The black soil in the dimension had expanded to cover five or six acres. Aside from a few acres of rice paddies, Evelyn Ford used the rest of the land to grow medicinal herbs. The plants in her dimension grew very quickly; she could plant a new crop as soon as one was harvested.
The previously harvested rice and corn could also be brought out for threshing. There was plenty of work to do, so no one had to worry about being idle.
But Evelyn Ford was no Silas Hawthorne. She had everyone work for four or five hours a day, letting them arrange the rest of their time as they saw fit.
Evelyn Ford also began teaching Wendy acupuncture and how to prepare medicine. Joelle Finch and Peter Owens were also very interested, so Evelyn commandeered a room and turned it into a classroom. Anyone who wanted to learn could come and listen.
In the apocalypse, even a basic grasp of medical skills was extremely useful.
"Evelyn, I was just looking. Some of the medicinal herbs you gave us are poisonous."
Evelyn nodded. "I know. The poisonous ones will be made into poisons, and the non-poisonous ones into restorative medicines. Just chop off the roots and stems to be washed. The leaves, fruits, and flowers don’t need washing. The leaves and flowers also need to be picked off and sorted properly. And the water used for washing the herbs can’t be reused."
It was a good thing they had installed a drain in the kitchen; otherwise, they would have to haul out countless buckets of water every day.
Whether the herbs were poisonous or not, the entire plant—from root and stem to fruit—could be used to make medicine, so nothing could be wasted.
In truth, the poisonous herbs Evelyn had given them weren’t highly toxic. She wouldn’t dare let them handle anything extremely potent. If that got on their skin, they could easily be poisoned.
Aside from washing herbs, Taylor Vance and Zion Lowell were busy planting vegetables in the hydroponics room.
"Ever since the polar night began, I haven’t heard the bells of the merchant caravans passing by."
Evelyn nodded. "That’s right. It’s impossible to go outside in these conditions."
Evelyn had asked the birds before. According to them, there were no other villages or settlements within an eight-kilometer radius. As for Frelia, aside from torrential rains, extreme cold, blizzards, and earthquakes, they hadn’t noticed any other natural disasters.
The closest base was The Second Base, which had a sizable population. They couldn’t get any other valuable information out of the birds.
Evelyn had since recruited the birds. Nests had been built for them along the corridor, and Evelyn would occasionally send them out to gather information.
Evelyn would be the first to know if anything happened outside. With Zoe’s help, all the birds within a ten-kilometer radius had become Evelyn’s "employees."
Very few animals had survived the ravages of the extreme cold and toxic fog. Evelyn had counted; even adding up all the birds within that ten-kilometer radius, there were only thirty or forty of them.
A few of the birds had brought her news: after the polar night began, the villages and towns outside had descended into panic and chaos. People had shut their doors and were all hiding in their homes.
After a few busy hours, Evelyn returned to her bedroom and immediately entered her dimension to take a shower. Ever since the polar night began, everyone’s sleep schedule had been thrown into disarray. They slept when they were tired and worked when they weren’t. Evelyn couldn’t be bothered to check the time either. After her shower, she flopped onto the bed and was fast asleep.
When Ronan Kendrick came in after finishing his work, Evelyn was already asleep. He checked the firewood in the fireplace and the heated kang bed, adding a few more logs. Evelyn was a still sleeper, barely moving at all. Ronan tucked the covers in around her before grabbing his pajamas to go wash up.
To avoid oversleeping, Evelyn still set an alarm. Eight hours of sleep was enough; sleeping too much wasn’t good for her health.
When she woke up, Ronan Kendrick was right beside her. Listening to his soft, shallow breaths, Evelyn smiled.
In the living room, Ethan Dawson and Quincy were grilling meat. Evelyn wrapped a heavy coat around herself and walked over.
"Didn’t you sleep?"
"Of course we did. We’re all awake now," Quincy said, pouring Evelyn a cup of tea. The room was very warm thanks to a large fireplace in the living room. After drinking the tea, Evelyn felt so hot that she quickly shrugged off her coat.
"After washing, drying, and chopping all those herbs, I feel like I reek of medicine."
"We’re done after this batch," Evelyn said, taking a mutton skewer and having a bite. It was a little spicy, but the flavor was excellent. The meat wasn’t gamy at all.
"Then what’s next?"
"There’s still plenty to do. I’ll figure out a schedule later. We have all that equipment in the gym. If you’re idle, go work out. People get sick more easily at times like these."
Ethan Dawson had been working out diligently for the past two days. Quincy, on the other hand, was inconsistent, hitting the gym one day and slacking off the next.
Just then, Peter Owens came out too.
"I was fast asleep, but then I smelled grilled meat. I thought I was dreaming."
Quincy cried out, "Hey, you two, stop that! You’re eating all the meat I grilled!"
Peter Owens gave Quincy a thumbs-up. "Mr. Quincy, your skills are amazing. This is delicious!"
Quincy’s eyebrow shot up, and he immediately put on a proud air. "It’s just average, I guess. But since you like it, I’ll grill some more."
"Don’t overdo it with the mutton. You’ll get sick," Evelyn warned, stopping after five skewers herself.
"It’s not that serious. It’s only a few skewers. Where’s Ronan?"
"He’s been exhausted the past couple of days, so he’s still sleeping. I’m going to get a few fish to grill for him when he wakes up."
Quincy cringed. "You two have been together for years and you’re still this mushy. Oh, right, save a grilled fish for me. I want one too."
"Sure."
Evelyn got up and went to the kitchen. After cleaning the fish, she went back to the bedroom to see if Ronan was awake. She didn’t expect to be pulled onto the bed the moment she got close.
"You’re up so early?"
"I’ve already slept for eight hours."
Ronan opened his eyes to look at her. "Have you been eating grilled meat?"
Evelyn sniffed herself. She smelled of chili powder and cumin.
"I had some Mutton Skewers."
Ronan reached out and pinched Evelyn’s cheek. "You’ve put on some weight."
It was true. Evelyn had just weighed herself and was now about 127 pounds. She had lost a lot of weight while they were on the road, but it had shot back up in the last few days. It was probably related to her mood; when she felt happy and relaxed, it was easy to put on weight.
"Get up and eat some grilled fish. I just prepared a bunch of them."
Ronan took her hand. "The water’s cold. You should let me do things like that."
"I’m not some helpless maiden who can’t even truss a chicken. I’m practically a rough-and-tumble guy myself these days. Cleaning fish? It’s a piece of cake."
Ronan chuckled, pulling her into a tight hug. "If you’re a rough-and-tumble guy, then what does that make me?"
"My doting little wife, of course. Come on, let’s go eat fish."
Ronan let Evelyn drag him out of bed. When they arrived in the living room, everyone except Zoe was awake.
Evelyn went to the kitchen and brought out a large basin of cleaned fish.
"Evelyn, what kind of fish do you have?"
"Grass Carp, crucian carp, snakehead, Tilapia, and Squid. Help yourselves."
The grill was huge, so there was plenty of room for everyone to cook.
Evelyn prepared a fish parcel. She took a marinated and seasoned fish, tied it up with lemongrass, wrapped it in vegetable leaves, and placed the whole package on the grill to be charcoal-roasted.
"Does anyone want lemon?" Evelyn asked, holding out a plate of sliced lemons.
"What’s the lemon for?"
"Squeeze a little juice over the fish. It gets rid of the fishiness and brightens the flavor. A few drops is all you need. Don’t use too much, or the fish will taste sour."