Chapter 23: This Thing Hurts My Chest
Under the pull of the bowstring, the lower end of the small stick standing on the dry wooden shaft began to produce small-sized wood shavings.
This was just the beginning; Zhang Liu secretly gritted his teeth, and as he pushed the wooden stick in his hand downward, the bow he was using to carve the wood to make the fire pumped back and forth stronger.
Give me one success!
His arms began to ache, but in response, a small hole was drilled into the dry wood.
The wood shavings near the entrance to the hole turned brown, and small streams of green smoke began to emerge from them.
The smell of smoky wood also began to appear in the air.
"It's smoke!" Anya, who was sitting, couldn't stay still, and after smelling smoke, she quickly stepped forward to take a closer look.
Qin Rushuang, who was gently rubbing the chest of her shirt next to her, left her work and walked forward.
The two of them unanimously chose to bend down and observe this scene.
It's just that the directions are different; Anya is facing Zhang Liu, while Qin Rushuang is standing behind Zhang Liu.
The sun in the sky was so toxic that even if he took off his clothes and exposed his upper body, Zhang Liu was already sweating from all the movement.
There was continuous sweat flowing along the forehead, across the eyebrows, and then into the eyes.
He had to blink constantly to relieve the pain in his eyes due to sweat.
This is not the most important thing. Zhang Liu is more worried about his arm right now. Although thick smoke was coming out, it had reached its max.
The pain in the arm muscles built up to the extreme, and Zhang Liu sighed heavily during the next push and pull.
Then the bow slipped from his hand and fell silently.
Zhang Liu himself was leaning on the ground with one hand and breathing hard.
The muscles in his right forearm and upper arm had lost all feeling, leaving only severe numbness.
"Ah?" Anya, who had no idea what was happening, suddenly showed a surprised expression, then quickly shouted, "Zhang Liu, keep going; it's about to catch fire!"
From Anya's point of view, the wood used as the base for the kindling point now contained dark shavings. This is obviously due to the carbonization reaction caused by high temperatures. It was a pity for Zhang Liu to stop now.
"It seems that his hands are very tired, and he can't do it anymore." Qin Rushuang quickly unscrewed the half-filled mineral water bottle in her hand, then put it in Zhang Liu's mouth and began to give him water at an angle.
"Gulu...Gulu..."
Zhang Liu was not polite to Qin Rushuang; he held the bottle with his left hand that could still be used normally and directly drank half the bottle of water.
He sighed, and then, under Anya and Qin Rushuang's anxious gazes, he said with a mocking smile, "My muscles will be sore after pulling for a long time, and then I won't be able to do it anymore."
"But it is very effective." Qin Rushuang put her fingertips on the pile of black sawdust and felt it, then quickly pulled it out, then said, "The temperature is too high."
"Well, I have specifically chosen one." Zhang Liu looked at the sun that had reached the center of the sky, then said, "The highest temperature means the greatest possibility of ignition."
As he said, he was also a little helpless.
Right now, his right hand is almost helpless, so there should be no problem picking something up or something like that.
But if he wanted to start carving wood to make a fire.
Zhang Liu knew in his heart that he would not be able to do this in such a short time.
"It's okay; let's eat something first." She peeled the jiabao fruit and took out the core, looked at the sea not far away, and extended her hand to feed Zhang Liu.
"Okay, thank you," he said, reaching out to pick it up and put it in his mouth. The sweet taste cheered up his depressed mood. After chewing a few times, Zhang Liu said, "I will go to the beach to collect more wood and wait for my arm to recover."
Even though he said that, he also knew in his heart that if he wanted to complete the bonfire plan today, he was afraid that it would be declared a failure.
Because the temperature was considered the highest now and his body was still in its best condition, it turned out that he had not succeeded yet.
Later, when the weather gets colder and his arm is probably only able to regain most of its condition, how can he start a fire?
He went to the beach, picked up some wood that had washed up with the waves, and then threw it into an open place.
Sometimes, Zhang Liu stopped his gaze on this endless, deep blue sea.
How he longed for a small black dot to appear at the furthest point on the horizon, then gradually approach and turn into a rescue ship...
But until a small pile of wood piled up at his feet, Zhang Liu sighed helplessly, got rid of the unrealistic fantasies in his heart, and began to squat and organize them carefully.
At the entrance of the cave, after Zhang Liu left, Anya picked up the bow drill that had fallen to the ground.
Then she started positioning the wooden pole in the same way, pulling the body of the bow to make it rotate.
Compared to the sizzling sound when it started spinning before, now the front of the stick and the small hole in the wood have actually started to rub.
But Anya still needed a lot of energy; she managed to hold on for less than half of Zhang Liu's time, and she could only stop the movement with a big breath, and then she gave up.
"Drink something and rest." Qin Rushuang handed the freshly broken coconut into Anya's hand, then whispered, "I'm afraid we won't be able to make a fire today. Don't show any disappointment later, because it will make Zhang Liu feel miserable."
"I know." Looking at Qin Rushuang's serious expression, Anya was about to nod in response, but her eyes suddenly fell to the other person's chest.
She felt like something was wrong here, but she couldn't say it.
Frowning, Anya, as a woman, naturally didn't care about anything. She started to observe carefully and then realized that something was wrong, so she immediately raised her head and asked in surprise, "Where are your underwear?"
At present, Qin Rushuang's chest curve is still high because there is no support from her underwear, but it has also decreased slightly.
Especially since the weather is hot now, the white school uniform starts to turn transparent after being soaked in sweat.
Embarrassed, Qin Rushuang extended her right hand and grabbed her left arm, and Qin Rushuang covered the two weakly exposed spots on the front of her clothes.
Then she whispered, "Come with me."
"Ah?" Anya was still blinking in confusion, and Qin Rushuang took the initiative to climb into the cave from the side.
After hesitating for two seconds, she continued, and then saw Qin Rushuang take out a sponge from under the foam where the two of them slept last night.
"I took the sponge out inside and took one piece for each person. I will accompany Zhang Liu to the beach later, and you can take the opportunity to wipe your part." Qin Rushuang handed the sponge to the shocked Anya, then whispered, "Put it away quickly; Zhang Liu will probably come back."
"Oh, but why don't you put your underwear back on?" Anya quickly grabbed the sponge and put it in her coat pocket. Anya was still a little confused.
After taking out the sponge pad, can I wear underwear again?
"It's a button-front type. There's a hook and a sponge in the middle. Now that the sponge is gone, the buttons will penetrate my chest." Qin Rushuang took out the underwear from under the foam board and displayed it in front of Anya.
Of course, I tried to insert it by force, even if it penetrated the body.
But the painful feeling, like a needle pricking her chest all the time if she made the slightest movement, still made Qin Rushuang choose to keep her upper body empty in front of Zhang Liu.
"Then put my underwear on!" Anya reached out and touched the underside of the underwear, then spoke her mind.
Then she noticed that Qin Rushuang's expression suddenly became strange.
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