Chapter 481: No Matter Where You Look
Seventh day of survival in the Xishuangbanna rainforest.
Two days of nothing were achieved and the sunk costs were getting higher and higher.
Bifang yawned, reached out to grab the edge of the hammock, turned over and swung on the edge of the vines, then let go and fell to the ground.
Throughout the sixth day, Bifang followed the white-lipped buffalo from a distance. Unfortunately, it did not go to its own salt mine base.
"It shouldn't be possible. How can he be so enduring?" Bifang was puzzled.
We've been out in the wild for two nights now, and it's not a pleasant feeling.
Last night I built a hammock with rattan between two trees, two meters high. It was not comfortable to sleep on. It was not soft but very hard.
It made his back ache.
All the meat we brought from the campsite has been eaten, but we caught a squirrel yesterday, and apart from the squirrel, there is only half a konjac tuber left, plus some wild vegetables we collected along the way.
Bifang carried the frame and the wooden spear, cut the vines on the tree, and continued on his journey: "We will continue tracking today. If we still don't get anything today, then we will have to find another way."
[This cow is quite hardy. If I don’t eat salt for a day, I will die.]
[How can we live without salt? It’s scary to think about it]
[No taste in mouth, no energy in body]
[Be brave and don’t be afraid of difficulties! ]
The rainforest is still very lively today, with the sound of birds singing from all directions. Bifang is leaning on his wooden spear, moving forward step by step.
"There is a term called sunk cost, which is a historical cost and an uncontrollable cost for current decisions. It will greatly affect people's behavior and decision-making."
"It's like we've been tracking for the third day, but the salt is still a long way off. I don't know if I can get it today, or even tomorrow or the day after tomorrow."
Time and energy are the most precious resources in survival.
It can obviously be used to reinforce the campsite, build walls, set more traps, capture more prey, and find the possibility of iron smelting.
But now , it was all wasted in tracking a bison, hoping to obtain more valuable supplies by following it.
Bifang wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "I have already invested a lot of energy and time. If I give up, it will mean that these three days will be just a pile of feces, worthless. No, feces can be composted, but now it is nothing."
[Wow, wow, the storm is crying]
[These days, even feces have their own value, only I am useless]
[So sad, I always feel like someone is scolding me]
"Many people are unwilling to give up at this time. Even if they are out of ammunition and food, they still feel that they are about to succeed. This kind of mentality is a taboo in the wilderness. Don't be lucky. If I don't get anything today, I will return to where I am."
Not all persistence is rewarded. It is quite foolish to persist when there is no sign of success.
When it is time to cut off, cut off.
Whether to persist or not is not determined by reading a piece of chicken soup for the soul article.
Apart from scientific experiments, nothing can be replicated blindly and produce the same results.
At least now, with no meat and only some vegetables left, Bifang felt that today was the last day he could leave for himself.
"It looks like it's going to rain again today."
The lead-gray sky brought endless depression to people, and the dense vegetation in the rainforest made it even more difficult to breathe. Bifang's brows furrowed even deeper.
Living in the rainforest does not make people feel close to nature, but rather they feel suffocated by being trapped in a cage of vines.
Many viewers who watched the show from beginning to end noticed that Bifang frowned more frequently in the past two days.
Looking through the gaps between the leaves, the forest today is obviously darker than yesterday. Perhaps it is a cloudy day. In any case, it is not good news.
Come to think of it, no one expected that it would take so long to find a salt mine. There are still thirteen days left. Can iron still be smelted?
The audience didn’t know. They couldn’t even figure out how to practice it, let alone estimate the time. But as the halfway point of the twenty-one days was almost over, they were still a little worried.
Stepping on the edge of the riverbed with one foot deep and one foot shallow, Bifang looked at the section of the river where the hoof prints suddenly disappeared.
"Crossing the river?"
The hoof prints of the white-lipped bison disappeared here. Bifang lowered his head. The river channel became narrow and clear here, and it turned from a small river into a stream. The water was clear and the bottom was visible. It was not very deep.
It seems that the white-lipped buffalo has crossed the river, and Bifang has already seen the hoof prints on the other side of the river.
The riverbeds on both sides of the stream are relatively high, with water only flowing at the bottom. The edges are covered with raised stones, and a large number of dead branches and leaves, and even rotten trees, are piled up on the curved side, which are basically washed down from upstream.
Stepping on the protruding stones on the shore, Bifang jumped to the other side and pointed to the river under his feet to introduce it to the audience.
"This type of riverbed is quite common in the Xishuangbanna rainforest. The runoff of surface rivers is completely different in the rainy season and dry season every year. Some rivers even disappear completely in the dry season. The river in front of us should have been very deep. The riverbed is constantly washed away in the rainy season, and it dries up in the dry season..."
As he was talking, Bifang suddenly stopped.
[Hey, where are the people? ]
【How big is it? 】
[The internet speed is not good, you are stuck]
[Just clap, just clap]
[Are you filming TV from here? ]
Bifang returned to the riverbed from the shore, stepped on the stones into the stream, returned to the side before crossing the river, swept away all the dead branches beside the stones, and a dark small hole appeared in front of everyone.
At the edge of the small hole, there was so much moist yellow mud and sand that it was about to overflow, and the color was obviously different from the surrounding area.
There were black or dark green stones covered with moss all around, but this one soft, bright yellow lump was hard not to notice!
Bifang poked into the hole with a branch, and after confirming that there was nothing inside, he reached out and wiped the yellow mud at the entrance of the hole. The feel was completely different from ordinary mud and sand, and it was very hard.
