The bamboo rats hid very deep. Li Ling dug more than a meter in and still couldn't see the bottom. He stopped, took a sip of water, and rested for a while.
However, during the break, Li Ling used his foot to block the rat hole, which was more than ten centimeters in diameter, to prevent the bamboo rat from escaping. After resting for a while, Li Ling continued to work hard.
"Hey, hey, hey, you soldier, what are you doing?"
Just as Li Ling was working hard, a voice suddenly came from behind him. Li Ling turned around and saw an uncle dressed in black ethnic minority clothing, leading a large wolfhound, with an old-fashioned satchel on his chest and a Type 56 semi-automatic rifle hanging on his shoulder, looking at him curiously.
Li Ling grinned, but instead of answering immediately, he asked, "Are you a forest ranger or a militiaman, sir?"
The man paused for a moment, then replied, "I'm both a militia member and a forest ranger, so what?"
"Oh! I'm hungry. I found a bamboo rat burrow and I'm thinking of digging up a bamboo rat to eat. I'll eat it raw, and I won't make a fire, so don't worry!" Li Ling said with a smile, and then continued digging the hole.
The forest ranger frowned: "Your soldier is really something else. Don't you have individual rations? Why are you eating raw meat?"
"Hehe, this is a wilderness survival training exercise, we didn't bring any individual rations," Li Ling explained with a smile.
Upon hearing this, the forest ranger uncle suddenly realized and said, "I was also a soldier. I know about wilderness survival training. It's like the officers eat big fish and meat at home, and then let the soldiers out to suffer, right?"
Li Ling laughed heartily, gave a thumbs up and said, "That's right, that's right, Uncle, your summary is really insightful."
The high school team and the Grey Wolf team, who were watching the training camp's surveillance video, all had a row of black lines appear on their foreheads.
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Chapter 53 Hey, give me a slice of pollution-free bamboo rat meat!
"Alright, alright, stop digging. Come on, I have some dry food here, cooked, it tastes better than raw."
Seeing that he was getting along well with Li Ling, the forest ranger took out a can of fermented black bean fish from his bag and handed it to Li Ling.
"Hey, no, no, I appreciate your kindness, uncle, but you were in the army too, so you should know that we have discipline. I can't break the rules."
Li Ling quickly declined, jokingly, others might not know who this old guy is, but how could he not know?
The ace sniper among the veterans of the Wolf Fang Special Forces, codenamed "Vulture," will be the one to teach their sniping skills. A few banter are fine, but if he actually dares to accept his food, needless to say, he'll be fired as soon as he gets back.
"No, look at you, young man. If you don't say anything and I don't say anything... if it doesn't say anything, who will know?" The forest ranger said to Li Ling with a teasing tone, pointing to the large wolfhound he was leading.
Li Ling said, both amused and exasperated, "But I know it myself!"
After finishing his sentence, Li Ling's expression turned serious, and he solemnly said, "Uncle, the purpose of our wilderness survival training is to train our ability to survive in the wild when we lose supplies."
"We're in training now, and we've run into each other. You can give me food, but if I'm on the battlefield and encounter this situation behind enemy lines, who will bring me food? If I can't get food to survive on my own, won't I just have to wait to die?"
"So, I appreciate your kindness, uncle, but I still want to get my own food. Right now, I'll think of myself as someone behind enemy lines, surrounded by enemies. How can I eat the enemy's food? Don't you think so?"
After Li Ling finished speaking, he smiled at the forest ranger and then continued digging.
The forest ranger nodded with admiration in his eyes: "Not bad, young man! You have a high level of awareness."
"Hehe, you flatter me, uncle... Hey, I finally caught you, you son of a bitch, hiding so deep." Li Ling said as he finally dug to the bottom and saw the plump bamboo rat curled up at the bottom of the hole.
Li Ling grabbed the bamboo rat by the neck from its back and lifted it out. Good heavens, it weighed at least five or six pounds. No wonder they say four bamboo rats make a whole sack.
"Uncle, look, this bamboo rat is so fat, I can't finish it all by myself. It would be a waste to throw it away. How about I share half with you?"
"Take this back and have your auntie braise it, and have it with some wine. That would be great! By the way, do you know where there's a water source nearby?" Li Ling said with a smile to the forest ranger, carrying the bamboo rat.
The forest ranger chuckled upon hearing this: "Hey, you're even thinking of sharing some with me! Not bad, young man. Okay, there's a lake not far ahead. I'll take you there so you can wash up there! You can use the bamboo rat's innards to feed the fish."
"Oh, thank you, uncle."
Li Ling, carrying the bamboo rat, hung the entrenching tool back on his backpack and followed the forest ranger.
After walking about a mile, there was indeed a lake. Li Ling's heart stirred. This should be the place where Lao Pao fished in the original drama. However, he was faster and arrived here first. Lao Pao was probably still wandering around in the woods at this time!
Li Ling used a dagger to cut open the bamboo rat, skinned it, cleaned it, and then cut off only a hind leg weighing about a pound for himself, giving the rest to the forest ranger.
"Hey, you actually eat this raw?! Is this even edible? Why don't you eat my dry rations instead!"
When the forest ranger saw Li Ling actually using a dagger to slice the bamboo rat meat into thin slices and put them directly into his mouth to chew, he couldn't help but advise him again.
"No need, this bamboo rat meat is quite tender and delicious." After swallowing a piece of bamboo rat meat, Li Ling put another piece into his mouth, chewing until his teeth were covered in blood and flesh.
Even the high school team members watching the surveillance footage were impressed by him. During their wilderness survival training, they would try to find things like grasshoppers, silkworm pupae, tree insects, or even earthworms. Very few people would eat raw animal meat.
Because this stuff is not easy to obtain in the wild, and it is difficult to chew, has a strong bloody smell, and tastes very bad, they rarely eat animal meat raw unless absolutely necessary.
This is also why Li Ling has become so thick-skinned now. After all, the first world he entered was a bizarre world where people's heads would explode at the drop of a hat. Anyone who has seen people's heads explode like watermelons a few times would probably become tougher.
When Gao Zhong and the others saw Li Ling chewing on bamboo rat meat without any change in expression, they could only marvel at how resilient this kid was!
Heaven have mercy, only Li Ling himself knows how difficult and disgusting it was for him to eat that raw rat meat.
However, he forced himself to eat half a rat leg, and stopped as soon as the hunger in his stomach disappeared.
"Uncle, I've almost finished eating. This is enough for me to last until I get back, so I'll take my leave now. Thank you for your help," Li Ling said with a smile, saluting the forest ranger.
"It's nothing, I just showed you the way, I didn't help you much, and you even gave me such a big bamboo rat! Haha." The forest ranger waved his hand with a smile.
"Goodbye, uncle."
Goodbye, do your best, be a good soldier.
"It definitely will."
The forest ranger watched Li Ling's figure disappear at the end of the path, then squatted down, stroked the big wolfhound's head, and whispered, "Jack, he's a good soldier! I hope he can stay in Wolf Fang. Yes, he definitely can."
...