Chapter 44: Chapter 44: When It Rains, It Pours

Lin Yu’an picked up the stainless steel pot and added about half a pot of stream water.

“Sizzle—”

The clear water made a slight sound as it came into contact with the oil at the bottom of the pot, a mix of fish aroma, oil scent, and steam rising up.

He put the stainless steel pot back on the stove, with the burning wood inside steadily providing heat.

As the water temperature rose, the originally solidified beaver fat and attached fish scraps at the pot’s bottom started to slowly melt and spread into the water.

The clear stream water gradually turned into a slightly turbid light yellow, with golden oil beads floating on the surface.

Lin Yu’an added the right amount of salt and the dried berries he had previously collected, now there were no more dried berries left.

He gently stirred the soup in the pot with a smooth little stick, allowing the various flavors to integrate better.

Soon, the water in the pot started to bubble and gradually came to a boil.

When he felt the timing was right, he carefully took the stainless steel pot off the stove and set it aside to cool slightly.

Instead of using a clay bowl, he directly picked up the stainless steel pot, brought it to his lips, and cautiously sipped a small mouthful.

“Mmm—! Delicious!”

Lin Yu’an’s eyes lit up again, this time, it was a warmth and comfort different from the intense satisfaction of eating dried fried fish.

He drank the hot soup mouthful after mouthful, feeling the warm flow travel from mouth and esophagus to his stomach, instantly dispelling a day’s fatigue. He looked at the camera, his face beaming with a satisfied smile.

“Folks, this is absolutely the most resourceful dinner! Not a drop of fat or a hint of aroma has been wasted.”

“Tomorrow, we must work even harder! We have to find new food sources!”

After eating and drinking his fill, he carefully cleaned the cookware, then began preparing for possible hunting and exploration the next day, checking bows and arrows, sharpening tools, and planning routes.

A wild wind howled through the night, but Lin Yu’an slept fairly peacefully within the shelter.

On the forty-fifth day, the Sixth Sense warned of an ominous premonition that instantly awoke Lin Yu’an!

“Damn! It’s raining!”

Lin Yu’an walked outside the shelter, a colder wind than yesterday mixed with icy rain greeted his face,

only to see the fine cold rain driven by the wild wind slanting against the Earth, the waves on the lake more turbulent than yesterday, beating against the shore, splashing up water columns seemingly meters high.

“The weather today seems worse than yesterday.”

“The temperature has dropped significantly again; the perceived temperature is probably close to below zero.”

He tightened his coat, the bad premonition always surging in his mind.

His first thought was his stinging net, which he had placed a lot of hope in, although he found nothing when he checked yesterday, but he still positioned it in a relatively wind-shielded area in the river bend, hoping for a turnaround.

Wearing a waterproof coat and rain pants, he trudged arduously to that familiar river bend, and the sight in front of him made his heart go cold!

Worse still, the stinging net that was supposed to be submerged, along with the heavy log he used to anchor its far end, stretching over ten meters as an anchor point,

had been entirely overturned by the ferocious wind and waves, tangled onshore in a mess!

“Fu*k! My stinging net!” Lin Yu’an rushed forward, ignoring his pants getting wet from the cold splash of the waves.

He saw the original fine mesh entangled with the sharp rocks, dead branches, and debris on the shore, forming a tangled mess! Hanging on it were also some washed-up water plants and trash.

“Really damn it… this is a devastating blow!”

Lin Yu’an’s voice was filled with anger! He had originally hoped that on days he couldn’t take the boat out, this stinging net could bring him some unexpected harvest, but now it seems this hope is completely shattered.

“The wind and waves were so strong; even such a heavy log could be washed ashore; it shows how fierce the waves were last night.”

He tried to untangle the threads caught on the logs and stones, but they had been so saturated and repeatedly pulled by the wind and waves that they were deadlocked together.

“Really damn it! Trying to fix this stinging net is impossible; it’s quicker to just weave a new one!”

Lin Yu’an looked silently at the stinging net. This meant his most important passive fishing tool was completely ineffective.

When it rains, it pours; the destruction of the stinging net was like adding insult to injury, reducing his food acquisition method by one more.

With a heavy heart, he trudged back to the shelter, the rain pouring down harder, showing no signs of stopping.

The fire in the stove, too, burned less vigorously because of the dampness.

He first carefully checked the condition of the shelter; the stone walls and the thick reed roof withstood the test of wind and rain, with no obvious leaks.

But at the seams of the door curtain and windows, some cold wind and rain seeped in, making the interior rather damp and chilly.

He used some spare dry moss and reed fragments to meticulously stuff these gaps.

Then, he began inventorying his remaining food. The smoked fish was only enough for two more days, the beaver fat for a small bowl, and other than that he had no food reserves.

Lin Yu’an frowned, looking at the persistent drizzle outside the door.

“If this wind and rain continue, I won’t even have the chance to go out and set traps, let alone hunt.”

As he worried about food, another problem quietly arose.

He noticed that the dry birch bark and small twigs he had stored began to dampen due to the continuous wet weather, making them difficult to ignite.

Fortunately, the firewood stored inside the shelter still had some, but if the wind and rain persisted for several days, unable to go outside and replenish, they wouldn’t last long.

“The fuel is also starting to run out.” Lin Yu’an felt an unprecedented pressure, not expecting such sudden rain to come.

Severe weather, food scarcity, major fishing tool damage, fuel reserves urgently dwindling… a series of blows came one after another as if the entire nature was opposing him.

In the afternoon, the rain eased slightly, but the wind was still strong.

Ignoring the cold, Lin Yu’an decided to take the risk to check the small traps he had set in the woods and try to find some emergency food near the shelter.

He donned his barely adequate raincoat, put on a hat, and trudged through the muddy woodland.

The small traps were unsurprisingly still empty, rainwater even washed away a few stone slab traps he had set up.

He carefully searched under some pine trees for fallen cones, hoping to find some edible pine nuts, but most of them were either soaked by rainwater or gnawed by other small animals, leaving only empty shells.

He tried to strip some birch bark, but the slippery trunk and cold rain made the process extremely difficult, and the scraped inner bark was too bitter and astringent to swallow.

“Could it be that I’m really reaching the end of the line? Do I have to resort to using the space food?”

Standing in the wind and rain, with empty hands, Lin Yu’an felt a deep sense of helplessness and frustration flood his heart.

But he changed his mindset, realizing now was a perfect time to record some material showing vulnerability!

If it ever came down to needing to cheat, without having encountered any crisis, it would be easy for viewers to suspect cheating!

Just like that one season’s champion Juan, who relied on drinking hot water for fifteen days to win.

Whether or not he hid biscuit crumbs in his clothes is unknown, but he’s permanently nailed to the pillar of shame for cheating!

Since coming to this wilderness, the journey had been too smooth, with Jerusalem artichokes, beavers, big fish… it really seemed scripted.

For the first time now, he felt so close to the brink of despair, needing to use it well to effectively avoid attracting accusations of cheating.

Facing the camera, with a somewhat hoarse voice, he said: “Folks, the difficulties I now face might be more severe than at any other time since the program began! The harsh weather not only destroyed my fishing net but also restricted my movements.”

“Making obtaining food exceedingly difficult. I must think of a solution quickly, or else…”

He didn’t finish, but his grave expression said it all.

Returning to the shelter by evening, Lin Yu’an sat wearily by the stove.

The fire in the stove, because of the slightly damp firewood, looked somewhat limp. The tiny bit of food he had left must be carefully rationed.

Tonight’s dinner might just be a small piece of smoked fish along with a spoonful of beaver oil, boiled into a pot of soup.

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