Chen Zaimin found Su Yanchen's suggestion strange. He looked at the twelve pillars that had already been hammered into the ground and asked in confusion, "What's wrong with it? Now we just need to fix the roof."
Su Yanchen took the vines and said, "Brother Chen, do you know how to tie these? None of us do, right? We don't want to get hit in the face by these branches while we're sleeping at night. We might as well just sleep in the open."
Chen Zaimin frowned and asked, "What if it rains?"
Su Yanchen chuckled, pointing to the clear sky, "Do you think it'll rain like this? We might change campsites tomorrow, so why bother today? We might as well just make do for the night. If we really need shelter, wouldn't it be easier to use a sturdy tree for support? Just stretch out a couple of vines, fix them to the ground, and add some leaves, and you've got a tent. What do you guys think?"
Song Yunjian agreed, "I'm already exhausted, and you all look worn out too. With the sun so strong, you might get sunburned and it'll hurt for days. Let's rest in the shade, like Yanchen suggested, and set up a tent."
"If it really rains, you'll get struck by lightning if you're under the tree." After saying that, Yi Xiao picked up a vine and tried to tie the horizontal pole on the roof to the vertical pole that had been erected. However, he had never done it before, and no matter how he tried, he couldn't tie it tightly. He stood there frowning and thinking.
Xue Ninglu suggested, "Yanchen has a point. He's worried that everyone will get tired. How about this, Brother Chen and Brother Yi, you take a break and figure out how to tie the vines. Brother Song, see if you can start a fire. I'll help Yanchen set up the tent. It's not too difficult, and we should be able to set it up quickly. This way, it won't delay anything."
No one objected, so they did as she suggested. She and Su Yanchen chatted and laughed together, appearing to work very well together, and even discussed what to do the next day and the day after that.
As Chen Zaimin studied the vines, he listened to their explanation, shaking his head inwardly. Ever since hearing Xu Zifan's idea, he felt that their words were all pretentious, that they were pretending to know what they didn't, and that they were giving nonsensical advice.
Song Yunjian tried to start a fire by rubbing sticks together, but he couldn't stand it for more than five minutes. He rubbed his red palms and worriedly said, "This won't do. Is the production team going to make us exchange something for a lighter?"
The director denied this, saying, "Survival on a desert island means relying entirely on yourself. The tools were already selected at the beginning, and we will not provide any more tools after that, no matter what happens. Please figure it out yourselves."
Song Yunjian shook his head, "Brother Chen, Yi Xiao, why don't you two give it a try? I've really never touched this stuff before."
Chen Zaimin got up and walked over. "Okay, I'll give it a try. You take a break."
There's a trick to starting a fire by rubbing sticks together; it's very difficult for someone who's not skilled, and they might even wear their palms raw without getting a spark. Chen Zaimin persisted for a while, but only managed to produce a tiny spark, and he didn't give up. Yi Xiao also tried, and Su Yanchen and Xue Ninglu both came over to try, but it didn't work.
The group was at a loss. Su Yanchen and Xue Ninglu managed to get the two vines into the ground, but they were tied to the forked branches and driven into the ground. When they reached out to pull them, they were a bit shaky and didn't feel sturdy at all.
They were both exhausted. Su Yanchen laughed and said, "I think this is pretty good for our skill level. After all, we're not professionals. Now all we need are big leaves. Shall we go pick some?"
Xue Ninglu complained in a spoiled tone, "I'm so hungry I can't walk anymore. Why isn't Lao Yao back yet? I'm still waiting for his delicious food."
Chen Zaimin said, "Let's wait a little longer. He'll be going to find a water source, and it might be a long way. Once we have a water source, things will be much easier for us."
Su Yanchen immediately said, "Junior brother shouldn't have gone alone. Now I'm worried about him and don't know where to look for him."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Xu Zifan returned, calling out, "Look what I brought back! It's fresh water, very clean water!"
Xu Zifan was carrying ten net bags, each containing a coconut.
Chen Zaimin stood up, took the bottle, looked down at it, and exclaimed in surprise, "It really is fresh water! You put water in a coconut? This much is definitely enough to drink, youngest brother, you're amazing!"
"Brother Chen, you flatter me. We just happened to run into each other." Xu Zifan smiled, tying the nets to the trees to prevent them from being knocked over. Then he looked around the campsite and looked surprised. "Brother Song, Sister Xue, you only found vines?"
Seeing that he had found a lot of things, Song Yunjian felt a little embarrassed. "We were unlucky. We didn't have the right tools to cut the vines. We worked for a long time and were too tired to do anything, so we came back first."
Xu Zifan paused for a moment, then picked up his military shovel and said, "I'll go find it."
Chen Zaimin quickly pulled him back, "Youngest brother, take a rest. You've been running around the most. You'll wear yourself out if you keep going like this."
He pulled Xu Zifan to sit under the shade of a tree. "Perfect timing, you can teach us how to secure the roof with vines; we can't tie it tightly enough."
Xu Zifan looked at the shed, then glanced at the two vines by the tree. "What are those? For drying things?"
Chen Zaimin coughed lightly, suppressing a laugh, "That was Yan Chen's idea. He thought it would be easier this way; just put some leaves on it and you have a tent."
Xu Zifan frowned in disapproval, "What if there's thunder? A strong wind will blow it away, the leaves will slide down, it won't be able to stay in place, and it won't stop the rain at all..."
"Junior brother, you're worrying too much. Don't think the worst of things. Let's be optimistic." Su Yanchen interrupted him before he could finish speaking, his words already carrying a hint of sarcasm.
