Chapter 27 Composting [Updated early on the 25th] Separated from the team...
"Holy crap, Mr. Cheng is awesome!" someone exclaimed excitedly after realizing what was happening.
Cheng Zhiyu's expression didn't change much. He had just fought with the zombie, which had taken a lot of his energy. Now that he had recovered, he was somewhat exhausted.
After all, the speed I just used wasn't normal; that kind of speed would have been too physically demanding.
He steadied himself and forced himself not to show it.
"How are you?" While others might not have noticed, Xiao Hei was well aware of Cheng Zhiyu's current condition.
Now that Xiao Hei has gained lightning-based superpowers, his strength has greatly increased, and he can handle speed-type zombies. However, he hesitated for a moment and still did not make a move.
Cheng Zhiyu needs real-world experience to improve his skills.
Although he didn't make a move, he kept a close eye on the battle and would intervene if Cheng Zhiyu encountered any problems.
But Cheng Zhiyu was clearly much stronger than he had imagined. However, Xiao Hei was inexplicably annoyed, thinking, "He's already exhausted, why didn't he ask me for help?"
Cheng Zhiyu was taken aback. He tried to touch Xiao Hei through his clothes, but Xiao Hei pushed him away with a paw.
They had a disagreement.
"Don't be angry," Cheng Zhiyu said in a low voice. He glanced around; it wasn't really convenient to talk here. "I'll talk to you later."
Little Black's ears twitched, but he didn't say anything.
Cheng Zhiyu looked at Li Renyi, who was already tied up. Since Li Renyi needed to speak to activate his superpower, his mouth was stuffed with a rag.
He coldly withdrew his gaze. He didn't need to deal with Li Renyi; these superhumans alone wouldn't let him off the hook.
They took Li Renyi back to the villa. Li Renyi looked humiliated, yet still harbored unrealistic fantasies. There were other superhumans in the villa, and if they were willing to listen to him, he might still have a chance to turn the tables.
When they arrived at the villa, the other ordinary people saw Li Renyi tied up, and although they didn't know what was going on, they didn't dare to make a sound for a moment.
However, the superhumans rushed over as soon as they saw Li Renyi bound hand and foot.
Seeing a glimmer of hope, Li Renyi tried to make a sound, "Come and save me!"
However, the next moment a familiar scene unfolded.
Every single one of the superhumans rushed over, only to be electrocuted and fall silent. Then, they all glared angrily at Li Renyi.
Tian Qiao watched from the side, rubbed his head, and suddenly realized that Blackie was quite nice to him, at least he only slapped him with his claws, instead of shocking him like this.
He couldn't help but feel touched. Sure enough, in Blackie's eyes, he was different from these other superhumans.
If Xiao Hei knew what he was thinking, he would definitely be speechless.
Upon seeing this, Li Renyi felt a chill run down his spine, took a step back, and tried to hide.
However, how could these superhumans, whom he had controlled for so long, possibly let him go? They surrounded Li Renyi and began punching and kicking him, and everyone around could clearly hear Li Renyi's howls.
Those ordinary people who didn't know what had happened didn't dare to say a word, but they were still somewhat confused as to why they were surrounding and beating Li Renyi. After all, it was Li Renyi who had taken them in.
Then they learned why Li Renyi had taken them in.
Unsurprisingly, ordinary people were even angrier than those with superpowers. After all, Li Renyi only wanted to control the superpowered people and make them king, but he wanted their lives!
Bah! He deserved to be beaten! It would be better if he were dead!
And then there are those who joined the team with their relatives, only to be told that their relatives had an accident during a mission. They then realized that it wasn't an accident at all; they had been fed to zombies!
They started crying while cursing Li Renyi.
Knowing that it was Cheng Zhiyu who revealed the truth, and that it was Cheng Zhiyu who brought these superhumans to their senses, they kept thanking him, even kneeling and kowtowing.
Cheng Zhiyu felt a chill run down his spine; he had no interest in making people kneel and kowtow.
He made them stop and get down to business: "What are you planning to do next?"
Ordinary people looked at each other, their loved ones gone, and there was nothing they could do but live on: "I...I want to go to the bread farm."
“I want to go there too, no matter how hard or tiring it is, I’m really tired of living in fear.”
Not only ordinary people, but also people with superpowers want to go to the bread base. In any case, as people with superpowers, they can receive preferential treatment.
Moreover, after meeting Cheng Zhiyu, they realized how weak they were. If they needed a zombie with superpowers, they would definitely die without even knowing how.
Going to the base is a good option in any case.
