Since they had acquired caul fat and good quality fatty meat, they might as well render lard.
The pots at home suitable for rendering lard were all tall-edged soup pots, which were quite inconvenient to use.
Lai Yi began to miss the large iron wok connected to the heated brick bed at his grandfather’s house. It could both warm the room and cook meals. When used to steam rice, it would also yield fragrant, crispy rice crusts.
So incredibly delicious!
Back to the present.
Lai Yi separated the lean and fatty parts of the Gulu Beast meat, carefully washed the fat and caul fat, and cut them into small pieces.
He blanched the fatty meat and caul fat pieces in boiling water, then placed them all into a pot, adding cold water until the surface was submerged. He then set it over the fire to begin rendering.
As the water boiled, the meat began to turn translucent, and the gamey odor emerged. Lai Yi added two spoonfuls of salt, skimming off the scum while continuing to render.
Once the water had evaporated, he began stirring continuously with a wooden spatula. The aroma started to become pleasant, and when oil began to fry out, Lai Yi added some spices. Once the spices turned black, he removed them from the pot—this step was mainly to eliminate the gamey taste.
Neil sniffed the air.
It smelled so good!
“Neil, bring over the dried clay pot.”
Neil placed the clay pot beside Lai Yi and watched as he ladled spoonfuls of clear, shimmering oil into the container.
“Now bring a plate.”
Neil scurried off to fetch a plate, and Lai Yi scooped the golden, crispy cracklings onto it.
After frying the meat, he directly added water to the pot and brought it to a boil, then added noodles and leafy greens.
“Open your mouth.”
Neil obediently opened his mouth, and Lai Yi pinched a piece of pork crackling and tossed it into Neil’s mouth.
Neil chewed, and the lard burst between his teeth, filling his mouth. The crispy cracklings became more fragrant the more he chewed, disappearing in just a few bites with almost no trace of gaminess.
“Does it taste good?”
Neil nodded vigorously, his eyes sparkling with tiny flecks of light.
Lai Yi sprinkled a spoonful of salt over the pork cracklings and handed the entire plate to Neil.
“Take it and eat.”
“Brother, you have some too.”
Lai Yi took a few pieces and tossed them into his mouth before letting Neil take the plate away.
Neil carried it to the table but didn’t eat any more. Instead, he fetched two large bowls for Lai Yi. Once the noodles were ready, the two ate together.
The next morning at daybreak, Lai Yi placed the fermented dough into the oven.
Western cuisine wasn’t his forte, but here, bread was the staple food.
Over this period, Lai Yi had been learning how to bake good bread. After countless failures, he finally mastered the technique under Linda’s guidance.
At the same time, Linda also taught him how to make fruit pies and cream of mushroom soup. It had to be said that Lai Yi had some talent for cooking.
After preparing breakfast, Lai Yi cleared a small plot of land next to the original vegetable patch in the backyard to plant potatoes and sweet potatoes.
The soil was somewhat hard and needed tilling. However, without proper tools, Lai Yi had to break the ground bit by bit with a hoe.
Hearing the noise, Neil got up and followed behind him, shaking the soil off the uprooted grass roots and tossing them outside the vegetable patch.
Lai Yi consciously dug furrows of equal length, then made evenly spaced holes along the ridges to bury the seeds. This would make it easier to harvest the potatoes in the fall.
He poured a large bowl of water into each hole, then placed the prepared tubers into the holes with the sprouts facing upward and covered them with soil.
With that, the potatoes and sweet potatoes were planted.
When Neil wasn’t paying attention, Lai Yi had infused the tubers with light orbs, so the sprouts all looked robust.
The seeds he brought back from Rosen Town were also planted alongside them.
Just then, the bread finished baking. They finished all the bread with last night’s leftover pork cracklings.
Whenever Lai Yi chewed on the rye bread, he would miss the fragrant steamed rice from his hometown.
Wheat was abundant here, and Lai Yi refused to believe he would never find rice in his lifetime!
