Jasper Milton looked at her and smiled slightly. “Morning.”
Stella Grace put down the ladder and climbed down. She held his arm and said seriously, “Jasper, I’ve thought about it. We have enough bamboo and food to eat for 20 days. We can make a larger boat. As long as we have enough water, we will be able to go back.”
Jasper stared at her with an unclear look. “Do you want to go back?”
Stella felt that his question was very strange. “Don’t you want to go back?”
“Actually, floating on the sea, especially in the deep sea, it is very easy to sink without modern equipment. It depends on our luck, whether we would encounter big waves, dark currents, or even hit reefs and other similar disasters. The last time we encountered heavy rain, it lasted for a very short time but we almost lost our lives.” Jasper explained.
Stella tried to convince Jasper. “We used a wooden board last time and we could hold on for two nights. This time, we can make a larger and stronger boat, plus the wooden board. With two layers of protection, if we float around for five to six days, we may even be able to get on a cruise and get ourselves rescued.”
Jasper rubbed Stella’s head, and his expression softened. “I think this life on the island is very good now. It’s like a vacation, and everything’s free. The food is natural and in abundance. No one will disturb us. Even if we are disturbed, then it’s just time for us to go back to our modern life. Let’s be at ease and follow the will of heaven.”
“What if I die?” Stella blurted out anxiously.
Jasper smiled. “Don’t worry. As long as I’m here, I won’t let the birds and beasts here hurt you. Even if you really die in front of me, I will still accompany you and won’t let you leave alone.”
She was afraid that he would accompany her no matter what happened to her.
“What if we get sick?” Stella asked with tears in her eyes.
“Aren’t you a doctor? Besides, I know some common herbs. We usually prepare them when we chance upon the ingredients, so that we can use them from time to time. If we are seriously ill, it may be the will of heaven. If we can stay alive, we might have returned to the modern world before we contracted such sicknesses. Since we are here, we should just go with relaxation.” Jasper comforted her.
If she was not about to die, but could live for a long time, she really wanted to live with him on this island forever.
However, there was no “if” at all.
“Jasper, I want to go back. I have an unfulfilled wish.” Stella pleaded and shook his arm.
Jasper sighed helplessly. “Okay, if you want to go back, we can start the preparations. However, our food is all raw. Can you eat them? In addition, we need to prepare enough water. With the current amount of mineral water bottles that we have, even if they are full, I am afraid that they might not be enough for us to drink.”
“I’ve thought about it. Let’s build a boat with bamboo first. The boat should be slightly larger. It should be three meters long, 1. 6 meters wide and 1. 5 meters tall. Then, we can put a wooden board on the top of the boat and place a few layers of stones on the lower part of the boat as the bow. Then we can make fire on the stones. We will be able to eat cooked food and drink steamed water.” Stella said thoughtfully.
“There is a gap between bamboo, especially in the sea, where there will be water coming in after the waves, so our boat will sink quickly. Even if it doesn’t happen immediately, we can’t prevent it from sinking after one day. In the heavy rain, there will be only wooden boards or the bottom of the boat left,” he rejected immediately.
“The tree bark can be dried, and our boat can be made into two layers. Put the tree barks in the middle, so that we won’t be affected by the water.” Stella suggested.
“We can’t cover the whole boat with barks. There will still be gaps between them. As long as there is a small gap, water will come in. So, from ancient times until now, we only see boats that are made of wood. They are not made of bamboo. Except for bamboo raft, but this raft is almost the same as our wooden board.” Jasper patiently explained.
Stella lowered her eyes, unable to conceal her disappointment.
Jasper held her hand and said, “How about this? Let’s try our luck. If we manage to find a tall tree, the wood will be lighter and can be made into a boat. We can chop the tree and make it into a boat to leave.”
“Can we move such a big tree with our strength?” Stella asked doubtfully.
Jasper flicked her nose. “Dummy. Of course it’ll be heavy. We just need to carry the boat after we make it into a boat. During this period, we can save up drinking water and food. But we probably won’t be able to start a fire on the boat.”
“Wouldn’t the wooden boat capsize in the big waves?” Stella was worried.
“Look, even huge ships could sink, let alone a small boat. I can only try my best to prepare for it. Everything will depend on God’s will.”
Stella nodded and sighed softly.
She had made up her mind to leave this place. If she stayed, Jasper would die with her. If she left, she just needed to say something about going abroad and not let Jasper know that she was dead. After a few years, he would forget about her.
“Let’s go and wash up. After breakfast, we’ll go to the forest.” Jasper took Stella’s hand and left.
“What are we going to have for breakfast?” Stella asked Jasper, “We don’t seem to have any firewood.”
Jasper recalled something. “Then let’s go to the forest first, collect some vegetables, pick some firewood, and find the towering tree along the way.”
“Okay.” Stella took a plastic bag and followed Jasper.
Because of the dream yesterday, she wasn’t in a good mood.
Jasper squatted down, picked up a large handful of brown-colored mushrooms, took the bag in Stella’s hand, and put it inside.
He saw that Stella was quite moody. “What’s wrong? Do you have something on your mind?”
She shook her head. “It’s just that my stomach feels a little uncomfortable. Are the mushrooms in your hands edible? I heard that there are a lot of poisonous mushrooms in the forest.”
Jasper said with sympathy in his eyes, “After we go back, you can rest in bed. Leave the rest to me. No matter what happens, don’t get out of bed.”
Stella’s stomach was really uncomfortable. She nodded and said, “I’m sorry, I’m holding you back.”
“Nonsense. If you don’t feel well, you should take a rest. You’re not holding me back at all.”
…
Jasper was in charge of looking for wild vegetables, and Stella helped him to pick them.
They continued their work for an hour and a half and they were able to stuff the huge plastic bag full and were ready to go back.
Jasper suddenly stopped and turned around.
“What’s wrong?” Stella became nervous.
“There’s a pheasant over there. Stella, follow me.” Jasper said in a low voice. He put the plastic bag on the ground and rushed forward.
The wild chicken sensed the incoming danger and ran away in a hurry.
Jasper was afraid that Stella couldn’t catch up with him, so he didn’t dare to run too fast. He chased the pheasant for more than ten minutes.
Jasper looked back at Stella. She was following him with difficulty. He didn’t want her to be too tired, so he was ready to give up.
“Jasper, look.” Stella pointed to the front.
He looked at the place where Stella had pointed. Not far away, there was a bamboo house with two rooms.
It was obviously a man-made structure.