Time flew by quickly, and in the blink of an eye, seven or eight days had passed. Due to Old Jin's still recovering ankle, making travel difficult, Xiao Guang, Jun Ya, and her father had been living in the small nest among the trees all these days.
Food and water weren't hard to come by here. A single piece of fruit was more than enough for a whole day, and they discovered that the morning dew was surprisingly sweet. Each sparkling, crystal-clear droplet was so large that one could practically bathe in it or drink their fill to their heart's content.
Fruit pits that had gone unnoticed before were hollowed out by Old Jin and repurposed into makeshift water containers. Even though the leaves and branches always held dew, human habits prompted them to conserve resources for unforeseen circumstances.
Guided by Old Jin, Xiao Guang even found a type of edible fruit resembling beans in the vicinity. These beans weren't much smaller than him, and as he lugged them back to the nest, he realized that supplementing protein with beans was much easier than hunting for meat. With beans this size, they could sustain themselves for several days.
The most challenging issue to tackle was their clothing. Xiao Guang's attire had long turned into a mess, and the cleanliness-conscious Jun Ya was particularly vexed. She washed her face, hands, and hair daily and even took a bath in the clear dewdrops between the tree branches, but changing clothes was a persistent problem. Although the girl was too shy to voice her thoughts, Xiao Guang could tell. Despite his seemingly clueless demeanor, he had a keen sensitivity towards those he cared about.
Of course, Xiao Guang didn't dare entertain any thoughts about Jun Ya. Considering her background, even though aristocratic families weren't as prominent in this era, Jin's daughter was somewhat of a refined young lady. While Old Jin demanded strict discipline from her, it applied mainly to her academic performance and character. Materially, he never held back; he granted her every request. From childhood to now, Jun Ya had never known any want, living a life akin to that of a princess.
It was said that Jun Ya even had an engagement, to a senior student from the same university. Both were exceptional in looks and talent. Thus, Xiao Guang was merely a handy servant, a scribe accompanying the fallen young lady. Perhaps during lonely nights, when he heard the rhythmic sound of Jun Ya's breathing through the wall, he couldn't help but recall that accidental glimpse of something provocative as he adjusted his collar and belt.
In recent days, Old Jin had been studying their route, sketching complicated-looking formulas on leaves. During his idle moments, Xiao Guang sat quietly beside him, instinctively helping when Old Jin naturally handed him tasks, all the while explaining what he was doing. Xiao Guang played the role of an attentive student, listening carefully, asking questions when he didn't understand.
"The growth rings of trees, the direction-finding ants of Dayan, the moon's rising, and the sun's setting all serve as orientation cues."
"By observing the moon's ascent and the sun's descent, we can determine direction."
"Odd, the elevation angle is off." Old Jin intermittently glanced at the sun while making calculations on the leaves.
"Xiao Guang, fetch me that pole."
"Xiao Guang, hand me the plumb line."
"Xiao Guang, support this section while I draw a circle."
...
Old Jin was growing fond of Xiao Guang. He was nimble and quick, and as Old Jin worked, he explained, teaching the young man various methods of measuring longitude and latitude in the wilderness.
To Xiao Guang's puzzlement, why wasn't Jun Ya helping? According to Old Jin, she was intelligent and knowledgeable about these matters, but she was either sightseeing or busy with something in the nest whenever they worked.
Finally, Xiao Guang learned why Jun Ya wasn't participating. After the third round of repeated calculations, Old Jin sighed, his hands raised in surrender, "Ah, I still can't figure it out. There's an issue with the longitude and latitude."
"Why is that?" Old Jin said he needed more time to think, so Xiao Guang sat by Jun Ya's side to rest and gaze at the scenery, absentmindedly muttering to himself.
"What a dummy!" Jun Ya, who was watching the scenery nearby, couldn't help but turn her head to glance pitifully at him, "On the first day you went fruit picking, my dad and I already calculated it twice. The old man just wouldn't give up and played with you for three more days."
"Ah? So that's why you've been lazy these days!" Xiao Guang suddenly realized, but he didn't feel like he'd lost out; after all, he'd learned a lot during this time.
