The protagonist in "Robinson Crusoe" developed animal husbandry and agriculture in the later stages, which is something I have always wanted to emulate.
However, what is described in the book and what is actually done are completely different. If you have friends who have studied farming, they should know that tending the land is not child's play.
Take clearing the land, for example. Just cutting down a few larger trees can take several hours. Then there is loosening the soil, planning the area, and most importantly, deciding what to plant on this small piece of land.
For five whole days, both she and I searched for crops that we could grow. They had to mature quickly, be easy to plant, and most importantly, be edible. Speaking of which, I really admire myself for daring to eat anything.
The first plant I personally felt was edible looked like a plant similar to a mimosa, with a small bitterness and many nearby. However, two serious problems made me give up on it. Firstly, the back of the leaves had lots of white fur, which was off-putting. Secondly, its stems were very solid and couldn't be bitten through, so it was inedible.
The second plant had large leaves, somewhat resembling rapeseed, but it was bitter. The bitterness was mainly concentrated in the leaves, and the stems were crisp, making them somewhat edible. It was temporarily listed as an alternative.
We are still searching for the third plant...
"Is it possible that there is no tasty plant in this forest?"
I sighed and fell heavily onto the fur behind me.
Something was thrown onto me.
"You're back?"
"Yeah. This thing should be edible."
Medusa looked down at me with a long-necked rabbit neck in her hand.
I picked up the thing from my body. It was a plant the size of a carrot, but in appearance, it looked more like a shrunken version of a yam. The leaves were abundant, and the stick-shaped root was likely used to store nutrients.
"The long-necked rabbit was eating it, so I brought it back."
Looking at the branches and leaves, there was indeed some long-necked rabbit saliva...
Should I eat the root of this thing? Should I eat the leaves like the rabbit?
Anyway, I'll taste it first. Inherit the character of the northeastern people, "Tiger," I bit into the root without hesitation. A crisp "crunch" traveled through my auditory nerves.
Surprisingly, it tasted good - there was simply no strange flavor.
From the obvious starch taste in my mouth, it would probably become soft after being roasted. If it could be cultivated, it would be a good crop.
The reason why I'm so focused on food is because all of this is based on the fact that I can't return to the real world. If given a chance to go back home and reunite with my loved ones, I would go back at all costs. At least that's how I would be at that time.
We must prepare for the worst in everything. If we can't go back, then we have to live here. As a human with little understanding of the world and Medusa, whose habits are very different from humans, the easiest lifestyle for us to achieve is "men farm and women hunt."
There will be many more situations in the future, such as how to keep warm when winter comes, how to prevent moisture when heavy rain comes, or even if one of us gets seriously ill, how to take care of each other. Every time I think about this, I feel that my abilities are lacking. After all, the current life of being well-fed and well-clothed depends on her.
If there is really a chance, I mean that one in a million chance, to bring her back to my world, I would take her to the best restaurant for a big meal, to the best movie theater to watch a movie, and to the best hotel to stay overnight. I, who have little education and culture, can only think of these things.
Watching her skillfully use a knife to gut the long-necked rabbit, remove the fur intact, I couldn't help but want to do something to help her. I gently walked to the mess of internal organs, picked them up and threw them to a relatively far place, followed by the skeleton and rabbit head.
The dismantling work was faster than I had imagined. Pieces of raw meat were arranged neatly, just like I had seen before. Then, it was time for our meal. In my memory, this was her second meal.
I don't know why, but a sense of sadness surged within me just by watching her eat the raw meat, mouthful by mouthful.
How did two people with such different living habits manage to live together?
Not only do we have different living habits, but even our races are different.It seems that two people living together are actually independent individuals. Perhaps we are all alone now. I pulled out the last cigarette from the pack, originally intending to save it for a day when my life was at stake, as a final indulgence before death. But now, I really need a cigarette to keep myself calm. The pale blue smoke dances in front of my eyes, and my brow relaxes slightly. There is actually nothing to be sad about. The reason I feel upset is because as human beings, emotions can never disappear. For example, thinking about my parents, whom I haven't seen for more than ten days, and thinking about my friends who we planned to go out for a meal with next Monday, are they worrying about me at this moment? My parents must be so worried that they can't even sleep... Although I don't know if Medusa has parents, if she also possesses emotions like humans do, living alone for such a long time must make her much stronger than me. Why did I suddenly think about all this today? Perhaps it has been a bit long, it's already the sixteenth day. But these emotions will eventually be forgotten. Many things have to be accepted first before they can gradually change. Pulling myself together, I feel like I had already made up my mind ever since the moment I chose not to run away. Smoking the cigarette faster than I imagined, I see the burning end reaching the colored filter. "Burns the hand, take two big puffs." I suddenly thought of this popular saying. When my classmate and I were working in Beijing, we used to be so poor that we shared a pack of 2.5 RMB Hong Jinlong cigarettes, smoking them very frugally. (We were definitely much more miserable back then than now.) If we could make it through those times, what about now? A touch of orange-red flame flew out with my fingers. Just wait, I will make everything better. I opened a book and began immersing myself in the study of languages... Until evening, with the golden silk of the setting sun covering the text on the pages, my head had already started to ache. Leaning against the only tree that I hadn't cut down in front of the cave, I allowed the beautiful panorama of the cloud sea on the horizon to enter my eyes. "La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la" "A little cloud, slowly walking over." "Please rest your feet, temporarily stop." "The mountain flowers bloom, I just arrived on the mountain." "So you also came up the mountain, look at the blooming flowers." Xu Huaiyu's song "Treading Waves" came out of my mouth. I don't know why I hummed this old song, probably because the rhythm is quite cheerful. Quietly, I heard her humming along with me, a soft and clear female voice. I tilted my head towards her, who was already standing next to me, right at waist height. "Do you like it?" "Hmm." "Hehe, that's good then." What else is there to be sad about? This is already my home.
