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

Chapter 209 We all spent the snowy night in the wilderness [First update!]

When Li Younan woke up in the morning, the fire in the fireplace had not yet completely gone out.

The warmth of the embers made the room cozy, and the smoke extraction system was designed so well that you wouldn't be bothered by the smoke at all while sleeping in bed.

Li Younan yawned, stretched, and slowly crawled out of his sleeping bag.

To be fair, he didn't have a thermometer at the time, but he estimated that the temperature inside the shelter was at least 20 degrees Celsius, which was very warm. His sleeping bag was a multi-season sleeping bag, which could be filled with a down layer for winter, but there was no need to use it yet.

Every morning when I wake up, I feel like it's still summer, until I try to open the shelter door to go out for some activity, and I'm immediately chilled to the bone and have to come back inside.

Li Younan shoveled the ashes out of the stove and poured them into a wooden box outside—wood ash has many uses in the wild, so he would collect it every time he finished burning it.

Then, looking at the few sparks in the stove, he gently blew on them, put the fire back on, and added more firewood.

The oily pine wood quickly reignited the flames in the stove.

Next, he placed the kettle on the stove to boil water and began preparing breakfast for himself.

Today's breakfast can be a little different again.

Li Younan recorded this scene with his camera: He took out the four bird eggs he had found yesterday from the jar and said with a smile, "Today's breakfast is a cup of fresh goat milk, fried eggs, and a plate of fried blood sausage."

The water on the stove had already boiled. Li Younan took the kettle down, poured it into the wooden basin next to him, added some cold water, threw in a towel and rubbed his face, then comfortably washed his face with hot water.

He then turned to the camera and shared, "Guys, let me tell you a little-known fact."

"I recommend brushing your teeth after breakfast, because the fluoride in toothpaste can effectively protect your teeth for 8 to 12 hours, so there is no need to brush your teeth as soon as you get up. It is best to clean your teeth after breakfast."

Li Younan fried the eggs and prepared the blood sausage, then placed these foods on an exquisite ceramic plate.

Paired with goat milk in a ceramic cup, it looks very elegant.

This breakfast was as elegant as a hotel buffet.

Li Younan recorded this scene with his camera, and then said with some regret, "If it were a proper Western breakfast, it would be served with two slices of whole wheat toast. Unfortunately, there are no rice or wheat crops available."

"However, I did some research before. There should be Canadian wild rice near Lake Chilco. It is long and thin, black, and a close relative of rice. It should be quite abundant."

"But it seems that it's not so common near the shelter we're staying in."

"September is the season for wild rice to ripen. If the weather gets better in a couple of days, we can try looking in the marshes around the lake. To be honest, we haven't explored the area around the lake much yet."

Li Younan wasn't a particularly gluttonous person, but he still tried his best to make sure that every meal was varied.

In these lonely and solitary times, adding a little color to life every day is the reason that keeps him going.

Yes, even someone as strong as him, who lacks nothing, still feels a sense of loneliness when victory is imminent.

He confirmed that he was mentally healthy, but he also began to understand the contestant who had given up because of loneliness despite having a large prey in hand.

After finishing breakfast, Li Younan brewed himself a cup of hot tea and added two pieces of berry candy to it.

Sipping the sweet tea, his mood improved somewhat.

Therefore, there is a scientific basis for girls showing off their love of sweets when they are in a bad mood. Eating some sugar when you are feeling down can indeed help you get out of a gloomy mood.

However, this negative feeling was short-lived, because he wasn't really lonely.

The little ewe made a commotion outside.

Li Younan opened the back door, and a blast of cold air rushed in.

The little ewe just stared at him longingly—because she had pooped in the shelter again yesterday, and as punishment, Li Younan made her stand facing the wall all night.

Li Younan tapped the ewe on the head: "Do you know you were wrong?"

It certainly doesn't understand, but since there's no other chance to speak right now, talking to the little ewe is quite interesting.

The little ewe ignored Li Younan and slipped inside the moment the door opened. She then lay down beside the stove and gently shook off the snow.

Li Younan snorted and said irritably, "You're ignoring me."

Closed the door.

This is likely because the ewe's lamb had been dead for quite some time, and the milk production of mammals like cattle and sheep decreases over time.

In short, the ewes are producing less and less milk. Initially, they could produce three liters of milk a day, but now they can only produce one cup in one night.

Li Younan still has more than ten kilograms of ghee left, enough for him to use for more than two months even if he eats it every day.

There was a whole jar of cheese curds, so Li Younan was too lazy to make any more ghee.

Moreover, now that the weather has cooled down, I no longer worry about the goat milk spoiling overnight, and I can drink fresh goat milk every morning.

The ewe has provided Li Younan with milk for so long, and Li Younan wouldn't have chosen to eat it before, so naturally he wouldn't choose to eat the ewe again.

Once the ewe has completely stopped producing milk, it's time to release her back into the wild.

Judging from the decreasing milk production of the young ewes, this day is not far off.

He kicked the ewe's rump and laughed, "You little thing, you've tried to escape several times. I'll lock you up for a while longer, then I'll really let you go."

The little ewe bleated twice, looked up at Li Younan, and then continued to lie down and warm herself by the fire.