"Then I wish you a safe arrival at the base," Cheng Zhiyu nodded and said.
Upon hearing this, a superhuman standing nearby couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Cheng, aren't you planning to go to the bread base?"
Cheng Zhiyu nodded. He really didn't plan to go. Firstly, he was carrying the system and it wasn't appropriate for him to expose himself. He wasn't arrogant and didn't think he could protect himself once the system was exposed.
He can handle one superhuman, or two, but what about a group?
The plants the system provided were all incredibly powerful, and he couldn't guarantee that others wouldn't develop ulterior motives after discovering them.
That's why he never let the waiter appear from beginning to end.
If so many people act together, he won't be able to enter the system space at all. He hasn't checked on Xiaoqiang's condition for several days, and he can't afford to delay any longer.
Moreover, there was another reason: he wanted to go home, and the bread farm didn't pass by his house.
Hearing that Cheng Zhiyu wasn't coming with them, everyone was a little disappointed, and some even complained without thinking, "What are we going to do if you don't come along?"
Someone immediately yelled, "Are you crazy? Does he owe you something? Didn't you hear him say he wanted to go home?"
"I'm speechless. There are idiots everywhere."
Cheng Zhiyu's mood was not affected. These superhumans were also going to the bread base. Perhaps they had done something wrong before and were willing to bring ordinary people along out of a desire to make amends.
Hearing them say that, the ordinary people who were originally uneasy felt a little more at ease.
Cheng Zhiyu knew that not every superhuman was willing to take ordinary people with them, but he could tell that there were kind-hearted people among these superhumans. The bread base wasn't too far away, and with them there, these people should be able to reach the base safely.
Moreover, Sister Hong is here. Sister Hong said, "Don't worry, as long as they behave themselves, I will help them as much as I can on the way."
As for the restless ones, Sister Hong's meaning is very clear: her daughter is the most important.
Cheng Zhiyu nodded. It was best that Sister Hong thought that way. If the other party didn't prioritize their own safety, he would be worried and concerned about Yan Yan.
Yan Yan is a very good child, Cheng Zhiyu knows. The reason why Sister Hong wanted to go with her today was because Yan Yan wanted to go. If Yan Yan hadn't asked for it herself, as a mother, Sister Hong would never have let her daughter take such a risk.
Yan Yan thought he was an ordinary person without superpowers and wanted to protect him. Thinking of this, Cheng Zhiyu's heart softened. He felt that he hadn't done anything, yet this young child was willing to risk her life for him.
Looking at Yan Yan's thin little face, Cheng Zhiyu felt a little like doing something for her.
He discussed it with Tian Qiao and decided not to leave immediately, so they stayed there for another two days.
The next day, Cheng Zhiyu mysteriously invited Sister Hong and Yan Yan over. The mother and daughter were curious about what he was going to do. After entering the room, they saw a table full of sumptuous food.
In Cheng Zhiyu's eyes, it wasn't a very lavish meal. His space was limited, so he made stir-fried cabbage, braised fish, fish head with chopped chili, braised chicken, Dongpo pork, a fish soup, and steamed a large pot of rice.
Before the apocalypse, this would have been just an ordinary meal, but now it's considered quite lavish.
As soon as Yan Yan and Sister Hong entered, they were drawn in by the overwhelming aroma. They unconsciously swallowed, it smelled so good that they could hardly take their eyes off it.
Sister Hong said with difficulty, "Xiao Cheng, this..."
Cheng Zhiyu smiled and said, "Sit down. Consider this our farewell meal."
Sister Hong quickly waved her hand, reluctantly refusing: "No, no, how could I accept this? These foods are too precious."
"Oh, Sister Hong, don't refuse. This is for Yan Yan, isn't it?" Tian Qiao swallowed hard, but since everyone else was doing it, he didn't feel ashamed.
Didn't you see that Blackie's eyes never left the table, and his tail was wagging impatiently?
"There's nothing precious about it. Isn't food just for people to eat?" Cheng Zhiyu pulled out chairs and urged them to sit down.
Yan Yan said in a soft voice, "Brother Cheng, it smells so good! Can I really eat it?"
Cheng Zhiyu stroked the child's soft hair and smiled kindly and gently: "Of course you can. Yan Yan can eat as much as she wants today, as much as you want."
Don't let Yan Yan's skinny appearance fool you; she's a superhuman, so her appetite is definitely not small.
They all have big appetites, so although there weren't many dishes on the table, the portions were huge, all served in bowls, and with the rice, it was enough for them.
Seeing her daughter's pleading eyes, and unable to bring herself to refuse, Sister Hong blinked and smiled, saying, "Yan Yan, sit down quickly. You should thank your two older brothers, okay?"
