Some strange new knowledge gained

Lu Zhe picked up a branch. "Class monitor, help me hold that side steady!"

"Sure thing!"

Lu Zhe began lashing the branches together!

Lin Qianqian wanted to come over and help too. "What can I do?"

"Go gather lots of leaves, as many as possible. We'll use them for windbreaks in a bit!"

"Okay!"

Jiang Yao and Tang Xiaoguo asked together, "What about us?"

"Yaoyao, weave the leaves together! Guo'er, keep using Qianqian's socks to collect fresh water!"

Lu Zhe thought for a moment, then added another reminder. "Be careful not to burn yourself!"

"Got it!"

They all worked together. Although they were exhausted, their cooperation and encouragement helped them temporarily forget that feeling of despair!

Lu Zhe first leaned two branches together and drove them deep into the sand, then leaned another two together three meters away!

He lashed a branch across the tops of the two pairs of leaning branches, and another across the bottoms!

This made a relatively stable tent frame!

Next, Lu Zhe tied thin grass ropes between the two frames, then draped the leaves Lin Qianqian and Jiang Yao had arranged over them as windbreaks!

Two hours later, a complete shelter was finished! Although it looked very crude, it was highly practical!

In the daytime heat, they could leave one windbreak up for shade and take the other down for ventilation!

When it grew cool at night, they could string ropes along all four sides and hang leaves as windbreaks, which would keep them very warm!

As soon as it was finished, the girls immediately sat inside!

Tang Xiaoguo stretched. "Wow, it's so much cooler!"

Lin Qianqian said happily, "It feels like home!"

Ning Shu smiled. "Haha, now it's got that summer camp vibe!"

Jiang Yao stretched out her legs and picked up a piece of dried coconut. "A tent, drinks, and snacks. I never thought wilderness survival could have so much atmosphere!"

"Hey, Xiao Zhe, come sit in here too!" Jiang Yao shifted to one side!

"Coming!"

Lu Zhe went inside and tried lying down. There was just enough room for five people to sleep!

Lu Zhe checked the time. "It's three thirty now, and the sun is heading west. Everyone can rest for a while! Once we've got our energy back and the tide goes out, we can throw out the message bottles and forage along the shore."

Just then, Jiang Yao's brow furrowed slightly!

Then she leaned close to Ning Shu beside her and whispered something in her ear. Ning Shu shook her head. She hesitated, then said something to Lin Qianqian too.

Then the two girls nodded together!

Lin Qianqian pulled ten tissues from the backpack and handed five to Jiang Yao, then helped her up. "You guys rest for a while. I'll go with Yaoyao to take care of a little something!"

A little something?

What little something?

Lu Zhe guessed the two girls probably needed the toilet and hurriedly reminded them, "Remember the seeds!"

Jiang Yao said helplessly, "I know!"

Lin Qianqian helped Jiang Yao into the woods. Before long, Jiang Yao's scream rang out!

"Ah..."

Were they in danger again?

Ning Shu and Tang Xiaoguo immediately grew tense!

Lu Zhe said gravely, "Stay here. I'll go take a look!"

"Be careful..."

Worried they had encountered a wild animal or a snake, Lu Zhe grabbed the stone axe and sprinted straight toward the sound!

It turned out to be a false alarm. Because her ankle hurt, she had lost her balance while squatting and accidentally sat down, getting her bottom filthy.

After a bout of nausea and vomiting, Lin Qianqian helped her to the shore to wash. Lu Zhe knew it was no longer very realistic to have her pick out the seeds herself.

There was no choice. He would have to do it himself!

Sure enough, no matter how adorable a girl was, her poop wasn't crystal-macaron-colored and fruit-scented.

A notification came through in his mind: the dragon fruit seeds were right inside!

Was he supposed to break it apart and crush it to pick out the seeds?

Just then, Lu Zhe thought of a good idea!

He took off one of his socks, then used two branches to pick that thing up and stuff it inside!

Lu Zhe knew that feces were also a very important survival resource in the wilderness!

It sounded unbelievable, but it was indeed true.

Human feces contained a large amount of fat, making them an excellent source of nutrients for many wild animals!

Fish, for example. Master Bear and Lord De often used their own feces as bait to trap small fish.

In addition, feces had a certain deterrent effect!

On the African savanna, to avoid harassment from lions and hyenas, survivalists would gather everyone's feces together, mix in some bloody water and bone fragments, and pile it near camp.

A huge pile of dung and an intense, bloody smell made it seem as though a massive, terrifying carnivore lived there.

It would make lions and hyenas shrink back!

In addition, the dung of many animals had its own uses. Some could be used as medicine, some as fuel, some to mask human scent, and some could even be used as sunscreen.

The most outrageous yet entirely true thing Lu Zhe had heard was that people of the grasslands used cow dung to scrub plates and wash bowls.

And that was a privilege only honored guests could enjoy!

Now, Lu Zhe had an idea to kill two birds with one stone using the turd in his sock!

First, he would use it to catch small fish. Second, he would use his sock to separate out the seeds.

He returned to camp. The shoreline had now reached its highest point, and part of the SOS marker had been submerged by seawater!

Lu Zhe knew there were some large rocks just in front of where they had laid out the distress signal!

Several rocks were clustered together, and after the tide receded, small, enclosed pools would form there!

If any fish failed to leave the pools with the receding tide, they would be trapped there and could only leave when the tide rose again!

Wasn't that the perfect fishing spot?

"Guo'er, I need to use one of your stockings!"

Tang Xiaoguo, who was wringing out distilled water, said, "Well, you can, but no lewd stuff!"

Though that was what she said, she felt delighted inside and could hardly wait for Lu Zhe to do something lewd.

Lu Zhe took a stocking and inspected it. Although it had snagged in places, there wasn't a single hole!

The quality seemed pretty good!

He found some flexible branches, bent them into a hoop, then tied them tightly with abaca rope!

In this way, he made five hoops about fifteen centimeters in diameter!

Then he slipped the stocking over the five hoops in turn, leaving about ten centimeters between them!

The branch hoops held the stocking open, making it look just like a fishing net!

A "fishing net" alone wasn't enough. He needed bait too!

That was already on hand!

Lu Zhe put the sock containing Jiang Yao's poop into the fishing net!

Then he weighed down different parts of the net with stones to keep the "fishing net" from floating up!

With that done, all he had to do was wait for small fish to swim inside!

Lu Zhe thoroughly washed his hands several times, then drank another coconut!

By then, the sun was sinking in the west, the air had cooled to a comfortable temperature, and the tide had begun to recede!

It was time to forage along the shore again!

But were they all going together this time too?

It had already been very inconvenient for three girls to look after Tang Xiaoguo alone!

This time, with two girls whose feet were injured, they really wouldn't be able to look after them both.