Moving up from the beach to higher ground was a grove of trees, with several thick coconut palms at the edge that were particularly striking. The shade was cool and refreshing — perfectly suited for resting.

Du Lai ached in all four limbs, but still gritted his teeth against the discomfort and carried the young miss piggyback to the base of the trees.

He glanced up at the sky, worried about missing the rescuers, and said at a slightly faster pace to the young miss: “I’ll go find some stones and arrange an SOS signal.”

But the young miss pulled at him and asked: “This place is so dirty — where am I supposed to sit?”

Du Lai felt a surge of anxious urgency in his heart. Of all the things to worry about right now — dirty or not dirty? Moreover, they’d both been washed ashore by seawater, so it wasn’t as if either of them were particularly clean to begin with!

But the other party was the supremely distinguished young miss — he couldn’t lose his temper.

Not only could he not lose his temper, he had to treat her like an honored ancestor!

Du Lai swallowed his irritation, picked two broad green leaves from nearby, spread them on the ground, and coaxed patiently: “Young Miss, we need to set up the rescue signal as quickly as possible. Staying in the shade the whole time, a plane might not be able to spot us if it comes.”

The young miss furrowed her brow and scrutinized the leaves on the ground, pursing her lips. After quite a while, she let out a deeply reluctant “oh” and said: “Then go ahead.”

Du Lai immediately felt a wave of relief.

He let go of her and rushed back to the beach, found a relatively flat area, and first quickly traced out the letters “SOS,” then gathered stones, wood, and anything he could find that was visible and wouldn’t be easily blown away by the wind. He stacked and arranged it all along the path of the “SOS.”

Du Lai was exhausted.

Constantly bending down, crouching, then standing up again — he worked busily on the beach for half an hour and finally completed a rescue signal roughly thirty meters wide.

He actually wanted to make it even larger, even more conspicuous — ideally something a helicopter flying overhead could spot at a single glance.

But he was too tired, his stamina nearly spent. After finishing the “SOS,” he returned to the shade to rest, too exhausted to move even a finger, with only his eyes stubbornly open, hoping to catch sight of a rescue plane in the blue sky.

The young miss said: “Du Lai, I’m thirsty.”

Du Lai: “……”

He was thirsty too.

But at a time like this, where was he supposed to get fresh water for her?

“Young Miss, some of the leaves in the forest have collected rainwater — but there may be parasites, so we’d better continue waiting for rescue,” Du Lai said listlessly. “As long as they find the signal we made, water and food will come.”

“But I’m really so thirsty… and my body hurts so much…” Her voice carried a dazed quality as she said quietly: “What if they can’t find us? …What if they never find us?”

“They will,” Du Lai said with certainty. “An accident this significant will definitely have rescue teams searching. As long as they track along the tornado’s path, they can’t possibly miss us.”

The young miss was silent for a moment, then said flatly: “You make a fair point. Even if the rescue team doesn’t come, my grandfather will definitely send people to rescue me. When that happens, I’ll have him give you money — ten million. Is that enough? You can ask for however much you want. Our family has plenty of money.”

Du Lai couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.

Trapped in this kind of dangerous situation, money didn’t hold much allure. But imagining himself sitting on ten million after they got out of this — that felt pretty good.

“Young Miss, there’s no water or food here. Let’s conserve our strength and wait for rescue,” Du Lai urged.

This time the young miss stopped making willful demands — perhaps she was genuinely exhausted. She leaned against the tree trunk and slowly fell asleep.

Du Lai didn’t dare to sleep. He didn’t even dare to close his eyes. One moment gazing at the sky, the next moment gazing at the sea——

Whether plane or ship, he saw neither.

None came. Not a single one.