When Chuck led Jiang Qi down the steep slope to the stone platform, she was instantly stunned by the scene before her.
Coincidentally, as they arrived, Julia was outside drying blankets on a wooden rack. Seeing Chuck, she ran towards him as usual.
"Darling~"
Right in front of Jiang Qi, the tall, stunningly beautiful blonde mare latched onto Chuck like an octopus and began peppering him with kisses.
After a long, wet exchange of tongues, Julia reluctantly pulled away, a string of saliva connecting them. She rested her forehead against his, gazing lovingly into her lover's eyes with her sapphire-blue pupils.
Only then did she notice the figure behind him.
"Wow... Darling? Who is she?"
Seeing the petite, busty Chinese woman standing behind Chuck with a dazed expression, Julia raised an eyebrow, a slight smile curling her lips.
Chuck smiled, put the woman in his arms down, patted her firm, bouncy buttocks, and whispered in her ear.
"Call the others back. I'll introduce you."
...
With Tang Yumeng as a "precedent," Chuck had realized something.
His current self had drifted far from the moral concepts of civilized society.
Was that a bad thing? Obviously not.
Civilized society was, in some ways, darker than the savage era. Morality and rules were often just facades set up by the powerful, who lived lives far more debauched than Chuck's current existence.
Chuck, unfortunately stranded on this bizarre island but fortunately blessed with a cheat, had built his own paradise. Free from the sordid games of society, he was simply doing what he wanted.
He didn't force, didn't bully, and sometimes even extended a helping hand. He was practically a saint.
Some people still couldn't accept it, while others accepted it surprisingly well.
After bringing Jiang Qi back to the platform, Chuck called all the busy women back to the cabin and introduced his old acquaintance to his harem.
The women expressed curiosity and welcome regarding the new member, but their reactions were relatively calm. After all, Chuck bringing home a new woman wasn't exactly news anymore.
Jiang Qi's reaction, initially, was just as Chuck expected: shock, confusion, and bewilderment.
Her college boyfriend was now surrounded by top-tier women from all over the world on a deserted island, and judging by their interactions, their relationships were clearly extraordinary.
But when Jiang Qi saw the settlement standing on the island and the burgeoning farm below the platform, the confusion on her face vanished.
"Chuck, you've really changed a lot..."
Standing at the edge of the platform, Jiang Qi murmured as she watched the two foreign women return to work on the farm.
Her eyes flickered, and she suddenly turned to look at Chuck.
"By the way... can your body handle it?"
"Thanks for caring, I'm doing okay."
Hearing Jiang Qi's sudden question, Chuck couldn't help but laugh. Even for him, being asked this by his ex-girlfriend was a bit awkward.
"It's the 21st century, and you're boldly running a harem. You dog, Chuck."
As she spoke, Jiang Qi poked his arm with a grin.
Her tone and expression were relaxed, as if she had easily accepted Chuck's situation.
Chuck shrugged helplessly.
"I told you, this is a deserted island cut off from the world."
"Hehe, I get it."
Jiang Qi pursed her lips and smiled faintly again.
"Building such a paradise here with just your hands is incredible. You deserve all of this."
Then, she tugged at the corner of Chuck's shirt.
"Thanks for taking me in. I'm a little tired. Is there anywhere I can rest for a bit?"
Chuck noticed her face had turned paler than before. She must have been exhausted from struggling since washing ashore.
"Of course. Follow me. Just ask if you need anything."
"Thank you, Chuck."
Jiang Qi looked at him gratefully, her eyes trembling slightly, sincerely thanking him, dropping her joking tone.
Chuck nodded without saying more, feeling a bit emotional.
It would be impossible to say he had no grievances against Jiang Qi back then. But the problem was, aside from the sudden breakup, she owed him nothing in their relationship. Her attitude upon reuniting made it impossible for Chuck to ignore her.
But as she said, meeting someone he knew, someone he had been intimate with, on this deserted island was a good thing.
Let nature take its course.
...
Chuck led Jiang Qi to the small room in the storage area, gave her a blanket, and left her to rest in private.
Then, he returned to his work.
Living on a deserted island with a house full of women to feed meant Chuck could rest, but he couldn't stop moving forward.
With the farm construction complete, Chuck used the transition period to determine his next development direction.
Sustainable food supply was basically sorted, but with the farm built, fresh water consumption skyrocketed.
The water tank and tower Chuck built were enough for the household's drinking and hygiene needs, relying on natural rainfall.
But now, four goats and a greenhouse full of crops needed water too. Plus, recently, the duration and intervals of extreme weather had been lengthening, meaning longer gaps between rains.
Inevitably, the household water supply was becoming tight again.
So, after sustainable food, the biggest problem facing Chuck was a sustainable fresh water supply.
Chuck had two preliminary solutions: diverting stream water and distilling seawater. Both had pros and cons.
The former would solve the water problem once and for all, but the difficulty was high. The two water sources Chuck found were far from the platform, meaning a massive engineering project.
The latter was relatively simple and could produce large amounts of crude salt simultaneously, but it consumed a lot of fuel. And Chuck, having just entered the Iron Age, was already short on fuel.
Undecided, Chuck decided to consult the little brain of the household.
