On Educating Children

Looking at the two children beside her, Rong Xianxian decided to make something simple. She took out some steamed pancakes she had prepared earlier, grabbed a handful of baby bok choy from the refrigerator, and sliced a large piece of pork belly into thin strips. She stir-fried the pork with the bok choy to season the pot, added aromatics—scallions, ginger, and garlic—until fragrant, then poured in water and brought it to a boil. She dropped in the prepared pancakes and seasoned the broth with salt, resulting in a large pot of braised pancake stew.

Fortunately, the kitchen was well-stocked with pots and pans. This large stew pot had been intended for group gatherings and was rarely used, but it proved perfect for this occasion.

She found an extra-large stainless steel basin and poured the stew into it. Tasting a piece, she found it chewy, savory, and delicious—simple yet satisfying. She ladled out a large bowl for herself and the children, then took the kids to knock on Wang Lin’s door and have them come take their share. As for whether it would be enough, even for four growing young men, the portion was quite generous.

She then fried two sunny-side-up eggs for the children and stir-fried a dish of shiitake mushrooms with bok choy.

After a simple breakfast, Rong Xianxian took the children to the utility room, intending to show them the biological structure of the monsters. Although she had studied Traditional Chinese Medicine, anatomy had been a significant part of her curriculum. Today, she had two monster carcasses to dissect. She originally hadn't wanted the children to see such things, but the environment had changed. To enhance their vigilance and safety awareness, and to prevent them from suffering a mental shock if they were to encounter monsters directly, she felt it was better to expose them to it early.

Having realized while processing the soft skin of the giant bird’s abdomen yesterday that a standard scalpel was ineffective, she brought out her secret weapon today. Fully geared up in an isolation gown, face mask, hat, gloves, and swim goggles used as protective eyewear, she instructed the children to stand back, remain silent, and not approach.

The sharp scimitar emitted a cold, gleaming light. Initially, even looking at it sent a chill down her spine, but after handling it repeatedly, she had grown accustomed to it.

Looking at the already gutted giant bird, she decided to start there. Using the scimitar, she carefully sliced through the skin over the bird’s sternum, cut through the subcutaneous muscle tissue, and meticulously avoided the blood vessels to find the bone joints. As she severed them, she suddenly caught a whiff of a strange, alluring fragrance.

Seeing a glowing white object emitting that peculiar scent located where the bird’s heart should be, Rong Xianxian felt a surge of excitement. No wonder the only thing the bird had dropped was a manual for the "Lightness Technique." While the technique wasn't bad, it was merely a mundane skill for increasing speed and agility, not a true cultivation method.

For those in the early stages of the apocalypse who hadn't yet obtained basic spiritual cultivation methods, it was undoubtedly a practical and rare skill. However, in the long run, it wasn't particularly extraordinary.

Now, seeing this inner core, she understood that the "Lightness Technique" was merely a bonus; this core was the true treasure. An inner core possessed the properties of cleansing the marrow, clearing meridians, repairing hidden injuries, and improving one's constitution. Rong Xianxian did not intend to use it just yet.

She had heard in her past life that the value of an inner core lay in its ability to help one break through cultivation bottlenecks, and its effects could even be stacked. On mission boards, a single inner core was often sold for an astronomical price, yet it remained a case of having money but no goods to buy.

She tucked the inner core away and continued the dissection. *Pfft.* She accidentally nicked a small blood vessel, splattering blood across her face. Fortunately, she was well-prepared; the mask was fine, but she had to wipe her goggles. She asked Xuanxuan for a wet wipe and continued to check for anything else of value.

By the time she finished dissecting the giant bird and the warehouse cat, she was so exhausted she nearly collapsed. The scimitar, however, had drunk its fill of blood and shone even brighter, showing no signs of dulling.

The bird was over two meters long. She didn't know the species; even before the monsters arrived, she hadn't recognized most of the birds on Earth. Its bones were strong yet light, the meat dense and tough, its feathers sharp as blades, and its beak shimmered with a cold, metallic luster. Its two claws were sticky, possessing an adhesive quality. Its primary weapons were clearly its beak and feathers. The warehouse cat was smaller with fragile defenses, its only useful feature being its sharp teeth.

