After throwing all the deadwood to the opposite side, Yan Qing waded across the stream.
The deepest part reached just above her thighs. Once on the other side, she quickly took out a stool and a basin to change out of her wet clothes.
She wasn’t in a hurry to start a fire; it was still daylight, and she wanted to check the surroundings first.
After a 20-minute walk around, she decided the location was good.
Unfortunately, there was no cave, but at least it wasn’t raining tonight.
As the sun began to set, Yan Qing set up her tent, inflated the sleeping pad, and laid out her blanket and pillow. She also took out a small lamp and placed it inside.
By the time she finished setting up, the sky had darkened. She quickly gathered branches to light a fire.
Night had fallen, so she also took out her solar-powered outdoor lamp and hung it on the tent.
“Much better, so much brighter. This solar lamp is really useful,” she said with a smile.
Seeing the chainsaw and deadwood beside her, Yan Qing spent another half hour chopping all the logs into suitable sizes for burning. The buzzing chainsaw brought a bit of liveliness to the otherwise silent forest night.
She took out a small pot, poured in bottled water, and cooked a steaming bowl of snails rice noodles for herself.
In the quiet forest, beside the fire, under the moonlight, eating a hot bowl of snails rice noodles—forgetting all other thoughts—Yan Qing felt happiness in this moment.
After eating, she washed herself simply by the stream and moved the fire a little away from the tent.
She added a few thick logs to the fire, zipped up the tent, and went to sleep.
Throughout the night, she woke up several times—perhaps the chainsaw’s sound, or the fire and lamp’s glow kept her alert—but overall, she passed the night safely.
The next morning, Yan Qing woke to the chirping of birds. In that instant, it felt like childhood again, when she used to be woken up by birds.
The fire had died down but still had a few glowing embers. Yan Qing added some branches and revived it.
The stream was already filled with small animals drinking.
So far, she hadn’t seen any dangerous creatures—maybe they were deeper in the forest or simply not in this area.
Yan Qing washed at the stream and breathed in the fresh air.
Then she started preparing breakfast, taking out her gas stove.
In a frying pan, she melted butter, toasted bread slices to a golden brown, cooked two slices of ham and an egg, and added a piece of lettuce.
A simple sandwich was ready.
She poured a cup of coffee, sat on the stool by the fire, and enjoyed the meal while watching the animals across the stream—a comforting feeling.
The clothes washed last night had dried completely, so Yan Qing changed into her hiking attire.
She packed up the tent and stored all cooking utensils into her space.
Half an hour later, she extinguished the fire and poured a basin of water over it.
With a backpack on and the entrenching shovel in hand, Yan Qing set out.
The previous afternoon, she had spotted a path above the waterfall, so she planned to climb to the highest point to scout the area.
The path up the mountain was uneven and challenging; she even slipped once along the way.
By the time Yan Qing reached the waterfall, an hour had passed.