Humans Shrunk 100 Times

Chapter 61: Kitchen Utensils

The official list of the committee's five members has been confirmed:

Dong Junwei, Tang Jing, Chen Mu, Wei Dalei, He Ying.

As for the responsibilities and daily work, Tang Jing promised to present a plan within twenty-four hours for everyone to discuss and vote on.

Initially, the entire meeting was approached with a lighthearted attitude. No one even thought it would be a formal meeting at first; they merely stood in a circle on an open ground, and later moved to sit on towels as time went on.

From establishing the organizational name to electing the leadership committee, the mood gradually became more serious.

Time passed, and it was well into lunchtime before they realized they hadn't eaten yet.

"I'll go prepare something right away," Du Jiajia quickly stood up.

The current food was still just pancakes made from flour. Although Du Jiajia had been continuously improving and innovating, they had only that much to work with. It's challenging to come up with varied dishes with limited resources, and it's easy to get tired of the same food.

Fortunately, compared to the previous plain rice cakes, the pancakes now had oil and salt, which made them much better, though it would still take some time before people grew tired of them.

The celery leaves they brought back had become the main food these days. Fresh vegetables couldn't be stored for long, so everyone devoured them with great gusto.

For He Ying and the others, especially Feng Xiaoyu, who had just arrived, this meal was a revelation.

The steaming hot pancakes had fresh vegetables, meat, and even a spicy sauce.

When was the last time they had experienced such a life?

As Feng Xiaoyu took a bite of the scalding pancake, tears couldn't help but stream down her face. He Ying patted her shoulder, understanding her emotions.

The kitchen facilities were getting more and more complete now. Dong Junwei used heated iron blocks as stoves, and they went through several transformations until they reached the height and shape that Du Jiajia was satisfied with.

Various kitchen utensils were also added one by one under Chef Du's demands.

From the simplest iron plates to knives, spatulas, and various plates for serving food, even steel wire balls and rags for cleaning were all available.

The steel wire balls took a lot of effort to make.

Slowly pulling stainless steel into evenly thick iron wires, then forming them into balls, this seemingly simple task took Chen Mu nearly two hours, nearly exhausting him mentally.

However, the resulting steel wire balls were incomparable in both texture and practicality to store-bought ones.

As for the rag, Chen Mu simply gave up.

He just tore some cotton threads from a towel, wrapped them together, and made do with it.

Of course, most of the time, the tableware was just wiped clean, as water was still too precious.

Therefore, each person's tableware is fixed to prevent unsanitary cross-usage, and Dong Junwei conducts high-temperature sterilization every other day.

To avoid any mix-ups, Chen Mu also engraved everyone's name on their tableware.

Inspired by Dong Junwei and others' practice of engraving their weapons, Chen Mu found that this level of precision control greatly benefited his ability training, and the improvement in his mental power was evident the next day.

As a result, he didn't mind being a master engraver now.

Engraving the names of twelve people was no small task.

Chen Mu didn't cut corners and seriously carved each person's name, striving for neat and deep engravings.

Compared to before, the Chinese characters he carved indeed looked much more beautiful.

Furthermore, Chen Mu discovered that his ability to finely manipulate objects still retained the characteristics of "practice makes perfect."

In other words, once he tried a particular character, copying it exactly again would be much faster.

Believing that it wouldn't take long, he could become like a stamp, effortlessly imprinting characters.

...

After lunch, Dong Junwei gathered the five members of the committee to discuss the next steps.

The current situation in Qingming was somewhat awkward.

The immediate issue of food and clothing had been temporarily resolved.

Though there were still many things to be done, none of them had a clear priority.

"I think water and safety are the most crucial aspects," Chen Mu glanced at the other four.

He Ying had just joined, and she seemed reluctant to speak much, while Wei Dalei, a tall and big man, stood there, not knowing what to do.

Dong Junwei said, "As for safety, those who stayed at home should be fine for now. After all, the gaps in the doors are only so high, and big creatures like rats can't get in. As for centipedes and spiders, while they pose a relatively significant threat, with houses and grenades for protection, it shouldn't be a big problem."

Tang Jing said, "I'm afraid creatures like centipedes might crawl in without us noticing. Once they get close, we won't have time to hide. Even if we manage to drive them away eventually, it could result in casualties."

"What do you suggest then?"

"I have two suggestions. First, we should set up a lookout post where one person stands at a higher point and can observe the surroundings at all times. This way, everyone can feel more secure and won't have to be on constant alert, saving energy in the long run. Second, we should seal off the gaps in the door, leaving only one entrance and exit for ourselves. It would make defense and monitoring much simpler."

Dong Junwei listened and turned to ask, "Chen Mu, about your ability now..."

Chen Mu replied, "Doing it all at once is not possible, but we can gradually work on the construction. It's just about how to seal off the gaps..."

"Do you have any suggestions?" Tang Jing asked.

"I have two options. The first is to completely block it, leaving no gaps. The advantage of this approach is that we won't have to worry about small crawlers getting in. The second is to use a fence. I can use iron bars to stand under the gap, one end inserted into the cement floor and the other buried into the bottom edge of the door. The advantage of this is better ventilation."

"Ventilation?" He Ying couldn't help but ask.

"Ventilation is indeed a problem. It's not yet the hottest time, but when it comes to July and August, without a ceiling in this storage room, the daytime temperature will become terrifying. Our perception of the outside temperature doesn't seem to have changed much after shrinking, which is unreasonable. Logically, our body's heat dissipation..."

Tang Jing paused and then smiled, "Let's not dwell on that. In short, it's better not to completely block the gaps in the door. Although this storage room is large enough for us, we can't be sure if the internal air circulation here would serve as a ventilation system."

"So, we'll tentatively use the fence plan?" Dong Junwei proposed.

"Agreed," Chen Mu nodded.

"Also, we need to think about water."

"Drinking water is not a problem for now, but we should consider bathing, washing dishes, and flushing the toilet in the morning and evening."

As soon as Chen Mu finished speaking, everyone heard a sound like something striking the glass window of the storage room.

They were startled.

The sound occurred again a few seconds later.

Everyone looked up.

They noticed that the previously clear glass seemed to have two blurred spots.

Clearly.

They were water droplets.

"Is it raining?"

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