Yan Yan nodded hurriedly and thanked her two older brothers one by one, which made Tian Qiao smile like an aunt.
After they sat down, seeing that Sister Hong was a little reserved, Cheng Zhiyu served them fish soup, worried that they might not be used to it since they hadn't had a full meal in a long time.
After serving the fish soup, Cheng Zhiyu noticed Xiao Hei glancing over seemingly casually. He suppressed a laugh and served Xiao Hei some fish soup as well. Since Xiao Hei couldn't pick up any food, he added some of the meat Xiao Hei liked to his bowl and took the opportunity to pat Xiao Hei, saying, "Eat up."
Xiao Hei had unknowingly become accustomed to Cheng Zhiyu's occasional physical advances and didn't react much. He eagerly took a sip of fish soup, quickly finishing half a large bowl. Xiao Hei squinted his eyes in enjoyment, his tail swaying behind him.
Hongjie and her daughter also started drinking the soup, and they were so engrossed in it that they couldn't even lift their heads.
Tian Qiao: "Orange~, I want to drink soup too."
Cheng Zhiyu was disgusted by him and said coldly, "Don't you have hands? Serve yourself!"
Tian Qiao: "..." Is this preferential treatment?
But he didn't care; he had grown arms and could serve himself.
At first, Sister Hong and her daughter were a little reserved, but they relaxed a lot as they ate. The food was so delicious that they hadn't had such a good meal in a long time, and they didn't care about anything else, just focused on eating.
Cheng Zhiyu didn't force them to talk. Eating is something to enjoy, so let's enjoy the moment first.
Finally, they ate all the dishes on the table, including a pot of steamed rice. Yan Yan's appetite was indeed quite large, much larger than Sister Hong's, but that's normal, as people with superpowers expend a lot of energy.
After finishing her meal, Yan Yan belatedly felt embarrassed and quickly thanked her two older brothers.
Cheng Zhiyu stroked Yan Yan's soft hair, then took out a black knife.
This knife is quite heavy, and it's made entirely from the outer shell of a black and white cabbage. Cheng Zhiyu has been working on this for the past two days.
The best gift he could think of to give Yan Yan was a weapon. In the apocalypse, the ability to protect oneself is undoubtedly the most important thing. This knife was made from the outer shell of a black and white cabbage, so it was very sharp and its hardness was second only to that of a small iron knife.
Making this knife took Cheng Zhiyu a lot of effort. First, he had a waiter melt the outer shell of the black and white cabbage and pour it into the mold he had prepared.
Of course, that wouldn't do. After letting it cool in the mold for a while, while the metal was still soft, he started hammering it again. Even though he was very strong now, he was still covered in sweat after finishing the job.
This knife isn't very attractive either, with some marks from being smashed on it, but its unattractiveness doesn't detract from its sharpness; it could easily slice open a zombie's skull.
He gave the knife to Yan Yan, saying apologetically, "Although it's a bit ugly, it's still quite useful."
Yan Yan shook her head considerately: "Not ugly, very beautiful."
She asked incredulously, "Is it for Yan Yan?"
Cheng Zhiyu nodded: "Yan Yan, you must protect yourself and your mother."
Yan Yan took the knife, which was longer than her arm, and easily raised it, her eyes crinkling into a smile: "Thank you, Brother Cheng! I want to protect Brother Cheng too!"
Cheng Zhiyu felt a warmth in his heart and said gently, "Thank you, Yan Yan."
He certainly wouldn't let a child protect him, but Yan Yan's words were truly touching.
Looking at the knife Cheng Zhiyu gave Yan Yan, Hong Jie was at a loss for words. She had accepted too much kindness from him, and at the same time, she felt a little sad. If she were also a superhuman, little Yan Yan wouldn't need to pick up a knife.
But there are no "what ifs." Sister Hong knew clearly that Cheng Zhiyu's actions were correct. In this world, nothing is more important than survival.
After handing the knife to Yan Yan, Cheng Zhiyu taught her a few moves. Yan Yan was very smart and learned them quickly. Moreover, she was extremely strong, and most people were no match for her.
Furthermore, with Sister Hong by Yan Yan's side, it's clear from the fact that Yan Yan was able to survive quietly in Li Renyi's group that Sister Hong is very clever. With her around, ordinary people can't play any tricks.
As for Li Renyi, the superhuman who had been instigated by him to cause the death of his relatives had regained his senses. How could he not hate him? Cheng Zhiyu watched as Li Renyi's superpowers were crippled. As for the other party's final fate, he no longer cared. In any case, it wouldn't be good.
