After the Li Biao incident, nothing major happened, and life returned to normal.
As the weather gradually warmed up, and after several rain showers, life in the villa area was such that everyone had their own yard and roof, and anyone who wasn't lazy wouldn't starve.
Even digging up wild vegetables in the yard can sustain us for a while.
Lately, aside from needing to rotate the vegetables we plant, there hasn't been much farm work to do. The vegetables in our yard are ripe enough to eat more than we can consume. The green beans, cucumbers, and loofahs have all produced fruit, hanging heavily in the yard.
The chicks grew very quickly; from just hatching, they were already half-grown. There was no fear of them flying away, firstly because Mother Ye and her husband fed them well and made them plump, and secondly because they had clipped their feathers to make them fly. The whole family treated these ten chicks like treasures, providing them with ample food and checking on them two or three times a day, immediately noticing even the slightest abnormality.
So these wild pheasants are even less afraid of people than domestic chickens. When they see someone walking by, they happily rush over, chirping and begging for food.
The chicks grew bigger and bigger, but because they were wild chickens, the roosters didn't crow as frequently as domestic chickens. Now that the living environment was so good, and the chicken coop was made opaque, the chickens were only released after 8 a.m., so there was no need to worry that the crowing of the chickens would attract zombies or attract any covetous creatures.
Of the ten chicks, there are four roosters and six hens. Mom said we're really lucky; there will be more hens laying eggs later. When the roosters grow up, we only need to keep one; we can eat three of them. Once the hens hatch their chicks, we'll have eggs and chicken to eat forever.
The night we discovered this, we enjoyed a delicious meal of radish and pig's trotter stew. After eating, everyone patted their round bellies and exclaimed how wonderful life is.
Without pesticides, insects on grains and vegetables were always caught and fed to the chicks and fish. Larger grasshoppers were roasted and given to DouDou.
So DouDou's happiest moment every day is going bug-catching with her family.
After catching some in the yard, we went to catch some more at Building 38. DouDou wagged its little tail and jumped around in the dirt, having a wonderful time.
On the sweet potato vines planted in the yard, there grows a kind of big, chubby bug that my mother calls a "pig bug." This bug doesn't bite and isn't very aggressive; it just likes to eat sweet potato leaves.
Thinking back to my childhood, sweet potatoes were used to feed pigs, so calling them "pig worms" wasn't wrong. Dad Ye put the pig worms he caught into a bag, then threw them all to the pheasants. They eagerly ate the worms, making cheerful low squeaking noises.
A small paddy field near Building 38 has been successfully planted with lush green rice seedlings. In the morning, you can see dewdrops on the tips of the leaves, which look like pearls under the sunlight.
Grasshoppers love to grow on rice seedlings, jumping around in the field. Because the grasshoppers are all eaten by DouDou, DouDou looks forward to going to Building 38 every day.
The fish in the ponds on both sides have multiplied greatly, and Ye Yunyi's family can eat fish meat from time to time. Dou Dou is happiest whenever they eat fish meat because she can chew and eat even the fish bones.
With their supplies of seasonings dwindling, Aunt Ye's sauerkraut jar became their most precious possession. Whenever they saw any vegetable in the yard, they'd think, "This can be used to make sauerkraut, right? This can also be used," and then they'd pick it and present it to Aunt Ye like a precious treasure. Aunt Ye's sauerkraut jar grew from one to two, and then to three.
That day, the sun was shining brightly. Ye's mother made a big pot of sauerkraut fish. The aroma was so fresh that you could smell it from afar. Before the fish was even out of the pot, the other four people besides Ye's mother came into the kitchen one after another, each exclaiming how delicious it was.
Finally, the fish was served, and everyone swallowed hard, waiting for Ye's father to start eating. Ye's father smiled at everyone's expressions, picked up a piece of the boneless fish spine meat and gave it to Ye's mother, saying with a smile, "Old woman, you've worked hard, you can have the first bite."
Mother Ye smiled sheepishly, "You only just realized that?"
Everyone laughed and chuckled as they devoured the plate of fish. While they ate heartily, they didn't forget Dou Dou; Wang Xuanxuan found a good piece of meat and placed it in Dou Dou's bowl.
The family was living happily ever after, even happier than before the zombie virus outbreak. Gradually, they got used to the presence of zombies around them. It has to be said that the presence of zombies was like having someone standing guard for them, at least making it an extra obstacle for others who wanted to take them.
The early-ripening plums of May are almost ripe. Ye Yunyi has planted one in her yard, and it is laden with fruit. The branches are full of bunches of fruit, bending them down.
Many small fruits, pecked at by birds and bees, had fallen from the tree. Ye Yunyi felt extremely sorry for them, so she picked them up, washed them, and tried to make fruit wine.
She dug out various life guides she had downloaded long ago, found the section on fruit winemaking, and followed the instructions to clean and dry the glass jars; clean and dry the plums; pour rice wine into the glass jars, add plums and rock sugar, then add more rice wine, seal the jars, and put them in the basement, confidently saying that she would have plum wine to drink in six months or a year.
Although everyone was apprehensive, they didn't stop her from trying. Wang Xuanxuan was very excited. Before, the adults were always busy, and it was rare to have such time for the whole family to be together, doing things, chatting, eating, and making some new and interesting things, such as the plum wine her mother made, adding some fun to their boring lives.
There is also a large fruit orchard in the community. The developer planted a fruit orchard specifically to increase the appeal of Maple Forest Villas. Plums and peaches are two of the fruits, and they are almost ripe.
Many people in the villa area were eyeing that patch of fruit.
The car is in my own yard. I can drive out and make a lot of noise to lure the zombies away so I can go pick fruit. The risk level is not high.
There aren't many zombies in the neighborhood. The villa area is large and there aren't many residents. After the incident involving the three buildings caused by Li Biao, some more people were infected, but most people stayed in their own homes. Even after they turned into zombies, they were trapped in their own yards.
That's why Ye Yunyi dared to go out to Building 38, and Li Biao dared to raid Ye Yunyi's house at night.
However, Ye Yunyi and Li Biao's families had more zombies, and a large wave of them followed Li Biao back.
Ye Yunyi hadn't thought about the fruit in the park; they didn't lack it, and it was only right to give other resources to those who needed them.
Mother Ye led them to gather the vegetables and fruits in the yard. The ones they couldn't finish were made into pickled cabbage, and the ones that weren't suitable for pickling were dried. When they needed them, they could just soak them in water and then stir-fry them.
Under the eaves of the courtyard, and on the rooftops of Building 38, strings of dried vegetables were drying in the sun.
Without any special abilities, cheat codes, or superpowers, their family lived like they were in paradise in the apocalypse. Ye Yunyi couldn't help but sigh, wishing life could always be like this.
Of course, they did not give up their daily practice. Now they can dodge the arrows shot by the other side. If they encounter an intruder again, they should not be left with only instinct as they were when they encountered Li Biao.
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