Culinary God in Wilderness

Chapter 398: Chapter 248: What Does "Airport" Mean? (Part 2)

She was very confident about this. Whenever she worked out, if she wore this top with a pair of yoga or compression leggings, she was guaranteed to draw looks from every direction.

She stared down at her ample assets and murmured, "An airport... How could that possibly describe my figure?"

"What are the characteristics of an airport, again? Lots of planes? Lots of terminals?"

"No, no, that’s not it. What other distinct features... Lots of runways? Long runways?"

"That’s not right either. Could it be... the terrain?"

The moment the word "terrain" popped into her head, she froze. It was as if a bolt of lightning had split the sky and struck her right on target.

She shot to her feet, cupping her chest with her hands, her eyes wide with disbelief.

’Damn it. He called me flat?’

"I could suffocate him with these, believe it or not!"

...

"ACHOO!!"

Lin Chen rubbed his nose, frowning in confusion.

’Who’s the fool cursing my name?’

’What was I going to do today...’

’Oh, right. I need to build some furniture. I remember grabbing four bundles of nylon rope from the speedboat. Maybe I can use them to add a second story to the shelter?’

A two-story shelter would surely be worth more points than a single-story one. This was, after all, building a house from scratch.

’To be honest, now that I have a saw, I can easily create interlocking mortise-and-tenon joints by cutting openings in the bamboo. Building a sturdy house frame, and even a second story, shouldn’t be too hard.’

With that thought, he picked up a thin bamboo twig and began sketching on the dirt floor inside.

After quickly sketching the basic structure of the bamboo house, his eyes scanned the interior, searching for a good place to start.

’I’ve got it. I can erect a row of bamboo poles next to the entrance, arranged from tallest to shortest. Then I’ll attach a diagonal bamboo piece across them as a stringer and set the bamboo steps into it horizontally.’

’To make sure the stairs can hold enough weight, I’ll add a few extra bamboo supports underneath. That should be enough to get up to a second floor.’

’For the second floor, I’ll do what I did back in Alaska and build an open-air observation deck. First, I’ll take off the roof. Then I’ll lay bamboo across the existing beams to create a ceiling for the first floor and a floor for the second. I’ll need to erect some extra load-bearing pillars on the first floor, too...’

Combining his previous construction experience from Alaska with what he’d learned building this bamboo house, he quickly formulated a sound, straightforward renovation plan.

He was a man of action.

First, he glanced at the sky outside. Confirming that rain was unlikely, he immediately began sawing bamboo into different lengths inside the shelter.

He started by marking out a space for the staircase support structure parallel to the wall.

For the lower sections, he used whole bamboo stalks, sawing out notches at the ends for connections. For parts that needed to be bent, he simply heated them over a fire. Once soft, the bamboo could be easily curved into a perfect right angle.

When a single bamboo stalk was too short, he erected additional vertical poles to achieve the necessary height, then spliced the sections for the steps in between.

After about two hours, he had successfully built a sturdy staircase leading to the roof area.

He didn’t dismantle the roof right away. Instead, he first erected two rows of load-bearing pillars inside. Next, he filled the gaps between the existing roof beams with more bamboo, which would become the second floor. He left an opening about a meter long and half a meter wide for the top of the staircase.

Only then did he dismantle the old roof, stacking the bamboo on the ground. These materials could be reused for the second story, which would save a lot of time.

Since the second floor was designed as a terrace, it didn’t need four walls—just the support pillars and a railing. As a result, construction was incredibly fast.

By eight o’clock that evening, the renovation was complete. The bamboo house had been transformed into a relaxation-oriented structure, now boasting a second-floor terrace.

’I’ve used up most of the bamboo I’d gathered. I’ll have to get more tomorrow. I need to make a table, and... two chairs. What else can I make?’

He thought for a moment, but no other ideas came to mind, so he decided not to force it. He could always build more things as inspiration struck.

「Afternoon, Day 28.」

As he dragged a large bundle of bamboo down from the mountain, he saw Erica in the distance. She was standing on the second-floor terrace, her hands on the railing as she gazed out at the surroundings.

