◎Happy 88th day: Becoming the master◎
The female rabbit had just been frightened and was in a very bad mood. She would bark at anyone she saw. If anyone dared to pull her out of the nest with a rope, she would turn around and kick them.
Jiang Muyun and Chu Buwen were at a loss as to what to do with it, and could only look at Zhao Jiahao with encouragement.
Zhao Jiahao: "If you have something to say, please talk it over nicely. Don't look at me like that. I'm a little scared."
Chu Buwen reasoned with him: "Do you remember why the female rabbit suddenly went crazy just now?"
Zhao Jiahao nodded aggrievedly.
Jiang Muyun coaxed him: "Do you remember how we survived a few hours ago?"
Zhao Jiahao looked miserable.
Chu Buwen swore solemnly: "We have been brothers for so many years, how could we possibly let it hurt you? Don't you trust us?"
Jiang Muyun retreated to advance: "Well, why don't I go? I still smell of blood. If I attack the female rabbit, it will definitely chase me."
Zhao Jiahao remembered the origin of the bloody smell on Jiang Muyun's body, and instantly deflated. He said with a droopy head, "I know, I'll go and attract him."
Hares are amazing creatures. They rarely prey on other small animals, but they have a special liking for eating their own young.
If there is no food, you can eat the cub as food. If you lack nutrition, you can eat the cub to supplement nutrition.
When she has no feelings for her cubs, she will fight with them if she gets a little angry, and the loser will become rabbit feed.
When a baby has feelings for its cub, it may do something bizarre like, "I'm afraid you'll be in danger and eaten by predators, so I'll eat you first."
The operation is a bit outrageous, but the intention of protecting the cubs in all directions is still very much there.
And now, this thoughtful gesture is reflected in the strength with which the female rabbit chases Zhao Jiahao.
Both Chu Buwen and Li Anxuan almost failed to catch the female rabbit that rushed towards Zhao Jiahao.
The female rabbit looked so energetic that they didn't dare to hold it with their hands. They could only find a tree with good growth nearby, wrap the rope around the tree, and hang the female rabbit upside down on the tree.
After a while, the male rabbit was also hung next door.
Zhou Ying took Qin Shiwu and others to retrieve the rabbit cubs. Jiang Muyun looked at the female rabbit, who was hanging up and was not quiet at all, and was shaking the tree so hard that it made a loud noise. He always felt that the female rabbit would break the branch in the next second and then rush down to eat them all.
Zhao Jiahao, still in shock, gasped and asked, "Since the little rabbit is out, why don't we stew it in the pot?"
Wang Qingqing tutted her words and said, "I don't believe you if you don't have some personal grudge in your words."
Jiang Muyun touched Zhao Jiahao's head and asked, "Do you know how many babies a wild rabbit usually gives birth to?"
Zhao Jiahao: “Four.”
Jiang Muyun was surprised: "You guessed it pretty close. Our Haohao has quite a good knowledge base."
Wang Qingqing was suspicious: "You really know? Why wouldn't I believe it?"
Zhao Jiahao once had a beautiful dream about rabbits giving birth to eighteen babies.
Zhao Jiahao said confidently: "How could I not know? I just saw it. There are only four rabbits in this nest."
Jiang Muyun choked.
Zhao Jiahao made another application: "Since we already have the next generation, let's just stew this rabbit!"
With a thud, the female rabbit, which was tied together and hung upside down, kicked the tree trunk with its hind legs. The whole rabbit swung up and almost hit Zhao Jiahao in the face.
Jiang Muyun pulled him back a few steps and told him not to provoke the female rabbit again, fearing that he would make the rabbit so angry that it would just run into a wall and die in front of them.
Jiang Muyun lectured Zhao Jiahao: "This litter of rabbits isn't even a month old yet. Do you know how hard it is to raise rabbits that leave the nest before they're a month old? You're going to stew the big ones now, and then the little ones will die. Are you going to give birth to another litter of rabbits?"
Wang Qingqing accurately grasped the key words: "So when these cubs grow up, can we stew the big ones?"
