He kicked the ewe’s butt and jokingly scolded, "You’ve tried to escape several times. I’ll keep you here for a while longer before I really let you go."

The ewe bleated twice, looked up at Li Younan, and then went back to lying by the fire.

Li Younan didn’t only focus on milking the ewe.

To ensure this little animal produced high-quality milk, he fed it exceptionally high-quality moss.

You see, moss contains rich carbohydrates and can even be eaten by humans when necessary, though its taste is undoubtedly terrible.

Additionally, to balance the ewe’s diet, Li Younan mixed some lichen into the hay it loved, lichen being a plant capable of producing glucose through photosynthesis, making it a delicate feed.

The ewe appeared cleaner, with its wool now smooth and shiny compared to when it first came to the shelter.

Overall, it didn’t seem like a bad pet at all.

With this little creature, Li Younan’s boring life found a bit of solace.

He originally planned to finish manually crafting the crystal radio these two days.

To ensure the crystal radio performed as expected, Li Younan needed to cut some wood in the forest to make a base and a wooden frame for the antenna.

The morning snowstorm blocked him from venturing out.

After breakfast and a brief rest, Li Younan opened the door once more.

Flurries of snow slapped against his face.

Swearing under his breath, Li Younan returned inside.

"Still warm in the shelter," he sighed lightly, then chuckled and knocked on the sturdy rammed earth wall, boasting, "A soil wall several centimeters thick—didn’t waste my efforts, did it?"

And so, in this survival reality show named "Alone in the Wilderness," a contestant, fearing the outside cold, hunkered down in the shelter, sipping hot tea, eating blood sausage, cooking beef, and teasing his pet like a little wastrel.

What a situation.

The wind carried the snow, showing no sign of letting up.

...

At the shores of Chilco Lake, besides Li Younan, only Connor and Pacini remained.

In such a climate and weather, not even hikers ventured out for exploration.

Pacini had a stroke of luck, catching a porcupine and a rabbit just as his venison supply ran out.

More fortunate still, before the lake froze, his gill net caught two big fish, providing enough food for him to last two weeks.

Even though he could continue surviving, loneliness still plagued him.

Every time the crew came for health checks, he jabbered on, chatting with them for a long time.

Yet the crew didn’t converse with him much.

Each time they came, he hoped they’d deliver good news: "Hey, buddy, all your opponents have been eliminated. You’re the last winner!"

But, unfortunately, such a moment never occurred, and he had to keep enduring.

He believed he could hold on, given he recorded two hunts of mid to large-sized game during the show.

Though neither the sheep he hunted earlier nor the deer he caught later counted as particularly grand prey—like a bison, whose meat surpasses these two by several times.

But he doubted any other contestant could hunt a bison, so his two achievements should grant him a significant advantage.

Perhaps the last one or two remaining contestants were merely persevering on sheer willpower or lucked into catching a fish or two.

Fish in Chilco Lake were indeed plentiful but never a reliable protein source for the show’s contestants.

And as for luck, he felt the goddess of fortune consistently favored him. Just hold on a bit more; persevering a bit longer meant victory!

Today’s snow was too heavy, and he didn’t plan to go out.

By the fire in the shelter, since it was wooden, the temperature dissipated quickly; only when the stove was ablaze did warmth radiate steadily.

He leaned in closer, feeling content—no matter what, at least he remained by the stove, without fretting over food for the next two weeks, right?

...

Kanna was the type of contestant Pacini imagined was persevering purely on willpower.

Before the snowfall, her gill net caught another fish.

Relying on the few berries she had stored, she thought she could keep going.

She wasn’t sure how long, but knew that in such an environment, holding on one more day offered hope for victory.

She believed that all contestants’ situations were similar.

Making it this far and quitting now would be regrettable.

Her shelter was cramped, but a small space had its perks; with the stove lit, it felt warmer.

Previously improved, the exhaust system prevented smoke from stinging her eyes when lit.

This tiny improvement brought her happiness.

However, the shelter was too tiny to stack sufficient firewood.

Now she fed the last log into the stove, sighed, and realized she must go out and chop some wood.

Exiting the shelter, the wind and snow immediately left her nose red and her face stinging.

Eyeing the nearby trees, she longed to smear a bit of grease on her face.

Her ears and cheeks were frostbitten and cracked, and she took a deep breath before forcing a smile: "Hang in there, Connor. God will bless you."

She took the axe and left.

Choosing the gill net meant she hadn’t chosen a saw—making wood chopping grueling for her.

Amidst the snowstorm, an already gaunt woman raised her axe, echoed faintly by the rhythmic chopping sounds: "Tap tap tap."

...

Feeling a bit bored, Li Younan didn’t forget to apply some ghee to his skin—an effective frostbite preventative.

He needed to go out because the ewe hadn’t eaten yet.

Li Younan gathered some fodder nearby, dusted off the snow on himself.

He added firewood to the stove for boiling water, then crushed the fodder into the ewe’s dedicated feeding bowl and fed it.

It had been two days since he last bathed; unable to go out, he decided it was the perfect day for a warm bath.

Before nightfall, Li Younan gleefully stripped and submerged himself in the tub.

As the steam rose, he closed his eyes in comfort.

On this cold snowy night, every person had a bright future ahead.