Old Jin was profoundly knowledgeable, holding a doctorate in physics. He dabbled in astronomy, geography, and biology as well, boasting multiple doctoral degrees across different fields. Xiao Guang didn't know the exact number. One time, when Xiao Guang marveled at the old man's vast knowledge during a meal, Jun Ya mocked him, "You know how many doctorates my dad holds?" Old Jin interrupted his daughter, "Jun Ya, watch your words." After a few days of interaction, Old Jin seemed to quite like this young man.
"It's nothing." Xiao Guang smiled. After spending these past few days together, he had come to realize that this girl wasn't bad at all; in fact, she was quite kind-hearted. She avoided troubling others whenever possible and would never ask him to do anything risky. Whenever there was a slightly risky task, she would simply watch from the sidelines. Perhaps due to the sudden turn of events, she was indulging herself to release some pent-up stress. Most importantly, she really was quite attractive.
Xiao Guang had also been exploring the surrounding environment, and with Old Jin's guidance, his efforts were doubly effective. His efficiency in gathering supplies, organizing equipment, and scouting the environment was particularly remarkable. Especially in terms of discerning whether certain plants' fruit was edible based on their appearance and predicting insect behavior, he was astonishingly accurate.
Yet, the more Old Jin observed, the more he frowned. He noticed that these plants and animals weren't quite right. At first glance, they resembled certain known plants, and their tastes were similar. But upon closer examination, differences emerged. Was this truly some isolated island where the species and categories of life were the same, but they evolved differently due to a confined environment? Or had they become smaller, resulting in different perspectives?
One morning, not long after Xiao Guang had gone out, he returned with great excitement, dragging along a bunch of fuzzy balls, the combined size of which was several times larger than himself. Oddly, they weren't heavy; instead, they were light and airy. He shouted enthusiastically from quite a distance away.
"Old Jin, Jun Ya, look at what I've brought for you!"
"This kid," Old Jin watched Xiao Guang scuttling among the tree branches, his steps neither too quick nor too slow, "Take your time, don't fall."
Old Jin was growing fonder of this kid. He felt that Xiao Guang possessed a trait he had forgotten over the years – "ordinariness." Perhaps he had seen too many outstanding young people, been surrounded by too many exceptional young scientists, to the point that he had nearly forgotten this feeling. The sort of optimism that could make mistakes out of "ignorance" yet readily correct them, like a child full of hope in the future.
"Take a look, you two. What is this?" Xiao Guang presented his findings as if they were precious treasures.
"This is… a cocoon?" Old Jin hesitated, "The cocoon of what?"
"Yes, the insects inside have flown away. This cocoon is so soft, and the inner layer is even smoother," Xiao Guang explained.
"This could be used to make clothing," Old Jin realized the significance of this find and immediately stepped forward to touch and examine it. After a thorough examination, he grinned, his eyes sparkling, "This is top-grade silkworm silk. No, it's a natural high-molecular fiber protein even softer than silk, and it's even multicolored. Marvelous! This is fantastic."
Glancing at the puzzled Xiao Guang, Old Jin continued, "This is the best material for making clothes. It offers excellent flexibility and comfort."
In the past few days, the old man had solely focused on the environment and survival, but it didn't mean he was oblivious to human interactions and sensitivities. He understood the girl's predicament; her clothes were dirty, and despite repeated attempts to clean them, they even had a few holes. He had been unable to address this before, being preoccupied and also hesitant to trouble Xiao Guang further. It's worth noting that over these three or four days, Jun Ya had always stayed with him. Xiao Guang had been the one running around, preparing food, materials, and even verifying some of Old Jin's ideas by exploring the area.
It wasn't that Jun Ya was slacking off and not helping; it was more due to the fear of getting separated if they went out together and the concern of a young man and woman venturing into the forest as fatherly Old Jin couldn't be at ease. Although Xiao Guang seemed like a decent person, their time together had been brief, and there were still uncertainties. After all, Old Jin harbored a hint of caution. Thus, when Jun Ya volunteered to go together one time, Old Jin used his limited mobility as an excuse to keep his daughter behind.
"I want to take a look, too." When she heard the material could be used to make clothing, Jun Ya's interest was piqued immediately. "Wow, it's true! This is fantastic! I want this one and that one, wow, the colors are so stylish."
