Wang Lun and Li Ling ate for almost an hour, both feeling quite full, but they still couldn't finish everything, leaving a lot of food, including the roasted lamb leg. Wang Lun said, "Let's just leave it here. Find something to cover it, and we'll cook it with this tomorrow morning." Li Ling said, "Okay, I'll clean it up. You find a wooden rack to cover it." So Wang Lun found a small wooden rack they had woven earlier, while Li Ling cleaned up the mess. They finished quickly and sat by the fire pit, chatting and warming themselves. Since they were both digesting, they just chatted casually. It had been a long time since they'd talked; lately, they'd been busy, cooked as soon as they got home, and then felt sleepy after eating, too tired to do anything else. Since they had some free time today, they decided to chat more. As for what they talked about, Wang Lun said that as a straight man, he didn't have any interesting topics, except for two things he was currently concerned about; everything else was secondary. As for those two things, one was to build a safe and stable campsite, including walls, earthen houses, and a toilet; the other was the woman sitting opposite him. Wang Lun firmly believed that a toad that doesn't want to eat a swan isn't a good frog. However, given the current situation, some issues were difficult to discuss, and Wang Lun also felt that the timing wasn't right and wanted to wait and see. Well, perhaps it was just cowardice.

On the other side of the cave, Wu Jing and her companion were working quite quickly. They had built about a third of the wall in one day, and it would probably be finished in another two or three days. Then they would go and look for food, since their food supply would be almost exhausted by then.

The Liu sisters, on the other hand, had much more food reserves. They had not only dried wild vegetables but also some meat, and even many mushrooms they had just picked that day. Most of these mushrooms were strung together with vines and hung in the treehouse to dry before being eaten. Of course, these mushrooms were all selected; any that weren't edible were discarded.

The two Liu sisters, Ruoxi and Ruoling, set out before it rained and didn't return to camp until almost dark. Of course, after such a long time, they had gathered quite a bit. They each carried an empty basket when they left, but returned with both baskets full, and even their hands were laden with bundles of wild vegetables. Liu Ruoling's basket was mostly filled with mushrooms, along with two snakes, a mountain rat, and a deer-like animal, though not very large, estimated to weigh only forty or fifty pounds. Liu Ruoxi said it was called a muntjac, similar to a deer, and edible, so the two sisters put it in their baskets. Because Liu Ruoxi wasn't as strong as Liu Ruoling, she carried mostly mushrooms. The wild vegetables they found along the way were also carried by Liu Ruoling, as she was already carrying a lot and it was quite heavy. Because they were carrying so much, they walked slowly and stumbled along the way, returning very late.

Since it was almost dark when the two returned, they put down their baskets and started cooking dinner. As for their harvest, they would deal with it tomorrow, since they didn't have the means or energy to do so right now.

The two ate something simple and rested for a while. Having recovered somewhat, they took the opportunity to empty the contents of their baskets into the open space under the treehouse. Of course, Liu Ruoxi insisted that the muntjac and mountain rat be placed on the walkway outside the treehouse. As for the snake, they decided to leave it under the treehouse; after all, no one wants to encounter a snake when they wake up at night, especially in dim light. After processing their find, the two climbed back into the treehouse to sleep.

The two slept soundly until dawn. It wasn't until the sun rose that Liu Ruoling woke up hungry, and they got up. Liu Ruoxi asked Liu Ruoling's opinion, "Do you want to eat fresh meat this morning, or at noon? If we eat it this morning, we'll have to go hungry to prepare the game." Liu Ruoling rubbed her rumbling stomach and said, "Sister, let's cook rice first and eat the meat at noon. I'm starving." Liu Ruoxi said, "Okay, then take two birds and some dried wild vegetables downstairs, and we'll cook rice first."

Together, the two quickly cooked breakfast. While they were cooking, Wu Jing's group outside the cave and Wang Lun's group at another campsite had been working for quite some time. Wang Lun, in particular, seemed to be working exceptionally fast today, perhaps because they had eaten a good meal the day before.

The Liu sisters quickly finished breakfast and then continued to process the spoils they had brought back the day before. First, they strung the mushrooms together with vines and hung them under the treehouse to dry. Then they packed the wild vegetables and game into baskets, each carrying one, and walked to the stream.

Liu Ruoxi was in charge of washing all the wild vegetables, while Liu Ruoling was in charge of processing the game. Liu Ruoxi first found a small pond near the bank, then used stones to enclose it, leaving no large gaps to prevent the wild vegetables from floating out. After doing this, she poured all the wild vegetables from her basket into the pond, then sat on a stone and slowly washed them.

Liu Ruoling found a pool of water a little below Liu Ruoxi's location and began processing her prey. She started with two snakes. Snakes are relatively easy to handle; she chopped off their heads, then used a stick to hold them and placed them in a pre-dug pit on the bank, covering them with soil to prevent them from harming anyone later, since the two of them planned to stay there long-term. The area had everything they needed, except for water, which required fetching water daily. Otherwise, everything was excellent: wild vegetables on the hillside, prey in the forest, and now they had even found salt ore on the other side of the mountain—what more could they ask for?

After cleaning the snake's head, Liu Ruoling laid the snake flat on a rock, cut open its abdomen with a knife, and discarded the internal organs. Then, she simply tore off the snakeskin from its neck. The skin was easy to remove; it only required a little force and was mostly intact. Soon, Liu Ruoling had finished processing both snakes, washed them clean in water, and checked them again to ensure there were no parasites before placing them in her basket.

Then she picked up the mountain rat again, and as usual, first skinned it, then picked out the internal organs, discarding the inedible parts and keeping the edible ones. Next, she washed away the bloodstains and bits of meat from the rat, then put it in her basket. It's worth mentioning that this was Liu Ruoling's first time processing mountain rats, so she spent a little time figuring out where to begin.