Stranded on a Deserted Island—They All Started Plotting Against Me - Chapter 41 - Chapter 41

Well, at least Anya is a pretty girl.

What harm could there be in drinking her bathwater?

In the modern world, you wouldn’t even get the chance if you wanted to!

Rinsing his mouth several times in a row, Zhang Liu stuffed coconut meat into his mouth while trying to comfort himself with the thought above.

Beside him, Anya was glaring at him intensely, neither speaking nor eating.

She just kept staring.

Zhang Liu eventually felt chills from being watched so intently. He couldn’t help but speak up, “Uh… Anya, what are you looking at?”

“What do you think? I’m checking whether you dropped dead from drinking my bathwater!” Anya snapped.

“…” Zhang Liu was speechless.

He turned around, unable to face her anymore.

At this point, Zhang Liu had figured it out—ever since he started rinsing his mouth, Anya had clearly been harboring serious resentment toward him.

When had he heard this tone before?

After a moment of recalling, Zhang Liu quickly remembered the last time this happened.

It was when Anya had mercifully given him some leftover sushi for lunch.

Then he secretly threw away the piece she had bitten and took the rest home for his little sister to eat.

Back then, Anya had said she was watching to see if he’d die from her saliva or not, right?

“Anya,” Qin Ruoshuang had been sitting quietly on the side, secretly smiling since they entered the cave, treating this as a little daily amusement.

But now, seeing Anya’s reaction, she started to feel a bit upset.

From a certain perspective, if anyone should be blamed for this, it should be you!

Not Zhang Liu, the victim!

What right did Anya have to scold Zhang Liu like that?

She was being way too harsh!

Really too harsh!

“What’s wrong?” Anya turned around, still a bit annoyed, but when she caught Qin Ruoshuang’s angry gaze, she immediately toned down and softened her voice: “What is it?”

“I think you should apologize to Zhang Liu!” Qin Ruoshuang said seriously, looking at Anya. “But before that, I’ll apologize to you first. I shouldn’t have stopped you from dumping the water!”

“I—” Anya opened her mouth, then glanced at Zhang Liu, then back at Qin Ruoshuang.

Finally, stubbornly turning her head away, she muttered softly, “I don’t accept your apology, and I won’t apologize to Zhang Liu either!”

The previously somewhat harmonious atmosphere in the cave instantly froze to an icy silence.

Zhang Liu, who was stuffing coconut meat into his mouth, felt a jolt in his heart.

He completely couldn’t figure out why these two had started fighting again.

Clearing his throat, Zhang Liu immediately forced a smile and tried to smooth things over.

“Come on, it’s just a beautiful misunderstanding, right…? Besides, Anya’s bathwater, uh…”

Under the sharp stares of both girls, he nervously swallowed and continued, “…actually tasted pretty good!”

As soon as he said that—Qin Ruoshuang sighed softly and averted her gaze.

Anya’s face immediately flushed bright red, and her gaze remained fixed on him—but now it was only shy.

“Let’s go, Anya,” Zhang Liu quickly changed the subject while the atmosphere was still salvageable. “Let’s head out and collect some resources. Ruoshuang, I’ll leave things here to you.”

He knew when to strike while the iron was hot. Seeing the tension finally start to ease, Zhang Liu stood up and pulled at Anya’s sleeve to get moving.

Although leaving now might make it look like he was scared of Qin Ruoshuang, Anya obediently stood up without protest—mostly because Zhang Liu had taken the initiative to tug on her sleeve.

As they descended from the cave, Anya deliberately said, “Zhang Liu, help me down!”

Then she turned her head to look at Qin Ruoshuang.

“Oh, how about I just support you from below?” Zhang Liu offered without hesitation, leaping down first and holding his arms up in position to catch her.

Completely unaware that Anya was sticking her tongue out and making a funny face at the surprised Qin Ruoshuang inside the cave.

Having proudly flaunted her victory, Anya let Zhang Liu help her down and happily followed him out.

Inside the cave, Qin Ruoshuang’s surprised expression still hadn’t faded.

She was puzzled — why would Anya act so childish as to stick out her tongue and make a funny face at her?

After a long time of being unable to figure it out, Qin Ruoshuang sighed lightly and then looked at the basin of “original bathwater” Anya had left behind.

Could it really taste as good as Zhang Liu said?

Before dragging the giant clam shell to the edge of the cave to pour out the water, she inexplicably bent down to sniff it carefully.

There was no other smell, only a faint scent of wood ash and a smoky, burnt aroma.

Next time… maybe she should make some bathing water too and let Zhang Liu try it?

Although she understood that Zhang Liu’s claim that it tasted good was probably just to humor Anya, a strange thought began to form in Qin Ruoshuang’s mind.

Shaking her head hard, she banished the twisted idea and went over to the water pool that had already refilled naturally to begin collecting fresh water.

Since the two Nongfu Spring bottles had been taken by Zhang Liu and Anya, her only usable containers now were coconut shells.

But Qin Ruoshuang didn’t complain much; instead, she began looking forward to Zhang Liu’s hunting plan. If they really could get some meat, it’d be a huge win.

After pouring water from the coconut shell into the giant clam basin, she began scrubbing every inch of it with her hands.

Only now did Qin Ruoshuang realize how foolish her earlier idea was — to use the deep pit as both a bathtub and a water reservoir.

No wonder Zhang Liu never gave a straightforward answer when she asked if it was okay.

Because she found the giant clam shell disgusting after Anya had washed her underwear in it, Qin Ruoshuang, who was carefully cleaning it, suddenly showed a bitter smile at the corner of her mouth.

She suddenly began to doubt whether, in Zhang Liu’s eyes, she was just a burden holding everyone back…

…

“Classmate Anya, I’m really sorry.” After walking for a while with Anya following behind him, Zhang Liu took the initiative to apologize. “I should have apologized to you first. Then you and Qin Ruoshuang wouldn’t have had this conflict.”

Anya didn’t stop or speak but quickened her pace and walked silently beside Zhang Liu, still keeping her head down.

Feeling awkward, Zhang Liu stopped talking and continued walking ahead.

He had three ideas for gathering resources this afternoon.

First, to eat some of the yellow fruits that had fallen on the ground as a taste test; if they were sweet and edible, he’d collect more and bring them back. After eating them tomorrow without any problems, they could develop a new food source.

Second, to pick all the jaboticaba fruits they could find.

Combined, these two should be enough for tomorrow’s food supply.

Finally, he planned to collect some tough tree vines. Considering the jumping abilities of goats as shown in the videos, Zhang Liu planned to make a noose trap in the pit. Once the goat fell in, it wouldn’t be able to escape.

“It’s not because you drank my bathwater that I’m mad!” Suddenly, Anya muttered quietly beside Zhang Liu, “I’m not that kind of petty kid!”