Hungry Hungry Hungry

It's getting dark.

Zhang Jiajia leaned against the foot of the tree for a long time, looking at the ground silently until the sunlight at his feet disappeared.

I want to live...I want to...

The desire to survive was so strong that Zhang Jiajia even had hallucinations.

He saw a beautiful girl walking leisurely and briskly in the pitch-black forest, with a natural blush on her fair cheeks.

In her left hand, the girl held three thick pieces of smoked meat, each shimmering with a fragrant oil. In her right hand, she held several pieces of smooth fur, and next to her bulging backpack hung a few bunches of ripe, bright red berries.

A scene of a bountiful harvest and a happy New Year.

The hunger in his stomach made him feel sour, and a hint of confusion appeared in Zhang Jiajia's lifeless eyes.

Is it... the end? Someone came to take him to heaven...?

However, the girl did not walk towards him, nor did she even glance at him.

Before Zhang Jiajia could react, the girl swung the bacon in her hand and walked leisurely into the distance, gradually disappearing into the dim forest.

"Wait!" Zhang Jiajia uttered a hoarse voice. He didn't care about being surprised by the change in his voice. He gathered his strength and shouted a few more times: "Wait! Don't go!"

Deep in the dark forest, Zhang Jiajia couldn't even tell whether the man left or stopped for him... He stared at him for too long, and his eyes became dizzy.

Zhang Jiajia squinted his dry eyes and lowered his head, muttering: "Or..."

After a while, a girl's clear voice came from above his head.

"Did you call me?"

Zhang Jiajia looked up suddenly.

......

After Ye Miaomiao's last arrow landed, the wild boar screamed and fell to the ground. This sturdy wild boar weighed over 200 pounds and was worth a full 100 points.

Great harvest!

A whole beast was a special item, so Ye Miaomiao placed it directly into the last slot of her linen backpack. She had no place to put the looted [bacon x3] and [dirty hide x3], so she had to carry them in her hands.

We encountered many berries along the way and picked them with a bone knife.

The life skill [Basic Gathering] was upgraded to level one without me noticing, and [Basic Hunting] was also upgraded to level one due to the successful capture of a wild boar.

Of course, these were not what excited Ye Miaomiao the most. What excited her the most was another thing she got from the savage camp——

Bacon Rack Blueprints!

While regular meat only has a shelf life of a few days, bacon has a shelf life of a whole quarter!

Mom doesn’t have to worry about her not having enough meat to eat anymore!

Ye Miaomiao, in high spirits, walked home happily. The smoked meat in her hand emitted a rich aroma from time to time, which made Ye Miaomiao smile suspiciously.

When she was about to leave the forest, she heard several calls. Looking back, she saw a thin boy huddled pitifully beside the roots of a tree.

Ye Miaomiao: How could someone be so miserable?

Just as she was about to leave with the bacon, she noticed a pile of wild vegetables in the boy's clothes.

Stir-fried pork with garlic sprouts, smoked pork with chili peppers, meat stewed with wild vegetables... In an instant, countless names of dishes rang out in Ye Miaomiao's mind.

She stopped.

"It's too tragic. We have to help." Ye Miaomiao showed a kind smile.

...

In the dark night, the girl in white descended like an angel, and her whole body seemed to be glowing.

Zhang Jiajia was almost in tears. His hunger bar had long since dropped to zero, leaving him with only a pitiful three health points. Now his hunger bar was still dropping, who knew how much longer he could hold on.

"Can you help me? My hunger level is too low. I will make it up to you, I will do anything..."

When Zhang Jiajia said this, he was just begging. He just wanted to live, or to have a chance to live so that he could make up for his regrets with his own hands.

Ye Miaomiao frowned and picked a few bunches of berries from her backpack and handed them over.

"No need for compensation. I'll trade these bunches of berries for these things."

However, it was completely beyond Ye Miaomiao's expectations. Zhang Jiajia hesitated for a moment, shook his head and said firmly: "It's possible, but... no."

Ye Miaomiao:?

"I'm not sure if these fruits are edible. They might have side effects, so don't eat them carelessly."

I see.

Ye Miaomiao was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

She forcefully stuffed two bunches of berries into the boy's arms.

"Thank...thank you."

Zhang Jiajia touched the precious bunches of berries, his expression complicated. This was clearly just an excuse to force help. Elders and colleagues who had known each other for years had become enemies, while strangers they had never met were willing to help...

He stuffed the berries into his mouth, and the tears he had been holding back for a long time could not help but fall down. His miserable appearance was so sad that anyone who heard it would cry.

Ye Miaomiao: How miserable is this person? He can even cry over a berry.

Out of humanitarianism, she asked, "Are you okay?"

"No...it's okay." Zhang Jiajia shook his head violently.

