Chapter 368: Chapter 221: Daily Life of Survival on the Icefield

In almost an instant, his eyes closed, long eyelashes covering them, as if he could fall asleep at any moment.

Holding this warm and heavy little guy, Lin Yu’an did not immediately return to the shelter. Before ending outdoor activities and returning indoors, he had to complete all necessary outdoor checks.

First, he slowly walked to the snow igloo smokehouse that was silently working. Approaching the soapstone stove, a warm flow mixed with the heat of charcoal and rich wood fragrance rushed toward him.

Seeing that the charcoal inside was still steadily smoldering, he grabbed two large handfuls of moist wood shavings and evenly spread them over the smoke area to ensure continuous smoke production.

Then, Lin Yu’an removed a snowbrick from the igloo, and a denser smoke immediately surged out from the gap.

He squinted into the bright sunlight and saw the Red Spot Salmon hanging inside, which in just over an hour had been tinged with a light yellow hue.

"Everything is going well. The smoke factory and cooling systems are working perfectly, and the fish is slowly absorbing the flavors. By tomorrow morning, we should be able to taste the first batch of finished products."

After finishing the check, he carried the drowsy December back to the warm shelter.

Once inside, he first gently placed December on its own warm and soft wolves’ skin bed.

The little guy showed hardly any reaction, simply changed to a more comfortable position, and continued to sleep, soon making soft snoring sounds.

Lin Yu’an finally had time to sit down and took out the durable electronic recorder to conduct a detailed review and record of the successful morning outdoor activity.

As he recalled, he typed on the screen:

[Scientific Data Record]

Date: December 4th

Time Period: 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM

Event: First Outdoor Environment Adaptation Activity.

Activity Location: To the east of the shelter, solid ice and snow area of the lake.

Activity Contents:

Independent Exploration (about 40 minutes): The cub initially showed brief probing and hesitation upon encountering the ice surface, then quickly adapted and displayed high excitement. Main behaviors included: running, rolling, digging snow with forepaws, and burying its head in the snow.

Interactive Game (about 20 minutes): Playing "throw and retrieve" with a red rubber ball. The cub could accurately identify and chase the target, achieving a 100% retrieval success rate, showing a strong gaming motivation and preliminary hunting tracking instincts.

Physiological Response Assessment: At the later stage of the activity, obvious signs of fatigue appeared, characterized by increased breathing rate, tongue panting, and sluggish movements. It is judged that its current stage’s endurance for continuous high-intensity exercise is about 25-30 minutes.

Preliminary Conclusion: The cub has a strong adaptability to outdoor ice and snow environments, with its nature well stimulated. Maintaining at least one similar outdoor activity daily in the future is recommended to exercise its physical fitness, and coordination, and provide necessary environmental enrichment. At the same time, attention should be paid to controlling the duration of the activity to avoid excessive fatigue.

After finishing the entry, he looked at this detailed report he had spent nearly an hour writing, filled with a sense of satisfaction.

This wasn’t just a simple ventilation outing; it was a purposeful, observational, and conclusive scientific behavior record.

Looking at December’s sleeping form, Lin Yu’an knew he would have a few hours of uninterrupted valuable time for himself in the next few hours.

"Hi guys, it’s twelve-thirty now, the little bear is asleep, the cold smoking has started, I need to go out every hour to check the smoke situation to ensure everything is foolproof."

"After a busy morning, finally I have time to make myself a meal."

He walked to a corner of the shelter, where the Snowshoe Rabbit was placed. Yesterday, during processing, he had already cut the rabbit meat into small pieces suitable for cooking and storage and placed them in the snow icebox.

Now, after being stored by the fireplace all morning, the meat pieces have thawed and regained a soft texture.

Just as he was about to start cooking, the recorder emitted a gentle reminder tone for the first time. Lin Yu’an put down his work, put on his coat, and picked up a metal bucket to fetch a few pieces of charcoal from the fireplace.

Then he went to the smokehouse, skillfully added new charcoal and wet wood shavings, confirmed everything was normal, and then returned to the shelter.

Upon returning, he noticed a potential danger, an overnight snowstorm had accumulated an astonishingly thick layer of new snow on his shelter roof.

"This is not good." 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

He looked up at the snow layer that was almost pressing against the vent, explaining to the camera, "Originally, I hoped the snow could accumulate on top to form a natural snow blanket to enhance the insulation effect."

"But now, this thickness has exceeded the safety range. Snow seems light, but once accumulated in large quantities, the weight is astonishing."

His fingers pointed to the chimney outlet built of stones and earth, "My roof is sloped, and under gravity, the snow will slide downward, exerting lateral thrust on this chimney."

"Now with such thick snow, this pressure is enormous and may cause the chimney structure to loosen or even collapse. Once there’s an issue with the chimney, the shelter would become uninhabitable."

"So, I must perform roof weight reduction work now."

He returned to the shelter and took out a tool he rarely used, the birch stick he previously used to clear snow off the roof, a stick that almost got burned as firewood, but now it was again put to good use.

Lin Yu’an first climbed onto the relatively low snow pile on the side of the shelter, then carefully moved to the edge of the roof.