Magic Space: Struggling to Survive in the Apocalypse-Chapter 84: Difficult Survival Alone 8

Evelyn Ford scraped the snow off the soles of her shoes and opened the cabin door. A wave of warmth rushed out from inside. She quickly shut the door, took off her boots, and slipped into her cotton slippers. Evelyn was ready to make dinner.

The charcoal in the kitchen stove was still burning. Evelyn picked up a few logs stacked in the corner, sat down, grabbed the axe beside the stove, and started splitting firewood.

She placed the newly split wood into the stove, and sparks SPUTTERED and popped. Evelyn filled a kettle with water and set it on the stove.

She took out a bag of hazel mushrooms, grabbed a handful, put them in a bowl, and let them soak in cold water for an hour.

Evelyn put on a new cassette tape—nostalgic folk songs from the last century. As the lazy, melodious singing began, Evelyn took a broom and started sweeping away the snow she had tracked in at the doorway.

Mina and Lola circled around her. Evelyn played with them for a little while until the water boiled. She brought in the pheasant from outside, slit its throat to bleed it out, then placed it in a metal basin and poured the boiling water over it.

Evelyn carried the basin out of the house and began plucking the feathers under the eaves. Not far off in the yard was a metal barrel Evelyn had placed there for trash. She would burn the contents once it was full.

A cold wind WHOOSHED by. Evelyn sniffled and carried the plucked pheasant back into the house.

She gutted and cleaned the pheasant, then chopped it into small pieces and placed them in a bowl.

Evelyn checked the time and set a clay pot on the stove. She poured in a suitable amount of oil. Once the oil was hot, she stir-fried some Sichuan peppercorns, chili peppers, scallions, and ginger before finally tossing in the chicken to sear it.

The spicy aroma of the chilies made Evelyn sneeze repeatedly. Mina and Lola ran to the kitchen doorway to watch her.

When the chicken was about seventy percent cooked, she poured in some water and added the cleaned hazel mushrooms. She seasoned it with salt, pepper, and a splash of cooking wine, then covered the pot and let it simmer for twenty to thirty minutes. After adding a spoonful of chicken bouillon, she let it cook for another three to four minutes before it was ready.

Evelyn carried the clay pot to the low table in front of the fireplace. The ten songs on the cassette had finished playing and the player had shut off automatically. After washing her hands, she took out her tablet, found the perfect comfort show to watch while eating, and began her dinner.

HAHAHAHA...

The plot of the show was so hilarious that even Evelyn, who was usually hard to amuse, couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Mina and Lola started eating their own dinner. Everything proceeded in an orderly and systematic fashion.

The pheasant wasn’t very fatty, but its meat was tender and delicious. Evelyn truly wished she could find a pheasant every day.

’The ancients waited by a stump for a hare; she was waiting by a stump for a chicken.’

Evelyn couldn’t finish the large pot of chicken in one sitting. She stored the leftovers in her space to eat the next day.

Full and satisfied, Evelyn washed the dishes and took out a ball of red yarn, intending to continue her grand crocheting project.

’Red is the best color for sweaters and scarves. Just looking at it makes you feel warm.’

Evelyn added more wood to the fireplace and began to think about her crochet pattern.

SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK... Mina came over to join the fun. Evelyn stroked its ears.

"Mina, how about I make you a little outfit?"

Evelyn decided to modify one of her old clothes. She had an old-fashioned sewing machine in her space. After measuring Mina’s size, Evelyn, being a woman of action, took out the sewing machine and started making clothes for Mina.

It was her first time, so she was a bit clumsy, and the resulting outfit was quite ugly. Evelyn put the clothes on Mina and, judging by its expression, it seemed to quite like it.

Spurred on, Evelyn made it two more outfits to change into. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"Lola, do you want clothes too?"

Lola flapped its wings and flew away.

Evelyn...

Making three outfits for Mina had taken up more than two hours. Evelyn glanced at the ball of yarn and decided to work on it tomorrow.

’Why am I trying so hard? I don’t need to study, I don’t need to work, and I don’t need to get married. Who knows, maybe one day Azure will suddenly explode, and I’ll just die.’

’Forget it. I’ll just wash up and go to sleep.’

That night, the temperature outside had dropped to negative five degrees Celsius. The snow was still falling softly. After washing up, Evelyn sat on her bed, admiring the snowy scenery outside the window.

’It’s so beautiful.’

’This must be what Victor Willowby described in his poem: "From hill to hill no bird in flight; from path to path no man in sight."’

Evelyn had turned off her alarm clock long ago. She was relaxed now, free to sleep in as late as she wanted. The unknown tomorrow no longer seemed so frightening.

The heated kang bed was incredibly warm. As someone from the south, Evelyn was truly appreciating its wonders. There was no need for air conditioning or floor heating; it stayed toasty all night long.

Lola’s injuries had completely healed, but it showed no signs of wanting to leave. It seemed to have latched onto Evelyn. With food, shelter, and a playmate in Mina, the little bird had learned how to find a patron. ’It’s gotten too smart for its own good.’

Evelyn drifted off to sleep amidst these rambling thoughts. That night, the snow in the mountains grew even thicker.

The red lantern at the door swayed back and forth in the wind. A few small animals that had come out to forage passed through the yard, caught a whiff of an unfamiliar and dangerous scent, and quickly scurried away.

In the early morning, Evelyn lay in bed with her eyes open for nearly an hour before finally, grudgingly, getting up.

Outside, a fierce wind howled. A branch from a nearby fir tree was snapped by the wind. With a sharp CRACK, it fell heavily to the ground.

Evelyn put on her military greatcoat and immediately pulled on a winter hat, covering her ears and face completely.

Mina and Lola were already awake. They only slipped outside after seeing Evelyn open the door.

For breakfast, she had the leftover chicken and mushroom stew from yesterday. Evelyn had to eat two large steamed buns to feel full. ’It’s true what they say,’ she mused. ’When the weather gets cold, you start putting on winter weight, and your appetite grows.’

She took a turn around the outside of the cabin and found nothing amiss. Evelyn was about to go back inside to continue crocheting her sweater when she spotted a set of tracks outside the fence gate. Just by looking at the prints, Evelyn couldn’t tell what kind of animal it was, but the paws were small, so it must have been a small creature.

After throwing out the trash, her daily patrol was complete. Evelyn returned to the cabin, added wood to the fireplace, and took out her yarn and crochet hook to resume yesterday’s work.

Evelyn decided to crochet a scarf first to get the feel for it again. She had crocheted before back home, but after not touching a hook for several months, she felt quite rusty.

’Practice makes perfect, and with enough of it, you can become a master in any field.’

Evelyn spent the entire morning and successfully crocheted a scarf. The red color was beautiful; it made her complexion look much rosier.

After practicing with the scarf, crocheting the sweater went much faster. By the afternoon, she had already finished the turtleneck collar.

Puffs of thick smoke rose from the cabin’s chimney. In the quiet depths of the mountains, it was time for Evelyn to get busy with dinner again.

"What should I eat today?" Evelyn agonized over the choice. She took out a cookbook and flipped through it for a long time before finally deciding to make pork and vermicelli stew.

It was a famous dish from the Northeast that she had long wanted to try but had never gotten around to making herself.

’I’ll give it a shot today.’

She soaked a handful of sweet potato vermicelli in water to soften and set it aside. Then she cut a piece of pork belly into chunks.

Evelyn followed the recipe, working in a slow and methodical manner.

"If I keep eating like this every day, am I going to turn into a huge fatty? Haha..."