NOVEL NEXT Chapter 514: Eat Meat!
Li Yu fell silent for a moment upon hearing Ma Di's words.
After pondering, he said, "All that you have said comes from your word alone; I cannot discern its truth. However, the zombie infection that has ensued is something I have witnessed with my own eyes.
Moreover, Big Camphor Tree Base does not sustain idlers. What are you able to do?"
There wasn't much luster in Ma Di's eyes as he spoke, "I feel burdened by enormous guilt. Had we not researched that anti-cancer drug, the virus wouldn't have mutated, nor would zombies have emerged.
Now, all alone in this world, there's no meaning for me to continue living; all I seek is death."
Seeing his attitude, Li Yu believed a part of his story.
He then continued, "One day, human civilization can be restored, and one day, the zombie problem will be solved. However, it requires our joint effort.
You have the ability; I will give you a certain amount of freedom and space. Join our scientific research institute. If you can find a way to solve the zombie issue or develop a vaccine, you would have saved everyone, and you can atone for your sins.
..."
Ma Di looked at Li Yu in surprise but made no significant reaction.
Li Yu observed his lack of response and fell silent for a moment.
He then said to him, "Live."
Then patting his shoulder, Li Yu left the cell.
Outside, he said to Li Haoran, "Keep him imprisoned as usual, and if he comes around, let me know."
Li Haoran nodded, watching as Li Yu left the vicinity of the cells.
Outside, raindrops fell continuously.
Having exited the cells, Li Yu surveyed the surroundings.
Walls, sports fields, residential areas...
Despite having been gnawed by zombies, which left little greenery, everything in the base was established by his own hands.
Seeing the despair in Ma Di's eyes had also somewhat tainted his mood.
"Director Li," someone called out to him.
Several people passed by his side, including Teacher Liu from the Inner City and a few of her students.
Seeing their faces brimming with the vibrancy of youth caused Li Yu's expression to soften slightly.
Exhaling the heavy air in his heart.
With so many people in the base depending on him, with family to protect, although the end times were challenging, it was precisely why he had to lead them towards a better future!
His resolve solidified once again.
The light rain drizzled down, softening the soil that had been scorched from days of exposure.
...
The rainy season stretched on.
Day after day without cessation.
Fortunately, everyone had grown accustomed to this frequent rainfall, which, absent the threat of zombies, was rather conducive to resting at home.
Lying at home, listening to the pitter-patter of the rain against the windows, was particularly soporific.
In these days, the wall of the Second Outer City of the base had also been reinforced with a railing.
Currently, waterproof cloths covered the completed railing to keep it from getting wet.
Had there been no rain a few days ago, the railing would have dried in just one day.
However, during this monsoon season, with the air's immense humidity, drying the railing became quite difficult.
On rainy days, apart from the personnel on duty along the walls, others were busy with their respective tasks.
That day, Zhou Weiguo, who had always taken care of the base's pigs, cows, and sheep, found Li Yu.
"Director Li, the rice shoots we had to harvest hastily during the locust disaster are now only enough to feed the animals for about ten days. We need to prepare in advance," Zhou Weiguo said.
Li Yu, taken aback, exclaimed, "But we had harvested dozens of acres of rice shoots! How could they be consumed so quickly?"
Zhou Weiguo replied, "In the base, there are nearly one hundred and fifty pigs in total. There are more than sixty adult pigs, and eighty piglets were just born, over fifty cows, and hundreds of sheep. Chickens and ducks too—all require feeding. Especially recently, with the cows and sheep having given birth to many offspring, the consumption is significant."
Li Yu fell silent for a while, not having realized that feeding the livestock was also a major drain on food supplies.
Until now, hardly anyone in the base wasted food, so there was no swill to feed to the pigs.
Thus, they could only crush the rice bran into powder and mix it with some sweet potato leaves and the like to feed the animals.
Frowning deeply, Li Yu pondered and said, "Allocate some rice bran to the cows and sheep. After the locust disaster, the grass has only just begun to regrow outside; they cannot just graze on it directly. After the rain stops, it should be fine. In any case, don't let the cows and sheep out to graze before the rain stops."
Hearing this, Zhou Weiguo nodded and said, "Okay, actually outside the base, maybe we could..."
Li Yu glared at him, cursing, "Outside is full of zombies, and you want to take the cows and sheep out there?"
"Putting aside the issue of whether the animals can graze peacefully, the key point is our people's safety once they are let out."
Zhou Weiguo, somewhat ashamed, said, "I was thoughtless. It's just that the pressure of feeding the livestock is too great."
Li Yu thought it over; a sow's fertility is extremely high, producing 2-3 litters a year, typically with more than ten piglets each.
