Food is still very important, and we also need to get some salt from the sea. Secondly, the temperature inside the cave is much cooler than outside.
If I, a grown man, feel a bit cold, then the three women must be even colder. We need to think of some ways to get them something to keep them warm and protected from the wind.
He added water and stewed the leftover shellfish meat from yesterday again, took a quick bite, and then started instructing a few people to get busy.
Xu Wei and Xiao Qiang stayed on the mountain, picked up the dead branches, and cleaned up the cave.
I took Wang Xiaoxiao down the mountain, picked some fruit, and caught three fish by the sea.
Then they continued transporting branches up the mountain.
After a whole morning of work, the simple door to the cave was finally finished.
Although it's still drafty, at least there's some shelter.
In the afternoon, I started building a tree bed. I also went into the woods and collected a lot of dry grass, laid it out at the entrance of the hole to dry, and then spread it on the tree bed, which made it a bit softer.
The girls were shy and forced me to make a partition, separating our sleeping area, which really gave me a headache.
That night, I even found several nests of bird eggs in the woods. I picked them up, put them in a cup of instant noodles, and cooked them. I ate those few bird eggs and they became a rare treat.
Xu Wei couldn't bear to eat them, so she only ate one and gave me the remaining two.
"Brother Zhao, you've worked so hard taking care of us these past few days. These bird eggs may be a little small, but they're very nutritious. Eat some to conserve your energy so you can take better care of us!"
Upon hearing Xu Wei's words, Xiao Qiang handed me her bird eggs.
“Xu Wei is right. The three of us are counting on you now, so you really need to eat more to replenish your nutrition.”
Looking at these women who depend on me for survival, my heart felt warm.
"I'm a grown man, I'm not that delicate. Does not eating these few eggs mean I won't have the strength to protect you? You should all eat them. As long as you're healthy and don't cause me any trouble, that's more important than anything else."
After a few rounds of pushing and shoving, I finally forced Xu Wei and the others to each eat their share.
The campfire was burning warmly, and the entrance to the cave was blocked by a hedge of trees. This was truly the most peaceful night we slept on this deserted island.
The next morning, after eating grilled fish, I decided to go out and dig some traps at the foot of the mountain.
Firstly, if any animals were to come up the mountain, then that trap would be our first line of defense.
Secondly, if an animal does fall into that trap, it's like it's offering itself up to us as food.
Killing two birds with one stone.
Without further ado, the few of us went down the mountain, dug deep pits around the mountain little by little, and built shelters with branches and grass.
After we finished everything, I took them to the sea to catch fish.
The tide came in last night, and the beach became much more abundant with things.
Going up and down the mountain was not easy. In the end, we were busy all afternoon and filled a whole bag with shellfish and small squid using my clothes. We also caught several stranded big fish.
Back home, I washed and dried the seashells and leftover fish on the mountaintop, just in case.
That evening, we sat around the campfire chatting, and it felt like we were back at the company.
I slept soundly through the night, and before dawn the next day, I suddenly heard howling coming from the foot of the mountain.
The girls were also awakened and looked at me in bewilderment.
When I came out of the cave and looked down the mountain, I saw that the grass covering the dangerous spot we had dug yesterday had collapsed.
I was overjoyed; something had been caught!
He carefully descended the mountain with the sharpened stick he had used to trim the tree overnight.
The situation inside the trap was unclear, so I didn't dare to go down recklessly. I lay on a protruding rock halfway up the mountain for a long time before I could vaguely see that there was a dark thing moving up and down inside the cave.
After more than an hour, the thing seemed to have gotten tired of struggling, but it was still howling, as if it was looking for its companions for help.
This is a real problem. If it really calls out and brings back a few companions, then we'll have to abandon this campsite that we finally found.
So I quickly picked up a stone from the side and threw it into the trap.
The thing inside let out a howl after I hit it, and then I saw it start to twist its body even more frantically.
Fortunately, despite our limited tools, I managed to dig this trap very deep yesterday.
They even bought a lot of sharp branches to make weapons. This beast has been wreaking havoc inside, and by now it must be riddled with holes from those branches.
If it keeps thrashing around for a while, it'll probably be close to its demise. I just need to wait here and wait for it to come to me.
More than an hour later, there was no more movement in the trap.
I carefully descended the mountain and threw two more stones into it.
After confirming that there was no more sound inside, he used a branch to push aside the dry leaves that were still partially obscuring the view.
Inside was a four-legged animal that looked like a pig but wasn't quite a pig.
It was already lying inside, covered in blood, and must be completely dead.
I called a few women over, and we carefully descended from the dangerous area to take a look. We discovered that this thing actually had four tusks, making it even more terrifying than a wild boar. Moreover, it was quite fat and looked very appetizing...
Using the principle of leverage, we managed to pull this thing up with great effort. Xu Wei, who had been too afraid to look at it, finally frowned and glanced at it.
"This looks like a babirusa. I've seen it on TV. These animals have very poor eyesight. I guess it just came back from swimming in the sea and fell into the trap."
Basil?
I've never heard of this before, but Xu Wei is a top student, so she has no reason to lie to me.
And now I don't even want to know what it is, whether it's edible or not, that's all.
Fearing the smell of blood would attract wild animals, I dragged the thing to the beach.
Several women came to help, and with the knife, the dissection was done quickly.
Finally, the meat was marinated in seawater before being roasted in the cave and then dried in a shady place, with the intention of making some cured meat.
We originally thought that we would have a hard time living after being kicked out by Bai Wei because we lacked food and clothing, but we never expected that our lives would gradually become more and more prosperous!
The meat hung over half of the cave. They had been worried about not having enough food, but now they had nothing to fear.
I brought back a lot of seawater from the sea, boiled some coarse salt in the instant noodle cup, filtered the coarse salt through Xu Wei's bra, and then ground it into salt powder with a stone.
That evening's meat meal tasted especially delicious.
Now that food and lodging are taken care of, the next step is to prepare more supplies and tools.
For example, we don't have bowls for eating, so we need to find some larger seashells to use instead.
Another point to note is that, having been on this deserted island for so long, apart from the bowl of rice porridge I had with Bai Wei that day, I haven't had any carbohydrates or starches.
Tomorrow I plan to thoroughly search all the forests at the foot of this mountain. I refuse to believe that such a large island doesn't have any edible plants.
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