Chapter 12: The Small Fish Pond

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After seeing the militiamen start to use the slings with proficiency, Leo didn't plan to stay in this dangerous place any longer. Instead, he called Little Mouse and walked upstream together.

He was going to harvest the fish in the small fish pond he had built in the morning!

When they arrived at the small fish pond, Little Mouse walked around it twice. She searched the clear, shallow water of the small fish pond several times before staring at Leo. "Where are the fish?"

"Yeah! Where are my fish?" Leo couldn't believe it either. There wasn't a single small fish in the small fish pond that was just a few square meters in size.

Looking at Little Mouse's eyes filled with disappointment and desolation, Leo suddenly felt his face turn red.

This didn't feel right. This was how it was always portrayed on TV.

As he thought, he fixed his gaze on Little Mouse.

Little Mouse instinctively took a step back, but it was too late. Leo tucked her under his arm and rummaged through her pocket, taking out a small piece of bread.

That was the food she had secretly stashed away for breakfast the next day.

Little Mouse, whose food had been snatched by Leo, stood there helplessly, wringing her hands in distress, but she didn't show any intention of resisting. She was even ready to be beaten.

"Don't worry. I'll double it and return it to you later!" While comforting her, Leo crumbled the bread in his hand into pieces and scattered them into the small fish pond.

"Let's go! Go back and eat. Olivia said there will be thick soup tonight. I'll get you a big bowl!"

As the sun set, cooking smoke rose from the settlement camp. Amidst the cries and shouts, the villagers scattered on the wasteland slowly made their way back, and the camp suddenly became bustling.

Three large cauldrons were erected outside the kitchen tent in the center of the camp. Thick soup was simmering inside, filling the air with its delicious aroma.

Leo swiped two large earthenware bowls from Olivia's truck. As soon as he stood in front of the large cauldron, not only did the surrounding villagers take a step back, but even the village woman in charge of serving the food instinctively handed the large ladle in her hand to Leo.

However, different from the previous looks of disgust, dissatisfaction, or closeness from the villagers, at this moment, the villagers' gazes held more surprise, scrutiny, and admiration.

Murmurs of "It's Soul Transmigration! It's Soul Transmigration!" echoed through the crowd.

Leo ignored them. His eyes were only fixed on the thick soup in the large cauldron. He swirled the large ladle in the soup, trying to fish out the choicest bits.

In Leo's view, the thick soup in the cauldron was more of a porridge than a soup. It mainly consisted of husked wheat grains, mixed with pickled vegetables, radishes, acorns, peas, dried mushrooms, and a snow rabbit captured by a militia scout. It was a "delicacy" cooked for an entire afternoon.

Just by looking at it, it could easily pass for the pig food cooked by rural pig farmers in the 1990s.

But for the villagers who didn't have enough to eat, this was indeed a rare delicacy, much tastier than the hard, unappetizing, and unnutritious bread.

Just this meal could give people that festive New Year's vibe.

In Leo's fragmented memories, the village he lived in had always had the tradition of eating from a large cauldron. This was an ancient custom that had been passed down since the Northern Region Clan era.

Every cold and difficult winter, the village head would periodically bring out a large cauldron and place it in the center of the village. Then, a bonfire would be lit, and the cauldron would be filled with snow water. After that, a handful of food would be thrown in.

All the household heads in the village would come out and throw a handful of food into it, regardless of what it was or how much.

When the large cauldron was filled and the food was cooked, the village head would distribute the food in the cauldron to all the villagers.

This is not only a way for villagers to help each other and help each other in times of need, but also convenient for the village head to count how many families have frozen to death each week.

When the harvest was good, one could even fish out some meaty bones from it. When the harvest was poor, there was only thin soup.

But anyway, it's better than going hungry.

When Leo was a child, he looked forward to the appearance of the winter cauldron the most. It meant that he didn't have to beg or catch mice in the snow that day.

