There were axes made of stone in the interspatial space, but they were too heavy for Huanhuan to lift. She could only take out a small and sharp bone knife. She intended to slowly cut the bamboo.
She gently stroked the bamboo and said gently, “Don’t be afraid. I’ll try to be gentle so that it won’t hurt too much.”
The bamboo whimpered softly as if it was crying.
Huanhuan felt quite uncomfortable.
She had raised the bamboo herself and had some feelings for it. When she heard its cries, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
Xing Chen was also looking at her eagerly. “Can we not cut them?”
Huanhuan sighed. “If we don’t cut the bamboo, we won’t be able to make bamboo rafts.”
“What do you want the bamboo raft for?”
Huanhuan told him about her plan to row the bamboo raft to the sea to take a look.
Xing Chen said, “This is a dead sea. There’s nothing in the sea. Even if you have a bamboo raft, you won’t find anything.”
“But we can’t stay on the island and do nothing.”
Xing Chen tilted his head and blinked his amber eyes. “It’s not like we haven’t done anything. We planted so much bamboo. Look at how beautiful they are!”
As if to echo his words, the bamboo hummed softly like minstrels singing. The sound fluttered into the night at sea.
Xing Chen begged, “It wasn’t easy for them to grow up in such a harsh environment. Let them go.”
The bamboo’s cries became more and more mellow and sad. Huanhuan was about to cry.
She put down the bone knife helplessly. “Okay, okay. I admit defeat.”
Xing Chen immediately smiled innocently. “Huanhuan, you’re so kind!”
The bamboo also swayed its bamboo leaves and made cheerful sounds.
Huanhuan put away the bone knife. “According to my age, you should call me Sister.”
But Xing Chen said, “I like calling you by your name. You have a nice name.”
Huanhuan couldn’t refuse his praise.
The bamboo was not cut down. Soon, bamboo shoots grew. They were picked by Huanhuan. After they were stir-fried, they were eaten with roasted potatoes.
It was Xing Chen’s first time eating bamboo shoots. The fresh and sweet taste made him like them very much. He couldn’t help but eat another serving.
The potatoes that Huanhuan took out were all mutated species. They were three to four times larger than ordinary potatoes. Huanhuan could usually only eat half of them, but Xing Chen could actually eat two at a time. His appetite was astonishing.
Huanhuan gathered the fallen bamboo leaves and piled them into a small bed. She then spread a layer of animal hide blanket on top.
When she lay down, it felt especially soft. She could even smell the fresh fragrance of bamboo leaves. It felt especially good!
Xing Chen lay beside her. He turned on his side and looked at Huanhuan’s profile without blinking.
He suddenly said, “You’re really a good person.”
This was the third time he said that about Huanhuan.
She asked casually, “What do you think is good about me?”
“Not only did you save me, but you planted bamboo here and fed me delicious food. You’re the best person I’ve ever met!”
When Xing Chen said this, his gaze was extremely sincere, like a cute little angel.
Huanhuan stroked his head and helped him tuck the stray locks of hair. “We’ll be able to eat more good food when we leave here.”
Xing Chen was slightly stunned. “Can we leave?”
Huanhuan said with certainty, “Of course! We can’t give up hope!”
Xing Chen lowered his eyes and stopped talking.
After Huanhuan fell asleep, he quietly moved to her side and carefully leaned against her arm.
“Don’t leave this place, okay…?”
…
Life on the island was too boring. Huanhuan got some potato and peanut seeds and began a new round of planting.
Xing Chen was interested and helped her take care of the potatoes and peanuts.
He was keen to plant plants on the island.
Potatoes were resistant to cold and dry weather. They grew well. In comparison, the peanuts did not grow well. Many seedlings died. In the end, only a dozen or so peanut seedlings survived.
Under their modifications, the bare island was gradually covered in greenery and filled with vitality.
Huanhuan took out a stone slab and drew the scenery of the island on it.
Xing Chen leaned over and asked curiously, “You can draw?”
Huanhuan said in embarrassment, “I’m not very good at it.”
“No, you draw very well.” Xing Chen looked at the drawing on the stone slab without blinking and praised it from the bottom of his heart.
Huanhuan was pleased by the praise. “I want to give it to my children.”
Xing Chen was slightly stunned. “You already have children?”
“That’s right,” Huanhuan said as she drew. “I already have four children. They can’t take human form yet. They should be slightly younger than you. When we leave this place in the future, I’ll take you to my house for a while. You should be a good playmate for my children.”
Xing Chen couldn’t help but ask, “Do you have to go back? Isn’t it good to stay here?”
“Of course, it’s not good. There’s nothing here. We’re alone. I have to go back to my family. They miss me, and I miss them.”
Xing Chen lowered his eyes and thought to himself, ‘Aren’t the two of us enough?!’
The stone slab that Huanhuan drew on was stuffed back into the shared ring space.
It didn’t take long for her to receive a reply from Shuang Yun.
He had also drawn something on the stone slab. It was a drawing of three male beasts and four cubs. They were Bai Di, Shuang Yun, Sang Ye, BIg Goody, Dos, Tres, and Little Monster.
Beside the drawing were four paw prints in the shape of plum blossoms. At a glance, it was obvious that they were the paw prints of the four children.
This drawing was especially young and rough, but Huanhuan looked at it again and again.
Xing Chen sat beside her with his legs crossed and looked at her eagerly like a puppy that had been left out.
Huanhuan looked up and saw him like that. Her heart softened, and she couldn’t help but ask.
“Do you want to learn to draw?”
Xing Chen immediately nodded. “Yes!”
Huanhuan sat him down and picked up a clean and flat slab. She drew lines on it with a talcum stone while telling him how to master the essentials and techniques of painting.
Xing Chen listened attentively like a model student.
When she was done, Huanhuan handed him the stone slab. “Try it yourself.”
Xing Chen took the slab and talcum stone.
It was his first time drawing. He looked at Huanhuan nervously.
Huanhuan smiled at him in encouragement.
Xing Chen calmed down a little, clenched the talcum stone, and carefully drew.
In order to prevent him from being distracted, Huanhuan quietly walked away after he started drawing and dug up three large potatoes.
By the time she returned, Xing Chen was done drawing.
Huanhuan looked at the portrait of the woman on the stone slab and was stunned.
“What did you draw…?”
Xing Chen clenched the talcum stone in his hand and whispered, “It’s you.”
