Soon, Bi Qiaoan saw Shen Yanming follow the crowd back to cook.
This was the first time she had seen their wilderness survival conditions with her own eyes, and they were nowhere near as good as her husband had described.
A dilapidated earthenware pot was simmering with wild vegetable soup. Small fish and shrimp were skewered and grilled directly over the fire.
There are so many people here that even with abundant resources, it's still not enough to go around. Most of the time, you can only manage to get enough water to fill your stomach.
Shen Yanming had a decent haul today; he caught a fish the size of his palm and also caught six or seven shrimp about the length of his fingers.
After cleaning them, put them on the fire to roast, and they were cooked in no time.
It smells pretty good after sprinkling the seasoning on top. It's just a little small; not enough to eat.
There were many fish bones in the river, so Shen Yanming gave the shrimp to Nuannuan. After the father and daughter finished eating, they still felt hungry.
Nuannuan looked at the rabbits on the other people's fire with a little envy. But she knew that her father wouldn't catch them.
Shen Yanming privately instructed Nuannuan that their family had enough to eat and that they should try not to compete with others. They relied on the little food they had in the mountains to survive, and if the two of them competed, there would be less food, and some people might not have anything to eat.
Nuannuan is very obedient and never takes food from other people. Even if she's a little hungry, she'll wait until no one is around and have her dad conjure it up for her.
Looking at her daughter's aggrieved face in the space, Bi Qiaoan felt heartbroken. But she couldn't say anything. After thinking for a moment, she extended her consciousness to the grassland in the planting area.
"Besides pigs, cattle, and sheep, there are also yaks, wild deer, red deer, donkeys, camels, and alpacas in the space. These are all large; killing just one would be enough to feed everyone. But there don't seem to be any wild animals in these mountains. What should we do?"
Bi Qiaoan thought for a moment, then threw one of them into the storage area and said to Shen Yanming, "Honey, take a look. Which one looks like a wild one? Let it out, then hunt it back. Then we'll have something to eat."
Shen Yanming...did he not release enough rabbits these past two days?
However, not wanting to disappoint his wife, he nodded and carefully selected: "Wild deer, I suppose. They were originally wild and then domesticated, so their appearance hasn't changed much. Besides, they're widely distributed, so this place is barely considered one of their habitats."
Bi Qiaoan was overjoyed and immediately brought over a dozen wild deer.
Shen Yanming's eyes twitched as he watched, and he quickly stopped her, saying, "Wife, that's enough, that's enough!"
Seeing this, Bi Qiaoan stopped her "troublemaking" and obediently sat back on the Bird's Nest swing chair, eating snacks and watching the show.
Outside, Shen Yanming was somewhat troubled by the serious and stressful task assigned to him by his wife.
He carried Nuannuan away from the crowd, walking a long, long way until they were completely out of sight. Then, using the bushes for cover, he released four or five wild deer.
Shen Yanming didn't expect everyone to catch them all. These little sprites weren't stupid; they could move. Catching just one would be enough for a meal. Even if they couldn't catch them, letting them live freely in the mountains wasn't a bad thing.
Several wild deer emerged from the space, somewhat bewildered. They were initially wary of the changed environment, but once they confirmed there was no danger, they leisurely began grazing.
As for Shen Yanming, he was probably ignored by them because he had a spatial aura.
Shen Yanming turned back, intending to leave everything to fate, but he still had a little trick up his sleeve. Every now and then, he would sprinkle some spiritual spring water into the grass.
Small animals are particularly sensitive to this scent, and if they are greedy, they will follow the trail to people.
Shen Yanming quickened his pace and went back to Tang Shunlin's side.
When Tang Shunlin saw him return, he smiled and asked, "Where have you been?"
Shen Yanming curled his lips: "Let's see if there's anything to eat."
"Is there?"
"I didn't find it; it was all weeds and green leaves along the way."
Tang Shunlin sighed: "If we weren't leading such a large group, just the few of us would definitely be able to eat our fill."
Shen Yanming nodded and simply hummed in agreement.
Tang Shunlin tore off a rabbit leg and handed it to Nuannuan: "Baby, eat this, it's on you, Uncle."
Nuannuan didn't want it and looked to Shen Yanming for help. But Old Shen thought of the wild deer later and nodded: "Eat it, quickly thank your Uncle Tang."
Nuannuan's eyes lit up, and she nodded her little head, saying, "Thank you!"
Tang Shunlin casually ruffled Nuannuan's short, not-too-dirty hair and said, "You've finally accepted our feeding. You have no idea how worried we were when your dad wouldn't let you eat other people's food, afraid that our little angel would go hungry."
Why is he so petty? If we each save a little, we can feed Nuannuan properly, right?
Nuannuan understood, and she said with a giggle, "Uncle Tang, I'm not hungry. I'm small and have a small appetite. The food Dad found is enough for me."
Tang Shunlin didn't believe it, and even Shang Haoqiang next to him advised, "Little girl, don't listen to your father's nonsense. You're young and need to eat more good food, otherwise what will happen if you don't grow tall in the future?"
We adults just need enough to eat to stay alive; we can't let the flowers of our motherland suffer. You wait here, Uncle will go get you some bird eggs.”
He was about to get up when Shen Yanming grabbed him, saying, "What are you doing? Would I ever mistreat my daughter?"
Shang Haoqiang rolled his eyes at him: "Didn't you see? Our Nuannuan has lost weight."
Shen Yanming chuckled: "In this kind of environment, who hasn't lost weight?"
Shang Haoqiang was speechless because his belt had already been tucked in two buckles; if he lost any more weight, it wouldn't fit.
Yu Shui pulled his pants over with both hands, and he wholeheartedly agreed with this.
Bi Qiaoan almost burst out laughing when she saw his actions, and Shen Yanming also found it cringeworthy. He pulled a few blades of grass from the ground, removed the leaves, and wove them into a simple belt: "Make do with this for now, and replace it when it breaks."
Yu Shui almost cried after taking it: "Old Shen, I'm afraid I don't even weigh 100 pounds now. If I don't get enough to eat, I won't make it to find my parents."
Shen Yanming was also helpless. No matter how abundant the resources were, if hundreds of people kept exploiting them like this, they would eventually run out.
All I could do was offer comfort: "We'll have food when we leave here in a couple of days."
"Can't we leave now?" Yu Shui's voice sounded somewhat aggrieved.
Shen Yanming looked up at the sky: "Are you sure you want to go forward in the rain?"
It makes no sound in the water.
"Alright, go back and rest after you finish eating. If you want to go for a walk outside, that's fine too," Tang Shunlin said.
Shen Yanming nodded, picked up Nuannuan, and left. He stayed in the crowd for quite some time, then left the rest alone.
Back in the cave, leaning against the wall, he heard his wife's voice in his head: "Honey, to be honest, things are better here than where I am. We were in the ruins of the city, with nowhere to shelter. Like this time when we were caught in a downpour, we didn't know where to take shelter."
Although the conditions here aren't great, at least it's a place to call home.
Shen Yanming smiled and nodded: "That's the good thing about the mountain, it's just that confirming the location is a bit troublesome."
Like them, they wandered around for so many days but still couldn't get down the mountain.
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