One pig can produce 20-30 piglets a year.
Just one year ago, there were only about thirty pigs in the base, yet within a year's time, the number had proliferated to over a hundred.
And this didn't include the occasional pig killed in the base to improve the diet.
There were only about three hundred people in the base.
This was mainly due to Zhou Weiguo's expertise in animal husbandry, with a survival rate of 90% or more for the offspring produced by the livestock.
Li Yu thought for a moment; considering the current population and their consumption of meat, it wasn't too excessive.
Before, we always thought about conserving, basically, as for food supply, there was meat to eat only once every three days.
Now that we can't raise so many animals and don't have enough food to feed them.
Then, let's slaughter some.
Li Yu said to Zhou Weiguo, "Call Zhou Xiumei over, there are too many animals; we need to kill some to reduce the pressure."
After all, Zhou Weiguo dealt with these animals every day, and upon hearing that some needed to be killed, he hesitated, reluctant, but he also knew the purpose of raising these animals.
Without saying much, he nodded and walked outside.
Li Yu watched his retreating figure and felt a trace of a melancholy similar to that of an old father.
...
After Zhou Xiumei arrived, Li Yu talked to her about slaughtering some animals.
"Leader, so how many do we kill exactly? I can't do it alone," Zhou Xiumei said.
Zhou Xiumei is Lai Dongsheng's wife. Ever since Li Yu took control of the base and saved them, Zhou Xiumei always addressed him this way.
Li Yu called her several times not to address him like that, but Zhou Xiumei still did not change.
"Aunt Zhou, let's slaughter about ten pigs. We'll eat some today and store the rest in the freezer for now.
Moreover, for cattle and sheep, we'll kill five cows and ten sheep. Same as before, freeze the excess.
Later you can ask Uncle Lai, Wang Cheng, Song Min, and others to come and help you; I will give them a heads up," Li Yu said.
Zhou Xiumei was surprised to hear that so many animals had to be slaughtered, but she proceeded with the task.
Then, she left.
Originally, these hundred-plus cattle and sheep were raised on dozens of acres of pasture and in the woods.
In addition, some rice bran from within the base was used to supplement their diet.
But now, because there were too many pigs, cows, and sheep, and they couldn't afford to feed them anymore, this seemed like a fantasy to people outside the base.
After all, for many people, not to mention rice, even hard-to-swallow rice bran was something they couldn't get.
...
With the pigs' screams, one after another fell into pools of blood.
People in the base, hearing this sound, were very happy.
This meant once again, there would be meat to eat.
After these animals were slaughtered, the vast majority were frozen in the storage.
A very small part was taken out for cooking and then distributed to everyone.
Recently, people from the Outer City worked together on the construction, dedicating great effort.
Therefore, the meat was distributed equally to everyone.
Because there was so much to cook, most of it was done in the large iron pots used last time to fry locusts.
A whole pig, weighing almost 350 pounds.
After deboning, there was about 230 pounds of meat left.
The general bone-to-meat ratio is about 3:7.
For example: If a pig weighs a hundred pounds, the bones would weigh about 30 pounds, and the pork meat 70 pounds.
The meat was divided into two halves and stewed in two pots.
The chunks of meat were quite large, each weighing about 3 ounces.
The remaining bones were used to boil soup.
Outer City.
Old Bi and Old Yi ate their meats with greasy mouths.
Old Luo sat opposite them, wiped the grease off his mouth, and then said with a smile:
"I told you, coming to Big Camphor Tree Base, you wouldn't be treated poorly, right?"
Old Bi chuckled: "Hehe, that's true. Since I've been here at Big Camphor Tree Base, I've been able to eat my fill every day and get meat every now and then. To think of such days, I would have never dared to even dream of them before."
Old Yi felt a little sentimental and swallowed a chunk of meat as he said, "Thinking back to the days before the apocalypse, it seems like many years ago, so distant. This past year and more of the apocalypse has really changed too much."
Suddenly, Old Bi said, "If only Mr. Ye were still here."
Hearing this, everyone paused.
Silence.
The deceased are gone.
The living must continue to survive.
Before joining Big Camphor Tree.
Food was like a massive mountain, suffocating them, preventing them from breathing.
Before, they wanted many things, but in the end, they discovered just how difficult it was to simply survive with something to eat.
With comparison comes choice.
With choice comes knowing what one truly wants.
Old Luo said, "Us brothers being able to stick together in this apocalypse, following Director Li, it's not too bad."
Everyone agreed.
A similar scene also took place among He Chao, He Bing, Old Qin, and others who joined the Outer City.
The sky was as dark as ink.
The rain poured down even harder.
...