Chapter 43

Cheng Zhiyu wiped his hands clean. The pork stewing in the pot didn’t need immediate attention, so he turned to the curious Tian Qiao and Tian Manman and said, "Let’s go take a look."

Tian Qiao stroked his chin. "I wonder what he found. A mutant creature?"

Cheng Zhiyu picked up Little Black, paused for a moment, then said, "How could that be? Mutant creatures have very strong territorial instincts. If it really were one, Zhou Min wouldn’t be reacting like this."

Tian Qiao nodded. "I was just guessing casually."

As they walked over, they saw Zhou Min standing with his hands on his hips, straining to look up at a tree. Hearing their approach, he turned to them and exclaimed, "You’re finally here! Look, look—aren’t those wild pheasant eggs up in that tree?"

Everyone looked up. Sure enough, it was a nest of wild pheasant eggs. Zhou Min had good eyesight; without careful observation, they would have been easy to miss.

But Tian Qiao immediately looked disappointed. "I thought it was something special. Wild pheasant eggs are still just eggs. If you want eggs, Cheng Zhiyu has plenty in his space. No need to raid a wild pheasant’s nest."

Having been with Cheng Zhiyu, Zhou Min did get to eat an egg every day.

He also thought it didn't seem worth it. The tree was pretty tall, and climbing it would be too much trouble.

"Let’s go, let’s go," Tian Qiao said, patting Zhou Min’s shoulder as he turned to leave. But then he noticed Cheng Zhiyu standing still, unmoving.

"Cheng Zhiyu, what is it?" Tian Qiao paused and moved closer to look with him. "There’s no need, right? They’re just a few eggs. Let them hatch into chicks."

He assumed Cheng Zhiyu was adhering to the "waste not, want not" mentality—or rather, the virtue of frugality—unwilling to let go of any bit of food.

Cheng Zhiyu shook his head. "Why would a wild pheasant lay eggs in a tree?"

"If not in a tree, then where…" Tian Qiao started instinctively but then paused. "Right, aren’t wild pheasants like regular chickens? They lay eggs on the ground, right?"

Others might not know, but having grown up in the countryside, they were well aware. It wasn’t that they specifically went looking for wild pheasant eggs—these were protected species, and they weren’t short on eggs anyway, so there was no need.

Besides, finding wild pheasant eggs was pure luck. Although pheasants could fly, they didn’t build nests in trees like other birds. When the foliage was thick, it was fine, but once the leaves fell, the nests became obvious.

Wild pheasants were completely different. In fact, they had never seen a wild pheasant’s nest.

But how did they know wild pheasants laid eggs on the ground? Because wild pheasants chose to lay their eggs in fields. During harvest season, the eggs would be discovered.

Earlier, when they looked at the eggs in the tree nest, they had assumed they were large eggs, unlike those of ordinary birds.

But now, hearing Cheng Zhiyu’s words, something didn't seem right.

"These… these couldn’t be bird eggs, could they?" Zhou Min shrank back. "But how could ordinary birds have eggs this big?"

They exchanged glances. "Mutant bird."

The eggs in the tree weren’t wild pheasant eggs at all—they were mutant bird eggs.

This speculation left everyone silent. Zhou Min swallowed hard. "Does that mean the mutant bird lives here? If it comes back and finds us here, won’t it attack us?"

Tian Qiao said, "Most likely."

Zhou Min: "..."

Tian Manman said slowly, "Then… should we move somewhere else?"

Little Black scoffed. "It’s just a bird."

Cheng Zhiyu smiled. "Why move? Didn’t we come to the forest to clear out mutant creatures?"

"Before, we didn’t know this was a mutant bird’s territory. Now that we know, it’s a good thing. We can be prepared in advance." Cheng Zhiyu added, "Thanks to Zhou Min for discovering it."

Zhou Min scratched his head sheepishly. It was just his inner foodie showing.

Hearing Cheng Zhiyu’s words, everyone thought it made sense. If they were alone, they might hesitate facing a mutant bird, but with so many of them together, what's there to fear from one bird?

Besides, Tian Qiao said, "True. Even if we move somewhere else, whose territory would we end up in? Better to stay here peacefully."

Everyone agreed unanimously.

Zhou Min, always thinking about food, asked, "What about these mutant bird eggs?"

Cheng Zhiyu said, "Don’t touch them for now. If the mutant bird returns and finds its eggs gone, it might attack us without thinking."

