Chapter 497 The shelter is slowly getting better and the cooking competition
Since the roof was added to the originally open-air basement, Wei Ran and others have never gone out unless necessary, and their main daily activities have become digging out accumulated soil, charcoal, and gravel mixed in there.
As the four of them worked day and night in a geographical sense, the roof was now covered with a thick layer of soil and enough snow to blend in with the surrounding environment.
And in the increasingly warm basement, no, perhaps it can be called an underground shelter at this time. Now, most of the area in this underground shelter has been cleared.
Not only could everyone stand with their backs straight, but a one-meter-wide entrance and exit had even been dug out on the wall facing the direction they came from.
The entrance and exit were not only reinforced on both sides with collected wooden sticks, but also used remaining canvas and wooden boards to install a wooden door that was strong enough to block the cold wind.
Not only that, on the side next to the wooden door, Dorian, who turned into a mason, also used mud mixed with a large amount of pine needles and excavated stones to build a fireplace with a chimney.
Even, in order to eat bread early, Dorian also built a small oil drum he found earlier in the fireplace and built a fairly effective oven.
The price of all this is that on the small wooden board hanging on the fireplace chimney, Kantan has used charcoal to mark a "卌" symbol and a "川" symbol.
In other words, this is already the eighth day since they arrived here, and the hour hand of the watch on Kantan's wrist has already rotated 16 and a half times. During such a long time, neither Quentin nor the German pursuers have come, but
People hiding in shelters are living more and more comfortably.
In the warm shelter, which was baked by the continuous fire, everyone was only wearing thin knitted clothes. The chilblains on everyone's body were also smeared with thick bear fat that had a slight pine scent.
And almost everyone has a tin can with a burning flame placed next to them as limited lighting.
Dorian, who had recovered from the cold, turned into a carpenter again after building the chimney. At this time, he was busy making a third bed using several thigh-thick log piers and wooden boards. Not only that, but also those around these beds.
He carefully nailed a thin layer of wood on the charred log walls.
Also not idle was Kantan, whose wound on his leg had already scabbed over. He was holding a Finnish hunting knife and carefully whittling a wooden sole that was five centimeters thick.
After comparing the size of the other shoe that had been made next to him, Kantan nodded with satisfaction, and picked up a long piece of canvas and a piece of bearskin cut into the size of the sole, with the canvas underneath and the furry side of the bearskin on top.
The top is laid on wooden soles.
Immediately afterwards, he took a piece of tubular brown bear hind leg skin that was originally worn on Gale's feet. With the hairy side facing in, he pressed the edge of one end onto the sole covered with canvas and bearskin insoles.
Before it was finished, he brought another piece of cut canvas and bearskin to cover it.
After aligning all the components, Kantan took out a few of the smallest nails he had found in the oil drum from the iron box next to him, picked up the ax next to him, and carefully smashed a circle along the edge of the wooden sole.
After some final trimming, Kantan nodded with satisfaction, picked up the other shoe that had been finished next to him, raised his head and shouted to Gale who was swinging the pickaxe, "Gale, come here and try on your shoes."
.”
"We have already done?"
Upon hearing this, Gale immediately dropped the tools in his hand and turned around and walked over, while Wei Ran, who was also digging out the dirt with a shovel, also came over.
"Try it!"
There was a trace of oil on Kantan's face painted with bear fat, "I used a layer of canvas and a layer of bearskin for the soles, and an additional layer of canvas and a layer of bearskin for the uppers, and the wooden soles are enough."
It’s so thick, I can guarantee that you won’t feel cold even if you walk in the snow all day wearing it.”
Upon hearing this, Gale immediately sat down on the newly laid wooden floor and took off the canvas that was randomly wrapped around his feet.
"Victor, please teach me how to tie the foot wrap."
Gale took a piece of clean cloth handed over by Kantan and asked for help. The cloth used to bind the feet came from the tattered clothes they wore before escaping from the clutches of the German army. In the past few days, Kantan had already used the metal
They were carefully steamed and cleaned using boxes and boiling snow water. Of course, in addition to binding feet, these cloths could also be used to bandage wounds.
