pertwk Chapter 15 The Harvest of a Solo Hunt
Chapter 15 The Harvest of a Solo Hunt
After carrying a basket of dug bamboo shoots back to the shelter, the remaining task was to process them into dried bamboo shoots. Living on a tropical island, if the fresh bamboo shoots weren't processed promptly, they would rot and spoil in no time.
Using the leftover seafood from last night, Yuan Linghan cooked a pot of bamboo shoot and seafood soup, which, along with cooked cassava, allowed Chen Duling to once again enjoy a satisfying meal. The ingredients and cooking methods were simple, yet the resulting soup was incredibly delicious.
After settling the lunch issue, Yuan Linghan looked at the sliced bamboo shoots soaking in the floating bucket and asked, "Dudu, I'll leave the cooking and drying of the bamboo shoots to you this afternoon. I'm planning to go hunting in the forest to see if I can get some meat."
Although she was a little reluctant to part with Yuan Linghan, Chen Duling knew very well that if she went into the mountains with him, she would only be a burden. The task of cooking and drying bamboo shoots was something she was perfectly capable of doing. Therefore, Yuan Linghan's division of labor was quite reasonable.
Once she understood this, Chen Duling nodded and said, "Okay, then I'll stay in the kitchen this afternoon to cook and dry the bamboo shoots."
"Thank you for your hard work! The soup pot provided by the production team has a limited capacity, and the amount of bamboo shoots that can be cooked at one time is also limited, so it really requires someone to keep an eye on it. Just follow the procedure I told you before, and I believe you can do it."
"Yes, I will definitely take good care of these bamboo shoots."
After assigning tasks, Yuan Linghan, carrying an axe and bow and arrows, headed back into the mountains. Standing in the shelter, Chen Duling watched his disappearing figure and silently encouraged him, "Dudu, you can do it!"
The shelter is now quite well-equipped, and no wild animals have been found on the island. With the help of the production crew's drones, there's really nothing to worry about. As her partner, she wanted to share the workload as much as she could!
Meanwhile, Yuan Linghan, who was striding into the depths of the jungle, had eyes like radar, observing everything within his sight. No movement could escape his notice. Soon after, he finally made a discovery.
"This should be a wild rabbit, but I don't know if it's native or if the production team let it roam freely beforehand."
He didn't dwell too much on whether the hare that appeared in his field of vision was purely wild or free-range, and slowly approached after taking down his bow and arrows. Just as the hare sensed the danger and prepared to flee, a sharp arrow instantly pierced through its abdomen.
Seeing the rabbit struck by the arrow, Yuan Linghan excitedly pumped his fist. Meanwhile, viewers in the live stream flooded the chat with comments like, "This guy's archery is amazing! He killed a chicken with a single arrow before."
"This rabbit must have been let roam freely by the production team, right? If it were a real wild rabbit, it wouldn't be so easy to shoot."
"Wow, Brother Ling is amazing! He and Dudu are going to have a big meal tonight."
"The other groups either ate instant noodles and wild vegetables or foraged for seafood to snack on; only Group Nine got to eat meat. No wonder they're veterans, their hunting skills are amazing!"
Unbeknownst to him, his live stream was once again flooded with comments. Picking up the still twitching rabbit, Yuan Linghan weighed it in his hand and estimated it to be about five pounds. After skinning and gutting it, he figured it would yield about three pounds of meat.
"Great! Eat half, and use the other half to make a smokehouse and smoke it into jerky for future supplies!"
Now that the shelter is built, Yuan Linghan needs to start stockpiling. Having surplus food will put his mind at ease. Although there's still cassava to dig, he can't possibly eat cassava every day for the rest of his time on the island!
Perhaps because of the rain last night, the animals that the production team had let roam freely seemed more active. Yuan Linghan, who chose to hunt alone in the mountains, also began her real hunting journey after arriving on the island.
Viewers in the live stream were amazed by Yuan Linghan's archery skills as he hunted rabbits or chickens every few steps. They also criticized the other contestants for not being able to hunt these animals.