When she saw him, she waved.

"Here to pay your rent?"

"Of course. I’m not some freeloader."

As Lin Chen dragged the bamboo inside, Erica descended from the second floor. She pointed to a bamboo basket in the corner, which was filled with American Oysters, and a large squid packed inside a bamboo tube and tied shut with bamboo strips.

"There are also two small spotted Lobsters in with the oysters. This should be valuable enough to cover room and board, right?"

"Barely."

Lin Chen nodded. He glanced at her, then dismissed the idea of asking for a "bed-warming fee."

If he brought up a topic like that for no reason, he’d be the one paying the price. There was no need to look for trouble.

He might not have wanted to start anything, but that didn’t mean Erica felt the same.

Today, however, her usual cheerful demeanor was gone. Once their business was concluded, she strode menacingly toward him. As Lin Chen watched with a wary expression, she suddenly placed a hand on his shoulder, rose onto her tiptoes, and whispered in his ear.

"An airport... that’s your way of calling me flat, isn’t it?"

The corner of Lin Chen’s mouth twitched.

’How did she figure that out? She shouldn’t have been able to. That slang doesn’t exist outside of China.’

Just as he was trying to figure out how to talk his way out of it, Erica spoke again.

"In my entire life, no one has ever called me flat. You just wait."

With that, she turned and walked out of the shelter, heading toward the stream without a backward glance.

’That’s it?’

Lin Chen breathed a sigh of relief, though he wasn’t sure why. Watching her walk away, he felt an unexplainable nervousness.

’That girl is usually so wild and carefree. I’ve never seen her look so serious. She’s not going to do something drastic, is she?’

’Maybe I should just apologize. Calling her that was basically a low-key personal attack. For a foreign woman, especially, her figure is a major source of confidence.’

’Besides, she’s actually pretty stacked. I only said it because I was tired of always being on the losing end of our banter.’

But even if he were to apologize, it wouldn’t be now. He needed to get some sleep. He had to go out to sea later to "restock his inventory."

The points he could earn from just building furniture were limited. Fishing, on the other hand, cost him nothing. If he got a huge haul, he could fill his stomach and rack up points—killing two birds with one stone.

Strangely, however, when he went to head out to sea that night, Erica was already waiting by the bamboo raft. She looked completely normal, acting no differently than she usually did.

"How did you know I was going out to sea tonight?"

"I didn’t," Erica said with a shrug. "I’m just in the habit of coming down to the shore at night to forage. The sun’s too strong during the day—I’d get a tan, and there’s less to find anyway. It’s better to come out at night."

"You gave me that wetsuit, remember? I figured I’d wait for you to go out to sea so we could go together and you could teach me how to dive. If you hadn’t shown up tonight, I was just going to swim near the shore for a bit."

’This afternoon she was threatening me, and now she wants me to teach her how to dive?’

The whole situation was bizarre, and he couldn’t make sense of it. Still, since she didn’t seem truly angry, she probably knew he was only joking and hadn’t taken it to heart. That was all that mattered.

Feeling a pang of guilt, he didn’t refuse, simply nodding in agreement.

"You can swim, right?"

"Of course. What kind of forest guide doesn’t know how to swim?"

"Then it’ll be easy. You just need to practice some diving techniques, get used to holding your breath underwater, and overcome the fear of opening your eyes. It’s not that hard."

The wetsuit fit Erica quite well, leaving no doubt about her hourglass figure. It did, however, completely prevent her from flashing him by lifting her jacket at a moment’s notice.

Without any more chatter, Lin Chen launched the bamboo raft. He skillfully paddled them away from the shore, taking Erica out toward the vast, open sea.

Erica stood steadily at the prow of the raft. The gentle sea breeze swept past, sending her shoulder-length, flaxen-brown hair flying wildly behind her. She looked like a valiant Viking shieldmaiden.

They didn’t go far—only about forty or fifty meters from the shore—before Lin Chen tossed the anchor into the sea to fix their position.

"This is far enough. When you’re first learning to dive, you don’t want to go too deep. The important thing is to build confidence. Swim a few laps to get used to the water and warm up."