Chapter Summaries

Lu Zhe tasked Ning Shu with finding seeds in the girls’ waste so they could grow fruit on the island if rescue did not come. Ning Shu accepted after the others revealed what fruit they had eaten, but realized she would have to search through every surviving girl’s poop.

• Ning Shu volunteered to take responsibility for the group, and Lu Zhe assigned her the task of finding seeds in their poop.
• Lu Zhe warned the girls not to rely on rescue or the black box, prompting Tang Xiaoguo and Jiang Yao to worry about their families.
• Ning Shu agreed to search for seeds but asked whether she would have to inspect Lu Zhe’s waste; he said he had eaten no seed-bearing fruit recently.
• Lu Zhe confronted Tang Xiaoguo with strawberry seeds found in her poop, and she denied they were hers.
• Lin Qianqian, Jiang Yao, and Ning Shu listed the fruit they had eaten, giving the group several possible seeds to plant.
• Ning Shu realized she would have to search through every surviving girl’s poop for seeds.

Lu Zhe prepared a snake for dinner while Tang Xiaoguo tried to hide her renewed need to use the toilet. She lost control in front of the others, leaving the group unsure how to help her without washing away the seeds they were collecting.

• Lin Qianqian suggested that everyone search their own waste for seeds, and Jiang Yao agreed.
• Tang Xiaoguo insisted she was empty, but her stomach gurgled again as Lu Zhe suggested preparing dinner.
• Lu Zhe stripped the fangs from the cobra, killed it, buried its head and fangs, and skinned its body.
• Tang Xiaoguo tried to get Ning Shu to take her away, but Ning Shu and the others were watching Lu Zhe butcher the snake.
• Tang Xiaoguo lost control and began sobbing, while the group wondered how to clean her without losing the seeds.

Lu Zhe organized the girls to help Tang Xiaoguo clean herself with seawater while preserving the strawberry seeds, then prepared snake meat wrapped in kelp. Tang Xiaoguo finished picking out the seeds and handed them to Lu Zhe as night fell.

• Lu Zhe assigned Ning Shu, Jiang Yao, and Lin Qianqian tasks to gather seawater, broad leaves, and a bottle with a hole so Tang Xiaoguo could clean herself without washing away the seeds.
• Lu Zhe prepared snake meat by wrapping it in kelp and tying it with snakeskin, while Tang Xiaoguo washed at the shore and borrowed Lin Qianqian's vest.
• Lu Zhe gave Tang Xiaoguo his athletic shorts, then told her to pick out the seeds herself.
• Tang Xiaoguo used a stick to collect and clean the seeds from the leaves, buried the waste, and accidentally buried a hermit crab that began eating it.
• Tang Xiaoguo handed Lu Zhe a packet of more than thirty clean seeds, and Ning Shu teased her as the sun set and the moon appeared.

Lu Zhe and the four girls ate their first dinner on the deserted island, then faced a sudden nighttime chill. With no time or strength to build a shelter, Lu Zhe proposed a plan to make heated-water containers for warmth.

• Lu Zhe served roasted kelp and venomous snake meat, and Lin Qianqian, Ning Shu, Jiang Yao, and Tang Xiaoguo enjoyed the meal.
• Lu Zhe told the girls that the small hermit crabs were not worth eating and explained his knowledge by claiming he had read books and watched survival shows.
• As the temperature dropped and the wind strengthened, Lu Zhe said they needed basic measures to endure the cold night but decided it was too dangerous to gather firewood in the jungle.
• Lu Zhe proposed digging a sand pit, lining it with broad leaves, and heating pebbles in the fire.
• Lu Zhe suggested putting hot pebbles into discarded drink cans filled with seawater to warm them.

Lu Zhe and the girls made a warm sand shelter and hot-water bottles for their first night on the deserted island. The four girls fell asleep while Lu Zhe took the first watch, planning to check his system data through the night.

• Lu Zhe explained how to heat seawater with hot stones and pour it into plastic bottles, and Jiang Yao made more than ten hand warmers.
• Lu Zhe and Ning Shu dug and dried a sand pit, then the group lined it with leaves and warmed it with the bottles.
• The girls worried about fitting Lu Zhe into the shelter, and Lu Zhe said someone had to keep watch in case of danger.
• Ning Shu offered to take the second watch after four hours, while Lu Zhe volunteered for the first so the others could sleep.
• The four girls fell asleep, and Lu Zhe tended the fire, warmed himself with a hot-water bottle, and opened his system to review his data and abilities.