Thinking this way, Cheng Zhiyu felt much more at ease.
The team of superhumans had rested enough and were heading to the bread base; it was time to say goodbye.
In the afterglow of the setting sun, Yan Yan looked up at the older brother in front of her and asked expectantly, "Brother Cheng, will we see each other again in the future?"
Cheng Zhiyu: "Of course."
He smiled and said, "I'm sure I can."
——
Xiaoqiang's life status is currently at 7%, which is too slow. Cheng Zhiyu decided to apply fertilizer.
"Fertilizer? I don't know if there are any fertilizer plants or anything like that around here." Tian Qiao grew up in the countryside, so he knew a little about fertilizer and knew that chemical fertilizers could be used.
Cheng Zhiyu shook his head. He didn't plan to use chemical fertilizers. First, he didn't know where to find them; he couldn't very well go to a fertilizer factory to look for them, could he? That wasn't very realistic. Second, he already had an idea.
“We can compost it ourselves,” Cheng Zhiyu said.
Tian Qiao scratched his head. Although he roughly knew the answer, he was completely clueless when it came to actually doing it: "Compost? How do we compost it? I only know that we can use excrement. Are we going to go to a public toilet?"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Hei looked at Cheng Zhiyu with a strange expression.
Cheng Zhiyu: "...No, if there is a pond nearby, you can go to the pond. The silt in the pond can be used as fertilizer by sun-drying or crushing it."
After hearing this, Tian Qiao breathed a sigh of relief: "That's great, as long as we don't go to public restrooms."
“…Think of somewhere with a pond, I’m not very familiar with this area,” Cheng Zhiyu said.
Tian Qiao thought for a moment, then slapped her forehead: "You know what, you really do know, I was here before the apocalypse! We came here to eat crayfish together. There's a village not far from here, and I heard that some people raise crayfish... I guess crayfish are raised in ponds?"
Cheng Zhiyu's eyes lit up: "Do you still remember the way?"
Tian Qiao: "I roughly know where the village is. The place where we ate was not far from the village."
Once you find the village, you'll naturally find the pond.
Xiao Hei's focus is always peculiar: "What are crayfish? Are they tasty?"
Cheng Zhiyu laughed out loud: "It's especially delicious."
Xiao Hei immediately jumped onto Cheng Zhiyu's shoulder, eagerly patting it lightly: "When do we set off?"
Cheng Zhiyu: "We'll set off tonight."
They went to find another motorcycle, the one Cheng Zhiyu had hidden before, and set off together.
Even in Cheng Zhiyu's arms, Xiao Hei wouldn't sleep. It poked its head out, its eyes wide open, staring at the dark road ahead.
Cheng Zhiyu laughed and said, "We won't get there that quickly. Aren't you tired of doing this all the time, sweetheart?"
Xiao Hei froze. Cheng Zhiyu, really, why is he calling him that again? It was one thing before, but there are other people around now.
He glanced at Tian Qiao not far away out of the corner of his eye. The other party seemed not to have heard Cheng Zhiyu's words. Xiao Hei flicked its tail, its ears burning. It rubbed them uncomfortably with its paw, feeling...so strange.
The village isn't far from here. If it were before the apocalypse, you could get there that night by motorcycle. But now, you're bound to encounter zombies on the road, so it's not that fast.
It took them two days to finally see the village that Tian Qiao had mentioned in the distance.
Tian Qiao: "Shall we go right now?"
Cheng Zhiyu thought for a moment and said, "Let's go first thing tomorrow morning, just in case there are still people in the village..."
Upon hearing this, Tian Qiao immediately nodded, and they found a place outside the village to rest.
The next morning, the two set off for the village.
The village was right next to the city. As soon as they entered, they found some wandering zombies. After the two of them dealt with them in a few quick moves, their mood turned somber.
There are zombies, and they're just wandering around here. Are there any survivors left in this village?
Their worries were not unfounded. Once inside the village, there was no one there except for zombies. Most of the houses were desolate, covered with fallen leaves, which made people feel a little sad.
Cheng Zhiyu and Tian Qiao both felt somewhat heavy-hearted. They both came from rural areas, and it was hard not to empathize with the villagers after entering this village.
Neither of them spoke for a moment.
Xiao Hei glanced at Cheng Zhiyu's expression, frowned, thought for a while, and then, somewhat awkwardly, imitated Cheng Zhiyu's usual manner, raising its paw to touch the other's ear.
