Live Strong in the Wilderness-Chapter 169: Trying Out Massage

"Xu Yi, look, there’s a message on the ground from Wang Jin and Sister Lu Yao for us."

Back at the camp, Lu Ke took off her hat and pointed to the ground.

Xu Yi glanced at it, and saw it read: Staying for one night, hope for understanding, Lu Yao.

"I’m starving, let’s eat something first." Xu Yi untied a string of jerky from the top of the shed and handed it to Lu Ke.

Xu Yi didn’t mind Wang Jin and Lu Yao staying over.

Helping each other while away from home is a warm thing, especially since they’re on another planet.

Lu Ke took the smoked meat, took a bite, then took a steel pot out of her basket to get water for boiling.

Xu Yi chewed a few pieces of jerky and quickly started a fire.

Once the fire was going, Xu Yi sat on a small wooden stump and chewed slowly. It wasn’t that Xu Yi had such great patience, but with jerky, that’s the only way to eat it.

Lu Ke was boiling water and gnawing on the jerky at the same time. Although she was very hungry, to prevent herself from choking, she ate even more slowly than Xu Yi.

Once the water boiled and cooled down, the two started eating faster.

This meal took them more than half an hour.

"So sour, the muscles on both sides of my mouth are hurting, Xu Yi, are you like this too?" Lu Ke rubbed her cheeks and said coquettishly.

"Hmm, excessive chewing. How about I give you a massage?" Xu Yi thought about his basic massage skills, which should help relieve Lu Ke’s problem.

"Will that help?" Lu Ke looked at Xu Yi, feeling a bit puzzled.

"I think it should. I learned with... Nurse Li." Xu Yi remembered an assistant nurse, Li, whose massage techniques were quite famous in the hospital where Lu Ke was in.

"Grandpa Li, huh? His massage is really good. Did he actually teach you that skill?" Lu Ke was even more surprised because that Nurse Li was a very quirky person. Despite having countless assets at home and a very filial daughter, who often urged him to go home and enjoy life, Nurse Li preferred to stay in the hospital as a caregiver, making meager earnings.

Many people wanted to learn massage from Nurse Li, but he wouldn’t teach anyone.

That’s why Lu Ke was so surprised.

"Yeah, come on, give it a try." Saying this, Xu Yi beckoned Lu Ke over.

Lu Ke nodded and walked over to Xu Yi, sitting down.

Xu Yi flexed his fingers, then started kneading Lu Ke’s face.

"This is too much, I bet a million that Xu Yi doesn’t really know any massage techniques, he’s just taking advantage of our Loli Ke!!"

"Blatant groping, Xu Yi you’ve turned bad."

"Loli Ke, you’re too naive, falling for it so easily."

"Xu Yi’s true colors are showing, I never thought you were like this, after all the trust I had in you."

"Look at Loli Ke, she seems to be enjoying it. Has she fallen for it?"

"Can’t you guys be a bit more innocent? Looking at Xu Yi’s serious expression, he seems to really be massaging and not taking advantage."

"It’s the first time I’ve heard of massaging cheeks, Xu Yi’s routine is pretty clever."

"Haha, if Xu Yi wanted to take advantage, he could do it every night, why use such a clumsy excuse?"

"Slandering our Xu Yi, does it benefit you guys?"

After five or six minutes, Lu Ke puffed out her cheeks.

She hadn’t expected Xu Yi’s technique to be so effective; she no longer felt any soreness.

"Xu Yi, my shoulder feels a bit sore too, could you give it a massage?" Lu Ke said unabashedly, then cheekily stuck out her tongue.

If she had known earlier that Xu Yi had such a skill, she would have taken advantage of it long ago.

Xu Yi smiled slightly, flexed his hands, then started massaging Lu Ke’s shoulders.

After more than ten minutes, Xu Yi finally stopped.

"That was so comfortable, I found out too late. If I ever feel sore somewhere, I’ll rely on you." Lu Ke stood up, stretched her arms, and happily said.

"You never mentioned feeling uncomfortable before, so I never had a chance to show off." Xu Yi jested before heading towards the bathroom.

He hadn’t showered in days, and after a day of traveling, he was sweaty and had to bathe before doing anything else.

"Go on, take a shower, I’ll bring out the clay pot and see if it’s finished baking." Xu Yi placed the laden water in front of Lu Ke, then turned towards the clay oven.

Lu Ke glanced at Xu Yi, then picked out rocks from the fire, and went off to wash up.

Xu Yi opened the clay kiln and took out the clay pot.

There was no significant deformation or cracks in the clay pot.

Seeing this, Xu Yi couldn’t help but smile.

Normally, this means the clay pot was successfully fired.

They could start the papermaking process tonight.

Moving the clay pot to the water source, Xu Yi let water flow into it, preparing to test for leaks.

Then, he took out the other clay jugs from the kiln.

One was severely deformed, a failure.

Of the other two, one had a crack, also a failure. Only the last one seemed alright.

However, Xu Yi thought that as long as the clay pot succeeded, it was good enough. Jugs were relatively easy to make and quick to finish.

When Lu Ke finished her bath, the clay pot was filled with water, so Xu Yi moved the water flow away.

"Xu Yi, how is it? Did the clay pot finish firing?" Lu Ke asked worriedly; she was concerned about failure.

"It worked, I already filled it with water, and it shouldn’t leak." Xu Yi said happily.

"Really? That’s great, let me see." Lu Ke, holding her clothes, walked over, wearing only a vest, clearly ready to wash clothes.

Seeing the clay pot, Lu Ke let out a sigh of relief.

With it, they could not only store water but also make paper.

"Xu Yi, give me your clothes, I’ll wash them together." Lu Ke said to Xu Yi.

Xu Yi didn’t hesitate, took off his clothes and handed them to Lu Ke, then went to fetch water for a bath.

After coming out, Xu Yi also washed his underwear separately, feeling embarrassed to have Lu Ke wash it with the rest.

Lu Ke obviously understood, so she didn’t say anything.

After both finished washing clothes, they sat around the fire, drying their clothes.

"Xu Yi, if the clay pot hasn’t leaked by tomorrow, can we start making paper?" Lu Ke asked Xu Yi. Although they could use points to exchange for paper, Lu Ke wouldn’t do that.

PS: Continuing to write, working hard to finish the remaining two Chapters.