Du Lai returned empty-handed.

When he came back, Fu Miaoxue was standing on the roof, patiently decorating it with all varieties of wildflowers — red, white, yellow, blue, every color imaginable. At a glance it was a riot of vibrant color, and rather lovely.

He stood beneath the eave and said, “One hour of sun and they’ll all wilt. Why go to all the trouble.”

Fu Miaoxue turned at the sound and saw him. “Didn’t you go for a bath? How are you even dirtier than before?”

Then she laughed without any restraint: “You look like a mangy dog, hahahaha!”

Du Lai looked at her laughing face, and his low mood lifted slightly. He smiled and shot back: “You look like a rooster crowing from the rooftop.”

Fu Miaoxue: “……”

She planted her hands on her hips, swung a fistful of thorny wildflowers off her back, and hurled them at Du Lai!

Du Lai dodged out of the way. Fu Miaoxue somehow produced two stones from nowhere. Du Lai laughed and cursed: “I taught you to throw stones so you could throw them at me?”

Fu Miaoxue fumed, “Who told you to call me a rooster!”

Utterly without mercy, she let fly — two stones in quick succession!

Her aim had become remarkably good. Had Du Lai not reacted fast enough, he would very nearly have been hit!

How could Du Lai let that stand? Using hands and feet alike, he scrambled up the large boulder, pinned Fu Miaoxue’s hands behind her back, and said with a mix of amusement and exasperation: “Oh? Teaching the apprentice only to have the apprentice turn on the master? Apprentice, have you no respect?”

Fu Miaoxue squirmed and thrashed, struggling without stop.

“Stop moving!” Du Lai’s brow furrowed. “Do you want us both to fall off?”

Fu Miaoxue didn’t listen at all — she giggled and jostled and wrestled in his arms. “Let go~ Just let go~”

No matter how nimble Du Lai was, even he couldn’t withstand her flailing around up here. He released her, and Fu Miaoxue slipped away like a mouse — sliding down in an instant, quick and practiced as though she’d done it a hundred times.

Du Lai was not a petty child and had no intention of hauling Fu Miaoxue back up for a lecture. He could only stand on the roof, looking down at her helplessly, thinking she was absolutely out of her mind.

Still…

These bursts of wild, reckless play really did chase away the gloom that had settled in his chest.

— In those long, bleak days on the island, when there seemed to be no future in sight, whenever he felt he could no longer hold on, he would go look at her laughing, chaotic face.

In the days that followed, Du Lai kept himself as busy as possible.

He tried firing charcoal, fashioned clay pots, and spent many days stringing bamboo poles through the grove — using the natural downhill slope to carry stream water all the way to a point much closer to their shelter. After that, fetching water or washing up was far more convenient for both of them.

Fu Miaoxue stayed busy too. She had a strong aptitude for learning, and quickly mastered the technique of checking the fish traps. Her throwing force wasn’t quite there yet, but she occasionally managed to hit a bird. She also loved wandering across the hillsides to gather wild fruit and wildflowers, adorning their little shelter until it was bright and cheerful.

Day after day, time slipped quietly past.

One evening, Du Lai was at the beach collecting sea salt he had left to evaporate for several days, intending to grind it for use in curing fish. Some of the crystallization pits had already formed solid chunks of salt of various sizes; others still held a thin film of seawater.

In the reflection on the water’s surface, he saw himself — stubble-covered and ragged — and for a disoriented moment, nearly didn’t recognize his own face.

Like half a wild man.

“Du Lai!… Du Lai!…” Fu Miaoxue’s voice rang out from a distance.

He turned to look and saw her running toward him brightly and happily. Her hair had grown longer than before, and her skin had darkened a shade in the sun — but she had started with such a good foundation that she didn’t look nearly as worn as he did.

“Du Lai! Look!” Fu Miaoxue grinned and held out a large bunch of bananas to him. “Look what I found! Bananas! So sweet! So delicious! Try one, quickly!”

Before Du Lai could say a word, she had already snapped one off, peeled it, and was pushing it toward his mouth.

Du Lai bit down.

And then his expression twisted completely.

A mouthful of bitter seeds, nearly cracking his teeth.

Fu Miaoxue: “Hahahahahahaha!!!”

Du Lai spat out the seeds and stared at her, utterly baffled by how she could be so thoroughly happy.

—