Chapter 308 - 203: Making a Bad Situation Worse (Part 2)

Chapter 308: Chapter 203: Making a Bad Situation Worse (Part 2)

"Are you trying to quit the competition?"

Lin Chen glared at her. "You talk about learning my skills, but is this how you protect your hands?"

"For a chef, these hands are the most important thing. Losing your hands means losing your job. In serious cases, you can never return to the kitchen, never cook again. It could even affect your daily life and turn you into a complete invalid."

He took out two freshly picked soapnuts from his bamboo basket, crushed them, and quickly worked them into a white lather.

"This might sting a bit."

Without waiting for her reaction, he grabbed one of her hands and applied the foam.

Although his movements were already quite gentle, the moment the foam touched her wounds, Erica shivered as if she’d been electrocuted.

But she didn’t cry out in pain. Instead, a teasing smile spread across her face.

"What did I say? You just wanted to touch my hand, didn’t you?"

"Say whatever you want."

Lin Chen didn’t even look up. He carefully applied the foam to her left hand, then her right, not pulling away until he had thoroughly coated them inside and out, top to bottom.

"So? How does a Western woman’s hand feel?"

Lin Chen glanced at her.

"Not great. The skin isn’t as delicate as an Asian woman’s. All the years of surviving in the wild have left a lot of calluses, and it looks like you work out. Plus, they’re covered in cuts. The texture is terrible."

"What a shame," Erica said, shrugging with mock regret. "Next time, after my cuts have healed and I’ve used hand cream for a few weeks, I’ll let you feel them again. I’m sure they’ll be much better."

"Not interested."

Lin Chen waved a dismissive hand, took back her bamboo knife, and wrapped the blades of both knives with Mulberry Tree bark. Then, working with both hands, he resumed digging into the damp earth.

With the bark wrapped around them, the friction on his fingertips wasn’t as bad. Although they still ached faintly from the constant exertion, at least he wouldn’t damage his skin any further.

Erica stood a short distance away, quietly watching his busy back, the corners of her mouth turning up slightly. She held up her foam-covered hands for the camera and whispered in a voice only she could hear.

"My instincts were right. He really is a lot like my old man. I definitely picked the right idol to stan~"

"He put this soap foam on me with his own hands, you know, to disinfect my cuts. If there are any of Lin’s fangirls watching, sorry, but I’m the first female fan to have him hold my hand~"

"What are you mumbling about?"

Lin Chen backed out of the cave entrance, wiped the sweat from his brow, and looked back at her in confusion.

After some hard work, the collapsed earth at the entrance had been cleared away, revealing an opening barely large enough for one person to squeeze through.

It might not have looked like much work was left, but his stamina and energy had dropped to a critical point. He hadn’t eaten or drunk anything, and after being in the rain for so long, his head was spinning.

He didn’t force himself to continue. Not caring how dirty it was, he plopped down at the cave entrance to rest.

Seeing the bloodshot eyes and his slightly pale face, Erica put two and two together and guessed that he was running on fumes.

If he didn’t replenish his water and sugar levels soon, he could pass out at any moment.

She looked at her foam-covered hands again, then bent over, seeming to assess whether she could fit through the gap in the cave.

"What are you doing?"

Lin Chen warily put a hand up to block the entrance.

"I’m slim. I should be able to squeeze through. All our supplies are in there. We can get some coconuts and mangoes to replenish our sugar and water."

"You should rest those hands. If they get infected, it’ll be..."

Before he could finish, Erica, who was still bent over, suddenly ripped off her tank top. A vast expanse of snowy white skin and curvaceous hills appeared just a fist’s-length from Lin Chen’s eyes.

Caught completely off guard, Lin Chen instinctively turned his head away, his heart pounding. ’What the hell is wrong with this woman now?’ he cursed inwardly.

The moment he turned his head, Erica’s slender body had already slipped into the gap between the cave and the earth.

