Liu Ye didn’t object to Bai Zilin’s idea of stir-frying the grain. Without water, it really was a good solution. Under his guidance, she stir-fried two jin of mixed grain rice. The smell came out warm and fragrant, like popcorn—but not sweet.
“Brother Bai, I didn’t know stir-fried rice could be this good. It’s even more fragrant than porridge, and so much more convenient. Brother Bai, you’re really smart.”
Bai Zilin’s eyes curved with laughter, his lips lifting as he showed a row of white teeth.
“Hehe… it’s just a lazy person’s trick. A last resort.”
Liu Ye grabbed another handful of fried rice and stuffed it into her mouth while chewing.
“Brother Bai, I picked up a lot of wild duck eggs in the mountains. They’re in the jar in my basket. If we don’t cook them, they’ll spoil. Should we stir-fry those too?”
Bai Zilin froze.
“You found wild duck eggs? Hurry, let me see.”
Liu Ye brought the jar over and set it in front of him. Bai Zilin opened the lid—and immediately frowned. In this heat, they would’ve gone bad quickly.
Inside were half a jar of wild duck eggs, smaller than domestic duck eggs.
“These really are wild duck eggs. Liu Ye, you’re incredibly lucky. I’ve never even found these—only wild chicken eggs. They don’t smell bad yet, but they’ll spoil by tomorrow. Hurry, start a fire. We’ll cook them.”
Liu Ye was stunned.
“Uh… Brother Bai, how do we stir-fry duck eggs? Shouldn’t we boil them?”
Bai Zilin smiled.
“No need to boil. Put soil in the pot, lay the eggs on top, and cook them over a small fire. Slowly they’ll be done.”
It was like a sudden enlightenment.
Liu Ye immediately understood—this was basically roasting with heated earth, the same idea as boiling, just another method. How had she not thought of that?
“Got it, Brother Bai. I’ll go dig some soil.”
Soon, the duck eggs were cooked using Bai Zilin’s method. Their shells turned yellow and slightly dark, not very pretty, but they smelled incredibly fragrant.
There were thirty wild duck eggs in total.
After they cooled, she handed one to Bai Zilin and took one herself.
“Ah, this is so good. Brother Bai, you’re amazing. The Bai family really lost out by abandoning you—they’ll regret it one day!”
Bai Zilin took a bite and was instantly overwhelmed by the flavor. Rich egg aroma, slightly smoky and fragrant—delicious.
He thought of how, in the past, when he went into the mountains, he had once found wild chicken eggs but never dared to eat them, always saving them for those ungrateful people. Even the hens at home laying eggs—he had never eaten a single one. Now, in this heat, even the hens barely laid anymore.
He snorted inwardly.
Let them not lay. It wasn’t like he was eating them anyway.
“Oh right,” he suddenly said, “did you hear anything last night? The neighbors were shouting this morning that five of my chickens were stolen last night.”
Liu Ye didn’t even look up.
“I didn’t hear anything. I slept pretty deeply last night…”
Then she added casually, “But I heard from the cloth shop assistant that people are already openly robbing things in town now. It’s chaos. Someone sneaking into the village to steal isn’t strange. In times like this, when people are starving and thirsty, even good people are forced to turn bad just to survive.”
Bai Zilin nodded with a smile.
“That makes sense.”
Seeing he had finished his egg, Liu Ye handed him another.
Bai Zilin pushed it back into her hand.
“I won’t eat anymore. You haven’t had enough—eat it. I don’t need much strength since I just sit here.”
Liu Ye looked at the egg in her hand, her heart feeling a little sour. She knew he was saving it for her.
So she also stopped eating and put the eggs back into the jar, then placed it into the basket and covered it with straw. She sat back beside him, tilting her small dark face up and looking at him with sparkling eyes.
“Brother Bai, Village Chief Zhao and the others are leaving tomorrow. How many days after them should we leave?”
“Let’s leave two days later,” Bai Zilin said after thinking. “Keep some distance from them.”
Liu Ye nodded.
“Alright. Everyone is fleeing south. The roads will definitely be crowded. Even the road to town is narrow—won’t it be packed like sardines?”
Bai Zilin sighed.
“Who knows… My legs aren’t good either. I’m just afraid… afraid I’ll drag you down and you won’t make it to the south.”
Liu Ye immediately grinned, trying to cheer him up.
“Hehe, how could that be? Ever since I stopped being foolish, my luck has been amazing. I always find wild chicken eggs in the mountains, I can even catch wild chickens, and I can find water too. My luck is really good. Brother Bai, don’t worry—we’ll definitely reach the south safely. And if the south is good, we won’t come back. You don’t come back either. We’ll just settle there and live however we can. Hehe.”
Then she added brightly,
“Brother Bai, you don’t need to worry about your leg either. Let me undo the bandage and check it. It’s so hot—what if it’s gotten infected or even… maggots?”
Bai Zilin: (#?Д?)
“Th-then quickly take it off and look! My leg has been itching these past two days. Don’t tell me it really has maggots!”
Liu Ye removed the bandage.
What she saw made her pause.
The wound from the wolf bite had already closed. Scabs had formed, and where bone had once been exposed, new flesh had grown over it. The bone was barely visible anymore.
“Wow, Brother Bai! Your wound is almost healed—it’s already scabbed over!”
Bai Zilin was stunned. He rubbed his eyes and looked again.
It was real.
New flesh had grown over the bone. The structure underneath felt stable—no loose fragments. That meant the bone was basically knitting back together.
His heart surged with excitement.
“I… I’m really healed? Liu Ye, my leg is healed!”
Realizing he had spoken too loudly, he quickly lowered his voice, afraid the neighbors might hear.
“My leg is really healed… This is all your credit. Liu Ye, you’re truly my lucky star. I’m so happy!”
Seeing him happy, Liu Ye became even happier.
“Hehe, I told you it would be fine. Now you can relax. But you still can’t walk yet—the bone has just healed. If you stand too soon, it might break again.”
Bai Zilin nodded quickly.
“I’ll listen to you. Whatever you say is right. From now on, I’ll listen to you completely. If you tell me to chase a dog, I won’t chase a chicken.”
Then he hurriedly added,
“Quick, check the other leg too. I don’t want to be a cripple.”
The other leg was also fine—scabbed over and healed in the same way.
“Both legs are good. You won’t be a cripple.”
Bai Zilin let out a long breath.
“Finally… I can put my mind at ease.”