That night, seeing everyone asleep, Ye Hao quietly got up and got dressed. He gently woke Sun Chaoshu, telling him to follow him out. In the dark, Ye Hao pretended to take a package from his luggage and left the warehouse.
Not long after, Sun Chaoshu came out. "Brother Hao, why did you call me out so late?" Sun Chaoshu asked, yawning.
"Look what this is?" Ye Hao opened the package in his hand.
Under the moonlight, Sun Chaoshu clearly saw what was inside the package and was about to exclaim loudly.
Upon seeing this, Ye Hao took a swift step forward and covered Sun Chaoshu's mouth, stopping him from shouting.
"Keep it down, do you want to wake everyone up?" Ye Hao said grumpily.
"No, Brother Hao, where did you get this?" Sun Chaoshu was practically drooling.
"I brought it from the City. I got it at the Pigeon Market there. How about it, want a taste?"
"Yes, I want to eat it, I want to eat it. Can this be eaten without being cooked? I heard it has to be cooked. I've only seen it before but never eaten it, no one in my family makes it."
"This has already been cooked. Here, one for each of us. We've been eating steamed buns every day these past few days, without any oil." Saying this, Ye Hao handed Sun Chaoshu a sausage.
Ye Hao had gotten these sausages in the last few days he was in the City, seeing someone trading them for coarse grains. Ye Hao wanted to try something new, so he exchanged some sweet potatoes for a few. After cooking them, they were stored in the space warehouse, where they wouldn't spoil and could be taken out to eat anytime.
Sun Chaoshu took the sausage and devoured it, eating incredibly fast, like Zhu Bajie eating ginseng fruit.
Seeing Sun Chaoshu eat with such relish, Ye Hao felt a bit hungry too. But Sun Chaoshu's unsatisfied expression made Ye Hao feel a little uneasy. "Alright, here, take half more. Don't look at me with that expression, it disgusts me." Saying this, he broke the sausage in half and gave one half to Sun Chaoshu.
Ye Hao took a bite of the sausage and found it spicy and numbing, and very salty. It was clearly a sausage made by someone from the southwest.
It tasted pretty good, just too salty. Thinking about it, he looked at Sun Chaoshu again, who was still eating it with such enjoyment. Eating something so salty, he probably wouldn't sleep well all night, constantly having to get up to drink water.
After they finished eating, the two returned to the room to sleep. Ye Hao lay on the bed. In the pitch-black room, he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. He instantly flashed into the space, first drawing some space spring water to drink; that sausage was too salty.
Then he caught two young roosters from the breeding area, cleaned them, and marinated them with seasoning. Once they were almost marinated, Ye Hao started a fire to roast the chickens.
Half an hour later, the roasted chicken was almost ready. Ye Hao took out cumin powder and chili powder, sprinkling them on one of the roasted chickens. The aroma immediately wafted up.
Aoxue had been following Ye Hao ever since he entered the space. Now, seeing the roasted chicken ready, she was overjoyed, jumping up and down. Seeing Aoxue so excited, Ye Hao gave her the roasted chicken without seasoning. Aoxue took the roasted chicken in her mouth, and two bites later, the chicken was gone. Seeing Aoxue's pleading eyes, Ye Hao pretended not to notice. He couldn't let Aoxue eat cooked food often; eating too much would make her lose her wildness, and Ye Hao still planned to take Aoxue hunting.
"Aoxue, you're already so big, you need to learn to be self-reliant. If you're hungry, catch a chicken yourself to eat. And you're a wolf, you should eat raw meat, not a dog that eats the same as humans every day. If you eat the same as me every day, you'll turn into a dog, understand?" Saying this, he no longer paid attention to the pitiful Aoxue.
Ye Hao held the delicious roasted chicken and ate it with great relish. These past few days, because he was always with everyone, it was inconvenient to enter the space alone, and Ye Hao hadn't eaten well. Today, he could finally eat his fill and eat well.
