After dinner, the four of them went to bed early, preparing for their acorn-gathering trip the next day.

During dinner, Wang Lun checked Li Ling's foot and found nothing seriously wrong, so he decided to go acorn collecting the next day. The sooner they collected the acorns, the sooner they could eat acorn flour. This decision was unanimously agreed upon by the three women.

Early in the morning, Wang Lun was woken up by Liu Ruoling. It turned out that the three of them had gotten up early, cooked breakfast, and were just waiting for Wang Lun to get up and eat so they could set off to collect acorns.

Wang Lun was still a little sleepy from being woken up so early, but the thought of picking acorns made him feel much better.

The four quickly ate breakfast, then each carrying a basket on their backs, and led by Wang Lun, headed towards the oak forest. Fortunately, the three women had cut some grass at the campsite yesterday; otherwise, they would have had to delay their departure by another day. They couldn't very well start using their meager hay reserves now.

We're using it now, but what about the goats and pheasants after a while? Rabbits are manageable; there are plenty of them, and they eat some regularly, which reduces the pressure on forage. But the goats and pheasants are a much smaller crop.

Goats were their good helpers at work, never complaining. Pheasants, on the other hand, were even more precious, laying at least one egg a day. With good luck, they could gather four eggs in two days, enough for the four of them to have a meal. Therefore, they couldn't be treated poorly.

So, there are only wild rabbits, and there are plenty of them, so there's plenty to eat. Why not eat a few more to reduce some of the pressure? When Wang Lun had this thought, he felt his mouth watering involuntarily, and he swallowed hard, saying, "Do you want to eat rabbit?"

Hearing this, Liu Ruoling, who was walking at the back, quickly said, "Yes, I've been wanting to eat them for a long time. Have you seen any wild rabbits ahead?" Upon hearing this, Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi both subconsciously stopped in their tracks to avoid startling the rabbits.

Wang Lun, who was ahead and hadn't noticed those behind him, continued, "No, it's mainly because there are more rabbits in the camp now, plus we suddenly feel like eating them." Hearing this, Liu Ruoxi and Li Ling continued walking forward. Li Ling even said, "I thought we had encountered wild rabbits."

Wang Lun laughed and said, "It would be great if we could really meet them." Liu Ruoling said, "Yeah, if we met them, we could eat wild rabbit tonight." Liu Ruoxi panted and said, "Eat what? Let's get the acorns back first, grind them into acorn flour, and then pair them with wild rabbit. Wouldn't that be delicious?"

Wang Lun and the other two laughed when they heard this. Wang Lun said, "It's alright, let's try to get the acorns back as soon as possible. We'll slaughter a rabbit to celebrate."

Liu Ruoling said, "Okay, shall we have roasted rabbit, braised rabbit, or boiled rabbit?" Wang Lun laughed and said, "One roasted, one braised, and one boiled." Liu Ruoling said, "Three rabbits? Can we finish them all?" Liu Ruoxi stopped, turned around and patted him, laughing and saying, "Three rabbits? You're dreaming! Are you even going to eat them?"

Wang Lun and Li Ling both burst into laughter. Liu Ruoling said, "Isn't it okay to think about it?"

And so, chatting and laughing all the way, they soon arrived at the oak grove.

Upon arriving at the oak forest, Wang Lun intended for them to rest for a while. However, upon seeing the vast oak forest, Li Ling and the other two became so excited that they wanted to start immediately.

Wang Lun couldn't persuade them otherwise, so the four of them split into two teams and went to different sides to pick acorns. Wang Lun led Liu Ruoxi, with Wang Lun climbing the tree to pick acorns and Liu Ruoxi gathering them from below. Li Ling and Liu Ruoling did the same, one in the tree and the other below.

They worked like this for three days straight, finally harvesting all the oak trees in the grove. That evening, Wang Lun and his three companions ate the wild rabbits they had raised. Wang Lun had caught the rabbits in the rabbit pen that afternoon after returning; they were lively and energetic. It had taken some effort; if the rabbit pen hadn't been so small, catching the rabbits would have been quite a task.

That evening, Wang Lun continued to explain the recent arrangements. The three girls would remain at the camp, cutting grass in the morning and starting to weave yarn from banana tree bark fibers in the afternoon, aiming to make a garment for each of them before winter arrived.

Lately, unless there's something particularly exciting, the four of them won't go out together. Usually, Wang Lun brings something back. Sometimes, he brings Liu Ruoling along, so the two of them are usually enough.

Neither Li Ling nor Liu Ruoxi had any objections to this. After all, without sufficient warm clothing, it wouldn't be good. Although they had plenty of fur, enough to make several outfits, they couldn't possibly wear fur all the time.

Wang Lun also said that when they had time, they would use the fur to sew a quilt for winter. As for rabbit skins, they would see if they could make a garment from the small pieces; if not, they would make shoes, gloves, hats, and other small items. Of course, Liu Ruoxi and Li Ling would be responsible for these tasks. Liu Ruoling would accompany them mainly to protect them, and once they had enough fodder, she could go out exploring with Wang Lun.

Liu Ruoxi said, "Leave the affairs inside the camp to us. You stay outside and be careful." Wang Lun nodded and said with a smile, "Don't worry, my goal is the championship." Li Ling said, "If you win a billion-dollar prize, what do you plan to do with it?" Wang Lun thought for a moment and said, "I haven't thought about it yet. I want to do everything, but I don't think it's a good idea."

Liu Ruoling laughed and said, "When I have money, I'm going to buy a big villa and hire lots of five-star chefs. Whatever I want to eat, I can just have them cook it." Liu Ruoxi rolled her eyes at her sister and said, "All you ever think about is food."

Liu Ruoling retorted, "Then, sister, what do you want to do when you have money?" Liu Ruoxi replied, "When I have money, I'll buy a house first, and then invest in a company."

Wang Lun looked at the two of them and said with a smile, "You two both want to buy a house?" Li Ling looked at Wang Lun and said, "Don't you?"

Wang Lun said, "No, I want to build a villa in my hometown. Living in the city is too tiring." Li Ling nodded, thinking back on the past few years, and realized it was indeed true.

The two sisters, Liu Ruoxi and Liu Ruoling, are just starting university and haven't experienced much of the harshness of society yet, so they don't know what society is like.

Liu Ruoling asked, "Brother Wang Lun, Sister Li Ling, can you tell us about your work life?" Wang Lun smiled wryly and said, "I don't have much to say. I just go to work and come home every day. My life is very regular and mundane." Liu Ruoling and Li Ling then turned to look at Li Ling.

Li Ling took a sip of the fish soup in her bowl before saying, "I'm pretty much the same. Going to get off work and coming home, there's basically nothing to talk about." After speaking, Li Ling looked up at Wang Lun. Wang Lun raised his bowl and gestured to her. Li Ling understood, so she picked it up. The two touched bowls lightly across each other; although they didn't say anything, it was as if they had said everything.