Liu Ruoling was about to ask more questions, but Liu Ruoxi stopped her. Liu Ruoxi seemed to understand. She changed the subject, allowing the meal to continue. Otherwise, who knew what might happen next?

For the next ten days or so, Wang Lun went out every day to look for food or other useful things. When he found a lot, he couldn't carry it all by himself, so the next day he would call Liu Ruoling or the four of them together to carry everything back.

Normally, Li Ling and her two companions would go out every morning to cut grass, some for the day's feed, and the vast majority as a winter reserve of hay. In the afternoons, they would handle other tasks. These included weaving baskets and carrying containers, processing the banana tree bark, and even sewing clothes and blankets—all of which took considerable time. The three of them were practically never idle, constantly working.

Finally, Liu Ruoxi and Li Ling finished sewing the hyena skin blanket together today. Before this, they had already sewn Wang Lun's leather jacket and pants, as well as three leather jackets. The remaining three pairs of pants wouldn't take much time to finish.

Before this, Wang Lun had already explored all the nearby areas. Lately, he'd been venturing further afield, resulting in late returns each day. Currently, the camp had ample food supplies and enough fodder to last until spring. However, the camp was running low on firewood.

So Wang Lun decided that starting tomorrow, he, Li Ling, and Liu Ruoling would collect firewood from the surrounding woods until the nearby shed was full. Liu Ruoxi would stay at the camp, continuing to make clothes and cook for the three of them, ensuring logistical support.

Liu Ruoling seemed very happy about this decision. She hadn't left the camp for a long time. Lately, she'd mostly stayed within the camp, and even when she went out, it was only to cut grass, then she'd have to come back and continue with other tasks.

Wang Lun was aware of this, but there was nothing he could do, even though he had considered taking her with him. However, if she went, Li Ling and the other woman would essentially be unable to leave the camp; at most, they could only stay near the camp entrance to water the vegetable garden. Even the smaller streams nearby would feel too dangerous.

However, time is tight now, so we have to do both simultaneously. This way, we can ensure that we find food for the autumn harvest in the forest and also collect enough fodder so that the small animals in the camp can get through the winter safely. In addition, the food we collect needs to be dried and stored, which requires someone to watch over it, otherwise the birds won't be so polite.

That evening, Wang Lun and his three companions gathered some of the supplies they had recently collected and prepared a sumptuous dinner. The main dish was acorn flour pancakes, and the side dishes included two roasted birds, half a pot of chicken stew with mushrooms, half a pot of dry-pot rabbit, and a plate of stir-fried wild vegetables.

The flatbread and stir-fried wild vegetables were made by Liu Ruoxi, the chicken stew with mushrooms by Li Ling, Wang Lun made a dry-pot rabbit, and Liu Ruoling roasted two wild birds. This made up a sumptuous dinner, a celebration of the harvest, and of course, a mental preparation for tomorrow's continued struggle.

Of course, Wang Lun didn't mention the work that would begin tomorrow during the meal, not wanting to affect their mood. Naturally, Li Ling and the others knew about it; after all, Wang Lun had explained almost all the plans to the three of them, and they were all well aware of them.

During the meal, Wang Lun and his three companions enjoyed themselves immensely. Wang Lun highly praised the dishes of the other three, while offering some critiques of his own cooking. However, Li Ling and the other two disagreed. After all, on a deserted island with nothing else, they felt that the food was already quite good, and all three of them said it tasted delicious.

Nearly two hours later, the dinner finally ended. After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, Wang Lun said, "Tomorrow, we'll all go out to collect firewood. Ruoxi, you'll go too." Liu Ruoxi nodded, a slight smile playing on her slightly greasy lips. Although Liu Ruoxi had mentally prepared herself for tomorrow's trip, she was still very happy to hear Wang Lun say it.

For the first ten days of the next thirty days, Wang Lun and his three companions worked together to collect a large amount of firewood, which they bundled up and left in the woods. For the next twenty days, the four of them would cut grass in the mornings, and in the afternoons, Wang Lun, along with Liu Ruoling and Li Ling, would carry the collected firewood back to camp. Liu Ruoxi, on the other hand, was busy with camp affairs, such as making yarn from banana leaf fibers, sewing animal hides into clothes and a large blanket, and processing various foods.

Actually, I wasn't always working during this time. Sometimes when I came across wild vegetables or fruits, I would prioritize collecting the edible ones and bring them back to the camp. After all, the camp mainly has fish and meat right now, and wild vegetables and fruits are relatively scarce, so it's important to collect as much as possible so that we can eat until spring.

As time went by, Wang Lun and his three companions spent most of autumn in busy work, and then entered late autumn.

That day, Wang Lun got up, opened the door, and felt a chill from outside. He quickly closed the door, went back to the kang (heated brick bed), put on his clothes, and then put out the remaining embers in the hearth, making the fire burn brightly. Only then did he go to the stove, take two pots, and head towards the water basin. Feeling cold, Wang Lun decided not to wash with cold water; it would be better to boil some hot water instead.

After this period of busy work, the campsite has undergone a complete transformation. Previously, the campsite was relatively spacious, but now, except for the goat pen, the rest of the area under the shed is piled high with firewood, almost as high as the wall. And that's not all; bundles of firewood are also erected around the wall and the walls of the earthen houses. Even now, going to the backyard to collect eggs requires walking sideways, since there are firewood piles on one side of the wall and the former shelter on the other. After renovations, Wang Lun plans to use it as a storage room to store dried wild vegetables and temporarily unused tools.

The wild vegetables that had been planted inside and outside the campsite were all harvested. After all, it was late autumn, and if frost came one day and damaged the wild vegetables, they wouldn't taste good when eaten. It was better to harvest them in advance, dry them into dried wild vegetables, and use them to stew fish in winter. Of course, Wang Lun and the others also kept some wild vegetable seeds, planning to plant them when spring came.