Zhao Jiahao was struck by lightning: "Then we have to wait another half a year..."
"That's not necessary. Now that the temperature has risen, maybe we can harvest another litter of cubs in three or four months. If the first litter can grow safely until the second litter naturally hatches, these two big ones can be stewed." Jiang Muyun has lived in poverty for too many years, so he is very good at budgeting.
When Zhao Jiahao heard that he would have to wait for a few more months, he looked at the rabbit hanging upside down on the tree with regret.
Zhou Ying had already let Qin Shiwu and the others take the cub away, and then he shouted to Jiang Muyun, "You can put the rabbit back in the nest!"
They had prepared a home for the little rabbit early in the morning, and now they just had to move the little rabbit over there after taking it out of the nest.
Jiang Muyun asked Zhao Jiahao to go away and hide, so that the rabbit would not come down from the tree and start chasing him again.
Zhao Jiahao took the initiative to run very fast, and soon he disappeared from sight.
The female rabbit was hung on the tree and calmed down for a while. Seeing that her mood had returned to normal, Jiang Muyun untied the rope tied to the tree and put her back on the ground.
After returning to the nest, the mother rabbit did not find any trace of her cubs. After walking around inside and outside twice, the remaining balance of her cub protection value was exhausted. She returned to the nest leisurely with the grass in her mouth as if nothing had happened.
Jiang Muyun felt relieved when he saw that it didn't continue to lose its temper. He turned to Li Anxuan and said, "Tell Zhao Jiahao later to stop feeding the rabbits here for the next few days. I'm afraid he will bring up other people's sad memories."
Li Anxuan laughed and said, "He wouldn't dare come if you didn't tell him."
Besides, Zhao Jiahao's whole mind is now attracted by the little rabbit.
No matter what kind of devils these ones will become when they grow up, at least they are still cute little fur balls now, right?
These little grey bunnies don't have the coarse fur of their adults. Because their teeth haven't fully developed, they can only nibble on soft grass. They're well-behaved and look just like any other pet rabbit, all four of them soft and adorable.
The group of people started to look at the rabbits again, just like they did with the chickens before, and took advantage of the fact that the elders were not at home to reach out and rub and pinch the rabbits from time to time.
It seems that they have really developed the breeding industry, which is a bit incredible to think about.
Qin Shiwen tied ropes to the hind legs of several little rabbits and rubbed the wilted little fur balls with some worry: "It stands to reason that if unweaned little animals leave the nest early and lose their mother's milk, they can be fed with some goat's milk."
They did bring back a lot of cow milk powder, but they rarely saw goat milk powder.
Many animals are lactose intolerant, and feeding them milk can easily cause diarrhea, so it is better not to feed them.
Jiang Muyun tied the noose tightly and replied casually, "I have some goat milk powder. I picked it up when I was cleaning the cans for Dabai."
Jiang Muyun had previously robbed several pet shops in the comprehensive plaza, and he did not let go of any pet shops he came across afterwards. He collected a lot of various pet supplies, including goat milk powder.
Qin Shiwen hesitated for a moment and said, "How about we give it a try? Let's make a cup first and see if it has gone bad."
Generally, the shelf life of canned milk powder is two years. According to the rule that high temperature shortens the shelf life and low temperature prolongs it, it is indeed debatable whether it has deteriorated at this time.
Now they have developed good habits for survival in the apocalypse. When it comes to food, they never check whether it is expired or not, only whether it has spoiled or not. As long as it has not spoiled, they can continue to eat it.
At this time, it’s good enough to have something to eat. The loss of nutrients after expiration is a luxury worry. For them, being non-toxic and edible is a good thing.
Jiang Muyun's things were all stuffed in the space, so of course they couldn't go bad at this moment.
Not only did it not go bad, but the aroma of the milk powder mixed with hot water was so charming that it attracted Dabai.
Dabai meowed in a sweet voice that he only made when asking Jiang Muyun for eggs, which made Qin Shiwen's heart soften. Adhering to the principle that milk powder needs to be drunk as soon as possible after opening the can to avoid waste, he not only made a bowl for Dabai, but also took Xiaobai along.
