Xiang Weiguo seemed a bit more serious as he pondered for a moment and said, "You bought medication before the disaster struck, so let me ask you, why did you buy the medication?"
Gao Yuan answered without hesitation, "Not to mention a disaster of apocalyptic proportions, once a disaster hits, medication is always the most scarce resource, especially common drugs. I sensed disaster was looming, so I bought the drugs. I definitely wouldn't be able to use all of them myself, but I could use the medication as currency, to trade for anything I needed, so I bought a lot."
Xiang Weiguo nodded and said, "Then why did you think a disaster was going to happen?"
"I'm a survivalist, but most importantly, I saw a UFO. I saw a UFO with my own eyes and knew something was going to happen, so I immediately went to buy medication before everyone else caught on."
Xiang Weiguo took a breath and said, "I see, I have to say you are very farsighted. Being this well-prepared, you are a real talent."
After he finished speaking, Xiang Weiguo looked towards Luo Xingyu, then said with a face full of relief, "With these medications, your illness is not a big problem, but you still need to be careful. You're too weak, with poor resistance, but don't worry, you should be able to recover in at most a month."
Luo Xingyu said with a face full of anticipation, "Uncle Xiang, my brother won't let me eat meat. Do you think I can eat meat? Can I?"
"You really can't eat meat, your stomach can't handle it. I was actually worried you had already eaten too much meat. Xiao Gao, you did well."
Gao Yuan, having received praise once again, was delighted and laughed, "I just know some basic principles."
Xiang Weiguo said with a serious face, "In desperation, eating too quickly or too much really can be life-threatening. Xiaoyu's condition for the next few days allows only liquid food, but the nutrition must keep up."
"I had her eat porridge cooked from dissolved compressed biscuits. She's already had it for two meals."
"You've done well."
Xiang Weiguo looked at Gao Yuan and smiled, "You have a good sense of awareness, and your physical condition is so-so, but your hand-to-hand skills could use some improvement."
Gao Yuan said with some embarrassment, "Actually, I joined the Martial Arts Club at university, but now I feel it's useless."
Xiang Weiguo couldn't help but laugh and said, "Martial Arts Club? It's not bad for exercising."
"Yeah, it's utterly useless. Uncle Xiang, your stick work is really impressive. You don't even need a walking stick, right? Is that technique you used for fixing bayonets?"
Xiang Weiguo shook his head and said, "That's not a cane, nor is it a technique for fixing bayonets. This stick has its own set of moves. It's called 'Thirteen Techniques'."
Xiang Weiguo picked up his short stick, grasped one end with his hand, then alternated hands moving up the length until he had gripped the other end, exactly thirteen times.
"See, Thirteen Techniques. In some places, it's also called a flail stick, just a type of weapon."
Watching Xiang Weiguo's demonstration, Gao Yuan, who was cutting meat, stopped and said, "Did you know kung fu even before you joined the army?"
Xiang Weiguo started to laugh. He made a circle with his hand and said, "In this village, everybody knew how to. Of course, that was in the past. Now, who still practices it?"
Gao Yuan cautiously asked, "Uncle Xiang, could you teach me?"
Xiang Weiguo glanced at Gao Yuan and said, "Alright."
Gao Yuan was stunned and said, "Really?"
"Why would I lie to you? Is it necessary?"
Gao Yuan was excited, put down the knife in his hand, ran to Xiang Weiguo's side and loudly said, "Master, I..."
"Stop, no need to call me master. We don't do that here. I've taught plenty of people in the army. This is our family's martial arts knowledge, but back then in the village, we'd teach anyone who wanted to learn, without any formalities like calling someone 'master'."
Luo Xingyu said weakly, "I want to learn too..."
Xiang Weiguo smiled and then he sighed deeply, "I see you're both good kids. Besides, what times are we living in now? If you want to learn, how could I not teach you? An extra skill gives you an extra chance to survive. You should practice well."
After finishing, Xiang Weiguo stood up and said, "I'll cook the meat; you're too slow at this."
Moving to Gao Yuan's side, Xiang Weiguo drew a dagger, but one side had a straight edge, while the other side had a hooked blade. Gao Yuan just glanced at it and exclaimed, "M65 Paratrooper Knife!"
"You recognize it? Not bad."
Gao Yuan stepped aside to make room, and Xiang Weiguo began to cut the meat. His knife was very sharp, and as Gao Yuan approached Xiang Weiguo, he said, "You've sharpened this dagger yourself, right? Military knives are not usually this sharp, but I can see that the edge of your knife is quite fine, definitely self-sharpened."
Xiang Weiguo laughed, "Good eye. Do you know how to use a knife?"
Gao Yuan wanted to say he knew how to use a knife, but he immediately realized that what Xiang Weiguo meant by knowing how to use one was different from what he meant.
"Uh, no..."
"I'll teach you later."
Xiang Weiguo finished cutting the meat into chunks larger than a fist, then put all the chunks into the pot, smiling, "Let the meat soak first, and we can eat it by noon."
The pot soaked the wild boar meat, and Gao Yuan changed the water every half hour; during this time, he chatted casually with Xiang Weiguo.