"Give me a push! Hurry up! You don’t want me resting my hands on this wet mud for too long, do you?"

A muffled voice came from the opening. Lin Chen snapped his head back, only then realizing he’d been tricked.

Erica’s calves were still sticking out, kicking slightly up and down like a swimmer’s, obviously urging him on.

She was already halfway in; there was no point in saying anything else.

Lin Chen sighed and had no choice but to grab her shoes and push her in.

With their combined effort, Erica soon retrieved four coconuts and three large mangoes from the cave.

They had each collected the coconuts, but she had taken the time to climb a tree and pick the mangoes yesterday.

"Here. You open them. My hands hurt."

"Oh, so now you remember your hands hurt?"

Lin Chen shot her an exasperated look, but when he saw her body and face covered in mud, and her nonchalant expression, a wave of warmth unexpectedly washed over him.

"You’re my idol, and you’re a contender aiming for the championship. As your fan, of course I can’t let you face this alone. Besides, you’re the one who said this is my home starting today. You came to my home to help, so I have to show my appreciation, right?"

"Today isn’t over yet!"

"Oh, that’s not important, not important~"

Erica giggled and bent over. "If you don’t eat, believe it or not, I’ll take off my bra too."

"I’ll eat! I’m eating right now! Please, just tone it down a bit. So many people are watching!!"

Lin Chen unwrapped the bark cord again. He used the bamboo knife to hack away the coconut’s outer husk, then used the sharp tip of his military knife to pierce a small hole in the hard shell.

This was the most efficient and fastest method he’d developed for opening coconuts over the past few days, and it also saved the most coconut water from being wasted.

Under the threat of Erica’s smiling gaze, he had no choice but to lift the coconut himself and chug all three hundred-plus milliliters of water in one go.

GLUG... GLUG...

The slightly sweet coconut water flowed down his practically smoking throat and into his stomach. A cool, refreshing sensation quickly spread through his limbs, and he could clearly feel his strength returning bit by bit.

He opened a second coconut and passed it to her. Only then did Erica take it with both hands, tilt her head back, and start chugging it down.

Lin Chen didn’t watch her. He grabbed a large mango, held it in his palm, and sliced horizontally just above the stem, cutting all the way down along the pit.

He flipped the half over and scored the flesh in a crosshatch pattern. This was the most convenient way to eat a mango without utensils; you just had to push up from underneath with your fingertips to pop out all the scored cubes of mango.

Erica had just shaken out the last drop of coconut water and hadn’t even had a chance to wipe her mouth when she saw Lin Chen holding out a beautifully scored piece of mango.

"Wow."

She exclaimed, taking it and showing the plump, golden-yellow cubes of fruit to his camera.

"Cut by my idol’s own hands. It must be super sweet~"

"Just eat it already. You talk too much."

’I wanted to tell her to put her top back on, but she’s covered in mud. It would just mean another piece of clothing to wash. With her hands in that state... I’d better just let it be.’

[Enjoying natural wild coconuts and mangoes in the Panamanian wilderness. Happiness +2]

Just as he finished sucking the remaining half of the mango clean, the system’s notification sound unexpectedly echoed in his mind.

These two fruits had already given him Happiness points before, but he’d managed to get another 2 points from them under these circumstances!

But this was a special case. He would almost never encounter such extreme weather under normal circumstances, so he couldn’t replicate this even if he wanted to.

After replenishing his sugar and water levels, a re-energized Lin Chen spent another half-hour or so clearing out the rest of the collapsed earth from the cave.

"Well, look at that. You don’t even have to dig. The cave widened and heightened itself."

The cave, which was originally only about 1.6 meters high, was now over two meters high. The side wall of the new area Erica had dug out yesterday had also mostly collapsed, nearly doubling the cave’s interior space.

All they had to do now was renovate the cave and build a supportive frame of beams to prevent future collapses. Then they wouldn’t have to worry about another cave-in.