Cheng Zhiyu snapped out of his daze and looked down to meet Xiao Hei's worried gaze. He felt a warmth in his heart and nuzzled Xiao Hei, saying, "I'm fine now, thank you, Xiao Hei."
The warm breath sprayed over, and the little black cat's fur stood on end. It suddenly stretched out its paw and pressed it against Cheng Zhiyu's mouth.
Cheng Zhiyu made two "uh-uh" sounds.
The little black paw felt a burning sensation and quickly withdrew its paw, jumping out of Cheng Zhiyu's arms.
"Hey? Xiao Hei!" Cheng Zhiyu was startled and forgot all about being sentimental. He quickly followed Xiao Hei.
Tian Qiao called from behind, "Wait for me!"
The two of them kept running after Xiao Hei, and along the way they could see zombies lying on the ground, which Xiao Hei probably dealt with as he pleased.
Xiao Hei stopped in front of a pond, dipped its burning paws into the water, and thrashed its tail restlessly. At the same time, it cursed itself for being so spineless. All it did was touch Cheng Zhiyu's mouth.
Perhaps it was because he had never been so close to any person or beast before, so... he was very uncomfortable.
Cheng Zhiyu breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Xiao Hei stop by the pond. He squatted down next to Xiao Hei and scolded it in a low voice, "Xiao Hei! How could you run away without saying a word? Do you know how scared you were? What if you had run into danger?"
Tian Qiao chimed in from the side, "Brother Hei, you run pretty fast."
Xiao Hei retorted, "You should be worried about those zombies getting into danger."
Cheng Zhiyu was stunned for a moment, almost laughing in anger. Xiao Hei was so well-behaved before, what's wrong with him today? A sudden rebellious phase?
Just then, Xiao Hei suddenly barked, startling Cheng Zhiyu. He asked worriedly, "Xiao Hei? What's wrong?"
Then, Little Black suddenly pulled its paw out of the pond, its tiny paw gripping a red creature almost as big as a puppy, its large pincers waving wildly.
Before Cheng Zhiyu could react, Xiao Hei angrily smashed the red creature to pieces. Cheng Zhiyu: "...Little, little crayfish?"
Tian Qiao's mouth dropped open in disbelief: "Is this a crayfish? How can it be so big?"
It couldn't possibly be a lobster, could it? Would there be lobsters in a pond?
Cheng Zhiyu stared in disbelief: "It should be?"
Dissatisfied, Xiao Hei deliberately stretched its paw in front of Cheng Zhiyu, its face saying: "Is the crayfish more important, or my paw?"
Cheng Zhiyu, with a strong survival instinct, quickly picked up Xiao Hei's intact paw and said with concern, "Oh dear, let me see, is Xiao Hei's paw alright? That damned crayfish, how dare it attack our Xiao Hei! If you hadn't been quick, I would have flattened it!"
Little Black's ears twitched, and he said awkwardly, "It's alright, it doesn't hurt much."
Cheng Zhiyu said in a serious tone, "Come on, let me blow on it for you."
Then he bent down and blew on Xiao Hei's paws.
Xiao Hei abruptly retracted its claws, coughed lightly, and abruptly changed the subject, circling around the dead crayfish: "This is a crayfish?"
He looked somewhat disgusted, thinking the crayfish looked rather ugly and wondered how it could taste good.
Cheng Zhiyu thought for a moment: "...Uh, maybe it has mutated in some way?"
Tian Qiao drooled: "Great! I can't even imagine how delicious such a big crayfish must be!"
Cheng Zhiyu was also tempted: "These crayfish are so big, running rampant in the pond. Shall we do something good and get rid of them?"
This statement was met with widespread approval.
"How do we catch these?" Tian Qiao stroked his chin. "Should we use a net? But these mutated crayfish seem really fierce. They even dared to bite Blackie's claw just now! I suspect the net will be bitten right through."
This is a pond specifically for raising crayfish, so you can imagine there must be a lot of crayfish in it. Given their huge size, using a net is impractical.
They could reach out and grab, but that would be too inefficient.
“Crayfish actually prefer clear water. I’ve heard of the flushing method for catching them before, why don’t we give it a try?” Cheng Zhiyu suggested.
Tian Qiao: "How do we try it?"
"This will require a little help from Xiao Hei." Cheng Zhiyu rubbed his hands together with a smile: "Xiao Hei~, can you get half of the pond out?"
Xiao Hei glanced at Cheng Zhiyu, who was all smiles, and nodded steadily: "Okay."
Cheng Zhiyu clapped his hands: "That makes things easier."