"Then... what about using solar energy?"
Momo Gu, having just returned from gathering firewood, sat on a chair under the awning, drinking water from a clay bowl and wiping sweat from her forehead. She pointed a small finger at the sun.
"...Solar energy?"
Hearing Momo, Chuck frowned thoughtfully, feeling like he grasped something but wasn't sure.
"When I got salt from seawater before, I used the sun to dry it. If we could collect the evaporated seawater during that process, we could save firewood."
Momo swung her little legs, her big eyes darting around. Finally, she put down the bowl and said a key word.
"Baba, since you can burn iron in the furnace, why not try making some glass?"
Chuck froze on the spot.
"How exactly?"
"Use quartz sand, soda ash, and limestone, melt them at high temperature... um, that's what the textbook says."
Hearing Momo's explanation, Chuck rubbed his chin in thought.
He vaguely remembered something like that.
If he could really smelt glass, it would indeed be the key to solar distillation.
Glass allows light through but can collect water vapor. If he built a salt pan to sun-dry seawater and placed glass at an angle over it, he could condense the vapor on the glass, letting it drip down to be collected while the seawater dried...
A feasible plan indeed!
"Good girl, Momo."
Chuck stepped forward, lifted Momo up, and smothered her in kisses.
She instinctively wrapped her small arms around his neck, her expression becoming dazed under his affection. The young girl's tongue was sweet, her body soft and fragrant. Holding and kissing her was sheer comfort.
...
Once again pointed in the right direction by Momo, but steps had to be taken one by one.
With the super-sized round hardwood bed now taking up most of the room, and two new members bringing the total to nine including Chuck, the once-spacious cabin was getting crowded.
So, upgrading and expanding the house was an urgent task.
Fortunately, two days ago, Chuck had activated the Stone House Upgrade blueprint. Following the optimal plan, he began replacing the outer walls with stone bricks.
The synthesis prompt had given him the best solution: a composite wall of limestone and quartz sandstone bricks. Chuck calculated he needed about 130 quartz sandstone bricks and 70 limestone bricks. The former for outer walls, load-bearing walls, and the roof; the latter for inner walls.
So far, he had gathered most of the quartz bricks. He just needed to complete the limestone ones, which were much easier to process.
If things went smoothly, he could gather all 200 stone bricks today.
However, besides stone bricks, there was another material Chuck hadn't gathered enough of, which was the main purpose of his morning exploration.
Resin.
Chuck was no stranger to this. He had collected plenty from the Dipterocarp trees in the southwest bay and tropical jungle, but consequently, the accumulated resin granules on the trunks were nearly gone.
But subsequent upgrades—not just the stone house, but also the greenhouse and livestock pen—required resin. It was a significant shortage.
Unless he found more Dipterocarp trees, he had to find a sustainable way to extract resin from the existing ones.
Sustainable. Those three words again.
Since Chuck struggled past the initial survival phase, sustainability had been his goal. Only when most survival resources were sustainable could he truly enter the final step of island living...
Enjoying life.
...
Taking a few idle small clay pots from home into his storage space, Chuck went to the woodpile behind the cabin before heading out.
Thud, thud, thud.
Over ten hardwood logs were stacked together. On the other side was a neat pile of chopped firewood. Valentina was silently splitting logs with a bronze axe.
Since that night, Valentina had gradually adapted from her initial silence to this life. Even without Chuck assigning tasks, the capable silver-haired woman would actively find work around the settlement.
Since her mindset was adapting, it was time for her to officially join the nightly family package.
Approaching Valentina from behind, she clearly noticed his footsteps but didn't turn around or cast a wary glance as usual. Instead, she continued splitting wood, feigning ignorance.
However, the ears peeking through her silver hair turned slightly red.
Chuck didn't stand on ceremony. He walked up behind her, placed a large hand on her firm, perky buttocks, and whispered.
"Starting tonight, sleep in the big bed in the main room."
"..."
Valentina's axe froze mid-swing. She was silent for a moment, then turned her head, looking at Chuck with those emerald eyes.
"When is the next fight?"
"When I have time."
Chuck answered casually, but his gaze lingered on her cheek. Faint bruises still remained on her snowy skin and the corner of her eye.
He slowly raised his hand. In Valentina's slightly trembling pupils, his fingertips gently brushed over the bruise on her face.
"Does it still hurt?"
"..."
A short sentence of concern caused the battle-hardened warrior's cheeks to flush crimson instantly. She took a few steps back, a look of annoyance between her brows, seemingly dissatisfied with Chuck treating her like a delicate little woman.
But she couldn't explode like before; after all, she was now Chuck's woman.
So she turned around, continuing to ignore the detestable man, and went back to chopping wood.
Despite her reaction, the light screen before Chuck's eyes was extremely honest.
[Valentina's Trust has increased by 2! Current Trust: 38 (Familiar)]
Seeing this, Chuck smirked. He turned and headed up the steep slope, leaving a parting instruction.
"Wash up tonight and drink plenty of water. Otherwise, if you spray all over the bed like last time, dehydration will be trouble."
Valentina's chopping froze again. She gritted her silver teeth, glaring at Chuck's back in embarrassment and annoyance.
Her ears, however, burned red hot.