By linking my account to the check-in system, I became a leisurely traveler.

Chapter 187 The First Night in the Wilderness [Second Update!]

With this large basket full of carbohydrates, he could have plenty of energy for the rest of the day. Now, he had to do the most important thing today: build a shelter.

Li Younan took the basket and returned to the shelter location she had just chosen.

Although we have already observed it, if we are really going to start building the shelter now, we still need to carefully consider some details.

However, Li Younan decided to fill his stomach first.

He was about to start a fire and cook.

Since this is our first meal here, many things are not yet ready and things are not on track, so we can only make do for now.

He took out a camera and set it up in several fixed locations, saying, "Our task today is to build a shelter. Of course, we'll just build it roughly today; it won't be particularly elaborate. We just need to ensure we have a place to spend the night. Before that, we need to cook."

After explaining to the camera, Li Younan picked up his axe and saw, and of course, didn't forget his bow and arrows and hunting knife—this was, after all, the wilderness, and Li Younan wouldn't let these things leave his side. He then walked towards a black pine tree not far away.

There are trees all around this area, but Li Younan plans to clear out the area near the shelter first.

There are more than a dozen trees here; in fact, if all the trees were cut down, there would be enough to build a shelter.

Li Younan worked in front of the camera, sawing off a black pine tree about the thickness of an enamel bowl. Then, he took an axe and quickly scraped off the branches. He picked up the broken branches and quickly started a fire. Afterward, he evenly chopped the relatively thinner part of the black pine tree into several sections, each about one meter high.

Holding the few pieces of black pine wood, Li Younan quickly built a simple support frame. Then, by placing a thinner piece of wood across the middle, he could suspend his large pot to cook rice.

Li Younan gestured, indicating that he could only make do with this for now until the stove was finished. However, he was quite satisfied with the result, so he took the pot to the waterfall in the grove to fetch water.

The water source was located in a stream not far below the small waterfall. The water here came from glacial meltwater and had not been polluted by industry or animals. It could be drunk directly after a little filtration, but there was still a certain risk of microorganisms. Naturally, Li Younan would not drink it directly and would make sure it was boiled before drinking it.

When he carried the pot back, he silently estimated that it would take about 5 minutes to fetch water and return. Although that was quite short, it was still quite troublesome overall because there was no equipment to store water. He could only use this pot to fetch water, and there was no portable water bottle or cup to carry for drinking water.

However, this is only a temporary difficulty for Li Younan at the moment.

However, upon returning to the camp, he sighed slightly.

In conclusion, there are still quite a few problems to solve, and this trip will not be as leisurely as I imagined at the beginning.

However, this actually piqued his interest; he found it quite interesting to do everything himself.

The food collected this time consisted entirely of carbohydrates.

Li Younan quickly processed the two wild ginger stalks and set them aside for later use.

Sorrel, also known as wild spinach, is rich in vitamin C. Li Younan decided to eat these things for this meal, along with a piece of starchy root. As for the remaining blackberries and other starchy root, Li Younan planned to put them away for the time being.

Especially the starchy rootstocks. Li Younan's idea is to wait until he is settled down, then spend some time finding more of these starchy rootstocks, extracting all the starch from them and storing them.

It's summer now, and to be honest, finding carbohydrates is very easy. This period of abundance will last until September, but once it gets colder, finding carbohydrates will become much more difficult.

Li Younan doesn't worry about the sources of protein and fat, but he has to plan ahead for carbohydrates.

Whether it's a root or a berry, it will spoil and rot if stored for a long time. The best way is to extract the starch from it and store it separately, which will allow it to last a long time.

To be honest, Li Younan's first meal was very ordinary.

Nevertheless, he ate the wild spinach in front of the camera and criticized it mercilessly: "This tastes like a failed kimchi. However, this kind of wild spinach is rich in vitamin C, but I suggest that you cook it before eating it to make it taste better. However, because it contains oxalic acid, try not to eat too much."

Then Li Younan picked out the cut rootstock.

The production team provided each contestant with tableware as part of their essential equipment, but these were all metal Western-style cutlery, including knives and forks. Li Younan used chopsticks that he made himself.

He used the pot lid as a bowl to show the camera the root he was eating: "This is the rhizome of cattail, which contains some carbohydrates. In fact, many plants here store carbohydrates in their tubers, but I don't recommend that people without this knowledge try it, because some rootlets are also poisonous."