Xiaobai usually eats a lot of good things, but he doesn't seem to be very eager for goat milk. But Dabai, who has been fed, has been reporting to the rabbit's nest on time every time it's mealtime.
Jiang Muyun was puzzled. This cat ate a lot every day, but why did it look like a small coal ball from beginning to end? It didn't even gain any weight.
Baby rabbits are fragile and difficult to raise, but that's compared to adult wild rabbits. Jiang Muyun and others don't need to keep an eye on them like they would babies.
With the right temperature, sufficient food, and regular cleaning of the rabbit nest, these rabbits have adapted healthily to life after weaning and leaving the nest.
The situation of the little bunnies has basically stabilized, and the little chickens are starting to have fun.
Since the temperature and climate outside are still normal and there are warnings before the storm, they did not move the crops back to the cave during this period, but left them outside to let them experience the daytime in nature.
At first, when it was Jiang Muyun's turn to loosen the soil for the crops, he found that the soil seemed to have been turned over.
Then Zhou Ying came to check the soil and unexpectedly found that there seemed to be a few vegetable worm eggs in the soil.
Everyone has witnessed the speed at which cabbage worms eat mushrooms. If cabbage worms also appear in potted plants, wouldn’t all their crops this season be fed to the worms?
Zhou Ying immediately picked out all the insect eggs she could find and checked all the pots of crops. Fortunately, only a few pots contained eggs, and there were no adult insects, so the plants were not damaged.
Zhou Ying moved all the insect eggs she found aside and waited for the people who went out to collect supplies at night to come back. She told them about this matter, and now no one could sit still. Immediately, a large group of people ran to the temporary vegetable garden.
As a result, when they arrived, they found that the three little chicks were already standing beside the basin where Zhou Ying found the vegetable worm eggs, lowering their heads and digging in the soil and pecking at it a few times.
Zhou Ying checked again and found that the insect eggs she had originally placed in the plastic cup were gone.
Considering the knocked-over cup and the crack on the side of the cup, it was obvious who the perpetrator was.
"I was wondering why they were wandering around here all day and not eating the leaves. It turns out they were after the meat." Zhou Ying felt complicated.
Jiang Muyun and others felt that Zhou Ying had a psychological advantage in taking care of the crops, so when the shifts were difficult to arrange, Zhou Ying would take more turns guarding the house.
She was at home most of the time, so she ran into the two adults and three children wandering around in the vegetable garden quite often. Naturally, she would not think it was a coincidence like other people would do if they met by chance.
Wang Qingqing was puzzled: "If they eat insects, then aren't there more insects in the woods chewing on mushrooms? Why would they come here specifically to eat these little morsels?"
Jiang Muyun watched the three little fur balls peck at one bowl before switching to another, and said thoughtfully, "Maybe they want to change their taste? They've eaten too many mushroom-flavored bugs, so they might as well try a few vegetable-flavored ones."
Cabbage worms grow by gnawing on these crops, and their taste is also affected by the crops. The idea that they change their taste is not nonsense from Jiang Muyun.
Zhou Ying walked around the vegetable patch with a complicated expression: "I don't think they've even taken a few bites of the leaves, they've only been eating the insects."
Wang Qingqing paused as she stroked the chicks. "No way... you mean, they're more carnivorous than vegetarian now?"
Jiang Muyun comforted her: "Not really, not really. Maybe they simply don't like vegetables. They usually enjoy eating poisonous mushrooms."
Wang Qingqing withdrew her hand and rubbed it against Zhou Ying's trouser leg. "It doesn't really comfort me. If we keep feeding these chickens like this, will we still be able to eat them? Aren't we raising them for nothing?"
Wang Qingqing and others heard from Zhao Jiahao about the wolfhound that Jiang Muyun and his friends had encountered before, and the truth about the infectious disease that was all over its body.
Now I am scared, very scared.
I am afraid that these chickens in my family will eat poisonous insects and vegetables every day, and eventually they will become the king of poisons like raising a Gu.
