Chapter 464 — This Is Drilling Wood to Make Fire

"I ate it, then threw it up, then—" No, I didn't throw it up, I crapbed it!" said Gao Xiaofu.

"..." Zhong Yongliang's face darkened, and he felt a sudden awkwardness. The boy really had a gift for bringing up the most unfortunate topics. He crapped? Well, hadn't he done the same? Hadn't he even done it in his pants? Afraid Shen Yushu would mock him again, Zhong Yongliang said, "Enough talk, just crank it harder!"

As he spoke, Zhong Yongliang himself blew harder, puffing "whoosh, whoosh" at the charcoal in the stove.

"All right! I'll give it everything!" Gao Xiaofu gritted his teeth and sped up the hand crank once more. With a "bang," a flash of fire leapt from the stove. Zhong Yongliang let out a miserable shriek of "Awoo," and the smell of singed pig bristles filled the air.

Zhong Yongliang's hair was scorched, and a patch of his face was burned black. Luckily the flame had lasted only an instant; otherwise, the skin of his face would likely have been burned clean off.

"Xiaofu, what are you doing!" Zhong Yongliang was frantic. "Are you trying to burn me alive?"

"Liang, didn't you tell me to go faster?" Gao Xiaofu said with a pained look.

Zhong Yongliang had no grounds to argue. It was true he had told Gao Xiaofu to hurry. So with a dark face he said, "Then keep going. That last result wasn't bad—I'd say we're about to get the stove lit!"

"Right! Then I'll put in more effort!" Gao Xiaofu nodded, let out a shout, and began working the crank again.

This time, though, Zhong Yongliang did not dare stand so close. He could only blow from a distance, and naturally the effect was much worse. Gao Xiaofu cranked even faster than before, but without Zhong Yongliang's help, the flame simply refused to catch.

With a "smack," Gao Xiaofu suddenly landed flat on his rear. With a cry of "Ouch," he sat down on the ground. Lucky it was the beach; otherwise he would have taken a nasty fall.

"What's the matter with you?" Zhong Yongliang was furious. He had wanted to show off in front of Gu Mengyao, yet problem after problem kept cropping up—one thing ruined here, another mishap there.

"It broke, Liang," Gao Xiaofu said, his face crumpled like a mourner's as he held up the crank handle. "The handle snapped."

"Snapped?" Zhong Yongliang was beside himself with rage. What kind of worthless junk had Gao Xiaofu bought? This was nothing short of a humiliation!

"Ugh, you two are hopeless!" Shen Yushu glanced at Zhong Yongliang and Gao Xiaofu and shook her head in disappointment. She turned around, and then she saw wisps of cooking smoke already rising over by Wei Zhao's spot. Delighted, she said, "I'm going to find someone else. Look, they've already got their fire going!"

With that, Shen Yushu ran off. Zhong Yongliang, however, knitted his brows—because the person beside that fire over there was none other than Wei Zhao!

"Liang, aren't fire sources banned on the plane? Where did he get a fire from?" Gao Xiaofu asked, puzzled.

"Exactly! Fire sources are banned on the plane. He must have smuggled it in. Let's go report him!" Zhong Yongliang had spent ages trying to light the fire without success and was seething. Seeing Shen Yushu run off toward Wei Zhao with Gu Mengyao in tow, he grew anxious at once. "Come on, let's go confront him!"

Wei Zhao had gathered a few scallops and crabs from the sea and was preparing to roast them. He had no interest in shark meat, so he had kept to himself, gathered some twigs, built a fire, and set about roasting the scallops.

Apart from Kang **, Wei Zhao rarely spoke to anyone else in the class to begin with, so no one found anything odd about his keeping to himself.

"Leader, I caught quite a few more scallops. Do you think this is enough?" Kang ** set the scallops she had carried in the folds of her clothes down on the sand beside Wei Zhao.

"If it's just the two of us eating, this should be about enough," Wei Zhao said after a glance.

"And what about me!" Feng Xiaoxiao grew anxious. "I want some too!"

"If you want some, go catch your own!" Wei Zhao shot her a glance and said coolly. Who did this girl think she was? Expecting to reap the rewards of others' labor?

"..." Feng Xiaoxiao stood up, somewhat aggrieved, and walked toward the seaside. She was full of resentment. Why was Wei Zhao so foul-tempered with her? Couldn't he at least be a little nicer?

When they reached the shore, Feng Xiaoxiao grew even more vexed at the sight: Kang ** had plucked nearly every sea snail from the shallows. It looked as though she would have to wade out to somewhat deeper water to gather any.

Fortunately, Feng Xiaoxiao did know how to swim; she had only claimed she could not because she wanted Wei Zhao to teach her. So walking out a little deeper held no fear of danger for her.

"Leader, have you no tender heart for a beauty at all?" Even Kang ** cried injustice on Feng Xiaoxiao's behalf. If a lovely girl were beside him craving roasted snails, Kang ** would have been only too glad to roast some for her.

But as things stood, the one Feng Xiaoxiao was chasing after was Wei Zhao. There was no way for Kang ** to go currying favor, nor would Wei Zhao have permitted Kang ** to do so.

"Wei Zhao! Where did you get that fire from?" Zhong Yongliang had a bellyful of anger, and since he felt the right was on his side—he was the one who had found the plane—he reckoned he was entitled to challenge Wei Zhao, and so he puffed himself up with righteous confidence.

Wei Zhao frowned, glanced up at Zhong Yongliang, and said flatly, "None of your damn business."

"You—" Zhong Yongliang was furious. He had come to demand an accounting, yet Wei Zhao had rebuffed him with a single sentence. But naturally Zhong Yongliang would not back down now. Pointing at Wei Zhao, he demanded harshly, "Fire sources are not allowed on planes, yet you actually brought matches and a lighter. Do you mean to gamble with the safety of our entire class? Believe me, I can call the police and have you arrested!"

Zhong Yongliang instantly elevated Wei Zhao's conduct to a matter of the whole class's safety, and some of the onlookers who had earlier thought Zhong Yongliang rather overbearing now sided with him too. Yes—if you brought a fire source, were you not endangering everyone?

"Which of your eyes saw me carrying a lighter and matches?" Wei Zhao sneered. "I think you are just making trouble for the sake of it."

"If you have no fire source, how did you make the fire?" Zhong Yongliang was certain Wei Zhao must have used a fire source; otherwise, there was no fire-making equipment whatsoever beside him.

"My leader made fire by drilling wood!" Kang ** would not stand for it. Here was Zhong Yongliang, opening his mouth to falsely accuse Wei Zhao of using a lighter or matches to start the fire.

"Drilling wood to make fire?" Zhong Yongliang was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Are you kidding me? Drilling wood to make fire—why not say he lit it with a magnifying glass?"

"Did you not learn anything in primary school? You do not know that drilling wood can make fire?" Kang ** rolled his eyes, too annoyed to bother with Zhong Yongliang.

"Then drill another one and let me see! If you cannot drill it out, I am calling the police!" Zhong Yongliang roared, beside himself with rage.

"Arrow brand—oh…" Wei Zhao, show him!" Shen Yushu had seen Wei Zhao make fire by drilling wood before, so she immediately called out.