Even if they didn’t touch the eggs, the bird would likely attack, but… perhaps the intensity would be different?

Everyone thought Cheng Zhiyu made sense, so they decided not to take the eggs for now.

Cheng Zhiyu withdrew his gaze from the tree. Would mutant bird eggs hatch into mutant birds?

His Chinese heritage, with its farmer's instincts, began stirring again.

"Let’s head back, let’s head back," Tian Qiao said.

Just as Cheng Zhiyu was about to nod, he sniffed the air. "I think I smell Sichuan peppercorns."

Zhou Min took a deep breath. "Yeah, you're right. I thought there was a familiar smell earlier—must be Sichuan peppercorns."

Tian Qiao said, "Sichuan peppercorns are great! Let’s go pick some!"

Little Black asked, "What are Sichuan peppercorns?"

Cheng Zhiyu explained, "They’re a seasoning. They make dishes taste delicious."

Hearing this, Little Black immediately became interested.

Cheng Zhiyu asked Tian Qiao to go picking with him. "Manman, you and Zhou Min go back and watch the fire. Keep it simmering on low heat—don’t let it go out."

Zhou Min felt this task was important since it concerned everyone’s dinner.

The two returned, while Cheng Zhiyu and Tian Qiao went to pick Sichuan peppercorns. Little Black jumped to the ground, stretched leisurely, and followed them.

Based on the smell they had detected earlier, they estimated the Sichuan peppercorns were nearby. Sure enough, after walking a few dozen meters, they spotted several Sichuan pepper trees.

The central tree seemed pretty old—taller and larger than any they had seen before.

Surrounding it were smaller Sichuan pepper trees, perhaps grown from seeds dropped by the central tree.

The Sichuan peppercorns appeared fully ripe, their outer shells dry and cracked, with the black seeds inside already gone.

Cheng Zhiyu took out long-sleeved jackets and gloves from his space, and he and Tian Qiao put them on.

Sichuan pepper trees had thorns that could easily scratch the skin, so it was better to cover up well.

There were many Sichuan peppercorns here. If they tried to take everything, it would take a lot of time.

Cheng Zhiyu took out a bag about half as tall as him. "Let’s just fill this bag."

The amount in this bag alone would be enough for them to eat for a long time.

The two of them started working, with Cheng Zhiyu telling Little Black to stand farther away: "Don't get pricked by the thorns; there might be some on the ground too."

Little Black glanced at his paws, then jumped onto a nearby tree, climbed onto a branch, and lay there watching them work.

The two worked quickly and filled the bag before dark.

Cheng Zhiyu took a flashlight out of his inventory, turned it on, and the surroundings instantly brightened up.

Looking at the lush Sichuan pepper tree, he said, "Let's pick some Sichuan pepper leaves too."

Sichuan pepper leaves can be used to make steamed buns with a Sichuan pepper flavor, fragrant and delicious.

Upon hearing about Sichuan pepper steamed buns, Tian Qiao immediately got busy picking leaves again.

They didn’t need to pick too many leaves; they could just chop them up and mix them into the flour later.

Finally done with the work, Cheng Zhiyu took off his gloves. Little Black jumped down, startling him. Cheng Zhiyu quickly went over to check and, seeing that Little Black was fine, breathed a sigh of relief. But he couldn’t help lecturing sternly: "You just jumped straight down from such a high place? It must be three or four meters high. You’re not a cat—what if you hurt yourself?"

Little Black swished his tail, thinking Cheng Zhiyu was overreacting. Hearing the last sentence, his round eyes narrowed into half-moons: "You think cats are better?"

Cheng Zhiyu was completely baffled: "What are you even talking about?"

He gently tapped Little Black’s head: "Be more careful next time, got it?"

Little Black: "...Got it."

Might as well say yes, to avoid further nagging.

Little Black brushed off the dust and leaves that had stuck to Cheng Zhiyu, then jumped into his arms, finding a comfortable spot to settle in.

Tian Qiao: "Brother Black, help me too—"

Before he could finish, a stream of water came over, completely different from the gentle cleaning Cheng Zhiyu had received, roughly cleaning Tian Qiao off.

Tian Qiao was used to it. Little Black wasn’t targeting him specifically—he had no patience for anyone except Cheng Zhiyu.

"Let’s go, let’s head back. The pork should be stewed by now, right?" Tian Qiao said, swallowing hard. He was really hungry; the rations the base provided were never enough to fill him up.

