Day One on the Deserted Island: The First Love She Dumped Without Warning…
Fang Yuyao had never suffered such an injustice in her entire life.
Throughout her free-spirited and uninhibited life, the world had always offered her sweetness rather than suffering. Even when she did something as ordinary as going downstairs to buy breakfast, the stall owner would show her special favour—adding an extra egg to her jianbing or giving her a free cup of soy milk.
This cruise should have been yet another wonderful experience she could boast about in the future.
During the company’s annual party raffle, she had been sitting in her seat chatting idly with a colleague when she casually opened her raffle number. At that exact moment, the young and handsome company president onstage announced her number.
Amid ribbons and dazzling lights, Fang Yuyao walked onto the stage in delighted surprise and accepted the grand prize: a fifteen-day cruise ticket.
As the first-prize winner, she posed for a commemorative photograph with the handsome president. The camera captured a rare photograph of her standing beside her former lover, Weng Yu, after so long apart.
Just before she stepped offstage, Weng Yu used their handshake as an opportunity to lower his gaze. His eyes roamed greedily over her, lingering until Fang Yuyao cleared her throat.
The man calmly released her hand as though nothing had happened.
“Are you going?” he asked.
Fang Yuyao smiled brilliantly. “Why wouldn’t I?”
She lowered her head slyly and planted a loud kiss on the cruise ticket. Raising an eyebrow, she beamed and said, “This is proof of my good luck.”
Weng Yu smiled as well.
He watched her skip lightly off the stage and disappear into the crowd of people congratulating and envying her.
…
Fang Yuyao quickly put the matter of sharing a stage with her former lover—and direct superior—Weng Yu out of her mind.
She eagerly awaited the day of the cruise. Before leaving, she enthusiastically said goodbye to her colleagues and promised to bring them souvenirs.
Fang Yuyao had always been popular at the company and had a whole group of female friends close enough to be called her best friends. They had already planned what they would do after her cruise ended.
A new bar had just opened downtown!
Handsome men were like flowers in a field, waiting to be plucked. Once Fang Yuyao returned from her cruise, they would all go admire them together.
Everything had been so perfect.
The azure sea, the snow-white seagulls, the colourful flags of different countries fluttering above the deck, and the handsome attendant who blushed as he gave her the number of her cabin.
On the first day of the cruise, Fang Yuyao became so immersed in the beautiful scenery and delicious food that she forgot all her worries.
The disaster occurred at four in the morning on the second day.
Just as everyone had fallen into sweet dreams, the ship met with an accident. It struck an iceberg that seemed to have appeared from nowhere, damaging the front of the vessel.
Within ten short minutes, there had not even been enough time to send a radio distress signal before the ship capsized and seawater surged inside.
It was as though a gigantic sea monster had opened its enormous jaws and swallowed the ship whole.
A nightmare completely cut off from the outside world.
Over the ship’s announcement system, Fang Yuyao heard the captain speaking in a voice no calmer than those of the passengers.
“Static—All passengers who are still able to move, please make your way to the deck—static—lifeboats—”
Seawater had already flooded Fang Yuyao’s luxurious cabin.
She stumbled as she pushed open the door. The carpet in the corridor floated in water that had already reached her waist. Estimating how quickly the water was rising, she tried to take large steps towards the deck.
Then Fang Yuyao encountered the unluckiest event of her life.
A heavy wooden chair floated out of some unknown cabin. Propelled by the rapidly rising water as though driven by a supernatural force, it slammed heavily into her.
Fang Yuyao’s knees buckled.
The thick corridor carpet surged towards her like a tsunami rising into a towering wall, knocking her completely off her feet.
Unable to steady herself, she fell into the seawater flooding the ship’s interior.
Everywhere she looked, the water had long since lost the clear blue-green colour it possessed beneath the bright sun and cloudless sky.
All that remained was a murky yellowish green.
Fang Yuyao sank into the abyss of unconsciousness.
Before closing her eyes, she thought, *Damn it! I’ve never suffered such an injustice in my life. Who could have imagined that going on a cruise would cost me my life?!*
…
When she woke again, Fang Yuyao was standing barefoot on a soft, snow-white beach.
She stared at the peaceful blue sea in the distance. It looked as though the shipwreck had never happened, and for a moment, she nearly believed the capsizing cruise ship had only been a nightmare.
She stood dazedly on the beach.
Then the cuts caused by sharp objects in the sea and the bruises left by the wooden chair began to itch and sting from the salt water. Beneath the scorching sun, they screamed with a raw, burning pain.
Fang Yuyao abruptly came back to her senses.
