It was completely dark, and the shacks and simple houses on the roadside were lit up with lights.
The fire flickered with the wind, as if it would go out at any time.
"Why hasn't my brother come back yet?"
Tang Tang opened the simple wooden door and looked at the entrance of the camp.
Time passed little by little, and the fire in the room behind her was extinguished. She squatted on the ground without blinking.
There were many instances of a person leaving camp during the day, not returning at night, and then never coming back again.
When fetching water or washing clothes, you can always hear the women saying that so-and-so’s family has not been back for one day, and the next day they say that they have not been back for two days...three days, five days... After that, no one said anything.
Tang Tang hugged her arms tightly, and the cold wind in the dark night made her tremble from the bottom of her heart.
"Sister, why are you at the door?" Seeing the black shadow on the ground, Tang Wen breathed a sigh of relief. The house was dark and he thought something had happened.
"Brother? How did you come back from there?"
Tang Tang stood up, tears welling up in his eyes.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. Let's go inside!"
"well!"
The two siblings went into the shack and picked up flint and steel to relight the earthen stove.
The firelight turned their cheeks red.
Before his sister could ask, Tang Wen raised his index finger to his mouth, reached into his arms with his other hand, and pulled out the corn bag.
"Is this?" A suppressed and surprised voice.
After Tang Tang finished speaking, he quickly looked at the door, and when he saw that there was no movement, he took the corn bag with both hands.
"Four and a half pounds of corn, we can eat enough today!"
"Where did it come from? Are you injured?" As he said that, Tang Tang grabbed his arm and prepared to give his brother a full body check.
Tang Wen waved his hands quickly: "It's okay! Except for being a little tired, there's nothing wrong with it. By the way, there's this."
He took out the last red-billed bird he had shot today.
"You hit..." After only half a sentence, Tang Tang looked at the door again, paused for a few seconds, and then said in a very low voice: "Did you hit it with a stone?"
"Well, don't tell anyone."
"Uh-huh!"
Tang Tang kept nodding like a chicken pecking at rice: "This little bird should be exchanged for rice."
Tang Wen lowered his head and looked at their numb arms: "We need to eat meat. Winter is coming. We can't survive without eating more. Each of us will eat half!"
Tang Tang's little face was full of reluctance: "But didn't you say that a little bird can be exchanged for one and a half pounds of corn?"
"Don't worry, we can still catch birds tomorrow."
"Okay, let's eat tomorrow. Eat more corn today."
After saying that, she turned around and went to get the rice jar.
Tang Wen:......
My sister seems to be, well, a bit smart.
Gududu, the water in the clay pot is boiling.
Tang Tang dropped two small handfuls of corn.
"If I shoot more, I will definitely be able to catch birds tomorrow."
The feeling of hunger is too uncomfortable.
After two days, Tang Wen finally understood why many people have difficulty losing weight.
Because being hungry and having to exercise constantly is simply not a life for humans.
Under the persuasion of his younger brother, Tangtang added a handful more to the clay pot.
Cuckoo, cuckoo.
Their stomachs growled one after another.
Neither brother nor sister said a word.
A hungry person doesn't want to talk at all.
When the thick corn porridge was poured into the bowl, the two couldn't wait to pick it up.
While blowing and drinking, the two bowls of porridge were all gone in less than three minutes.
Tangtang was mixed with cold water, and two bowls of rice soup were boiled, and each person sipped one bowl at a time.
After two bowls of soup, I was seventy percent full.
While her sister packed up the kitchen utensils, Tang Wen lay down on the hay and closed his eyes to meditate.
The time now is probably seven o'clock in the evening.
In a world without any entertainment, it would be nice to go to bed early and get up early...
wrong.
It’s far from easy time!
Tang Wen opened his eyes and remembered that on his way back to the camp today, he encountered those people squatting on the roadside trying to rob him.
Fortunately, I was fooled by myself.
But what about next time?
Well, you can’t take the main road when you come back in the future.
You can first climb a tree or stand on a high place to observe the situation.
And most importantly, he looked down at his small arms, which were as thin as match sticks.
Gotta exercise!
Thinking of this, before he was still hungry, he stood up, walked to the door, and started to move his body.
In his sister's confused eyes, Tang Wen stared forward, stepped forward with his legs, put his palms flat, raised them to the position of his navel, spread his arms, put the backs of his hands together on top of his head, and then, with a swish, thrust straight into the air .
