289: Chapter 289 Wear My Clothes

Su Mian spoke the moment he steadied himself: "Chen Fan, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Sister Su Mian," Chen Fan said.

Su Mian looked at his drenched figure, her lips moving, her voice lower than before: "You came back so late, I thought you..."

"But I'm back, aren't I?" Chen Fan said with a smile.

The reason he returned late was that he had tried to see if he could find a spot where the current wasn't as rapid to get to the other side of the river.

Unfortunately, the rain was too heavy, the water level hadn't receded significantly, and he hadn't found a suitable spot after walking along the river for a while.

Fortunately, the bag that had been left behind was still there, not washed downstream by the rain, and the fruit knife and some snacks inside were still there.

Since the fruit knife had been found, Chen Fan didn't dawdle.

He first wiped the blade on his clothes, then stuck it into the soil a few times to ensure no moisture remained, and then picked up the hard wooden stick and began to sharpen it.

He was strong, so even though the knife wasn't sharp, he sharpened the tip of the wooden stick in just a few strokes.

He found another piece of flat, large wood, used the knife to flatten the surface to make a base, and dug a shallow groove in it.

Once everything was ready, he placed some dry grass and wood shavings into the groove, clasped his hands around the drill rod, aimed at the groove, and began to rub it rapidly.

His hand speed was extremely fast, and the drill rod made a continuous and uniform friction sound in the groove.

Soon, the wood began to smoke, and a faint charred smell drifted out from the groove.

He didn't stop, continuing to rub faster, and when small sparks began to appear in the groove, he stopped, carefully poured the wood shavings with sparks into the pile of dry grass, and then lowered his head to blow on it gently.

Half a minute later, a faint flame slowly rose from the pile of dry grass, struggling shakily at first, then burning steadily under his continuous blowing.

A flash of joy crossed Chen Fan's eyes.

It finally lit.

All his hard work hadn't been in vain.

He hurriedly added some small twigs, and only when the fire grew larger did he add the thicker ones.

A few minutes later, the fire grew, and there was a hint of warmth in the cave.

Chen Fan quickly had Su Mian sit by the fire.

Su Mian sat by the fire; although she was still cold, she was no longer shivering. The firelight reflected on her face, plating the edges of her wet hair with a warm glow.

At this moment, Chen Fan could finally sit down and rest.

He sat down against the rock wall, but his soaked short-sleeved shirt clung tightly to his skin; being roasted by the fire, it was wet and stifling, very uncomfortable.

He hesitated for a moment, then reached out, grabbed the hem of his shirt, took off his short-sleeved top, wrung out the water, and draped it on a nearby stone.

Su Mian was staring at the fire, but her peripheral vision swept over him involuntarily.

She first noticed the lines of his arms, then his two clearly defined pectoral muscles, and then shifted to his well-defined eight-pack abs.

When Chen Fan looked at her, she pretended to look away nonchalantly.

Chen Fan glanced at his still-wet clothes, then at the pile of unused dry wood beside him, thought for a moment, and picked out a few wooden sticks of appropriate thickness.

He first trimmed the excess branches off two sticks that had twigs, leaving only the slingshot-like forks, then inserted them into the soil next to the fire, adjusting the distance and angle so that the forks on both sides were roughly aligned.

He picked another straighter stick to place between the two forks, pressed down to test it, and it held firm.

A simple clothes drying rack was thus completed.

He hung his soaked clothes on it, letting them dry slowly by the fire.

After finishing all this, he looked at Su Mian and said: "Sister Su Mian, if you're hungry, eat something first."

Su Mian shook her head and didn't speak.

Chen Fan didn't force her, turning his gaze to the rain curtain outside the cave, feeling a bit worried about his cousin's situation—would she encounter any danger alone in this weather?

He took out his phone and found there was no signal at all; he couldn't contact her even if he wanted to.

Chen Fan sighed helplessly.

Fortunately, the road back was quite safe; as long as there were no accidents, the chances of returning safely were high.

He wondered when the rain would let up.

Half an hour passed, and the rain seemed to ease up a little, but it was still impossible to go out.

Just then, Su Mian sneezed.

Chen Fan turned his head to look at her; she was still soaked, and she sneezed again, her shoulders shrinking slightly.

Chen Fan frowned; this wouldn't do. Continuing to wear wet clothes, even sitting by the fire, would easily lead to a cold.

He reached out to touch the clothes he had hung on the rack and found they were dry, so he took them down and turned to look at Su Mian: "Sister Su Mian, why don't you change into my clothes? Wearing wet clothes makes it easy to get a fever."

Su Mian paused, looked up at him, and a blush gradually appeared on her face. She lowered her head, "No need, I'm fine. You should wear them."

"I'm in good health, I'm not cold at all. You should change into them," Chen Fan continued.

Su Mian still shook her head.

"Don't worry, you can change in here, I'll turn around and definitely won't look," Chen Fan said. "If you wear wet clothes and get a fever, it'll be troublesome; there's no Hospital here."

He stood up, turned his back to her, and handed the clothes behind him, "Change into them first, the clothes are already dry."

Su Mian looked at his outstretched hand, was silent for a few seconds, then reached out to take the clothes, her voice lower than before: "Alright then."

Chen Fan stood at the cave entrance, looking ahead, the rustling sound of changing clothes and the sound of fabric rubbing against each other reaching his ears.

Although he was looking at the rain curtain in front, his attention was not on it at all.

A few minutes later, Su Mian said softly: "Okay."

Chen Fan then turned his head and found that Su Mian had changed into his short-sleeved shirt, and the clothes she had taken off were clutched in her hands.

Sharp-eyed Chen Fan noticed a white strap peeking out from the bundle of wet clothes in her hands. He instantly realized something, and his gaze involuntarily fell on a certain part of Su Mian's body.

Su Mian felt a bit shy under his gaze, but didn't say anything, just walked over to sit by the fire and placed the bundle of wet clothes on her knees.

Chen Fan looked at her: "Sister Su Mian, you should hang your clothes up to dry."

Su Mian looked down at the wet clothes clutched in her hands, hesitated for a moment, then quickly pulled out a white garment from the bundle and stuffed it into the bag she had placed to the side.

After doing all this, she draped the remaining clothes on the rack, letting them dry near the heat source.

As the remaining firewood gradually burned out, the fire grew smaller and smaller.

Chen Fan glanced at the situation outside the cave; the rain was still falling, not only had it not decreased, it had actually gotten a bit heavier. He sighed helplessly.