Chapter 361 The Second Day on the Deserted Island
When Meng Chao saw the iron bucket that Lin Qian brought, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes. “Lin Qian, this iron bucket you found is great! It’s exactly what we need.”

He took the iron bucket and looked at it carefully. Although the surface was covered with rust, the bucket was still thick and could be used to make some practical tools after processing.

“It seems like we are lucky to have found such an important resource right after we came here.” Meng Chao gave Lin Qian a thumbs up, then turned to the camera and said, “Dear viewers, this is the power of teamwork.

In the wilderness, one person’s power is limited, but when we unite, we can overcome more difficulties.”

Lin Qian felt a little embarrassed by Meng Chao’s praise, but her face was filled with a happy smile.

She became more determined to perform well in this expedition and live up to Meng Chao’s trust and expectations.

Next, Meng Chao and Lin Qian continued to search for useful resources and garbage on the beach separately.

Meng Chao found some ropes and plastic bags that he could use to pack garbage and store items.

Lin Qian found some old fishing nets and buoys, which could be used to make fishing tools.

As the day progressed and the sun rose higher, the temperature on the beach began to climb.

Meng Chao and Lin Qian were both sweating profusely, but they did not slack off at all.

They still found some practical tools, which were very helpful for their subsequent survival.

There is so much garbage that it is not easy for them to clean it up.

According to Meng Chao’s estimate, if he spent two or three hours a day to clean up, it might take more than ten days.

If they had less time, they might not have finished by the time their challenge was over.

“Okay, let’s stop here for today. Let’s look for food first and see if we can find some seafood.” Meng Chao said to Lin Qian.

Lin Qian nodded and followed Meng Chao into the sea.

They wanted to see what kind of fish there were in the sea.

Meng Chao picked up a barely usable casting net and tried it out first.

You can repair it with other materials tomorrow and this hand-cast net will be very useful.

The two men stepped carefully into the shallow sea, the water was cool and clear, gently lapping at their ankles.

Meng Chao held the slightly worn casting net in his hand and scanned the water with sharp eyes, looking for possible signs of fish.

“Lin Qian, pay attention to the movements underwater. Sometimes fish hide behind seaweed or rocks.” Meng Chao reminded Lin Qian while demonstrating how to gently shake the casting net to increase its spread area.

Lin Qian carefully observed her surroundings. Her eyes suddenly lit up and she pointed to a reef not far away that was half exposed above the water: “Meng Chao, look over there, it seems like something is moving!”

Meng Chao looked in the direction of Lin Qian’s finger and found several small silver fish swimming quickly around the reef, apparently looking for food.

He quickly adjusted his posture, took a deep breath, and then threw the net hard towards the area.

The net drew a graceful arc in the air, accurately covering the reef and the surrounding waters.

A few seconds later, Meng Chao began to pull in the net. As the opening of the net gradually narrowed, several lively little fish were caught in the net.

“Success!” Lin Qian cheered excitedly. She didn’t expect to get something out of her first attempt.

Meng Chao smiled as he removed the small fish from the net and carefully placed them into a makeshift container made of a plastic bag to prevent them from jumping out. “This is just the beginning, we still need more food. But this is a good sign.”

The two continued to move along the coastline, stopping from time to time to observe the underwater situation, and occasionally catching one or two small fish or some shrimps.

Although the harvest was not rich, it was enough to boost their morale at the moment.

As the sun gradually sank, the clouds in the sky were dyed a brilliant golden red, and layers of golden ripples appeared on the sea.

Meng Chao and Lin Qian decided to return to prepare dinner.

Back on shore, they used the iron buckets and stones they had found earlier to build a simple grill, strung the caught small fish and shrimps on tree branches, and slowly roasted them over the fire.

Although the seasoning is limited, the taste of the fresh seafood itself is enough to make you salivate.

At dinner, the two sat around the fire, enjoying the hard-earned food and talking about the day’s gains and future plans.

“Tomorrow we have to find a way to repair the casting net. Then we can go fishing farther away and maybe encounter larger schools of fish.” Meng Chao planned while eating.

