Doomsday Traveler

Chapter 249: No Hardship
Having not yet eaten breakfast, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei decided to find a place to eat first.

They drove to the banks of the Zhuolang River—of course, far from where they had fired the gun—and after confirming that there was no danger in the surrounding area, they started a fire to cook.

The peregrine falcon they killed yesterday was still on the roof of the car, and now there was a tiger too. The two decided to roast the meat that needed to be roasted and air-dry the meat that needed to be air-dried, so as not to waste it.

In my past life, the peregrine falcon was a Class II protected animal, and the tiger was a Class I protected animal; hunting or eating them was a crime.

But in today's world, wasting resources is the biggest crime.

Lu Xi'an had to adjust his mindset, and he had already done so. Together with Yao Wei, they built a fire and began preparing the food.

The two worked together seamlessly, plucking feathers, skinning, cleaning, cutting the meat into pieces, washing it in water, and grilling it over a fire. Their tasks were clearly defined.

Finally, Lu Xi'an cleaned the tiger skin thoroughly, wondering what he could do with it.

The image of Sun Wukong flashed through his mind, and he asked Yao Wei with a smile, "Would you like me to make you a tiger-skin skirt?"

Yao Wei asked, puzzled, "What is that?"

Lu Xi'an said, "It's a skirt made of tiger skin. Don't you know what a skirt is?"

Yao Wei said, "I know, but I already have pants. I'm not used to wearing skirts; it would affect my movement."

"alright."

Lu Xi'an smiled and gave up on the plan.

It does seem rather incongruous to dress Yao Wei up as Sun Wukong.

Although the tiger was thin, its skin was quite large. Lu Xi'an thought for a moment and tried to make it into a coat. When it was cold, he could wear it to keep warm.

Thanks to numerous attempts and training after transmigrating to this world, as well as the Type A new human's strong control over his body, Lu Xi'an's needlework skills have made great progress.

Lu Xi'an was confident that he could cut the tiger skin into a coat, but that was a matter for later.

What he needs to do now is to dry the cleaned tiger skin.

Taking advantage of the gentle breeze and warm sun, he spread the washed tiger skin on the roof of the car to dry.

It's a pity there aren't many trees around, otherwise, we could use them to make a clothes rack.

Yao Wei set aside the tiger bones and entrails that had been removed, and Lu Xi'an even found a tiger penis among them.

In his previous life, some health enthusiasts had mentioned things like soaking tiger bones in wine or tiger penis in wine, but Lu Xi'an had absolutely no interest in these things and didn't know how to do it.

Now, when he sees these things, he feels completely unappetized.

Thinking of Yao Wei's excellent qualities of diligence and thrift, I was a little worried. Yao Wei had already put the meat up to roast, and I wondered if these offal should also be prepared.
However, after waiting for a while, while looking at the tiger skin on the roof of the car and watching Yao Wei grill the meat, he still didn't see Yao Wei come to handle the offal.

So he couldn't help but ask, "Should we grill or boil these offal?"

To his surprise, Yao Wei shook her head this time and said, "The internal organs of these carnivorous animals have a very strong smell. Eating them will make you feel uncomfortable, and eating too much will cause nosebleeds."

"If there is a real shortage of food, I will cook and eat these things. But we have enough food now, so let's not eat these less desirable meats."

Lu Xi'an was slightly surprised. She didn't expect Yao Wei to give up some food after weighing the pros and cons. Had she been infected by her?
But I haven't wasted much of it myself.

But never mind, Yao Wei only weighed the pros and cons occasionally. Besides, this choice wasn't a waste; it was just to reduce harm to her body.

She understands that getting "internal heat" is a kind of harm caused by a particular diet, which is not a problem in a sense.

So Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei stopped paying attention to the bones and internal organs and sat down quietly to wait for their meat to be cooked.

The bird meat was roasted first. The peregrine falcon, which had been plucked, skinned, and cleaned, had been propped up on a wooden stick by Yao Wei. After roasting, the meat was a little dry, but the taste was still quite good.

Yao Wei first plucked a wing and handed it to Lu Xi'an, then plucked one for herself. The two ate it separately, and then shared the bird leg.

After that, the other parts were a bit harder to divide. But that didn't stop the two of them; they just took a bite each.

After finishing the bird meat, the tiger meat was almost ready to be roasted.

Tiger meat tastes different from peregrine falcon meat; it's somewhat sweet and sour, tough and chewy, and not very palatable.

Not to mention the offal, Lu Xi'an felt that the meat itself tasted a bit gamey, and he wondered how gamey the offal must taste.

Moreover, putting aside the taste and flavor, the appearance alone is quite difficult to judge.

Some parts of the meat looked normal, but in many places, it was a purplish-black color with a reddish tinge, as if it were poisonous, making people not want to eat it.

"Let's try not to waste our time on meat like this in the future, and try to hunt for tastier meat instead."

Lu Xi'an suggested this to Yao Wei after finishing a piece of meat.

