Peng Xiaoyue and the group looked as if they were fleeing from famine. Each of them was covered in mud, with one named Niu Dawei lying unconscious on the ground.
"Surely they couldn't just leave him to die, right? Especially Li Haixia, who is the team captain, hurriedly dragged Niu Dawei under the shelter, anxiously asking, "Why have you returned? Didn't you find the garrison troops?"
A female educated youth named Sun Pingfang wiped away tears. "We walked for over two days and didn't see a single person from the garrison troops. We did find the place they were stationed at, but it is not a house; it's a bamboo hut with nothing inside. How could anyone survive there? Our dry rations are almost finished, and there's no fresh water. We struggled to open a couple of coconuts... They..."
"She glanced at Peng Xiaoyue, who shot her a fierce look. Sun Pingfang was a little afraid, but could only change "Peng Xiaoyue took most of it" to "We finished it all, and Niu Dawei collapsed due to severe dehydration and little food."
Peng Xiaoyue was also tired, hungry, and extremely fatigued; her whole body was aching!
If it hadn't been for the night they rested in place when they first went looking for the garrison troops, where she discreetly seduced Niu Dawei to touch her buttocks, then threatened him during the day to hand over his food and water, the one lying unconscious might have been Peng Xiaoyue herself!
So, Peng Xiaoyue felt extremely lucky. However, seeing that Gu Ling's group not only encountered no trouble but also managed to turn that broken house into a shelter, built a spacious tent underneath, placed a few small stools, a simple table, hung mushrooms and shrimps tied with vines, and witnessed Zhou Cheng catching lively fat fish in the fishing net, she was consumed by jealousy!
The aroma of the roasted mushrooms on the fire made her stomach growl. Peng Xiaoyue couldn't help but complain to Li Haixia, why didn't she stop them when she knew it would be so hard to go out and look for the garrison troops?
Meanwhile, Niu Dawei seemed to be in a dire state. Zhou Cheng patted his face and shouted for a while before Niu Dawei weakly opened his eyes.
Li Haixia couldn't help her heartache: "We all came together to develop this island; how could you collapse so easily?"
Zhou Cheng also said heavily, "Brother, you open your eyes and look at us! If you can't make it, tell us what you have to say! I'll convey your message to your family!"
Niu Dawei opened his mouth, his voice too feeble. Zhou Cheng had to lean closer to hear Niu Dawei, who struggled to utter, "Hungry, I'm... starving..."
Zhou Cheng was taken aback, and at that moment, Gu Ling opened a coconut and handed it to him. "Feed it to him."
In addition to the coconut, Gu Ling used the hot water boiled in the morning to make a small bowl of fried flour brought by Zhou Cheng for Niu Dawei. After a lot of bustling around, Niu Dawei drank the coconut water and ate a small portion of the flour paste. The person finally had a little bit of spirit, but it was as if he had died once!
Due to the abundance of mushrooms and fish, Gu Ling casually mentioned to those four people, "If you want to eat mushrooms, roast them yourselves. If you want fish, figure it out yourselves."
As the team captain, Li Haixia also had responsibilities. She began instructing Peng Xiaoyue and the others on how to roast mushrooms and fish. Watching the four people devour their food, she was even more thankful that she was with Gu Ling!
Otherwise, she would've ended up in the same terrible state!
The others were extremely grateful to Gu Ling, but Peng Xiaoyue was eating while secretly complaining in her heart that she should have let Gu Ling go to find the garrison troops while staying back herself!
Who knew that only after eating did Gu Ling come up with a few requests.
"'If you all plan to stay here, you must be self-reliant. If you want to live in a tent, build it yourselves. If you want to eat, find it yourselves. Conditions on this island are harsh, and in the end, one has to rely on oneself.'"
After her statement, everyone except Peng Xiaoyue nodded and began looking for banana leaves to build their tents, despite the ongoing rain. Where else could they sleep at night?
At that moment, everyone was busy—picking mushrooms, weaving fishing nets with vines. Only Peng Xiaoyue was unwilling to move. She felt tired, and being a woman, why should she bother to be busy?
In such heavy rain, men could go work outside! Besides, Niu Dawei would never dare not accommodate her; as long as Niu Dawei has food, she will have food too.
Gu Ling also saw Peng Xiaoyue in this state; she hated such selfish and lazy people and frowned without paying too much attention.
After all, she intended to gather as many mushrooms as possible while it was raining, especially the rare varieties that could fetch a good price once dried.
