The live birds, if they died, we’d just catch new ones. Out of the hundred or so live birds that had survived in this weary state, we placed them in more than twenty iron cages. They fit perfectly on the roofs of several off-road vehicles. A few more cages, and we wouldn’t have been able to take them all. The collected bird eggs were even counted by the basketful.
If it wasn’t for Ye Nai’s Space being large and able to preserve freshness, who would dare to hunt so recklessly, sparing no ammunition? The logistics members with Spaces could only carry a limited number of boxes and ice bags.
So, we broke camp and departed.
Ye Nai also seized the opportunity to drive a tracked vehicle out of this muddy area.
On the return journey, Captain Pan took the lead vehicle, with Captain Liu bringing up the rear. Ye Nai still followed the lead vehicle, but this time, she was driving.
In the past few days, everyone had ridden in vehicles driven by her, but the distances were short, simply from the hunting ground back to camp.
This was the first time she was allowed to drive for twenty or thirty kilometers, all the way until we switched to an off-road vehicle.
Ye Nai drove very carefully. As the lead vehicle in the convoy, she exhibited all the required qualities perfectly. Her speed was stable, without any fluctuation. She handled it like a seasoned driver who had been behind the wheel for years. However, everyone knew she had a fondness for speeding these past few days, and this sudden change came as a pleasant surprise to all her passengers.
"Yezi, you’ve got a natural talent for driving. I thought you’d give in and floor the gas pedal again."
"If I were alone, I would definitely speed. How can you call it driving if you don’t speed in such an open area?"
"Hearing you say that makes me, as a passenger, feel relieved."
"Haha~"
After everyone switched to off-road vehicles to continue on the road, Ye Nai got another chance to familiarize herself with the vehicles during the evening camp. Compared to the tracked vehicle, there were some differences in operation. She had to practice to know how to drive different vehicles.
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After several days of traveling and driving practice in the wilderness, once we hit the highway, Ye Nai stopped fiddling with the vehicles and became a well-behaved passenger.
Upon returning to Danger Zone No. 5, we handed over the hunted prey, and after resting for two days, Ye Nai received a message to meet with Captains Liu and Pan to receive her reward.
The reward was a large piece of giant frog skin, enough to make a pair of knee-high boots.
In addition, there were ten pounds of frog legs and five clean bird meats, skinless and gutted, just like the clean meat Ye Nai had obtained from the Fungus.
Everyone involved in the mission got a share.
The hunted game we brought back was plentiful. After setting aside a small amount required by researchers, the rest was enough to feed the camp’s warriors for a week.
Only the legs of the giant frog were edible, and the ability to skin the water birds to provide so much clean meat made everyone happy. They planned to enjoy a meal first and save the rest for New Year’s Day as a special dish.
After collecting their items from the cold storage and walking out together, Captain Liu cleared his throat, trying to probe Ye Nai’s plans for the New Year.
"Yezi, are you planning to travel out of town for New Year’s Day?"
"No, traveling during New Year’s? Wouldn’t it be crowded everywhere? I’d rather stay home and sleep in."
"Then how about joining us for the New Year’s feast? We’ll have a chef in charge of the kitchen."
"A chef? Does the mess team have a First-level Chef? With a certificate? Hasn’t their skill degraded?"
Ye Nai was highly skeptical. If there were really a First-level Chef, they would have been assigned to cook their own small pots from the beginning of their enlistment. Cooking in a big pot every day, skills would degrade.
"You know, for New Year’s, the higher-ups will send chefs down. With fresh ingredients, we can strive for a Level 1 Chef certificate holder to be in charge of our cooking."
"Great!" Ye Nai’s eyes lit up, saliva building up in her mouth, "Then I’m definitely coming! I’ve never had a First-level Chef’s cooking before!"
"Then it’s settled."
The young adult who graduated and lived independently away from home did not show any desire to return home for a significant day like New Year’s Day, clearly the Ox and Horse Sister awakening in a large family context. Those who knew about her family situation felt reassured. With Ye Nai’s Beginner Training Level 2 skills, a household of average people couldn’t withstand even a few punches from her should she get upset and choose not to hold back like before.
She had actively broken off contact with her dreadful family. With no spouse, no children, no official position, no military service, just an ordinary civilian without any constraints—this was quite fearsome. No one wanted to see her placed in an environment that could provoke her.
Back at home, Ye Nai took a picture of the meat she had received and sent it to Brother Peng.
Brother Peng quickly replied, as if he had been waiting by his phone the whole time.
[Are these the prey you guys caught this time?]
[Yes, ten pounds of frog legs and five pieces of clean bird meat. I’ll keep two pounds of meat and one bird, do you want the rest?]
[You’re not keeping a bit more for yourself?]
[No need, just want a taste. There will be chefs in the camp over New Year’s Day who can cook it better than I can, and besides, we’ll be able to go into the Secret Realm to hunt again. The price of giant toad skin is pretty high, so it’ll definitely become a regular hunting mission.]
[Okay, I’m stewing meat right now. Come over with a lunchbox in the afternoon.]
[Yay!]
In the afternoon, Ye Nai went to Brother Peng’s house, not only selling the mutant beast meat for a good price but also packed a box of wine-stewed meat.
The meat was stewed purely in wine, without a drop of water, leaving a delicious flavor in the meat after the alcohol evaporated. Brother Peng filled her box to the brim, and she ate several pieces on the spot, even sucking on her fingers uncontrollably.
"Wow, Brother Peng, your cooking skills are amazing. Get some ’baijimo’, chop the meat into small pieces, and make a ’roujiamo’. It’s top-notch."
"You sure know good food. There is a place on the street that actually sells ’baijimo’."
"Where? I haven’t seen it at my usual breakfast spot."
"This community has more than one gate, you know. If you go towards the back, there is another gate. If you go out from there, you will find a bun shop that sells ’baijimo’, and they make it quite well. Several other shops around here that sell ’roujiamo’ buy their buns from them."
"Cool."
Following the directions Brother Peng gave her, Ye Nai indeed bought some freshly baked ’baijimo’ and went home to use the wine-stewed meat from the lunch box to make ’roujiamo’. Biting into it, she felt nothing but satisfaction.
While buying the buns, she observed several shops that often ordered takeout and realized that she had been a customer on this street for a long time, just never knowing that there was another gate to the community here. No wonder sometimes the delivery arrived incredibly fast.
She was happily eating when the phone rang. Picking it up, she saw it was her mom.
Ye Nai was quite surprised, as this was the first call from home she had received in the months since she left.
"Hello, Mom?"
"Yes, Ye Nai, are you coming home for New Year’s Day?"
"No, I’m not."
"Why not? Come back, will you? Your grandparents have come back, and there’s a place for you here."
"Oh, I’m not coming back. I’ll transfer eight hundred for the holiday."
"Ah? Only eight hundred? Er, no, it’s been a few months since you left. Come back for New Year’s Day so we can see if you are doing well."
"I earn and spend in equal measure, I’m great on my own."
"Earn and spend all your money, not saving any? How can that be okay? You’re an adult, you should be saving for marriage. A few households in our neighborhood are selling their homes, do you want to come back and have a look? Buying a home near your parents, we can take care of you, right?"
"I have a job outside, why would I spend hundreds of thousands on a house I can’t live in? Am I sick? Is this how you buy things? Out of the blue, what do you really want? Tell me the truth."
"Nothing much, it’s just that you’ve been away from home for a few months, and we want to see you, have a meal together as a family."
"And after we eat?"
"You sit at home for a while?"
"After sitting?"
"After sitting... then... "