Lu Zhe spent his remaining Potential Points on constitution and planned the group’s next survival tasks, but discovered that Tang Xiaoguo was dangerously cold and sick after snake venom weakened her immunity. As the girls’ attempts to warm her failed, he realized their bodies had been keeping the sand pit warm and considered using close body contact to protect her from the cold.

• Lu Zhe put all four of his remaining Potential Points into constitution and considered the group’s priorities for the next day.
• While changing the hot sand bottles, Lu Zhe touched Jiang Yao’s foot and then discovered that Tang Xiaoguo’s feet were ice-cold and trembling.
• Lu Zhe identified Tang Xiaoguo’s condition as a wind-cold cold caused by snake venom weakening her immune system, and the girls surrounded her with warm sand bottles.
• The girls warmed their hands and pressed them against Tang Xiaoguo, but she seemed to worsen as the sea breeze chilled them.
• Lu Zhe realized the sand pit had lost warmth when the girls sat up, checked the Survival Manual, and considered having companions press close together to preserve body heat.

Ning Shu and Lin Qianqian warmed Tang Xiaoguo with their body heat while Lu Zhe and Jiang Yao prepared more hot sand bottles. As Jiang Yao fell asleep beside Lu Zhe, they considered whether the first-class upgrade had left the other passengers on the plane, though they could not know if anyone had survived.

• Ning Shu and Lin Qianqian held Tang Xiaoguo between them to warm her, and her condition seemed to improve.
• Jiang Yao helped Lu Zhe heat stones and replace Tang Xiaoguo's hot-water bottles, then leaned against him for warmth.
• Jiang Yao became tearful as she praised Tang Xiaoguo for protecting her from the snake and wondered whether the other passengers had died.
• Lu Zhe realized that the five finance-class students had been the only ones upgraded to first class and considered whether the rest of the passengers had remained aboard the plane.
• Lu Zhe suggested the plane might have made an emergency landing at sea and been rescued, and Jiang Yao gradually fell asleep beside him.

Lu Zhe and the others huddled together to keep Tang Xiaoguo warm through the freezing night, while he tried to avoid choosing between the girls he liked. By morning, Tang Xiaoguo had recovered, but she and Lu Zhe accidentally shared a kiss, leaving her demanding to know what he would do about it.

• Lu Zhe considered his feelings for Tang Xiaoguo, Jiang Yao, Lin Qianqian, and Ning Shu, then decided not to confess to anyone because dating one would complicate their friendships and survival.
• When Ning Shu and Lin Qianqian began shivering from the cold while tending to Tang Xiaoguo, Jiang Yao asked Lu Zhe to help warm Guo'er by holding her.
• Lu Zhe and Jiang Yao held Tang Xiaoguo between them while Ning Shu and Lin Qianqian huddled together, and Tang Xiaoguo's condition stabilized as they slept through the night.
• Lu Zhe woke at dawn and found that Tang Xiaoguo's fever had passed, but as she stirred, she bumped into him and their lips met.
• Tang Xiaoguo blamed Jiang Yao for causing her to lose her first kiss and demanded to know what Lu Zhe would do about it.

On their second morning stranded on the deserted island, Lu Zhe and the others made a survival plan focused on finding fresh water and food, gathering firewood, and setting up distress signals. Lu Zhe, Ning Shu, and Jiang Yao left to search the western shore while Lin Qianqian stayed at camp with Tang Xiaoguo.

• Lu Zhe revived the nearly extinguished campfire and confirmed that it was six o'clock on June 11, their second day on the island.
• Ning Shu, Lin Qianqian, and Tang Xiaoguo woke, and the group discussed urgent survival tasks.
• Lu Zhe chose fresh water and food, firewood, and distress signals as the morning's priorities.
• Lu Zhe assigned Lin Qianqian to stay with Tang Xiaoguo while he, Ning Shu, and Jiang Yao searched for supplies.
• Lu Zhe led Ning Shu and Jiang Yao west along the shore to collect useful debris and edible seafood.
• Jiang Yao washed the sand and mud from herself by swimming in the sea.

Lu Zhe, Ning Shu, and Jiang Yao found coconuts while searching the beach for fresh water and supplies. As they tried to knock more down, Ning Shu lost her balance and fell after catching Lu Zhe looking up her skirt.