So they got busy, found several large buckets, and had Xiao Hei drain half of the water from the pond. Then they slowly put clean water in through the inlet while draining water slowly through the outlet.
Before long, mutated crayfish eagerly burrowed into the clear water, and Cheng Zhiyu and Tian Qiao quickly scooped them into a large bucket.
The bucket was half a person's height and as thick as two people could hug. Logically, it shouldn't be easy to fill, but the mutated crayfish was huge, and it was filled to the brim in no time.
Cheng Zhiyu: "Let's pack this much first, otherwise we won't be able to finish it and it won't stay fresh. We'll keep the rest in the pond for now."
They still need to dredge the silt for composting, so they won't be leaving here anytime soon.
Cheng Zhiyu is a good cook, so he was tasked with preparing the crayfish, while Tian Qiao was busy digging silt from the pond.
While digging through the silt, Tian Qiao also caught several eels, the largest of which was as big as his arm and looked particularly fat.
Eels are also a good thing; once caught, they naturally go into your stomach. Tian Qiao skillfully threw the eels into the bucket.
The dredged silt was placed directly on the shore because Cheng Zhiyu said that the silt could not be used directly after being dug up; it had to be disinfected. The simplest way was to expose it to the sun. The sun was very strong in the current weather, so it would probably only take two days to dry. After drying, it would be crushed and used as fertilizer for the cockroaches.
Of course, Xiao Er and the others can use it too, but Xiao Qiang needs it more.
While Tian Qiao was busy, Cheng Zhiyu was also busy, starting to prepare mutated crayfish.
These mutated crayfish are no different from ordinary crayfish except that they are much larger.
Considering that the crayfish would be too big and wouldn't absorb the flavors well, he didn't use the traditional method. Instead, he made steamed crayfish, garlic vermicelli crayfish, and spicy crayfish.
As for the eel, Cheng Zhiyu simply stir-fried it.
After deboning the eel, cut it into sections, marinate it for ten minutes, and then steam it.
Cheng Zhiyu found an earthen stove in a family's house, with a particularly large pot that could steam a lot at once.
After steaming the crayfish, steam the eel, then clean the large pot, heat oil in the pot, and stir-fry dried chili peppers, broad bean paste, Sichuan peppercorns, ginger slices, and scallions.
He had just found these materials at the farmer's house. As for the scallions, the farmer had planted quite a few in his yard.
Soon, the kitchen was filled with a pungent aroma. At first, Xiao Hei didn't pay much attention because both ingredients looked ugly, and he stood outside the door, not really wanting to look.
However, he soon twitched his nose and impatiently stomped his paws on the spot, feeling that it would be a bit embarrassing to go in now, and that Cheng Zhiyu would laugh at him.
However, after hesitating for two seconds, he couldn't take it anymore and rushed into the kitchen, where he was choked by the fumes and sneezed twice.
Cheng Zhiyu's undisguised laughter came from the side.
Xiao Hei: Let him say it.
"It's too smoky inside, Xiao Hei, why don't you wait outside?" Cheng Zhiyu said with concern.
Xiao Hei flicked its tail, defiantly jumped onto a nearby stool, and sat down to watch Cheng Zhiyu cook.
Cheng Zhiyu: "..." Fine, it'll be done soon anyway.
Before long, Tian Qiao was also attracted by the aroma. She could hardly continue working, so she quickly dug up a few more baskets of silt, dried them, and ran to the kitchen door with a scurry: "Brother Hei, can you help me wash the mud off my body?"
Xiao Hei glanced at him indifferently, and then Tian Qiao was completely washed clean by the water.
Tian Qiao: "Awesome!" It's so refreshing.
The little black tail twitched as it looked at Cheng Zhiyu, who was stir-frying vegetables in front of a large pot. It was especially hot during the day, and his forehead was covered in sweat.
A moment later, Cheng Zhiyu suddenly felt the temperature drop significantly, and a layer of mist enveloped his body. He knew without a doubt who was responsible.
My goodness, his little black dog is simply a divine dog. Cheng Zhiyu's lips curled up into a wide smile, and he swung the shovel even more vigorously.
Little Black lowered its head and rested its head on its two front paws.
A moment later, a heavenly voice rang out: "Dinner's ready! Tian Qiao, come and get the rice."
Tian Qiao quickly replied, "Okay!"
Busy preparing various flavors of mutated crayfish and several plates of stir-fried eel, Cheng Zhiyu also stir-fried a plate of cabbage, which was peeled black and white cabbage, as red and white cabbage is not suitable for eating during the day.
Tian Qiao found several large buckets of cola from somewhere. He had specially frozen them with his ice-type superpower, and the bottles were still covered in moisture.
