Before leaving the house, Mo Fei taught her parents how to check the surveillance system she had set up.
The surveillance covered both the interior of the villa and everything within a 1,000 meter radius. The footage was displayed in 4K high definition on the massive screen inside the house, clear enough to make out even a mole on someone’s face.
One thousand meters was the maximum range Mo Fei had set for the family’s outdoor activities. If anything seemed wrong or they encountered any danger, they could run back home as quickly as possible from anywhere within that radius.
“That’s right. Press this button, and the front gate will automatically lock itself. Even a car won’t be able to crash through it.” Mo Fei placed the remote control for the front gate into Mo Zhicheng’s hand.
“All right, all right, hurry up and go. Don’t stay out for more than half an hour. Don’t wait until it gets dark and then lose your way back. Your mother and I aren’t going out to look for you.” Mo Zhicheng waved his hand, pretending to sound impatient.
Mo Fei pursed her lips into a smile before turning around and leaving the house with the two children.
Of course, for safety’s sake, she still made both children put on their sun protection gear before taking them outside. Even if it could not block the heat, keeping mosquitoes and other insects away was still necessary.
Besides that, Mo Fei also gave each of them a collapsible baton.
The first lesson in surviving natural disasters that she wanted to teach them was to become familiar with this brand new world.
Even though they were only eight years old, they still needed to learn how to protect themselves within the limits of their abilities.
The two children obediently did as Mo Fei instructed, putting on their protective clothing, picking up their batons, and following behind her like two little ducklings.
As the iron gate slowly closed, the cheerful laughter of the one adult and two children gradually faded away.
Song Yi walked past Mo Zhicheng, who was still staring at the iron gate, and said with disdain, “Now you know how to watch them. Just now you were the one hurrying our daughter to leave.”
“Mind your own business!” Mo Zhicheng shouted irritably.
“All right. Come help me carry some water. I just planted those green onions, don’t let them dry out and die.”
The elderly couple gathered around the small vegetable patch in the yard and carefully tended to it.
When Mo Fei had previously come with the real estate agent to view the property, she had already observed the area around the villa complex.
Among the dozen or so villas built halfway up the mountainside, besides their own, no one else had moved in yet. Several of the villas were even still unfinished shells that had never been renovated.
The population density here was extremely low, and at present, both animals and plants were generally mutating more slowly than humans, so the chances of encountering danger were very small. That was why Mo Fei felt relatively at ease bringing them outside. Once the world became something beyond imagination, every moment would truly become a matter of life and death, and opportunities for such simple practice would no longer exist.
“Can you keep up?” Mo Fei walked at a brisk pace, but she kept her rhythm steady and always stayed about two meters ahead of them.
Mo Jianian nodded. Not wanting to be outdone, Mo Jiayue kept pace with him the entire time.
The collapsible batons became walking sticks for the two children, clearing away plenty of wildly overgrown weeds along the way.
“Mom, it’s so beautiful here.” Seeing Mo Fei stop, Mo Jiayue immediately quickened her pace and hurried over.
The original owner had always been busy working multiple jobs and had rarely brought the two children out into the countryside.
Instead of the reinforced concrete and towering skyscrapers that could be seen everywhere in the city, there was only a vast expanse of wild greenery stretching overhead like a canopy.
In the distance, mountain ranges rose and fell in endless succession. Looking through the sparse gaps in the leaves, the nearby mountains appeared deep green, while the distant ones were dark bluish black.
Under the glow of the setting sun, orange golden sunlight poured through the overlapping branches and leaves like handfuls of golden sand, scattering mottled patches of light across the ground.
Pure nature always had a way of making people feel refreshed and filling their hearts with peace.
Mo Fei could clearly see that these trees were just like people. Under the relentless scorching sun and extreme heat that continued day after day, most of them would not survive much longer. The lush greenery before her was only temporary. Still, there was no guarantee that some trees would not adapt to the high temperatures as quickly as certain fortunate people and survive.
