Opening coconuts with chewing gum

No, his thoughts had wandered off track again. Was now the time to worry about whether it was perverted?

There just wasn't any other way right now!

"We're moving too slowly like this. Qianqian, hold the torch. I'll carry Guo'er!"

Guo'er pursed her lips. "Why are you being so nice today?"

"Don't talk! I'm not trying to take advantage of you. We're just moving too slowly. We have to pick up the pace, or we won't reach our destination before the fire goes out!"

As he spoke, Lu Zhe crouched down, gripped Tang Xiaoguo by the hips with both hands, and hoisted her up!

Tang Xiaoguo landed on the back of Lu Zhe's neck, her two snow-white calves dangling against his chest!

"Ah..."

Blushing, Tang Xiaoguo said, "Lu Zhe, what are you doing? I wasn't ready yet..."

"Shut up!" Lu Zhe said coldly. "Say another word and I'll drop you!"

Tang Xiaoguo obediently closed her mouth.

With Tang Xiaoguo sitting on the back of his neck, Lu Zhe felt as though he were holding up a little child. It must have been because his strength had increased!

He picked up the plastic bags without much effort, either!

Lin Qianqian said, "Just leave those to me!"

"Just look after the flame in your hand!" Lu Zhe said.

"All right, then..."

With that, the three of them traveled much faster!

Sitting on Lu Zhe's shoulders, Tang Xiaoguo happily admired the scenery around her, her thoughts wandering once again.

Ah...

When we have a baby, the baby can sit on my shoulders, and I can sit on Lu Zhe's shoulders. How blissful!

But... what if we have two babies?

Lu Zhe and I would each carry one?

Oh no, where would I sit?

No, no, two wouldn't be good. Better to have just one baby...

"Guo'er, behave. Stop swinging your legs!"

"Okay..." Tang Xiaoguo answered happily.

About half an hour later, the three reached the two coconut trees!

Ning Shu had gathered a pile of wood nearby and prepared the firewood. Now she was laboriously pounding away at a coconut.

The flame in Lin Qianqian's hand was almost out, too. Lu Zhe quickly put Tang Xiaoguo down and got the fire going again!

Lin Qianqian put down her things and went to check Jiang Yao's sprain. Finding it had swollen into a big radish, she asked sympathetically, "Does it hurt?"

"A little..." Jiang Yao glanced at Tang Xiaoguo. "Speaking of which, Guo'er, aren't you being way too willful? Xiao Zhe was already so tired, and you still bullied him!"

Tang Xiaoguo pouted and said sweetly, "Xiao Zhe was the one who offered to carry me like that! I turned him down several times, but he probably felt bad for me. He wouldn't let me walk on my own, no matter what!"

"Tang Xiaoguo, I'm begging you, be a decent human being!"

Then she turned around, only to find Lu Zhe looking at her with contempt.

"I did offer to carry you, but that was because you were too slow walking on your own. I was afraid we'd take so long that the flame would go out. That's why I brought you here like that!"

Tang Xiaoguo sheepishly stuck out her tongue.

Jiang Yao put on a look of realization. "Oh, so that's what happened! Haha, it really gives off dad-carrying-his-daughter vibes!"

Pouting, Tang Xiaoguo muttered, "Such a clueless straight guy. I've slept with you, after all. Couldn't you at least give a more romantic reason?"

"Tang Xiaoguo, please watch what you say. Sleeping next to each other and having slept together are two different things!"

Tang Xiaoguo pouted. "What's the difference?"

Sounding very knowledgeable, Jiang Yao said, "One is something between husband and wife. As for last night, you can just think of it as a mom and dad keeping their sick daughter warm together!"

"Who's the daughter?!" Tang Xiaoguo demanded angrily.

"Whoever's cute!" Jiang Yao said casually.

That left Tang Xiaoguo at a complete loss.

While they were bickering, Lin Qianqian noticed the twenty-odd coconuts on the ground and said delightedly, "There really are so many coconuts! Now we have something to drink!"

"Quick, quick, open one!" Tang Xiaoguo said. "I'm dying of thirst."

Ning Shu rubbed her aching arms. "Don't celebrate too soon. I've been smashing away for ages and haven't opened a single one!"

"What were you using to smash them?" Lu Zhe asked.

Ning Shu pointed at the rock jutting out of the beach. "That! I've watched Lord De's survival show, too. He smashed coconuts against rocks!"

Lu Zhe examined the rock. "That is one way, but this rock isn't sharp enough, and you're not strong enough, either. It's normal that you couldn't crack them open!"

"Can you do it, then?"

"Of course I can..." But looking at the twenty-odd coconuts, Lu Zhe muttered inwardly, I can crack them open, sure, but wouldn't opening all twenty-odd coconuts wear my ass out?

Do we have any tools right now, then?

Not a thing!

Just then, Tang Xiaoguo used her chewing gum like bubble gum and blew a small bubble.

Lu Zhe's eyes lit up!

That was right. He had seen this method on a popular science show before!

On the show, the top student Yong Lihong had cracked open a coconut with chewed gum, and Great Beauty Shen had greedily drunk it dry. He wondered how Du Taotao had felt at the time.

The method was to mold the gum from one's mouth into a cone with the point facing up, then line the coconut up with the point and smash it down!

Chewing gum might be soft, but it had the properties of a non-Newtonian fluid and would become extremely hard under a sudden, forceful impact!

That would puncture the coconut shell and give them access to the coconut water!

And now, each of his classmates had taken a piece of gum that morning to clean their mouths!

But one piece was too small to form a cone big enough to pierce a coconut shell!

If they kneaded everyone's gum together, though, it would become larger. Then they could let the moisture dry out to make it a little harder, and it could pierce the shell!

"Everyone, spit out your gum and give it to me..." Lu Zhe said.

Tang Xiaoguo chewed twice, surprised. "Why?"

"To open the coconuts with chewing gum!"

Tang Xiaoguo covered her mouth and laughed. "You're kidding me. If you said you'd gnaw them open with your teeth, I might believe you a little. But opening coconuts with chewing gum sounds way too fake..."

Ning Shu nodded. "Yeah, it does sound a little fake!"

"Deskmate, you're not joking, are you?" Jiang Yao asked.

"He's not joking!"

Lin Qianqian spoke up. "Chewing gum is a non-Newtonian fluid. I read a physics book that said you could open coconuts with chewing gum!"

Tang Xiaoguo shook her head. "I don't believe it. How could he possibly know so many weird things?"

To her, it was as unbelievable as using beer for rocket fuel!

"Won't we find out whether it's true by trying?"

Lin Qianqian was a little bashful. "But giving gum I've spat out to a boy still feels a little awkward!"

"Yeah, but I'm really curious!" Jiang Yao said.

As she spoke, she spat her gum into her palm and handed it to Lu Zhe!

"Here, Xiao Zhe!"

Lu Zhe took Jiang Yao's gum and tossed it straight into his mouth.