Ye Miaomiao wanted to take away the messy wild vegetables in Zhang Jiajia's arms, but she couldn't take them all away, so she just picked one at random and put it in her mouth.

"Don't eat!" Zhang Jiajia was unable to stop her and watched Ye Miaomiao try these "poisonous" fruits and vegetables one after another as if nothing had happened.

While he was stunned, Ye Miaomiao listened happily to the continuous notification sounds in her ears.

[Congratulations to the player for discovering the wild vegetable - Chrysanthemum chrysanthemum]

[Congratulations to the player for discovering berries - wild strawberries]

[Congratulations to the player for discovering the wild vegetable - wild onion]

...

But my mind kept replaying various dishes: stir-fried bacon with chrysanthemum, shredded pork with wild onions...

She ignored the wild vegetables that had some side effects. In short, there was enough food and she could replenish her hunger at any time, so she was not worried about these side effects at all.

After a while, the tasting ended and a system prompt sounded in my ears.

Congratulations on your achievement:

Descendants of Shennong: Discover thirty edible wild plants in a short period of time. Gain a permanent bonus: Health +3.

Ye Miaomiao was stunned. Zhang Jia's family had only picked more than 40 kinds of fruits and vegetables, and most of them were edible. She had never expected to achieve this achievement.

"You picked these plants because you knew them? Are they all edible?"

Zhang Jiajia was relieved to see that Ye Miaomiao was fine. He finally had time to wipe away his tears: "Yes, I have been learning cooking from my master since I was a child."

"You are the chef!" Ye Miaomiao glared.

Isn't that a coincidence? She just loves to eat!

Ye Miaomiao suddenly became eager, picked up the wild vegetables on the ground, and said to Zhang Jiajia: "This is wild onion."

Then a system prompt sounded in Zhang Jiajia's ears.

[Did you accept the elementary education from player Ye Miaomiao: Identify wild onions?]

Zhang Jiajia was stunned and chose "Yes". Countless gray icons popped up on the huge light screen panel.

In the "Original Vegetables" column, a picture of "wild onion" suddenly lit up, followed by a detailed text explanation below.

Ye Miaomiao patiently explained, "There are actually a lot of edible vegetables here. Once you try them, they will be added to your knowledge column. The next time you encounter them, the system will remind you and you can pick them."

She rolled her eyes and smiled brightly, looking frank: "I can't bear to leave you here alone, why don't you join my territory."

"Really?" Zhang Jiajia looked up suddenly: "But... I heard that I have to pay for resources... I have nothing."

"It's okay," Ye Miaomiao looked into his eyes with certainty. "I believe you. Aren't you a chef? You can bring more value to the territory."

Zhang Jiajia's nose felt sore. This sentence must be the most beautiful thing he had heard recently.

Ye Miaomiao continued: "And if you come to my territory, you will definitely have enough to eat and drink, and you won't go hungry..."

"good!"

Before Ye Miaomiao finished speaking, Zhang Jiajia nodded vigorously: "I will definitely work hard, Lord."

Ye Miaomiao smiled brightly.

......

Ye Miaomiao supported Zhang Jiajia and walked back step by step.

Embarrassingly, when entering the territory, Ye Miaomiao walked in, and Zhang Jia's house was blocked by an invisible wall, and crashed into the wall with a "bang".

"Ouch!" Zhang Jiajia cried out in pain, and then he saw the light screen appear in front of him.

"Please pay the territory tax of 5 points and you can stay in the territory for 24 hours. Homeless people cannot stay in the same territory for more than 30 consecutive days, or..."

"Pay 100 points, and after the lord approves your application, you can become a resident of the territory, or..."

Zhang Jiajia looked up at the screen and read out awkwardly, "Attack the territory until its health is zero, and you can occupy it."

"I won't do that."

He waved his hand. Although he was just a thin man, compared to this little girl... he still had some physical advantage.

Ye Miaomiao looked at him doubtfully, not understanding his strange thoughts at all.

"Wait a few minutes. I'll build a kitchen and hire you as a chef. Wait."

Zhang Jiajia quickly nodded and thanked him, then suddenly remembered something: "Wait, I don't have any points!"

Ye Miaomiao was helpless: "Salary, advance payment of 5 points to you?"

Zhang Jiajia scratched his head and said happily, "Thank you, Lord."

......

Ye Miaomiao opened the "Blueprint of Primitive Civilization Architecture" and since there was enough wood and stone, she simply placed the basic buildings.

To the west of the campfire, she placed a logging site, a quarrying site, a gathering hut, a tool room, a training camp, and a research institute as work areas, and to the east, a kitchen and a residence as living areas.

The total cost was 300 wood, 100 stone, and 100 vines.

The warehouse was empty in an instant. Ye Miaomiao tried to comfort herself. The construction work started tonight and the warehouse would be full again tomorrow. Spending a small amount of money to make a big profit is not a loss.