Seeing Gu Ling keep picking mushrooms in the rain, Peng Xiaoyue frowned and turned to ask Zhou Cheng, "Why does she keep picking mushrooms?"
"Gu Ling said that some of the mushrooms here are very expensive, and after drying them in the sun, they can fetch a very high price when taken to the mainland."
Peng Xiaoyue immediately stood up. She had also heard that some wild mushrooms tasted extremely good and were very expensive. Weren't those roasted mushrooms they had just eaten very tasty?
Thinking of being able to sell them for money, she hurriedly rushed out into the rain as well. After all, it was a matter of money!
But when Peng Xiaoyue reached her hand to a seemingly beautiful pale yellow mushroom, Gu Ling warned her, "It's poisonous."
Peng Xiaoyue froze and couldn't help but laugh. "Didn't you also pick yellow mushrooms? How come yours aren't poisonous but mine are? Are you trying to trick me, so when I stop picking this, you'll secretly pick it away? Oh, I see, you're such a bad person!"
She said, yanking off the tender yellow mushroom, "Not only am I going to pick it away, I'm going to eat it later!"
Gu Ling shrugged her shoulders and said, "As long as you're happy."
For some, she is unable to save even if she were a god.
The shades of yellow include ochre, pale yellow, golden yellow, and more. Gu Ling didn't expect that some people were hopelessly clueless.
Not long after, everyone finished picking mushrooms and resting under the shed. Peng Xiaoyue grandly got the bunch of tender yellow mushrooms onto the fire and roasted them, and then took a big bite on them and said, "Well, these mushrooms are just delicious!"
Twenty minutes later, Peng Xiaoyue pointed at Niu Dawei's head and said, "Niu Dawei, why are there little people dancing on your head?"
... Gu Ling sighed softly. There is a saying that goes, 'If someone enjoys seeking trouble, they will easily find what they seek.'
Peng Xiaoyue's level of poisoning was unknown, and whether she could endure it was also uncertain. All she could do was wish herself good luck.
That day, Gu Ling gathered many rare species of mushrooms. Even if she didn't intend to sell them in the future, drying and preserving them for personal consumption would be good.
Additionally, there were occasions when Zhou Cheng repeatedly went to cast the nets for fishing. Due to the continuous heavy rain, many fish and shrimp floated up, resulting in a decent catch.
So when Gu Ya entered her dreams at night, she saw that it was raining heavily on the island. Under the shelter where Gu Ling was, there were countless strings of mushrooms, fish, shrimp...
Inside and outside, there are layers upon layers; it's just like a small-scale mushroom, fish, and shrimp processing plant!
The system reminded her to change the plot, stating that it did not match reality. Gu Ya was extremely frustrated and made several modifications but couldn't get it approved. Eventually, she had to reluctantly supplement the plot based on reality.
But after updating the plot with a heap of mushrooms and fish, immediately there are readers who send a negative score!
『I'm begging you, will the author not have the character go back home to pick up manure and farm? How expensive are Morel and Chicken of the Woods mushrooms, do you know? Can't the supporting female character exit the story? And still eating Chicken of the Woods? I find this amusing.』
『The author's brain has shrunk, being too nice to the supporting character, and the plot is unreasonable. They're all paper-thin characters. I'm quitting this story.』
『At the very least, isn't it a common-sense error to survive for two days on this kind of island? Did the author bother to do any research? I hope the author themselves get a chance to experience a three-day deserted island tour.』
Gu Ya couldn't stand the comments about the deserted island; she knew she would never go back to one in her life!
So, Gu Ya, filled with rage, lost her rationality and responded to a comment: 『You should go to these kinds of deserted islands and take your whole family! Your entire life should be spent there!』
The reader quickly replied, 『Has the author gone crazy? I didn't say anything. The author has resorted to personal attacks? Is this kind of garbage author even fit to write a story? Clear the mines.』
Quickly, one after another, others commented, 『Thanks for clearing the mines.』
Gu Ya looked at those『thank you for clearing the mines one by one』 feeling her eyes welling up. The health impact caused by those negative points quickly manifested: her breathing became difficult, she had a severe headache, and her throat hurt. Despite enduring it for a while, she gritted her teeth and decided to continue modifying the upcoming storyline.
She just didn't believe that Gu Ling had the ability to avoid all dangers!
〚The heavy rain soaked them. Gu Ling could drink herbal medicine in advance to prevent illness. But what if Peng Xiaoyue, out of jealousy, suddenly stabbed Gu Ling with a knife?〛
Though it would cost two months' worth of Moonstones to edit the story, Gu Ya pressed the modify button despite all odds.