After growing up, he wasn't that eager anymore. However, the grown-up Leo had become an outlier in the village, but he also had enough survival skills. Most of the time, it was he who was supporting the villagers.

It was true that most of the villagers loathed and feared him, but there were also some villagers who survived the winter only because he gave them a rabbit or a deer leg from time to time.

In the village, Little Mouse wasn't the only one who wanted to call him daddy!

During the first half of the migration, everyone still ate their own food. Moreover, when they reached the second half, due to the shortage of supplies and to improve efficiency, Ulyan revived the village's tradition of the communal cauldron and changed it to once a day.

By the time they reached the river bend settlement, almost all the remaining villagers had run out of food, and the main food in the big cauldron was provided by Ulyan.

Those families with some savings left silently handed over all their savings to Olivia for management.

Since they had come this far, they could only choose to believe unconditionally.

The exploration camp of three hundred people temporarily returned to the communal-clan society.

While drinking the alien eight-treasure porridge, Leo boasted to Little Mouse in a bored tone.

"Ever seen a pie as big as a millstone? It's sprinkled with almonds, walnuts, and raisins, and drizzled with cream. One bite, and the juice spurts everywhere!"

"And that delicious roasted suckling pig, the skin is crispy, and the meat and bones are falling apart. Grab a pig leg and take a gentle suck, and the pig leg meat will be sucked into your mouth!"

"Just imagine, fresh fatty mutton sliced into thin rolls and blanched in a thick soup pot..."

"..."

Little Mouse held a large earthenware bowl that was not much smaller than her head and listened blankly to Leo's description, with saliva streaming down her chin.

After having the most sumptuous dinner of the month, Leo took Little Mouse with him again. In the twilight, they trotted happily to check the Small Fish Pond, bringing along a large wooden barrel.

Suddenly, as soon as he reached the edge of the Small Fish Pond, Leo saw the water splashing. He leaped forward in two steps and blocked the gap between the Small Fish Pond and the river channel.

Still, a rather big fish jumped over his arm and disappeared into the river.

"Catch the fish! Catch the fish!"

Leo excitedly jumped into the small pond, startling the wild fish in the Small Fish Pond and making them scurry around. Oh my god, he grabbed a big fish that was struggling hard and almost burst into tears.

At last, he could have a decent piece of meat!

Ulyan was right. There were indeed fat fish that could be caught just by reaching out!

"Catch the fish! Catch the fish!" Little Mouse also jumped into the water extremely excited. "Ugh!"

Because she was too excited, she plopped down on the shore and then vomited out a mouthful of thick porridge!

The thick soup at night was really delicious. She couldn't bear to waste a single mouthful and even licked the bowl clean down to the last drop.

Looking at the thick porridge slowly flowing into the water, Little Mouse fell into deep thought, as if considering whether to eat it up again.

Leo slapped her on the back of the head. "Hey, hurry up and catch the fish! They're all getting away!"

The small dam they built before wasn't very tall. The frightened wild fish were incredibly strong, and several had already jumped back into the river.

Leo didn't care about being gentle at all. Every time he caught a fish, he'd smash it hard against a rock.

Little Mouse, who had been splashing about in the water for a long while without catching any fish, obediently came ashore, picked up the dead fish, and put them into a wooden barrel.

A full barrel of fish!

As Leo walked back carrying the barrel, he warned Little Mouse beside him, "Tomorrow I'll make grilled fish and fresh fish soup for you. Don't you dare eat the raw fish!"

At night, in a daze of sleep, Leo heard Little Mouse still mumbling, "Dad, are we having grilled fish tomorrow?"

"Yeah, grilled fish."

"Dad, are we having fish soup tomorrow?"

"Yeah, fish soup."

"Dad, does roasted suckling pig smell good?"

Just as Leo was about to flare up, he felt a gentle bite on his calf. It turned out that Little Mouse had already fallen asleep and was talking in her sleep.