Lin Qian nodded in agreement: “Yes, and those fishing nets and buoys, we can also try to repair them and make some simple fishing tools.”

As night falls, the starry sky shines brightly, and the waves gently hit the beach, making a quiet and long sound.

In the light of the fire, Meng Chao and Lin Qian’s faces were filled with anticipation and determination for the future.

“Are we going to sleep on the beach tonight?” Lin Qian turned her head to look at Meng Chao and asked.

The sand is warm in the sun during the day, but becomes very cold at night and is not suitable for lying down and sleeping.

“Well, we can use white foam as a cushion, so that we can ensure that the body surface temperature will not be lost.” Meng Chao said calmly.

【6Ah, it turns out that foam is not completely useless. 】

[Brother Chao has a solution. He actually uses a foam pad as a mattress. This will definitely not be cold and will store some heat. ]

[It’s OK. You are worthy of being my brother Chao. You never let me down. ]

[It’s not suitable in other places, but it’s really suitable on a deserted island. ]

[There shouldn’t be any wild animals in this place, so there’s really no need to build a shelter. ]

Lin Qian’s eyes flashed with relief when she heard this, but then she said with some worry, “What if a wild animal comes at night? Should we find a safer place or build a simple shelter?”

Meng Chao shook his head and smiled confidently, “Don’t worry, Lin Qian. There may be wild animals on the deserted island, but according to my previous observations, the ecology here is relatively balanced and large beasts are rare. Moreover, the location we chose is close to the sea, with a wide field of vision, so any movement can be discovered in time. As for building a shelter, it is indeed a good idea, but considering our current limited time and resources, it is more practical to focus on finding food and water first.”

He paused and continued, “Of course, for safety reasons, we can prepare some simple defense tools, such as making some simple spears or sticks with branches and stones, and keep them with us in case of emergency. Let’s make this arrangement tonight, and when we have more tools and materials tomorrow, we can consider building a shelter.”

After listening to Meng Chao’s analysis, Lin Qian’s anxiety gradually subsided. She nodded and decided to follow Meng Chao’s arrangement. The two of them collected some hay and leaves and spread them on the white foam mat to increase comfort and warmth. Then, they found some larger stones and formed a semicircular barrier, which could block the wind and provide a certain degree of psychological security.

As night fell, the sky was full of stars and the sea breeze blew gently, bringing a hint of coolness. Meng Chao and Lin Qian lay on their homemade “beds”, looking up at the starry sky, feeling very happy.

“Okay, go to bed. There’s still a lot of work to do tomorrow.”

Although there won’t be any large animals on the deserted island and you won’t be attacked, it may still rain, so you still need a shelter to keep out the wind and rain.

Lin Qian responded and slowly closed her eyes. The sound of the waves and the chirping of insects in the distance intertwined into a peaceful nocturne, which gradually made her relax.

Meng Chao remained alert, looking around from time to time to make sure there was nothing unusual.

As the night deepened, the sea breeze gradually grew stronger, rustling the leaves and making the waves become more turbulent.

Meng Chao felt a little chilly, but he didn’t care. He just gathered the hay and leaves around him tightly to protect Lin Qian from the cold.

After a while, Meng Chao fell asleep.

The sound of waves is white noise and has a hypnotic effect.

Meng Chao slept until the next day.

The sunlight is quite dazzling, otherwise he could sleep a little longer.

Lin Qian had already woken up. She woke up earlier than Meng Chao and was trying to catch fish in the shallow sea with a casting net.

Meng Chao rubbed his eyes, sat up, and looked at Lin Qian who was busy at the beach. The sun shone on her, outlining a beautiful picture. Meng Chao felt a warm current in his heart, and felt lucky to have such a partner.

“Lin Qian, good morning!” Meng Chao shouted, his voice a little hoarse. After all, he had been alert to his surroundings last night and did not sleep very deeply.

Lin Qian turned around with a bright smile on her face, “Meng Chao, are you awake? Come and have a look, I tried to catch fish with this casting net, and I have already caught a few small fish.”