When the two returned, they saw Zhou Min looking around curiously, thrilled to see them: "You’re finally back! I was about to go look for you if you didn’t return soon."

Cheng Zhiyu washed his hands and was about to pull the dough, only to find it already pulled and covered in the pot.

"Hey, pulling dough is simple. I saw you weren’t back yet, so I just did it. How is it?" Zhou Min walked over, seeking praise.

Cheng Zhiyu glanced at it. Though a bit thick, it didn’t matter—it wasn’t like they were making noodles; as long as it cooked through, it was fine. He praised Zhou Min: "Pretty good, more reliable than Tian Qiao."

Tian Qiao, who had been thrown under the bus, immediately protested: "Hey, hey, hey? What do you mean? I’m totally reliable too! I just can’t cook, that’s all!"

Zhou Min: "Hahaha..."

Even Tian Manman couldn’t help laughing.

Tian Qiao looked sadly at Manman: "Manman, whose side are you on?"

That made Manman too embarrassed to laugh at him.

"Alright, alright, let’s eat," Cheng Zhiyu said, stopping their bickering. Weren't you all just saying you were hungry?

He handed out chopsticks to each person and a bowl of steamed rice, and they gathered around the pot to eat.

Zhou Min touched the container holding the rice—wow, it was still warm. He clearly remembered that Cheng Zhiyu hadn’t steamed any rice earlier.

As he was thinking, Little Black took a bite of meat and, missing the taste of crayfish, asked Cheng Zhiyu if there was some left.

Cheng Zhiyu said: "There’s still some; we prepared a lot earlier."

So, he brought out another basin of crayfish, garlic-flavored. The arm-length mutant crayfish were split open, topped with glass noodles and minced garlic. The aroma wasn’t overpowering but was absolutely amazing.

Zhou Min: "Whoa, how is there still this? Is this lobster?"

Tian Qiao loved seeing Zhou Min’s amazed reaction. Though he’d been just as inexperienced back then, somehow... it felt satisfying.

He said calmly: "What lobster? This is mutant crayfish. Ah, we’ve been eating it every day, almost getting sick of it."

"Mutant crayfish? Aren’t they supposed to be fierce?" Zhou Min blurted out.

The others paused. Cheng Zhiyu shook his head: "No, they’re just bigger than regular crayfish."

He pondered: "It seems like mutations in creatures currently come in two types. One has special powers—like what the base said, they’re aggressive. The other type is like these crayfish, just bigger, with no other differences from before mutation."

Of course, their strength increased too, but that’s natural since they grew in size.

"If crayfish can get this big, I actually love oysters. If oysters could become super big too... wow, I can’t imagine how happy I’d be," Zhou Min, the food lover, immediately thought of his favorite foods growing larger.

Hearing this, Tian Qiao swallowed hard and asked Cheng Zhiyu: "Will we pass by the seaside on our way back?"

Cheng Zhiyu thought for a moment and nodded: "We will. We can catch some seafood to eat then."

Clearly, they were all thinking the same thing.

Though the apocalyptic world was full of dangers, there were still happy moments.

Zhou Min stuffed garlic shrimp into his mouth while exclaiming emotionally: "Oh my, I couldn’t even live this well before the apocalypse."

Little Black, who had been eating leisurely, saw Zhou Min’s voracious eating and immediately felt a competitive urge, speeding up his eating.

Cheng Zhiyu said helplessly: "Eat slowly."

Little Black refused to admit he was competing for food—it was too embarrassing. He made an excuse: "I’m hungry."

Cheng Zhiyu: Fine.

Unexpectedly, the chilled red cucumber salad was finished first. The sweet red cucumber, lightly seasoned, was refreshing and helped cut the grease, paired with sweet and sour tomatoes. Though a simple cold dish, it was surprisingly addictive.

Plus, the red cucumbers and tomatoes were full of energy. Eating them didn't exactly wash away all fatigue, but it made everyone feel less tired and warmed up.

Next finished was the garlic glass noodle mutant shrimp, followed by the pork and dough stew.

The pork and dough stew was finished last only because there was so much of it—a whole large pot. Even then, they ate every last bit, using the broth to mix with rice, wasting nothing.

Everyone was completely satisfied and rested comfortably for a while. Tian Qiao and the others took care of cleaning the pots and bowls.