When Tang Tang, who was sitting in the room, saw it, his little head jerked back.
The first form of the Eight Parts of Vajra Kung Fu.
Over the past three years, Tang Wen has been locked away at home for several months.
The last and longest time, the lockdown lasted for more than 80 days. In the building he rented, there were confirmed cases every day.
In order to enhance his resistance, he followed the health experts on Douyin and learned this set of eight Vajra exercises.
However, he had only practiced this technique for a few months. The time was too short and he had not yet experienced any benefits.
Now, Tang Wen desperately hopes that it can be as magical as the comment section said.
"Sister, you have to remember the moves. You have to practice accordingly."
Tang Tang didn’t want to memorize it, let alone practice it, because he would get hungry easily if he moved too much.
But looking at Tang Wen's serious look, she still nodded slightly and added a handful of dead leaves to the earthen stove to make the fire light brighter.
After practicing the eight Vajra Kung Fu in one go, your body will feel slightly warm.
After a short rest, I started again.
Then the third time...
The worry on Tang Tang's face became more and more intense. Will his brother be hungry? You don’t want to have another meal, do you?
After completing the third round of the eight-step Vajra Kung Fu, the light in front of Tang Wen's eyes was distorted:
[Name: Tang Wen]
[Age: 14 years and 9 months]
【Body: 0.3】
【Fine: 0.7】
[Skill: Farming Mastery (719/1000)]
[Skill: Throwing stones, master (67/1000)]
[Skill: Eight Vajra Skills, Beginner (0/500)]
It has indeed become a skill.
This proves that my movements are very standard without much deformation.
Tang Wen was relieved. He had been following the video voice prompts and practicing step by step. It was the first time he was separated from the video guidance and he was really not sure.
Fortunately it’s done!
It's just that the Eight-part Vajra Skill is much more complicated than throwing stones. After it becomes a skill, the level shown is not "entry", but "beginner".
But Tang Wen was very satisfied. No matter what happened, just the experience bar appeared.
"Sister, do you remember? Next time, you have to practice with me."
And next time? Then you must practice to be hungry, right?
"Xiaowen, what are you practicing?"
Tang Wen said casually: "Two days ago, I met an old man with a white beard. He taught me. With practice, I can become even better."
Tang Tang suddenly said: "No wonder, you are more hungry these two days than before. Are you also practicing during the day?"
"Well, um, we won't be short of corn to eat from now on, so you have to start practicing too."
After two seconds of silence, Tang Tang said: "Tomorrow, I will practice tomorrow."
Tang Wen didn't force himself, took a sip of water, and practiced for the fourth time at the door.
Tang Tang sat on the hay, arms around his knees, and murmured something in a voice that only he could hear.
After practicing for the fourth time, you will gain 5 experience points.
[Skill: Eight Vajra Skills, Beginner (0→5/500)]
"call!"
My weak body was already sweating slightly after performing the Eight Parts of Vajra Kung Fu four times in a row.
Without continuing, Tang Wen returned to the house, lay on the hay, chatted for a few words with Tang Tang, and soon fell asleep.
Early the next morning, I heard Tang Wen's stomach growling before he woke up.
Tang Tang was so cruel that he put three handfuls of corns into the pot and cooked two bowls of fragrant porridge.
After dinner, under the advice of my sister.
Tang Wen left the camp and walked into the barren woods.
Everyone knows that the coming winter will be difficult.
So even the edible bark was stripped clean.
People have a hard time, and so do birds.
After searching for a long time, he saw several red-billed finches perching in the trees.
Summing up yesterday's experience, Tang Wen acted more calmly.
Four red-billed finches were frightened by the death of their kind and flew several times, but they all landed on a nearby tree and were targeted by Tang Wen. Three of the four died.
But these three red-billed finches were all Tang Wen's harvest in the morning.
At noon, he returned to camp.
"Hit three more? Xiaowen is so awesome!"
Tang Tang became energetic.
Then, as if she thought of something, she quickly closed the door and gave a series of instructions:
"To change corn, you can't go to the rice shop yesterday! There is also a shop east of the camp that I heard is some kind of black shop. You can't go there. You can't change too much rice at one time..."
Tang Wen listened patiently and said something that troubled her: "We definitely can't exchange for too much rice. We have to eat meat."
"Uh", the young lady's eyebrows were knitted together: "Okay."
