The group left the shelter, closed the door, and then reinforced it together. On the way, Li Ling remembered that Wang Lun hadn't eaten yet, so she asked him. Sure enough, he hadn't eaten. So she immediately put down what she was doing and went back inside to cook. Li Ling lit the stove, put the pot on the stove, and then added some seafood. She also took out the remaining porcupine meat—there wasn't much left, only about a pound or two—and decided to cook it all for Wang Lun. To make the meat cook faster, Li Ling specifically sliced it before putting it in the pot.
Outside, after Wang Lun and Liu Ruoling reinforced the shelter, Wang Lun led Liu Ruoling to sort through the harvest in their baskets. First were some herbs and wild vegetables, along with a few dead animals. Wang Lun noticed they weren't rotten yet, smelled them (no strange odor), and checked for wounds, so he collected them. He planned to process them and check if the meat had spoiled; if not, they could be eaten. The largest item was a small wild boar, followed by rabbits, squirrels, birds, and the like: two rabbits, one squirrel, five birds, and the small wild boar. This didn't include the two pheasants and three rabbits from earlier, which were alive; these were dead. Next were the houttuynia cordata, wild vegetables, and herbs. Wang Lun poured the wild vegetables and herbs into the pool, washed them, and then brought them back inside. Just after they finished washing, Li Ling called Wang Lun to eat. Wang Lun had originally planned to let Liu Ruoling go back inside to rest for a while, but Liu Ruoling wanted to process the game first. After all, Wang Lun had already brought it back, so it wouldn't be good to let him do it as well. Seeing that Liu Ruoling was going to do it, Wang Lun let her. He'd heard her say before that she was the one who processed their game, so she must have some experience. However, he still reminded her to carefully check the meat; if it was spoiled, it couldn't be eaten. He also reminded her to skin the rabbits and squirrels. Liu Ruoling said she understood, and then Wang Lun went inside to eat, bringing in some wild vegetables and herbs as well.
Wang Lun glanced at the pot of meat in front of him, then looked at Li Ling. Li Ling said, "Eat up, you must be starving." Wang Lun knew that Li Ling had cooked this especially for him; usually, this much meat wouldn't be enough for one meal, let alone for two. But since Li Ling had cooked it, he figured he might as well eat it—he couldn't waste her kindness. As he ate, Wang Lun said, "Liu Ruoling is still outside processing the game. Go help her, and remember to bring your straw hat." Li Ling nodded, but watched Wang Lun eat a couple of bites before going.
When Li Ling reached the door and was about to grab her straw hat, she noticed that Wang Lun's hat was still dripping wet. Picking it up, she saw that the entire hat was soaked inside and out; Wang Lun had been outside all day wearing this waterlogged hat. Li Ling felt increasingly sorry for him, but she didn't say anything, only tightening her grip on her military knife. She put down the hat and went to the pond to help Liu Ruoling deal with the animals.
Liu Ruoling handled the exterior, as well as skinning and gutting the meat. Li Ling was responsible for checking the quality of the meat, separating the edible offal, washing it clean, and placing it in a basket.
Not long after, Wang Lun came out carrying a pot. The two women had just finished processing the bird and squirrel; they planned to scald the bird's down feathers later by boiling water. Wang Lun put the pot aside, picked up his military knife, and began processing the wild boar cub, while Liu Ruoling processed the rabbit. Just as he was about to cut, he suddenly asked, "Is the wild boar cub better eaten with or without the skin?" The two women were speechless at Wang Lun's question; how would he know if they'd never eaten it before? However, Wang Lun said, "Let's eat it with the skin; the skin of a small one is more tender." So he put the wild boar cub down and turned to wash the pot. He asked Li Ling to take a pot of water to boil while he went to process the other rabbit. Li Ling took the pot of water, which was more than half full, into the house to boil.
Liu Ruoling, standing nearby, watched Wang Lun process the rabbits. His speed was comparable to hers, but if she remembered correctly, this seemed to be Wang Lun's second time processing rabbits. Why was he so skilled? She didn't ask, though, since they were on someone else's turf, and Liu Ruoling knew a thing or two. But she still spoke up, saying, "Can I ask you something?" Wang Lun, without looking up, said, "Sure, what is it?" Liu Ruoling said, "About what we talked about last night about teaming up? What's your decision?" Wang Lun said, "I haven't discussed it with Li Ling yet. I'll ask her opinion later." Liu Ruoling said, "You did ask her this morning, and she said she'd listen to you." Wang Lun paused for a moment, then continued processing the rabbits, saying, "I'll think about it." Liu Ruoling didn't say anything more, afraid that if she said too much, Wang Lun would be even more unwilling to team up with them, since, as things stood, they were the ones who were ahead of them. With Wang Lun's luck, he could gather so much from just one trip, plus this sturdy camp, he could definitely hold out for the rest of the time. Moreover, Wang Lun possesses some medical skills, so there's nothing to fear if he gets sick.
After Wang Lun finished processing the rabbit, he left the task of gutting and cleaning it to Liu Ruoling, and went to the stream to pick up two stones to use for removing the hair from the wild boar.
Just as they retrieved the stones, Li Ling came out carrying a pot of hot water. Wang Lun quickly took the pot, carried it to the sink, and placed it on the ground. Then he asked Liu Ruoling to bring the prepared rabbit inside and make some racks to display the rabbit and squirrel pelts. Liu Ruoling then took the rabbit and left.
Wang Lun, while removing the hair from the wild boar cub in the pot, asked, "Liu Ruoling just told me you two talked about forming a team this morning?" Li Ling replied, "They did. I'll listen to you. If you want to form a team, then form one; if you don't, then don't." Wang Lun said, "Forming a team has its advantages and disadvantages; we have to decide together. Let me share with you first. The advantage is that with more people, things are done faster, and life will be more comfortable, after all, humans are social animals. But there are many disadvantages: we'll eat more, food consumption will be greater, and we'll need to build up our supplies. Also, there's the risk of conflicts arising, since this is only our second meeting, and we don't know what kind of people they are." Hearing Wang Lun's words, Li Ling put down the stone she was holding and looked at him, saying, "I said I'll listen to you. If you want to form a team, then we'll just have to work harder and find more food. If there are conflicts that are irreconcilable, then let them go. If you don't want to form a team, then we won't. Anyway, the two of us can manage..." "That's good. Although I don't know about the other teams, none of them seem as good as ours so far." Wang Lun looked at Li Ling and said, "I prefer to form a team because, to be honest, we've never hunted before, and we don't know if we can even catch any prey. Also, neither of us seems to know how to use a bow and arrow, so hunting will likely be limited to setting traps and close-quarters combat, which greatly increases the chance of injury. Liu Ruoling says she's incredibly accurate at shooting birds, so her chances of hitting other animals are probably quite high, making food gathering easier." Li Ling asked, "What about Liu Ruoxi?" Wang Lun said, "My idea is for Liu Ruoxi to stay at the camp. From now on, the usual practice is for two people to go out, and two to stay at the camp, with you and Liu Ruoling taking turns going out. Occasionally, all three of us can go out, leaving Liu Ruoxi to stay home." Li Ling said, "Okay, I'll go with you." Wang Lun said, "Alright, let's make something nice tonight as a welcome back." Li Ling nodded. So the two continued processing the wild boar.
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