Zhou Min, full and in a good mood, said: "Eating this well, even if I have to sleep in the forest tonight out in the open, I’d be happy!"

Tian Qiao replied: "Don’t include me. I’m not sleeping out in the open."

Zhou Min looked up at the starry sky: "If not out in the open, where do you want to sleep? And look at this starry sky—it’s quite beautiful. We never saw this in the city."

Zhou Min patted Tian Qiao’s shoulder, thinking he was resigning himself to their situation, and comforted him: "It’s okay, I’m good at making hammocks. Later, we’ll gather some vines, and I’ll make hammocks for us."

Tian Qiao thanked him for his kindness: "But really, it's not necessary. You don't understand—you'll see in a bit. With Orange around, why would we need to rough it like this?"

Zhou Min: "? Does Brother Cheng carry a bed around or something? That can't be right, can it?"

Tian Qiao shook his head mysteriously: "It's crazier than that."

He repeated: "You'll see in a bit."

Zhou Min muttered to himself: It must be that he brought a bed, right? Is Brother Cheng's space really that big? He just discovered that the other’s space even has a freshness-locking function. If it’s big enough to hold a bed, that would be way too OP.

At this moment, Zhou Min had no idea that Cheng Zhiyu hadn’t brought a bed—he’d brought the whole "house."

While they washed the pots, Cheng Zhiyu wasn’t idle either. He took out some of the freshly picked Sichuan peppercorns, washed them clean, and planned to make Sichuan pepper chicken potato stew later.

Then he chopped up the Sichuan pepper leaves and mixed them into the dough. Once the dough had risen, he could make Sichuan pepper steamed rolls.

However, the temperature at night was too low, and he was worried the dough wouldn’t rise well. So he prepared a basin of hot water and placed the bowl of dough inside it to speed up the rising process.

Seeing Cheng Zhiyu already preparing the next day’s meal, Zhou Min laid on the praise: "Brother Cheng, what would I do without you? I feel like I can’t live without you already."

Cheng Zhiyu found it amusing: "Is it really that exaggerated?"

Zhou Min: "Really…"

Before he could finish, he noticed Little Black looking at him—with a look that was… less than friendly.

Haha, must be his imagination. Brother Black's always like that, right?

Little Black: What do you mean, 'can’t live without you'? How could he say something so mushy? And to Cheng Zhiyu, no less.

For some reason, it bugged him.

While waiting for the dough to rise, the pots were clean. Cheng Zhiyu went ahead and started making the Sichuan pepper chicken potato stew, covering the pot to let it simmer slowly. There was no rush to eat anyway.

When it was time to steam the flower rolls, Tian Qiao and the others came to help. Making the rolls wasn't tricky, and unlike stuffed buns, there was no risk of the filling leaking out. Cheng Zhiyu handled the most difficult step—rolling and cutting the dough—slicing it horizontally through the middle and then into palm-length segments.

Tian Qiao and the others pinched the two ends of each segment together to form a flower roll.

Zhou Min’s attempts looked quite decent, but Tian Qiao and Tian Manman were rather clumsy, producing rolls that looked all kinds of messed up. Still, they were doing their best—their efforts to shape the dough looked like they were wrestling with alien limbs.

They didn’t have a steamer, but Cheng Zhiyu had brought a steamer insert. Placed inside a large pot, it could steam over ten rolls at a time. It was a bit troublesome, but since it wasn’t late yet and they weren’t in a hurry to sleep, they could do another batch every half hour.

After three rounds of steaming, the chicken in the pot was also cooked. They directly put it away in storage, and the last batch of flower rolls was steaming.

By the time they finished, everyone was tired. Tian Qiao went to check—the mutant bird hadn’t returned yet, but he wasn’t sure if it would come back in the middle of the night.

Zhou Min moved closer to Cheng Zhiyu: "Brother Cheng, how are we sleeping tonight?"

Cheng Zhiyu looked around. When he chose this spot, the most important reason was that it was relatively open, making it suitable to bring out Big Strong.

The area was mostly overgrown with weeds and shrubs, without any trees. They had already cleared the weeds and shrubs, so they could simply bring out Big Strong directly.

Cheng Zhiyu said: "Back up a sec."

Zhou Min scratched his head and obediently moved aside.

Then he saw Cheng Zhiyu mumble something under his breath, and suddenly a huge tree appeared not far away. Zhou Min’s jaw dropped in astonishment, his mouth almost hit the ground.

