Chapter 58: A Make-Do Dinner

Bamboo is a treasure in the wilderness.
Its uses are immense, and its functions are varied.
If they really discovered bamboo, it would undoubtedly be fantastic news for Xu Yi and the others.
Without hesitation, Xu Yi quickened his pace and headed in that direction.
After a few minutes, Xu Yi could see clearly.
"It is indeed bamboo, but it is a small variety."
Xu Yi looked at the patch of small bamboo grove before him with mixed feelings.
These bamboos were quite small; the thickest ones were no wider than two fingers.
Most of them were only as thick as a thumb.
They were not very tall either; the tallest ones were probably five or six meters, but the majority were between three and four meters.
Back in the countryside, this kind of bamboo was usually used for growing beans and cucumbers, allowing the vines to climb up.
Xu Yi figured it would also be quite sturdy if used to build the four walls of a wooden cabin.
After all, bamboo is very resilient and not that easy to snap.
Moreover, if tied together in a row, it should be even sturdier.
Additionally, it was lighter than small trees, smoother, and would make for very decent walls.
"If only this were large bamboo, I could make bamboo bows and arrows for hunting."
"Still, being able to find small bamboo here means I might find some large bamboo as well. Once I finish the treehouse, I can thoroughly explore the surrounding area."
With that, Xu Yi started cutting down the bamboo directly.
As soon as he cut a stalk, he trimmed off the branches cleanly.
That way, he could easily carry a bundle back with him later.
After cutting for over an hour, Xu Yi had harvested quite a lot.
He had deliberately selected the thicker ones because they were sturdier and better suited for the treehouse walls.

As dusk gradually fell, Xu Yi hoisted the harvested bamboo onto his shoulder and headed back.
Although it was heavy, Xu Yi gritted his teeth and carried it all the way home.
Su Keke was sitting on the floor of the treehouse, singing nursery rhymes.
Seeing Xu Yi return, she immediately climbed down from the treehouse and ran over to greet him.
Staying alone in the camp for so long had been rather boring for her.
"Dad, you cut so much bamboo!"
Seeing that Xu Yi had brought back bamboo, Su Keke instantly lit up with joy.
"Are there any bamboo shoots, Dad?"

Xu Yi shook his head; he wished there were bamboo shoots too.
However, they had missed the season, and many of these were newly grown bamboo shoots from this year.
Only in spring could one gather bamboo shoots from this type of plant.
"Dad, have some water."
Su Keke obediently handed him a bowl of water.
After drinking the water, Xu Yi took a brief rest.
"Dad, our cassava is all gone. Tonight we'll just have to make do with some dried smoked fish and boiled water."
The smoked fish didn't even need to be reheated; it could be eaten straight.
As for the water, they could still boil some.
"Right, we'll make do with the smoked fish for dinner tonight. Tomorrow morning, when I check the fish traps, we should get quite a few fish and crabs."
Xu Yi had paid close attention during his trips back and forth that afternoon, but he hadn't spotted any cassava.
"Dad, I added cogongrass roots to the water when boiling it. It should taste a bit sweet."
Su Keke pointed to the bucket, recalling that they had dug up some cogongrass roots earlier and hadn't finished them all.
So Su Keke had taken the initiative to throw them into the bucket of water to boil.
"Mhm."
Xu Yi knew that Su Keke had climbed down twice during his absence; the livestream viewers had reported it to him.
However, there had been no danger, so Xu Yi didn't scold her.
Staying alone up in the treehouse with nothing else to do was indeed quite boring.
Therefore, Xu Yi decided that whenever he went out alone in the future, it would be best to give Su Keke something to do.
That way, she wouldn't feel so bored.
That morning, they had eaten some stream snails, but the snails lacked flavor and weren't particularly delicious.
Otherwise, boiling a large bowl of them would have kept her busy for a while to pass the time.

There was still plenty of firewood in the camp, so Xu Yi didn't need to scavenge for firewood in the dark today.
After dinner, Xu Yi tied both of their hammocks up inside the treehouse.
Xu Yi's hammock was hung lower, almost brushing against the floor.
Su Keke's hammock was higher up, though her feet could easily touch the ground as well.
Aside from hanging the hammocks, Xu Yi had also moved everything else up into the treehouse, including the bamboo stalks.
The small vines used for tying had run out, so Xu Yi didn't plan to do any more work that night.
After teaching Su Keke five new characters on the ground and letting her practice for a bit, the two of them climbed up into the wooden cabin to rest.
The wooden cabin wasn't actually large; once completed, it measured less than 12 square meters—truly a tiny little treehouse.
That night passed peacefully.

However, that was only true for Xu Yi and Su Keke.
That same night, quite a few challengers were eliminated from the competition.
Yet, those who had managed to hold on for 10 days were already challengers possessing genuine survival skills.
Still, a fair number of people went to sleep with empty stomachs.
The next day, Xu Yi woke up when sunlight streamed through the gaps and hit his face.
By the time he woke up, Su Keke had already gone downstairs.
Moreover, she had already fetched water and boiled it.
She hadn't fetched a large amount, given her limited strength.
Besides, they didn't need that much water in the morning.
"Morning, Keke."
After getting up, Xu Yi stretched and loosened up his body.
Heading downstairs, he took Su Keke down to the river to wash up.
"Once Dad finishes building all four walls of the treehouse, we'll fashion a stone hoe and dig some steps down the bank. That way, fetching water will be much more convenient."
The water level was too low, making fetching water rather inconvenient; digging a set of steps down would make things much easier.
"We should also dig a large pool over here and channel the water into it. That way, we can bathe in the big pool and keep fish in it, making it easy to catch them whenever we want to eat."
Of course, that was a massive project, and seven or eight days might not even be enough.

Upon hearing Xu Yi's grand vision, the viewers in the livestream chat flooded the screen, calling him unrealistic and a waste of time.
With their food reserves currently in question, he was already planning to dig a swimming pool?
Xu Yi didn't pay much attention to the viewers' comments; he would chat with them for a bit when he had free time or felt like it.
Discussing survival tactics with them was entirely unnecessary.
The genuinely helpful advice was drowned out and invisible to him.
The only real purpose of these barrage comments was to make the solo challengers feel a little less lonely, providing them with a channel for interaction.
Other than that, they didn't hold much significance.
After all, today was already the 11th day.
If Xu Yi couldn't even realize that much and spent all day bantering idly with the viewers, he would waste an untold amount of time.

After the two of them finished washing up, Xu Yi led Su Keke downstream.
Yesterday, Xu Yi had placed the fish trap a little downstream from the log bridge, hoping to catch some of the small fish inhabiting the stream.
Whether anything had been caught would become clear as soon as he pulled the fish trap out of the water.