Family Development Under Heavy Pressure

"We've made enemies of them."

Penny said softly beside him, her voice bitter. She felt it too, but was powerless to do anything.

"How did two more wolves show up?"

Phila ran over at this moment, her face pale, seemingly on the verge of breaking down. Four wolves – how could they possibly develop now?

She probably regretted everything right now.

Fortunately, because of the wall, those four wolves naturally couldn't charge into the camp. However, they were unwilling to leave for a long time, constantly circling the camp as if looking for weaknesses.

Luckily, even the two farmland plots outside the camp walls had been enclosed by Li Wei with fences. While the black wolf looked very intelligent, it wasn't intelligent enough to think of destroying the farmland.

"Penny, how did Sam die? That poor child."

Phila suddenly asked.

"He shot and killed a gray wolf in the forest with the Hunting Bow I made for him. He was very brave, but he was ambushed by that black wolf. I was so scared I turned and ran..."

Penny began to cry softly, even shedding two tears. Then she looked up at Li Wei. "George, I'm injured now, Sam is dead, and Mother is old. Everything at home will depend on you."

Li Wei remained silent. He hadn't received any information or new plot points. Without resolving the wolf infestation quest, there was no hope for family development. However, Penny was truly ruthless, and Sam was truly stupid.

He didn't believe Sam had intentionally tried to ditch him. They had discussed the specific details last night, but this morning he had been swayed by Penny. Haha!

"I'll stand guard tonight. Penny, George, you two go back and sleep. Rest well and recover your strength." Phila said again. She then lit several Bonfires in the yard, not only to deter the wolves but also to roast wolf meat.

"George, I'll figure out how to make you a Hunting Bow tomorrow. It's a shame, if we had built the iron smelting furnace, I'm even confident I could forge a crossbow... George, in the future, there will be more dangers than just wolves. We need to find a way to protect ourselves."

In the afterglow of the evening, Penny spoke very seriously, and Li Wei listened very seriously. Learn from the past to guide the future. Phila's attempt to seize the Head of the Family position and her incorrect development strategy this time was a lesson that must be learned.

This was a strategic error.

As for Penny and Sam underestimating the enemy and advancing rashly, leaving Li Wei behind and thinking they could handle it themselves, that was a tactical error.

"Okay! I'll find a way to collect iron ore for you!" Li Wei nodded. In the current situation, they could only put aside their differences and cooperate.

The facts were clear: the family currently needed handicrafts. Whether it was cultivating farmland or logging and hunting, a craftsman must first sharpen his tools. Did this principle need to be repeated several times before they understood?

Since the Head of the Family quest hadn't been triggered, they could only coordinate and operate on their own.

"I need more wood too, because we still need to burn Charcoal. George, I need you." Penny's eyes sparkled as she spoke sincerely.

Li Wei simply nodded. Before the wolf infestation quest was over, all new family output belonged to the family, not to individuals.

So, there was no need to worry that the Charcoal Penny burned, the raw iron she smelted, or the Blacksmith Shop she built would belong only to her.

Hmm, looking at it this way, the wolf infestation quest was quite good.

Phila couldn't stir up any trouble anymore, and Penny had to compromise.

Li Wei had actually become the biggest winner.

He didn't even need to worry about Plot Kills anymore.

After dinner, Li Wei returned to his room to rest. Lying on the pathetic blanket, a thought crossed his mind, and his simple status panel appeared before his eyes.

He had bound the One-Star Hunter Card this time and gained five Free Attribute Points. This was excellent. So, how should he allocate them?

After pondering for a long time, Li Wei first used two Free Attribute Points to raise his Strength Attribute to 10 points. Unfortunately, it did not trigger the Level One Awakening.

"10 points of Strength should be enough to catch up to Penny. No, it should be said, to catch up to a normal adult male."

Li Wei mused. Due to his late-stage cancer, his body had always been very weak and lacked Strength, which was why Penny had completely dominated him. 10 points of Strength should be the passing score for a normal adult male.

So, theoretically, to trigger Level One Awakening, at least 20 points of Strength would be needed.

Even if he added the remaining three Free Attribute Points, could he gain a suppressive advantage over the wolves?

Could he turn the tide and sweep away all enemies?

Most likely not.

"Therefore, I need a more coordinated, more stable, and more balanced physical state. Especially since I've activated my second profession now. A hunter is not a warrior; I can't just charge in blindly."

With that thought, Li Wei immediately used another two Free Attribute Points to raise his Agility to 6 points. Agility was very important.

As for the last Free Attribute Point, after careful consideration, he still chose to add it to Agility, reaching 7 points. After all, facing wolves, having Strength alone wouldn't suffice; his reaction speed needed to keep up, and it also needed to live up to the +30% accuracy from his ranged weapon Professional Talent.

What followed was a good night's sleep. Even the constant wolf howls at night couldn't disturb him.

When Li Wei woke up the next morning, he felt refreshed, energetic, and full of healthy vitality, a vibrant feeling like a towering giant!

Rare indeed!

He quickly got up and did dozens of push-ups in one go.

When he came out, his expression unchanged, he saw Phila and Penny, who seemed to have not slept all night, with dark circles under their eyes from exhaustion.

"These beasts actually learned to harass us, but you slept soundly!"

Penny's gaze swept over Li Wei, hinting at something.

"Is your arm okay?" Li Wei asked. It was family concern, after all. He was learning to act now.

Penny forced a smile. "It's nothing serious, but it will take some time before I can go out and kill wolves. So, don't rush. When my body recovers, we'll go out and kill them together."

"Those beasts howled outside the camp all night yesterday and even tried to pry open the walls and jump over. But they disappeared when we woke up this morning. They're very cunning, George. You must not act rashly."

"I know."

Li Wei nodded again. He went to one side of the house to take care of personal matters. When he returned, he saw Phila and Penny each pulling a corner of a tarp, carefully pouring the dew collected on it into a clay pot. There was quite a bit.

With three tarps in total, they had collected nearly three liters of dew.

Li Wei had only heard of this method before but had never seen it. It seemed these two were quite skilled and meticulous, knowing that collecting water today would be difficult and had made preparations in advance.

Next, Phila divided the dew into four portions, about 300 milliliters per person, and used the rest to cook porridge for breakfast.

It was worth noting that Phila had already smoked and dried all the wolf meat halfway the previous night. Today, however, she still needed to continue smoking it, which would consume a huge amount of firewood.

After Li Wei walked around the yard, he became filled with worry about how they would survive the winter.

The house needed reinforcement and better insulation. They needed to stockpile enough firewood and food. If possible, the camp's walls needed further strengthening, and they also needed some weapons. Everyone would require a set of winter clothing.

Even though he could theoretically live to ninety years old, he could still die suddenly in the harsh wind and snow.

Any single crucial detail overlooked could be fatal, as this wasn't a game.