Chapter 52 The gathering team sets off. They can't possibly gather all the resources...
This time, almost everyone who hadn't changed into bio-clothes switched to cooling patches; the only difference was how many were changed.
Some exchanged as few as 5 sets, or 50 tickets, while others exchanged as many as 200 or 300 tickets, showing a kind of extravagant ambition to buy up all the tickets for the entire hottest season in one go.
In the blink of an eye, nearly half of the more than four thousand cooling patches were gone.
Because there weren't many wild vegetables and mushrooms at home, everyone used coarse grains to exchange for them for the first purchase. Those who only bought a few dozen sheets were probably planning to replenish their stock with wild vegetables and mushrooms after the gathering team had finished their harvest.
Even the village chief's family and the Zhang family, who had no shortage of bio-clothes, bought some out of curiosity.
It's not expensive anyway, and everyone else has it, so why shouldn't they?
Some people who have already bought biosuits regret that they bought them too early, but most people who have worn biosuits still think they are quite worthwhile.
Lu Xuan and the village chief both said that the catastrophe would last for several years. Buying ice packs does seem more cost-effective in the short term, but what about two or three years later?
The cost may not be much cheaper than a bio-suit, and besides, the bio-suit can still be worn after the catastrophe. They may still be alive for ten or twenty years.
The viewers in the live stream were quite surprised to see how popular the ice patches were.
[Who can argue with that? Here, aside from the still-developing edge satellites used for weather, they're mostly used as toys by children. Who knew they'd be so popular?]
[Some professions with special working environments still require them. Some stingy bosses who can't afford to provide bio-suits will make do with temperature-sensitive cooling patches; stockpiling them is all about cost-effectiveness.]
[The streamer's offer this time is really cheap.]
As mentioned before, biosuits and cooling patches are necessities to ensure survival, and necessities shouldn't be overpriced.
With cooling patches, at least those going out hunting or gathering won't be hindered by heatstroke.
Looking forward to today's harvest!
[The streamer is going to take down a few more wild boars!]
[Hunting Wolves! Get ready to witness the power of the mutated vampire vines!]
As the audience began to "order," those who bought the cooling patches couldn't wait to apply them to the corresponding parts of their bodies as Lu Xuan had instructed. Sure enough, they could clearly feel their body temperature drop as soon as they applied them.
Although the wind blowing through the air was still hot, it felt almost the same as a normal summer day, which was perfectly acceptable to them.
Those who bought the cooling patches increasingly felt that it was a very worthwhile deal.
Li Tie said, "Alright, now everyone go back and prepare the baskets and weapons you need. Team leaders, take stock of your men and then set off."
Soon, the gathering team, the guard team, and the hunting team packed their belongings, put on the straw hats they had made the day before, and were ready to set off.
Li Tie emphasized: "We are not familiar with the mountain environment. Hunting and gathering are important, but safety is the most important thing! Safety first! Remember to come back safely, understand!"
"Understood, Village Chief!"
"Don't worry, village chief, just wait for our triumphant return."
"Haha, you make it sound like we're going to war and returning in triumph."
The gathering team and the hunting team were heading in different directions, so they had to separate after leaving the square. Before they parted ways, Lu Xuan tied a thin vine to Lu Qing's wrist.
"Sis, be careful."
Lu Qing didn't ask him what it was, she just nodded and smiled, "Don't worry! You be careful too, and keep an eye on your brother-in-law for me."
Lu Xuan nodded, "I will."
After saying that, he turned around and waved to Lu Chen, who was watching them leave, and then called his team to turn around and leave.
The three groups of people left in different directions, and the village suddenly lost a third of its population, making the already spacious square even emptier.
Those who stayed behind had no time for sentimentality; they continued making cabinets and wooden beds, and organizing the luggage they hadn't had time to unpack in the previous days. They had a lot to do.
The kids, on the other hand, were only interested in playing, especially since Lu Chen had acquired several new remote-controlled toys today, which made him the center of attention.
Xiong Dabao watched the group of children centered around Lu Chen from afar, feeling both envious and hesitant to go over.
After lingering there for a while, he finally couldn't bring himself to say no, turned around, snorted, and walked away.
It's just a little car that can run on its own, what's so special about it?
Xiong Dabao looked at the mysterious forest beyond the fence surrounding the square, his eyes flickering slightly.
-
Gathering team x Guard team.
The group of more than twenty people were quite excited when they set off, but as the giant wooden square disappeared from sight, the women began to feel uneasy.
A middle-aged woman rubbed her arms. "I didn't feel it when we were in the square, but as soon as we came out, I started to feel uneasy."
The people around them nodded repeatedly, looking around nervously: "This is deep in the mountains. I can't help but worry that a wild beast might suddenly jump out of the bushes and attack us."
The original exploration team member leading the way laughed when he heard their voices: "Don't worry, we went back and forth twice yesterday. Uncle Wu and Lu Xuan both checked, and there are no wild beasts nearby. You can rest assured."
"Slap!" Su Ying quickly swatted away the insect that had landed on her shoulder, her brows furrowing. "There are no wild beasts, but there are a lot of flying insects. I wonder if they are poisonous."
