Chapter 4: The "Delicious Surprise" Law
1296 Words
The smell of barbecue around them grew stronger. When Aimee saw the food on the stones over the fire, her eyes widened, and her face turned a bit pale.
Because the food on the stones was actually several insects.
The white insects on the stones were being roasted by the high heat, wriggling continuously.
Seeing this scene, Aimee's stomach churned violently.
"Are we, are we really going to eat this?" Aimee covered her mouth, her voice trembling as she looked at Martin.
Martin wasn't surprised by Aimee's expression, as he had anticipated it.
Martin nodded at Aimee: "That's right, this is our food for tonight. Don't underestimate these insects; they're not only high in protein but also taste pretty good."
As the high heat roasted them, the white insects on the stones gradually turned a charred yellow.
From the outside, they looked like little meatballs.
Martin picked up a roasted insect and handed it to Aimee: "Give it a try!"
Seeing the food Martin handed over, Aimee shuddered, hurriedly stepping back several steps, shaking her head vigorously: "I won't eat it, I'm not that hungry yet!"
However, as soon as she finished speaking, her stomach growled loudly.
It was clear that Aimee was hungry, but she simply couldn't accept the idea of eating insects.
The appearance of the insects was indeed hard to accept for most people, let alone for someone like Aimee, a rich girl.
In fact, Aimee really couldn't accept it.
She was determined that she would rather starve than eat them.
"Alright, then I'll eat first!" Seeing Aimee's reaction, Martin didn't press her further and decided to eat first to set an example.
Martin was genuinely hungry and ate several at once.
They were crispy and crunchy, with a hint of pine, and the taste was indeed quite good.
After eating a dozen or so with relish, Martin felt much more energized.
These insects were small and couldn't fill his stomach, but they could temporarily provide a lot of nutrition.
Aimee watched Martin eat with relish, still feeling extremely resistant inside, but her stomach kept growling uncontrollably.
Swallowing hard, Aimee finally couldn't resist: "How does it taste?"
"You'll know once you try it yourself!" Martin pointed at the dozen or so charred yellow insects left on the stones, smiling.
These were specially left for Aimee by Martin; if she didn't eat, she wouldn't last long.
"Gurgle gurgle..." Aimee's stomach growled again.
Aimee gritted her teeth and sat back down by the fire.
The smell of barbecue in the air and her hunger overcame her inner resistance.
With trembling hands, she picked up a charred yellow insect from the stone, closed her eyes, and put it in her mouth.
Aimee tightly furrowed her brows, looking very uncomfortable, but the next moment, her eyes suddenly opened wide.
The taste was surprisingly good.
After her first taste and discovering how delicious the bugs were, Aimee quickly finished the rest.
"Not bad, right?" Martin teased, seeing Aimee still looking like she was craving more.
Aimee wiped her mouth, a bit embarrassed as she remembered how reluctant she had been earlier: "Not as bad as I imagined."
Martin shook his head, thinking she was being stubborn; the way she ate had already given her away. Why not just admit it tasted good?
The "I can't resist" phenomenon never gets old.
"How did you know these bugs were edible, and how did you manage to start a fire by rubbing sticks together?" Aimee asked Martin, partly to change the subject and partly because she was now interested in him.
He seemed to know quite a lot.
"That's a secret I can't spill!" Martin replied with mock seriousness.
In fact, Martin didn't think it was anything worth mentioning.
What seemed impressive to these wealthy girls like Aimee was just ordinary for someone from the countryside.
There's an old saying, "Children from poor families grow up early."
Besides, these basic wilderness survival skills were just childhood games for them.
Climbing trees and catching fish were the basics.
"What's there to hide?" Martin's seriousness earned him a big eye roll from Aimee.
However, Aimee didn't really have any complaints about Martin.
On the contrary, she now felt that Martin was a very nice person, much better than the playboys who used to pursue her.
Martin made her feel secure on this deserted island.
"Have you thought about what we should do next?" Aimee continued to ask Martin proactively.
Martin sighed, "We'll take it one step at a time."
"If there's really no way out, we'll just have to be a pair of ill-fated lovers stuck on this deserted island," Martin said with a hint of sadness, but mostly in jest.
"Who wants to be ill-fated lovers with you!" Aimee huffed and rolled her eyes.
"Haha..."
Under the moonlight, the two gradually started chatting, filled with laughter and joy.
From a distance, one might think they were a couple enjoying some leisure time.
As they chatted, Martin and Aimee became more familiar with each other.
Aimee grew more trusting of Martin.
Martin also found that Aimee wasn't as cold as the rumors suggested.
Just as they were engrossed in conversation, a rustling sound suddenly came from not far away, causing both of them to tense up. At the edge of the dark forest, a pair of glowing green eyes appeared.
"Wolf!"
Martin's face turned grim; running into a wolf on the first day was just bad luck.
Wolves are known to be pack animals and hold grudges.
"Mar... Martin... wh... what do we do?"
Aimee's lips trembled as her body shook.
"Don't be afraid, wild animals fear fire; it won't come over!"
Martin took a deep breath, kept a close eye on the wolf, and gripped the makeshift tool he had made earlier to bolster his courage.
"Howl!"
The wolf howled, its green eyes moving as it slowly approached Martin and Aimee. That's when they realized it was a tall, lean black wolf!
To be more precise, it was a skeletal black wolf!
"It seems to be a lone wolf, we should be able to handle it!"
Martin was calculating in his mind, but his nerves were getting the better of him, while Aimee clung tightly to Martin's arm, not noticing the pile of meat in front of her getting squished.
"Howl!"
The black wolf howled and was the first to charge at them.
At that moment, Martin couldn't afford to be gentle. He pushed Aimee aside and then flung the torch in his hand towards the black wolf. The blinding light from the torch made the black wolf hesitate, and Martin quickly stepped forward and hurled the stone at the black wolf's injured right leg.
The black wolf let out a miserable cry and tried to bite Martin, but Martin dodged nimbly and struck its leg again. The black wolf, in pain, began to retreat, and after maintaining a certain distance from the two, it limped away.
Having narrowly escaped death, they watched the black wolf retreat, both panting heavily, especially Martin, whose back was drenched in sweat.
"Martin, are you okay?"
Aimee hurriedly ran to Martin, her face full of concern. Martin waved his hand to indicate he was fine, then said, "There must be more ferocious beasts deeper in this deserted island; our days here won't be easy."
"What should we do then?"
"We can only pray for rescue to arrive soon. The black wolf has been driven away, it shouldn't come back for a while. You should take some time to rest and regain your strength."
"What about you?"
"I'll keep watch for you, and when you're rested, you can take over for me!"
"Okay!"
With that, Aimee curled up by the fire and gradually drifted off to sleep.
- Writer
