Chapter 17: Getting Some Practice

Chapter 17: Getting Some Practice

Wei Dalei stopped his actions and returned the spear to Chen Mu.

However, Chen Mu declined it and turned to Dong Junwei, saying, "Squad leader, organize everyone to load the rice onto the cart, leaving half of the space. Wei and I will go get some water."

"Sure, go ahead," Dong Junwei nodded.

Before coming here, Chen Mu had taken some materials from a disposable plastic spoon, intending to replicate what they did last time by collecting more water. After all, there might not be another chance in the future.

Back at the mineral water container, Wei Dalei followed the same procedure, piercing the bottles with his spear.

Chen Mu handed the prepared water buckets to Wei Dalei one by one, and after they were filled, he sealed them shut.

Having done it once before and having rested overnight, Chen Mu's mental strength was now very abundant. He performed these tasks much more skillfully.

"Hey, why does the water surface look uneven?" Wei Dalei asked with some confusion while filling the water.

"That's because of water surface tension and capillary action. It's like how the water surface in a test tube is concave. These water buckets are even smaller than test tubes, so it's natural to see this phenomenon. Clearly, you haven't paid enough attention in class," Chen Mu explained and scolded.

"Hehe," Wei Dalei didn't feel embarrassed at all.

Last time, it was dark, and everyone's spirits were low, so they didn't notice these details. However, Chen Mu had already thought about it and even discussed it with Tang Jing before.

They filled five buckets of water in a row before taking a break.

Wei Dalei carried one bucket in each hand and headed towards the flatbed cart.

Chen Mu tried lifting one bucket too, but it didn't budge.

Indeed, he couldn't be compared to this bear-like creature.

On Dong Junwei's side, they only needed to load the rice onto the cart. It quickly finished as the rice grains, although looking huge, were light enough for even a girl to carry one.

They could only move a dozen or so rice grains to leave enough space for the water buckets. But in terms of size, it would be enough to sustain them for a long time.

The only problem was they currently lacked a means to cook it.

If it came down to it, they would have to eat it raw.

Still better than starving to death.

After moving the last grain of rice, Tang Jing caressed the full rice grain and smiled, "This is newly harvested rice, less than a year old."

"You can tell that?" Chen Mu asked.

"The color and luster of old rice would be much different, and there would be a distinct smell. It's not very reassuring to eat it raw. But with new rice, we can manage," Tang Jing explained.

Among today's students, being able to distinguish between different grains of cereals was already quite remarkable, let alone telling the age of rice.

Chen Mu sighed, "The biggest issue now is how to cook our food. We can't keep living like primitive hunters."

Du Jiajia pointed towards a spot near the rice bags where a few dark and tiny creatures were crawling. At first glance, they really looked like mice.

But now, real mice were much larger than humans.

"They're rice weevils," Tang Jing quickly recognized them.

"Rice weevils?"

"Yes, when grains are stored for a long time, rice weevils can appear. Although these bags contain new rice, this place has been used for long-term grain storage, so it's normal to find rice weevils here."

"They... won't bite people, right?"

"Don't worry, rice weevils only eat grains, and they don't have teeth, so they won't bite people," Tang Jing reassured.

"That's a relief," everyone sighed in relief.

"Let's keep moving. I can't help but feel anxious here," Dong Junwei said.

"Wait a moment," Dong Junwei stopped them and said, "I have an idea."

"What is it?"

"Besides Chen Mu and Dalei, I suggest everyone else try to kill a rice weevil," Dong Junwei proposed.

"Why?" Even Qian Fei, a tall and strong guy, seemed a bit hesitant.

Compared to humans at this moment, rice weevils were indeed quite small, so no one was worried about being eaten like facing a centipede.

However, human fears didn't always follow size.

Mice, cockroaches, snakes – most of them were much smaller than humans, yet 99% of people would still get creeped out when they saw them.

Dong Junwei understood everyone's discontent but insisted, "We can't always rely on others; we need to be capable of protecting ourselves. Maybe not facing centipedes, but at least we should be able to deal with ordinary ants. Rice weevils won't cause any harm, so they're perfect for practice."

Everyone quickly grasped what their squad leader meant.

It had to be said that Dong Junwei's idea was indeed good.

Chang Junyan hesitated, "But we don't have the abilities like Dalei."

Dong Junwei responded, "Chen Mu is just an ordinary person too. Why was he able to kill ants from the beginning?"

Everyone thought that people like Chen Mu were rare, and using him as an example wasn't fair.

But they also knew that the squad leader's proposal was for their own good.

Tang Jing added, "True. Even if we can't practice much, at least it will build up our courage. We shouldn't freeze in fear the next time we encounter something."

After saying that, she turned around and smiled, "Chen Mu, lend me your weapon for a bit, will you?"