Stranded on a Deserted Island—They All Started Plotting Against Me - Chapter 54 - Chapter 54

Zhang Liu had no idea how much this sheep actually weighed.

After all, there was no scale or measuring tool nearby.

But he was quite sure—there was a lot of edible meat.

Four meaty legs, the meat on the sheep’s chest, the belly meat that Anya specifically pointed out to keep for making lamb skewers later, a whole rack of meat-covered spine bones, and other parts that felt tender when sliced with a knife.

What was somewhat lacking was the amount of fat on the sheep’s body. Using Anya’s steak-eating expertise, it meant the roast wouldn’t sizzle with fat dripping.

Qin Ruoshang couldn’t bear the sight of muscles and fat being sliced open and flipped over, so she went off nearby to gather some wood.

Meanwhile, Anya and Zhang Liu eagerly started discussing how to prepare and eat the meat.

“This meat will definitely be fine preserved by smoking!” Anya, whose family ran a cattle farm, confidently said as she pointed to the butt meat Zhang Liu had sliced off along the leg. “It still has a decent amount of fat, so it won’t spoil easily!”

“Oh!” Zhang Liu carefully placed the butt meat on a large leaf and nodded. “Then I’ll cut it into strips later, so it’s easier to carry some with us tomorrow.”

Then he pointed to the belly meat and asked, “You’re handling this part yourself? Don’t need my help?”

“Of course!” Anya nodded, then rolled her eyes and teased, “Do you think you’re superhuman or something? Able to handle the legs and make skewers all by yourself?”

“Ahem, ahem… I’m just trying not to tire you out.” Zhang Liu said sincerely. “After all, I’m a boy, I should do more work.”

He truly meant it.

Compared to him, who was just a bit out of breath after butchering the sheep, Anya was clearly sweating heavily, and her red sports jacket was completely soaked through.

“Pfft, you should be more worried about Qin Ruoshang!” Anya smiled sweetly but quickly realized her teasing might have come at the wrong time, so she hurried to add, “Be careful, she’s a girl after all, don’t just keep staring at her boobs all the time!”

“Huh?”

Zhang Liu, who was inexplicably blamed, had a confused face, but he did not stop what he was doing.

He placed the sheep’s legs, spine, and ribs on two layers of racks, then shook them a bit to make sure the racks wouldn’t collapse.

Next, he started a small fire underneath. Once the fire was burning well, he covered the meat with damp branches soaked in seawater.

With a sizzling sound, thick smoke rose and began to cure the meat.

“Cough, cough, cough…” The smoke spread fast, and Zhang Liu standing next to the fire started coughing repeatedly. Anya, not far away, grabbed two long strips of meat, each as long as her arm, and ran back.

The smoke also successfully drove away many flies attracted to the blood smell near the cave.

The previously annoying buzzing noise suddenly dropped by more than half.

“I’ll go handle that stone pit over there, you take care of this side.” Zhang Liu took a sip of water to soothe his throat, irritated from the smoke, then reminded Anya, who was sharpening thin wooden sticks with a metal piece: “Try to persuade Qin Ruoshang to sit upstairs for a bit and get used to the bloody scenes. She can take her time; no need to push herself too hard right now.”

“I’m not saying a word.” Anya stopped sharpening abruptly, pouted, and said unhappily, “If you want to say something, you go say it!”

“No way, I’m a guy. Showing too much concern for her in this kind of situation would look suspicious.” Zhang Liu said sincerely. “So please, Anya, I’m counting on you, okay?”

“Then aren’t you worried I might take advantage?” With a subtle roll of her eyes, Anya found his self-justifying words very amusing, but she blushed as she said, “You even told me last time it was okay to slack off…”

“Ah… weren’t you bullying me?” Zhang Liu’s eyes went wide.

Last time, wasn’t it because Anya pretended to have a sprained ankle?

Looking at Anya, his expression grew complicated as he recalled the strange words she had blurted out before.

‘I was even ready to grab your waist…’

‘Give me back my innocence…’

‘Moving up in life…’

After a long silence, Zhang Liu stammered, “Anya, you don’t think because of the suspension bridge effect, you… ahhhhh!”

He screamed and dodged the sharp wooden stick Anya jabbed toward his chest.

Grabbing a burning ember from the fire, Zhang Liu quickly ran off.

“If you’ve got the guts, don’t come back!” Anya shouted angrily after his fleeing figure.

Then she covered her face and squatted silently, overwhelmed by shyness.

Zhang Liu should have figured out her feelings by now, right?

Anya suddenly thought, cursing him silently in her head for being so dense.

Do you finally understand now?

“What’s going on?” Hearing the loud noises, Qin Ruoshang returned carrying a pile of wood and found Anya squatting and covering her flushed face. Her voice held surprise.

“Nothing, Zhang Liu was just teasing me!” Anya said casually, pointing toward the cave. “Qin Ruoshang, after you finish gathering firewood, go upstairs first. No need to force yourself to overcome your fear all at once.”

“But…” Qin Ruoshang looked at the dismembered lamb meat that Zhang Liu and Anya had cut not far away; her face suddenly turned pale, and her steps faltered.

“Qin Ruoshang, you don’t want Zhang Liu to see you spitting up, right?” Anya crossed her arms and teased, “If that happens, your iceberg beauty image will be ruined.”

“What iceberg beauty ?” Qin Ruoshang bitterly smiled at the nickname other students gave her at school.

“Isn’t that what everyone calls you? Your sister’s known as the little volcano girl, right?” While finding some suitable sticks in Qin Ruoshang’s pile of firewood to skewer lamb meat, Anya said as she peeled bark from a tree branch. “By the way, what was her real name again?”

“Qin Ruyan, her name was originally Yanhao (fireworks), later changed her name at my mother’s request.”

After a brief chat, Qin Ruoshang sighed softly, lost in thought, then stood up and went back outside to collect more firewood.

Seeing that Qin Ruoshang didn’t feel like talking much, Anya stopped pestering and went back to work.

They aimed to have lamb skewers for lunch and roasted lamb legs for dinner—a good way to replenish protein!

Thinking of the hot, juicy, oily meat, she couldn’t resist scooping up a piece of offal from the giant clam shell where the innards were still simmering and popped it into her mouth.

This wasn’t sneaking a bite but rather the most primitive way to judge if the meat was cooked through.

To Anya’s disappointment, after chewing the scorching offal repeatedly, it still felt tough and chewy—very different from the lamb offal soup she had imagined.

She strained her neck to swallow down the stubborn offal whole, exhaled sharply, and then went back to sharpening wooden skewers.

Better to just stick to eating the lamb skewers for now!

Anya thought somewhat painfully as she felt the foul taste of sheep’s internal organs slowly slide down her esophagus into her stomach.