Jiang Muyun pulled Dabai out of Chu Buwen's pocket and held it up to heal Wang Qingqing: "Don't worry about that. You'll know when you see if Dabai has an appetite for them."
Dabai cooperated quite well and roared at the chicks.
Dabai and his little coal ball are a perfect match in size. As soon as the little cat sounded, Wang Qingqing hugged it and called it her little baby.
The cabbage worm crisis on Jiang Muyun's side was solved by a few chickens whose edible properties were unknown, but cabbage worms in other places were spreading without humans noticing.
From the time of the tsunami until now, countless people have been trying to grow various crops, even edible weeds like bamboo grass.
Cabbage worms reproduce everywhere, and by the time the plants attacked by the cabbage worms show abnormal signs, the crops in that area have basically been destroyed.
If you were to plant your crops separately in containers, as Jiang Muyun and the others did, the losses would be manageable. If you could get rid of the pests when necessary, and carefully care for the crops that didn't have any worms, they could still survive.
But if you plant all your crops together in a large field, months of hard work will be wiped out overnight.
The only way to stop the loss is to harvest all the edible parts and eat them.
For those who have a relatively large financial situation or who still have unplanted grain on hand, this is a lesson learned. Although the loss is heavy, it is not fatal.
The worst that could happen was that we could exchange grain seeds for other food with people who had surplus, and we would be able to survive.
But for those who have already invested all their grain seeds in planting and are just waiting to harvest and save seeds this season, this is tantamount to a disaster.
What's worse is that some people have emptied their family savings in exchange for grain seeds, but now that the harvest is approaching, they can only dig out vegetable worms all over the ground, and they are so desperate that they can't see where their livelihood lies.
At the western suburbs base in Nanshi, a middle-aged man covered his face with his hands, tears streaming from between his muddy fingers.
He lived frugally and replaced electricity at the base to provide light for the plants, waiting to use this small amount of fresh vegetables to exchange for stale grain that was disliked by those in power because it was infested with rice weevils, which would allow him to live for a few more months.
But now they are all gone.
He felt as if someone was strangling him, and he could only open his mouth wide to breathe. He couldn't make a sound, only his rough breathing echoed in the small room.
At the Nanshibei District base, a young girl hugged her trembling mother tightly.
They were trapped by a group of bandits and almost risked their lives to find a team that had gone out from the North District base for help.
They were grateful that the team was willing to save people.
Even if the other party demands a huge reward from them, even if the amount of the reward will make them struggle to survive in the future, saving people will still be a loss-making business for the other party.
The other party risked losing everything to make them become human again. They were truly grateful to this team and the North District base that took them in and sheltered them.
But now, they have no potatoes to pay off their debts and exchange for food.
Their food supply was only enough to last them three more days, and the next payment would be due in five days.
For a moment, the woman who had just escaped from hell was left with only confusion.
She felt a little sad because she and her daughter were about to die of hunger, and she also felt a little guilty because she owed a debt to her benefactors that she could not repay.
She still felt a little unwilling.
She had tried so hard to survive, how could she be willing to fall down after embarking on the road to life?
"I will go up the mountain. We will have a lot of mushrooms. We will find firewood to dry them and use them to pay off the debt. It's okay. We can survive." The young girl repeated over and over again while hugging her mother with lifeless eyes.
The light returned to the skinny mother's eyes.
She squeezed her daughter's hand, which had become rough in just a few years. "Mushrooms, mushrooms! You're right, we can survive."
And mushrooms.
These four words have saved countless people in despair.
The long rainy days are unbearable and boring. Countless foods become breeding grounds for various types of mold in the warm and humid environment. However, while it erodes the limited food reserves of mankind, it also brings mushrooms all over the mountains and plains to people.
As early as half a month after the continuous drizzle, countless people could not wait to try eating wild mushrooms.
The result was obvious. For a long time thereafter, people died everywhere and at all times from accidentally eating highly poisonous wild mushrooms.
There were even more people who did not die on the spot, but were tortured by the poison for several days before finally escaping with difficulty.
