Chapter 64: Tomorrow is the Qixi Festival

After much deliberation, Xu Yi finally decided to weave a grass skirt himself and alter his own clothes and trousers to fit smaller, so that Ke Ke would have a change of clothes.
It did not matter if he himself went without.
The wooden house was already completed, and he could begin working on these tasks right away.
As for the fence around the camp, he could build a little bit of it each day, and in a few days, it would be finished.
For dinner, Xu Yi boiled some fish soup, and he also used the chicken-leg mushrooms for the stew.
Xu Yi seasoned their small pot with the chicken-leg mushrooms for its first use.
He temporarily piled up some stones to make a small stove, placing the pot right on top of it.
The pot was very small, so the portion cooked was not large.
There was no cooking oil available, so he simply boiled everything in water.
Because the pot was very thin, the cooking process was remarkably fast.
With just a pinch of salt added, the chicken-leg mushrooms tasted exceptionally good.
After finishing dinner, Xu Yi began tying bamboo strips together to form a door panel.
This way, they could close the door when sleeping at night.
The wooden house did not have a roof yet, and once the roof was installed, there would not be much natural light inside during the day.
This was because Xu Yi had intentionally omitted windows to prevent animals from sneaking in through them.
However, there were naturally small gaps between the bamboo stalks.
If he could manage to collect some animal fat, Xu Yi still planned to make some candles to illuminate the interior of the wooden house.
After dinner, Xu Yi taught Su Keke some characters and helped her practice a few arithmetic problems, after which the two of them shared a mango.
Being able to enjoy dessert after a meal in the wilderness was a rare blessing.
Truly, not many people could afford such a luxury at the moment.
Once they finished washing up, the two of them went upstairs to sleep.
Having four walls around him made Xu Yi feel much more at ease.
Even so, he still brought the machete and the spear up into the room to ensure a greater sense of security.
Lying atop the snakeskin, Xu Yi gazed up at the night sky.
Meanwhile, less than thirty kilometers away from them, Lu Ning was also sitting at the entrance of her treehouse.
Her legs dangled in the air as she looked up at the twinkling stars above.
Because she had lopped off one of the obstructing tree crowns near her treehouse pillars, she was able to carve out a small window to view the night sky.
"If I remember the date correctly, tomorrow is the Double Seventh Festival. Originally, that was the day we agreed to finally meet in person. I wonder how you are doing?"
"If you are still watching my live stream, you must wait for me to return. Once I get back, I promise to be your girlfriend and struggle alongside you through thick and thin."
"If you happen to notice any flaws in me, just write them down; I will definitely work hard to change them."
Yet, Lu Ning could never have imagined that Xu Yi was actually in this very same parallel world with her, and at a location not too far away.

The live streaming platform, however, was well aware of their distance and their relationship.
Therefore, to prevent them from meeting too soon, the system added various interferences and exercised even stricter control over the live chat comments.
Of course, in the later stages, they would inevitably meet.
After all, the later phase adopted an elimination mode.
All participants would be given the coordinates of the other challengers so they could track each other down and eliminate rivals from the competition.
[Suddenly feeling so heartbroken for Qi Ye.]
A stream of comments suddenly drifted across the chat window.
Seeing this, Lu Ning could not help blinking in surprise.
"Why are you feeling heartbroken for me? I'm doing quite well here. I have food, water, and plenty of safety."
"Keeping someone in your heart who holds you in theirs just as dearly is a truly happy thing."
Unfortunately, that was the only sentence they were allowed to send.
Other chat messages containing subtle hints or clues could not get through the filter.
Both of them were stranded in the wilderness, and as an online couple who had never met in the real world, neither knew the other was trapped in this realm.
If you called it fate, it was undeniably fate.
Out of the entire global population, only ten thousand people were chosen, and they were the sole pair of "lovers" among them.
Yet, eleven days had already passed without them crossing paths.
It was entirely possible that they might never run into each other at all.
Perhaps only when one of them was eliminated would the truth finally come to light.
And yet, Lu Ning happened to be an expert in wilderness survival, capable of handling virtually anything.
Among the remaining three thousand or so challengers, Lu Ning's strength and survival conditions placed her firmly in the top three at the very least.
And what about Xu Yi?
His capabilities were also formidable. Although he had only mentioned a background as a volunteer teacher and lacked any prior wilderness survival experience, the prowess he displayed instilled growing confidence in the viewers day by day.
These two would likely survive in the wilderness for a very long time.
After gazing at the stars for a while longer, Lu Ning crawled back into her small treehouse to sleep.
Her treehouse had a proper roof, and she kept an oil lamp burning inside.
Using fat harvested from a gray wolf, she had crafted an oil lamp that she placed inside the treehouse, keeping it lit continuously.
Suddenly, a rustling sound echoed from outside.
"It's raining, and quite suddenly, too."
Lu Ning turned on her smartphone and began playing music for herself.
After all, her phone was equipped with a solar charger and remained operational.
When it rained, wild beasts would not venture out to forage for food.

The music playing inside would be effectively drowned out by the sound of the rain.
The chat room instantly erupted into a frenzy.
Regrettably, the following camera drone had not accompanied her inside the house, so she remained completely oblivious to the chat activity.
Lulled by the patter of the rain and the soothing music, Lu Ning drifted off into a sweet dream.
………………
Over on Xu Yi's side, it was not raining at all.
However, he found himself somewhat afflicted by insomnia.
After all, he too remembered that tomorrow was the day he and Lu Ning had agreed to meet.
Xu Yi had not said anything about it in the live stream.
He knew that if Lu Ning was watching his broadcast, she would surely understand his thoughts.
Since they were in completely different worlds, he felt that uttering overly sentimental words was meaningless.
Once he returned and finally saw Lu Ning face-to-face, he would have days and nights to talk to her.
Originally, he had wanted to use his phone to look at a photo of Lu Ning.
As it turned out, his phone had already shut down automatically and could no longer be powered on.
With Lu Ning lingering in his mind, Xu Yi eventually drifted into a hazy sleep.
Early the next morning, Su Keke woke up before Xu Yi.
Upon waking, Su Keke first scanned her surroundings carefully before picking up her spear and descending from the second floor.
Reaching the ground, Su Keke added some firewood to the campfire, then selected a piece of charcoal and ground it into a fine powder, which she would use shortly to brush her teeth.
Having completed these chores, Xu Yi was still sleeping soundly.
Consequently, Su Keke decided to head out to catch a few fish, clean them, and bring them back to cook.
Suddenly, however, the shrill cry of a wildcat pierced the air, jolting Xu Yi awake.
Noticing that Su Keke was missing, he immediately called out her name.
Hearing Keke's prompt reply, he finally let out a sigh of relief.
Stepping outside onto the ground, Xu Yi began searching for the wildcat.
Though small in stature, wildcats possessed formidable aggression.
Their claws were exceptionally sharp and could easily inflict severe wounds on both Xu Yi and Su Keke.
"Keke, go back upstairs first. Daddy will go see if he can deal with it."
With that, Xu Yi gripped his spear tightly and prepared to hunt down the wildcat.
Special thanks to book friends: Chen Feng Zhong De Mei Zi for their generous tip to this book.
(End of this chapter)