Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 127 Grilled Fish

Xu Xiaoyan's suggestion hit Wang Xiao's nail on the head. He was already in a state of high excitement because of catching fish, and now he cheered and rushed towards the edge of the dark woods around the pond without saying a word.

Using the faint moonlight and the reflection of the campfire, he quickly searched among the fallen leaves and bushes, picking up any dry, easily combustible branches and leaves with both hands and feet. He even unconsciously hummed a tuneless but cheerful little tune, full of energy.

Xie Yingtang didn't say much, but silently got up. He first used the firelight to carefully survey the open space that was a little far from the pond, relatively dry, and without any low-hanging branches, and then selected an ideal spot to start a fire.

Then, he began searching and selecting some moderately sized, relatively flat stones nearby. He skillfully arranged these stones into an irregular but stable circle, leaving space in the middle to place kindling, and cleverly using several larger stones to build a simple stove that could stably support the branches for grilling fish and effectively prevent sparks from igniting a forest fire.

Meanwhile, with the continuous diversion, the pond water finally dried up completely. Most of the turbid water flowed into the previously dry and cracked wasteland below through the narrow channel they had dug themselves. The muddy water slowly accumulated in the field, overflowing the withered grass roots, and eventually formed a new, shallow muddy pond that shimmered faintly in the moonlight.

Looking at the "new water area" that they had transformed themselves, Xu Xiaoyan had an idea. She called to Xie Yingtang, who had just set up the stove, and Wang Xiao, who had returned carrying a large bundle of firewood, "Come on, lend a hand, let's move the fish bags to the new pond over there."

The three carefully lifted the heavy sack, which was mostly filled with fresh fish and whose tails occasionally slapped against the sides, and carried it to the edge of the newly formed pond.

They found a spot where the water was a little deeper and slowly submerged the bottom and most of the burlap sack into the muddy water, leaving only the opening above the water. They used stones to weigh down the edges to secure it, ensuring that the fish inside had enough water and oxygen to survive while preventing them from jumping out.

After doing all that, the three of them, exhausted but extremely satisfied, sat around the campfire that had been successfully lit and was crackling and leaping with warm, orange-red flames.

Xie Yingtang deftly scooped four large fish out of the waterlogged sack, skillfully scaling, gutting, and cleaning them with a dagger, then quickly rinsing them clean in the shallow water near the pond.

Wang Xiao had already prepared several evenly sized branches with sharp ends and handed them over. The four prepared fish were steadily skewered on the branches and placed on the stone stove that Xie Yingtang had carefully built, hanging above the roaring flames.

Soon, the fish began to change under the high temperature. The oil was forced out and dripped into the fire below, making a sizzling sound that made mouths water. A smell that was a mixture of the unique aroma of charred fish and a faint aquatic smell spread quickly in the quiet night air with the rising heat, domineeringly entering everyone's nasal cavity, strongly arousing the long-dormant appetite, and making people's mouths involuntarily secrete more saliva.

When the grilled fish turned an enticing golden color, with a slightly crispy skin and the flesh easily separated from the meat with a gentle poke of a twig, the three could no longer contain themselves. They didn't even care about the heat; some of them eagerly took a skewer each, disregarding their appearance, and tore off large chunks of the snow-white, piping hot fish flesh with their hands and stuffed them into their mouths.

The long-lost, fresh taste of meat, mixed with the unique charred aroma after being grilled over flames, exploded on the taste buds! The rich, oily texture, the firm yet slightly sweet fish fibers... this familiar yet unfamiliar ultimate enjoyment almost moved the taste buds, which had been tormented by dry food and compressed biscuits for a long time, to tears. Wang Xiao ate with great gusto, breathing out hot air even as he ate, but he was unwilling to stop.

The four grilled fish were quickly devoured, leaving only bare fish bones. Although there was some food in their stomachs, this sudden and exquisite deliciousness did not satisfy their cravings. Instead, it was like lighting a fuse, amplifying the most primal desire for meat that had been suppressed within them for a long time!

