The next morning, as the first ray of sunlight pierced through the jungle, the birds in the forest awoke, chirping incessantly.
Sleeping soundly on a banana leaf, Ye Lin’s eyelids twitched, and she sat up before stretching out her body with a hearty yawn.
Their first night on the deserted island was tough; she and Qin Tian had stayed up all night, and after a full day of hard work yesterday, their fatigue had piled up. Finally getting a good night’s sleep had refreshed her considerably.
Opening her eyes, Ye Lin saw Qin Tian sitting in front of her. Around them lay scattered tree bark and a tangled ball of String. She immediately understood and admired him: “You got up really early, and you even made so much String.”
At these words, Qin Tian shuddered, stiffly turned his head, and said with a grim expression, “Tonight it’s your turn to keep watch, or I’ll molest you!”
Qin Tian’s face was oily, and his eyes were bloodshot. Although Ye Lin knew he was joking, the words startled her awake, completely dispelling any remaining sleepiness.
At this moment, Ye Lin vaguely recalled that Qin Tian had mentioned taking turns to keep watch last night, but she had been too exhausted to pay attention and had dismissed it as a hallucination.
Full of apology, Ye Lin said, “Sorry, I was really too tired last night! You sleep well tonight, I’ll keep watch!”
Seeing her like this, Qin Tian relaxed somewhat and waved his hand, “Forget it. Let’s just take turns.”
He didn’t trust Ye Lin to keep watch alone.
***
Having gone a whole day and night without food, both of their stomachs grumbled painfully. They headed to the stream to wash up. After washing his face, Qin Tian told Ye Lin about his plan from the previous night.
Led by Ye Lin, the two followed the stream toward the Banana Plantation.
Along the way, Qin Tian kept a close eye on both sides of the stream. Yesterday, he had been too busy finding water and setting up camp to scout the nearby resources. This was a perfect opportunity.
Soon enough, Qin Tian made a discovery.
***
On both sides of the stream grew many shrubs. Though their leaves were not very dark, Qin Tian spotted small bright red dots amid the green.
“Wait.” Qin Tian called out to Ye Lin and headed straight into the bushes.
As he approached, a set of information flashed through his mind.
Raspberry: Also known as bramble or upright shrub; branches bear thorns, with young shoots covered in soft hair. Leaves are simple, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, mostly growing on sunny slopes and valleys. Flowering period is February to March; fruiting from April to June. Known to have astringent effects, benefiting the kidneys and Yang energy, improving eyesight, and quenching thirst and intoxication. Leaves are slightly bitter and have detoxifying, anti-inflammatory, and wound-healing properties. Used to treat sore throat, multiple abscesses, mastitis, etc.
A smile spread across Qin Tian’s face. As he had suspected, the fruit was edible.
The raspberries were thumb-sized, composed of many smaller red drupelets, each dotted with tiny prickly hairs.
“What is this? Is it tasty?” Ye Lin leaned in closer.
It was her first time seeing raspberries. Judging by Qin Tian’s excited expression, she could tell it was a good sign.
Without answering, Qin Tian held out the fruit to Ye Lin.
She picked one and popped it into her mouth, immediately scrunching her face.
Seeing this, Qin Tian tossed one into his mouth too. Although his reaction wasn’t as dramatic, his eyes squinted tightly.
Raspberries only begin to ripen in April. It was still March now, so the sourness caught them off guard.
However, after waiting a little longer, they would soon have access to sweet raspberries.
Finding raspberries was undoubtedly a good omen, filling both Qin Tian and Ye Lin with hope about what else the Banana Plantation might offer.
***
Without lingering, the two continued toward the Banana Plantation.
The plantation wasn’t far from their camp, but the path was rough. After half an hour, they arrived.
As Ye Lin had said, only a few banana trees were scattered there. Compared to the tall surrounding trees, these banana trees looked out of place.
Qin Tian counted eight banana trees in total.
Without much effort, standing beneath the trees, they spotted clusters of bananas — but they were all green and unripe.
The banana trees stood about two meters tall. Even Qin Tian couldn’t reach the fruit without effort, let alone Ye Lin.
Looking around, Qin Tian picked up a stone, tied it to a length of String, and threw it up toward the fruit.
Banana trees were a precious resource, and he didn’t want to chop down a whole tree just for a few bananas.
Fortunately, the stone caught the fruit on the first try.
Qin Tian pulled hard, intending to bring the bananas down, but his face suddenly changed as he dashed aside.
The banana tree’s branches were fragile; they couldn’t withstand his force. Both the cluster of bananas and the branch came down together.
Luckily, Qin Tian was fast enough to avoid being hit.
