quick count.

Just along the way, he counted over two hundred coconuts, not to mention those on the trees that he didn’t count.

That said, it didn’t mean the three of them weren’t facing food shortages.

For the two girls with small appetites, filling their stomachs with fruit made hunger less noticeable.

But for Zhang Liu, as a guy, although fruit could fill him up temporarily, starting the next day, if he worked even a little outside, his previously full stomach would quickly begin to feel hungry.

Currently, their meals mainly consisted of seafood—lacking fat, and with minimal carbohydrates—far from meeting a normal person’s nutritional needs.

With a stone in hand, Zhang Liu walked over to the cave wall and began carving out a tally—most of the strokes of a “正” character.

He left the final horizontal stroke and the second-to-last vertical line unfinished.

Next to it, he wrote a date:
2022/11/12

“Zhang Liu, what are you doing?” asked Anya curiously as she dug into a coconut, while Qin Ruoshuang, who had been watching the fire, also turned to look, puzzled.

“Just keeping track of the date.” Tossing the stone aside and clapping the dust from his hands, Zhang Liu gave them a gentle smile. “We need to maintain a sense of time. That way we’ll know when winter’s coming, right?”

Anya simply nodded in understanding and went back to scooping coconut meat.

But Qin Ruoshuang’s expression was a bit serious.

She understood the implication behind Zhang Liu’s words.

They really had to start making long-term preparations here.

Her thoughts turned deeply to her sister Qin Ruoyan and her parents, and the longing grew even stronger.

Blinking hard, she forced the tears in her eyes to disappear, then continued to watch the fire and the shellfish soup simmering on it.

Qin Ruoshuang knew she shouldn’t cry in front of Zhang Liu and Anya anymore.

She had family to worry about, and so did the other two.

Zhang Liu walked over and sat down beside Qin Ruoshuang and Anya, took a piece of coconut from Anya’s hand, and said to them, “This afternoon I’ll head into the forest. Anya, maybe you could stay nearby and look for something we can use to store water?”

He still wasn’t too comfortable with the idea of letting Anya go alone to the beach to find giant clam shells.

That area was prone to tides, and when he collected shells yesterday, he had to be extremely careful.

“I actually think that stone pit isn’t bad,” Qin Ruoshuang suggested before Anya could reply. “How about this? Anya and I will fill it with water this afternoon. You come back early, and before it gets dark, we’ll take turns bathing in it. Afterward, we’ll scoop it dry and use it as a reservoir starting tomorrow.”

“But…” Anya hesitated, her eyes falling on the giant clam shell inside the cave.

She wanted to say she’d already bathed earlier—but when she thought about how the pit was over a meter deep, she was a bit tempted again.

After all, for a girl raised in Japan, no matter how rich your family is, soaking in a bath and just rinsing off are two entirely different experiences!

“Hmm…” Zhang Liu hummed in thought before suggesting, “Why don’t we go take a look at the pit first? The shellfish stew still needs time anyway.”

“Alright!” Qin Ruoshuang nodded, stood up first, and said, “I’ll lead the way!”