"Not enough! Not enough at all! This is just the beginning! It's gone as soon as it whetted my appetite!" Wang Xiao smacked his lips, savoring the lingering aroma, and jumped up, his face full of dissatisfaction.

Without saying a word, he quickly ran to the temporary "living water fishpond" and swiftly scooped out six fish that were noticeably larger than the ones from before.

He squatted by the water, using the pool water to deftly scrape off the scales and remove the internal organs with a dagger. Then he took the six "trophies" back, sharpened the branches again, threaded them one by one, and placed them in the empty space next to the fire, carefully adjusting the distance to ensure even heating.

Xu Xiaoyan looked at the newly added roasted fish on the fire, then at the mountain of water chestnuts piled up on the ridges beside her, glistening white in the firelight, and the several heavy bags of dark brown water caltrops. "We've been lucky this time; we've found far more than we expected. Have you thought about what to do with these supplies? Are you keeping them all for yourselves, or do you have other plans?"

Xie Yingtang was tearing at the last bit of grilled fish in his hand when he heard this. He pondered for a moment, then threw the fish bones into the fire. "The catch is indeed considerable, but the biggest problem is that it is extremely difficult to preserve, especially in this kind of weather. It is very easy to spoil. My idea is that, apart from what we are eating on the spot now, all the remaining fish, regardless of size, should be cleaned up tonight and grilled into dried fish over this fire. Although the taste will be much worse, it will be easy to carry, not easy to spoil, and can be used as dry food on the road to supplement protein in critical moments."

After talking about the fish, he looked at the pile of vegetables and frowned slightly. "As for these water chestnuts and caltrops... I haven't decided yet. These things have a high water content and rot more easily than fish. I'm afraid they won't last more than two or three days. Xiaoyan, you know these things better. What are your thoughts?"

Xu Xiaoyan raised her wrist and looked at the luminous hands of her watch in the firelight. "It's 1:15 a.m. We'll be heading back to the military vehicle dock. Based on our speed on the way here and the increased load, it should take about an hour and a half. At most, we'll have about three and a half hours of free time."

"Water chestnuts and water bamboo shoots are indeed very difficult to preserve, just as Brother Xie said. My suggestion is that we keep a small portion for ourselves, enough to eat and enjoy freshness for the next day or two," she paused, then continued, "and take the rest to trade with the military. Let's see if they have any hard currency that we need, or that can be exchanged for something that stores better than fresh vegetables. What do you think?"

Wang Xiao was busy turning over the six newly placed grilled fish to ensure they were heated evenly when he heard this. He looked up, his face still covered in charcoal ash, and agreed without hesitation, "I think it's a good idea! Xiao Yan's idea is great! Keep some for yourself, and exchange the rest for better stuff! As for the dried fish, cleaning the large fish is a bit of a hassle, but for the small fish, I think we can just skip gutting them and string them together with thin branches from head to tail to dry. That'll save time and effort! Three hours should be enough if we hurry!"

After listening, Xie Yingtang nodded in agreement, and the three of them immediately took action without delay.

Xu Xiaoyan volunteered to take over the task of tending the fire and grilling the fish. She needed to constantly monitor the fire's burning status, add firewood as needed, and maintain a strong and stable fire for drying. At the same time, she also had to keep turning all the fish on the rack—including those being grilled for consumption and those that needed to be dried—to ensure they were heated evenly and not burnt on one side while still raw on the other. This was a job that required patience and meticulousness.

Wang Xiao took his dagger and, using the relatively clean water in the new pond next to him, began to process the larger fish that needed to be gutted and cleaned. He moved quickly and skillfully, scaling, gutting, cleaning, and rinsing them all in one go. Then he placed the processed fish on clean leaves to the side for later use.

Xie Yingtang was in charge of dealing with the large number of small fish. He found many tough and slender branches and skillfully strung the small fish, which did not require complicated processing, one by one from head to tail into a dense long string, which looked like some kind of peculiar fish rosary. This not only made it easy to hang it next to the fire to roast, maximizing the use of heat energy, but also made it convenient to carry and retrieve later.