The stench of the corpse woke everyone up from the overwhelming food on the mountain, and the few fungi that were confirmed to be edible were snatched up by everyone.
After so many people tried and failed to grow mushrooms, the native habitats of edible fungi naturally became their target.
Spontaneously formed teams set up signs to mark their spheres of influence and kill anyone who tries to get their hands on their food.
The survivors who failed to form a strong team could only hide from others and go to remote places to try their luck.
Or there are some skilled and courageous lone wanderers who take advantage of the gaps when those small groups are patrolling and make a quick buck and run away.
Anyway, they have no fixed place to live, and in this sparsely populated environment of the end of the world, lone wanderers are determined to escape, and these small groups that have not yet formed a scale cannot catch them.
But only a few people dare to wander around in the apocalypse. More people are trying to build their own shelters, which, even if they are shabby, can at least shelter them from the wind and rain and store water and food.
They don't have the capital to just make a quick buck and run away.
Several known common edible fungi have almost been divided up by these people, and as for the remaining various varieties, no one dares to try them unless they are at their wit's end, even if they look very similar to common edible fungi.
Now the end of the road has come.
I'm going to starve to death anyway, so I might as well go into the mountains and take a gamble.
But when people ventured into the mountains with hope, ready to take a gamble with these mushrooms, which they didn't know whether they could save their lives or take their lives, they found that they didn't even have the chance to gamble their lives.
Pick a seemingly non-toxic mushroom, no, it can’t even be picked, it should be held up.
Because the mycelium that provides them with nutrients has long been eaten up by vegetable worms, the mushrooms that can still stand are just barely standing by relying on the stems and caps.
When someone is deceived by the mushroom standing still, as if the mycelium has not been eaten, and picks it up ecstatically, they will find that its interior has long been filled with vegetable worms.
In hunger and despair, some people picked up the wriggling vegetable worms in a trance and put them into their mouths.
As the cabbage worm crisis gradually emerged, Jiang Muyun and others received an apology from the South One Base.
The day after the wolfhound incident, Jiang Muyun and Zhao Jiahao went to the South 1 Base together and explained the whole story to Captain Yu and others.
Captain Yu appears to have the same personality as Zhao Jiahao, but in reality, he keeps all his thoughts to himself.
Jiang Muyun didn't need any explicit or implicit hints. As soon as he was told the matter, he understood it and immediately smiled with his big white teeth and agreed to it.
When delivering the apology gift from Wang Ci and others to Jiang Muyun and others, he also mixed in a few cans of pine oil.
It was not specifically mentioned who sent it, but pine oil was not a common thing before the apocalypse, and after the apocalypse, Jiang Muyun had only seen the real thing at the South One Base, so it was obvious who sent it.
Tang An, who came specially to deliver things to Jiang Muyun and others, also told them that Captain Yu said that the base was preparing to explore outward recently. If they wanted to go far away, they could contact the base and maybe they could form a team.
Tang An added, "Our team's mission is to head to the city of Nanshi, and also to Yishi to the west to contact the Shuguang Base. If everything goes well on both sides, we'll gradually explore the surrounding cities."
Qin Shiwen asked, "You guys are going out on a mission from the base. Wouldn't it be inconvenient to team up with us?"
Tang An smiled and said, "What's the inconvenience? We are mainly trying to find out information about other survivor bases in the surrounding area. It's not something that needs to be kept secret."
Jiang Muyun picked up a can of pine oil, sniffed it, and then closed it. "Teaming up doesn't mean we're bound together. We can just treat it as a ride. If it's convenient, we can go together for a while. If it's not convenient, we can go our separate ways."
Tang An was a little surprised: "Company Commander Yu said the same thing."
After Tang An left, Qin Shiwen asked Jiang Muyun, "Why did Captain Yu suddenly bring up this matter? They wanted to go check out the surrounding area, so there was no need to take us along."
Jiang Muyun shook the pine oil in his hand and said, "Perhaps Captain Yu thought that since it was on his way, he might as well tell us and ask for a favor."
