"What? You want to bring your whole family over to hunt rabbits tomorrow?"
Rabbits again???
John felt like he'd missed some crucial piece of information. He quickly asked, "Why the sudden interest in catching rabbits?"
"It's because your three little ones saw a chef from Great Xia make a rabbit dish on *Wild Survival*, so now they want to eat rabbit meat?"
Hearing such an outlandish answer, John was dumbfounded. He scratched the back of his head, thinking for a long time, but couldn't recall a single season of *Wild Survival* that featured an East Asian person.
'Is it a new season?'
'If I'd known, I would have agreed to those… Wait, that's right! I can totally call back those interested customers and let them catch the rabbits themselves!'
His farm was overrun with rabbits anyway. He could charge an entrance fee. That way, he could make some unexpected cash and clear out some of the rabbits without lifting a finger. Could there be anything more perfect in the world?
After hanging up, he quickly pulled up his call history and started dialing the numbers one by one.
"Hello, this is John, the farm owner. You were asking about rabbits earlier…"
"Yes, yes. I said I didn't have any because I don't sell rabbit meat myself, but it suddenly occurred to me that my farm is overrun with them. If you're interested, you can come and catch them yourself."
"Of course! You just have to pay an entrance fee, and you can take home as many as you catch!"
...
"It's about time."
Lin Chen used a branch to push aside the nearly extinguished charcoal, revealing the pale, baked earth beneath.
He prodded it gently a few times and dug away the top layer of soil. Wisps of white smoke rose up.
The once dark green leaves had turned brownish-tan and were emitting the unique, fresh scent of foliage.
As he peeled back the leaves layer by layer, a thick, meaty aroma rushed out, accompanied by a great deal of steam.
The two rabbit legs were cooked through. Visible juices coated their surface; you could tell how tender the meat was just by looking at it.
It was like a freshly roasted chicken when you tear off the whole leg—the strands of meat trembled, dripping with juice.
"Heh, looks like I controlled the temperature and time pretty well. To be honest, this is my first time cooking rabbit legs this way. In Great Xia, this method is usually used for roasting chickens, ducks, and the like."
"It's called Beggar's Chicken. Of course, I guess this should be called Beggar's Rabbit Legs now. The 'Beggar' part comes from ancient times, meaning this was a method beggars used to roast chicken. You just wrap it in leaves and mud, bury it in the ground, and put charcoal on top. This uses the earth's insulating properties to steam the chicken until it's cooked."
He picked up a plump rabbit leg. It felt heavy in his hand. After sprinkling a thin layer of salt on it, he eagerly took a bite.
Rich juices burst forth in his mouth. The piping hot rabbit meat had no gamey taste at all. It was so soft and tender it was like eating chicken, but with a bit more chewiness.
The rabbit that had been hopping around just two hours ago was now a fragrant, simply roasted meal. He had never in his life had rabbit meat this fresh.
After a few large bites, a ring of glistening grease was left around Lin Chen's mouth, reflecting an alluring sheen in the flickering firelight.
[Enjoyed delicious, juicy Beggar's Rabbit Legs in the wilds of North America. Happiness +1]
After trying three different rabbit dishes in a row, a decline in happiness was inevitable.
As someone used to the cuisine of Great Xia, being forced to eat plainly seasoned food for over a week was a frustrating feeling that was hard to swallow.
Even though he had used his culinary skills to make the food as tasty as possible, without any real seasonings, he could honestly imagine what most of it would taste like without even trying it.
Without that sense of anticipation, the happiness he derived from it naturally wouldn't be very high.
After finishing his meal, he checked his accumulated Happiness Points. He hadn't even realized he'd already saved up a total of 13 points.
'I'm only 2 points away from being able to redeem the *Complete Collection of Outdoor Tools*. I need to figure out a way to get more points.'
He'd already eaten rabbit meat today, and he really couldn't think of any food that would bring more happiness than a hearty meal of meat. So, it was highly unlikely he could gain more Happiness from cooking, unless he could secure new prey.
"If cooking won't work, then I'll have to focus my efforts on the shelter and tools."
Crafting tools by hand was clearly unrealistic. If he had that kind of skill, he would have done it long ago instead of needing to save up 15 points to redeem the *Complete Collection of Outdoor Tools*.
Lin Chen's gaze swept over his simple shelter and fence, his eyes lingering on the various gaps.
'Before the temperature drops, I have to upgrade the shelter's insulation and windproofing. The tarp alone obviously isn't enough. If I can free up the tarp, I can use it to make a water storage container.'
He didn't rush to start work. Instead, he began to think about how to reinforce the shelter, what to use to block the wind and rain, and what could replace the roof and walls.
Additionally, the fence needed further reinforcement.
'I've got it. The triangle is the most stable shape. I can add a row of logs behind the fence, angled into the ground, to act as supports. I could also dig a trench in front of the fence as a defensive measure.'
'As for the gaps in the walls, I remember people in the countryside used to plaster walls with a mixture of mud and dry grass. But that mud… it's probably not just ordinary dirt from the ground, right?'
He thought for a moment. For now, he didn't have to worry about drafts. With the fence acting as a buffer, it was even more unlikely that much wind would get in. He could put that task off for later.
After eating over a pound of rabbit meat and a few ounces of fish oil, he felt brimming with energy. He immediately shouldered his Engineer Shovel, slung his hunting bow over his back, and walked out of the camp.
He didn't choose to cut trees at the bottom of the slope. Transporting dozens of kilograms of wood was already no easy task; adding an uphill climb would be pure self-torture.
The simplest, most labor-saving method was to walk up the slope, cut down the trees, and just drop them. They would roll downhill on their own due to gravity.
The forest was full of trees blocking the way, so he didn't have to worry about the logs rolling all the way down the slope.
The farther up the slope he went, the more sunlight the trees received, and the better they grew.
After spending the better part of the afternoon, he finally finished reinforcing the inside of the fence.
A row of newly cut logs was angled into holes in the ground, with the other end braced against the back of the fence. He used his Engineer Shovel to cut a notch in the inner posts, allowing the support logs to lock firmly in place.
He even tested it himself. Despite kicking the fence with all his might, he couldn't make it wobble noticeably.
He roughly estimated it could withstand at least three to four hundred kilograms of force.
"This should be no problem against wolves now. I just don't know if it can hold up against a bear, so I'll need to add another layer of protection."
Lin Chen held up his GoPro, panning across his newly modified fence. A smile of relief spread across his face; he was clearly quite satisfied with the shelter he had built with his own hands.