Her awareness fully returned, and she immediately took inventory of everything she had on her.
Before going to sleep in the early hours of the morning, Fang Yuyao had been attending a meeting.
A fifteen-day cruise did not mean she could abandon her responsibilities at the company. She was a core member of her team and still needed to remain constantly updated on their work.
It had been a last-minute video conference, so she had been fully dressed in a women’s blouse and trousers, with a waterproof mechanical watch on her wrist.
After the meeting ended, Fang Yuyao had not changed clothes. She had simply collapsed into bed and fallen asleep.
When the accident occurred, the alarm broadcast woke her.
The first thing she did was grab her fully charged phone from beside the bed. She then found the waterproof pouch included among the cruise supplies and quickly sealed her phone inside it.
That action had preserved her most important means of contacting the outside world.
Her phone still had ninety-two per cent battery remaining.
It showed no signal.
Her phone had a satellite communication function. Following its instructions, she faced due south towards an open area and attempted to establish a connection.
The result displayed was: **Not Connected.**
The satellite connection had failed.
She could not send a distress message.
Fang Yuyao’s heart gradually sank.
She glanced at the time on her watch.
Four thirty in the afternoon.
The sunlight was scorching.
Fang Yuyao looked across the completely exposed white beach, then began walking towards the trees that could provide shade.
Until she found a way to summon rescue, remaining beneath the blazing sun would only lead to death.
Judging by common sense, the fact that the waves had carried her onto the island’s beach meant she should not be too far from where the ship had capsized.
Like the protagonist of *Robinson Crusoe*, Fang Yuyao tried to search for any wreckage that might have washed ashore with her.
However, within the calm stretch of sea visible from where she stood, there was no sign of anything made by human hands.
She used the compass app on her phone to determine her exact direction and recorded her current location: the southern side of the island.
The wreckage of the cruise ship might not have drifted towards this part of the island. Perhaps it was on the other side.
What should she do now?
Fang Yuyao forced herself to remain calm.
First, she checked her body thoroughly. The bruises and scratches caused by the heavy collision during the accident were not particularly serious, and none of them were actively bleeding.
Good.
That slightly increased her chances of surviving her current predicament.
Next, she blocked out every unnecessary thought and retained only two priorities:
First, find adequate shade and avoid prolonged exposure to the sun.
Second, find fresh water to sustain her life.
She needed to make sure she survived her first day stranded on the deserted island.
=
Unfortunately, reality dealt Fang Yuyao a merciless blow.
Although she barely managed to find a tree with thick foliage to use as temporary shelter from the sun, she could not find anything resembling a source of fresh water near the beach.
Fang Yuyao had not watched many survival programmes, but she vaguely remembered Bear Grylls teaching several methods of finding drinkable water on a deserted island.
First, find coconut trees. Coconut water was a very safe source of drinkable liquid.
Second, look for vegetation. Follow areas with thick greenery deeper into the island and search for streams or lakes.
Third, depend on the weather and collect rainwater when it rained.
Fourth, desalinate seawater by boiling it or using solar distillation.
At present, none of those four methods was possible.
She did not know whether coconut trees simply did not grow on this island or whether her luck was so terrible that there happened to be none on this stretch of beach.
Every tree within sight belonged to a species she could not identify.
It was not raining, so she could not collect rainwater.
Desalinating seawater was even less realistic. She did not have a usable container.
That left the second option: travelling deeper into the island to search for fresh water.
It appeared to be the only feasible solution.
Fang Yuyao’s lips were dry and cracked.
She stared at the dense forest, which appeared particularly dark and impenetrable beneath the sunlight, but did not move.
She could not guarantee that entering the forest would not place her in an even worse situation.
This was an unknown island, and she was completely alone. For now, remaining on the open, deserted beach was her best option.
There was an extremely high chance of encountering venomous snakes inside the dense jungle. She had neither the knowledge to identify them nor the ability to avoid them.
Therefore, staying where she was remained the safest decision for the time being.
Time passed little by little.
Thoughts she had previously suppressed gradually resurfaced.
Fang Yuyao began wondering how she had reached this island after the accident.
Unless she remembered incorrectly, her former boyfriend and superior, Weng Yu, had also joined the cruise.
What about him?
Was he alive or dead?
Countless questions fermented inside her mind, but none had an answer.
The sun slowly descended towards the horizon, bringing with it the terrifying dimness of dusk.
Fang Yuyao took a deep breath.
She looked from side to side and mentally reviewed everything within sight that she could potentially reach or use.
A cluster of reefs to the southeast.
An unfamiliar large tree to the northwest.