[What the hell is this? The color is weird]
[Do you want to get started right away? ]
[This looks like...! ]
【yue】
[It must be S, right? ]
[Is there a fish in it? Or something else?]
Bifang rubbed the yellow mud in his palm, then raised his hand and brought the mud close to his nose and smelled it. A unique fishy and rusty smell suddenly rushed into his nostrils.
Then he stuck out his tongue and licked it a little. A unique salty and fishy smell spread across his tongue, like blood.
The audience felt sick, as the subway, the elderly and mobile phones were perfectly portrayed.
Bifang's originally frowned brows suddenly relaxed, and the pressure that had been lingering in his heart completely dissipated.
Good stuff, really good stuff!
I was originally planning on looking for a salt mine, but unexpectedly I found the most crucial item for my survival.
iron ore!
If I hadn't come back to introduce the river, I would have almost missed it.
Bifang took out a bamboo tube, filled it with saliva and rinsed his mouth, then happily explained something to the audience. After hearing his words, the audience was shocked.
This big yellow thing, you tell me it's a mine?
[Don't think that you can deceive me unscrupulously just because I'm uneducated. You're telling me this is iron ore? ]
[Ah, I'm blind]
[Refers to s as a mine! ]
[Please leave the idiom alone, please! ]
[I believe in Boss Fang! ]
[Boss Fang? When did Old Fang get this nickname?]
[Some people started calling the club this after it opened. Boss Fang is awesome! ]
Boss Fang smiled, his smile was bright and sunny: "This is iron bacteria, not what you think it is. It was in my original search target. I thought I would concentrate on looking for it after finding the salt mine. I didn't expect that after searching everywhere for a long time, I would find it without any effort!"
Iron bacteria?
[The number of nouns I have never heard of has increased]
【Strange Knowledge Cat Appears! 】
[Please explain, forgive my ignorance, hurry up]
Bifang looked at the sky, which had become very dark and seemed to be about to rain soon. He quickly fished out the "yellow mud" in the hole and threw it into the frame.
"Iron bacteria, as the name suggests, are a type of microorganism that lives in ponds, lakes, hot springs and other waters with high concentrations of divalent iron ions."
"They are able to oxidize ferrous iron salts into ferric iron compounds and can use the energy generated in this oxidation process to assimilate carbon dioxide for bacterial growth."
"This microorganism uses organic matter as a nutrient source. It needs organic matter for its growth and prefers organic compounds of iron and manganese. When the organic matter is used, the iron and manganese will be excreted as waste and attached to the bacterial filaments."
A lot of concepts mixed with chemistry and biology were thrown out, and many people were confused.
[I understand. What about you?]
[I understand, it's very simple, isn't it just a microorganism? You don't even know this? ]
[Scratching my head, am I the only one who doesn’t understand? ]
[Did you listen carefully during Mr. Fang's class? I will punish you by making you copy it a hundred times! ]
[I’m copying, I’m copying]
"It's getting dark now. I guess it might rain soon. Let's get them all out now. Otherwise, when the river rises, it will be difficult to get them out, and they may be washed away. Let's look around. There should be quite a few left."
Iron bacteria generally live in slightly acidic water with little oxygen but more dissolved iron and CO2. Alkaline environment is not conducive to their survival, so the surrounding environment should be acidic.
After all the yellow mud was fished out, the back had turned brown and was accompanied by a peculiar smell, but Bifang did not show any disgust and fished it all out.
The entire bark frame sank.
After taking out all the iron bacteria in the small holes, Bifang started looking in other directions, not leaving out any small holes, and actually found two more.
Before the third spot was dug, ripples began to appear on the water surface.
It's raining.
Bifang wiped away the water drops that were about to drip from the ends of her hair and quickened the digging speed.
"The rainy season is really annoying. It rains every other day. It may be sunny during the day, but in less than an hour, it will rain heavily. Fortunately, this rain does not seem to be very heavy."
After all three holes were dug, Bifang was soaked.
Fortunately, almost one-third of the bark frame was filled, and this amount was more than enough to forge an iron sword.
[It feels very uncertain. Can so many be refined? ]
"That's enough. You don't know how heavy they are. And they feel exactly like iron sand. That's more than enough."
Bifang covered the bark frame with leaves to prevent too much rain from entering and flowing out through the gaps, and then carried the big frame on his back and chased in the direction of the white-lipped buffalo.
Once we entered the rain forest, the rain suddenly became much lighter.
"I should have made a raincoat in advance." Bifang ran around in the woods with his head in his hands, looking around, and actually found an arched structure covered with vines.
The thick vines grew in a curved pattern, leaving a large space inside.
Bifang lifted it up, looked around for large leaves to cover it, tied them up simply, and crawled inside, immediately isolating the wind and rain from outside.
"Unfortunately, the situation is a bit urgent. The leaves are not tied up. If it rains heavily, they may be washed away directly. I hope this rain will end soon."
Bifang wiped the mud off his body and shook it off. Then he grabbed a handful of palm leaves contaminated with iron bacteria from the bark frame and began to weave.
"To be on the safe side, we prepared a raincoat in advance, in case this temporary shelter is washed away and I have to run around everywhere again."
"Many people must have heard of the straw raincoat, the old man in a straw raincoat and hat sitting alone in a boat, fishing alone in the cold river in the snow. In fact, many straw raincoats are made of palm leaves. Of course, the effect is not as good as those made of authentic straw, but it is enough for us."
Palm leaves can be used to weave relatively simple raincoats, which are quick to make, but are relatively thin and have poor rain protection effects.
The raincoats woven with straw are relatively thick and have sleeves, which can keep out rain and keep you warm.
But nowadays, there are not so many requirements for Bifang, as long as it can be used, it’s fine.
