Chapter 505 - 339: Will I Freeze into a Popsicle Sleeping Alone?

Chapter 505: Chapter 339: Will I Freeze into a Popsicle Sleeping Alone?

"She wouldn’t."

Lin Chen said without a second thought.

"She’s not that petty. Asians do tend to be more sensitive about this kind of thing, while Westerners are more used to casual physical contact. As long as it’s not intentional... Anyway, don’t worry about it."

He was about to explain further, but then he realized that the more he explained, the weirder it would sound, so he decided to just drop it.

’She’s American, after all. She should be able to understand what I mean, right?’

Jin Meiyan nodded, not daring to press the topic further. The more they talked about it, the more complicated it would get. It was better to stop here. From now on, they had to focus on survival.

As for the little wolf cub, Lin Chen definitely knew more about it than she did. He would be the one taking care of it from now on. She, who was just here for the experience, shouldn’t worry so much.

"Lin Chen, where do you think is a good spot for our shelter?"

"Hmm... let me think."

While scooping up the mashed Spring Beauty Grass roots with his finger to feed the little wolf cub, Lin Chen looked toward the waterfall in the distance.

"When I was gathering firewood and looking for food earlier, I took a look around. This area is near the mountaintop, so it has plenty of sunlight, a suitable temperature, and a water source. In theory, it meets the growing conditions for most plants and fruits."

"But in reality, I haven’t found any fruit. Besides Spring Beauty Grass, the only other edible plant is wood sorrel, which is basically an insignificant weed. It’s definitely not enough to fill our stomachs."

"With only water and no food, this isn’t a suitable place to build a shelter. So my suggestion is to follow this stream down the mountain. We need to get closer to the coast."

"If you think surviving by the sea is too repetitive compared to the last episode, we could just build a simple shelter for tonight and then swim across to the other side tomorrow. There’s bound to be plenty of food over there."

"Cross the sea?!"

Jin Meiyan hadn’t expected to hear those words come out of Lin Chen’s mouth. Just the thought of it made her blood boil with excitement.

The distance between this small island and the shore wasn’t far. The deepest part was along the route their speedboat had taken this morning, probably only a few meters deep. It got shallower the closer you got to either shore.

To put it bluntly, the distance they actually needed to swim was only a few dozen meters. They could walk the rest of the way.

With an expert like Lin Chen around, not only was she not afraid of swimming in the sea, she was actually a little eager to try.

"That’s a great idea, let’s do it! I’ve never swum in an open, unregulated sea before. The beaches I used to go to always had safety lines roped off, so you could never swim far out. Just thinking about it is so exciting~"

"It’s true. Swimming in the vast, open sea is a completely different feeling from swimming near the beach. Once you experience it, you’ll fall in love with it. But the prerequisite is that there has to be a place to rest nearby. Otherwise, facing the boundless ocean can make you feel small and powerless."

Lin Chen nodded in agreement. He watched as the little wolf cub’s eyes started to close while it ate. He touched its soft little belly. Compared to how empty it was before, it was now round and full. It was most likely full.

When you’ve been starving for a long time, it’s not good to eat too much. Especially since the little guy wasn’t fully sentient yet and didn’t know the difference between full and hungry, he simply stopped feeding it.

After the food was gone, the wolf cub sniffed around a bit, then automatically curled into a ball and went to sleep.

After washing his hands and returning, he suddenly thought of something.

"By the way, you do know how to swim, right?"

"Uh..."

Jin Meiyan’s expression stiffened. She nodded and then shook her head awkwardly. "I do, but I’ve only ever swum in a swimming pool. At the beach, I always use a lifebuoy. Now that I think about it, I’ve never really swum freely in the sea."

"That’s fine. As long as you know how to swim. You’ll just need to get used to it once we’re in the water. The distance isn’t far anyway. Just think of it as a giant swimming pool."

Lin Chen found a few relatively large leaves nearby, scraped the remaining mash out of the mess tin, and wrapped it into a bundle. Then he casually pulled up a few weeds, wove them into a grass rope, tied the bundle shut, and stuffed it into the side pocket of his backpack. ℯℯ𝑙.

While the fire was still going, he filled the mess tin with water, boiled it, and let it cool. This water would be safe to drink.

While waiting for the water to cool, he picked up a flower from the Spring Beauty Grass on the ground and handed it to Jin Meiyan, then pulled up some random weeds for himself.

"We’ve got some free time now. Let me teach you how to make a flower crown."

"There are many ways to weave a flower crown. I’ll show you the simplest one. It uses only one technique the whole way through: looping."

As he spoke, he took four blades of grass, crossed them into a plus sign in two pairs, and took the two stems on the left that were underneath, flipped them up from behind the other pair, looped them around once, and brought them down in front.

"See? It’s just this looping technique. You just have to make sure the flowers are facing outward. The only thing to pay attention to is not to tie the loops of the first three sets too tightly. Keep them a little loose; they’re for finishing it off at the end."

