After sending off her phony aunt and uncle, Su Tang and Lu Xiao hadn’t even had a chance to catch their breath before one problem after another arose.
The first to strike was the pervasive dampness.
The walls were perpetually clammy to the touch, with nauseating green and black mold creeping up the corners. The air was thick with the pungent stench of mildew and the briny sll of the sea.
Within two days, the bedding they had brought with them beca cold and heavy, as if you could wring water out of it.
The worst part was Mr. Su. His already weak lungs couldn’t handle the strain of this environnt. His coughs ca in rapid, dense fits, full of a wet, heavy rattle that made your heart clench just to hear it.
Seeing her father in such pain broke Su Tang’s heart. She imdiately pulled Lu Xiao into action.
They moved every piece of furniture they could lift outside to bake under the scorching sun.
Sunlight was the best disinfectant and dryer.
Su Tang then had Lu Xiao get so charcoal from the local fishern. They crushed it, wrapped it in old rags to create makeshift dehumidifying packets, and tucked them into every corner of the house.
And surprisingly, this hospun redy actually worked. The suffocating dampness that made it hard to breathe finally began to subside.
At night, Su Tang would wrap the sun-baked, piping-hot stones in cloth and tuck them into Mr. Su’s cold bedding to warm his feet.
She and Lu Xiao took turns watching over a small charcoal brazier, carefully placed in a well-ventilated spot to slowly bake the moisture out of the air.
When it was ti to sleep, Lu Xiao beca a human furnace, holding a shivering Su Tang close and using his own body heat to ward off the invasive, damp cold.
If Mr. and Mrs. Su hadn’t been in the next room, there’s no telling what kind of noise the two of them might have made.
Lu Xiao’s heart ached seeing how much weight Su Tang had lost after just two days on the island.
"Tangtang, I’ve already sent a letter back. Just wait a couple more days."
Su Tang turned and leaned into his embrace, nodding with a smile.
"I know, hubby."
She had never called him that before. Lu Xiao’s eyes went wide, and he froze as if he’d been struck by lightning.
"You..."
"I’m so sleepy, ti for bed."
Su Tang quickly squeezed her eyes shut, putting on an act of being completely exhausted.
Seeing her act like this, Lu Xiao felt a mix of exasperation and fondness, but he didn’t press the issue.
’Oh, well,’ he thought. ’My Tangtang is just shy.’
Just as the problem with the dampness had eased slightly, a greater crisis erged: a shortage of doctors and dicine.
dical supplies were scarce on the island, and the local doctor was at a loss when faced with Mr. Su’s complex illness.
The specialized dicine they had brought with them was about to run out.
Watching her husband cough his lungs out, his face turning a frightening shade of blue, Mrs. Su was so frantic that tears stread down her cheeks. The hand she used to grip Su Tang’s was trembling.
"Don’t be afraid, Mom. We’re here."
Su Tang suppressed her own anxiety and reassured them, "Mom, Dad, I wrote to my hospital before we ca. We just have to wait a little longer. Don’t panic."
Fortunately, Su Tang had a feeling they hadn’t brought enough supplies. Just before they disembarked, she had written a letter to her hospital in the Northwest.
It was just that she hadn’t seen Mr. Su at the ti, so she couldn’t properly diagnose his condition.
All she could do was infer his illness from the contents of Mrs. Su’s letters and request so dication based on that.
By her calculations, the dicine should be arriving any day now.
While waiting for the dicine to arrive, Su Tang didn’t stay idle.
She humbly consulted the old fishern and began making therapeutic als for her father using ingredients she could find on the island.
She simred fresh fish soup until it was rich and milky-white, adding local herbs known for combating the effects of the humidity.
She found all sorts of ways to prepare humble ingredients like kelp and nori to replenish his minerals.
While it wasn’t as fast-acting as the specialized dicine, this nourishing food, full of the flavor of the sea, provided so much-needed sustenance to Mr. Su’s depleted body, and his spirits improved slightly.
’It seems if he keeps recovering like this,’ she thought, ’we’ll be able to leave the island soon.’
However, they hadn’t enjoyed two days of peace before the troublemaker, Su Yufen, showed up.
She had tracked down so charlatan of a "witch" from who-knows-where and was now insisting that Mr. Su was "possessed by an evil spirit" and needed an exorcism.
Su Tang blocked the doorway, her gaze as cold as ice. "Aunt, my father has a real illness. He needs a doctor and dicine, not so spiritualist mumbo jumbo! If you bring anyone like this to disturb his rest again, don’t bla for forgetting we’re family!"
Su Yufen had probably been trying to curry favor with them, but her plan had backfired spectacularly.
Su Tang wasn’t having any of it.
Lu Xiao’s tall fra stood silently behind her, and his intimidating presence alone was enough to send the "witch" scrambling away in terror.
Su Yufen’s face went pale with rage, but she only dared to stomp her feet and curse them under her breath once their backs were turned.
A few days later, Lu Xiao received a letter from the Northwest.
"What is it?"
Su Tang asked, noticing his solemn expression.
Lu Xiao didn’t say anything, simply leading her outside.
"About getting Mom and Dad off the island... I’m afraid I’ll have to make a trip back to the Northwest."
Hearing this, Su Tang froze.
"You’re going back?"
Lu Xiao nodded. "Yes, I have to go in person. There are so strings I need to pull."
"Tangtang, you stay here on the island with your parents for now. It should only take about ten days. I’ll get it done as fast as I can and co back for all of you."
As he said this, he couldn’t hide his reluctance to leave.
But if they wanted to be reunited as a family, this was sothing he had to do.
Su Tang wrapped her arms around him. "Go, then. Don’t worry. My parents and I will be waiting for you here."
After she spoke, Lu Xiao rested his head on top of hers, equally unwilling to let go.
After they finished speaking, the young couple went back inside, where Su Tang told her parents that Lu Xiao had to return.
Mr. and Mrs. Su were surprised to hear that Lu Xiao was leaving.
But when Su Tang explained he was going back on their behalf, they both felt a pang of guilt.
They already had one foot in the grave, yet they were still making their children run all over the place for them.
"Mom, Dad, you and Tangtang just stay put. I’ll be back before you know it."
Lu Xiao reassured Mr. and Mrs. Su, and the two elders didn’t protest any further.
Lu Xiao left that sa afternoon.
If he wanted to ensure he and Su Tang were never separated again, he had to work quickly.
But after Lu Xiao left, Su Tang couldn’t help but feel a little empty.
Seeing her daughter’s forlorn expression, Mrs. Su comforted her with a smile.
"Absence makes the heart grow fonder. When you two see each other again, you’ll be even more inseparable than you are now."
Su Tang’s face flushed at her mother’s obvious teasing.
’We’re inseparable, all right,’ she thought. ’I’m just not sure my body can handle it.’
That day, the technical station distributed the food rations.
Su Tang looked at the rations: they were coarse and ager. Fresh fruits and vegetables were practically a fantasy, and at was an even rarer commodity.
The money they’d brought was of little use on the isolated island.
Su Tang was young and strong enough to endure it, but her parents needed proper nutrition to recover.
Without a mont’s hesitation, Su Tang rolled up her pants and headed for the sea, becoming an expert forager on the reef flats.
She drew on knowledge from the countless foraging videos she had binged in her previous life, channeling her own tenacious, unyielding spirit.
She was sharp-eyed and quick-handed. Plump oysters, crabs hiding cunningly in rock crevices, silly fish stranded by the receding tide, and all sorts of shellfish she couldn’t na... they all beca spoils in her basket.
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