• Lu Zhe led Ning Shu and Jiang Yao onward, and they collected beach debris, shellfish, and mismatched flip-flops for Guo'er.
• The group found two coconut trees bearing ripe fruit, and Lu Zhe climbed the tall tree to gather fifteen coconuts.
• Lu Zhe proposed stacking the three of them so Jiang Yao could use a long branch to knock coconuts from the shorter, thicker tree.
• Jiang Yao knocked several coconuts down while standing on Ning Shu's shoulders, but she nearly fell when Lu Zhe shifted position.
• Ning Shu noticed Lu Zhe looking up her skirt, called him a pervert, and fell backward as she reached to cover herself.

After Jiang Yao badly sprained her ankle, Lu Zhe decided to move camp to the area with more plants, rocks, and coconuts. He returned to fetch Lin Qianqian and Tang Xiaoguo, but their slow pace left him wondering how to carry Tang Xiaoguo while keeping the ember alive.

• Ning Shu and Lu Zhe fell, and Jiang Yao injured her ankle on a rock.
• Lu Zhe determined that Jiang Yao had a severe sprain and needed to rest, so the group chose to move camp to her location instead of carrying her back.
• Lu Zhe noticed that the area had more plants and rocks, and told Ning Shu to stay with Jiang Yao while he fetched Lin Qianqian and Tang Xiaoguo.
• Lu Zhe returned to camp and told Lin Qianqian and Tang Xiaoguo about the move and the coconuts they had found.
• Lu Zhe preserved an ember in rolled bark and set off with Lin Qianqian supporting Tang Xiaoguo, then considered carrying Tang Xiaoguo to speed them up.

Lu Zhe carried Tang Xiaoguo to the coconut trees so the group could reach them before their flame went out. After Ning Shu failed to crack open the coconuts with a rock, Lu Zhe proposed using chewed gum, and he took Jiang Yao’s gum to try the method.

• Lu Zhe carried Tang Xiaoguo on his shoulders while Lin Qianqian guarded the flame, and the three reached the coconut trees about half an hour later.
• Lu Zhe relit the fire while Lin Qianqian checked Jiang Yao’s swollen ankle, and Tang Xiaoguo and Jiang Yao teased each other about Lu Zhe carrying Tang Xiaoguo.
• Ning Shu said she had been unable to open a coconut by smashing it against a rock, and Lu Zhe explained that the rock and her strength were inadequate.
• Lu Zhe remembered a method for opening coconuts with chewed gum and asked everyone to give him theirs.
• Jiang Yao handed Lu Zhe her gum, and he tossed it into his mouth.

Lu Zhe used the girls’ chewed gum to make holes in coconuts, giving the group fresh water while he planned how to make tools and signal for rescue. The group laid out a large SOS on the beach, and Lu Zhe found a tin can that could serve as a soup pot.

• Lu Zhe chewed gum from Ning Shu, Tang Xiaoguo, Lin Qianqian, and Jiang Yao, then used it to punch holes in coconuts and give everyone coconut water.
• Lu Zhe said the group needed reliable tools, and Ning Shu, Lin Qianqian, Tang Xiaoguo, and Jiang Yao divided up tasks.
• Lu Zhe and the others gathered rocks, and Lu Zhe arranged them into a large SOS on the beach.
• Lin Qianqian tossed aside a filthy tin can, but Lu Zhe picked it up and discovered it could be used as a soup pot.

Lu Zhe cleaned a discarded tin can and devised a way to collect fresh water by condensing steam from boiling seawater into cloth. He showed Lin Qianqian how to use the method and left her to distill the water.

• Lu Zhe tested the tin can for leaks and decided it could serve as a cooking pot.
• Lu Zhe scrubbed the can clean with wet sand, bark, and a twig while Lin Qianqian and Ning Shu watched.
• Lu Zhe recalled a distillation method that used cloth to absorb steam from boiling seawater.
• Lu Zhe heated seawater in the can and tied a scrap of cloth into a bundle above it.
• Lu Zhe taught Lin Qianqian to hang the cloth over the pot and wring out the collected fresh water.

Lu Zhe and the girls made their first tools from a tin lid and stones, with Lu Zhe using Potential Points to increase his strength. After completing a small knife and felling a tree for an axe handle, they continued preparing to build a stone axe.