No wonder Tian Qiao said he didn’t want to sleep rough—turns out there was such a huge tree! Wait, no—it was a treehouse. He could see doors and windows.

It really was crazier than he had imagined—way beyond just carrying a bed around.

When he followed them inside the treehouse and saw the bright, roomy inside, he suddenly thought: I really backed the right horse!

Anyone else coming into the forest would be roughing it, but so far, they hadn’t endured any suffering at all. Not only had they not suffered—how was this any different from camping outdoors?

Well, actually, there was a difference: you don't get amenities like this camping.

Upon asking, Zhou Min learned that this treehouse was one of the special plants Cheng Zhiyu had cultivated. Aside from Little Iron, Cheng Zhiyu hadn’t shown him the others, mainly because it wasn’t very convenient back at the base.

"Wait, weren’t the vegetables we ate special plants?" Zhou Min asked, puzzled.

Tian Qiao laughed: "Those were just ordinary plants."

Zhou Min: "…"

You’re telling me those were ordinary plants? What would the Plant Superhumans at the base think about that?

However, after glancing at this tall treehouse, he had to admit that compared to this, those really could only be considered ordinary plants…

If the Plant Superhumans at the base found out that the plants they worked so hard to grow were seen as nothing more than ordinary plants in Cheng Zhiyu’s eyes, who knows how complicated their feelings would be.

Moreover, seeing how chill Tian Qiao and Tian Manman were about it made him seem like he was being dramatic.

"The treehouse only has two rooms…" Cheng Zhiyu thought for a moment. Since Tian Qiao and Tian Manman were staying in the upstairs room, he said: "How about you crash with me and Little Black?"

After all, Little Black was tiny anyway.

Before he could finish, Little Black said: "I don't do shared beds."

He was telling the truth—though Cheng Zhiyu was an exception.

Hearing this, Cheng Zhiyu was stuck. He naturally didn’t want to make Little Black uncomfortable.

Zhou Min said: "No, I’ve never shared a bed with anyone before—that'd be weird for me. I’ll take the living room. This sofa can probably be turned into a bed, right?"

Cheng Zhiyu confirmed with him: "Are you sure you’re okay taking the living room?"

Zhou Min: "'Course I am. I was already prepared to sleep on the ground. These conditions are more than good enough."

Cheng Zhiyu made sure he wasn’t forcing himself before nodding and showing him where the bathroom was, mentioning that he could take a shower.

Zhou Min was amazed, surprised to find that the treehouse even had running water. No way!

Cheng Zhiyu explained with a smile: "It’s not running water. There’s a water tank inside the treehouse that stores water."

Zhou Min nodded in understanding—so that’s how it was.

Cheng Zhiyu took out extra bedding from the cabinet, let Zhou Min set it up, and then wrapped things up before returning to his room.

Little Black jumped onto the bed, ready to sleep.

Cheng Zhiyu told him to hold up and pulled out… a scale from his storage space, asking Little Black to step on it.

He had taken this scale from a supermarket earlier—it was compact and didn’t take up much space. He brought it along for weighing Little Black.

Little Black, confused, walked over and asked: "What’s this?"

Cheng Zhiyu: "It's a scale. I feel like you might have put on some weight."

Little Black thought he had gained weight from eating too much; he froze in disbelief: How is this possible?

Then he stepped onto the scale, and Cheng Zhiyu glanced at it: "You've gained half a pound in weight."

Little Black's vision went dark: That much? He was still a cub, and half a pound was almost one-fifth of his body weight.

"What's wrong?" Cheng Zhiyu asked, puzzled, as he crouched down in front of Little Black, who had suddenly become dejected.

Little Black said gloomily, "Put all the mirrors away from now on. I don’t want to see how fat I’ve gotten."

Cheng Zhiyu burst out laughing, and Little Black immediately turned around, turning his back to him.

Cheng Zhiyu: "Don't be silly! You’re not getting fat—you’re growing up. Who told me they were starting to grow?"

Little Black: "...I'm going to sleep."

Cheng Zhiyu: Hahaha, how does Little Black manage to be so reliable at critical moments yet so adorably clueless at times?

He glanced at Little Black, who was feigning sleep, and gently stroked him: "Good night."

Little Black didn’t respond, but his tail gave a slight flick.

The night passed peacefully, but early the next morning, Cheng Zhiyu and the others heard Zhou Min shouting.