A slope to the southwest…
Processing so much information helped stabilise her emotions slightly.
Then the dryness in her mouth and the emptiness in her stomach came rushing back.
Fang Yuyao could only endure them.
She barely managed to hold out until sunset faded into darkness and the moon climbed into the sky.
Listening to the sound of the waves beside her, she slept fitfully for several hours.
…
The warmth of the morning sunlight fell across the young woman’s pale, beautiful face.
Her worried frown and dry, cracked lips clearly revealed her vulnerability.
Before long, the sunlight woke her.
Accompanied by the roar of the waves, Fang Yuyao opened her eyes.
She glanced at the time on her waterproof mechanical watch.
Four twenty-seven in the morning.
Twelve hours had passed since she became stranded on the deserted island.
Fang Yuyao gathered her strength and tried again.
The fragmented sleep had left her in a slightly better condition than she had been several hours earlier.
Her phone’s battery had fallen from ninety-two per cent to eighty-seven per cent.
She activated the satellite rescue function again.
There was still no response.
Fang Yuyao repeated the process several times, but the result remained unchanged.
Her already faint hope dwindled further.
She smiled bitterly.
She did not have much confidence in her survival.
A modern person stranded alone on a deserted island without any experience had an almost negligible chance of remaining alive.
Had she possessed a companion, however, her situation would have been considerably better.
Anyone who had read *Robinson Crusoe* understood Friday’s purpose in the story. He had not merely been an assistant who helped the protagonist survive—he had also been one of his sources of emotional support.
Working as a team was always better than struggling alone.
Fang Yuyao had no idea where the other passengers had gone after the ship capsized.
Had they also washed ashore on this island?
Where were they?
Could they be on the opposite side of the island?
The answers were unknown.
All she knew was that if she continued without fresh water, death would arrive very soon.
Fang Yuyao rallied herself.
She could not give up so easily.
That left her with only one viable option: follow the dense vegetation deeper into the island and search for fresh water.
There was no point delaying.
She tidied herself up and made the necessary preparations.
She switched off her phone, placed it inside the waterproof pouch, and sealed it to prevent water damage.
Then she examined her clothing.
She buttoned the cuffs of her blouse and made sure her trousers covered her ankles, protecting as much skin as possible from unknown poisonous creatures in the jungle.
She stepped forward.
Her objective was to locate a source of fresh water within the island.
Listening to the rustling layers of leaves inside the jungle, Fang Yuyao inevitably pressed her lips into a tense line. The instinctive fear of the unknown buried within her genes tightened every nerve in her body—
In the next moment, something happened that shocked her speechless.
What was worse than being stranded alone on a deserted island?
Running into the first boyfriend whom you had abruptly dumped without warning.
Even worse, that first boyfriend appeared to be doing much better than she was.
The handsome man possessed an arrogant, aloof face.
He seemed just as astonished to see Fang Yuyao. Within a matter of seconds, his emotions changed dramatically.
Shock flashed through his eyes.
Then he concealed every trace of emotion, crossed his arms coldly, and looked down at her without mercy.
Ni Fang’s suit jacket was completely dry, and his trousers remained perfectly pressed.
As Fang Yuyao examined him, he said mockingly, “You were on this cruise too?”
Only moments ago, Fang Yuyao had been thinking that having a companion like Friday would greatly increase her chances of survival.
Now, as she looked at Ni Fang’s unpleasant expression, she silently crossed that idea off her list.
Become survival partners with the first boyfriend whose relationship with her had ended badly?
Forget it!
She had no intention of exchanging unnecessary words with her former boyfriend. She merely asked, “Where are the other passengers?”
Ni Fang paused.
“For now, you’re the only one I’ve seen.”
As he continued speaking, her former boyfriend seemed to imagine that they were about to begin some romantic tale of a man and woman surviving together on a deserted island.
He said arrogantly, “Why don’t you beg me? I found a campsite. I could allow you to stay there temporarily.”
The deep green jungle cast Ni Fang’s face in a cold, haughty light.
His eyelashes were dark and straight. A faint, mocking smile played around his lips, while the colour of his eyes looked as though it were hidden behind a layer of glass, making his thoughts impossible to read.
The implication behind his words was perfectly clear.
It was as though Fang Yuyao’s life and death were now held in the palm of his hand.
How arrogant.
—
**Author’s Note:**
A new novel is here! It still has my favourite combination: an irresistibly charming female protagonist and a multi-male romantic battlefield~
One-sentence summary: It may look like a survival story, but she is actually trapped in a fierce battlefield of male rivalry. Huh?
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