Jiang Xi kept feeling someone touching her face in her sleep. She raised her hand and waved it, but accidentally touched something warm, which startled her and made her wake up immediately.

Upon recognizing who it was, she murmured, "It's you, Little Deer." As she spoke, she reached out and touched the deer's head.

It turned out that last night, the fawn's rope wasn't tied tightly enough, and it was probably hungry, which is why it came to her for food.

Through the crack in the wooden door, one could see that it was already bright outside, and the sounds of birds chirping could be heard. The temperature inside the cave must have been only around ten degrees Celsius in the morning, and one could feel a distinct chill. Jiang Xi sat up and put on a sweater.

Yan Zheng was also awakened by the noise. He got up, wiped his face, and first restarted the earthen stove. He then took down the kettle that he had placed on the stove before going to bed last night. The water inside should be warm now, and he would save it for washing up later.

I put another kettle of cold water in and boiled it, to cook and drink later.

The cave was actually very cold, and the humidity in the mountains was high. The only way to dispel the dampness in the cave was by burning firewood twice a day, in the morning and evening. Each time the fire was lit, it could keep the cave warm for at least a few hours.

Yan Jing'an woke up when he heard the noise. Jiang Xi thought he looked pretty good today. Compared to his haggard appearance two days ago, he looked quite pleasing to the eye after washing up and getting a good night's sleep. Perhaps because he had just woken up, his features looked sparse and his expression was gentle.

With his seemingly harmless appearance, who would have guessed that this person is actually a paranoid and crazy person? His appearance reminded Jiang Xi of Yan Zheng from her school days.

Perhaps sensing her gaze, Yan Jing'an looked back at her without saying a word. This made Jiang Xi feel extremely embarrassed, thinking to herself that she must have been sleeping too hard.

She quickly turned around and asked Yan Zheng to take the whole rack of ribs off her.

Having not eaten properly for the past few days, she intended to prepare a hearty meal to nourish her body and increase her nutrition.

Jiang Xi recalled her grandmother's method of making cured pork ribs: first, soak the cured pork ribs in warm water for a while to clean them, then chop them into pieces and blanch them in a pot.

She heated the oil in the wok again, scooped a spoonful of lard into the pot, and once the oil was hot, she added the chopped wild onions and sautéed them until fragrant. Then she added the ribs and stir-fried them for a while until they were fragrant and sizzling with oil. Finally, she added some pre-boiled water. She also picked out a few dried wild mushrooms and added them to enhance the flavor.

While the pork ribs were stewing, she buried a few chestnuts she had picked up along the way yesterday in the ashes of the stove. She also washed some side dishes, soaked wood ear mushrooms, and various fresh mushrooms and wild vegetables she had picked up on the road yesterday.

She washed some more root potatoes, intending to put them in the soup instead of potatoes.

While cleaning up the potatoes, Jiang Xi found some with sprouts. She sighed, wondering if these sprouts were poisonous. If they were like potatoes, it would be heartbreaking.

The air humidity here is high, so it seems we need to move the sweet potatoes to a new place as soon as possible, otherwise all the food will be wasted before winter.

On the other side, Yan Zheng saw that there was nothing he could do to help with the cooking, so he picked up a few sweet potatoes and went to the back gate hillside to set up the traps for the two-legged rabbits.

The last brown bear destroyed a third of their meat, so he wanted to hurry up and stock up on more. Before, there were two people, but now there are three. The little food in the cave wouldn't last more than two months.

When he returned, he discovered that the fence had been hastily built when he left last time, with many gaps that were too wide. He found traces of two-legged rabbits in the yard. These animals rarely see humans, but after they had been gone for two days, the animals had become more active. It seemed that the wooden fence needed to be made denser.

So he took his axe and went to the timber pile on the hillside to pick out some suitable timber.

On the other side, Yan Jing'an saw that everyone was busy, and he couldn't just sit and wait to eat. He couldn't help with cooking either, so he had no choice but to follow Yan Zheng to the back mountain.

Yan Zheng didn't say anything, and led him towards the back mountain. He always had an inexplicable feeling towards Yan Jing'an; the two of them had once fought to the death. But every time he saw Yan Jing'an's face, the anger in his heart would subside considerably.

Emotions are truly a complex thing.

The morning fog was thick. Yan Zheng looked at the rolling mountain clouds in the distance, and suddenly remembered something. He asked, "Was Yan Jing'an the name your grandfather gave you?"

According to his understanding, Yan Tongqing was strongly opposed to using the character "Jing" in a name, feeling that it had no future. He even pointed at his grandfather's face and scolded him for meddling in other people's business. The poor old man was so angry with his son that he ended up in the hospital.

Unexpectedly, in another world, he agreed.

Yan Jing'an asked in confusion, "My father named it, what? You didn't?"

Although the question was strange, most things develop in the same way in parallel worlds, so he didn't even know this name.

Yan Zheng shook his head.

This surprised Yan Jing'an. Suddenly remembering something, he added, "They said it was to follow the family's generational naming conventions. My name, Yan Zheng, was only changed when I entered junior high school, so that I could learn fencing and they would change it to something auspicious."

"My dad kept saying he'd changed my homework before he passed away. I didn't expect math students to be so superstitious. But I'm a bit better off than you."

Yan Zheng raised an eyebrow at these words.

Yan Jing'an added, "My dad is different from your dad. I didn't suffer as much as you. My dad is quite reasonable and rarely lays a hand on me. He's never wronged me in his entire life."

These words sounded somewhat gloating, which made people feel uncomfortable.

Yan Zheng looked at the distant mountain shadows and laughed: "I guessed it."

My own upbringing would not have produced someone with Yan Jing'an's personality.

He was taught from a young age to be self-disciplined and respectful of etiquette, not to show laughter or tears. But Yan Jing'an lacked these qualities. Although he was extremely emotionally unstable, paranoid, suspicious, and excessively silent most of the time, it also showed that his life was much more carefree than mine.

According to the timeline of this world, Yan Jing'an is five years older than him, but he always feels that he is the older one.

He suddenly became interested in learning about this person's past and his past life. He needed to observe and understand the person in front of him slowly.

Yan Zheng asked, "What are your plans next?"

Yan Jing'an thought for a moment: "Is there anything I can do?"

Yan Zheng replied, "You can figure it out yourself at your own pace; you are free to do so."

Although they would be living together in the future, he didn't like adding the roles of commander or subordinate to this small team, as the nature of the relationship would change over time.

Although everyone has their own strengths, Yan Jing'an also fell silent. What was he good at? He didn't know either.

As they walked, Yan Zheng suddenly stumbled. Turning around, he saw a deer. It had been lying at the door of the wooden house eating grass. When it saw Yan Zheng and the other person walking up the hillside, it followed behind, kicking and stomping its antlers at Yan Zheng's back from time to time, having a great time.

By this time, it had grown to the size of an adult donkey. Although it didn't hurt when it nudged him, it was still annoying, which made Yan Zheng so angry that he kept calling it a stupid deer, and his thoughts were all scattered.