Chapter 57 p2
Li Yi was the first to take a piece of pork weighing about five jin and ran up to knock on the door alone.
Speaking of which, she was a little nervous, but more so, she was expectant.
Soon, there was a faint noise from inside. She immediately said, “Ji Yang, it’s Li Yi!”
The door opened, and a familiar person appeared. Li Yi’s eyes lit up.
The person in front of her had messy short hair, and her face was fair and rosy. She was wearing a loose white short-sleeved T-shirt and comfortable long pants. Her eyes were filled with a hint of surprise and curiosity. As before, she looked like she was living a rich and carefree life. As expected of Ji Yang, she had raised herself so well.
She didn’t waste any more words and handed over the pork. “We found a herd of wild boars and were lucky enough to get one. We’re planning to make some smoked meat here and then go back to the base, so as not to be noticed. I hope it won’t disturb you.”
Even though she had known before that Ji Yang didn’t mind this, she still said it.
Sure enough, Ji Yang shook her head. “It’s fine. You can do as you please. You don’t have to give me the wild boar meat.”
She had never set a range. If someone came to live here, as long as they didn’t disturb her, it was completely fine. But wasn’t there no one?
Li Yi then immediately asked, “That herd of wild boars is quite large. There are several half-grown wild boars and three adult wild boars, as well as about ten cubs. Are you interested? The environment outside is not good now. The adult wild boars look very thin. It would be a pity if they just died outside.”
She hoped they would die in her mouth.
She was really too greedy for meat, for fresh meat!
The entire base, even those rich people, were probably also greedy for fresh meat, not frozen meat, cured meat, or smoked meat.
Ji Yang had originally planned to shake her head, but when she heard the latter part, she suddenly paused.
Hmm?
Ten wild boar cubs?
She didn’t have any wild boars in her space, but she had domestic black-skinned pigs. It was just that when she had bought them, she had considered the size of her space at that time and had not been able to buy more. So, she had only bought a pair of each kind from the pig farm at that time, a total of twelve. After more than a year, excluding the time they had grown, they had only reproduced for one round, and the first batch of adult pigs were now pregnant again and had not yet given birth.
At present, there were a total of more than forty almost all adult pigs.
Of course, according to the breeding speed of pigs, there were actually more. But a while ago, she had just castrated twenty of the grown boars, and had only left two boars in each litter for breeding, which was how she had controlled the number.
The number of reproductions was still very objective. It was just that there were only so many kinds.
Now that she had heard about the piglets, her cub-collecting obsession was on the rise again.
It just so happened that the dozen or so baby birds in her space had all grown a lot, and it was easier to take care of them. She didn’t have to pay too much attention, and new cubs had appeared again.
Ji Yang thought for a while and decided to find something to do for her peaceful life. She readily nodded. “Okay.”
“Wow!” Li Yi was overjoyed that Ji Yang had actually agreed. She subconsciously looked at the sky and wished she could go now. But when she looked at the sky, she gave up and could only look forward to it secretly. She also told her about the distribution situation in advance. It was an equal distribution. After confirming that Ji Yang could accept it, she quickly said goodbye. “Alright then. We’ll go over tomorrow morning?”
“Okay,” Ji Yang replied.
Li Yi nodded happily. After she had finished her business, she tried to stuff the pork into Ji Yang’s hand. “This is what we agreed on. It’s a fee for staying here. We’re smoking meat here. If the people around smell it, it might cause you trouble.”
As this was also their home, but after they had left, only Ji Yang would be living here. The reason they had chosen this place was largely because they believed that with Ji Yang around, the safety would be much higher than in other strange places.
Ji Yang didn’t care about this. She also ate meat every day. If they were to smell it, they would have smelled it long ago. Besides, the smell of smoked and cured meat wouldn’t travel very far.
But Li Yi was very stubborn. The last time she had received a hundred points, it had been easy to divide the bill when she had gone back. Because the price was comparable to eggs, her teammates were all very happy. It was just that when she had gone back, she had been scolded by her parents for being insensible. Ji Yang had helped them so many times, how could she be so embarrassed to take this point?
So, this time, she was determined to give it away.
Ji Yang had no choice but to accept it. Thinking that they had come over like this, they probably didn’t have enough water. She went to get a bucket of pure water and stuffed it over. “Don’t be so polite with us.”
Li Yi, who had just managed to give away something and had received an expensive return gift: …
She happily went to greet them. The bucket of water in her hand made the few of them’s eyes go straight. Zhao Ming’s eyes widened. “Your friend is so rich!”
