Day 89, Endless Drizzle (Part Two)

While preparing lunch, I had originally intended to steam a few fish. However, upon retrieving the dried fish, I discovered that the latest batch had completely spoiled. They were inedible and reeked of rot, with some even infested with maggots.

I had not used any salt on this batch of fish. It seems that without salt, even sun-drying is insufficient for preservation; the moisture trapped within the fish flesh failed to evaporate in time, leaving a breeding ground for bacteria and insects.

In contrast, the first batch, which I had rubbed with salt, was still in excellent condition, fragrant, and perfectly edible—though there was very little of it left. I felt a deep sense of regret over the spoiled fish, but there was nothing I could do. At the time, salt was exceptionally precious to me; it was not that I didn't want to use it, but that I had none.

I threw all several dozen of the ruined fish out of the courtyard. Still, I now had salt, enough to last for a while, and Brother Qian and the others knew how to extract it. Once they finished repairing the treehouse, we could begin producing more in small quantities.

This noon, I steamed the remaining scraps of smoked meat and homemade sausage. The weather had turned muggy the previous night, making the treehouse somewhat damp. All the hanging food had been rendered limp and soggy by this damned humid air. Furthermore, I had not used enough salt on any of these provisions; if we didn't finish them quickly, they might all turn putrid and rot within days, just like the fish.

Consuming the food before it spoiled was the wisest course of action. After all, they had been exhausted over the past few days, and without adequate nourishment, their strength could not recover, leading to even more complications down the road—an outcome I certainly wished to avoid.

Ensuring these provisions did not go to waste was my only concern at the moment. Food could always be replaced; that was hardly a problem.

...

After boiling the congee and steaming the meat, I called everyone in to eat. Everyone, including Brother Qian, was dumbfounded by the sight before them. Probably none of them had anticipated that I would be so generous—or rather, so wasteful—as to cook up such a massive quantity of pork.

Even Brother Qian looked at me with a puzzled expression, his lips parting as if he wanted to say something but could not find the words. The others were even more speechless, staring at me with a mixture of suspicion and greedy longing as they eyed the pork on the side.

"B-Brother Luo, why go to such lengths? Is today some special occasion? Is it your birthday?" Brother Qian finally asked, unable to contain his curiosity.

"Yeah, Brother Luo, this is such a waste. If we ration it, it could last us for ages..." This came from Ye Qingchen. He lacked Brother Qian's worldly composure. Fortunately, I wasn't a petty person; otherwise, a question like that could easily have rubbed people the wrong way. Being willing to share at all was already remarkably kind of me, yet he was questioning why I wasn't being more frugal. I supposed he only spoke so casually because he had grown familiar with me. The remaining three stayed silent, watching quietly.

"No, when I made this smoked meat, I ran out of salt, so I only used a tiny bit. It's been sitting for quite a while now. You probably saw me throwing something out just earlier, right? That was the sun-dried sea fish; they had already rotted and grown maggots inside..."

"It's been very muggy these past few days. If we don't finish these quickly, the smoked meat might spoil or get infested with bugs at any moment. Since that's the case, we might as well eat it now. Besides, you've all been working hard lately, so this will help restore your stamina." It was better to tell them the truth straight out to prevent any wild guesses.

"Well, thank you so much, Brother Luo! I never expected we'd have pork to eat. Hurry up and thank Brother Luo, everyone! Not only did he rescue us, but he's given us one surprise after another! Come on!"

"Thank you, Brother Luo!" "Many thanks!" Everyone began expressing their gratitude.

"Think nothing of it. Dig in!" If anyone from civilized society had been present, they probably wouldn't have understood why I was sharing the hard-earned pork I had painstakingly acquired. Yet those who have never experienced profound isolation can never truly comprehend the overwhelming surge of emotion that comes with meeting members of your own kind—especially when they harbor no malicious intent and treat you with genuine sincerity. For me, this was a feeling I had never once experienced in all my time on the island.

Even though Xiao Hei had always been by my side, the lack of human companionship and conversation meant the inner void remained profound. Just last night, I had dreamt that I was still living here in solitude with Xiao Hei... That was certainly not the ending I wanted. If I could ever build a boat in the future, even if there was only the slimmest chance of escape, I would be willing to try. Time had not diluted my yearning to return to civilized society; instead, it had only accumulated, and sooner or later, it would erupt once again.

...

Everyone enjoyed the lunch immensely, and their enthusiasm for building the wild boar trap surged even higher. Over the meal, they reached a consensus: as soon as the rain stopped, they would start digging the pit, treating it as their top priority.

Once you have tasted fine food, human nature takes over; perhaps under extreme circumstances one might forget the allure of such delicacies, but the moment you taste them again, the memory becomes indelible. Though they were all thoroughly stuffed, they were still wiping the grease from the corners of their mouths, chatting with great relish about how delicious the meal had been and praising my culinary methods.

Brother Qian, however, remained curious about the origin of the wild boar meat. He quietly approached me and asked, "Brother Luo, wild boars aren't so easy to catch, are they? You must have paid quite a price. Eating all this pork makes me rather embarrassed. By the way, would it be convenient for you to tell me just how you managed to catch it?"

"Haha, Brother Qian, don't be like that. We're all family now; there's no need to stand on ceremony. To be honest, I didn't go looking to catch the wild boar—it came looking for me..."

The others overheard our conversation, and their chatter abruptly died down. Evidently, they were all intensely curious about how I had managed to capture a wild boar.

"Oh? It came looking for you? Does Brother Luo mean you were attacked by a wild boar?" Brother Qian grasped the implication immediately upon hearing my words.

"Yes, take a look..." Unwilling to say much more, I took off my shirt and turned my palms upward.

"Hiss!" A collective intake of breath echoed through the air. Even Midakang leaned in closer. The scars left by the boar bites were permanent, never to fully heal. It was only through sheer luck that none of them had struck a vital spot; otherwise, I would have been dead for sure.

"Good heavens, Brother Luo! You actually dared to fight a wild boar barehanded?" Brother Qian and the others were utterly stunned, left speechless.

"It was just luck... and thanks to Xiao Hei, too," I said indifferently.

It truly was luck. Even if I were to replay that scenario ten times over, I couldn't guarantee I'd win again. That was pure fortune. If Xiao Hei hadn't rushed to my aid at the end, I would have died long ago...