The two people and the dog sat at the table. Cheng Zhiyu took a sip of iced cola and asked Xiao Hei, "Which one do you want to eat first?"
Xiao Hei pointed to the stir-fried eel. Cheng Zhiyu served him some rice and then made some more stir-fried eel. This dish goes best with rice.
Little Black opened its mouth and took a big bite, its tail swishing involuntarily.
Tian Qiao also tried a piece of stir-fried eel and exclaimed exaggeratedly, "Delicious! Delicious!"
Then, she couldn't wait to reach out and grab a garlic vermicelli mutated crayfish. The cooking method was similar to that of a lobster. The back had already been opened, and a large chunk of crayfish meat mixed with garlic vermicelli was stuffed into her mouth. Tian Qiao felt so happy that she was about to faint.
Cheng Zhiyu took a bite, and the taste was even better than he had imagined. The freshness and sweetness of the shrimp meat paired with the garlic vermicelli was simply a perfect match.
Spicy and steamed versions are also delicious, but Cheng Zhiyu prefers the garlic vermicelli version. It's so good! With the addition of mutated crayfish meat, even the vermicelli becomes exceptionally tasty.
While eating, Cheng Zhiyu didn't forget Xiao Hei. Seeing that Xiao Hei was engrossed in eating the stir-fried eel, he said, "Try the mutated crayfish, it's especially delicious."
Xiao Hei glanced at the ugly mutated crayfish, hesitated for a moment, but still gave Cheng Zhiyu face and decided to try a couple of bites.
Seeing his expression, Cheng Zhiyu was afraid he wouldn't like it, so he picked up a piece of food and let him try it first.
As a result, Xiao Hei took a bite, suddenly looked up, and said, "Give me one."
Mutant crayfish are so ugly, who would have thought they would be so delicious!
Cheng Zhiyu tried hard to hold back his laughter, not daring to laugh out loud. After all, his little black dog was proud. He picked out the shrimp meat from the whole shrimp and placed it in front of the little black dog: "Eat."
He ate a big bite of the mutated crayfish meat, feeling extremely satisfied. Xiao Hei kept swishing his tail back and forth, indicating that he was in a good mood.
Besides a pot of eels, Cheng Zhiyu also made a total of ten mutated crayfish. That's right, counted by the number of crayfish. Some of these mutated crayfish were almost as long as Cheng Zhiyu's forearm.
He had prepared so much food, and was initially worried that they wouldn't be able to finish it all, but he found that he had been overthinking it. The three of them ate all ten mutated crayfish and stir-fried eel, but... they were a little full.
Thinking of this, Cheng Zhiyu was at a loss for words. In the apocalypse, being stuffed is a kind of happiness.
They caught a whole bucket of mutated crayfish, cooked ten of them, which was about half a bucket's worth. They put the remaining half bucket in the water to keep them alive until tomorrow.
Speaking of which, looking at the shells of these mutated crayfish, Cheng Zhiyu remembered that they could also be used as fertilizer, but he only thought about it and quickly gave up.
Firstly, the shells of mutated crayfish are very hard, making composting them extremely difficult. Secondly, even if compost is produced, the nutrients are very limited and cannot fully meet the needs of plant growth.
Therefore, it's unnecessary.
After dinner, Cheng Zhiyu went to check on his plants in his space, Tian Qiao cleaned up the kitchen and washed the dishes, and Xiao Hei sat aside as the supervisor.
He claimed to be a supervisor, but he didn't even bother to look at the work; he just lay on a chair not far away, eyes closed, asleep.
Cheng Zhiyu came into the space intending to pick both red and white cabbages and black and white cabbages. Cabbage is a relatively durable vegetable, so it can be stored for a while after being picked.
Of course, he has storage space to keep the cabbages fresh, so he doesn't have to worry about them spoiling. On the contrary, if they continue to grow in the ground, they will flower.
After the cabbage flowers, the nutrients are supplied to the flower buds, and the cabbage itself loses a lot of water. It's not that it can't be eaten, but it doesn't taste very good, so nobody will eat it.
So Cheng Zhiyu busied himself picking both kinds of cabbages, and counted them. There were about thirty in total, enough for them to eat for a while.
He doesn't plan to grow cabbage for the time being; he's going to grow something else instead.
He had previously found several kinds of seeds and planned to plant some of each.
He left the system space to consider what seeds he had.
Currently, there are lettuce, green beans, romaine lettuce, eggplant, radish, cucumber, tomatoes, and even fruits, including apples, watermelons, oranges, and cherries.