It wasn’t that the water was more expensive than five jin of pork, but that this could have been not given. She hadn’t expected the return gift to be so precious. He said tentatively, “Is she alone? Why don’t you pull her into the team?”
Jiang Jing frowned. The woman next to him touched her husband. Zhao Ming quickly reined in his expression and said with a sheepish smile, “I was just curious.”
Li Yi pursed her lips and smiled. “She’s not alone. That group of ‘daoye’ in our base is very familiar with her. I heard last time that they seem to respect her very much. But a capable person, it’s not strange, so naturally, she doesn’t need teammates.”
She was no longer the naive and sweet person she had been before, and she was even more astute when it came to Ji Yang’s affairs. Even though Zhao Ming was her cooperative teammate, she had still said some vague words at the first moment.
Zhao Ming sighed in disappointment. “No wonder she doesn’t need teammates.”
She knows that group of “daoye.” She can get whatever she wants.
Zhu Yun and the others were also a little surprised, but they also understood. They wouldn’t dare to live alone without some ability.
Li Yi breathed a sigh of relief. She had known these teammates for only three months, but they had fought side by side so many times, and their character and bottom line were not bad. It was just that people’s hearts were unpredictable in the apocalypse. She still hoped that they would be a little more sober. Otherwise, she would directly make a move.
Thinking of this, Jiang Jing asked about Ji Yang’s attitude. Li Yi immediately told her about the cooperation they had reached. After the few of them had been happy for a while, Jiang Jing took them to the rooftop. The rooftop was the most convenient. The location was spacious, and they didn’t have to worry about a fire, and they wouldn’t be smoked.
The young people didn’t know much about the steps of smoking meat. They had brought the two mothers who were at home. Besides safety, this was also a consideration.
The two mothers felt that they were needed even more. They rolled up their sleeves and started to work, directing everyone to help. Even Jiang Jing’s daughter, who was over a year old, was assigned a job of picking up firewood, and she worked hard.
But in a moment, a fire was lit, and the rack of meat was hung at the very top, being smoked by the tip of the smoke, and dyed a layer of black.
The conditions were limited, and the water source was insufficient. After they had let out the blood of the wild boar, they had directly skinned it. As for the internal organs, they had only taken the heart, kidneys, and the like that were easy to clean. The large intestine and the like could only be wasted.
But just like this, the portion was already extremely large, making the group of people who were gathered around unable to help but swallow their saliva.
Mother Li’s skills were not bad. She controlled the fire with ease and said with regret, “It’s a pity there are no spices. If we add them, the taste will be even better.”
“If we can really get more pork, we’ll sell a batch and get some spices!” Li Yi said generously.
The crowd immediately nodded, full of anticipation.
One fire was not enough, so they drew two more people to get firewood. There were always some wardrobes, tables, and benches that had not been taken away upstairs and downstairs. They would burn whatever could be burned. If this building was not enough, they would go to the next one.
In the middle of it, they would occasionally run into a few rats, which were all dealt with by them. They would be roasted and disinfected together and stored. This way, they might not have rotted when they were sent to the base.
If they had rotted, the base would not give them points, but they would also be taken away for unified incineration.
—
The Next Day
Just as the sky was getting light, there was a knock on the main door.
Xixi immediately woke up Ji Yang and ran to the main door to guard. But when it noticed that it was a familiar person, it did not bark.
Ji Yang also remembered what she had promised yesterday and quickly got up and went to open the door. “Are we leaving now?”
“Mm, we’ll gather in about twenty minutes. Is that okay?” Li Yi asked, “The place we’re going is a bit far, about fifty kilometers from here. It will take more than an hour to drive. You should be prepared.”
“Okay,” Ji Yang nodded, closed the door again, and began to pack. Xixi would definitely be brought along. The jet ski was stored in her space, so she would use the assault boat first. This time, if they really ran into a herd of wild boars, and the wild boar cubs had to be alive, they would also need something to put them in. So, she took out another rubber boat.
She filled the assault boat with gas, and also brought a bucket, plus her good combat partner, the hiking backpack, and a full-body raincoat.
After she had packed everything, it had only taken ten minutes.
There were still ten minutes to eat. Ji Yang took out Xixi’s food bowl, and she also found a few buns and a cup of soy milk to eat.
After she had finished eating, it was about time, and there was also a noise from outside the door. She opened the door and went out.
It just so happened that she ran into the door opposite her opening.
