Chapter 11: For fairness, I’ll sleep in the middle.

“Hmph, you took advantage of the situation, and you’re still not happy about it.”

Lu Xinyao lowered her head and felt uneasy as she said, “I also want to be next to Chenfeng,” and although her voice was soft everyone present could just hear her.

Ning Jingjing and Li Chenfeng stared at Lu Xinyao in stunned astonishment, and when Lu Xinyao looked up and saw the two of them looking at her strangely she realized that all of her nagging had been heard.

Ning Jingjing grinned wickedly and said, “What, Xinyao, you like Li Chenfeng too?”

Li Chenfeng was ecstatic inside because this was nothing like the usual otherworldly school beauty, and on the surface he pretended to be nonchalant as he cleared his throat and said, “Ahem, to be fair, I’ll sleep in the middle.”

“Look at you, so full of yourself.”

Lu Xinyao covered her face and said, “I’m so embarrassed, how could you say something so shameful?”

The sky felt increasingly heavy and overcast, and without the sun they could not tell the time, only that it had already gotten dark.

Listening to the rain hitting the banana leaves like a lullaby, Li Chenfeng yawned and said, “Let’s take turns keeping watch; this fire must not go out, because the dry grass outside has been soaked by the rain and it’s almost impossible to start a fire.”

Lu Xinyao nodded and said, “You’ve had the hardest time these past two days, you sleep first and leave the rest to me.”

“Yes, yes, go to sleep with peace of mind; I, Ning Jingjing, will also do my part for everyone.”

Although both young ladies normally lived in comfort and privilege, they stepped forward for the greater good in crucial moments, and Li Chenfeng felt very touched.

He had been spinning like a top these past two days, and even though he had Stamina on his side he still couldn’t hold on; not long after collapsing, Li Chenfeng fell into a deep sleep.

Listening to Li Chenfeng’s even breathing, Lu Xinyao made a quiet gesture to Ning Jingjing, and Ning Jingjing responded with an OK sign.

Li Chenfeng did not know how long he had slept when numbness in his arms woke him; to his left was Lu Xinyao and to his right was Ning Jingjing, each sleeping with one of his arms as their pillow, and the two women were sprawled out in a way he had never expected from their normally genteel appearances.

At that moment Li Chenfeng only wanted to stand up and sing, “I feel like my life has reached its peak, I feel like my life has reached its climax…”

If he could safely return to school, he would probably brag about this for the rest of his life.

To relieve his nearly numb arms, Li Chenfeng pulled his backpack over and placed it under Ning Jingjing’s head, and she did not notice and continued to sleep, after which he gently withdrew the arm on Lu Xinyao’s side, used his right hand to slightly support her head while slowly pulling out his left arm and then gently set her head back down.

He hardly dared to breathe, and of all times his arm suddenly cramped, causing his left hand, held in the air, to fall onto Lu Xinyao’s soft spot.

Lu Xinyao opened her eyes in pain and said, “Ch…Chenfeng, what are you doing?”

Li Chenfeng looked embarrassed and said, “If I say I didn’t mean to, would you believe me?”

“Quick, move it away.”

“I would, but my arm cramped.”

“How long are you going to keep it there? This is too embarrassing.”

“Can you help lift my hand?”

“Huh? Oh, right!”

Lu Xinyao removed Li Chenfeng’s hand and stood up to tidy her appearance, saying, “My hair was matted by the seawater and can’t be combed out, and my body is all salty.”

Li Chenfeng sniffed his armpits and said, “Hmm, the salt left on the body after the seawater evaporates really feels uncomfortable.”

He looked at the heavy rain outside and said, “I have an unpolished suggestion: maybe we can take advantage of the rain to wash ourselves?”

“I think that’s a good idea, I’m just afraid of catching a cold from getting soaked.”

“That’s true; boys have thicker skin and it’s fine, but cold water baths are bad for girls’ health.”

Lu Xinyao felt a jolt inside, and she increasingly thought that Li Chenfeng was very thoughtful since he even knew such small things.

“How come? Are you deeply captivated by my handsome face?”

“Yeah, right,” Lu Xinyao said shyly, lowering her head.

『Please light a fire before sunset to ward off the cold; build a bathing area for your companions.』

“Then I’ll figure out a way to make you a soaking pool; I won’t let my woman suffer even a little.”

“Pervert, since when did I become your woman?”

“Hey, don’t say that so confidently; there’s an old saying that it takes ten years of good karma to ride the same boat and a hundred years to share a pillow, so tell me, do we count?”

Lu Xinyao kept sizing him up and thought, (Even though he’s so cheesy, why do I actually feel kind of happy about it; in the past I probably would have picked at my toes until they broke, could it really be because Chenfeng is handsome? Ah, how shallow of me.)

Ning Jingjing opened her groggy eyes, wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth, and said, “Ah, what are you talking about? Has the rescue team arrived?”

“Oh, Jingjing, the rescue team came in your dream, didn’t they?”

“Oh, I dreamed someone came in a lifeboat to pick us up and take us home; I thought it was real, but it turned out to be a dream.”

Li Chenfeng took off his shirt and prepared to brave the rain to find materials to build the bathing room, and when he stood up his eight-pack immediately caught the two girls’ attention.

Ning Jingjing looked at his silhouette in the rain and said, “Wow! I really want to reach out and touch them to see what they feel like.”

Lu Xinyao lifted Ning Jingjing’s chin and said, “Although I admit his abs are very attractive, can you pull your chin in? You’re about to drool.”

Ning Jingjing swallowed and said, “Ah, I didn’t expect the seemingly delicate Li Chenfeng to have an eight-pack, but why is he going out in such heavy rain?”

“He’s probably going to look for materials; he said he’ll make us a bathing room.”

“A bathing room?”

“Mm, he also said he’d heat water for us to bathe in, and even on a desert island he wants us to keep our dignity.”

“Really? I’m so touched; Li Chenfeng’s image in my mind keeps getting taller and more heroic.”

Lu Xinyao shook her head helplessly and said, “Do you know what you look like?”

“Like what?”

“Like a little female cat in heat.”

“Aww, see if this little she-cat will pounce on you,” she said, and then she kept scratching at Lu Xinyao’s waist and armpits.

Lu Xinyao writhed on the ground from the tickling and cried, “Ah~ Jingjing, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

The two of them played gleefully, while the miserable Li Chenfeng rummaged through the trash at the water’s edge like a drowned dog, and because of the heavy rain quite a lot of things had been washed ashore.

“I never thought that I, Li Chenfeng, at such a young age, handsome and debonair, would be reduced to scavenging through garbage to get by; it’s truly pitiful and lamentable,” he said.

Just then he found a dented iron pot by the rocks, and Li Chenfeng brightened and said, “This came at exactly the right time.”

He lifted the pot by its handle on a stick, slung it over his shoulder, and sang, “The great king sent me to patrol the mountain, so I’ll take a turn through the human world…”

Continuing along the coastline he found a plastic tarp about 10 square meters in size, striped blue, white, and red, and that damned wave of familiarity washed over him.