After coiling up the String, he approached the fallen bananas, tore off one stalk, and beckoned Ye Lin over.
Seeing this, Ye Lin immediately understood Qin Tian’s intentions and scolded him with a half-smile, “Go away!”
Realizing it was hopeless, Qin Tian tried a bite himself. As soon as it entered his mouth, he spat it out.
Looking closely, the cross-section showed dozens of black banana seeds inside the flesh.
“Is it too unripe?” Ye Lin asked, seeing Qin Tian’s expression. “Maybe we could leave it for a while until the fruit ripens.”
Qin Tian shook his head and tossed the banana aside. “It’s not about ripeness. It’s simply inedible.”
Today’s bananas were all cultivated varieties with seeds that had degenerated.
These were wild bananas, unbred. Even when ripe, the seeds would remain, making up two-thirds of the fruit’s volume. One bite would be mostly seeds, and biting down wrong could even chip your teeth.
“Can’t eat them?” Ye Lin looked disappointed.
She had pinned her hopes for today’s food on the banana trees, only to end up with this result.
Qin Tian was indifferent. “Bananas aren’t that great anyway. If you want something tasty, eat meat!”
***
At this, Ye Lin’s eyes brightened suddenly. “Meat?!”
Without further explanation, Qin Tian went to a banana tree and tore off one of the curled leaves. Inside, tightly packed white strands sealed both ends.
Curious, Ye Lin leaned in. Under her gaze, Qin Tian unfolded the leaf, revealing a white, segmented worm about the size of a finger.
Once spotted, the worm wriggled, trying to escape, but it was too slow for Qin Tian to care.
“Is it tasty?” Ye Lin suddenly asked.
Qin Tian looked at her as if she were a stranger.
This wasn’t right — weren’t girls supposed to be afraid of bugs? What was going on?
Then, seeing Ye Lin’s pale, hungry eyes, Qin Tian understood and said, “This is a Banana Worm. It usually hides inside curled banana leaves. It’s rich in protein. If you coat it in breadcrumbs and fry it golden, even the kids next door would go crazy over it.”
Qin Tian wasn’t exaggerating. His family had fried these worms before, and they were delicious. Judging by their size, the protein content was definitely high.
Perhaps because the wild Banana Plantation was untended, although there were only eight banana trees, after some searching, Qin Tian and Ye Lin found over thirty Banana Worms — weighing more than a pound in total.
Using a banana leaf folded into a funnel, Qin Tian collected the Banana Worms, gathered some more banana leaves, and the two returned to the camp.
Processing the Banana Worms was simple: cut off the head and squeeze out the innards.
After teaching Ye Lin how to prepare them, Qin Tian found a flat stone by the stream and threw it into the fire to use as a stone pot.
Hungry for a meal, neither spoke during the preparations, focused on their tasks.
Within ten minutes, the Banana Worms were neatly laid on the stone pot.
Though there were no seasonings, the worms sizzled as they hit the hot stone, releasing oil and a meaty aroma that made both Qin Tian and Ye Lin secretly swallow.
They watched the Banana Worms carefully. When their bodies turned golden, Qin Tian said, “They’re ready.”
Impatient, Ye Lin picked one up with wooden chopsticks and popped it into her mouth without blowing on it, eating it like meat instead of a bug.
“Delicious!” she said sincerely, blowing on the heat.
It wasn’t just hunger talking — the Banana Worms tasted great, with a texture much better than snake meat, similar to eating crab roe.
Qin Tian also ate one but wasn’t as enthusiastic as Ye Lin. He thought fried was better, but in the wild, there was no seasoning, so they had to make do.
Though over thirty Banana Worms sounded like a lot, divided between them, it was just a dozen each. Eating one at a time, they finished in less than three minutes.
***
With something in their stomachs, both felt much better, but eating their fill was still impossible. Qin Tian guessed their hunger would return by afternoon, so they needed to find other food sources before then.
With that in mind, Qin Tian picked up the plastic bottle from the camp.
By now, the bottle was empty and somewhat blackened — a result of boiling water in it last night.
His eyes sharp, Qin Tian sliced the bottle in half with his Survival Knife.
“Are you crazy?!” Ye Lin exclaimed, seeing this. The bottle was their water container! Who would have thought Qin Tian would cut it in two?
But recalling everything Qin Tian had done over the past two days, Ye Lin knew he must have a plan and asked, “What are you making?”
“This is a simple fish trap — easy to get in, hard to get out.” Qin Tian flipped the bottle’s mouth part upside down and inserted it into the bottom half. “On the way back, I saw plenty of river fish. With this trap, we should be able to catch some small fish.”