Chapter 212 - 179: Build a Career

Chapter 212: Chapter 179: Build a Career

Huai Yu suddenly realized it while snipping the heads, peeling the skin, and scraping the tails off the bullfrogs—she hadn’t rested at all since the middle of the night yesterday.

Looking at her own hands as they vigorously processed the meat, she was utterly shocked. Whether it was building a house or preparing food, how was she so experienced and hardworking? If she had ever enjoyed a life of luxury in the past, she wouldn’t be like this! Dammit!

Thinking about it, she had originally planned to process and save half of the bullfrog meat for later, but now she decided to just cook it all! Whatever she couldn’t finish could be hung in the well. It should last for two days—about four or five meals—no problem! She needed to treat herself better.

That being said, there weren’t actually that many bullfrogs frozen in that giant ice block. After processing them all, they only filled a single washbasin. Compared to the three large wild pheasants from before, it was a far cry!

Dozens of ways to cook bullfrog subconsciously popped into her head. However, looking at the meager seasonings lined up on the stove, she let out a muffled sigh. Forget it, she’d just marinate it first.

Her current conditions were lacking, and so were her ingredients. The pheasant meat originally needed to marinate overnight to truly absorb the flavor, but now she could only hastily rub it with spices and let it sit for half an hour before hanging it out to air-dry.

She was supposed to keep a fresh portion to cook for herself, but by the time she finished everything, Huai Yu felt an overwhelming wave of exhaustion wash over her. She didn’t even have the energy to eat a bite of food. Thus, she quickly cleaned up and collapsed straight into bed.

When she woke up again, the sun hadn’t yet risen outside, but the surrounding wilderness was already bathed in the first light of dawn.

She raised her wrist—it was just after six in the morning. If she remembered correctly, the sky had just turned dark when she brought in the drying jerky yesterday. A young body recovers quickly. Huai Yu stretched her arms, her fierce hunger and renewed vigor returning to urge her to start a fire and cook right away. Then, she hung the jerky back outside.

Huai Yu smelled the spicy, savory aroma and thought silently, "It’s a bit of a pity. If I hadn’t been so exhausted, I could have eaten a bite of fresh meat yesterday." She reassured herself that she would definitely have other chances to visit the highway entrance in the future, so missing out this time was fine. Besides, this morning’s meal was looking pretty good!

Fresh cowpeas, eggplants, bullfrog, and pheasant meat were all haphazardly stewed together in one pot. The spicy, savory flavor paired with aged rice allowed the ravenous girl to swiftly demolish two bowls. She wasn’t in a hurry to deal with the leftovers, simply packing them up to bring to Zhou Qian for lunch.

Next came the meat scraps and bones she hadn’t had time to deal with yesterday. The former were buried in the soil, while she brought the latter to the bamboo grove.

"Big Pup and Second Pup, do you guys eat meat?"

Seeing her approach, Kuang Biao spoke up as well. "Have you been out hunting these past two days? Raise a nest of bamboo rats for me." He then added profoundly, "I should also have a career of some sort."

Kuang Biao was always coming up with one crazy whim after another, but this time, Huai Yu let out a genuine sigh. "To tell you the truth, I want to start that career too." She couldn’t help but feel suspicious. "Is it because you talk too much every day and never behave, so you haven’t attracted any bamboo rats?"

They had been living here for so long now, and even Little Tian had managed to settle down in the Rose Corridor. It made no sense for bamboo rats not to come, right? It was such a massive bamboo grove. Plus, the Rose Corridor didn’t beat up ordinary creatures like that.

"How do I not behave?" Kuang Biao was displeased. "I’m so outstanding, how could any bamboo rat turn its nose up at me?

"I’m even willing to sacrifice my own physical body for them to eat, so what’s wrong with wanting to be a farmer? If they don’t come, it’s because they have no taste."

"..." Huai Yu was speechless. "Why do you suddenly want to be a farmer? Are you planning to make a contribution to our home?"

