Chapter 83: Difficult Survival Alone 7

Evelyn Ford looked at the roof and suddenly remembered she hadn’t installed the lightning rod yet.

After taking out the ladder she had made earlier and setting it up, Evelyn climbed onto the roof with the lightning rod in hand.

She found a suitable spot, secured the lightning rod, and the job was done.

Evelyn stood on the roof and looked around. It was foggy, and she couldn’t see anything.

She still had to process the cow’s head and organs today. Evelyn planned to get it done quickly, starting with skinning the head.

She brought the cow’s head, hooves, and organs out from the cabin and placed them under the large patio umbrella. Then, Evelyn went to check on the cooling tallow. It had already solidified into a block, having cooled perfectly.

Evelyn sealed the oil drum and stored it directly in her space.

Sitting by the fire, Evelyn began to skin the cow’s head. Once the hide was removed, she took out the brain and placed it on a plate.

After processing the tongue and hooves as well, Evelyn decided to take a short break. ’Sure enough,’ she thought, ’the tastier the ingredient, the more troublesome it is to prepare.’

She took off her gloves, washed her hands with soap, and sat down by the fire, intending to cook the brain.

Evelyn wrapped the cow’s brain in lettuce, placed it on the charcoal to grill, and waited for the aroma to emerge before it was ready to eat.

Cow brain can quench thirst, replenish qi and blood, and nourish yin. Most people can’t stomach it, but animal brains are actually very beneficial.

She had to clean the organs in the afternoon, which gave Evelyn a bit of a headache. The cow’s stomach was enormous. Besides, cows have four stomachs. Aside from the rumen, the other three were negligible, but the intestines were also difficult to process.

Since these wild cattle grew up eating grass and leaves, the smell wasn’t particularly awful when she cut open the stomach; there was even a faint scent of fresh grass. Evelyn turned the intestines inside out with warm water, washed them four or five times with wood ash, and gave them a final rinse with flour until they were perfectly clean.

’As for the cowhide, I’ll just set it aside for now.’

The inside of the cabin was already very dry. Outside, the snow had piled up to her knees. One step, and your whole body would sink into it.

With the water pipes connected and the water heater installed, it was time for Evelyn to move into her new home.

She had also placed Mina’s bed in the bedroom. Now with the addition of a little bird, Evelyn planned to take it in for the time being.

Taking out two flower pots, Evelyn planted two camellia seeds. Camellias are cold-hardy plants. ’Hopefully, they’ll sprout this winter.’

She also moved the cactus to the table in her bedroom. With that, a proper little home was all set up.

Evelyn took out a few sheets of paper, wrote the character for "Fortune" on them, and pasted them on her door.

She had to prepare for winter now. After winter came the New Year.

"Mina, can you stop making trouble? I’m trying to make two lanterns. Don’t come over and bother me."

Evelyn was cutting paper in front of the fireplace when Mina came over and swatted her with its tail. At her wit’s end, Evelyn picked it up and tossed it a short distance away.

She had named the little bird Lola, which meant "to land," because it had landed at her home.

She also had to write the character for "Fortune" on the red lanterns. In fact, Evelyn’s own nickname was Felicity. Her mother, who had found her, gave her the name in the hope that she would be far from hardship and blessed only with good fortune.

When her mother went to register her name, the clerk asked which character to use. Her mother said the one for "fortune," but the clerk heard a homophone and wrote down the character for "support" instead.

It was a small, harmless mistake, so they never corrected it. After her parents passed away, no one ever called her by her nickname again.

Evelyn wrote the character for "Fortune" stroke by stroke. Looking at the two red lanterns, she couldn’t help but smile.

With the two lanterns hanging outside the cabin door, it suddenly felt like a home. Evelyn glanced at the thick snow, feeling an urge to build a snowman.

Mina was watching her from the doorway. Evelyn waved at it.

"Mina, come see the snow-you I’m making!" Mina stretched its neck out, but it was too cold and it quickly pulled back.

Evelyn laughed out loud and continued rolling snowballs to build her snowmen.

She built a father, a mother, herself, and Mina. On Mina’s head stood Lola.

Beside them were Officer Graham, Wendy, Quincy, Roy Henderson, and Owen Chapman.

"There’s still a month to go, but happy New Year in advance, everyone."

Evelyn scooped up a handful of snow and suddenly tossed it into the sky.

She already had a bit of a cold, and after playing in the snow for a while, it got worse.

When Evelyn returned to the cabin, she was shivering from the cold. She quickly boiled a bowl of ginger soup and gulped it down, but the sniffles and sneezes came one after another.

For the next few days, Evelyn decided not to go out at all. She was going to lie flat and just let herself rot.

"ACHOO..."

Mina was startled by her sneeze and jumped straight to the floor. Lola’s injury had mostly healed, and it started to run in and out of the rooms with Mina.

She took some cold medicine and had a nap, sweating out the fever. Evelyn decided to get up and do something. While lying in bed, she had developed a strong craving for steamed fish head with chopped chilies. No sooner said than done—that’s what she would have for dinner tonight.

’Maybe sick people just get cravings,’ Evelyn thought, realizing she also wanted popsicles, watermelon, frozen pears...

’Stop. You don’t.’

Evelyn scorned herself internally for a moment before heading into the kitchen to cook.

The next day, Evelyn was full of life again. She had to admire her own healing ability; her cold had come on suddenly and left just as quickly.

There was nothing to do cooped up at home all day. Evelyn decided to take advantage of the fact that the snow wasn’t too deep yet to go cut some fir trees to stack up.

Evelyn didn’t plan to ravage the other half of the firs in the hollow; she had to leave some trees to act as a windbreak.

She decided to go a little farther away. For this logging expedition, Evelyn prepared thoroughly, bundling up from head to toe and even putting on goggles.

’After it snows, it’s easy to get snow blindness. I have to be completely protected.’

"Mina, you and Lola stay home, okay? I’ll just be on the slope to the right. I’ll be back soon. Be good, and don’t tear the house down, you hear?"

Mina circled her feet. Evelyn patted its head, saw that its food bowl was still full, and then closed the door and left.

The snow had already piled up a little above her knees. Evelyn was wearing a pair of very thick deerskin snow boots. Walking through the snow was clumsy, but she wasn’t cold at all.

The fir trees on the slope were also very dense. After reaching her destination, Evelyn took out her chainsaw and got to work.

Evelyn spent the entire afternoon felling dozens of fir trees with the chainsaw. After storing them in her space, she prepared to head home.

On the way, Evelyn spotted a wild pheasant that had fallen in the snow. Her eyes lit up, and she hurried forward to dig it out.

’Looks like it’s braised chicken with mushrooms tonight,’ she thought. ’The main course is settled.’

The pheasant was still alive, and it stared at Evelyn with a look of utter despair.

On the way back, despite falling several times, Evelyn’s spirits remained high.

Back in the yard, there were no signs of large wild animals having visited. Evelyn opened the fence gate with relief, went inside, and bolted it shut.

"SQUEAK SQUEAK..." Mina saw her return and jumped up and down excitedly in front of the window. Evelyn shook the snow off herself and tossed the pheasant outside.

’Staying home is comfortable, no wind and no cold,’ she reflected, ’but going out to work is pretty good too. Not only do I get to stretch my legs, but I can also find a wild pheasant.’

’Perfect.’