...
Early the next morning, Ye Hao's biological clock woke him up. While it was still dim, Ye Hao got up, got dressed, and went out to exercise.
As soon as he ran out of the village, he saw many villagers already working outside. Only then did Ye Hao remember that this was a rural area, and the villagers took advantage of the sun not being out yet to do more farm work, so they wouldn't have to work under the scorching sun at noon.
Ye Hao ran about ten kilometers around the area and returned to the village. Just as he passed Captain Li's house, Captain Li also walked out. "Comrade Xiao Ye, you're up so early. You traveled for so long yesterday, why didn't you sleep more? What are you going to do?"
"Captain Li, I'm not tired. I just got up this morning to run. It's a habit I've had since I was little; I run every morning."
"Good habit, no wonder you weren't tired at all after walking so many mountain roads yesterday. Comrade Xiao Ye, come to my uncle's house for breakfast." Li Dayou warmly invited Ye Hao into the house to eat.
"Uncle, no need. So many of us came together, we can't possibly eat at your house every day. Today, I plan to build a simple stove where we're staying, and we'll cook for ourselves from now on. No need to trouble you."
"Hmm, alright. If you need any help from uncle, just tell me. But you still have to eat breakfast at uncle's house. No matter how fast you build that stove, it won't be ready until noon. Just make do with breakfast at uncle's house for now." Li Dayou ushered Ye Hao into the house.
Captain Li was so enthusiastic that Ye Hao found it hard to decline, so he followed Captain Li into the house.
He saw a small kang table placed on the kang, with several sweet potatoes on it that were slightly thicker than a finger. They were similar to the mini sweet potatoes specially cultivated in later generations, but these probably weren't specially cultivated. Nowadays, high yields were sought, so these were likely the ones that hadn't grown big after the sweet potato harvest. The large, good ones might have already been transported to the City, leaving only these small, less appealing ones for the villagers to eat themselves.
At this moment, an aunt walked in from the kitchen, holding a basin. "Xiao Ye, let me introduce you. This is my wife, you can just call her Zhao Shenr. Go get a pair of bowls and chopsticks for Xiao Ye."
"Xiao Ye, we can't compare to you in the City. We can only eat this. When the forest protection team comes down today, I'll ask them if they've caught any rabbits and get one for you to have a good meal."
"Uncle Li, it's already very good. Many people in the City are starving now. We came here to contribute to national construction and be self-sufficient, no need for so much trouble."
"Haha, educated people are different. I'm just a rough old man, I haven't read books. Back then, after driving away the devils, I returned to these big mountains, thinking about my wife, children, and warm kang... Never mind, let's eat first." It seemed Uncle Li also had a story to tell.
Seeing Uncle Li's expression, he didn't want to talk further, so Ye Hao didn't press.
After breakfast, Ye Hao returned to the warehouse. Entering the room, he saw that among the group, only Lu Bingsheng was awake; everyone else was still sleeping.
"Bingsheng, up so early? Have you eaten?"
"I couldn't sleep, so I got up." Lu Bingsheng was unwilling to say much.
Seeing Lu Bingsheng like this, Ye Hao knew he definitely hadn't eaten. Because of his family's situation, Lu Bingsheng hadn't brought much food when he came out, and the little he had brought had already been eaten on the way. If Ye Hao hadn't given him food a few times along the way, he might not have even made it to the foot of Changbai Mountain.
Ye Hao went to his luggage, casually rummaged through it, and took out something wrapped in newspaper, handing it to Lu Bingsheng. "Bingsheng, you eat first. This morning, let's build a simple stove, and then we can cook for ourselves at noon."
"Brother Hao, this… I've already eaten so much of your food. It's fine if I skip this meal."
"Just eat when I tell you to. I'll need you to work after you're full. You're the most skilled among us."
Without waiting for a refusal, Ye Hao directly placed the steamed bun wrapped in newspaper into Lu Bingsheng's hand.