Chapter 12: Did you build a shoddy structure?

With those two items, Li Chenfeng started the day in a good mood, but he also smiled wryly and wondered when he had become so happy from picking up a few pieces of trash.

It looked like quite a few new treasures had washed up on the beach, and once the weather cleared everyone could conduct another thorough sweep.

『Please light a fire before sunset to ward off the cold; body temperature is too low; warm up promptly.』

Hearing the system prompt, Li Chenfeng clearly felt a chill sweep over him and decided he should return to the shelter to warm up.

Back at the shelter, Li Chenfeng sat by the fire to warm up, and Lu Xinyao kindly handed him hot water and said, “This is boiled rainwater; drink it while it’s hot to warm your stomach.”

Li Chenfeng took the coconut shell and drank it down in one gulp: “That feels much better.”

Ning Jingjing stoked the fire higher and tried in every way she could to bring Li Chenfeng a bit of warmth.

“How is it? Do you feel a bit warmer?”

“Mmm, that’s much warmer,” Li Chenfeng said, and he suddenly felt a homely warmth as if he had a home.

“Your pants are all wet; take them off and we’ll dry them for you, since wearing wet pants can lead to rheumatism.”

Li Chenfeng took off his wet pants to reveal athletic shorts underneath, which was not too embarrassing, and Lu Xinyao began slowly drying the pants by the fire as steam rose when the wood’s heat evaporated the water.

Ning Jingjing also sensibly started preparing breakfast, and Li Chenfeng carefully hammered the dented iron pot he had found back into shape with a stone.

“From now on we can use this pot to cook; one pot will be enough to stew a meal.”

Ning Jingjing happily took the pot and said, “We are incredibly lucky to have found such a treasure.”

They set the pot under the eaves to collect rainwater, added sea snails, and placed it between two stone slabs to heat.

“Seeing these slabs makes me want to eat teppanyaki squid and some grilled meat.”

“Senior, you are a real foodie.”

Li Chenfeng took out a stone and began grinding it under the eaves.

Lu Xinyao asked, puzzled, “Chenfeng, what are you planning to do?”

“I want to make a stone axe; that will make chopping trees and gathering wood easier.”

“A stone axe? Have we finally advanced from savages to the Stone Age?”

“Hahaha, you could say that.”

After Li Chenfeng ground it over and over, the head of an axe was finished and the next step was to find a suitable trunk to use as a handle.

Wearing the plastic sheet, Li Chenfeng began searching for a suitable small tree.

“This is the one.”

He hefted the stone axe and chopped heavily at the small tree, taking more than ten swings before he obtained a wooden stick of suitable size.

Back at the shelter they gently stripped the bark from the stick, split a section into two parts and roasted them over the fire to increase toughness, then they set the stone axe head into the center of the wooden shaft and bound the two together tightly with roasted vines, thus creating a stone axe.

『Please light a fire before sunset to ward off the cold; hidden task completed! Stamina +20! Talent +20!』

Woo-hoo~ Li Chenfeng quickly upgraded his Stamina, his HP instantly refilled, and when he checked his Constitution he found that all aspects had increased a little.

After the three of them finished breakfast, Li Chenfeng prepared to go out to look for suitable materials.

Seeing Li Chenfeng preparing to work in the rain again, Lu Xinyao felt a pang of worry and guilt.

“Chenfeng, you better not go; with such heavy rain, getting soaked and catching a cold would be more trouble than it’s worth.”

Ning Jingjing grabbed Li Chenfeng’s hand and said, “Xinyao is right; you can’t get sick because of us, or we’ll all feel heartbroken.”

Lu Xinyao saw this, grabbed his other hand, and said, “Yes, that’s right!”

“Seeing you two so nervous, does this Young Master inspire any bold thoughts in you?”

Lu Xinyao rolled her eyes and said, “That line fits you better.”

After finishing his teasing, Li Chenfeng got down to serious work, wrapping the plastic sheet around himself and securing it with a vine as a belt, and although it looked ugly it kept his body temperature stable.

He chopped down five or six small trees and gathered about ten banana leaves, then carried them back, and with the stone axe’s help he finished everything in less than twenty minutes.

In short, sharpening the tool didn’t delay the work, and a handy tool always made the job much more efficient.

They first dug a pit in the ground large enough to hold about two people, and fortunately most of it was sand so digging it out was not too laborious.

After digging it they lined the pit with Li Chenfeng’s plastic sheet to prevent water from seeping out, and since the rain kept pouring they could collect enough rainwater in the pit for two people to bathe.

Ning Jingjing started heating water and said, “Xinyao, we can finally wash up; these past two days have been miserable.”

“Yeah, look, my hair is all clumped together and it’s unbearably itchy.”

While they talked, Li Chenfeng had finished erecting the four posts and the next steps were similar to when they had built the shelter; seeing that the pool was already two-thirds full, Li Chenfeng covered it with a roof and completed the finishing touches.

“All done; Senior, how’s your hot water coming along?”

『Please light a fire before sunset to ward off the cold: Task complete! Stamina +10! Talent +10!』

“The water is almost boiling.”

Li Chenfeng poured a pot of hot water into the pool and then covered it with several banana leaves to help the water retain its heat longer.

Back at the shelter he fired up the second, third, and fourth pots in succession, and after going back and forth nearly ten times he had finally warmed the pool’s water.

“Senior, Ning Jingjing, you can go bathe now.”

The two of them ran toward the bathing area holding a banana leaf over their heads, and once inside they couldn’t help but look around.

“Jingjing, look, the pool’s water is still steaming, the roof and three walls are sealed tightly, and you can even see the sea… it’s like a private pool at a hotel.”

“Yeah, Xinyao, I never thought I’d get to soak in a place like this in my lifetime; Li Chenfeng is so warm-hearted.”

They couldn’t wait to try out the sea-view bathtub; the warm water wrapped around their bodies and instantly washed away a few days’ worth of fatigue.

“So comfortable, I could fall asleep.”

“No, Jingjing, hurry up and finish; the water is getting cold and you’ll catch a chill.”

“Alright, alright, I was just saying that.”

After washing for about twenty minutes, Lu Xinyao prepared to get up and dress to return to the shelter, but she stepped on the wet plastic sheet, slipped, and nearly fell.

In her panic, Lu Xinyao grabbed a post and managed to avoid falling to the ground.

“Phew! That was close.”

No sooner had she spoken than the whole shack collapsed; Lu Xinyao stood there awkwardly stunned while Ning Jingjing was buried under the falling banana leaves.

“Ah… what kind of shoddy construction did Li Chenfeng build?”

Li Chenfeng heard Lu Xinyao’s scream and immediately ran out to check the situation.

“Ah… don’t come over here, you pervert, stop staring.”

Lu Xinyao hurriedly grabbed a banana leaf to cover herself and said, “Don’t look; go away.”

“Oh, sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

(Tch, I clearly built it solidly; there’s no reason for it to collapse… could this be one of the system’s “rewards”?)