"Wow, silly, you've done a great job with this. If you were a dog instead, I'd definitely give you a kiss myself."
"Uh." This metaphor sounded a bit strange, and he felt even worse off than a single dog.
Though Jun Ya was lively and willful, she was equally intelligent and skillful. Like many girls, she possessed a certain natural talent and knowledge in clothing design. She spent the entire afternoon busy with the soft cocoons, turning them into whole pieces of silk fabric, which could then be fashioned into well-fitting garments.
Xiao Guang wasn't idle either. He went out again and found more cocoons, with shades of pink being the predominant color. Over the following days, Jun Ya personally chose cocoons with gradient stripes to craft her own clothing. Old Jin's clothing was made from white cocoons, a bit more plain. As for Xiao Guang's new attire, it was fashioned from pink cocoons. Looking at the pink clothes, Xiao Guang's excited face was mingled with a slightly protesting expression.
"Look, I even made a backpack for you." Jun Ya's words were sharp, yet the pink backpack she held appeared innocent and well-intentioned.
"Give it a try, come on!" Seeing Xiao Guang's dazed expression, Jun Ya felt quite amused teasing him.
"I think... I think this outfit should be for you to wear. I purposely found a pink one," Xiao Guang protested for the sake of his dignity.
Seeing Xiao Guang's downcast look, Jun Ya felt like she might be bullying him. She added, "How about this? Next time you bring a few more, I'll help you make two in different colors. You can just make do with this one for now; it actually looks quite nice on you. You wouldn't want my dad to wear pink, would you?"
With the prospect of being able to change outfits, Jun Ya's mood brightened considerably. During the twilight hours, both of them, well-fed and content, sat together on a branch, watching the setting sun. The golden sunlight bathed their shoulders, and in the future, whenever evening fell, Xiao Guang would always remember this day – the day he sat shoulder-to-shoulder with the extraordinary woman beside him, watching the sun dip below the horizon.
As night descended, inside the cozy nook among the trees, Old Jin beckoned for everyone to gather and sit down.
"Over the past few days, I've conducted measurements, calculations, and analysis of these unfamiliar plants. Unfortunately, I couldn't determine longitude and latitude. But I've analyzed these animals and plants that look like ones on Earth, yet have slight differences. This has led me to a most likely conclusion – we might be on some island."
"An island?" Both of them echoed in unison.
"Yes, the origin of this incident lies in an experiment conducted at the research institute. We won't delve into the specifics of the experiment here. Personally, I don't think we'd be transported to some distant planet light-years away through a sci-fi-like time-space portal. And even if we were, the chances of it being a planet suitable for humans are slim. Most planets are desolate wastelands, and you should be aware of this."
Jun Ya and Xiao Guang nodded in agreement.
Old Jin continued, "However, the plants and animals here differ somewhat from what we're familiar with. A reasonable explanation is that this might be a relatively closed, isolated evolutionary environment. Based on the aerial observations we've made, I'm nearly certain that this is a small island."
"Here," Old Jin pointed to a location, "should be a higher area, with relatively low vegetation. It's also where we initially appeared. That's why we found exposed rocks, like a yellow soil slope."
"As we move in this direction, the terrain gradually descends. We're in the middle of a forest area, and the southernmost point should be the inlet to the sea, a coastal wetland."
"According to my predictions, the rainy season is likely approaching, and it will last quite a while. This place will also turn into a wetland, with the ground becoming flooded. For humans, continuous days of rain won't make life in the trees any easier. I anticipate the rainy season to arrive anytime, so we should depart as soon as possible. Ideally, within the next two days, head for the high ground to search for the group."
At this moment, Xiao Guang sat there, lost in thought, seemingly pondering something.
"Do you have any insights?" Old Jin suddenly turned to Xiao Guang.
"Aha." Xiao Guang looked up. "I thought of something, but I'm not sure how to explain it."
"Ah, can't even articulate it properly," Jun Ya shook her head.
Old Jin smiled, "Did you discover something?"
Xiao Guang felt a bit embarrassed, "I noticed something, but I can't really put it into words."
"Hey, did I say something wrong?" Xiao Guang wondered.
"No, your information is quite important." Old Jin pondered.