When they were halfway through eating the grilled fish, Xu Zifan made a cold dish with wild vegetables, seasoned with the sour wild fruits he had picked and the seasonings he had brought.
Everyone was already quite satisfied with the grilled fish and shellfish, but when paired with cold dishes, it was not only refreshing but also brought out the freshness of the seafood and the freshness of the wild vegetables. The combination was even more delicious!
There's also a wild vegetable that looks like lettuce. If you like to wrap meat in lettuce, you can eat it. At this time of year, in this place, having such a high-class dinner is simply heaven on earth!
Yi Xiao and Chen Zaimin finished their grilled fish first. Xu Zifan pointed to the two fish that hadn't been touched yet and said, "There's more here. Brother Chen, Brother Yi, if you're not full, have some more. This one is enough for me."
Song Yunjian was a kind-hearted man, and upon hearing this, he said, "Brother Chen, Yi Xiao, you two eat some more, I've had enough too."
That's what he said, but his reluctant look didn't mean that at all.
Chen Zaimin smiled, took a grilled fish and divided it into three pieces. The three of them each took a piece. "Let's share it. The youngest, there's one left for the three of you to share."
Xu Zifan handed the piece directly to Su Yanchen, "Senior brother, you and Sister Xue eat it. I haven't finished this one yet. I'll have some soup later. It's really enough."
Su Yanchen didn't want to appear as if he was craving his food, but he was so hungry and the grilled fish was so delicious that he couldn't bring himself to refuse. He thanked him and accepted it.
Xue Ninglu still remembered the love triangle, and said with a smile, "You're so great, youngest sister! Let's eat this together, the three of us. We can't leave you out." As she spoke, she waved her hand, "Come sit over here, so the three of us can share it."
Xu Zifan immediately waved his hands in fright, "No, Sister Xue, what I said at the airport was true. I really can't get close to men, otherwise people will definitely accuse me of hyping things up. Sister Xue, you and your senior brother eat. I'm full and don't want any more."
To show that he was telling the truth, Xu Zifan patted his stomach. Seeing that he was trying his best to stay away from Xue Ninglu, Chen Zaimin chimed in, "It's enough that the youngest is full. We'll have soup later, and there will be wild fruits after the meal. You two can eat."
Xue Ninglu secretly resented Xu Zifan for being ungrateful, so she had to share a fish with Su Yanchen. The two of them even made some ambiguous little gestures and occasionally smiled at each other.
By the time everyone finished eating the grilled fish, the grilled shellfish and cold dishes were long gone.
Xu Zifan sprinkled some seasoning into the soup at the end and said with a smile, "The soup is ready, but we don't have a spoon, so let's use the coconut shell as a bowl to drink it."
Song Yunjian said, "Those coconut shells are particularly difficult to cut."
Xu Zifan got up, walked to the tree, picked up a coconut that Song Yunjian had picked earlier, and casually said, "No way, there's a trick to opening this. It's much easier this way."
He explained everything to them as he drove, and after he finished, he asked them, "Would you like some coconut juice?"
Everyone was waiting to drink the soup, so of course no one wanted to drink the coconut juice. Xu Zifan poured out the coconut juice, divided the coconut shell into six parts, scooped out the coconut meat, and put some of the coconut meat into the soup. "This way, it will taste even better."
He served the soup to everyone, saying, "Try it and see how it is."
The group quickly took a sip. Chen Zaimin closed his eyes slightly and smiled, shaking his head and exclaiming, "Youngest brother, you're such a treasure! My goodness, I'm so lucky. I never thought that coming to the island would not only allow me to eat my fill, but also to drink such delicious hot soup. I feel so refreshed."
He turned to look at the staff's expressions and laughed so hard he bent over, "You're all utterly disappointed, aren't you? Hahaha."
The others also praised Xu Zifan's soup, saying it was delicious and that his cooking skills were amazing. Their expressions clearly showed they enjoyed it; it would have been strange not to praise it. However, they were genuinely surprised, especially Su Yanchen.
Su Yanchen couldn't understand it at all. Xu Zifan's manager had clearly said he was a good-for-nothing pretty boy, good for nothing except his looks. This was so different from what he had imagined. Xu Zifan's skills, usually unremarkable, would definitely shine on this show.
Thinking of this, Su Yanchen's mood plummeted, and he could no longer taste the delicious soup.
Chen Zaimin called everyone to stand in front of the campfire, "Come on, let's have a toast and take a picture. Today is so worth celebrating! We've overcome the first hurdle of surviving on a deserted island. Tomorrow at dawn, we'll explore this island! Cheers!"
"Cheers!" everyone shouted in unison, smiling and looking at the camera for the photographer to take a picture.
After finishing the soup, everyone ate all the wild vegetables, sour wild fruits, and coconut meat in the pot. The sour wild fruits weren't sour at all after being cooked, and they were quite filling, like potatoes, and quite pleasant to eat.
After eating and drinking their fill, the six sat contentedly around the fire. It was getting a bit chilly at night, so they put on the coats they had taken off during the day. Xu Zifan took the opportunity to ask Su Yanchen, "Senior brother, are you really not going to stay in the shed? You can just set up the other half."
Su Yanchen had already noticed that their tent was only half-built, enough for three people, so of course he wouldn't go over there. Building that one was no better than building his own tent. He immediately objected, "Ours is almost done too, let's build that one, I'll go now."
Xu Zifan then asked, "Do you need any help?"
Su Yanchen shook his head, "No need, just some leaves, Song Ge and I can handle it."
Xu Zifan asked at this moment on purpose, guessing that he hadn't done much work and wouldn't understand the difficulties, so he would definitely refuse firmly, and it turned out just as he thought.
