He Really Hadn't Meant to Touch a Girl's Feet

For every new source of fresh water obtained, Potential Points +1

For every new practical tool crafted, Potential Points +1

For every new seasoning ingredient obtained, Potential Points +1

For every distress signal or landmark created, Potential Points +1

For every new source of animal protein obtained, Potential Points +1

For every new source of carbohydrates obtained, Potential Points +1

Additional Potential Points can also be earned for every plant cultivated or animal raised in captivity!

No wonder obtaining distilled water, making a bow drill, finding fish mint, and so on had each earned him a Potential Point!

Checking now, he still had 4 Potential Points left!

According to the attribute descriptions, strength and stamina seemed to have no limit on how much they could be increased. Speed and perception had caps, but could reach the limits of carbon-based life.

And on this deserted island, besides fending off hunger and dangers like snakes and insects, they also had to battle threats such as cold, viruses, and parasites!

This wasn't home, where they could take ibuprofen or aspirin, or even get an IV drip if things got really bad!

They had nothing here. An ordinary little cold could kill someone!

So putting more points into constitution early on couldn't go wrong!

Having made up his mind, Lu Zhe put all four remaining Potential Points into the "constitution" field!

Immediately, the air around him felt less cold, and it was as though more than half the stamina he had just spent had returned!

Even the blisters on his hands from starting the fire felt much better!

Next, he began thinking about what he needed to do tomorrow!

Continuing the search for fresh water and food was definitely the top priority!

Whether to look for a more suitable campsite needed further consideration!

Once they found a campsite, they would have to consider building a decent shelter!

The more firewood they had, the better. Picking up and snapping off branches was too much trouble. If possible, he needed to make a stone axe to chop wood!

They also had to catch the low tide at ten tomorrow morning and gather more supplies washed onto the beach. Water bottles, plastic bags, cans, and all sorts of household rubbish-the more they collected, the better!

They also needed to find a spot with an open view and lay out a distress signal so rescuers in helicopters or speedboats could spot it immediately.

Right, there was also exploring the island further, making a full circuit along the coastline, finding the island's highest point, and drawing a topographical map...

It was fine until he started thinking. Once he did, he realized there were far too many urgent and important things to do!

It seemed that holding out on a resource-starved deserted island until rescuers arrived really wasn't as simple as he had imagined!

He should deal with what was right in front of him first!

He prepared to feel around for a few bottles that had already cooled and refill them with hot seawater!

But when he reached through the leaves into the sand pit, he touched someone's foot!

Warm, slender, just small enough to fit in his hand-it made his heart skip a beat!

Judging by the position, it was probably Yaoyao's!

Sorry, I really wasn't deliberately touching a female classmate's foot. I was purely trying to get the sand bottle!

He took out the sand bottle beneath her feet and replaced it with a hot one.

When he touched the second foot, Lu Zhe's heart jolted!

That foot felt as cold as ice!

Feeling farther up, he found that her calf was trembling slightly too!

He patted her calf. "Is that you, Guo'er?"

No one answered, but Jiang Yao, who was beside her, rubbed her eyes and sat up!

She pouted and said sourly, "Xiao Zhe, if you want to touch her, just do it quietly. I'll pretend I don't see anything. Why call out to Guo'er too?"

"Hey, you weren't asleep?"

She smiled leisurely, raised her foot, and rubbed it against Lu Zhe's arm. "Well, you woke me up just now! Hey, how come I never noticed before? Do you really like touching girls' feet?"

Lu Zhe said helplessly, "You really did misunderstand!"

"Misunderstand what? Didn't you go touch Guo'er's after you finished touching mine?"

"Yes... no!" Lu Zhe's head hurt. "I was just changing your sand bottles, and that's how I noticed Guo'er's feet were really cold!"

"Really?"

Jiang Yao reached over with her foot and touched Tang Xiaoguo's, then jerked it back in shock. "Whoa, that's cold!"

Her exclamation startled Ning Shu and Lin Qianqian awake, and both girls rubbed their bleary eyes and sat up too!

"What happened?"

"Something's wrong with Guo'er. Wake her up!"

Tang Xiaoguo was sleeping between Lin Qianqian and Jiang Yao, and the two called out to her together!

Her body kept trembling faintly, and indistinct murmurs escaped her mouth!

"Oh no, she's got the ague!"

"No, this isn't the ague!"

He touched Tang Xiaoguo's forehead, and information about her appeared in his mind: "A small amount of snake venom has breached the patient's immune system. Severe exposure to cold has caused a wind-cold cold!"

So that was it!

"This is a wind-cold cold caused by damage to her immunity... not the ague!"

"A wind-cold cold?"

Jiang Yao let out a long breath. "Thank goodness... it's just a common cold!"

Ning Shu shook her head. "We don't have medicine or antibiotics. Even a common cold could be dangerous!"

"And this isn't a common cold!"

Lu Zhe said gravely, "It's a complication caused by snake venom! Although the amount of venom in Guo'er's body isn't enough to harm her directly right now, it has breached her immune system!"

Lin Qianqian added, "That means that until her immune system recovers, even the slightest wind stirring the grass could make her sick!"

"Exactly!"

Ning Shu asked anxiously, "Huh? Then what do we do now?"

Lu Zhe thought for a moment. "Without medicine, we absolutely have to keep her body temperature up! Everyone, gather the hot sand bottles together!"

The girls hurriedly brought over all the sand bottles that were still warm and arranged them around Tang Xiaoguo!

But her eyes remained tightly shut, and she kept mumbling deliriously!

Her body kept trembling too!

As the sea breeze blew, they could still feel the biting chill, and the girls all hunched their shoulders!

Lin Qianqian timidly offered a suggestion. "Rubbing our hands makes our palms warm. We could use that to keep Guo'er warm!"

Ning Shu nodded. "Good idea!"

They all rubbed their hands together, then pressed their warmed palms against Tang Xiaoguo's body!

Yet even this felt like trying to put out a blazing cartload of firewood with a cup of water!

And compared to before, she seemed to be getting worse!

"What do we do?" Lin Qianqian asked, her heart aching as she watched Tang Xiaoguo mumble deliriously.

Lu Zhe reached into the sand pit, and his heart suddenly lurched!

He realized that the sand pit was colder than before!

He understood!

Although they had placed all the sand bottles around Tang Xiaoguo to provide heat, the other three girls had sat up. Little did they realize that they themselves were also steady sources of heat. By lifting the broad leaves and moving their bodies out of the sand pit, they had let a great deal of warmth escape!

He checked the Survival Manual. In cold conditions, companions could press their bodies close together to prevent heat loss.

Lu Zhe thought of a scene that often appeared in TV dramas: a woman fell into icy water, and a man warmed her with his own body to maintain her body temperature!