Today’s harvest was unprecedented. Cen An dared not unload all the supplies at once, gathering them bit by bit instead.

【Bamboo x8, Bamboo Shoots x24, Ground Fruits x42, Cassava x21, Timber x350, Hay x250, Wheat x30, Rice x45, Various Beans x60, Assorted Dried Mushrooms x32】

Behind him, a mother urgently needed medicine for her child, yet her family had no dry provisions or fuel to spare. Since she made her living selling mushrooms, she brought all the dried mushrooms her household possessed. Cen An, moved by her plight, exchanged some for her.

Additionally, there were 2 wind-cold fruits left and 3 mutated wind-cold fruits.

He first loaded the wheat, rice, and beans into the empty grain bins in the inner room, filling them to the brim.

Over a hundred pounds of dry provisions would sustain him for quite some time.

He then neatly stacked the wood and dried grass. With hundreds of bundles of dried grass, the outer room could no longer hold them all, so he evenly distributed half of them into the inner room.

Originally, the inner room contained little—just a grain jar, a wooden rack for medicines, and a broken bamboo bed. Now, however, a wall-to-wall pile of wood and dried grass occupied the space against the wall.

It might look a bit messy, but Cen An’s heart was filled with a profound sense of security.

Finally, he retrieved the animal-skin pouch used for selling wind-cold fruit, carefully packing the ground fruit and cassava inside and arranging them properly.

With this, the outer room was completely packed, leaving barely enough space to stand.

A humble home is worth a fortune—the more possessions, the better!

After tidying the room, he still worried about the outside, so he donned his straw raincoat to inspect the garden.

White radishes were the lowest-tier crop, like bok choy—a beginner’s perk that thrived anywhere. Even after days of rain, they remained as spirited as ever.

The sweet asparagus, true to its “rain-loving” nature, thrived under the downpour. Its pointed shoots stood tall and straight, beaming with joy after drinking their fill of rainwater. Their growth cycle even accelerated by a day—what once took over eight days now required only seven and a half.

The Rain Dew Essence Cup hadn’t slacked off either, collecting a substantial amount of dew essence that filled one-fifth of its capacity.

Cen An surveyed everything, then returned to his quarters to wash up and retire for the night.

The next day, the rain intensified as predicted. By the standards of weather forecasts in his previous life, this would be classified as moderate rain—large, dense drops filling the air with damp mist, forming a thin layer of standing water on the ground.

Yet he could not rest.

After a quick breakfast, he donned his straw raincoat and conical hat before heading out.

Fewer villagers were out on the mountain than yesterday—whether because he’d risen early or the heavy rain deterred them, he couldn’t say.

He hurried straight to the bamboo grove, taking a few breaths and beginning to search for the traps he’d set yesterday.

First came the small traps. As expected, the first one yielded nothing.

Cen An picked it up, stowed it in his backpack, and moved on to the next.

The second trap not only had no catch but was also damaged—the woven bamboo net had been bitten through from the inside. Cen An shook his head helplessly and packed it away.

The ruined trap was unusable, but it could be taken back as firewood.

The third trap finally yielded something—a bamboo partridge sat inside, eyes wide, frozen still, whether from fright or injury.

A bamboo partridge… he’d never eaten one before.

A faint smile touched his lips as he lifted the bird and gave it a little shake. It felt about four pounds. After bleeding and plucking it, he estimated a pound of meat—enough for a meal.

He tied the bamboo partridge securely with hemp rope. Live creatures couldn’t go in his backpack, but luckily, he’d come prepared. He pulled out a leather pouch and stuffed the bird inside.

Perhaps it was a good omen. Of the next seven traps, six actually had prey. His final haul was as follows: 2 pheasants, 1 mallard, 2 rabbits, and 1 frog.

He simply couldn’t bring himself to eat the frog. Cen An released it, then stuffed the remaining prey into his bag.

He then went to check the intermediate traps.

Intermediate traps could capture more dangerous prey, so Cen An drew his iron sword.

The first trap was empty, as expected.

The second trap… Before he even approached, he saw a waist-high bamboo cylinder writhing violently. He immediately broke into a trot!

Upon closer inspection, he found a roaring rabbit trapped inside!

A roaring rabbit was a Level 2 mutant beast. Its cries could cause dizziness and ringing in the ears, though its strength was weaker than that of other Level 2 mutant beasts.

Still, it was a mutant beast. After struggling for who knows how long, it had chewed through the medium-sized trap. Had Cen An arrived an hour later, the creature would have escaped.

Useless meat, and it ruined his trap… Brother Cen walked over expressionless, knocked it dead, and tossed it into his backpack.

Only one of the three medium traps remained.

Cen An had given up hope… but unexpectedly, this final trap delivered a huge surprise!

The moment he approached, he heard familiar grunts. Peering inside, he found a piglet!

After struggling all night, the black-skinned piglet had little strength left. Seeing someone approach, it could only twitch its hooves.

A pig! What did a pig mean?

Lard, braised pork belly, sweet and sour spare ribs, braised pork knuckle…

Even someone as reserved as Brother Cen couldn’t help but salivate slightly at the sight of this live piglet, paying its due respect.

The piglet weighed about forty pounds. Since Cen An didn’t have a second animal skin bag to carry it in, he simply butchered it on the spot.

He couldn’t bear to waste the blood, collecting it in a bamboo tube. He roughly chopped the meat into chunks and stuffed it all into his backpack.

Cen An effortlessly hoisted the leather bag, repositioning the remaining eight small traps and two large ones, placing bait in each.