The rainy season was approaching, making roof repairs urgent.
In the morning, Lai Yi carried his axe into the mountain forest.
As his mastery of magic improved, his perception of nature had also heightened.
The mountain forest was rich with wood and earth elements, making him feel more relaxed here.
Lai Yi followed the direction where the elements were most abundant and indeed found some valuable things.
A patch of wild berries laden with fruit and an unfamiliar grass.
Lai Yi collected them all.
There were many trees suitable for making planks in the mountain forest, but felling and transporting them back was a problem. Cutting and drying them would also take time. Doing it alone was still somewhat difficult.
He marked the suitable trees and planned to hire some villagers to help.
The dagger was still with the gray wolf, as it was Victor’s relic. Lai Yi decided to go check that place.
Arriving at the spot, the gray wolf’s remains had already disappeared.
The vegetation damaged during the fight had been replaced by new sprouts. Upon closer inspection, the plants in the area were growing better than elsewhere.
Never underestimate the power of nature—it could metabolize everything in a very short time.
Lai Yi saw the gray wolf’s shattered skull nearby, with two sharp canine teeth beside it, each about twenty centimeters long.
He picked up both wolf teeth.
Continuing to search around the scattered skull, he found the dagger on a section of spine.
The blade had some nicks, but it could still be used after sharpening.
Having found what he needed, Lai Yi didn’t linger and retraced his steps back.
“Brother!”
Lai Yi turned around to see Lam emerging from the woods carrying a small tree as thick as a thigh.
The tree weighed several hundred pounds, but Lam was still moving swiftly—he certainly had some strength.
With a thud, Lam placed the tree at Lai Yi’s feet.
“Brother, did you go hunting today?”
Lam’s expression was full of accusation.
“No. The roof is damaged and needs some planks replaced. I came to cut trees.”
Lam looked at Lai Yi’s empty shoulders, his eyes clearly spelling out “I don’t believe you.”
“The trees are too heavy for me to handle alone. I was planning to go back to the village and hire some villagers to help.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Alright.”
“Brother, wait here for me. I’ll help you—no need to hire anyone.”
Without waiting for Lai Yi’s response, Lam carried the tree and ran back home.
In less than half an hour, Haggard, Brian, Lam, and two young men Lai Yi didn’t know arrived together with tools.
“Brother, I’m back! I wanted to bring these two to help you, but Dad and big brother insisted on coming along when they heard.”
Lai Yi greeted them, and Haggard affectionately patted his shoulder.
“Why didn’t you come to me earlier about the roof? Are you being distant with your uncle?”
“Everyone’s busy with the fields, and the roof damage isn’t too severe. I also wanted to learn how to repair roofs myself, so I didn’t want to bother you, Uncle.”
“You kid, always making excuses.”
After a few pleasantries, they stopped chatting and directly started working with their tools.
With many people, all strong laborers, the work progressed quickly. What would have taken days was completed in just one morning.
After felling three half-meter-thick basswood trees, they also cut down five or six withered trees on the way back.
As the weather grew warmer, these dry trees were prone to catching fire. Removing them not only protected the forest’s safety but also provided firewood.
The six of them spent some time transporting the trees to an open space near Lai Yi’s house.
They elevated the logs and sawed them into planks using a large iron saw, leaving them to dry on the spot.
The remaining withered wood was cut into chunks and divided equally among the six people.
When Lai Yi tried to pay them for their work, Haggard immediately refused.
Lamb’s two friends also firmly declined, saying the withered wood was more than enough.
Lai Yi mentally noted their faces.
They worked a while longer to move the wood stumps back to their respective homes.
Haggard’s family had more people, so they finished quickly.
Lai Yi and Lamb helped Lamb’s friends move theirs before finally returning to Lai Yi’s house to rest.
Lamb sat ungracefully in an armchair, eating the wild berries Lai Yi had gathered that day.