Miao Jinfeng waved her hand, shooing away the small flying insects that had gathered nearby. "It's true, we haven't seen many flying insects since we burned mugwort in the cave. I didn't expect there to be so many in the forest."
"Oh, right." Lu Qing clapped her hands and took out the large bottle of insect repellent medicine that Lu Xuan had given her from her space. She sprayed it on herself, Miao Jinfeng, and Wu Yinyin. "Auntie, Yinyin, this is insect repellent spray that A-Xuan gave me. After spraying it, the bugs won't come near."
"Huh? The flying insects really were chased away." Miao Jinfeng looked at the annoying flying insects that had just been flying around in front of her with surprise. "And they smell really good too."
Wu Yinyin couldn't help but sniff herself: "It smells so good."
Su Ying's eyes lit up, and she quickly moved closer to Lu Qing, calling out affectionately, "Lu Qing, please spray some on me too. My skin is very delicate, and it swells up even if I get bitten even slightly. My husband would be heartbroken if he saw that."
Lu Qing was somewhat speechless. "I was originally planning to criticize everyone anyway." There was really no need to specifically mention the second half of the sentence.
The other women weren't as delicate as Su Ying, but they were naturally happy to avoid being bothered by unknown flying insects, and they thanked Lu Qing repeatedly.
After spraying the collection team, Lu Qing also sprayed the guards, and received their thanks in return.
Not long after spraying the insect repellent, the group quickly forgot their fear and cheered up as the guide shouted, "There are plenty of wild vegetables around here!" They then officially began their foraging mission.
"There's purslane here!"
"There are a few dandelions here, they're quite young."
"There's still shepherd's purse this season? Ah, it seems a bit old... Hmm, the ones here are still quite tender, they're edible."
The women scattered within the guard's protective area, and soon each had their own spoils.
Besides wild vegetables, they also made a point of checking the roots of each tree on the shady side, and unsurprisingly found quite a few mushrooms.
After completing the survey of one area and confirming that nothing had been missed, the group continued forward in the direction indicated by the guards, and the empty baskets were quickly filled to the brim.
The most common wild vegetables found were purslane, bracken, wild onions, and wild leeks.
Other wild vegetables, such as wild celery and shepherd's purse, which should have been out of season, were also found.
Lu Qing also found the large and small thistles, and other medicinal herbs that Lu Xuan had taught him to identify, such as isatis root.
The tender stems and leaves of chrysanthemums taste good after blanching and then being used in cold dishes or soups; I picked them whenever I came across them.
However, since the season wasn't quite right, they found more mushrooms than wild vegetables.
Mushrooms need a cool, damp environment to grow quickly, and it hasn't rained recently, so it should be hard to find mushrooms. But as we get closer to the waterfall, we find more and more mushrooms.
Basically, there will always be a clump growing on the shady side of three to five trees, and sometimes even two or three clumps.
The variety is also very rich, with shiitake mushrooms, hazel mushrooms, matsutake mushrooms, giant shiitake mushrooms, meat mushrooms... almost all seasonal mushrooms are available.
There were so many that they couldn't possibly harvest them all; the women were so happy they were practically grinning from ear to ear.
Although the taste of shiitake mushrooms may be slightly worse if they grow too fast in the summer, the villagers of Yunlu Village can't tell the difference. They're all shiitake mushrooms anyway, and as long as they're edible, that's fine with them.
When the baskets initially carried by the collection team were filled and then replaced with empty ones to continue collecting, the great waterfall was finally reached.
"Is this the waterfall? It's huge!"
"Where did all this water come from? Will there be more water if we go uphill?"
"It's definitely much cooler near the waterfall."
"Ouch, the waterfall water splashed all over my face, even though I was standing quite far away."
The women chattered excitedly in front of the waterfall. Apart from the two leading the group, the guards were also seeing such a waterfall for the first time, and their eyes were filled with amazement.
"No wonder you can catch fish weighing over ten pounds in such a large pond."
"With this waterfall, we really don't need to worry about not having enough water in the future."
"However, this place is still too far from our accommodation, so transporting water is not very convenient."
"You forgot? There are spatial rings in the village, right? We can just put them in a wooden bucket and bring them back. It won't take much trouble at all."
"You can do it like that!"
Ge Yuan observed the ground nearby and found some footprints of small animals, but no large ones. He then turned to the still excited collection team and guard team and said, "Alright, it's almost noon and the temperature is getting higher. Let's find a shady place to eat something to fill our stomachs before continuing."
Miao Jinfeng nodded and stretched her back: "That's fine. I've been busy all day and I'm quite tired. It's good to take a break."
Ge Yuan looked at Lu Qing and said, "Take out the big fish basket we packed before we set off and put it in the pond now. We can take it out again when we go back. We should be able to catch quite a lot."
Lu Qing nodded and took out the fish baskets that everyone had worked on overnight and handed them to Ge Yuan and the other guards.
After looking around, the group quickly chose a spot behind a large, shady rock on the right side of the waterfall as their resting place.
The women took out their pre-prepared lunches one after another.
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