The conflicts in this program were also a potential trigger point, and Su Yanchen believed that after half a day, he had enough reason to criticize...
Xu Zifan, the youngest son, has too much of a monopoly on authority.
Xu Zifan shook his head. "I don't think it will work. We have to build a shed. This isn't about thinking the worst, but about being thorough. Being more prepared in the wild will make us more comfortable."
Su Yanchen is older than him, debuted earlier, and has a more stable position now. How could he allow him to embarrass him time and time again? Hearing this, he said in a huff, "Then I'll stay in a tent. I put a lot of effort into setting it up, so I can't let it go to waste. It's good that your tents aren't too crowded."
Xue Ninglu smiled and said, "I feel safer sleeping under a big tree. Tents are fine, but sheds are too hard to set up. How about this, we can tie up some vines and build a circle around the tree. That way, it will look like a cone-shaped house, completely covered by leaves. We can also separate our sleeping positions with stones, like individual rooms. Isn't this a great idea?"
This kind of house is indeed quite beautiful and dreamy, and it's understandable that girls want to sleep alone. Song Yunjian glanced at the big tree, which could only accommodate three people at most, and quickly said, "Then I'll stay with you guys. A single room is nice, this is a great idea. Brother Chen, you guys can build it over that big tree next to us. Just imagine, two green cone-shaped houses, wouldn't that look beautiful in photos?"
Chen Zaimin glanced at Xu Zifan, who was already testing the resilience of the vines, seemingly completely unconcerned about the others. He thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "I've been building this shed for several hours, and it's really ignoring me. I'm determined to get it up and running today. You guys set up the tents."
Yi Xiao sat next to Xu Zifan, learning how to handle the vines, and had obviously also chosen a shed.
The three of them were somewhat displeased, feeling that the two of them were completely obedient to Xu Zifan and did not consider their suggestions at all.
Their ideas are much better than Xu Zifan's; they're less effort, more entertaining, and would make the show more watchable.
That ugly, square shed looks like a cowshed in the countryside. What will it look like in the photos?
However, they weren't willing to give up. After comparing the two, they found the tree tents were easier and looked better, while the square tents were laborious, not guaranteed to be set up properly, and were both ugly and impractical. Unless it rained, but how could it possibly rain on such a sunny day? And how much rain could it possibly bring?
Xu Zifan glanced around and quickly understood their thoughts. They had never been to an island before and knew nothing about the island's weather. One second it might be sunny and clear, and the next it might be windy and pouring rain. With just a few unstable vines and leaves that would fall at the slightest touch, it was no wonder they couldn't sleep soundly.
He had observed the celestial signs and knew that a torrential downpour was inevitable that night!
There was already some obvious unpleasantness between the two sides. Xu Zifan was working with the vines, and Song Yunjian and the others were too embarrassed to ask him to cook. Silence spread in the camp. After a while, Su Yanchen and Xue Ninglu got up to find Ye Zi and asked Song Yunjian to leave the vines for the tent.
Song Yunjian was unwilling but there was nothing he could do. He could tell that the two of them were about to have an ambiguous relationship, but he couldn't go over there, so he could only continue working on an empty stomach.
Xu Zifan taught Chen Zaimin and Yi Xiao how to tie a knot securely, demonstrating it three times step by step until they learned it.
Xu Zifan tied a crossbeam to the beam, and even with their vigorous shaking, it wouldn't budge. Chen Zaimin gave a thumbs up and laughed, "This tying method is amazing! I've learned something new!"
Xu Zifan laughed and said, "Then Brother Chen and Brother Yi, you guys tie up the crossbeams first. I'll take the fish to the water's edge to process it and find Ye Zi while I'm at it. By the way, since Brother Song and the other two don't live in the shed, we don't need to make it this big. We can just make it halfway to save time and cook earlier."
Chen Zaimin nodded, "Okay, hurry back, it's getting dark."
"Okay, don't worry, Brother Chen." Xu Zifan carried the fish and shellfish, put the pot in the straw basket and carried it on his back, and quickly ran to the beach. The cameraman's face fell when he saw this. He hurriedly asked the director to switch shifts with Yi Xiao's cameraman. He had been following Xu Zifan all afternoon and was too tired to run anymore.
Xu Zifan didn't care about anything else. He ran to the riverbank, deftly removed the fish's innards, buried them in a pit, washed everything clean with water, wrapped them in two large leaves, and put them in a straw basket. Then he quickly gathered many large leaves, about a meter long and half a meter wide, folded them vertically, tied them with vines, carried them on his back, cut more than a dozen vines, and ran back to the camp.
Just then, Chen Zaimin and Yi Xiao had already tied two crossbeams. He used vines to weave back and forth between the crossbeams to make a simple shed roof. Then he placed large leaves on the shed roof and laid them in three layers, crisscrossing each other. After laying them tightly, he used tree roots and branches as thick as a thumb to press down on them to secure the leaves.
He clapped his hands and said, "That's about right. Brother Chen, Brother Yi, you two work a little harder and tie these branches to the beam. That way, the leaves won't be blown away by a strong wind. I'll go get some dry grass."
It was getting dark, and the two of them didn't waste any words. They nodded and told him to be careful. He went to the location marked by Shao Hua, tied up several bundles of dry grass, and spread them on the ground in the shed.
While still nailing the vines, Song Yunjian looked up. Although the square shed was simple, it wasn't as ugly as he had imagined. On the contrary, it looked exceptionally sturdy. For some reason, he suddenly felt a little uneasy. It seemed like he had chosen the wrong side.