What the heck, those requirements were pretty demanding.
Li Wei immediately felt the pressure. Phila could easily gather five units of Wild Vegetables and Mushrooms. It was midsummer, and with a little luck, she could finish in less than twenty days. Any extra time would be hers to use as she pleased.
He had a lot more to do, since his reward was eight Family Contribution Points.
That alone would have been manageable, but he also had to help Penny build a Blacksmith Shop. That made things a little tight.
Still, it was his only choice. Their family really did need a Blacksmith Shop right now. They needed it to make all kinds of tools and weapons.
Most importantly, this arrangement suited Penny's career goals while making the Blacksmith Shop a family asset. Penny would have been wholeheartedly in favor of it.
The family's Main Quest also took Phila's career goals fully into account.
Whatever those two bitches were like in their day-to-day lives, he still had to do his best to win them over for the sake of the family's overall development.
"Penny, George, breakfast is ready."
The smell of meat wafted in from outside. Phila had already made breakfast, and she had cleaned up the Black Wolf's carcass thoroughly. Li Wei suspected she would earn a one-star Butcher Card sooner or later.
That was how it worked. Once you did the same thing enough times and gained experience, this sort of thing would happen.
The competition among the three of them was only going to intensify.
After breakfast, Li Wei slung two spare spears over his back, shouldered his Hunting Bow, and packed ten featherless Wolf Fang Arrows, one feathered Wolf Fang Arrow, and the fine Wooden Spear Penny had made. Then he left camp.
His goal for the day was to explore the terrain around camp, look for any possible Iron Ore, and then go fishing.
The first task was important. Before, he could afford not to care, but now that he was the head of the household, they needed to start planning for the family's future development. That meant conducting a survey of the area.
So after leaving camp, Li Wei headed to the stream in the middle of the valley and followed it upstream, keeping an eye out for any rocks that might be Iron Ore.
A torrential rainstorm had hit the night before, unleashing a flash flood. The stream had swollen to three or four times its usual size, carrying even more boulders downstream.
Li Wei looked closely. Although the floodwaters had been heavy, the terrain here was fairly gentle, so they hadn't caused any major geological disasters, such as landslides. Still, a sudden downpour of extreme intensity in the future could bring one on.
The wild grass along the stream was lush, with dew covering every blade. After walking for a while, Li Wei was soaked from the waist down. He couldn't bring himself to use his fine Wooden Spear to clear a path, so he took one of his spare spears and used it to beat down the grass as he went, staying alert the whole time.
He went about three kilometers upstream, and more than an hour had passed. Along the way, he'd found more than a dozen huge boulders that looked like Iron Ore. He couldn't move them by himself; he would need Old Ox to haul them or break them up into smaller pieces. But there was no rush.
As he continued upstream, the terrain grew steeper. The stream curved into another valley ahead, where denser woods stretched out before him. An endless thicket of shrubs stood like a wall, blocking his way.
After observing the area for a while, he was all but certain this route was impassable. The family didn't have the strength to clear it yet. The mountains to the north and east were both vast and rugged, and he had no idea how many obstacles lay farther ahead.
Actually, this family's flight from home makes me think of the Black Death ravaging medieval Europe. But it could also be a fictional world. Either way, the idea of expanding outward and leaving this valley can be put to rest!
First we have to survive. Getting through the first winter is what matters most.
With that in mind, Li Wei turned back. When he looked southwest, he saw layer upon layer of mountains there too, but they were clearly different. Without a doubt, there should be more human settlements in that direction. The only problem was that the plague had taken hold there.
He wondered whether people whose life attributes had undergone a Level One Awakening could withstand the plague.
Huh?
Li Wei suddenly stopped. Across the stream, he spotted a herd of wild boars.
He stared at them, and they stared back at him with their tiny eyes.
After a long while, the boars suddenly squealed and fled into the depths of the forest.
"Too bad I can't go hunting in the forest yet."
Li Wei sighed. He was still barefoot and didn't even have any pants. Just walking around meant constantly beating the grass to scare off snakes. What kind of hunting was that?
He'd better fish first. That counted too.
Around noon, Li Wei returned to camp. He hadn't managed to go fishing, but he'd at least tried carrying back two rocks, each weighing about ten pounds, that looked like Iron Ore. They were dark brown, a bit like hematite.
But the knowledge Li Wei had learned in the past only got him that far. From here on, he would have to leave it to fate.
Sure enough, when he carried the rocks into camp, no message appeared. Still unwilling to give up, he brought them inside for Penny to examine.
Penny seemed to be doing all right, though she was very weak. She glanced at the rocks in Li Wei's hands, then at his expectant face, before saying, "George, these are probably Iron Ore, but I don't know how much iron we could smelt from them. Don't worry about it for now. Let's wait until I'm feeling better."
Hearing that and remembering there'd been no notification, Li Wei understood what was going on. Finding Iron Ore wasn't so easy. But Penny had probably already explored the surrounding area, so she should have some idea. Otherwise, building a Blacksmith Shop would be pointless without any ore to work with.
Fine. She must be hiding some things, so he would let her handle this.
It was obvious that Penny probably didn't want him to get a one-star Miner Card so soon.
And surely she wouldn't delay her own career just to sabotage Li Wei's Main Quest for the family.
Li Wei said a couple of pointless things about how she should focus on recovering, then ate and headed straight for the lower reaches of the stream without taking a break. If he wanted to fish, he had to go downstream.
By then, the floodwaters had receded by at least half, exposing a large area of shoreline covered in silt.
Li Wei walked straight across the muddy area. It was a little hard to traverse, but at least it was safe. The wild grass along the bank was chest-high and difficult to walk through, and he also had to watch out for snakes and insects.
He walked along, watching the water, but didn't see any fish. Most likely, the flood had swept them farther downstream.
He'd expected as much, so he didn't worry and kept going. After walking another ten-odd miles downstream, he finally spotted a school of fish in a bend in the valley. But the terrain there was different.
The water was not only wide but deep, like a small lake. There was no way he could repeat his old trick of building a dam with rocks to catch fish.
Perhaps in a few days, once the stream returned to normal, some of the fish would swim back upstream. For now, his only option might be to fish with a rod.
But Li Wei didn't have any fishing gear, and the surroundings weren't suitable for it anyway.
He circled the little lake in the bend a few times but couldn't come up with any good ideas. Seeing that it was getting late, he had no choice but to turn back.
All he brought home that day were two rocks. Otherwise, he had absolutely nothing to show for it.
Even though Li Wei knew he couldn't rush things, he still couldn't help feeling anxious. The key was that he was now the head of the household. If he didn't get some results, Penny and Phila would soon catch up with him.
"Tomorrow I'll cut trees first and gather three units of lumber. I'll finish one thing before moving on to the next."
At that moment, Li Wei lost his nerve. That morning, he'd still been dreaming of great achievements. Now he could see it wouldn't be so simple.
Before you continue