Meng Chao walked to the beach, looked at the cast net and the small fish in Lin Qian’s hand, and nodded approvingly, “Not bad, Lin Qian, you’ve made great progress. Our breakfast today depends on you.”

The two of them cleaned the small fish they caught, then returned to the shore and grilled them using the method they used yesterday. Although the breakfast was simple, the taste of fresh seafood made them feel extremely satisfied.

After breakfast, Meng Chao and Lin Qian began to repair the casting nets and fishing nets.

They used the iron bucket they found yesterday as tools to repair the holes in the fishing net and reinforced it with ropes.

The cast net was also renovated by them to make it more durable.

“Meng Chao, do you think this is okay?” Lin Qian asked, pointing at the repaired fishing net.

Meng Chao carefully checked it and nodded with satisfaction. “Very good, Lin Qian, your skills are really good. With these tools, our fishing efficiency today will definitely be greatly improved.”

The two came to the beach again and put the repaired fishing net and casting net into the water. They waited patiently, observing the movement of the water from time to time.

Soon, the fishing net began to move, and several large fish were caught. Meng Chao and Lin Qian excitedly pulled in the net, took out the large fish, and put them into a makeshift container.

As the sun rose higher, they had already harvested a lot of seafood.

Meng Chao looked at the full container, feeling a sense of accomplishment. “Lin Qian, we have made quite a good harvest today. It seems that we can consider building a more solid shelter.”

Lin Qian was also very happy, “Yes, Meng Chao.

With this seafood as a food source, we can free up some time and energy to build shelter.

Besides, the sea breeze was a bit strong last night, and it would be much more comfortable to have a shelter.”

If you want to build a shelter, you need a knife.

So for now, we still need to use the iron bucket and other iron tools to forge a machete.

The first step is to make a small coke oven to heat the iron materials.

In addition, you will need some stones to use as hammers.

So the two people acted separately.

Meng Chao was responsible for building the small coke oven, and Lin Qianlai was responsible for finding suitable stones.

Meng Chao started to make a small coke oven. He first found a relatively flat place on the beach, then used an iron bucket as a mold to dig a circular pit. The size of the pit should be moderate, which can accommodate enough coke and ensure that the heat can be concentrated.

Then he picked up some dry grass and dead branches from the surrounding beach to use as kindling.

Meng Chao knew very well that lighting a fire was not easy without modern tools, so he was extremely careful to stack layers of dry grass and dead branches to form a stable pile of kindling.

Then, Meng Chao began to add coke to the pit. The coke was picked up from the beach before, and after simple screening and washing, it had become relatively clean.

He stacked the coke in layer after layer until the pit was full.

At this time, Lin Qian also found several suitable stones. These stones were of moderate size and regular shape, making them very suitable for use as hammers for forging.

Meng Chao took the stones and put them aside for later use.

After everything was ready, Meng Chao started to light the fire.

He first lit the kindling with a match, then carefully fanned the air to allow the flames to gradually spread to the charcoal.

As the coke burned, thick smoke gradually rose from the pit and the temperature became higher and higher.

While observing the fire, Meng Chao used the lid of the iron bucket to adjust the ventilation holes of the coke oven from time to time to ensure that the flame could continue to burn steadily.

After a period of waiting, the coke oven finally reached the ideal temperature. Meng Chao knew that he could now proceed to the next step of forging.

At the same time, Lin Qian was looking for suitable stones on the beach. She knew that these stones would directly affect whether they could successfully forge a sharp machete, so she selected them very carefully.

Lin Qian walked a long way along the beach, carefully observing the shape, size and texture of each stone.

She found that although some stones looked hard, they were full of cracks and impurities inside, and such stones were obviously not suitable as forging tools.

After searching for a while, Lin Qian finally found a stone that looked very suitable.

The stone was of regular shape, hard texture, and had no obvious cracks or impurities. She picked up the stone excitedly and prepared to show it to Meng Chao.

However, just as she turned around and was about to leave, Lin Qian suddenly heard a strange sound coming from behind her.

She turned her head warily, only to find a huge sea turtle slowly crawling towards her.

(End of this chapter)