Zheng Xiang, who was standing next to him, took the pine oil from Jiang Muyun's hand, opened it, and examined it carefully for a while before saying, "This pine oil is the same one we saw at the South One Base before. It's the pine oil they used for lighting."
Wang Qingqing also leaned over to take a look at the pine oil and muttered quietly, "I don't know why, but I feel like Captain Yu is a good man, but not quite. You know what I mean? It always feels weird to owe him a favor."
"It may be because single-celled organisms have a natural fear of the existence of higher organisms." Zheng Xiang's choice of words was so harsh and precise that it was astonishing.
Wang Qingqing was stunned for two seconds before she reacted, and immediately wanted to use her well-developed limbs to teach Zheng Xiang a lesson.
Zheng Xiang held up a can of pine oil in front of her and said, "Calm down! If the pine oil gets spilled, just jump off a mountain and apologize."
Jiang Muyun felt that with Professor Chen around, they had long been unable to break away from the favors they had with the Nanyi Base, and it would probably be difficult to sort them out in the future.
But it didn't matter. She was thick-skinned after all. And she believed that Captain Yu wasn't a thin-skinned person either. When two thick-skinned people get together, it's just friendship. There's no such thing as owing someone a favor.
When Jiang Muyun heard Tang An say that their team was preparing to go to Nanshi, he became interested.
Chu Buwen looked at Jiang Muyun and said, "It would be a good idea to go out with the team at the base. Firstly, we can understand the situation outside. Secondly, South City is so big after all. Judging from the current estimated number of survivors, it is impossible for the survivors in the city to have cleaned out all the supplies. It would be nice if we could try our luck along the way."
Jiang Muyun said that the signal was received successfully. She happened to have some dried chilies in her space that she didn't know how to take out.
The reason she couldn't take it out before was that after the wolfhound incident, she and Chu Buwen were assigned to the same group nine times out of ten.
Jiang Muyun himself is an old hand at rummaging through the ruins, and he has a good idea of his own counterfeiting skills.
The difficulty of making reasonable marks on plastic products is different from that of the old clothes she soaked in the first place.
The finished product she made might be enough to fool other people, but it would be exposed if she put it in front of Chu Buwen.
Jiang Muyun was afraid that Chu Buwen would notice something, so he didn't dare to take it out.
Now, they are going to Nanshi.
Since Chu Buwen mistakenly believed that Jiang Muyun had a secret warehouse in Nanshi, as long as Jiang Muyun did not take out fresh fruits, vegetables and meat, whatever she took out would be reasonable in Chu Buwen's eyes.
In the past, when Jiang Muyun wanted to get something back, she had to find ways to avoid Chu Buwen. She even didn't dare let Chu Buwen take a closer look at the book that she stuffed into Qin Shiwu.
After arriving in Nanshi, even if Jiang Muyun directly threw the bags of spices in front of Chu Buwen, Chu Buwen would have to help her find excuses to fool others.
You have turned the tables and become the master!
So now comes the question.
After Jiang Muyun's initial excitement, he began to ponder.
Even if she took the things out in front of Chu Buwen at the beginning, Chu Buwen would probably automatically think that she brought them from the warehouse before, and then help her find an excuse to cover it up.
Chu Buwen will help her cover it up anyway, so what has she been struggling with these days?
After much deliberation, the day arrived when they were to set out for South City. On their way to the base to meet up with Tang An and the others, Chu Buwen invited Jiang Muyun to stay in his shelter as usual, and gave a very convincing reason - they would separate from Tang An's team when they arrived in the western suburbs, and they heard that a private base had been established in the western suburbs, so it would be safer to stay together at night.
Anyone who could establish a survivor base in the western suburbs would certainly not be a good person. Jiang Muyun agreed without much thought.
Only after she agreed did she suddenly understand the answer to the previous question.
Was she a little too distrustful of Chu Buwen? He had even shown her his true colors, yet her first reaction when she thought of Chu Buwen was to be on guard, rather than to bring him in.
Jiang Muyun felt guilty for three seconds.
Then she decided to take more things back this time.
Opportunities are fleeting, and they can also promote their relationship by covering for each other to show trust, which is a win-win situation.
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