Especially the amateur participants, almost all of whom are well-known outdoor bloggers on the platform. They seem to have rich outdoor experience, but after arriving on the island, their wilderness survival skills have dropped sharply, and they can only dig for wild vegetables or collect snails and shellfish every day.
When Yuan Linghan had three wild rabbits and four chickens hanging from his waist, he looked at the still endless jungle and couldn't help but frown, saying, "Didn't the production team say they were releasing miniature pigs? Why haven't we seen a single one along the way?"
Compared to wild rabbits and free-range chickens, Yuan Linghan would much rather hunt a miniature pig. In his opinion, a miniature pig might not be as tempting as a large, fat pig or a wild boar, but the pork could still be rendered into oil. The cooking oil provided by the production team alone wouldn't last a month.
When he decided to return to camp, Yuan Linghan collected many wild spices he had found along the way. He picked a lot of spices such as sand ginger, mint, rosemary, wild onion, and wild Sichuan pepper and put them directly into his pockets.
He didn't even let the wild lemons and bananas he saw during his previous hunt go to waste. Since he'd finally made it into the mountains and found these things, he figured he should gather as many as possible to improve his meals!
On the other hand, Chen Duling, who was staying at the shelter at the moment, cooked and dried all the fresh bamboo shoots she had dug up that morning. Seeing the bamboo shoots drying in the sun, she was also looking forward to seeing how these dried bamboo shoots would be stored after they were dried.
"It's been so long, why hasn't he come back yet? Could he have gotten lost in the mountains?"
Although they hadn't known each other for long, Chen Duling was very clear about one thing: without Yuan Linghan as her partner, she absolutely wouldn't have been able to complete the challenge. This undisguised concern made netizens particularly happy.
"Dudu keeps looking into the mountains, is she worried about Brother Ling?"
"That worried expression...it seems she's longing for her lover's early return!"
"After a few days of getting to know him, our young man Ling has already charmed the rising starlet!"
"Brother Ling, come back quickly! If you don't come back soon, Dudu will turn into a stone waiting for her husband."
Chen Duling naturally couldn't see comments like these on the live stream. Fortunately, Yuan Linghan, who had gone into the mountains, finally returned to the shelter before dark. Seeing Chen Duling's worried face, he smiled and said, "Duling, were you getting impatient?"
"No! I was just worried you'd get lost in the mountains."
"Don't worry! Although the jungle on this island is quite large, if we stick to one direction, we'll definitely get out of the jungle. Look at what I've got today, we can have a big meal tonight."
"Ah! Brother Yuan, you got something?"
"Well, besides the game I caught, I also picked wild lemons and wild bananas. If you don't mind the sourness, you can boil wild lemons in water to drink, which can aid digestion and replenish vitamin C. Wild bananas can be left to ripen for a few days and can also be eaten as an after-meal fruit."
Listening to Yuan Linghan's story about Chen Duling, and seeing the wild lemons and wild bananas he took out of the bag, she suddenly felt a sour taste in her mouth. But she knew in her heart that wild lemons were good stuff, and she usually liked to drink lemon water.
What truly surprised Chen Duling was the prey that Yuan Linghan pulled out of the bag. She hadn't expected that the snakeskin bag Yuan Linghan had salvaged from the garbage dump could hold so much, nor had she expected that he had harvested such a large amount while traveling alone in the mountains.
"Wow, Brother Yuan, is this all you've reaped this afternoon?"
"Yeah, it probably rained yesterday, so the animals in the woods are quite active. It's a bit of a shame we didn't find the miniature pig the program mentioned. I don't know if it ran into the deep mountains or if it's not around here."
Seeing Yuan Linghan's regretful expression, Chen Duling smiled and said, "Brother Yuan, we probably can't finish all of this."
"It's alright! I'll clean them up and set up a smoking rack. As long as they're smoked into jerky, we don't have to worry about them spoiling. If we store up a lot of jerky, we won't have to worry about going hungry if it rains during the day."
"Um!"
Chen Duling, who also understood the importance of food, thought that having this food would at least ensure they were prepared for any eventuality during their life on the island. She worried that she might give up if she had to challenge herself on an empty stomach!