After the rainy season, the weather began to grow increasingly hot, with afternoons so scorching that people often dared not venture outside.
The small mountain village was blooming with colorful wildflowers everywhere, and the girls in the village often gathered to pick flowers and play in the woods.
Lai Yi carried twelve tender yellow chicks home in a large basket. The red prairie bird chicks had finally hatched after half a month of incubation.
He tentatively placed the chicks with the adult birds at home, and unexpectedly, two of the adult birds began to care for them as if they were their own offspring.
Lai Yi fenced off an area around a tree in the open space opposite his home, driving the red prairie birds into it during the day for fresh air and back into the house at night. Once the chicks grew a bit larger, their feathers would need to be clipped to prevent them from flying away.
Neil was overjoyed by the addition of the little chicks to the household and often dug up earthworms to supplement their diet.
With one grown young man and another half-grown child on the verge of puberty, the daily consumption left the household’s food supplies running low. Lai Yi followed the village ox cart and made another trip to town.
This time, he bought several dozen pounds of rye and wheat flour as usual. The salt jar at home was nearly empty, so Lai Yi also purchased some salt.
The price of salt was not as expensive as he had imagined. The salt here came in large chunks of salt stone, not the pure white of modern society, and had a slightly bitter taste.
Lai Yi guessed that these salt stones had undergone simple purification, but the technique was poor, leaving some impurities mixed in.
The meat stall from last time was still there, though business was not as bustling as before. The stall owner was using a branch to shoo away small insects buzzing around the meat, while a dark brown bear cub lay sleeping at his feet.
“Buying meat?” the stall owner asked.
“Yes.”
Lai Yi selected a fresh piece of pork belly and bought some leaf fat. The stall owner deftly cut the meat, wrapped it in oilpaper, and tied it with hemp rope.
“Want the skin?”
“Yes.”
He then pulled out a large piece of Gulu Beast skin, folded it several times, and bundled it up with hemp rope.
Mu still remembered this peculiar human. Gulu Beast skin was troublesome to prepare, tasted mediocre, and was tough to chew. In the tribe, only the extremely impoverished families would bother with these unwanted Gulu Beast skins.
“How do you eat this?” Mu asked. He was straightforward by nature, disliking beating around the bush, and asked questions directly.
“Make skin jelly,” Lai Yi replied without hiding anything, explaining the method to him. Mu listened, utterly confused. Lai Yi felt something tugging at his pant leg and looked down to see the bear cub standing up while clutching his trousers.
“Ah! Ah!” the cub chirped happily. Mu crouched down and picked him up.
“This is my son, Li. He was born last spring and will be able to shapeshift this autumn.”
Li clearly didn’t give his father any face, squirming left and right in an attempt to escape his embrace, stretching his chubby little paws toward Lai Yi.
“He’s quite a lively little fellow,” Lai Yi remarked.
Mu wore a kindly, fatherly smile as he placed the little one in a basket and handed him a piece of dried meat. The bear cub immediately began chewing on it cheerfully.
Lai Yi paid, took the meat, and prepared to leave.
“Wait,” Mu called out to stop him. Under Lai Yi’s puzzled gaze, Mu cut another piece of meat, swiftly wrapped it, and tossed it into Lai Yi’s backpack.
“This is for you, thank you for the recipe.”
Lai Yi was somewhat surprised. Meat was still quite expensive here, especially since Mu had cut him a piece from the loin section.
It would be impolite to receive without giving in return. Lai Yi didn’t consider the method of making skin jelly particularly valuable. In modern times, one could easily find countless recipes for various delicacies with a quick search online. He felt he couldn’t just leave like this.
“Mu, I have a way to make the meat taste better. Would you like to hear it?”
Mu looked at Lai Yi with confusion. Meat tasted the way it was—how could it possibly be improved? Though puzzled, he temporarily handed over his stall to another beastman and followed Lai Yi to a less crowded area.
“Do you really have a method?”
“Yes.”
Lai Yi nodded.
The meat currently being sold came from uncastrated Gulu Beasts. When Gulu Beasts reached a certain age, they would go into heat. Due to hormonal influences, the meat’s texture would become unpleasant, carrying a gamy odor.
In modern farming practices, pigs were castrated at a very young age, which eliminated that gamy taste from the pork when they grew up.
Lai Yi explained this method to Mu, suggesting that he remove the two testicles from young Gulu Beasts, keeping only a few strong ones as breeding stock.
Mu instinctively flinched below his waist, listening in stunned silence.
“Will that really work?”
Mu asked with a mixture of belief and doubt.
“You could try castrating one first. Wait until it grows up, slaughter it to taste the meat, and then compare it with others that haven’t been castrated.”
“I read about this method in a book. Losing those two things won’t mean losing any actual meat.”
Lai Yi made a scissor-cutting gesture with his hand, and Mu nodded.
“Alright.”
Mu expressed his sincere gratitude to Lai Yi and cut another piece of meat for him, but Lai Yi hurriedly declined, quickly leaving the meat stall with his backpack.
Afterward, Lai Yi went to buy some mung beans and other miscellaneous items before returning to the village on the oxcart. He passed by Brian, who was working on road construction, and greeted him.
The tunnel construction was in full swing.
During the agricultural off-season when there was no work, joining the tunnel construction not only saved food for their families but also earned them copper coins. Young laborers from various villages were eager to participate.