"First put some bear fat on the frostbite on your feet."
While Wei Ran was talking, he had already sat down on the floor full of sawdust. He took off his boots and untied the foot-wrapping cloth. After Gale had applied bear grease, he patiently guided him to wrap the cloth around it.
on the feet.
After wrapping the footcloth according to the method taught by Wei Ran, Gale put on his first bearskin wooden shoes without being welcomed. Then, under the guidance of Kantan, he tied them tightly with a long strip of canvas nailed to the bottom of the sole.
shoe.
Putting on the second shoe in the same manner, Gale tried to take two steps, sat down again and looked at the furry upper and said with satisfaction, "It's very soft and warm under my feet, but the sole is a little hard, but
It’s already very comfortable!”
"After all, they are wooden soles," Kantan said with a smile, "but you look like you have grown a lot taller."
"It's true." Gale grinned stupidly. The wooden soles of these shoes alone were five centimeters thick, not to mention the thick bearskin padding inside.
"I just finished making the third bed."
Dorian said as if he was taking credit, "Give me a few more hours to make another bed, and all of us won't have to sleep on the floor."
Hearing this, Wei Ran sat on the wooden bed that the other party had just made, tried it out, and said with a smile, "Let Gale sleep on this bed first. After you make a bed for me, we can make some more."
Wooden boards, try to cover the surrounding walls with a layer of wood.”
"Except for the fact that there are no windows, this place is even more comfortable than my home." Dorian couldn't help but admire, "Leave these tasks to me! Although I'm not a carpenter, I can just make a bed."
"Dorian, can you get an extra bed?" Gale asked abruptly.
"Get one more?" Dorian looked at Gale in confusion.
Gale was silent for a moment, then picked up the pickaxe again and said, "Maybe Quentin will find us when?"
"Leave it to me!" Dorian promised without any hesitation, "I will help Brother Quentin make a bed."
After looking at each other with Dorian and Kantan, Wei Ran sighed secretly. He finally understood why there were one more beds than corpses when this place was discovered later.
"Gail, let's get some food." Wei Ran stood up and walked to Gale's side, "I'll continue digging while you get some food."
"Barbecue?" Gale asked immediately, "The oven Dorian made is very easy to use and can be cooked quickly."
"Or another way?" Kantan suggested helplessly, "We have been eating broth and barbecue for a week, and now I can hardly even poop."
"We only have onions, potatoes and bear meat." Gale turned over the wooden box next to the fireplace, "and there are five German cans left."
"Eat canned food," Dorian begged.
“Let’s just eat the broth.”
Kantan's tone became more and more helpless, "We have to keep the canned food. They can be stored for a long time, so let's make broth. Put more potatoes and onions in it. I've almost eaten enough bear meat."
"Then let's make broth." Gale was also troubled. "Our seasoning only has salt and not much cheese, otherwise it will definitely taste better."
If I had known better, I would have taken out the seasonings from the food box in advance...
Wei Ran secretly regretted that there were as many seasonings, tea leaves, and even chocolates in the food box, and there was even a barrel full of beer, but he couldn't find a suitable excuse to take them out.
Thinking about the stewed bear meat with onions and potatoes that he had been eating for a week, Wei Ran angrily picked up the pickaxe and smashed it hard on the soil that had softened slightly on the surface.
"Wow"
This unusual movement immediately attracted everyone's attention, and Wei Ran immediately took out the flashlight he had kept in his pocket and turned it on.
When the slightly dim beam of light shone on the wall where the guard had just struck, everyone saw at a glance a hole only the size of a washbasin.
"It's not completely collapsed in here."
Dorian came over and lay on the ground and looked inside, "It's just like the bear cave back then. There is a triangular space inside, but it's very small. I'll crawl in and have a look."
