Of course, acorn flour also has its downsides, namely its slightly bitter taste. Furthermore, without the sophisticated equipment available today, it's impossible to make very fine acorn flour. But acorns are plentiful, and there's a large quantity—enough to feed four people for a long time—and those advantages are enough.
Just as Wang Lun was thinking about using acorn flour to make noodles, steamed buns, and dumplings, his stomach rumbled loudly. The sound brought him back to reality, and he gave a wry smile. He hadn't even brought the acorns back yet, and he was already fantasizing about food. So he found an acorn tree, put down his basket, took out a piece of dried meat, and picked out some wild berries. With the wild berries and dried meat, Wang Lun made do with his meal.
Wang Lun quickly finished his lunch, then took out the bamboo tube, drank some water, and rested for a while. Although he was resting, he kept observing the oak forest.
Soon, Wang Lun could no longer contain himself, so he got up, grabbed only his knife and spear, and went to explore the oak forest. Wang Lun examined almost all the oak trees, and found many acorns on each one. The more he looked, the more excited he became.
It was more than an hour later when Wang Lun had checked all the oak trees. He still took some time to pick some acorns from the oak tree where he had rested, put them in his basket, and prepared to take them back to make them happy.
After filling his basket with acorns, Wang Lun slung it over his shoulder and retraced his steps. He'd found some wild vegetables and fruits along the way that hadn't been picked yet, so he figured he could gather them on his way back.
In the morning, Li Ling and her two companions spent the entire morning cutting grass, and it wasn't until almost noon that they returned to camp with their baskets on their backs. They didn't see Wang Lun when they got back, which was quite normal; although they were a little disappointed, they could accept it.
The three of them then spent some more time weeding the vegetable patch outside the camp. Although they were all weeding, they all, almost simultaneously, would look up into the distance every now and then, to see if Wang Lun had returned.
However, even after all the weeds in the vegetable garden had been pulled up, Wang Lun still hadn't returned. By this time, all three of them had stomachs rumbling. Li Ling said, "Forget it, let's not wait any longer. Let's cook something; he's probably eating outside." Liu Ruoxi and the other woman nodded. The three of them then returned to the campsite and began cooking lunch.
Lunch for the three of them was easy to solve. Liu Ruoxi boiled a pot of water, added some seafood, and once the water boiled, she added a chopped fish. Now they just had to wait for the fish to cook until it was tender and melted in the broth—that would be the best time to eat it. For now, each person grabbed some dried fruit to tide them over.
Wang Lun still hadn't returned by the time the rice was cooked. So the three of them stopped waiting for him and started eating, each taking their own bowls. They ate slowly, much slower than usual. By the end, the soup was a little cold. But they simply warmed it up a bit and drank it. After all, it was food, food obtained through the combined efforts of all four of them, and they couldn't waste it.
Wang Lun even carefully collected the hyena meat that didn't taste good. He even made some jerky. Although the jerky wasn't tasty either, being both salty and having a strange flavor, Wang Lun and the three women would still take some with them whenever they went out, to ensure they had something to eat while they were away.
After dinner, seeing that there was nothing else to do, Li Ling said, "How about we go and use the composted fertilizer on the wild vegetables?" Liu Ruoling said, "Let's not, it smells terrible. Last time I had to take a long shower after cleaning the chicken coop." Liu Ruoxi glared at Liu Ruoling and said, "You think you're the only one who cares about smells? Hurry up and go, we'll all go. If we don't do it, do you expect Wang Lun to come back and do it?" Liu Ruoling, after being glared at by Liu Ruoxi, didn't say anything more, after all, the bloodline suppressed her.
Li Ling didn't say much. Having come here, she had already made preparations. But she hadn't expected Wang Lun to be so capable, managing to bring the three women to this stage.
Li Ling felt that outside the camp, she wouldn't interfere with what Wang Lun did; he could do whatever he wanted, and she would listen to him. But inside the camp, she would do what she could to give Wang Lun some rest time. He was already exhausted from working outside, and then he would have to do other things back at the camp.
Li Ling stirred the pile of excrement with her entrenching tool, and a stench assaulted her senses. She tried to hold it in, but finally couldn't and ran to the side to retch. Seeing this, Liu Ruoxi took the entrenching tool. But as soon as she got close, the stench was unbearable. Nevertheless, Liu Ruoxi forced herself to endure it, scooped up a shovelful, and carried it to a patch of wild vegetables. Luckily, she had dug a shallow hole beforehand; otherwise, Liu Ruoxi probably would have dropped the entrenching tool and run away.
Liu Ruoxi poured the composted fertilizer into the pit, then covered it with a thin layer of soil. Then she continued shoveling.
Li Ling gagged for a while, but seeing that Liu Ruoxi was already working, she forced herself to take the entrenching tool from Liu Ruoxi and started shoveling fertilizer and covering it with soil. After doing it once, she felt much better.
Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi took turns fertilizing all the wild vegetables in the garden before they finally relaxed. As soon as they relaxed, they smelled the fertilizer and immediately ran to the side and started gagging.
It took them a while to recover. Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi discussed it and decided to wash up in the stream first, and let the smell dissipate. They would then return to the campsite to take a bath after the smell had mostly dissipated.
Liu Ruoling was unusually quiet today. She felt she hadn't done anything, just watched the two of them, and thought she was being a bit dramatic. But the smell was truly awful.
After a quick wash, Liu Ruoxi and Li Ling stayed for a while to dissipate their body odor before heading back.
They had barely set off when they saw Liu Ruoling still standing by the vegetable patch. Li Ling tugged at Liu Ruoxi, gesturing for Liu Ruoling to stay over there. Liu Ruoxi wanted to say something, but Liu Ruoling's behavior had indeed been problematic. The thought of everyone else working while Liu Ruoling stood there watching—didn't she know they were on a deserted island? What was she being so dramatic about? The more Liu Ruoxi thought about it, the angrier she became. Seeing this, Li Ling quickly pulled Liu Ruoxi back, handed her the entrenching tool, and told her to go back first; she would handle things here.
Liu Ruoxi was pushed into the camp first by Li Ling. Li Ling then returned and led Liu Ruoling into the camp. However, the two did not go into the house; instead, led by Li Ling, they climbed up the wall.
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