After saying that, Li Younan picked up the steaming hot root and put it in his mouth, taking a bite.

After a moment, he nodded slightly, a satisfied look in his eyes, and said with a smile, "It tastes better than I expected."

The taste is somewhat similar to cooked taro, with a powdery and glutinous texture and a touch of natural sweetness. However, the earthy taste is slightly stronger than that of domesticated crops.

Li Younan ate slowly, savoring the food as he ate, explaining the proper way to eat this root vegetable: "It must be thoroughly washed and peeled before eating. If it's not cooked properly, the texture will be very rough."

After finishing her main meal, Li Younan had a few bites of blackberries as dessert, nodding as she ate, "The blackberries taste even better than I expected." Then, Li Younan commented earnestly, "Well, because of the high-altitude environment here, the temperature difference between day and night is quite large, which is very conducive to the precipitation of sugar. So, whether it's the berries here or the root vegetables we ate before, they all have extremely high sugar content."

Then Li Younan picked up a piece of root and said, "I roughly estimated that this kind of root contains at least 20% starch."

This number is comparable to that of a regular potato, which explains why some contestants have managed to survive solely on these rootstocks.

However, the texture of this root is indeed much worse than that of a potato.

However, Li Younan already had a solution: to extract all the starch from these roots and stems. The extraction method was simple, but he didn't have any particularly handy tools at the moment.

He sighed softly. There was still a lot to do, but that made him anything but bored and he didn't feel lonely or unable to communicate with others.

After lunch, it was already around 2 p.m. Although we didn't have watches, thankfully their satellite phones, while lacking internet access, still had basic time display capabilities.

This is roughly the hottest time of day, but it's only around 20 degrees Celsius, so overall it's quite comfortable.

Li Younan planned to set up his temporary shelter before sunset, so he began to get busy.

Li Younan's idea is that this shelter must be scalable, meaning that it can be continuously adjusted, improved, and its functions expanded based on the current stage.

Although the sky is clear and blue now, it could start raining at any time. At least one-third of the days around Lake Chirko in the summer will rain. Although the proportion is not large in general, getting wet in the rain can be a real hassle.

If you catch a cold, it could easily get worse in this remote area.

Their equipment did include a full set of waterproof clothing, but it was impossible to sleep in those clothes because they were not breathable and would be very uncomfortable.

Li Younan had decided to spend a leisurely vacation here, so he had high standards for his shelter. However, precisely because the standards were so high, it certainly couldn't be built in a day.

Before the shelter was fully built, Li Younan decided to first find a place to sleep.

He sawed down seven or eight trees nearby, dragged them to the shelter, and quickly built a simple wooden hut, laying a waterproof tarpaulin on it so that at least it wouldn't leak.

To prevent wild animals from attacking at night, Li Younan also placed wooden stakes and spikes on the side of the mountain that was not facing the cliff, a task that took him the most time.

Even so, the cabin has nothing but bare wood and can only be used for sleeping for the time being. Fortunately, it is still summer, and the temperature will not drop to zero even when it is coldest at night.

Li Younan then arranged the thin wooden strips into a simple bed, covered it with pine needles, and that was his temporary sleeping spot.

The next step is to actually build the shelter.

There is a lot of preparation work to be done before this.

Anyone who frequently builds houses knows that the most important first step in constructing a house is laying the foundation.

The terrain at this location was actually quite flat, but Li Younan was still not very satisfied.

Before nightfall, Li Younan made a simple wooden shovel using a saw and a hunting knife. Although it was not as good as a metal shovel, it was more than enough for laying foundations.

Li Younan leveled the selected location, then determined several pile driving positions according to his own ideas, filled them with gravel, and ensured that the foundation would not settle.

The sun was already beginning to set.

Li Younan cooked himself another dinner to replenish his energy.

It must be said that, thanks to the system's enhancement of his body, he didn't feel too tired despite being busy all day.

After dinner, Li Younan went to rest in his temporary hut, which was about the size of a toilet. Once inside, it was immediately dark.

Only then did he begin to realize that people in ancient times worked at sunrise and rested at sunset, so damn, there was nothing to do at night if they didn't sleep.

It is at times like these that feelings of loneliness arise, whereas during the day there are always things to do and goals to pursue, preventing one from overthinking.

Fortunately, Li Younan had an exceptional ability to fall asleep. He closed his eyes and forced himself to clear his mind, and fell asleep in just a few minutes.

And this is only the first day.

(End of this chapter)