Fortunately, she had laid down a disposable sheet, which was now stained with blood. Her total haul included one inner core, one piece of soft skin from the bird's abdomen, twelve sharp teeth from the cat, one pelt, several bird feathers, dozens of pounds of edible bird meat, some viscera and scraps, four bird leg bones, four wing bones, and several smaller bones.

She sorted the edible meat and viscera into batches and placed them in the freezer room. A few days ago, she had cleared space in the refrigerator by turning frozen meat into long-lasting jerky and sausages, and she had used the empty space to make ice. She had used every plastic bag, fresh-keeping bag, and even garbage bag in the house to freeze ice, all to preserve the meat harvested from monsters. Once the ice melted, it could also serve as a water source.

Now that the power was out, she would have to find time to move the frozen food from the two freezers in the underground storage room upstairs, or it would all spoil.

The warehouse cat's teeth were long, slender, and smooth, with a sharpness comparable to the scimitar; they would be perfect as needles for working with the bird's soft skin. Based on her past experience, most monster meat was edible; only a few monsters were venomous, and unless their venom sacs were ruptured or the meat appeared eerily discolored, it was safe to consume.

The giant bird's meat was firm and elastic; it should be fresh and delicious when cooked. Moreover, monster bodies were usually infused with spiritual energy, which could improve one's physique when consumed.

She decided to fry some meat and make a stew for the children at noon. As for the lightweight, sturdy bird bones, Rong Xianxian planned to polish them and fashion them into weapons for the kids.

Rong Xianxian showed the items to the children. Xuanxuan retreated in fear, but little Luo was very interested and eager to touch them—specifically the bird feathers, the hard beak, and the cat's sharp teeth.

"Look, if you don't kill it, it will use these sharp teeth to bite through your throat. This giant bird almost smashed our window the other day, didn't it?" Little Luo nodded obediently.

"If our home is destroyed by monsters, where will we go? Look at the heavy rain outside and all those monsters; we would definitely be eaten."

"Wah!" Xuanxuan burst into tears. "I don't want to be eaten by monsters, boo-hoo-hoo." Oh no, she had gone too far. Xuanxuan had loved cats, dogs, rabbits, and birds since she was little. Rong Xianxian had been terrified that she might approach a cute-looking monster, but seeing her like this, she felt a bit helpless.

Little Luo patted the sobbing Xuanxuan. "What are you afraid of, sis? I’ll protect you. Didn't Mom peel that scary giant bird? Mom, let's roast the bird meat for lunch!" little Luo said, turning to Rong Xianxian.

"Okay, okay." Watching her daughter gradually calm down, she thought her son was a true lifesaver and secretly gave him a thumbs-up. Little Luo’s eyebrows practically flew up in pride.

The children were too young to teach cultivation methods, but she could teach them the "Lightness Technique."

She took them to the upstairs training room. It was filled with fitness equipment Ning Qingyun used to use, all pushed to the side to clear a spacious area. She took out the cassia seed sandbags—leftovers from making pillows.

Binding the sandbags to their calves while running could improve leg strength and assist in practicing the technique. To her surprise, when she tied the sandbags to little Luo’s legs, he ran like the wind, as if they weighed nothing at all. Before Xuanxuan had even finished one lap, little Luo had already completed the five-lap task she had set.

She called little Luo over to a corner where Ning Qingyun’s dumbbells were kept. Watching him effortlessly lift a 50-pound dumbbell with one hand, Rong Xianxian was momentarily dumbstruck.

Could great strength be inherited? His father had said he was exceptionally strong from a young age, able to wield a special tactical baton at seven or eight years old that even adult men couldn't lift. She hadn't noticed his strength before; it seemed his physical power had surged following the spiritual energy recovery.

Seeing Rong Xianxian’s shocked expression, little Luo said proudly, "Mom, am I amazing?" Looking at her son’s sparkling eyes, she felt both happiness and a sharp pang of regret. She thought of her past life, when she had kept him tied to her chest at all times, not even letting him walk on his own—what a fool she had been!