“Mom, I’m going over there to take a look.” Mo Jiayue ran a little farther away.
“Wait for me and your brother!” Mo Fei called after her.
Mo Jiayue did not continue running. Instead, she crouched in a patch of grass for quite a while before running back. In her hand was a small plant she had picked from the roadside.
“Mom, I found a four leaf clover. My classmates said that only one four leaf clover grows among a hundred thousand three leaf clovers. This is for you.” Jiayue held the four leaf clover out to Mo Fei with both hands.
“Okay. Thank you.” Mo Fei froze for a moment before smiling and accepting it. Somehow, it seemed to be an unwritten tradition that every school passed down the legend of the four leaf clover. Whoever found one would find happiness.
Holding the four leaf clover, Mo Fei took the opportunity to explain, “This isn’t just called a four leaf clover. Its scientific name is alfalfa, and it’s also known as purple alfalfa. Besides symbolizing happiness and good luck, do you know what else it can be used for?”
The children’s nature classes had never taught them about this. The two of them shook their heads in perfect unison.
“This plant is the general name for species in the alfalfa genus of the legume family. The nutrients it contains are very beneficial for animals, so it can be used as feed for cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens, and other livestock. It’s known as the King of Forage.” Mo Fei crouched down so the two children could see the four leaf clover more clearly.
“It’s amazing.” Mo Jiayue’s eyes lit up. She had never imagined that this plant not only carried such a beautiful meaning but was also so useful.
“There’s more. Many plants in nature have medicinal properties and are edible. When used as medicine, alfalfa can relieve coughing, stop bleeding, and promote bowel movements. However, people with weak stomachs and digestive systems shouldn’t eat it because it can easily cause indigestion.” Mo Fei explained patiently.
Because she had studied cooking, she had also researched medicinal cuisine. She could recognize practically every edible plant.
Mo Jiayue looked at Mo Fei with undisguised admiration. “Mom, you know so much.”
Mo Jianian, however, asked, “Mom, can we raise some chickens in the yard? I think this alfalfa is growing really well. If we had chickens, we could feed it to them.”
Mo Fei looked down at the large patch of alfalfa. In her space, she had only raised fish, shrimp, and freshwater snails. As for chickens, ducks, cattle, and sheep, she had only bought the meat and had never purchased any live livestock. However, she had bought a great many chicken eggs and duck eggs, all of which had been stored safely in her space without being damaged by the extreme heat. Perhaps a few of them could still be hatched.
“Then let’s gather some grass and take it home. If we’re able to hatch some chicks, we can feed it to them.” Mo Fei said.
The moment they heard they might be raising baby chicks, both children became excited. They picked alfalfa from one side to the other, wishing they could take the entire patch home. Meanwhile, Mo Fei dug up several plants with their roots intact and stored them in her space so she could try growing them there later.
Following the principle of never letting anything useful go to waste, Mo Fei and the children gathered some of the healthiest, most vigorous alfalfa to dry in the yard later.
Seeing that they had already walked seven or eight hundred meters from home, Mo Fei had not forgotten the purpose of coming out. She wanted to find out where those birds had landed.
From a distance, she had been able to vaguely make out the direction in which they had descended, but once they were standing among the tree lined path, it became impossible to determine the exact location.
Mo Fei searched carefully through the woods. Aside from seeing ants relocating their nest, dung beetles crawling about, and a few unfamiliar insects, she found nothing else.
“Tighten your sleeves. Don’t let these bugs touch you.” As she reminded them, Mo Fei tightened the cuffs of her own sleeves and pant legs.
From their appearance, these insects looked no different from before, but Mo Fei could not guarantee that they had not already evolved some kind of venom. Even if they were not poisonous, having bugs crawl all over them would still be terrifying.
“I found birds over here!” Mo Jianian’s voice came from behind a massive tree that was thicker than a water barrel.
Mo Fei and Mo Jiayue, who were more than a dozen steps away, hurried over.
The sight before the three members of the family left them utterly stunned.