During mealtimes, villagers would occasionally carry cool barley tea and sell it near the construction site. For just two copper coins, one could buy a large bowl. The villagers didn’t sell much, just enough to earn some pocket money for their children.
In midsummer, it was the ripening season for a fruit called Kamaigua.
Their neighbor Old Guge gave Neil a basketful when he returned from school, telling him to share it with Lai Yi.
Old Guge had already lived over a hundred years, his hair long turned gray.
His wife had passed away from illness over a decade ago. His daughter married a merchant and hadn’t been in touch for years, while his son, who had been an apprentice in the city in his early years, later married his boss’s daughter and settled in Eaton City, also not having visited him for a long time.
He lived alone in the small mountain village.
Neil told Lai Yi about Old Guge’s gift and handed him the melon when suddenly, children’s voices called from outside the yard.
“Neil, bring your stuff and let’s go! Everyone’s waiting for you!”
Lai Yi looked outside and saw four children around Neil’s age waving fishing nets, beckoning. Neil wasn’t in a hurry to leave and was still helping Lai Yi wash the vegetables.
“They’re calling you. Why aren’t you going?”
“I’m a big kid now, I need to help with the household chores.”
Neil declared with the earnestness of a miniature adult, making Lai Yi stifle a laugh.
“Neil!”
The unified shouts of children came from outside. Lai Yi ruffled Neil’s short cropped hair.
“Go out and play. There’s nothing you need to help with right now. I’ll call you if I need anything.”
Lai Yi rummaged through the storage room and pulled out a small net and bucket, firmly stuffing them into Neil’s arms. These were the tools Neil used to catch shrimp in the river with the village children when he was younger.
Every year during this season, the village stream would be full of small shrimp and crabs. In this era with limited entertainment, catching shrimp and fish in the river was a rare pastime for children.
Lai Yi pushed Neil out the door, and several half-grown boys were overjoyed to see him emerge.
Among all the children in the village, Neil was the best at catching shrimp.
“Be careful not to go where the water’s deep.”
“Okay, brother.”
“Alright!”
The children chased each other, scampering merrily toward the riverbank.
The riverbank was frequently used for laundry, so as long as they stayed away from the deeper areas, safety wasn’t a concern.
With meat spoiling easily in this weather, Lai Yi spent some time rendering all the leaf fat into lard. He cut the pork belly into finger-thick strips to make braised pork that would be rich but not greasy for dinner.
The tenderloin Mu had given them was carefully wrapped in waterproof oil paper by Lai Yi, tied with dozens of meters of thin string, and lowered into the well. The well water was cool and flowing, keeping the meat fresh for several days—a special preservation method.
After completing these tasks, Lai Yi went to the garden.
Near the edge, he had planted several watermelon vines. He’d discovered them accidentally while hunting in the mountains and transplanted them to his vegetable patch.
Lai Yi watered the precious vines and channeled some Wood-type magic into them. They had already produced several small flowers, and he believed they would soon yield large, round watermelons.
So far, Lai Yi hadn’t explored many other uses for his Wood-type magic, so he primarily applied it to the fields. It worked wonderfully for daily seed cultivation and acceleration, saving considerable time.
The radishes in the plot had already provided Lai Yi and Neil with one harvest of leaves, and soon they could be dug up for the roots. Another type of radish needed to be planted in two months—one that stored well and could be kept for winter eating. Lai Yi planned to grow more of those later.
He casually pulled weeds near the cucumbers and removed insect-damaged leaves from the greens, tossing them all into the pen containing the red prairie birds. The young birds happily scratched and pecked at the offerings.
Back inside, Lai Yi soaked the mung beans he’d bought at the market in water. He intended to try making mung bean soup to sell at the construction site.
Within a few hours, Neil returned happily carrying his small bucket.
“Brother, look what I caught!”
He lifted the leaf covering the bucket, revealing river shrimp inside and several feisty little crabs nibbling on them.
“Ah, my shrimp!”
Neil set down the bucket and hurriedly grabbed a small basin, carefully picking up the crabs by their shells to transfer them.
“Brother, I caught way more than this, but these guys kept stealing them along the way home.”
Neil looked somewhat frustrated.
“You caught all these yourself?”
Lai Yi asked. Neil proudly lifted his chin.
“Yep!”
“Did you go where the water was deep?”
“No, I didn’t.”
Neil shook his head. He had always been obedient and sensible, which made Lai Yi’s life much easier.
“I’ll make something delicious for you tonight.”
“Great!”
Neil became cheerful again.
Under Lai Yi’s constant feeding, Neil had finally gained some weight and no longer looked like a scrawny chick at first glance. Lai Yi urged Neil to wash his hands and feet clean, then they washed two melons and sat in the shady spot of the yard munching on them.
“This melon is so sweet!”
Neil first took a small bite, carefully sucking in a mouthful of juice, before chewing large mouthfuls of the melon flesh.
“It is quite sweet.”
Lai Yi agreed, also taking a big bite of the melon flesh.
“I wonder how Uncle Gug managed to grow these. Brother, let’s plant some next year too.”
Neil said to Lai Yi – children always say whatever comes to mind.
“Alright.”
Lai Yi readily agreed to Neil.
Not just Kamaigua melons, but other vegetables and fruits needed to be arranged too. The vegetable plot at home was still somewhat small – they would need to cultivate more land next year.
The forest was full of treasures – perhaps they could find varieties that existed in modern times…
While eating large mouthfuls of melon, Lai Yi quietly contemplated future plans.