He used the same technique, taking two new blades of grass and placing them side-by-side to the left of the left-hand set. He wrapped the stem part around from between the two sets, and then did the third set.

By the fourth set, he pulled the loop very tight. The first three loops had almost a finger’s width of space left in them.

After tying each set, he would grasp the excess stems and leaves together. This way, when the new set was tied on, it would naturally secure them. As the crown grew longer, it also incorporated all the previous stems into the weave.

The technique was very simple and easy to understand. After following along for a few loops, Jin Meiyan got the hang of it, and her weaving speed began to pick up.

Seeing that she had learned, Lin Chen casually tossed the unfinished grass ring in his hand into the fire, got up, and went into the woods to pick another handful of Spring Beauty Grass flowers.

This time, in addition to the white and light pink flowers, there was also a purple variety.

"This is Alpine Spring Beauty Grass. It’s in the same family but a different species. Its growth structure is a bit different. You can stick it directly into the gaps of the flower crown to change the overall color scheme; you don’t need to weave it in. Its stem is a bit like a flat succulent, not suitable for weaving."

"When you’ve woven it to the right length, curl it into a circle. Break off some of the excess stems at the end to reduce the thickness, then tuck the rest into the three loops you left at the beginning and pull tight. Then just tuck in any remaining stems wherever."

Under his patient guidance, in just a few short minutes, a beautiful, round flower crown was born.

The unique five-petaled shape of the Spring Beauty Grass made the crown look exceptionally distinct. Combined with the three interwoven colors, when she put it on, it elevated her entire aura, making her look remarkably fresh. It gave her the distinct look of a "forest-style" internet goddess.

"So, how does it look? Is it pretty?"

With a smile in her eyes, Jin Meiyan struck a few poses, showing off her fine figure to its fullest extent. It was obvious she had professional training.

An ordinary person couldn’t strike such professional poses.

"Beautiful," Lin Chen praised with great sincerity, giving her a thumbs-up. "You really are a blogger with over a hundred thousand fans. Your fans certainly have good taste."

It’s no simple feat to have so many followers in South Korea, where looks are everything. If her appearance, figure, or even her aura were even slightly lacking, she wouldn’t have achieved this result.

To be popular in South Korea, you either have to have a very interesting personality, be exceptionally good-looking, or be a highly skilled expert in a specific field.

He helped her take a few sets of photos In the Forest. The two of them then gulped down the cooled boiled water, boiled another pot, and only after carefully covering the red-hot charcoal with dirt to ensure it wouldn’t cause a fire did they head down the mountain with peace of mind.

The path down the mountain was clearly much easier than the way up. Following the stream all the way to the foot of the mountain, Jin Meiyan discovered that it actually flowed all the way into the sea. It also seemed that other springs joined it along the way, as the current suddenly became much stronger in one section.

Their current location wasn’t far from the gravel beach where they had first landed. They were on the same coastline and could clearly see the lush forest on the opposite shore.

They found a spot on a relatively high coastal cliff. The forest here would be where they spent the night.

"Lin Chen, why did you choose this spot? I’ve seen your previous videos, and you always seem to choose low-lying areas. Why is it different this time?"

"Because the wind around this island is a bit strong. A high place like this can effectively block the sea breeze. With the forest providing an additional barrier, it won’t be too cold at night. The insulation will be better."

Since they were building the shelter on flat ground, they used the simplest design: a basic, right-angled triangular lean-to.

To avoid any awkwardness, Jin Meiyan considerately chose two trees a short distance from Lin Chen’s chosen spot to serve as support points and began gathering branches to build her own shelter.

"A shelter isn’t better the bigger it is. On the contrary, it should be as small as possible while still being comfortable for you to lie down in. That provides the best insulation."

After briefly explaining a few key points to her, Lin Chen started working on his own shelter.

Since he had an axe with him, gathering branches was relatively easy. In just over an hour, the frame of his shelter was already complete. All that was left was to chop some spruce or other types of pine branches to enclose it, and the job would be done.

By the time he was finished, Jin Meiyan had only just managed to build a basic frame.

This was perfectly normal. A felling axe that he could swing with one hand was a struggle for a slender girl like her to even lift with two, let alone use it to chop down trees.

She was using nylon rope they had brought specifically for securing things, but she also wasted a lot of time trying to figure out the most secure way to tie the knots.

Noticing that Lin Chen had already finished and was sitting there quietly watching her, Jin Meiyan suddenly felt immense pressure. For a moment, she wasn’t sure what to do.

’Look at the shelter he built—it’s fast, good, and neat. Then look at my own crooked frame of branches.’ She even started to think it was no wonder Erica had chosen to squeeze in with Lin Chen back then.

’Who would bother putting in all that effort when there’s a ready-made one?!’

If she weren’t worried that Erica might misunderstand, she really wouldn’t mind sharing with Lin Chen for a night.

’Girls tend to feel the cold more, and there are no blankets or other warm gear here. It would definitely be warm sleeping next to a man.’

’If I sleep by myself... will I freeze into a popsicle?’