The campfire crackled and popped, the leaping flames elongating the busy, focused figures of the three. The aroma of grilled fish mingled with the smoke and fire, creating a sense of tranquility in the wilderness.

Time flew by in the midst of their hectic activity. After a full three hours, as dawn was about to break, the three of them finally completed this massive project. All the fish had been processed, and most of them had been roasted into dried fish that were firm, dense, and could be preserved for a long time.

They carefully divided the dried fish into three equal parts and stuffed them into their backpacks. They also selected some fresh and plump water chestnuts from the pile of water bamboo and water caltrops and packed them into a separate burlap sack. The remaining two large sacks of water bamboo and three sacks of water caltrops, which were still quite substantial, were carefully tied together with rope, ready to be used as important bargaining chips in their trade with Jiang Shan.

After everything was tidied up, the campfire was extinguished, and the embers were carefully buried. The three of them, carrying significantly heavier packs, returned towards the direction where the caravan was stationed.

However, just as they were about to merge into the growing crowd that was beginning to awaken on the outskirts of the camp, an unexpected incident occurred.

A figure suddenly burst out from the shadow of a tattered tent nearby, and then with a "thud," knelt heavily on the soft ground in front of them, firmly blocking their way!

She was a middle-aged woman with a haggard face and sallow, withered skin. She wore tattered, stained clothes that barely covered her body, and her hair was tangled up like a mess of weeds.

She raised her bloodshot eyes, which were covered in spiderweb-like veins, and focused intently on the bulging sacks that the three men were carrying, which were clearly filled with food.

She clasped her hands together and pleaded desperately, "Kind people! Please have mercy! I beg you, have mercy on me! My little grandson and I... we... we haven't had a decent meal for three whole days! We've been surviving on scraps of grass and tree bark... we're... we're about to starve to death! You... you have so much food... please, have some compassion and give us a little! Just a tiny bit! Just one bite! Save the child's life! He... he's so young..."

As she spoke, she became agitated and even tried to reach out her thin, dirty hands to grab the sack of fresh water chestnuts that Wang Xiao, who was closest to her, was carrying.

Wang Xiao was stunned by this sudden and shocking situation. He subconsciously stopped in his tracks. Looking into the old woman's eyes, which were almost unrecognizable from despair and hunger and were filled only with the pure will to survive, and listening to her heart-wrenching pleas, he felt a strong sense of pity and sympathy.

His free hand even involuntarily lifted slightly, his fingers curled up, as if he was truly moved by the other person's misery and wanted to untie the rope of the sack and take something out for the other person.

"Don't move!"

"No!"

Almost simultaneously, two voices rang out! Xie Yingtang reacted extremely quickly, stepping forward and instantly placing himself between Wang Xiao and the old woman, blocking the withered hand reaching for the sack. His gaze did not linger on the kneeling, pleading old woman, but rather swept swiftly over the seemingly calm but actually lurking shadows of the tent and pile of debris behind her.

Almost at the same time as she spoke, Xu Xiaoyan grabbed Wang Xiao's slightly raised arm, which was about to be released, and pulled him back a step with undeniable force, away from the kneeling figure.

She lowered her voice and spoke rapidly in Wang Xiao's ear, "We can't give it to him! Wang Xiao! Wake up! If we give it to him now, we might not make it out of this camp today! Look around! Look!"

Wang Xiao froze, startled by the sudden rebuke from the two. He glanced in the direction Xu Xiaoyan indicated, and sure enough! Several pairs of eyes had quietly peeked out from the gaps in the tattered tents around them, staring intently at them!

Those eyes were filled with a greedy longing! They were waiting for the result of their test, and once they found any signs of relaxation or weakness, they would swarm in!

Seeing that they were unmoved, the old woman cried even more desperately. She even began to bang her head against the ground, her forehead hitting the not-so-soft ground with a heart-wrenching "thump-thump," repeatedly muttering, "Please! Just one bite to eat! I'll be your slave... I'll repay you even if I die... Save the child... He's dying..." Her heart-wrenching cries echoed at the edge of the camp in the early morning.