Li Younan wasn't just unilaterally milking the ewe.

To ensure that the little guy could produce high-quality goat milk, he fed it very high-quality moss.

It's worth noting that moss is rich in carbohydrates, and in some cases, it can even be eaten by humans, though it would certainly taste terrible.

In addition, to ensure the creature has a balanced diet, Li Younan would mix some lichen into its favorite grass. This plant can produce glucose through photosynthesis, which can be made into exquisite feed for the creature.

The ewe looked cleaner than when he first brought her to the shelter, and her wool was smoother and shinier.

All in all, it doesn't seem like a bad pet.

With this thing, Li Younan's boring life was finally able to find some comfort.

He originally planned to handcraft the crystal radio in the next couple of days.

To ensure the crystal radio performed as expected, Li Younan needed to go into the forest to cut some wood to make a usable base and a wooden frame to hold the antenna. The morning snowstorm stopped him from going back.

After having breakfast and resting for a while, Li Younan opened the door again.

The falling snowflakes pelted his face.

Li Younan returned, grumbling and cursing.

"It's so warm inside the shelter." He sighed softly, then laughed and tapped the thick rammed earth wall, saying proudly, "Those few dozen centimeters of earthen wall, it certainly wasn't a waste of my effort."

So in this survival reality show called "Living Alone in the Wilderness," one contestant, fearing the cold outside, huddled in a shelter, where he could only drink hot tea, eat blood sausage, cook some beef, and play with his pets like a little wretch.

What's going on?

The wind whipped up the snow, showing no sign of letting up.

……

At this moment, apart from Li Younan, only Connor and Pasini remained on the entire shore of Lake Chirco.

In this season and weather, even hikers wouldn't choose to come here for an adventure.

Pacini was lucky; just as he was finishing the venison, he hunted a porcupine and a rabbit.

Even better, before the lake froze over, his gillnet caught two large fish, enough to last him for another two weeks.

Although he could continue, loneliness also plagued him.

Every time the program crew came for a physical examination, he would chatter on and on with them for a long time.

However, the staff did not interact with him much.

Every time the staff came, he hoped they would tell him good news: "Hey buddy, all your competitors have been eliminated, and you're the final winner!"

Unfortunately, that didn't happen, so he had to keep going.

But he felt he could persevere, after all, he had two hunting records of medium to large-sized prey during the entire program.

Although neither the sheep hunted earlier nor the deer hunted later could be considered particularly large prey—for example, a bison has at least several times the meat yield of either of these two prey.

However, he believed that no other competitor would be able to hunt bison, so his two hunts should have given him a significant advantage over the other competitors.

Perhaps the only one or two remaining opponents are merely relying on willpower to persevere, or on luck to snag one or two fish.

While there are indeed many fish in Lake Chirko, they are never a reliable source of protein for the contestants on this show.

As for luck, he was confident that he was always favored by Lady Luck, so he just needed to persevere a little longer and he would win!

The snow is too heavy today, so he doesn't plan to go out.

Inside the shelter, a fire was burning. Because the shelter was made of wood, the temperature dissipated very quickly. Only when the fire in the stove was lit could a continuous amount of heat radiate outwards.

He moved closer, but he was satisfied—at least he was still by the fireplace and didn't have to worry about food for the next two weeks, did he?
……

Connor is exactly the kind of athlete Pacini imagined who is just persevering through sheer willpower.

Before the heavy snowfall, her gillnet caught another fish.

With the few berries she had stored up, she felt she could hold on.

He didn't know how many days they could hold out, but she knew that in such circumstances, as long as they could hold out for one more day, there was hope of victory.

She firmly believes that all the athletes are probably in similar situations.

Having come this far, it would be a great pity to give up now.

Her shelter was cramped, but the small space had its advantages; with the stove lit, it was warmer by comparison.

The previous smoke extraction system has been improved, so the smoke will no longer sting your eyes when the fire is lit.

Even this small improvement made her feel happy.

However, the shelter was too small, so small that she couldn't store enough firewood.

She added the last piece of firewood to the stove, sighed softly, and knew she had to go outside to chop some more wood.

She crawled out of the shelter, and the wind and snow outside instantly turned her nose red with cold, and her face stung.

Looking at the trees not far away, she longed to apply some oil to her face.

Her ears and face were chapped from the cold. Taking a deep breath, she forced a smile: "Go Connor, God will bless you."

She took the axe and went.

Because she chose the gillnet instead of the saw—cutting wood was a very painful thing for her.

In the wind and snow, a woman who could be described as gaunt raised an axe, and the faint sound of chopping wood could be heard amidst the howling wind.

……

Feeling rather bored, Li Younan didn't forget to apply some ghee to his skin—this could effectively prevent frostbite.

He had to go out because the ewe hadn't been fed yet.

Li Younan went to find some hay nearby and brought it back, brushing the snow off his clothes.

Add firewood to the stove to heat the water, then crush the hay and feed it into the ewe's special food bowl.

It's been two days since I last took a shower. Since I can't go out today, I might as well take a hot bath.

Before dark, Li Younan successfully took off his clothes and comfortably soaked himself in the bathtub.

As the heat rose, he comfortably closed his eyes.

On this cold, snowy night, everyone has a bright future.

(End of this chapter)