News of the impending cold winter spread rapidly among the survivors, and the entire trading market was bustling with activity, with nearly 8,000 people participating and orders being placed almost every second.

A steady stream of wood was collected into his backpack, and Zhang Shi added some more wood to the charcoal kiln. Back in the stone house, he discovered that the batch of iron ore he had previously put into the smelting furnace had been successfully refined, producing approximately 3 parts ordinary pig iron to 1 part high-grade refined iron.

Zhang Shi felt that the potential of iron resources had not yet been fully explored, so he put away all the iron he had acquired and did not plan to trade it for the time being.

After adding some more iron ore, Zhang Shi examined the spoils he had obtained after killing the gray wolf.

[Wolf Meat 30kg (White) x1: A dangerous beast from the wilderness. Its meat is tender and a rare delicacy.]

[Grey Wolf Fur (White) x1: Grey wolf fur is dense and warm, making it the best choice for keeping warm in the cold.]

Although it's just ordinary-grade meat and fur, the advantage lies in the large quantity.

Over the past few days, Zhang Shi has accumulated nearly 60 kg of fresh meat. The temperature isn't low enough yet, so preservation is a problem.

Zhang Shi decided to take advantage of the time he had now and turn the fresh meat into smoked jerky.

First, she bought some salt at the market. Following the ratio of 50g salt per kilogram of meat, Zhang Shihua purchased a large quantity of salt at a high price. She also made some simple smoking racks, preparing to smoke half of the fresh meat that night.

The work had barely begun when Zhang Shi spent two hours just cutting the meat. Even with Lao Duan's sharp skills, the workload was overwhelming. Zhang Shi sliced ​​the meat while simultaneously marinating it.

After cutting all the meat into long strips, Zhang Shi felt dizzy.

After stuffing a plum into his mouth, Zhang Shi finally caught his breath.

The first cut meat had been marinated, and Zhang Shi lit several bonfires outside the stone house, placing the meat strips on the smoking racks to smoke them.

After finishing all the work, Zhang Shi glanced at the time and it was almost midnight.

He boiled some water and took a shower. After a busy day, Zhang Shi finally relaxed.

Checking the trading market, he discovered that the charcoal he had listed was incredibly popular and had already sold out. There were also many comments urging Zhang Shi to list more charcoal.

Bloodthirsty Demon Realm: Mad Blade - Anything from the master craftsman Xiongfeng is guaranteed to be top-notch. By the way, could you please list some more? I'm really counting on these to combat the freezing cold.

Prometheus: Grandson, don't let your grandfather know your real name, or I'll definitely come and find you offline.

Humanoid Teddy Bear: @RevitalizeManhood, bro, can you please reply to me?

...

This Prometheus has left harsh words under his own trading orders more than once.

Zhang Shi was annoyed and immediately blacklisted him.

I glanced at the time and finally it was 12 o'clock. The fifth day of the Wilderness World had arrived.

Zhang Shi opened the cheat code and clicked to sign in.

"Thanks!"

The system notifies you that you have received the following rewards for checking in:

[Hound (Blue) x1: Pet. In the wilderness world, the survivor's most loyal companion, possessing excellent growth potential. Specific attributes can be viewed after unlocking the attribute panel.]

A flash of blue light appeared, and a half-grown beagle appeared in front of Zhang Shi. After a few seconds of confusion, the beagle recognized Zhang Shi, its big eyes sparkling. It wagged its tail, jumped onto Zhang Shi's chest, and began licking his face vigorously.

Zhang Shi was lying flat on the bed when, without warning, the beagle licked his face.

"Haha, haha, alright, alright."

Zhang Shi sat up, picked up the beagle with one hand, and wiped the drool off his face with the other.

Seeing Zhang Shi smile, the beagle became even happier. Even while being lifted, its little tail wagged incessantly, and its big head twisted back and forth, trying to break free.

Zhang Shi held the beagle in both hands and laid it flat on his stomach, and only then did it finally stop struggling.

A man and a dog stared at each other, wide-eyed.

"Well, we need to give you a name first."

"Hey, I've got it, I'll call you Pipi."

The beagle tilted its head in confusion, seemingly not understanding what Zhang Shi meant.

Zhang Shi thought for a moment, then pointed at Pipi and said slowly.

"You, Pipi."

Pipi finally understood what Zhang Shi meant, and cried out happily, its little tail wagging like a bamboo dragonfly.

Zhang Shi was overjoyed; he finally had a companion he could touch. He happily called out Pipi's name, and Pipi, hearing Zhang Shi call his name, cheerfully responded as well.

"Pipi".

"Woof!"

"Pipi".

"Woof!"

After playing with him for a while, I remembered that Pipi might not have eaten anything yet.

Zhang Shi then made two wooden basins and poured in some high-quality well water and meat broth.

Pipi immediately darted happily to the food bowl and began to wolf down the food.

Zhang Shi squatted down next to Pipi and pointed at its little head, giving it a warning.

"I'm your master. From now on, you'll follow me. Whatever I eat, you eat. If I'm in danger, you have to be the first to go. Do you hear me, Pipi?"

"Woof!"

Even while eating, Pipi didn't leave Zhang Shi out of the way. He raised his head and let out a loud shout that echoed in the stone house.

Zhang Shi lay back on the bed, satisfied. Pipi's attribute description indicated it was a hunting dog, meaning it must have a natural talent for it. Once its injuries healed, the two of them could travel together, which should save them a lot of trouble.

After glancing at the high-level treasure chest obtained from hunting the black bear, Zhang Shi chose to use his double-expenses privilege to open one first.

Ding! Successfully opened the premium treasure chest (blue), triggering VIP privileges. Items doubled. Obtained:

[Food Cabinet (Blue) x2: Furniture used to store food, which can greatly slow down the rate at which food spoils.]

[Ice Lotus Ointment 200g (Blue) x2: This ointment, made from blue ice lotus flowers, is remarkably effective for external injuries. Applying it to the wound can significantly accelerate healing.]

Zhang Shi was quite satisfied with the quality of the treasure chest; both items he opened were of high quality. It was a pity he'd spent the whole night working on it; now he looked like a clown.

Place the pantry next to the fireplace and put the remaining fresh meat and some perishable foods into it.

Zhang Shi returned to bed and prepared to apply medicine to the wound on his calf.

The ice lotus ointment has a cool and refreshing feel, and when applied to the wound, it feels tingly and numb.

Zhang Shi knew that the ointment was working.

"I hope this medicine will help my wound heal soon."

With the harsh winter approaching, every day before the natural disaster strikes is extremely precious. After careful consideration, Zhang Shi realized that there was still much work to be done.

Severe cold weather inevitably brings snow. Since it can be called a natural disaster, it must be accompanied by blizzards.

The shelter is located in a relatively flat plain. It's still unclear how to handle the snow accumulation and subsequent drainage.

Zhang Shi even planned to dig a large pit behind the shelter. After the severe cold and natural disaster struck, he would pile the snow there. Once the disaster was over and the snow melted, he would then guide the water into the pit.

As he pondered these thoughts, Zhang Shi began to feel sleepy.

After re-bandaging the wound, Zhang Shi extinguished the oil lamp and fell asleep holding Pipi.