Li Yi’s family and Jiang Jing had returned here. They naturally lived in their own houses. The keys were all kept, and everything was also intact. It was unexpectedly comfortable to live in.
Seeing Ji Yang, Jiang Jing smiled and greeted her, helped her with the rubber boat in her hand, and introduced her, “Li Yi said yesterday that she had forgotten to introduce you. Our team has accepted a few members to team up before. I’m the captain, and she’s the vice-captain. There are three people with us this time that you don’t know. I’ll introduce you when we meet later.”
Ji Yang nodded. “Okay.”
As they were talking, the few of them went downstairs. It just so happened that the few people who were living upstairs also came down with them. When they ran into each other, Jiang Jing introduced both sides. The four people were a pair of siblings: Zhu Yun and Zhu Hao, and a couple, Zhao Ming and Sun Minmin.
However, they also had to be in charge of watching the house, so Sun Minmin and Li Yi also stayed at home.
These three people’s condition was about the same as Jiang Jing and the others, and there was no one with a particularly strange aura. Ji Yang greeted them politely.
The four of them were also stunned. They hadn’t expected the big shot that Li Yi had been talking about to be a very young little girl. For a moment, they were all a little subtle, but soon, they noticed her clothes, and their eyes darkened again, and they had a little less contempt.
This girl was wearing a mask, and only her eyes were exposed, so her appearance could not be seen. She was also wearing long sleeves and long pants, and she looked plain. But this was the apocalypse. In a situation where all kinds of living resources were scarce, for her to be able to maintain such a plain appearance was already a very strange thing!
And when they thought that she was still living here alone, uh, no, with such a fat dog.
If she didn’t have some means to make people afraid, she would have been swallowed by the nearby survivors long ago.
So, they were all very enthusiastic.
When they found out that the rubber boat in Jiang Jing’s hand was also hers, they were even more enthusiastic. Zhu Hao was younger, and he was also a little chuunibyou. He directly said, “As expected of a big shot. Two boats in one go! We have to hold on to this thigh!”
His sister, Zhu Yun, blushed and pinched him. “Calm down.”
If you’re so boisterous, be careful of being disliked.
Zhu Hao was at a loss and wronged, and didn’t dare to say anything.
He quickly ran to the front, put the assault boat in the water, and was busy. Although he seemed a little noisy, he was quick at his work. The two sides had a total of two assault boats and two rubber boats. The six people, Father Li, Jiang Jing, Ji Yang, Zhao Ming, Zhu Yun, and Zhu Hao, were divided into two teams. Ji Yang, Jiang Jing, and Zhu Yun were in one team, and the other three were in another team.
This way, the speed of the assault boat was more harmonious.
Ji Yang was too lazy to drive the boat, so she let Jiang Jing do it. She held Xixi and was lazy. Soon, the assault boat started, and in the early morning, a cool wind blew past, which was unexpectedly comfortable.
—
The journey was a bit far.
The assault boat had been driven at its maximum speed, and it had also taken an hour and a half. Ji Yang was very suspicious that it was not just fifty kilometers. It was just that they did not have a precise calculation tool, so they had estimated it this way.
But in the end, they had arrived.
At this time, it was already past eight o’clock, and the sun’s temperature was already a little scorching.
The group stopped at the mountain where they had encountered the wild boars last time, deflated the assault boat and the rubber boat, and found a hidden branch to hide them, to prevent a second group of people from coming over and taking these guys away while they were not there.
That would be a huge loss!
Father Li was better at these things. He had originally been a scholar. After the disaster, thanks to his daughter’s sense of crisis, he had learned to do these things, and he had really gotten the hang of it.
After they had done these things, the few of them began to search the mountain. The mountain forest was dense. Even after more than a year of destruction by the natural disaster, in the current weather, it had quickly grown new branches and green leaves, and the ground was moist, and the bushes were overgrown.
Ji Yang looked around and felt a little uneasy. She thought for a moment and asked for the location where Jiang Jing had dealt with the pork before, and took Xixi over.
It was the first time she had asked a dog to find things by smell, and she was a little unsure, but she still had to give it a try.
“Xixi, smell!”
Xixi obediently went over to sniff. After it had smelled the whole area, it immediately and sensibly began to sniff the surroundings. Then, as if it had confirmed a direction, it barked at Ji Yang twice. “Woof woof!”
Ji Yang quickly went over, and Xixi took her to run further up.
“Ji Yang?” Jiang Jing noticed, quickly called out, and also followed.
The remaining few people, seeing this, thought for a moment and also followed. They saw that Ji Yang was following the dog. A dog’s nose was always better than a human’s. They went around half the mountain, and the dog stopped.
