“Why?” Li Qiao, eager to improve her strength, asked in confusion.
At the side, Li Shu also had doubt hidden in her eyes. Practicing martial arts required long hours of training, did it not? Why could they not start right now?
The meaning of the two was obvious. Li Mai carefully assessed their condition, then shook her head in disapproval.
Of the two, only Li Shu had barely a bit of flesh on her body. If they wanted to practice martial arts, a solid physical foundation was essential.
Otherwise, rushing straight into training would cause serious harm to the body, and their lifespan would be greatly affected.
Back at their base before, there had been many who, in their haste to increase their strength, ignored their physical condition and forced themselves to improve. Without exception, all of them had died early.
“Too thin.”
As soon as those words were spoken, the two of them thought they had misheard. Subconsciously, they moved closer to Li Mai.
Because the three of them looked about the same in build, why was their eldest sister saying they were thin?
Li Mai relied on an unspeakable ability, and combined with constant running, practice, and training in the mountains, although she looked thin, the amount of muscle in her body far exceeded that of her younger siblings.
She did not like explaining. Facing their probing gazes, she simply ordered,
“Starting today, both of you need to increase your daily intake of meat. Wild vegetables cannot be lacking either. As for the specific training methods, I need to base them on your current physical condition. First, we will build up your muscles through exercise, and only then will we begin martial arts training.”
Hearing that they would be able to practice martial arts, their eyes instantly lit up with dazzling brilliance.
Especially Li Qiao, whose eyes seemed filled with stars, stared fixedly at her eldest sister.
The look made Li Mai feel uneasy. Pretending it was unintentional, she got up from her chair and ended today’s lunch.
Seeing the person in charge leave, the siblings gradually dispersed as well, returning to their respective tasks.
Li Shu had already finished making the table and chairs. She began processing the bamboo they had obtained earlier, attempting to weave round bamboo trays for drying mushrooms.
Meanwhile, Li Qiao seemed to have been stimulated by what had just happened, feeling that the land she had dug in the morning was still far from enough.
She continued to reclaim land with a hoe and a knife, as though determined to carve out all the farmland they needed right here.
The two of them worked hard, panting with effort, yet they did not see Li Mai anywhere.
Li Qiao assumed that her eldest sister had taken her words to heart and was resting at home.
But in reality, Li Mai had simply moved to another place and continued working.
She had not forgotten what she had promised them. As soon as she entered the cave, she picked up her knife and carved the martial arts moves she remembered onto the stone wall, so the two could practice later.
“Shua shua shua…”
The knife in Li Mai’s hand moved rapidly, leaving behind small figures on the stone wall, each demonstrating a training movement.
Before long, an entire set of martial arts suitable for ordinary people in the apocalypse appeared on the wall.
Satisfied, she nodded, then swept away the dust that had just fallen and cleared it out of the cave.
As soon as she stepped outside, Li Mai saw that it had begun to drizzle.
It was not enough to soak someone in a short time, but the sight of such weather was unpleasant.
She had been too immersed in carving the techniques earlier to notice the change in weather.
Seeing the two of them busy at work, Li Mai recalled that Li Qiao had mentioned she was farming, and that in the future they would have a steady supply of food.
Subconsciously, she walked toward where Li Qiao was.
Absorbed in reclaiming land, Li Qiao did not notice anyone approaching.
First, she used a knife to cut down the tall weeds at their base. Then, she used a hoe to dig out the roots buried deep in the soil. Finally, she cleared away the stones on the surface. Just like that, a patch of wasteland was turned into usable land.
Thinking that such land required no taxes and could provide food, Li Qiao felt full of motivation.
But what she had clearly not anticipated was that her stamina was rather weak.
Even after so much time, she had only managed to clear a small patch.
Li Mai estimated at a glance that the land was only about three square meters. The speed could not be considered fast.
Thinking about the harvest after planting, and this method of obtaining food without going out to fight and kill, she found herself wanting to try it as well.
So, when she saw Li Qiao once again stopping to catch her breath from exhaustion, she spoke,
“I’ll do it!”
Although Li Qiao had not sensed anyone approaching, the moment she heard the familiar voice, her body reacted instinctively. She quickly moved aside, leaving the space open for her eldest sister.
Seeing that no one was interfering, Li Mai swiftly drew out the blade in her hand.
With a single sweeping motion, drawing a circle with herself at the center and a radius of over one meter, all the weeds within that area were instantly cut down.
Watching this scene, Li Qiao felt as though she were witnessing a deity descending to earth. Her eyes widened until they ached, yet she could not look away.
Because Li Mai’s movements did not slow down at all. Before Li Qiao’s disbelieving gaze, she quickly cleared all the weeds from an entire mu of land.
Seeing that her eldest sister was about to continue clearing the nearby weeds, Li Qiao snapped out of it and hurriedly called out,
“Eldest Sister! That’s enough, that’s enough. This much land is already enough for us to plant. I don’t even know if the seeds I brought can fill such a large area.”