Through their time together, Lai Yi had discovered that Lamb was a carefree, straightforward young man with little cunning.
“Brother, the wild berries you picked are delicious.”
“Then have more.”
“Alright, thanks!”
Lai Yi began organizing his gains from the forest. He tossed the herbs outside to dry and casually placed the dagger and wolf fang on the table.
Lamb’s eyes widened at the sight of the wolf fang.
“Brother! Brother! Did you hunt this wolf fang yourself?”
Lamb jumped up, his excitement almost alarming. Lai Yi suddenly felt like keeping his distance.
He finally understood—this kid definitely had some hyperactivity in him.
“No, I found it.”
“Brother, you’re lying to me!”
“……”
Lai Yi chose silence.
Lamb held the wolf fang, turning it over and over, as if wanting to kiss it. Lai Yi really wanted to tell him it hadn’t been washed.
Fortunately, Lamb hadn’t lost his mind to that extent.
“This must be from a seventh-tier beast, right?”
Lai Yi heard another new term.
“What can this be used for?”
“It has many uses! Forging weapons, brewing magic potions. Bounty hunters always pass through our area to hunt Magical Beasts in the Eaton Great Forest.”
“Brother, you never used to go out much. The last time bounty hunters came through was two years ago. It’s normal you wouldn’t know these things.”
Lamb had found a perfect excuse for Lai Yi.
“Is there anyone in the village who can turn these into weapons?”
Lamb frowned in thought, then seemed to recall something and spoke hesitantly.
“The ‘Mysterious Man’ might be able to make simple weapons. I remember Uncle Victor went to him before.”
“Who is the Mysterious Man?”
“Nobody knows his name. He lives in the house near the river, rarely goes out, and doesn’t communicate much with others. But everyone goes to him for metalwork.”
Lai Yi nodded to show he understood.
Lamb left before dinner. Lai Yi insisted on giving him six silver coins to split with his two friends.
A few days later, the planks had dried.
Haggard brought his eldest son Brian over directly to repair the roof.
There were many leftover planks. After consulting Lai Yi, Brian built him an oversized storage shelf, which Lai Yi placed in the first-floor storage room.
All along, Haggard had been wholeheartedly helping the Lai Yi and Neil brothers, treating them as his own children.
His assistance made Lai Yi feel a trace of home-like warmth in this unfamiliar world, allowing him to adapt more quickly to his current life.
After the roof was repaired, Neil reluctantly moved back to the second floor.
The rainy season here would last for over half a month, requiring them to prepare firewood for cooking in advance.
Whenever Lai Yi had free time, he would chop dried tree stumps into strips of wood.
After completing these preparations, Lai Yi finally had time to process the two wolf fangs.
He planned to find the “Mysterious Man” to have them crafted into two curved blades.
Author’s Note:
He arrived once again in the territory of the elves.
But the fruit wine brewed by the elves was simply too delicious—he drank two large barrels in one go and slept for three full days. After waking up, he drank three more barrels… He spent a month alternating between drinking and sleeping, exhausting all his gold coins.
Finally, he came to a human city.
In human cities, money was needed to obtain food. Golden Oak found himself penniless with nowhere to go.
Until he met a white-bearded man wearing a magician’s robe, who told Golden Oak that he could provide him with accommodation, food, unlimited quantities of various fine wines, and all the forging materials he needed.
But on the condition that Golden Oak forge three items for him. Golden Oak shamefully felt tempted…
Thus, for the next fifty years, he lived in the magician’s tower of Belsadon City.
Note:
Golden Oak: The inventor of the magic detector, the most renowned gnome forger in the human world, and the youngest senior forger in gnome history (also the laughingstock of the entire realm).
Mei Ling: The legendary master craftsman of the gnome world, SSS-grade, female, known as the “God of Forging.”
Fir Chirp: An Earth-bound struggling writer, -S grade magician, “Secret Technique—Abracadabra, Collection Boost Spell!”