Rest was out of the question; it was still early. He pulled out two ground fruits roasted that morning, gobbling them down in a few bites for lunch.

Then he plunged into the bamboo grove, cutting fifty sections of bamboo.

Only when dusk fell did he hurry home.

Occasional figures appeared along the path—many villagers were stockpiling supplies during these days before the heavy rains arrived.

Cen An walked through the village toward home. Halfway there, he heard someone say, “Good thing I ran into you here.”

The voice sounded familiar. He turned to find a pair of pearly white teeth smiling back at him. After a moment of surprise, he realized it must be Tian Yuan.

The white teeth drifted closer. Cen An looked closely and confirmed it was indeed Tian Yuan—his complexion was surprisingly hard to spot after dark.

Tian Yuan held a large fish by the gills with a grass rope. The fish was still alive. “Here. I promised to treat you to fish.”

Cen An smiled as he took it. “Why come today?”

Tian Yuan wore a soft bark raincoat, carrying a distinct woody scent. “Heavy rain’s coming tomorrow. Hunting’s impossible up in the mountains for a while, so I came today.”

He shook his head with obvious frustration. “I heard someone traded cold-curing fruit at the market yesterday. I rushed over today to check, but they were already gone…”

He was genuinely troubled, but then his business partner gave a slight smile and reached up to take a green fruit.

Tian Yuan froze. “This is…”

“I saved it for you,” Cen An handed it to him. “I didn’t know if you needed it before, but now that I know you want it, it’s perfect.”

Tian Yuan stared at the fruit for a moment, his expression blank. “You… saved this specifically for me?”

Cen An nodded, puzzled. “What? You don’t need it?”

“No, not at all.” Tian Yuan smiled again, his tone both solemn and relieved. “Thank you.”

He was naturally robust, and with his awakened abilities—though they weren’t particularly useful…—he rarely fell ill.

But there had been someone with him before. Every rainy season, he would prepare a cold-curing fruit for him. After that person was gone, the habit remained.

Only cold-curing fruits were hard to find. He’d searched for ages without finding a single one…

His gaze drifted to Cen An. The young man stood in the rain, watching him with a calm expression, as if he’d done something utterly insignificant.

Tian Yuan suddenly smiled again. “Well then, I live in the west, in the house with the green roof. If you need anything, come find me. I’m usually home after dark.”

Cen An nodded, then hesitated. “I…”

Tian Yuan waved his hand with a smile. “Alright, head back. It’s getting chilly.” He added a final reminder, “The later it gets in the Dark Rain Period, the heavier the downpours. Once you’re stocked up, stay indoors.”

Cen An nodded, watching him depart.

Thanks to the light rain, the big fish survived the journey home. It even tried to give Cen An a tail swipe.

Cen An didn’t mind. He fetched an empty wooden basin and placed it inside to keep the fish alive.

The game in the leather pouch was also still alive. Cen An felt a pang of regret. If he had activated the Ranch System now, he could have raised these little creatures.

But without the system, only about thirty percent of wild game caught had a chance of survival… that probability simply wasn’t worth the gamble.

Cen An butchered each little creature with a single knife stroke, processing the game into meat.

Fresh bamboo partridge meat was wrapped in leaves and set aside specially.

As for the remaining two pheasants, one duck, and two rabbits, he dug out his seasonings.

Lately, he’d been venturing into the mountains frequently, gathering seasonings whenever he came across them to dry and store. Over time, he’d accumulated quite a stash.

Once the chicken, duck, and rabbits were prepped, he added chili peppers, scallions, ginger, Sichuan peppercorns, star anise… every kind of seasoning he had. He then poured in generous amounts of soy sauce fruit and set them to marinate.

After marinating overnight, he’d hang them over the hearth tomorrow to smoke all day. Soon he’d have delicious smoked chicken and duck to eat.

Looking at the whole basin of chicken, duck, and rabbit meat, Cen An couldn’t help but recall the dog owner he used to share meat with.

The dog owner and the little pup hadn’t been around in ages… The thought flashed through his mind, then faded away.

Tonight’s main event was still the pork.

The little pig, weighing over forty pounds, yielded nearly thirty pounds of meat. It didn’t seem like much, but he couldn’t bear to throw away the remaining large bones, ribs, offal, or even the pig’s blood.

Cen An spread thick, large leaves on the ground and placed the meat directly on top.

The fresh pork glowed with a pinkish sheen, still carrying warmth.

He chopped it into appropriately sized chunks, wrapping them in leaves for easy future consumption. The ribs wouldn’t be eaten today; they were set aside for later.

The large bones were split open with an axe and tossed into a pot to boil.

The liver, heart, and other offal were washed clean and soaked in fresh water.

The weather wasn’t hot today, and temperatures would drop during the rainy season, so storing them for five or six days wouldn’t be a problem.

Finally, only the white lard and fatty meat remained on the large leaf. Cen An brought out the large iron pot.

He enjoyed cooking, but had never rendered lard before—though he had watched videos.

There were two methods for rendering lard: one with water, one without. They said the water method produced clearer oil and was better for beginners.

As a true novice, Cen An naturally chose the water method.

He cut the white fat into appropriately sized chunks, placed them in the large iron pot, added just a little water, and slowly brought it to a simmer over low heat.

Before long, crystalline fat began seeping out.

Beside it, another pot steamed vigorously. Pork bones simmered in clear water, transformed by the flame’s embrace into a milky-white broth, rich with savory aroma.

In this pot, the lard’s fragrance was bold and unrestrained. Tiny bubbles rose and burst, emitting a soft crackling sound.