"Let me do it"
Wei Ran grabbed Dorian and pulled him behind him. He was just worried about how to take out the contents of the food box. This might be a rare opportunity.
"But I'm more..." Before Dorian could finish his words, Wei Ran had already picked up the pickaxe again and pointed it at the edge of the hole that had just appeared.
There was another soft crash, and several pieces of gravel fell down, and the hole finally became larger. Pulling away the pried stones, Wei Ran handed the pickaxe to Dorian and explained at the same time.
, "I have been digging here before, so I probably know where the force is exerted. Once you go in, it will be troublesome if you encounter a place where you are buried."
After saying that, Wei Ran lay down before Gale, who had already come over, opened his mouth, and got in carefully.
Just like Dorian said just now, this place is much smaller than the bear cave where he once lived briefly. Even if he could crawl in, it would be extremely difficult for him to squat down.
However, although the space here is pitifully small, he found a lot of interesting things.
First, on the wall facing me, in addition to a bunch of rusty animal traps, there were two kerosene lamps that seemed to be in good condition, and a milk bottle with a lid that looked large in capacity.
Yellow enamel kettle.
But compared to these, the most eye-catching thing is an enamel bathtub that is turned upside down and pressed to the edge.
"No wonder I have a bathing mission. I was waiting here..."
Wei Ran muttered to himself, then looked back at the hole that was tightly blocked by him. After hesitating for a moment, he reached out and took off the enamel kettle hanging on the wall, and then moved it towards the bathtub.
Then he took out the food box from the metal book.
Opening the lid of the kettle and looking to make sure there was nothing dirty inside, Wei Ran took out the seasonings from the food box as quickly as possible and a pack of jasmine tea also wrapped in paper and threw them in. After hesitating for a moment, he added
I threw a few pieces of chocolate wrapped in baking paper into it, and then I put the food box away with satisfaction.
"Victor, what's going on inside?" Gale behind him asked worriedly.
"You're lucky, I found some good things." Wei Ran responded to the other party, and at the same time, he had already taken down the animal traps and kerosene lamps, and crawled out a little backwards.
"What did you find?" Dorian asked impatiently.
"Some animal traps"
Wei Ran raised his upper body and handed the rusty animal clips to the other party. Then he took out a kerosene lamp and handed it to Gale, "And there is also a kerosene lamp. Now we don't have to guard and choke anyone."
cans."
"It's indeed a good thing!" Gale took the kerosene lamp and checked it over and over in surprise, "I'll go outside to pour some oil and try it out later."
"Let me go later, I'm just about to go pee." As Wei Ran took over the job, he also took out the crucial enamel kettle, "I also found an enamel kettle. There seems to be something in it."
"What?" At this time, even Kantan came over.
"Let me open it and see"
Wei Ran carried the enamel pot to the edge of the fireplace, and by the firelight took out and opened the paper bags he had just put in. He pretended to be surprised and said, "It seems we can eat something else. This
It’s full of spices. There seems to be tea, sugar and...chocolate!”
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Is there God living in that cave?" Dorian asked dully.
“I don’t know if there’s God in that.”
Wei Ran had already distributed a few chocolates to everyone while he was talking, "But there is a bathtub in there. When we dig it out completely, maybe we can all take a hot bath."
"Bathtub? There's a bathtub in there?!"
At this time, the other three people all widened their eyes. Speaking of it, for more than a week, because they really didn't have any decent containers, the most they could do was find a piece of cloth and dip it in the heat burned by the two steel helmets on the fireplace.
Just wipe your body with water.
Now that they have enough food and clothing, if they can take a hot bath, it will definitely be the best comfort in this full winter night.
"I don't know if the bathtub can still be used, but we can dig it out first."
While Wei Ran was speaking, he had already put the spices and tea leaves he had just taken out of the kettle into the metal box next to the fireplace. "Dorian, you go outside and brush that enamel kettle with snow. I'll go
Fill up the oil lamp. Gale, how about you go get me some brown bear intestines?"
