Live Strong in the Wilderness-Chapter 37: To Bathe or Not

"You take care of the gloves, and I’ll handle the mud bricks," Xu Yi said to Lu Ke, and then got to work.

Lu Ke nodded and then said, "You make a mold of your handprint first. I’ll start cutting the snake skin."

So, Xu Yi used clay to create his handprint and then handed it over to Lu Ke.

Then, Xu Yi began working on the mud.

The two of them, each busy with their own tasks, didn’t speak.

Because they both knew, tonight no one needed to stand watch, they were going to rest together.

Sleeping together?

This kind of thing, Lu Ke had never experienced nor considered.

After all, they hadn’t even held hands, and now they’d be sleeping together... it seemed a bit too fast.

Even if they didn’t do anything, there would inevitably be some skin contact.

Xu Yi wasn’t exactly a novice; in his world, he’d had three girlfriends and they’d all been intimate. The last one almost led to marriage, but her parents broke them up.

Though he was experienced, facing the innocent Loli Ke, Xu Yi didn’t have many adult intentions.

Moreover, this was under the watchful eyes of everyone.

"Have you noticed? Tonight, Loli Ke seems a bit distracted. She even pricked her hand while sewing the snake skin gloves earlier."

"Nervous to sleep with Xu Yi, of course. I bet Loli Ke’s never been in a relationship."

"Really envy Xu Yi, I’d pay a million to swap places with him and guard Loli Ke."

"Wow, big spender, does the big spender need someone to carry his bags?"

Obviously, it wasn’t just Lu Ke who felt it; the audience sensed it too.

After all, Xu Yi hadn’t said anything about wanting to sleep first or something.

"The atmosphere tonight really is a bit awkward," Xu Yi muttered, touching his nose, then stood up.

Next, Xu Yi picked up a machete and headed towards the woodpile.

There were quite a few cut fence woods, so Xu Yi planned to trim them to make a small bed.

After all, Lu Ke hadn’t invited him to share the sleeping bag, how could Xu Yi just suggest they sleep together?

Even though there was a layer of grass in the shelter, it wasn’t dry grass, so making a temporary bed was necessary.

Xu Yi had already planned that after he finished making the bow and arrow, he would start making a proper bed.

Even though a sleeping bag could block moisture, sleeping on the ground all the time wasn’t healthy and would absorb too much moisture.

Lu Ke finished sewing Xu Yi’s gloves and seeing Xu Yi working, she didn’t dare to interrupt.

Silently, she made a mold of her own handprint, then used a dagger to cut out the snake skin for the gloves, and started sewing.

As for Xu Yi, he flattened both sides of the wood planks and tossed the shaved bark and such into the fire pit.

Xu Yi worked meticulously and with focus.

Of course, this naturally slowed down the pace.

By the time Lu Ke finished sewing her own gloves, Xu Yi still hadn’t finished the bed.

Lu Ke stood up, rubbing her eyes, her cheeks slightly flushed. She glanced at the only sleeping bag in the room and thought to herself, "I haven’t bathed in days, and I’m all sweaty. Will this stink someone out?"

"What to do? Should I heat some water and take a bath first? But if I do that, would it seem too deliberate, making Xu Yi misunderstand?" Lu Ke covered her flushed face with her hands, her mind a chaotic buzz.

"Excuse me for a moment," Xu Yi said, carrying wood and preparing to enter the house to make the bed, noticing Lu Ke spacing out at the door.

"Ah, oh." Lu Ke snapped back to reality, surprisedly asking, "Xu Yi, why are you bringing wood inside?"

"I’m preparing to make a bed," Xu Yi grinned as he explained.

"Making a bed? Aren’t you going to share the sleeping bag with me?" Lu Ke asked directly.

Xu Yi gave Lu Ke a glance and said, "It’s not quite appropriate. After all, our relationship isn’t at that stage yet."

"What’s going on? There’s only one sleeping bag; naturally, we’ll rest together, not the other kind of sleeping together. Xu Yi, you haven’t had any wild thoughts, right?" Lu Ke pretended to be calm, but her flushed face betrayed her internal panic.

"Of course not, you’re not even fully developed. Why would I have wild thoughts? Besides, I see you as a sister, how could I have ulterior motives?" Xu Yi said with some guilt. Despite Lu Ke not being fully developed, still resembling a young teenage girl, she was nevertheless very charming.

"That’s good then, so just stop with the bed. We’ll just rest together later. We have over 400 more days to spend together. There’s no problem with siblings sleeping together, right?" Lu Ke thought this reason seemed reasonable and said it out loud.

"All the more reason to finish the bed, it’ll reduce the humidity," Xu Yi continued moving the wood inside, though he needed to trim some more now for the extra width.

"The ground is quite chilly, it’s a shame these sleeping bags aren’t inflatable," Lu Ke reasoned, feeling that once they talked it out, there was no room for wild thoughts.

"That would be great. We have plenty of fabric, so we can make more clothes and pants," Xu Yi responded, continuing to move the wood inside.

"Xu Yi, I’ll go get some water. I want to heat some water to soak my feet," Lu Ke thought, now that they had two small basins, one could be used for washing her face and the other for soaking her feet.

After working all day, soaking her feet before bed would be very comforting.

Of course, there’s also the point of not having any odor.

After all, they’re sharing a sleeping bag, and having any smell would be unacceptable.

"Let’s go together later, fetch more water back. I also want to wipe myself down. Otherwise, I’ll be all sweaty and stink you out." Xu Yi grinned; he often broke into sweat, and he did have quite the smell.

"Okay." Lu Ke nodded happily, now Xu Yi would wipe down and she could too.

"You go pick up a few stones in the yard, toss them into the fire to heat them up, and then we can put them in the basin to have hot water," Xu Yi instructed Lu Ke while he focused on finishing the bed.

"Oh, what a great idea! Xu Yi, how did you come up with it? You’re amazing, I’ll go right now." Originally, Lu Ke worried about the hassle of boiling water with a pot, unsure when there’d be enough water.

After all, it was already past ten, and using a steel pot to boil enough water could take ages.

She’d done quite a bit of physical work today, was already exhausted, and needed to rest early.

Tomorrow, she’d continue making clay bricks for the earth kiln, a task requiring moving clay back and forth, which was physically demanding. So, naturally, she’d go to bed early whenever possible.

With excitement, she went to gather stones. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Picking up seven or eight stones just a bit smaller than her fist, Lu Ke placed them into the fire to heat them.