"Hmm, I understand." Lu Ke nodded vigorously, showing a sweet smile.
Here with Xu Yi, she felt needed.
She had never experienced this before.
Her family always thought she was a burden, an extra baggage. She seemed like a leech clinging to her family, constantly draining the family's savings.
Initially, she encouraged Xu Yi to sign up for the challenge just for the 100,000 compensation, to make up for the money her family spent on her.
At the same time, she wanted to prove that she was still a useful person.
Then, Lu Ke drank a few more sips of water.
After all, climbing the mountain for two hours straight consumed a lot of energy.
Besides, it was already 10:21, and feeling hungry was perfectly normal.
After drinking half a pot of water, Lu Ke handed the pot to Xu Yi.
"Is this the bark used for weaving? It's so smooth!" Lu Ke picked it up and glanced at it, exclaiming excitedly. This bark was much better than she had anticipated.
"Yeah, don't rush to weave the straw sandals. Let's make a small soft basket to store salt first. Is that okay?" Xu Yi decided to boil the sea salt first, as carrying a pot of seawater was not very convenient.
"No problem, I guarantee there won't be any gaps in the weaving. Pass me the Engineer Shovel; I need to get some finer bark." Lu Ke said joyfully, finally seeing her skills put to good use.
After Xu Yi finished drinking water, he started boiling the salt.
Occasionally, Xu Yi looked back at Lu Ke, sitting on the sleeping bag, diligently cutting the bark into thin strips.
Not only did she want to weave a small soft basket, but she also planned to weave a basket for carrying on their backs. This way, they could save a lot of energy by putting things in the backpack, freeing up their hands.
With plenty of materials, Lu Ke began weaving the small soft basket.
This soft basket shouldn't be too big; it's best to hang it on the waist.
She planned to weave a square one, about the size of a Red Bull bottle.
Lu Ke's hands were very nimble, with a keen interest in all kinds of crafts since childhood.
Over the years, she covered most of her medical expenses by earning money through her crafting skills.
In a short time, Lu Ke had woven a perfectly sized square base.
In the live broadcast room, everyone was amazed by Lu Ke's craftsmanship.
Many people expressed that they felt confident learning after watching but wanted to chop off their hands after trying.
Xu Yi kept stirring the seawater in the pot, as the water evaporated continuously, leaving behind white crystals.
These, naturally, were the sea salt.
However, this kind of sea salt contained many substances, some of which were harmful to the human body, and needed further processing to obtain safe sea salt.
But Xu Yi didn't have enough tools and time to process it. Getting these hundred grams of salt was already a great achievement.
Boiling the salt took Xu Yi 41 minutes, and by then, Lu Ke had already woven two small soft baskets, in between asking Xu Yi for a rope cut from a cowhide strap.
"Lu Ke, have you finished weaving the small soft basket?" Xu Yi noticed a rather large rectangular woven item in Lu Ke's hands and couldn't help but ask.
"Yes, take a look." Lu Ke said, raising the two small soft baskets.
Xu Yi, holding the pot, walked over and took the small soft baskets.
"Your craft is really amazing, even with a lid that can be tied up." Xu Yi exclaimed in surprise, not expecting Lu Ke's skills to be this excellent.
He indeed found a treasure because, in the wilderness, craftsmanship greatly enhances the quality of life.
Xu Yi opened the lid and took a look inside—no gaps at all, a perfect piece of work.
"No wonder you can make a living through crafts to pay for your treatment; I'm impressed." Xu Yi happily put the salt inside, filling about half the space, then tied the lid and fastened the small soft basket to his waist.
"Are you weaving a backpack?" Xu Yi saw Lu Ke still weaving and asked in surprise.
If they had a backpack, they could put the pot inside it and collect a plastic bag of water.
The plastic bag could hold at least 20 pounds of water, enough for them to drink for a while.
"Yeah, the backpack will be very useful. I want to weave two so we can collect more stuff." Lu Ke said with a smile, her eyes full of spirit.
"Do we have enough materials?" Xu Yi glanced at the materials on the ground and asked.
"We probably need a bit more. You can go gather some more." Lu Ke estimated that there should be enough materials for one but not two.
"Okay, I'll go gather some more. Stay alert; if anything happens, shout and run uphill." Xu Yi instructed Lu Ke, then took the Engineer Shovel to gather more bark from Umbrella Tree Forest.
Even if they camped here tonight, they had to finish making the backpack.
Xu Yi returned to Umbrella Tree Forest to continue collecting bark.
"Hey, there seems to be a bird nest up there?" Xu Yi noticed what looked like a bird's nest in an Umbrella Tree and knocked on the tree with the Engineer Shovel.
There was no movement above, so Xu Yi sawed off the tree, holding it before it fell, and then cautiously laid it down.
"There really are bird eggs!" Xu Yi exclaimed in delight upon seeing the bird's nest.
The nest looked small from the bottom, but it was actually quite large in person.
Even more surprising was finding eight bird eggs, each the size of a small chicken egg.
Lunch was secured.
After taking out the bird eggs, Xu Yi decided not to collect any more bark and headed directly downhill to find Lu Ke and share his discovery.
Upon returning to Lu Ke, she had already completed one-third of the backpack.
"Lu Ke, look, what do we have here?" Xu Yi showcased the bird eggs from his pocket like presenting a treasure to Lu Ke.
"Ah, bird eggs, these are bird eggs?" Lu Ke gasped in surprise.
"That's right, there are eight in total, no worries for lunch now." Xu Yi grinned and placed the bird eggs on the sleeping bag.
"We probably haven't collected much water yet, I'll continue gathering bark." Xu Yi said happily and went back to work.
Besides collecting bark, Xu Yi intended to see if there were any more bird nests around.
If there were, they'd also have dinner sorted.
After finishing weaving one backpack, Xu Yi planned to bring Lu Ke there, waiting for the birds to return.
The size of the bird eggs suggested the bird wasn't small, at least four to five pounds.
If they managed to shoot one with a short crossbow, it would be perfect.
Unfortunately, after searching the Umbrella Tree Forest, Xu Yi didn't find a second bird's nest.
So Xu Yi collected some bark and returned.
Upon returning to Lu Ke, she was already tending to the pot.