Chapter 121 Can sparrows be eaten?
Looking at the city from a high place, the ruins and bricks after the disaster are a spectacular sight.
The overall background is dilapidated and desolate, like a gray and blurry painting.
Those buildings that have fortunately survived are like dots on the painting, this dot, that dot, scattered across the canvas, disorganized and without any aesthetic appeal.
The roads that once served as the lifeblood of the city are now twisted, broken, or clogged with debris, and can no longer connect in all directions.
"This city is completely ruined."
Wen Jiaojiao flicked off the ash from her cigarette and raised her eyebrows.
His gaze shifted from the city at the foot of the mountain to the surrounding mountains and fields.
The afterglow of the setting sun turned from orange to gray. The sun set, the mist was hazy, and the sky and the earth gradually became blurred.
She narrowed her beautiful eyes with thick eyelashes, trying to look into the distance, and said dreamily: "I wonder what the situation is like outside the city. Would it be easier to live in the mountains or by the water than in the city?"
As he spoke, he shook the prey in his hand.
It was a big, fat wild rabbit.
Boss Wen is a physical enhancement type, with strong attack, strong defense, strong agility, strong strength, strong recovery... He is strong in everything and has no weaknesses. Therefore, although it is a purely physical bonus, it is stronger than the elemental type.
Yesterday on the road, she used her strength at the early stage of mutation to crush a mutant rat that had reached the maximum level one with her bare hands. She was truly abnormal, so this wild rabbit that had not yet mutated was unlucky to meet her.
It can only become a meal on the plate.
Qiao Lan was holding a bunch of wild birds: two great tits and a dozen or so sparrows, all healthy and edible.
The harvest was pretty good.
She smiled and shook her head, then continued Wen Jiaojiao's words.
"I'm afraid that's not possible, sister. Wild game can be eaten to sustain life, but mutated wild game wouldn't taste good, would it?
Besides, animals are easy to deal with, but insects and ants are too difficult to deal with.
Imagine it's late at night, and you're sound asleep, when suddenly thousands of mutant ants sneak up on you and start gnawing at your flesh, crawling all over your head and body, leaving you unable to even shake off your fear...
Or maybe we're just walking down the street and suddenly a swarm of mutant wasps buzz over us..."
"Okay, stop talking!"
Wen Jiaojiao got goosebumps all over her body and put out the cigarette butt on the rocks.
As dusk fell, the mountain was no longer safe, so the two men did not delay any longer and quickly went down the mountain carrying the prey.
This is the tenth day since leaving the base.
Qiao Lan's gang of six people and two cats, plus Wen Jiaojiao's group of more than twenty people, are already in the western suburbs of City C.
It belongs to the urban-rural fringe, where the edge of the city meets the mountains.
Qiao Lan came here to find a place to settle down, and Wen Jiaojiao and her group were also looking for a new place to stay. The two sides came out of the base together and headed west without separating. They have been wandering around for several days.
Qiao Lan has long been fond of this area.
This place is neither wild nor in the core urban area. It is mostly wasteland and the city is not well developed. Due to the lack of resources, there will not be large numbers of survivors gathering here, nor will there be large groups of wild animals living here.
Of course, mutated rats, small animals, insects and ants are inevitable. There are slightly more of them than in the city, but much fewer than in the mountains. Awakened people with certain strength can easily deal with them.
After investigation, Qiao Lan took a fancy to a small factory in the suburbs.
The four-story factory building was half-collapsed, but the remaining first and second floors were perfectly adequate. There was also a large, flat, open courtyard where anyone approaching the building would be seen.
Outside the yard was wasteland, serving as an extension of the yard's defensive perimeter. A highway lay half a mile away, making it convenient for traveling into the city or to the suburbs.
Wen Jiaojiao and her group set their sights on a farmhouse a mile or two away from the small factory.
The cave-style tourist farmhouse had all its above-ground buildings destroyed, but the underground pit courtyard and the cave houses around it were well preserved. It was a square courtyard with more than ten rooms, just enough for more than twenty of them to live in.
After discussing it, the two groups decided to occupy the two places separately and become neighbors.
Neighbors living a mile or two apart might seem a bit far, but in the apocalypse, it was just right. They didn't interfere with each other's daily lives, and if something happened, they could still rush over to help each other. After all, a mile or two was nothing to an Awakened One; they could run there in minutes.
On this day, everyone settled down in the ruins of a small community and prepared to have a good rest for the night. The next day, they would split into two teams and head to the surveyed base.
