Desert Island Infrastructure: Claiming the System Brings Many Blessings

When Qin Chuan escorted Kitagawa Keiko back to the camp, the courtyard was bustling with activity.

Several women sat around in the open space in front of the wooden house, each holding a strand of yarn, learning to knit from Lin Shishi.

Yang Mimi's yarn was tangled into a mess. She held her hands up in the air, and the yarn threads twisted and turned between her fingers, making her look like a fly caught in a spider web.

"Shishi, teach me again, is this knot wrapped around from the top or the bottom?"

Lin Shishi patiently demonstrated the movements again.

Fan Yubing sat on a banana leaf, her body slightly unnatural, but her fingers moved nimbly.

She had already woven a small, decent-looking piece in front of her. Although it was crooked and uneven, it was at least clear that it was a proper piece of fabric.

Mina sat cross-legged on the ground, the yarn in her hand twirling around her index finger several times, looking completely bewildered.

Liu Yifei wasn't knitting; she was squatting in the corner of the yard next to a pile of rubber, poking at the milky-white rubber blocks with a stick, observing their texture and elasticity.

Kitagawa Keiko slid off Qin Chuan's back and jogged back to sit down next to the pile of yarn.

Lin Shishi glanced at her, then at Qin Chuan, said nothing, and lowered her head to continue teaching Yang Mimi how to tie a knot.

Qin Chuan didn't linger. He told them, "I'm going to transport coal. I'll be back this afternoon," and then turned and ran towards the coastline.

I made five trips back and forth.

At his current speed, Qin Chuan can cover a distance of five kilometers in less than ten minutes. Including the time spent loading coal in the cave, a trip takes about twenty minutes.

Five trips took nearly two hours.

Qin Chuan moved half of the coal from the cave, leaving some loose coal for another time. The jackhammer and iron buckets had also been transported back to the camp.

The coal brought back totaled about a thousand kilograms, piled up in a corner of the yard, a huge, dark heap.

When Qin Chuan returned to the camp after his last run, it was almost noon. He plopped down on the ground in front of the cabin, panting heavily. His arms ached terribly, and his shirt was soaked with sweat, clinging tightly to his skin.

Lin Shishi brought over a coconut shell water and handed it to him.

"Brother Chuan, take a break, don't push yourself too hard."

Qin Chuan took the coconut shell, took a big gulp, and wiped his mouth.

"It's okay, now."

Lin Shishi squatted down next to him and glanced at the pile of coal in the corner of the yard.

"Are those black things coal?"

"Yes. With these things, we can start making pottery. Coconut shells are unsanitary for holding water, and wooden bowls aren't waterproof. We need proper earthenware pots and bowls."

Lin Shishi's eyes lit up: "That's great! With an earthenware pot, we can brew medicine. Right now, we always use coconut shells to brew herbs for Sister Fan, but they leak if there's too much water."

After drinking the water, Qin Chuan rested for about ten minutes and recovered.

At noon, Yang Mimi busied herself preparing lunch. She cut a large piece of venison from the tree that had been hanging there the day before, wrapped it in banana leaves, and steamed it in hot ashes.

When the aroma of braised venison wafted out, the entire camp was filled with a mouthwatering smell.

Mina was the first to come over: "It smells so good, Mimi, your cooking is amazing!"

Yang Mimi tilted her chin up: "Of course, being a food blogger isn't for nothing. Once we have earthenware pots, I can make soup, stews, and braised pork for you. Right now, we don't have a pot or a stove, so we'll just have to make do like this."

Mina swallowed hard. "Braised pork? You can make braised pork?"

"Yes, even without soy sauce, we can make a similar taste with salt and wild ginger. It's just lacking in sugar; it would be perfect if we had sugar."

At lunchtime, the seven people sat around the campfire eating roasted venison.

Fan Yubing was feeling much better than yesterday. It was the second day of her period, and her stomach wasn't hurting as much; her complexion had also improved. The herbal tea Lin Shishi had prepared for her was incredibly bitter, but it did have a pain-relieving effect.

Fan Yubing munched on a skewer of venison and glanced at the pile of black coal in the corner of the yard.

"Those are the things you brought back from the cave?"

Qin Chuan nodded.

Fan Yubing glanced again at the rusty jackhammer and the broken iron bucket beside her.

"Ironware?"

"Yeah, it's rusted, but it's still usable. A pneumatic pickaxe can be used for mining and digging. The metal bucket has two holes at the bottom; we can patch them with rubber and use them to hold things."

Fan Yubing didn't say anything more and continued eating her meat with her head down.

While everyone was eating, Qin Chuan was mentally planning his afternoon schedule.

First, you need to build the kiln for firing pottery. It doesn't need to be too complicated. Just dig a pit in the ground, surround it with stones, put coal in and light it, and then put the shaped clay blanks inside to fire.

Secondly, you need clay. Ordinary sand and mud cannot be used to make pottery; you need special clay.

Qin Chuan remembered detecting a signal of red clay in the forest before, but he hadn't looked closely at the time. He could go look for it this afternoon.

Third, someone needs to sculpt the clay. This work requires skillful hands. Fan Yubing has nimble fingers, Yang Mimi can do it too, and Lin Shishi goes without saying.

Qin Chuan sorted out these thoughts and shared them with everyone after they finished eating.

"This afternoon's plan: I'll go into the forest to find some red clay and dig some back. If any of you are free, please help dig a pit in the open area east of the camp to make a clay kiln."

Liu Yifei spoke up: "What tools do you use to dig the hole? By hand?"

Qin Chuan glanced at the pneumatic pick: "Use this. It's rusty, but it's enough for digging."

Liu Yifei walked over, picked up the jackhammer, and weighed it in her hand. The jackhammer was heavy, a bit too heavy for her.

"I'll dig it up," Liu Yifei said calmly, but her eyes were serious.

Qin Chuan glanced at her and nodded: "Okay, be careful."

Yang Mimi raised her hand: "Then what should I do?"

"You're in charge of cleaning up after lunch. Marinate the remaining venison, add plenty of salt, and hang it in a well-ventilated place, otherwise it will spoil easily in the heat."

Yang Mimi pouted: "It's cooking and cleaning up again."

"Everyone here has to do their job. Once things get going, everything will be fine."

Yang Mimi stopped pouting after being coaxed by those words.

"Sister Fan, you continue to rest. Kitagawa Keiko and Mina, you two continue learning to knit with Lin Shishi."

Keiko Kitagawa nodded obediently.

Mina shrugged, clearly not interested in knitting. But she had nothing else to do, so she just went along with it.

Qin Chuan walked alone towards the forest.

With his pupil technique activated, he continuously reorganized the information within a 300-meter range in his mind. What he was looking for was red clay, a type of soil that typically appears in areas with water sources, has a high iron content, and produces dense pottery.

After walking for about fifteen minutes, the pupil technique indeed popped up a notification.

[Mineral sedimentary layer detected 180 meters directly ahead. Type: Kaolin clay. Quality: Good. Depth: 0.3 to 1 meter below the surface.]