Cheng Zhiyu was craving some fruit. He hadn't eaten much fruit since the apocalypse, mainly because fruit was difficult to preserve. Now that the systems in various places had collapsed and there was no human intervention, a lot of fruit had gone bad.
But apples, oranges, and cherries won't bear fruit immediately after being planted. Even if they grow faster in the system space, it will still take some time.
The land in the system space is currently too limited and not suitable for planting fruit trees that cannot bear fruit for the time being. Therefore, although he really wanted to eat these fruits, he had to give them up for the time being and planned to plant them later when the space was larger.
Cheng Zhiyu complained to the system: "System, the system space only adds such a small amount of space each time, it's too little. I feel sorry for Xiao Er and the others."
After saying that, he asked the slightly more lively Xiao Er and Xiao Tie, "Don't you think so?"
Xiao Er frantically shook the branches and leaves, showing his support for Cheng Zhiyu; Xiao Tie also shook his head.
system:"……"
Cheng Zhiyu talked for a long time, but the system wouldn't respond, so he had no choice but to shut up.
Getting back to the point, he decided to plant watermelons. The space was too small, and he also needed to plant other vegetables, so he only planned to plant two. He asked Xiao Huang for his opinion and planted them around Xiao Huang.
As for vegetables, Cheng Zhiyu discussed it with Tian Qiao and Xiao Hei, asking for their opinions.
"Growing vegetables? I just found some sprouted potatoes, do you want to plant them?" Tian Qiao hadn't been idle either, he had been wandering around, and when he saw the potatoes, he was quite happy, but when he found that the potatoes had sprouted, he was extremely disappointed.
Upon hearing that Cheng Zhiyu planned to grow vegetables, he immediately brought over the sprouted potatoes.
Cheng Zhiyu also wanted to eat potatoes, so he planned to plant five. As for the remaining vegetables, Xiao Hei chose tomatoes, and Cheng Zhiyu thought about it and decided to plant a few cucumbers.
After making the decision, he busied himself with planting vegetables and watermelons. The soil in the system space was particularly fertile, so Cheng Zhiyu didn't plan to cultivate seedlings. They could be planted directly and survive, so there was no need to cultivate seedlings, since it was essentially about increasing the survival rate of the seeds.
He doesn't plan to plant wheat and rice for the time being, although he will definitely plant them later. But for the same reason, the place is too small now, so there's no point in planting them. He needs to plant at least one patch of each.
Moreover, there is rice and flour in the storage space, enough to last for quite a long time.
There weren't many vegetables and watermelons planted, so Cheng Zhiyu planted everything around the plants except for Xiaoqiang. Looking at the sensible Xiao Er and the others, he felt a little guilty. While planting the vegetables, he also watered Xiao Er and the others. Xiao Er happily rubbed against him to express his gratitude. Xiao Tie shook its branches and leaves, also very happy. As for Xiao Huang, it was quite aloof and didn't react much.
Each plant has a different personality.
Looking at Xiaoqiang again, its current life state is only 10%, which is too slow. Cheng Zhiyu hopes that the fertilizer will be composted quickly. If the fertilizer is effective, Xiaoqiang will grow faster, and the system space and storage space can be expanded.
He really needs storage and planting space right now.
But there was no use in being anxious. Cheng Zhiyu carefully watered the cockroach and sighed slightly when he saw that its condition did not change.
After finishing his work and leaving the system space, Cheng Zhiyu pondered whether he should pickle some of the red and white cabbages and black and white cabbages he had picked, as he was missing the taste of pickled cabbage.
Moreover, with pickled cabbage, you can make many dishes that you couldn't make before.
After telling Xiao Heida Qiao, Cheng Zhiyu immediately found a clean large bucket and planned to pickle all twelve cabbages. He layered the cabbages with salt, filling the bucket to about half full.
After it's packed, it needs to be weighed down with heavy objects. Cheng Zhiyu wasn't quite sure why it had to be done, but he saw his parents doing it when they pickled sauerkraut, so he just followed their example.
Cheng Zhiyu didn't put it in the storage space. The storage space has a preservation function; it will look exactly the same when you take it out as it goes in. It's impossible to pickle it there. It has to be placed outside. They need to make fertilizer, so they have to stay here for a while.
Although I'm eager to go home, this can't be rushed.
After the sauerkraut was pickled, they ate dinner and planned to go to sleep in the evening. After traveling and working all day, even though they were much stronger than before the apocalypse, they were still exhausted.
However, they had only been lying down for a short time when they heard a loud noise outside.
Zombies? No, that can't be right. They clearly cleared the village.
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