Chapter 80 Going to the Fields to Farm
The aroma of pork rib soup lingered in Lin Xi's home for a month.
Lin Xi cooked pork rib soup every few days for the past month.
Firstly, I need to replenish my body after recovering from a serious illness, and secondly, the inventory in the cold storage is about to expire.
During the five months she spent recuperating in the basement, she didn't use anything from the cold storage. The seafood stored there had long since spoiled, and Lin Xi didn't dare eat it, so she threw it away far away.
Vacuum-packed frozen meat can be stored in cold storage for a period of time, while other ordinary frozen meat is nearing the end of its shelf life.
This month, Lin Xi has been eating ribs with great enthusiasm, searching for all sorts of recipes online, such as garlic fried ribs, rib soup, and sweet and sour ribs.
The meat was marinated using seasonings according to online recipes to extend its shelf life.
Without having to go out to do farm work, Lin Xi would relax and watch dramas in the warm lounge after eating her fill every day.
Now, not only is internet access free, but major platforms have also abolished membership systems, allowing viewers to watch all dramas and variety shows.
Lin Xi went through a period of eating and sleeping, and then lying around like a corpse after waking up.
As springtime temperatures gradually warmed up, Lin Xi felt her spring loungewear getting too tight, and she suddenly realized that she had gained a lot of weight.
Looking in the mirror, I saw myself with full, rosy cheeks, and a radiant glow.
Her short hair had spread to her neck, making her face look even rounder.
Lin Xi saw the fattest she had ever looked in her life. She wasn't surprised or regretful; she simply silently realized one thing—
Having been out of the basement for so long, I can't keep indulging like this.
After finishing the last bowl of pork rib soup, Lin Xi awkwardly operated the drone remote control with one hand, directing it to patrol Yun Village.
The drone flew silently by, projecting an image of an abandoned village overgrown with weeds.
There was no one, and no zombies.
In some places, there were several corpses that had not yet completely decomposed; it was unclear whether they were dead people or rotting zombies.
In short, it was very quiet.
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After a spring rain, new bamboo shoots sprouted in the bamboo grove in the backyard.
Lin Xi finally opened the door, took a small shovel, stepped over the broken glass, and went to the backyard to pull up a basket of fresh bamboo shoots.
Lin Ximei, who hadn't eaten fresh vegetables for more than half a year, enjoyed a delicious and hearty meal.
The fresh scents of spring rekindled Lin Xi's vitality, and she began to rethink her survival plan.
With ample supplies at home, Lin Xi did a simple count and plan, prioritizing foods with shorter shelf lives for consumption.
The storage room where rice and seeds were stored underwent dehumidification and the desiccant was replaced.
The water purifier survived the previous disaster and is currently operating normally.
The photovoltaic panels were damaged, and the power generation efficiency is not as high as before. On a sunny day, the conversion rate drops to just over 30 kWh.
Maintaining Lin Xi's existing home appliances is not a problem, and if there are consecutive sunny days, the air conditioner can be run all day.
If the rainy season comes, we'll have to lower our quality of life and make sure we have enough electricity for the cold storage.
In short, the family has sufficient supplies.
But Lin Xi couldn't just sit around and do nothing; she still had to farm the land.
Dragging her immobile right hand, Lin Xi spent more than half a month clearing the broken glass outside the courtyard and piling it up to the side, revealing the covered land.
The area was originally planted with crops, which grew very well under Lin Xi's careful care.
On the same day she was watering the crops, Lin Xi looked up and saw Yang Yicheng looking down at her like a hawk.
Later, as the owner recuperated in the basement, these crops gradually withered and turned into fertilizer, nourishing the land.
The apple and orange trees that were moved into the yard last year were bombed just as they were about to bear fruit. The apple tree was almost completely dead, and its charred trunk lay flat on the ground.
The orange tree was still stubbornly supporting half of its body. Lin Xi watered and fertilized the tree according to the information she had found, hoping that it could come back to life.
Lin Xi looked up at the "birdcage" that had once given her a sense of security. The railings were severely deformed and collapsed, like vines twisting and entwining around the house.
Even though it was deformed, the railing still firmly protected Lin Xi's house.
The house was covered in a layer of charred black, and together with the outer railings, it looked like a burned-down castle, which was unsettling.
Lin Xi raised both hands, her left hand naturally raised, and her right upper arm dangling her unruly right hand, letting out a helpless sigh.
Cleaning up the house and railings was a huge undertaking. Even if Lin Xi were mobile and incredibly strong, she couldn't move the railings, let alone the fact that she was currently disabled.
Lin Xi could only console herself that her charred and miserable appearance had its advantages:
In the future, if any living people pass by Yun Village and see this house, they will only assume that it has been looted and will no longer covet the resources inside.
After cleaning up the debris in the front yard, Lin Xi sowed the seeds.
There are many crops that can be planted in spring, such as spinach, lettuce, radishes, and corn.
Lin Xi had experimented with planting these crops two years ago when they were preparing for the apocalypse; the yield was low, but there was still a harvest.
The courtyard is not large, so the seeds will not be scattered all over the field at once.
Lin Xi followed her planned tiered planting method: each field was divided into four sections, one section was planted every seven days, and another section was planted every seven days.
The growth cycle of those vegetables is mostly 30 to 40 days. As each vegetable matures in turn, a continuous supply of vegetables for the rest of the season can be guaranteed.
But there was too little land in the courtyard. Without the glass barrier, Lin Xi turned her gaze to the land outside the railing.
Those are the villagers' fields.
When the zombie outbreak first occurred, the villagers secretly went out at night to farm and harvest vegetables to make a living. Now they are all dead, and Lin Xi is the only one left in the entire Yun Village.
Lin Xi decided to use the fields near her home to expand the planting area, planting staple crops such as corn and sweet potatoes, which require large-scale planting, outside the yard.
Anyway, there are no zombies in the village now, so I patrol the village with a drone every day before going out to make sure it's safe.
Lin Xi made this plan, but never put it into action.
She was reluctant to leave the hospital and wanted to wait until her right hand regained some mobility before going out.
Lin Xi's feelings fluctuated between anxiety and anticipation regarding her right hand, which remained immobile.
Unable to go to the hospital for rehabilitation, she went online to research ways to care for gunshot wounds and arm injuries after retrieving her phone from the basement. All she could do herself was massage and increase her nutrition.
The effect was negligible.
The online doctor was not online and could not provide Lin Xi with any help. Based on existing cases, most people with forearm injuries gradually recovered to normal, a small number of people suffered from meridian damage, resulting in difficulty in movement, tremors as a sequela, and some even had severe cases where they could not use their arms normally.
Lin Xi hopes she will be one of the lucky ones.
Otherwise, her disability would make it more difficult for her to survive.
If she were left with a disability, Lin Xi might even regret that the scalpel used to remove the bullet was plunged into her arm instead of restarting her life.
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