Before dinner, Qiao Lan and Wen Jiaojiao relied on their good physical strength to run fast to a small hill five kilometers away on the outskirts of the city to look for wild game as a snack for everyone.
By the way, check whether there are any potential major dangers on the mountain. After all, the mountain is not far from the bases on both sides.
Everyone was happy with the result. The game was found, and the hill was proven to be undisturbed by any danger. The mutant beasts were not large in scale and would not cause any trouble to the people down the hill in the short term.
The two of them went back and forth for an hour, and returned to the small community where they were temporarily staying, relaxed and chatting.
Before the storm, this community was a suburban village where every household had a building and a yard. Now, only broken walls and ruins remain. The villagers are probably dead or gone. In short, the place is deserted.
Qiao Wen and his two groups of more than 30 people settled in the ruins of two adjacent courtyards. They set up a dozen tents against the remaining walls, with two bonfires in the middle and pots to boil water.
"Wow! That's a lot of food!"
"I'm blessed today, Rourou! I want to eat Rourou!"
"But can sparrows be eaten?"
"Of course, they're especially delicious when roasted. I used to trap sparrows in the snow when I was a kid!"
The return of Qiao Lan and Wen Jiaojiao made their companions who were waiting for extra meals very excited and they talked a lot about it.
Especially the big rabbit, which made everyone look forward to it.
This is where the chef comes in.
"Son! Go!"
The old chef sent his son to collect mountain products.
Since the mutation, the old hero has stayed away from the kitchen and is no longer interested in cooking.
His son Geng Duofu has always had a special liking for cooking and cherishes every opportunity to show off his skills. He took the rabbit from Wen Jiaojiao and politely introduced it to everyone:
"Fresh game is best prepared simply, with minimal seasoning, to capture its natural freshness and wildness. However, considering the spicy rabbit hot pot is also incredibly delicious, I'd like to split the rabbit into two portions: steam one and make the spicy hot pot. Does anyone have any different opinions?"
“Do it quickly!”
“As long as it’s edible!”
Everyone is suffering from hunger, so no one cares whether you steam or braise it. If you cook it slowly, you might just eat it raw.
Under everyone's curious and expectant gaze, Geng Duofu cleaned and washed the rabbit and divided it into two portions neatly.
Then place a piece of meat on a clean wooden board, score the meat with a sharp piece of wood, place it on a bamboo steamer, and put it in a porcelain pot with water at the bottom.
These kitchen utensils and cooking utensils were all found by him in the ruins of the village. He also found iron woks, stainless steel steamers and the like, but he did not use any of them. He only used wooden, bamboo and porcelain ones.
"Metal cookware will affect the original flavor of the meat," he explained as he cooked.
Especially for meat that is steamed or stewed with little seasoning, it is best to use cookware such as wood or porcelain.
But you don’t have to be so particular about the spicy part. The rich aroma of chili and pepper will cover up other unimportant smells, and metal cookware is fine.
When both portions of rabbit meat were put into the pot, Geng Duofu quickly packed up the wild birds that Qiao Lan brought back, stewing the big ones into soup and roasting the small ones.
At this time, the porridge in the big pot was cooked. The aroma of rice mixed with the increasingly strong aroma of meat made everyone feel anxious.
Wen Jiaojiao sent people to serve and distribute the porridge. Everyone first held a bowl of porridge, squatted down, blew on it, and drank it while blowing.
Xiao Tang took another bowl and divided half of his bowl of porridge into it.
He got up, left the yard, and went to another adjacent yard where there was no tent.
Fu Xingyuan is there.
It was already completely dark. She lit a small fire in the corner, huddled in the corner, and gnawed on a hard steamed bun.
"Give."
Xiao Tang walked over and placed the bowl next to the small fire.
"I don't want it! I take care of my own food and water, and I will take care of my own life and death."
Fu Xingyuan pushed the bowl away.
Xiao Tang frowned: "You didn't eat anything yesterday."
"I have something to eat today." Fu Xingyuan raised the half-dried steamed bun in his hand to indicate that he had dug it out from the ruins of the village not long ago.
"Drink the porridge too. Uncle Geng will be worried if you get sick." Xiao Tang turned around and prepared to leave.
Fu Xingyuan insisted not to.
Loudly ask Xiao Tang to take the porridge back.
"You...you don't want it, can you...give it to me?"
A weak girl's voice suddenly sounded in a dark corner not far away.
Xiao Tang and Fu Xingyuan were both surprised.
They are both awakened, with better hearing and vision than ordinary people, but they didn't even notice that there was someone over there!
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