After several buildings were completed, basic supplies such as stone, wood, food, and tools were guaranteed.

Each work building system will automatically be equipped with an NPC. Six NPCs with black hair and black eyes and the words "waiting for you to name" will automatically appear in front of Ye Miaomiao.

They are lifelike, but their lifeless eyes indicate that they are not real people.

"Hello, Lord. I am a first-level tool maker. I can produce 10 first-level tools every day. You can open the panel and tell me to make tools. I will automatically take the raw materials from the warehouse."

Ye Miaomiao curiously circled around the NPC from the "Tool Room" twice: "Just call you Tool Man No. 1."

"Yes, Lord."

"You produce all the tools once a day. If there are any left, produce bows and arrows and stone clubs."

"Yes, Lord."

The NPC in the training camp was named "Security Team No. 1" by Ye Miaomiao.

The attack power of security team No. 1 is the standard 5 points, and it is automatically equipped with a stone stick and a bow, without the need for Ye Miaomiao to perform any additional operations.

"You patrol the territory every day and protect it."

"Yes, Lord."

The NPCs at the quarrying site, logging site, and gathering hut can produce 100 pieces of stone, wood, and various vines, berries, and vegetables every day. Ye Miaomiao named them "lumberjacks," "miners," and "gatherers" respectively.

Ye Miaomiao ordered the research team's "Scientific Research Team Number One" to accumulate "research points" first. This way, when she needed to unlock technology, she could directly use the points to unlock it.

Ye Miaomiao was about to leave the work area when she suddenly thought of something and turned back.

"Do you need to eat?"

"Yes, Lord." The six people answered in unison with no expression on their faces, which made Ye Miaomiao tremble inwardly: "I need to replenish my hunger value at least five points and at most ten points every day. If there is no kitchen to provide work meals, I will take them from the warehouse myself."

Ye Miaomiao was disappointed: It’s not a perpetual motion machine.

She counted on her fingers and found that the current amount of cooked food was not enough. She had to build a kitchen quickly to prevent the NPCs from eating raw meat and getting diarrhea.

Ye Miaomiao turned her head and looked towards the living area in the east.

She neatly arranged a house and a kitchen.

The chef NPC can produce cooked food every day based on the number of people in the territory, up to a maximum of 50 servings. Ye Miaomiao can set the food quality in the territory to three levels: "Homemade Dishes, Delicious Food, and Delicacies."

Ye Miaomiao: Delicacies...sounds so...expensive!

She wiped her saliva and said, "We are poor, so let's just have home-cooked dishes."

Once the dwelling was in place, the system prompted her that there were small pieces of furniture that could be built.

Ye Miaomiao looked around and saw a variety of small buildings, including clothes drying poles, storage racks, and flower pots. Residents could also build their own with resources, but Ye Miaomiao didn't build too many, just a clothes drying pole in front of the door.

A well-presented territory is completed.

After everything was built, Ye Miaomiao opened the territory interface.

Territory Name: Hungry Hungry

Territory level: Camp (Primary: Upgrading requires at least three territories)

Territory area: 1,000 square meters

Tax: 5% (Lord can adjust it at will)

Existing buildings: 10/12 (Lord's cabin, warehouse, logging site, quarrying site, gathering hut, tool room, training camp, research institute, six-person residence, kitchen)

Current residents: 0/6

Currently able to accommodate temporary residents: 0/200

Territory HP: 200 (10 for each simple common building, 100 for each simple defensive building)

Territory Comfort: 2 (the average comfort level of all buildings, residents of the territory will receive a certain increase or decrease)

Tips: You can use this panel to upgrade your territory, purchase land from other lords, or purchase land owned by the system. Please note that you cannot directly purchase a territory from an enemy that has declared war on you. Please make sure you have cleared all enemy forces from that territory.

Then a map unfolded in front of Ye Miaomiao.

To upgrade a territory to a mid-level "village", two additional territories are required.

She has a total of six territories to purchase in the east, west, south and north, and the resources of the territories are marked on the map.

There are two territories that Ye Miaomiao is most excited about. The territory in the north is marked as "along the river beach: fertile farmland (harvest × 200%)", and the territory in the west is marked as "hilly plains: breeding (harvest × 200%)".

The other four pieces of land are forests, quarries, etc.

Although these lands are good, each piece requires a full 200 points. After purchasing the first piece, the price of the second piece will double, and the price will increase successively thereafter.

Ye Miaomiao: Shedding tears of poverty.

Even though...mutton, pork, beef, chicken, duck...rice, vermicelli, potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams...she wanted to start planting and breeding right away, and then stock up on boxes and boxes of goods, but...

I counted the points in my pocket and found only 50 points.

Be jealous and work hard to save money!

After wiping his saliva, Ye Miaomiao turned off the light screen and pulled Zhang Jiajia into the territory.