It was not until noon that Xiang Weiguo finally lit the fire and started cooking the meat.
He first boiled the smaller cuts of meat, put the spices and meat together, and it didn't take long before the aroma of the meat began to waft through the air.
"This taste really is different! When I cook meat, it smells bad, but this smells fragrant!"
Gao Yuan was excited; he knew he was in for a treat.
Xiang Weiguo smiled without a word, and after stewing a pot of meat for over an hour, he finally said with a laugh, "Add salt, bring the lunchbox over, it's ready to eat."
Two full lunchboxes were filled to the brim, and not a single piece of meat was left in the pot, but the meat soup couldn't be wasted.
Xiang Weiguo took out an aluminum food bowl from his backpack, filled it halfway with meat soup, and asked Gao Yuan for two compressed biscuits to dissolve in the soup before handing it to Luo Xingyu.
"It's so fragrant, so delicious!"
Luo Xingyu was still in a state where everything tasted good to her, but she could definitely tell if it was delicious.
Xiang Weiguo chuckled, "I haven't eaten meat in a long time, thanks to you, this time I can have a full meal of it."
Gao Yuan impatiently said, "Let's eat, let's not wait anymore."
Taking a bite of the meat, it was fragrant and tender, nearly perfect except for being a little bland.
Xiang Weiguo, however, wasn't in a hurry to eat meat. He put a large piece of pork leg back into the pot, filled it with water, covered it, and continued stewing.
Unable to hold back, Gao Yuan asked, "Uncle Xiang, isn't this enough for a meal, why continue to cook it?"
Xiang Weiguo laughed lightly, "This isn't meant to be eaten as lunch or dinner, it's for emergencies. Save the cans and compressed biscuits for when we go out, eat this instead."
"That works? Yes, that works indeed!"
Gao Yuan felt like he finally understood. Cooking and preserving the wild boar meat for rations made sense since it was winter and wouldn't go bad quickly, saving the more precious compressed biscuits and canned food for later. Such a simple idea, why hadn't he thought of it before?
Xiang Weiguo wasn't young, but he had a large appetite, even larger than Gao Yuan, the younger man. He slurped down a lunchbox full of meat, at least two pounds.
Not everyone could eat two pounds of meat.
After finishing the meat, Xiang Weiguo wiped his mouth and said, "This meal is sufficient for me today. You guys rest, I'm going to check on my living quarters and tidy up my old house."
Gao Yuan immediately stood up and said, "I'll help you with that, Uncle Xiang, let's not be strangers at this point."
Xiang Weiguo smiled, "Okay, then I won't be polite. First, let me borrow your axe."
Gao Yuan gestured generously, "My axe isn't that good for chopping trees, but I've got plenty of axes here, just tell me whether you want a big one or a small one. I've also got saws you'll surely need, oh, and I have plastic sheeting, the large kind, for patching up windows."
Xiang Weiguo was surprised, "You're really well-prepared, aren't you?"
Gao Yuan laughed, "We've been preparing this place for several years, so of course everything's comprehensive. I'll explain it all to you later."
Just then, Luo Xingyu tried to stealthily sneak a piece of meat from Gao Yuan's lunchbox. Without turning his head, Gao Yuan said loudly, "What are you doing!"
Luo Xingyu quickly retracted her chopsticks, but then pleaded pitifully, "I wanted to tell you that it's almost time to make contact, and I'll just eat one piece, just one, okay?"
Gao Yuan didn't speak, but Xiang Weiguo nodded, "You can only eat one piece, to satisfy your craving. What do you mean by making contact?"
With nothing left to hide, Gao Yuan took out his radio and walkie-talkie.
Looking at Gao Yuan's thoroughness gave Xiang Weiguo a chill, then he nodded, "Alright, given your meticulousness, I can refine you into a piece of fine steel under my guidance."
Gao Yuan suddenly had an ominous premonition.
Xiang Weiguo was somewhat excited; he looked full of anticipation and said loudly, "You make the call, I want to listen."
The usual call went out, still with no response.
Gao Yuan then took out the walkie-talkie, and the continuous broadcast was still going on.
"This is not the end of the world; this is a war…"
When he heard that phrase, Xiang Weiguo abruptly stood up, then exclaimed loudly, "This is a war!"
Xiang Weiguo appeared very excited, very invigorated.
Grabbing Gao Yuan's shoulder, Xiang Weiguo leaned towards the walkie-talkie, but as the broadcast looped back again, he became puzzled.
"The broadcast doesn't say anything about calling up the reserve troops?"
Gao Yuan said softly, "Uncle Xiang, this broadcast hasn't changed since the aliens invaded. There's no mobilization of reserve troops, no new content broadcasted."
Xiang Weiguo stood there, listening to the broadcast many times over, until finally, he hung his head and sighed.
"There are large shelters outside, but just shelters. No military movements, no planes can take off, no counterattack, no call to reserve troops, not even a target to shoot at, what kind of war is this…"
Xiang Weiguo appeared utterly dejected, mumbling to himself; then with a lowered head, he said in a forlorn voice, "I'll go out for a walk, you guys…help yourselves."