"What ’our home’?" Kuang Biao scoffed, his bamboo leaves rustling with a loud SWISH SWISH. "Big Pup and Second Pup came back yesterday and said that they did an absolutely outstanding job acting as bodyguards in the city this time!

"Not only did they bravely storm the hospital, but they also led someone on a life-and-death escape..."

"..." Huai Yu really didn’t believe that Big Pup and Second Pup possessed that level of intelligence or vocabulary. More likely than not, it was Kuang Biao’s own artistic embellishment. After all, he knew she went to the hospital every day, and the so-called "life-and-death escape" was probably just them running around along the way.

If Big Pup and Second Pup had actually spoken, it would have roughly translated to: Poke, poke, poke—it broke. Waddle, waddle, waddle—I’m tired. No matter how many things happened, two geese squatting in a basket wouldn’t be able to comprehend them anyway.

But Kuang Biao had clearly been swayed by Big Pup and Second Pup’s "Honk, honk, honk!" show-off session, and he was currently brooding over how to prove his own worth as a bamboo. Huai Yu thought about it for a while but honestly couldn’t imagine how she would carry a bamboo pole out to get into a fight.

Thus, she summarized, "Actually, your role is a comprehensive position—a combination of security and logistics. We rely on you for building trellises in the vegetable garden and providing bamboo shoots to stir-fry, and you still have to watch the house when we go out.

"Wouldn’t the pressure be a bit too high if you also took on the role of a farmer?

"You should think about it some more."

The main issue was that she didn’t have much time to bicker with Kuang Biao about this today. She brought over the chicken skeleton she was holding and asked, "Big Pup, Second Pup, do you want to eat this?"

Big Pup and Second Pup had already wandered over. Intrigued, they poked their flat bills at the massive skeleton. SNAP. The skeleton broke upon impact, but it was clearly not tasty. The two goose pups shook their heads and affectionately rubbed against Huai Yu, showing zero interest in the shattered bones on the ground.

Huai Yu had no choice but to gather the pieces back up. "Then I’ll roast and grind them into bone meal for you guys later. Both of you, and the little chicks too, need to eat some." As she spoke, she felt a twinge of regret. "If the skeleton wasn’t so huge that it’d be impossible to deep-fry thoroughly, I’d really want to fry up a chicken skeleton to gnaw on."

But for now, she needed to go check on Ke Taichiro. She hadn’t seen him for a day and two nights, and she missed him.

The grass was still covered in morning dew, so Ke Taichiro hadn’t left his nest yet. However, since she hadn’t collected his little orbs for two days, the bottom of the massive storage box inside his nest was already covered with a layer of them. It was a good thing she had built him such a large nest when constructing her house; otherwise, there wouldn’t have been enough room to store all the fruits of his labor.

Seeing Huai Yu crouching by the entrance, Ke Taichiro crawled out of his nest and gave his wings a flutter at her. Huai Yu patted his cool, hard shell and glanced at the familiar-looking little spheres in the box. They were still multicolored. Perhaps among them were some that could save Chen Xing and the others, or help nurse their bodies back to health.

However, Huai Yu quickly withdrew her gaze and gently tapped Ke Taichiro’s antennae. "Ke Taichiro, you must make sure to protect yourself well."

Chen Xing was great, and Fen Da and the others were great too, but they were different from Zhou Qian. The predicament they were currently facing was also different from what Zhou Qian had faced back then. She couldn’t risk Ke Taichiro’s safety, or her own, for them.

BUBBLE BUBBLE. The water heating in the shed began to simmer loudly. Outside, the four large vats that had been placed haphazardly still hadn’t been moved. Huai Yu snapped out of her daze. Realizing there were still many things left to do, she got busy once again.

The most pressing matter was to clean herself up first. Secondly, she needed to dig through her junk pile again to at least scrounge up a new water cup for herself.