"Brown bear intestines?" Gale looked up at Wei Ran, "What do you want to do? Make Lyon sausage?"
"Lyon Sausage?"
Wei Ran was stunned for a moment, then later he remembered that the cats in this shelter were a group of authentic French people. To be more precise, they were a group of foodies who had the same bloodline as the Chinese people who dared to eat and knew how to eat.
"It's not a Lyonnais sausage, but it should taste just as good."
Wei Ran was too lazy to explain too much, so he opened the wooden door with a kerosene lamp, braved the strong wind mixed with a large number of snowflakes, and walked through the almost knee-deep snow towards a pine tree not far away.
Pulling open the small tent built around the pine tree with the remaining canvas, Wei Ran glanced behind him at Gale, who was already digging up the brown bear carcass near the door, and Dorian, who was painting the enamel kettle. Seeing that they hadn't noticed him, he immediately turned around.
He got into the tent at the waist and pulled out an empty oil drum and a 20-liter oil drum filled with gasoline from the sled bucket filled with various seized items.
He waved his hand and took out the oil drum filled with kerosene from the metal book. After filling up the kerosene lamp, Wei Yan poured the rest into the empty drum he found, and then poured the gasoline from another oil drum into
He picked up his own oil drum and put it into a metal book.
The reason why it is so troublesome is actually that Wei Ran is worried that there is a risk of explosion if the kerosene lamp is directly used with gasoline. Even if the probability is not high, since he carries kerosene, of course there is no need to take that risk.
By the time he returned to the entrance of the shelter with a kerosene lamp and an oil drum, Dorian had already scrubbed the enamel kettle he found with snow and filled it with clean snow. Gale also chopped it down with an axe.
A huge pile of brown bear intestines.
"Are you really not planning to make Lyonnais sausage?" Gail finally asked.
"Of course not." Wei Ran shook his head and pointed at the intestines that the other party had just chopped off and said, "What I want to use is the large intestine."
"Since it's not the case, then I'll make Lyon sausage!" Gale didn't have any surprise on his face. While speaking, he pointed at the frozen part of the small intestine and said, "What I want to use is the small intestine part.
and liver, and perhaps the stomach and heart.”
"In that case, let's compare! By the way, chop off one of the bear's paws for me, too. I want the front paw."
Wei Ran was extremely confident when he said this. He had been preparing the spices specially used for braised food since the last time he entered the Finnish battlefield, so not to mention the bear intestines and bear paws, he even had shoe insoles.
Make sure you get all the colors, flavors and aromas.
"Then let's compete!"
As he spoke, Gale swung his ax and chopped off the two bear paws of Wei Ranyao, "I have been an apprentice with Quentin for almost four years, and I can't be compared to you."
"I haven't been out of the army for four years and I still have the nerve to show off..." Wei Ran muttered to himself and left the task of dividing the ingredients to Gale with peace of mind.
He lowered his head and got into the shelter. The heat wave coming from the pavement made Wei Ran shiver uncontrollably, and then he began to sweat on his forehead and back.
Glancing at the enamel kettle that had been placed on the fireplace for heating, Wei Ran first placed the oil barrel in his hand at the farthest position from the fireplace. After taking off his cloak, he removed the glass shade of the kerosene lamp and wiped it carefully.
, then lit it and adjusted it to the brightest level, and hung it on the wall with a nail.
"It's great, now we don't even lack lighting." Kantan looked at the kerosene lamp infatuatedly, then lowered his head and continued to make bearskin wooden shoes for himself.
"And there should be something delicious today." Dorian was even more happy. "I just heard that Victor was going to compete with Gale on their cooking skills."
"I'm afraid it will take a long time until we are ready."
Wei Ran smiled and said, "Dorian, go clean some cups. We can try those tea leaves later. There seems to be a lot of sugar cubes in the paper bag I just took out."
"I'll go now!"
Before Dorian finished speaking, he had already picked up the cup from a wooden table that he had made not long ago, and left the shelter happily.
