Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi, who were sorting wild vegetables, burst out laughing when they saw Wang Lun's behavior. As Wang Lun approached, the two even touched and tugged at his sheepskin skirt. Startled, Wang Lun quickly grabbed it with one hand. This skirt wasn't as tight as his previous trousers; it was tied with straw rope and was relatively loose. With a little force, it could be easily pulled off. He wasn't wearing anything underneath—wasn't this a live broadcast?
Wang Lun stopped their foolishness. He went inside and spread his clothes on the basket on his back. Once they were a little dry, he could change into dry clothes. Most importantly, he needed to put on his underwear; his lower body was empty and chilly. Although it felt good, there were other people around, so he still needed to put some on.
After hanging up the clothes, Wang Lun went to help Li Ling and the other woman sort the wild vegetables. A little while later, Liu Ruoling also came out after taking a bath, but she didn't seem to have gotten used to the cool feeling down there, and her walking posture was a little strange.
Li Ling and the other woman went up to examine her deerskin skirt. It was very pretty, but it looked rather loose and didn't quite look good. However, this could be resolved; once they had more banana tree bark, they could weave a few pairs of shorts.
Liu Ruoling also placed her clothes to dry by the fire pit. She didn't come to sort the wild vegetables, but stayed by the fire pit to dry her underwear.
The three of them quickly sorted the wild vegetables together. Wang Lun asked Liu Ruoxi and Li Ling to cook lunch, while he processed the wild vegetables outside the door, a task that took another half hour to complete.
At this moment, Wang Lun noticed that the rain had lessened, which was good news; perhaps the rain would stop by the afternoon. Once the rain stopped, he could start planting vegetables, and tomorrow he could go to the woods to pick mushrooms and gather some wild vegetables, which were also quite delicious.
But the first thing to do now is go back inside for dinner, since Li Ling has called several times already. Wang Lun keeps saying there are still some wild vegetables left, and he'll come over as soon as he picks them.
After the meal, the rain lessened a bit, but it was still falling. So Wang Lun took Li Ling to the shed to make a frame. Wang Lun planned to keep the pheasants in the rabbit pen's compartment for the time being, and after a few days, when the pheasants had adapted, he would release them into the backyard to reunite with the other two pheasants.
Maybe one of the pheasants here is a rooster, laying some eggs that will hatch into a brood of chicks, and then they'll have enough to eat. But this is just Wang Lun's thought, and he'll soon abandon it.
A goat eats half a basket of grass a day, ten rabbits eat most of that, and two pheasants don't eat much, but now there are six more, so they still need half a basket of grass. All told, the animals eat about two baskets of grass a day. They need to cut grass every other day, and if it rains, they'll need to prepare hay in advance. This doesn't even include the baby rabbits the mother rabbit is carrying; if they grow bigger, they'll really need to cut grass every other day. Wang Lun hasn't realized this problem yet, only thinking about bringing the good stuff back to camp. Of course, you can't blame Wang Lun; after all, sustainable development is the real key, even on this deserted island.
Wang Lun and Li Ling spent about an hour making a large frame, just big enough to cover one of the rabbit enclosures. They first placed the frame over the rabbit enclosure, then Wang Lun caught three baby pheasants and put them inside. Next, he caught three adult pheasants, put them in, covered the enclosure, and placed two stones on top to prevent the pheasants from escaping.
Then there was nothing much to do today. He could rest for half a day. So Li Ling and the other two dragged Wang Lun to play cards. After playing for a while, Wang Lun got annoyed that the three of them were always ganging up on him, so he stopped playing with them and let them play by themselves.
Wang Lun went out to check on the goats first. The goats seemed to have gotten used to being fed grass every day. Aside from not being very free, they were doing well. Looking at the horns on the goat's head, Wang Lun figured it was a male goat. Then he thought, male goats should be quite strong, so could they be used to haul supplies? Probably.
If the goats knew what Wang Lun was thinking, they'd probably all headbutt him. They'd only been here a few days and they were already thinking about work. But Wang Lun really intended to do it. He started working right away, spending half an hour designing a suitable frame to place on the goats' backs before he began putting things on it.
After Wang Lun finalized his design, he began construction. Although he had never made one before, he had some experience from making many things recently. He spent some time creating one, but it was very heavy, and Wang Lun was not satisfied. So he redesigned it and simplified the structure.
Time flies when you're busy. While Wang Lun was still working on the frame, Li Ling called him back. Wang Lun stepped out of the shed and realized it was almost dark, and the rain had stopped.
When Wang Lun returned, he found that while Li Ling and the other two were playing cards, Liu Ruoling had gone to the restroom and returned saying that the rain had stopped and it was getting dark. That's why she called Wang Lun back so he could plant the wild vegetables.
The four men, carrying entrenching tools and baskets, went to the last available patch of land in the yard. They turned over the soil and began planting wild vegetables. Most of the vegetables that had been growing earlier had survived and no longer looked like they were about to wither. Relieved that the vegetables were alive, the four men were at ease, as they would be one of their future food sources.
After planting the wild vegetables, the four returned home and began preparing dinner. Tonight, Wang Lun planned to cook the entire pheasant and eat it all. After all, they'd been eating fish for a long time, and now that they finally had some meat, it would be a treat. This decision was unanimously approved by Li Ling and the other two. So now they started thinking about how to eat the pheasant.
There are many ways to cook chicken, but given their current circumstances, they can only boil, roast, or braise. Boiling and roasting are straightforward, and braising is the method for making beggar's chicken, which is quite simple. After Wang Lun proposed these three methods, everyone agreed to make beggar's chicken. So, Wang Lun could only make beggar's chicken.
So Wang Lun went outside the camp to pick some large leaves. Li Ling went to dig up some soil. Liu Ruoxi and Liu Ruoling stayed at the camp, marinating the pheasant and then cooking half a pot of wild vegetables and fish stew. After all, one pheasant wasn't enough to feed four people.
The four of them went about their own business. Soon, Wang Lun returned with a large handful of leaves, and Li Ling dug up some soil and placed it by the door. Liu Ruoxi and the other woman had also finished marinating the pheasant. Of course, they didn't use many seasonings—just salt and Sichuan peppercorns, practically nothing else. To make the pheasant even more flavorful, Liu Ruoxi had a sudden inspiration: she soaked some dried seafood, intending to stuff it inside the chicken later.
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