Wang Xiaoxiao and Xu Wei both smiled when they heard Liu Jiaojiao's words.
"Of course, we'll all be there for your wedding. It's just that our place is too simple. Otherwise, we could hold a temporary ceremony for you two. Although we don't have money to give you a wedding gift, we can give you some presents. For example, if you really get married, I'll give you a short-legged bird. These birds lay eggs very frequently. If we have time to go to that grove of trees again, we can catch some for you. If you can't finish them, you can pickle them with sea salt so they won't go to waste."
After Wang Xiaoxiao finished speaking, Xu Wei nodded.
"Yes, I still have the little mirror that Brother Sihai made for me before. If you two really have a wedding, I will give you this little mirror."
Xu Wei adored that little mirror and always carried it with her. The fact that Liu Jiaojiao received such approval from Xu Wei shows that Liu Jiaojiao is a very good girl.
"Sigh, if we compare them like this, the gifts I've given in these two baskets are really too meager. How about this, if you two are having a wedding, I'll give you both a piece of animal hide. It'll insulate against the cold and heat, and keep you warm. Isn't that pretty good?"
At first, Liu Jiaojiao chuckled when we said that, but later her eyes reddened and she started sobbing.
"Brother Sihai, do you think we can leave here alive? I'm so afraid that we'll live here forever, without electricity, without internet, without communication, and just die here silently, without the outside world even knowing how much suffering we've endured. Thinking about this makes me so sad."
This topic is a bit heavy, because we all want to get out, but in the current situation, it's already a blessing to be alive.
"Let's wait a little longer. If we still can't get back after a while, then I'll have to think of a way to save ourselves. We can't just stay here and wait to die. Besides, I'm almost out of bullets. If we run out of guns in this situation, it will be fatal for us."
This heavy topic caused the people who were laughing just moments before to fall silent.
I took a deep breath and took on the role of livening up the atmosphere.
"Alright, alright, stop looking so gloomy. This mountain is huge, and the forest at the foot of it is very dense. I think there should be a lot of mushrooms under the trees. These mushrooms are quite valuable, and these leafy greens get a bit bland if we eat them all the time. Why don't we go pick some mushrooms? We can also see if there are any wild rabbits, pheasants, or wild birds around. After all, we've moved to a new place, so we should have a good meal."
When the topic of food came up, Xiao Qiang also became excited.
“I think we should go out for a walk and observe the situation around here. Also, the fence at the foot of the mountain is too low, and we should think of ways to reinforce it. In addition, there are no fish or other creatures in this stream. Do you think we can put some freshwater fish here to raise? Otherwise, if we want to eat fish, do we have to go back and forth to the seaside?”
These things are probably not possible right now, but I'll keep them in mind and find a way to get them done.
Chen Jian was halfway through making the door when he saw Liu Jiaojiao chatting with us and came over.
Upon learning that we were going mushroom picking, he immediately raised his hand: "I want to go too. Although the snake soup was delicious, I felt all shivering after eating it. Let's eat something normal. Tonight, let's go and collect two bird eggs, make some vegetable soup, and take the food you gave Liu Jiaojiao before. Anyway, I don't want to eat snake meat anymore."
To be honest, I was also a bit averse to snake meat, but in this situation, it was good enough to have something to eat, so there was no time to be picky.
However, this vegetable soup sounds quite delicious.
And just a while ago, Wang Xiaoxiao and her friends picked up a ton of seafood.
Many of them have already been carefully dried and put into baskets.
Now that water is plentiful, it doesn't matter what we eat.
Our group left the mountaintop in a large procession, almost everyone carrying two baskets. Once the girls found there was no danger in the woods, they immediately relaxed and chatted and laughed as they picked mushrooms by the trees.
Chen Jian and I were responsible for the bird nests at the top of the tree.
Persistence pays off. After searching all afternoon, Chen Jian and I not only caught three nests of eggs, but also discovered a nest of wild rabbits by a small river.
Two large rabbits led a small group of baby rabbits. Chen Jian and I killed one of the large rabbits, and some of the girls felt sorry for it.
But in this situation, it was not the time to be merciful. Although it took a lot of effort, the remaining group of little rabbits were all brought back one by one.
I gave Chen Jian one big rabbit and two small rabbits. I took the remaining two small rabbits and one dead rabbit back to our yard, seasoned them with sea salt and ground shrimp powder, and ate them with gusto.
They worked through the night, using the light of the campfire to weave two more rabbit cages, and put the little rabbit in them, so that they could raise it and keep it for meat later.
Bai Wei and his group were very envious, but they couldn't just ask me for some. So, the group went down the mountain to pick wild vegetables, and also seemed to be hoping to try their luck. However, they only managed to collect a few nests of bird eggs before returning, but it was still a decent harvest.
The next morning, after I finished breakfast, I took a few women and closed the courtyard gate, intending to first pile up some stones at the entrance of the cave as a marker.
Then I'll pick up some food from the neighborhood and bring it back.
We should get some more apples to supplement our vitamin intake, and sea cucumbers and shrimp are also very nutritious.
The shells that aren't very tasty can be collected, dried, and fed to these short-legged birds.
We originally planned to return along the same route, but who would have thought that the sun would be exceptionally strong the next day? We hadn't gone far when Xiao Qiang and the others were already pale.
In order to prevent these girls from suffering from heatstroke, I had no choice but to lead them out of the woods.
We had to be wary of our surroundings, but who knew that we would get lost? We were almost out of water, but we still couldn't find our way back to the little cave.
Just when they didn't know what to do, Xu Wei, who was following at the very back, suddenly called out.
I thought she had encountered some danger, and I almost immediately cocked my gun. But when I came to my senses and turned around, I heard Xu Wei say to me that she seemed to have found a cave and asked if we wanted to go in and take a look.
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