Yao Wei nodded and said, "Yeah."

As the saying goes, it's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality.

In the past, when food was scarce, Yao Wei would never easily miss any prey she encountered. But now, with sufficient supplies and abundant food reserves, her taste buds have begun to protest against her, refusing the abuse of inferior food.

Lu Xi'an was the same.

This barbecue feast was ultimately just because "we've already killed it," and we felt it would be a waste to throw it away.

Anyway, as the two of them ate, they seemed to have no interest in drying the remaining meat and making it into food reserves.

Air-dried meat can be stored for a longer time, but it usually tastes worse than freshly roasted meat. Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei can barely tolerate even this ready-made option, so how could they possibly tolerate something that would be even worse in both taste and texture?
"Just bear with it and finish it, don't let it dry out."

After eating another piece of meat, Lu Xi'an made the suggestion to Yao Wei.

Yao Wei nodded and said, "Mm."

Fortunately, having survived in this world for so long, the two were still quite resilient. Since the meat was already roasted, it would be a shame to waste it, so they forced themselves to finish it despite how unpalatable it was.

After finishing the meal, Lu Xi'an felt really unwell, so he took two carrots, washed them, and ate one raw with Yao Wei.

To be honest, even in his previous life, he didn't like carrots, whether they were eaten raw or cooked.

Compared to other vegetables, carrots don't taste or feel very good, and given other options, he would never eat them.

But now that he had finished eating the tiger meat, Lu Xi'an found the carrot sweet, crisp, and exceptionally delicious.

The stale air in my mouth was quickly suppressed, and the carrot actually brought me a breath of fresh air.

"How about it?"

Lu Xian asked.

Yao Wei nodded and said, "It's delicious."

Yes, it's delicious, really delicious.

On the one hand, it's a comparison with tiger meat; on the other hand, it's how long has it been since they've eaten fresh vegetables?
Such fresh food, still moist, is cool and sweet, far superior to dehydrated vegetables.

Eating should be like this, giving your taste buds and stomach the greatest enjoyment. What's the point of forcing yourself to eat something you didn't know beforehand, struggling to chew those tough tiger meats and then swallowing them?
Lu Xi'an took bite after bite, reluctant to swallow, chewing each bite for a long time.

Yao Wei is the same; she likes things the way they are now.

She would never have done this before.

For her, eating used to be nothing more than eating, a necessary step to fill her stomach and replenish her energy, and sometimes she even found it troublesome.

But ever since Lu Xi'an came along, eating has become a different experience. All sorts of delicious food have made chewing and swallowing a pleasure.

She won't refuse to enjoy herself as long as it doesn't affect her own well-being.

Therefore, she now enjoys the warmth of an air-conditioned car as she falls asleep, watches half a movie with Lu Xi'an before bed, and lies in bed, intertwined, letting her desires run wild.

She was certain that she could return to her former self when necessary, doing whatever she was supposed to do, so now that it was time to enjoy life, she should naturally enjoy it.

"belch--"

After finishing the radish, Lu Xi'an couldn't help but let out a satisfied burp.

Yao Wei glanced at Lu Xi'an, who asked, "What, do you want to join in?"

Yao Wei shook her head and remained silent.

Lu Xi'an laughed: "Looks like you have a bigger appetite than me."

"Ah."

Yao Wei nodded and responded.

She guessed that Lu Xi'an must have deduced the problem of his food intake from that burp.

Lu Xi'an knows so much, so what he says must be true. He can tell how much food someone eats just by listening to their burps, so his analysis of food intake must be correct.

"Okay, my mouth feels much better after eating the radish. I just need to drink some water."

Lu Xian said again.

Yao Wei silently went to the car, took out a bowl, poured a bowl of water, drank it all in one gulp, then poured another bowl and handed it to Lu Xi'an.

Seeing this, Lu Xi'an smiled, took the bowl, and drank it all in one gulp. Then, wiping his mouth, he asked, "Shall we set off?"

"Ah."

Yao Wei nodded.

The two got to work, refilling the water tank, then got in the car, closed the door, and Lu Xi'an sat in the driver's seat, started the car, shifted gears, stepped on the gas, and set off.

Yao Wei, on the other hand, sat in the passenger seat and began reading "World Atlas I".

It was already midday. They had been traveling eastward for half a day in Linhai City, and before they reached the county seat of Chuandong County, they came across a highway heading south. They could then turn south and head towards Jiangdong City.

There's no need to go to the county seat of Chuandong County.

Before turning south, they planned to lie down and rest. It was already dark, so they would have to wait until the next day to continue their journey.

While lying in bed, Lu Xi'an said, "Luo Ping said that further east from Chuandong County, the original land was submerged by seawater."

"I looked at the map during the day and it said that there was another whole county to the east of Chuandong County. The distance between east and west was quite far. Such a large area was submerged by the sea. I really didn't know what kind of disaster had happened back then."

"I wonder if those people from Blue Island County were able to escape back then?"

(End of this chapter)