It was circling around.
Ji Yang also stopped and looked around. On the way here, she had already noticed that there were many traces of large animals’ activities around, especially here, where there were the most. It seemed that the wild boars might be nearby.
After looking around, her gaze finally landed on a bush about a hundred meters away. Many traces had converged there. Perhaps the wild boars’ nest was behind the bush.
Jiang Jing and the others also followed. They were all panting from running. Compared to Ji Yang, who was still breathing steadily, it was simply unbearable to look.
But in fact, because they had not really gone hungry, their physical fitness was stronger than most ordinary survivors.
Ji Yang pointed at the bush. “The wild boars might be here. This might be their nest. Once we start fighting, we might have to face a wild boar that is protecting its cubs and is going berserk. Have you thought of how to deal with it?”
Zhu Yun and the others, hearing this, immediately looked around and confirmed that there were many large trees here, which was convenient for escaping and hiding. Zhu Yun took the initiative to say, “We made a trap last time, and there are also beast traps. I like to do this kind of thing. I’ve brought them all this time. There are eight in total, which can basically deal with more than half of them.”
Jiang Jing followed and nodded. “That’s right. After the wild boar is injured, we’ll go over and attack again. It will basically be no problem.”
Ji Yang nodded. Since they had a plan, she would use their plan first. She took out her gun. “Alright then. I’ll control the field.”
Zhu Yun and the others: “!!!”
In that instant, their eyes went straight.
Who said girls don’t like weapons? It’s just that they haven’t run into a really good one!
Zhao Ming and Zhu Hao were even more so, one of them saying, “Holy crap, holy crap…!”
“We’ll do it, we’ll do it. You find a good place to shoot!” Zhu Hao said with exceptional attentiveness.
Zhu Yun was amused and slapped him. “Stop fooling around.”
Then, she took the lead and began to survey the terrain and set up the trap. Before, they had been catching rabbits, wild chickens, and wild ducks, but now these were becoming more and more difficult to encounter. She had thought that they would not be of any use, but she had not expected to run into wild boars again.
God still loves them, brother and sister!
Zhao Ming began to get the food. This was something they had specially bought from the base. Those animals loved to eat it. It had something similar to catnip added. It was placed around the trap. As long as they stepped on it, it was a victory.
Jiang Jing was used to cooperating with them, and they were all very tacit. Ji Yang watched for a while. This group of people, no wonder they would choose the mountains. They had gained experience. Digging pits, burying traps, finding escape routes, and discussing how to make a move. Even without her, they could definitely bring back one or two wild boars.
During this period, Ji Yang was on guard on the side.
It wasn’t until she saw that it was about enough that she took Xixi and retreated. According to their trap, she found a high place. There was a large tree here. She carried Xixi and climbed up the tree in a few moves, finding a suitable view.
As she was climbing the tree, a small thing with black, brown, and white stripes, a pinkish belly, and looked like a rabbit, but with a very distinctive nose, appeared. Its nose twitched. It had obviously smelled something and had come all the way.
“Oops!” Jiang Jing had just straightened up to rest for a while when she looked up and saw this thing. She was stunned for a moment. “Zhao Ming! Quick, go and stop it!”
If this were to hit the trap, they would be done for.
However, after Jiang Jing had finished speaking, Zhao Ming had not yet reacted. The little piglet had already rushed over, eaten the bait prepared by Zhao Ming, and had successfully fallen into the trap and had been caught by the beast trap.
“Ah—” the cub let out a heart-wrenching scream.
Ji Yang had just climbed up the tree when she saw this scene, and her expression immediately became grim.
Wild boar cubs were also very cute, like little fat rabbits. It would be great if she could send them to her space. This way, they were basically ruined. At the same time, her scalp was also tingling. The cubs were here, which meant that the nest was also here. Then what about the big wild boars? What if the big wild boars hadn’t gone out to forage at this time…
Especially since Ji Yang’s view was also just blocked and she couldn’t see the cub in the trap. Fortunately, Zhu Yun, who was the closest, had reacted quickly enough. Seeing that Zhao Ming had not reacted, she immediately pounced over. With both hands, she used force, and the cub’s tragic scream stopped abruptly. Just as everyone had breathed a sigh of relief, Zhu Hao said in a daze, “Why do I feel the ground moving?”
“You idiot, run!” Zhu Yun pulled him in annoyance and quickly ran away, not forgetting to shout to her teammates, “Run! The piglet’s parents are back!”