Empty-Handed

Good heavens, the requirements are quite high.

Li Wei immediately felt a sense of urgency. Phila could collect five units of Wild Vegetables and Mushrooms without issue. It was the height of summer, and with good luck, she could finish in less than twenty days. Any extra time would be her own personal property.

His own tasks were a bit much, mainly because there was a reward of eight Family Contribution Points.

If that were all, it would be fine, but he also had to help Penny build a Blacksmith Shop, which made things a bit tight.

However, he had no other choice. The family currently needed a Blacksmith Shop, as many tools and weapons required one to be made.

Most importantly, this approach would align with Penny's career development and make the Blacksmith Shop family property, something Penny wholeheartedly approved of.

Moreover, this main family quest also fully catered to Phila's career development.

Regardless of how those two bimbos acted normally, they had to be brought on board as much as possible for the family's overall development.

"Penny, George, time to eat."

Outside the house, the aroma of cooked meat wafted through the air. Phila had already prepared breakfast. The carcass of the Black Wolf had also been cleaned up by her, making Li Wei suspect that Phila would eventually get a one-star Butcher Card.

Yes, if one did the same thing enough times and gained experience, such a situation would be triggered.

The competition among the three of them would only intensify.

After breakfast, Li Wei slung two spare Wooden Spears over his back, slung his Hunting Bow, carried ten unfeathered Wolf Fang Arrows, one feathered Wolf Fang Arrow, and the finely crafted Wooden Spear made by Penny, then left the camp.

His goal today was to explore the terrain around the camp, search for possible Iron Ore, and then catch fish.

The former was very important. He could have ignored it before, but now that he was the Head of the Family, how to plan for the family's future development had to be put on the agenda, and this could not be done without actual field exploration.

Therefore, after leaving the camp, Li Wei first walked to the stream in the middle of the valley and explored upstream along the stream, while also looking for suspected Iron Ore.

A heavy rain the previous night had caused a flood, expanding the stream's flow by three to four times and washing down more large stones.

Li Wei observed carefully and found that although the floodwaters were strong, within this area, the terrain was relatively flat, so it did not cause major geological disasters like landslides. However, if there were extremely heavy rains in the future, such a situation could not be ruled out.

The wild grass on the banks of the stream was extremely lush, covered in dew. After walking for a while, Li Wei was half-soaked. He was reluctant to use the finely crafted Wooden Spear to clear the path, so he took off a spare Wooden Spear and walked while tapping it, not daring to be careless.

He walked upstream for about three kilometers, which took over an hour. During this time, Li Wei did discover more than a dozen huge stones that were suspected to be Iron Ore. He couldn't move them by himself; he would need an old ox to pull them, or he'd have to break them into pieces to transport them, but that wasn't urgent.

Continuing further upstream, the terrain began to become steep. The stream then turned into another valley ahead. Denser forests appeared in front, and the boundless shrubs seemed like a copper wall and iron bastion, blocking Li Wei's path.

He observed the area for a moment and basically determined that this path was impassable. The family's strength could not currently open it up. Especially since the north and east were covered by vast mountains, going further would involve encountering countless difficulties.

"Actually, the background of this family fleeing feels a bit like the Black Death ravaging the Middle Ages, but it could also be a fictional world. In any case, the idea of expanding outwards and leaving this valley is out!"

"Surviving first, and figuring out how to get through the first winter is the most crucial thing."

Thinking this, Li Wei turned back. Looking towards the southwest again, although he could see layers of mountains, it was clearly different. Without a doubt, there should be more human settlements in that direction, but they were currently being controlled by the plague.

He wondered if their Level One Awakening in Life attribute could withstand the plague?

Huh?

Li Wei suddenly stopped. On the opposite bank of the stream, he discovered a group of wild boars.

He stared intently, and the group of wild boars stared back with their small eyes.

After a long while, the group of wild boars suddenly squealed and fled into the depths of the forest.

"What a shame. I don't have the conditions to enter the forest to hunt yet."

Li Wei sighed. He was still barefoot, without even pants. Walking required constantly startling the snakes and insects; what kind of hunting was this?

So, he'd catch fish first; it counted just the same.

Around noon, Li Wei returned to the camp. He hadn't managed to catch any fish, but he had experimentally carried back two suspected Iron Ore stones, each weighing about ten pounds. They were dark brown, somewhat like hematite.

However, with Li Wei's previous knowledge, that was all he could do. The rest depended on fate.

As expected, when he carried the stones into the camp, there were no system prompts. So, he unyieldingly carried the stones into the house for Penny to examine.

Penny was in better condition, though still very weak. She glanced at the stones in Li Wei's hand and then at Li Wei, who was looking at her expectantly, before saying, "George, this is likely Iron Ore, but I don't know how much iron can be smelted from it. Don't worry about this, we'll discuss it after I've recovered."

Hearing this, and combined with the lack of any reward notification, Li Wei understood what was going on. Finding Iron Ore wasn't that easy. However, Penny must have explored the surrounding area before, so she probably had an idea. Otherwise, why would she be so eager to build a Blacksmith Shop if she had no materials?

Fine, she was likely hiding something, so he'd let her handle that aspect.

It was clear that Penny probably didn't want him to get a one-star Miner Card too quickly.

Besides, she wouldn't delay her own career development just to sabotage Li Wei's main family quest, would she?

At that, Li Wei said a few meaningless platitudes about resting and recovering, then, after eating, he didn't rest but headed straight for the downstream of the stream. If he wanted to catch fish, he had to go downstream.

By this time, the floodwaters in the stream had receded by at least half, exposing large areas covered in mud along the banks.

Li Wei walked directly through the muddy area. It was a bit difficult to walk, but it was safe. Otherwise, the waist-deep wild grass along the bank would have been hard to navigate, and he would have had to worry about snake and insect bites.

As he walked, he observed the stream, but he didn't see any fish. They were likely washed further downstream by the flood.

Li Wei had anticipated this and wasn't in a hurry. He continued downstream for about ten li and finally found a school of fish in a mountain cove. However, the situation here was different.

Not only was the water surface wide, but it was also very deep, like a small lake. Trying to repeat his previous tactic of building a dam with stones to catch fish was almost impossible.

Perhaps in a few days, when the stream returned to normal, some fish would swim upstream, but for now, fishing might be the only option.

But Li Wei had no fishing tools, let alone the right environment.

He circled the cove-like lake a few times but didn't come up with any good solutions. Seeing that it was getting late, he had no choice but to turn back.

On this day, apart from bringing back two stones, his harvest was zero.

For a moment, even though Li Wei knew he couldn't rush things, he was truly anxious. The key was that he was the Head of the Family now. If he didn't show results, Penny and Phila would soon catch up to him.

"Tomorrow, I'll cut down trees first, gather three units of Wood, solve one problem, and then tackle the next."

At this moment, Li Wei backed down. This morning he had been thinking of grand plans, but now it seemed it wasn't that simple.