Xu Zifan said, "Brother Chen, Brother Yi, let's improve the shed a bit more. Let's wrap it with vines and plant some leaves to block the wind. I've already done that."
A lot of materials have come back.
Chen Zaimin suddenly realized, "No wonder you brought so many vines and leaves. Let's go, we'll feel energetic after eating. Do you think there's anything else to eat on this island? Shall we have grilled fish again tomorrow?"
Xu Zifan laughed and said, "When I was looking for a water source, I saw rabbits and snakes. We can eat those."
Xue Ninglu's eyes widened in surprise. "A snake? Where? Could it crawl into the camp?"
Xu Zifan didn't even turn his head as he wrapped vines around the shed, casually saying, "I don't know, Sister Xue, ask the production team, they should know."
Xue Ninglu frowned and could only ask the production team. She was genuinely scared, and she hadn't expected Xu Zifan to keep his distance from her at this point. The production team repeatedly assured her that there were no poisonous snakes and that there wouldn't be any problems, which slightly reassured Xue Ninglu, but she was still very frightened.
But everyone was busy and no one had the time to comfort her, so she tried to sit as close to the staff as possible and couldn't help but let her mind wander as she looked at the dark woods.
Su Yanchen and Song Yunjian tried to put leaves on the vines, but the vines were leaning, so if they put the leaves too high, they would fall down, and if they put too many, the vines would collapse. No matter what they did, they couldn't get it right.
They looked at Xu Zifan, who was diligently winding vines around the shed, and didn't dare ask him for help. The two of them discussed how to secure the leaves themselves, and it took them a long time to do something so simple, making them look very clumsy.
Su Yanchen accidentally scraped the back of his hand, and Song Yunjian accidentally cut his finger; neither of them looked too good.
After they finished, Xu Zifan and his two companions also finished theirs. Unlike their simple tree tent, Xu Zifan's setup was quite complicated, as he had practically built four walls around the tent.
Although the wall is made up of dense vines and interspersed leaves, it is not thick, but it is enough to block the wind. Moreover, it is very sturdy and taut when you hit it with your hand, making your hand hurt. It looks like a complete house!
The two sides were finally finished, but the comparison that Su Yanchen and his team had imagined was completely invalid. The other people's shed was not only not ugly, but it looked like a real house. They thought their shed would be dreamy and beautiful, but in order to fix the leaves, they used vines to wrap around it here and there, making it crooked and ugly. In comparison, it looked extremely rudimentary.
Su Yanchen had long regretted it. If he had known that Xu Zifan and the others could build a house out of a tent, and build it so well and so sturdily, why would he have made trouble for himself? He could have just waited to live in the house. Now he was exhausted and injured, and he didn't get any credit. The audience would definitely say that Xu Zifan was much better than them. But it was too late to regret it. He himself said that he couldn't live in the tent, so he could only live in the tattered tent he built himself.
Xu Zifan washed the sweet wild fruits and distributed them to everyone, so they could lie down and chat while eating. Then he crushed the dried herbs into powder and sprinkled it around the wooden house. He asked Su Yanchen, "Senior brother, do you want this or mosquito spray? This herb can repel mosquitoes and it works very well."
Su Yanchen hesitated. Xu Zifan's performance over the past half-day had been amazing. He actually believed that Xu Zifan was indeed particularly skilled in outdoor activities. But herbs? Are there any herbs that can repel mosquitoes? If so, why are so many people getting bitten by mosquitoes? Merchants would have already put them out for sale, right?
Xue Ninglu thought the same way as him, and since she was afraid of snakes and didn't want to gamble, she said before Su Yanchen could speak, "Let's use mosquito spray. I use it when I go on picnics, I'm used to it."
Xu Zifan didn't say anything, handed them the mosquito spray, and smiled at Yi Xiao, saying, "Brother Yi, trust me, this herbal medicine really works."
Yi Xiao nodded. He had been thinking about it for a long time, and he was still more inclined to believe Xu Zifan.
After everything was sorted out, Chen Zaimin called Xu Zifan and Yi Xiao into the wooden house.
When they were tying the vines together, they left a square gap about one meter high on one side to serve as a small door. Inside the small door, there was a row of narrow holes in the ground. Xu Zifan used many branches to tie together a board, and after going inside, he inserted the board into the holes in the ground. It was a very sturdy door, which was perfect!
On Su Yanchen's side, the three of them carefully crawled into the tent, afraid of damaging anything. They couldn't find any dry grass, so they could only spread their coats and leaves on the grass to lie down. Thinking about the state of the cabin, all three felt uncomfortable, and the mosquito spray was very pungent. The tent was also cramped, making it extremely uncomfortable to be huddled inside.
Xu Zifan and his friends' cabin was spacious, and they brought all their belongings inside. The three of them ate sweet wild fruits, drank water or coconut juice, and chatted and laughed while turning on their flashlights, just like they were on a picnic.
The director, watching the six people on screen, quietly convened a meeting with the production team. Xu Zifan's abilities were beyond question, and he would likely perform just as well in the next few days as he did on the first day; however, it wouldn't be appropriate for him to survive on a deserted island without experiencing some embarrassing moments.
After discussing it, they decided that Su Yanchen, Xue Ninglu, and Song Yunjian would take on the role of the disheveled characters. Since they were already quite disheveled, they could just emphasize that aspect during editing.
As the night grew quiet, everyone chatted for a while and gradually drifted off to sleep. At one o'clock in the morning, the howling wind grew louder and louder, and suddenly a torrential downpour began!