• Lu Zhe gave Ning Shu the tin lid to sharpen into a knife, then discovered that a rock he picked up was suitable for a stone axe.
• After breakfast, Lu Zhe spent 5 Potential Points on strength so he could carry a heavy rock into the shade for grinding.
• Ning Shu, Jiang Yao, and Tang Xiaoguo worked together for over two hours to sharpen the tin lid into a blade, which cut through an old bottle.
• Lu Zhe ground a stone axe head and chisel, then made a handle for the tin knife and bound the blade in place with bark cord.
• Lu Zhe spent his remaining 8 Potential Points on strength, felled a small tree, and cut off a section of wood for the stone axe handle.

Lu Zhe made a sturdy stone axe, built a powerful slingshot, and fashioned a basic compass from a bank card’s magnetic strip. He used the difference between day and night to estimate that they were at a low latitude, somewhere between the equator and the Tropic of Cancer.

• Lu Zhe finished a stone axe and used it to chop a tree into firewood.
• Lu Zhe made a slingshot from a forked branch, hair ties, and a flip-flop sole, then tested it on a tree and earned a Potential Point.
• The girls washed and dried their clothes while they waited for rescue, and Tang Xiaoguo joked about Ning Shu’s stomach growling like a helicopter.
• Lu Zhe cut a magnetic strip from Lin Qianqian’s bank card and floated it on water to make a compass, earning a Potential Point.
• Lu Zhe told the girls he was calculating their location and estimated from the short difference between day and night that they were between the equator and the Tropic of Cancer.

Lu Zhe used a map and the flight route to estimate that the group was stranded far from their homeland, likely on an island in international waters. He proposed sending messages in bottles to alert rescuers, and the group prepared three notes before deciding to release them when the tide went out.

• Lu Zhe drew a map from memory and used the flight route to estimate the group's location near the Philippines, far outside their country's jurisdiction.
• Lu Zhe explained that cold and warm currents could account for the island's unusually large temperature swings, while the girls worried that rescuers might never find them.
• Lu Zhe suggested sending messages in bottles, and the girls gathered three sturdy bottles and praised his idea.
• Lin Qianqian copied Lu Zhe's map, marked the accident site, and wrote the group's details in Chinese and English.
• Lu Zhe asked Lin Qianqian to add the date and sunrise and sunset times, then explained that they should release the bottles when the tide went out.

Lu Zhe used the group’s supplies to make food and set rat traps, then cut wood to begin building a shelter. When Ning Shu and Lin Qianqian found a bunch of green bananas near the woods, they brought them back to camp for Lu Zhe to identify.

• Lu Zhe opened coconuts with the stone axe and roasted coconut strips for the group to eat.
• He found rat droppings, used snake entrails as bait, and made three spring-sapling traps.
• Lu Zhe gained a Potential Point and spent two hours cutting seven lengths of wood for a shelter.
• Ning Shu and Lin Qianqian returned from the woods with green bananas, which Ning Shu identified as ma bananas and offered to Lu Zhe.

Lu Zhe and the girls found abaca, learned that its fruit was poisonous but its fibers could be made into useful rope, and gathered enough cord to begin building a shelter. They chose a sheltered spot and prepared to start construction.

• Lu Zhe told Tang Xiaoguo, Ning Shu, Lin Qianqian, and Jiang Yao that abaca fruit was poisonous, then explained that its fibers could be used to make rope and fishing nets.
• Lu Zhe and Ning Shu found an abaca plant, but a rat fled after smelling puddles of urine left by Ning Shu and Lin Qianqian.
• Lu Zhe showed Ning Shu how to strip fibers from abaca leaves, and they twisted more than sixty cords into thicker ropes.
• Lu Zhe returned with seven small tree trunks while Ning Shu chose a sheltered spot for the group to build their shelter.

Lu Zhe and the girls built a shelter, then prepared to forage and fish as the tide receded. After Jiang Yao fell and got dirty, Lu Zhe used her feces in a stocking as bait and began wondering how to manage the injured girls during the next trip.

• Lu Zhe organized the group to build a leaf-covered shelter where all five could rest.
• Jiang Yao fell while squatting because of her injured ankle, and Lin Qianqian helped her wash at the shore.
• Lu Zhe collected the dragon fruit seeds from Jiang Yao’s feces using his sock and decided to use it as fish bait.
• Lu Zhe made a fishing net from Tang Xiaoguo’s stocking and set it among rocks to catch fish as the tide went out.
• Lu Zhe considered how to forage when two girls had injured feet and the group could not easily look after everyone.