Wang Lun, along with the three women, spent two days moving everything from the beach back to the camp.
When the four returned to the camp, Liu Ruoxi was the most excited among them upon seeing the camp they had been away from for so long. After all, the other three had returned one after another, but Liu Ruoxi had not, remaining at the beach the whole time.
After the four of them put down all their things, Wang Lun told them to go take a shower first, since they hadn't showered in a long time, and the weather was nice today with a comfortable temperature.
The three of them, each wearing their own shirts, went to the bathroom. Although it was a bit crowded with the three of them together, they could at least help each other scrub backs and such.
Ignoring the three of them, Wang Lun lit the fire pit himself and then tidied up the various things, leaving them for the afternoon to clean up.
The most important items were the seven or eight hundred fish and a basket of seafood. Wang Lun poured the seafood into two baskets, filling both baskets completely. He then noted that he would collect some vines on his way to explore the next day, which would also be enough to make one or two more baskets.
After doing all this, Wang Lun looked at the fish on the banana leaves and suddenly felt that it would be better to hang all the fish on the roof in the afternoon, so that they could be dried and preserved, and also so as not to take up space.
As Wang Lun pondered these matters, time flew by. Liu Ruoxi and the other two returned, their hair still damp and their faces flushed. Wang Lun gave them a heads-up and left the earthen house to check the pheasants, rabbits, and goats. He also took the opportunity to walk around the yard, checking for anything unusual, and to estimate how much supplies they would need to prepare to get through the winter.
After finishing those tasks, I went to the vegetable garden and pulled out the weeds to prevent them from competing with the wild vegetables for nutrients. Now the wild vegetables are ready to be picked. Some of the leaves are already quite old, so they probably won't taste as good. But fresh wild vegetables are definitely much tastier than dried ones.
After Wang Lun pulled all the weeds out of the yard, he picked some of the older wild vegetable leaves, took them inside, and placed them on the stove so they could cook them with the rice later.
Wang Lun then continued pulling weeds outside the yard. A little while later, Liu Ruoling called him back. Wang Lun thought something was wrong. But when he returned, he found out that the three of them had dried his clothes and wanted him to come in and rest. After all, all four of them were quite tired after so many days.
Wang Lun didn't stand on ceremony and sat down by the fire to rest quietly. At the same time, he considered the plans for the future. The camp currently had enough supplies, but with several months of winter ahead, how would they survive? The supplies in the camp were certainly insufficient.
So, Wang Lun decided that tomorrow he would go alone into the surrounding woods to look for food or something. Li Ling and the other two could rest for a day and recover their strength. Of course, Wang Lun had only made this plan; he hadn't yet told the three of them.
Liu Ruoxi and the other two quickly cooked a pot of wild vegetable and fish soup. The four of them hadn't eaten fresh wild vegetables for a long time. Although the vegetables were a bit old this time, having something to eat was much better than nothing.
After the four of them had lunch, Liu Ruoxi stayed at the camp to wash the pots and pans, while Wang Lun took Liu Ruoling and Li Ling to the nearby woods to cut some sticks to hang the fish they had brought back on the beams.
The three entered the woods. Wang Lun chopped down sticks, while Li Ling and Liu Ruoling collected vines. The camp was currently lacking many tools, and the vines could be used to weave tools and better store items.
More than two hours later, the three returned to the camp. Inside, there were three bundles of sticks and a large bundle of vines. The vines were set aside to be processed later, but the sticks were ready to use immediately.
The four men split into two groups. First, they placed the sticks on the beam. Then, one person passed the fish down from below, while the other hung them up from above. The fish needed to be secured firmly yet easy to retrieve. This wasn't a major problem for Wang Lun, as he and his father had always hung up the cured meat together every year. The only difference was that he used to be below, helping to pass things, but now he was standing above, hanging the fish.
After hanging all the fish on the fire, it was getting a little dark. So, instead of going out, they sat around the fire pit chatting and joking. Then, after having an early dinner, they went to rest on the kang (a heated brick bed).
The next day, during dinner, Wang Lun suggested that he go for a walk alone to see if there was any food to collect. Li Ling and the other two disagreed, feeling it was too dangerous for someone to go alone. After a long period of persuasion from Wang Lun, the three of them had no choice but to agree.
After the meal, the four of them each carried a basket and left the camp. Wang Lun went into the woods to look for food or other useful items. Li Ling and the other two went to cut some grass. They hadn't been at the camp for the past few days and had just returned yesterday. They were busy with many things and tired, so they went to cut grass today.
Wang Lun entered the woods and began to walk quickly. The woods had many large trees and not many bushes, making it easier to walk. However, various vines and small trees still slowed him down. Since he was alone this time, he didn't need to clear a path; he could simply take a detour. Only when he encountered unavoidable obstacles would he choose to cut a path with his knife.
The fatigue from Wang Lun's recent busy schedule hadn't subsided, but he still walked quite quickly. Especially when he saw trees or plants he recognized, he knew that he might find something worthwhile.
Wang Lun had been walking through the forest for a long time, and now his basket was half full of wild vegetables and fruits. But Wang Lun still didn't stop, because he could see a grove of trees in the distance ahead. The leaves were familiar to Wang Lun; they were the oak trees that Wang Lun had been dreaming of.
Wang Lun wanted to hurry over there to see if the acorn trees on this deserted island had produced acorns, and if so, how many. He really hoped there would be plenty of acorns, so that the carbohydrate problem could be solved.
Wang Lun continued walking towards the grove, and after walking for more than an hour, he finally reached it. Along the way, he found many wild vegetables and some wild fruits, but he didn't pick them. Instead, he planned to first check the condition of the oak forest and then gather them on his return.
When Wang Lun arrived at the oak forest, he saw a vast expanse of oak trees before him. Wang Lun was extremely excited. Such a large oak forest was enough to harvest a lot of acorns, enough to grind into a lot of acorn flour. At that time, he could eat his fill just from carbohydrates, unlike before when he had to be careful with his food.
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