Her final sentence was filled with joyful uncertainty.
Their family had never owned land in the village before. They had only managed to reclaim a small patch behind their house, and every winter they survived by relying on that tiny piece of land.
Now that she suddenly had such a large area at her disposal, Li Qiao felt completely at a loss.
Yet her love for the land was genuine. In her mind, she had already begun quietly planning the planting layout for various vegetables.
Hearing the excited shout, Li Mai raised her head and turned to look. The cleared land was indeed considerable.
Satisfied, she nodded, then switched tools. Picking up a hoe, she aimed at the ground beneath her feet and dug down.
“Clang!”
The hoe struck a stone beneath the soil, producing a vibrating sound.
The impact made the web between Li Mai’s thumb and index finger go numb. She paused, puzzled.
When she lifted the hoe again, it was obvious that the edge used for digging had already chipped, looking quite unsightly.
Seeing this, Li Qiao felt distressed and could not help but remind her,
“Eldest Sister, be careful of the stones in the ground. We only have one hoe.”
Li Mai, who had been about to swing down for a second strike, paused slightly, then gave an almost imperceptible nod before bringing the hoe down again.
This time, she was clearly prepared. In an almost unbelievable manner, she avoided all the stones beneath the surface and precisely struck the soil.
When she lifted the hoe again, she also brought up the obstructing stones along with it.
Li Qiao watched for a while, then felt she had no role to play. After offering a brief reminder, she slowly left.
Suddenly, she remembered the wild boar meat and bird meat that had been curing in the cave for several days. It should be ready to be taken out and smoked dry.
Compared to the local habit of air drying, during this plum rain season, smoking, a method passed down from Shu lands, was clearly more suitable.
Thus, as soon as Li Qiao entered the cave, she ignored everything else and went straight to the jars storing the meat.
The moment she opened the lid, a strong salty aroma burst out.
At that instant, Li Qiao immediately moved her nose away, holding her breath to avoid the mouth-drying smell.
Only after the salty scent gradually dissipated did she breathe again.
Leaning closer to the jar, she carefully distinguished the smell inside. Not detecting any signs of spoilage, a pleased smile spread across her face.
This was the first time Li Qiao had made cured meat on her own, and she had not expected it to turn out so successfully.
That alone was enough to make her excited.
After confirming everything was fine, Li Qiao quickly moved outside. She glanced at the intensity of the rain and felt that smoking should not be a problem.
Immediately, she took a few small wooden sticks and constructed a space where a fire could be lit at the bottom, with strips of meat hanging above.
She covered the surroundings with the weeds that were readily available nearby, preventing the smoke from dispersing.
After arranging everything, Li Qiao returned to the cave, threading each piece of meat and each bird with rope, then hanging them on the wooden frame she had just built.
Rows of neatly arranged meat strips hung from the frame, creating an indescribable feeling.
Li Qiao paid no mind to that. She immediately lit a fire at the bottom. As soon as the fire caught, she covered it with the remaining weeds.
The next moment, continuous black smoke rose from the fire, spreading upward toward the hanging meat.
The pungent smell of smoke gradually spread, breaking through the barrier of weeds around it.
The first to notice was Li Shu, who was not far away. She sniffed, then quickly turned her head toward the direction where the smoke was thickest.
She saw a small “house” surrounded by lush green grass, with bluish-black smoke continuously billowing out from within.
The strange sight confused her. She immediately set down what she was holding and hurried over.
“Little sister, what are you doing?”
“Making smoked meat from the Shu region. Otherwise, I’m worried that if the cured meat is only air-dried, it might spoil.”
As she spoke, Li Qiao extended her hand to catch the falling raindrops, using that as proof of her reasoning.
“That’s good. I thought something had caught fire just now. Be careful, don’t let the meat burn.”
Hearing that there was a valid reason, Li Shu immediately felt reassured.
After checking that there were no issues, she turned and left.
On the other side, Li Mai also noticed the rising smoke. She quickly cleared the remaining roots beneath her feet, then walked over to Li Qiao.
Through the gaps in the weeds, she saw at a glance the meat hanging inside.
Li Mai’s first thought was: was this tonight’s dinner?
Although she had reminded them to increase their meat intake before training, this seemed like far too much at once.
So she turned her head, looking at Li Qiao in astonishment, and asked,
“Isn’t this a bit too much?”
“What?”
Li Qiao did not understand her meaning at first. She thought her eldest sister was complaining that the meat strips were too crowded with too little space between them, so she quickly explained,
“It’s fine. This way we can smoke all the meat at once. We can smoke it longer, and once the meat is fully dried, it will keep for a long time.”
Hearing this, Li Mai realized she had misunderstood. She glanced at the meat being smoked, then swiftly changed the subject.
“What are we eating tonight?”