The next morning, Yan Qing woke up well-rested and ready for another day of exploration. Before leaving, she fed Bear One and Bear Two until their bellies were full and left a few strawberries in the box for them.
This time, she planned to start exploring from the right side of the cave entrance. Along the way, she collected deadwood into her space and tied together smaller branches to store later.
After about two hours, she noticed something different underfoot—the fallen leaves had a needle-like shape. She recognized them immediately: pine needles.
“There must be pine trees nearby,” she thought. Sure enough, a few pine trees were scattered nearby.
While exploring, she also found a few walnut trees. The unripe nuts looked somewhat like small plums, covered in white specks. These were green-skinned walnuts. Once the outer shell falls off, the familiar chocolate-colored inner shell would be revealed—the walnuts we usually eat. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the season for harvesting yet.
Continuing forward for another half hour, she entered a dense pine forest. Tiny squirrels occasionally jumped along the branches, squeaking as they moved.
The ground was carpeted with thick layers of pine needles, which had accumulated over time as they decomposed. Walking on them was completely silent. Among the needles, she occasionally spotted decayed pinecones. The trees themselves were laden with green pinecones, shaped like tiny pagodas.
Yan Qing made a mental note to return in autumn—this forest would yield countless pine nuts. Back home, they could fetch seventy to eighty yuan per jin.
She then gathered dried pine needles from the forest floor. In no time, she had filled several bags—perfect material for starting fires.
The forest was vast. After wandering in circles for an hour, she still couldn’t see its end. By 3 PM, she stored the collected pine needles in her space and began the journey back.
She wondered when it might rain—after rainfall, the forest would surely be full of mushrooms. She chuckled at her good fortune; even in this wild, remote world, luck seemed to be on her side.
By the time she returned to her cave, it was after 6:30 PM. The weather was getting hotter, approaching summer, and the nights were getting longer.
After cooking and feeding the cubs, she washed up at the west side of the cave and went straight to bed.
Over the next two days, Yan Qing explored the surrounding area thoroughly. She had mapped out all the terrain within about a three-hour radius. No large predators were in sight.
During her wanderings, she discovered a large pond surrounded by reeds and mugwort. When she pushed through the reeds, a flurry of quacking arose—there was a flock of wild ducks nearby. Their nest must be somewhere close, though she couldn’t tell exactly where.
Beyond the reeds, the land opened to a riverside clearing. Many animals came here to drink: wandering water buffalo and even a few goats. They stared at her curiously but did not flee, remaining still at a short distance. After observing her for a while and seeing she posed no threat, they ignored her.
While watching the animals, Yan Qing also studied the water source. This pond—or small lake—was clearly a regular watering hole for local wildlife. Around it, the open areas were lush with grass and many wild plants.
Among them, she recognized some from her rural childhood, though many had grown too old to harvest: shepherd’s purse, gray-green weeds, purslane, cottonweed, dandelions, and alfalfa.
Along the riverbank, the area was thick with aquatic plants, signaling a rich and diverse ecosystem.
Yan Qing mentally noted all these resources—it seemed that her valley was not only safe but abundant, offering everything she would need to live comfortably.