Li Qiao lowered her head to look at the pile of birds on the ground, then glanced at the pot and firewood, doing her best to explain clearly.
“To process these birds, we need a large amount of boiling water to scald the feathers off. So we need water and firewood. There’s a river and a lotus pond nearby, so water isn’t a problem, but we don’t have enough firewood at home.”
To Li Mai, this was not an issue at all.
Was it not just that they lacked firewood?
The mountains were full of wood that could be burned, she could simply cut some and bring it back.
For the sake of food, Li Mai immediately picked up her knife, brimming with determination as she prepared to head up the mountain again and cut all the firewood they needed.
Just as she took a step forward, Li Qiao quickly called out to stop her.
“Eldest Sister, don’t rush, you haven’t eaten lunch yet.”
Hearing this, Li Mai touched her empty stomach and thought, delaying her meal for a short while should not matter, right?
Perhaps her thoughts were too obvious in her expression, because Li Qiao quickly added,
“It’ll only take a moment to eat, it’s very quick.”
Only then did Li Mai feel reassured. She stood to the side, watching the pot bubbling vigorously, and asked curiously,
“What are you making?”
“Lotus seed porridge. I went to the lotus pond earlier and saw that many lotus pods have grown. The lotus seeds are tender right now. With the rice and red dates you brought back, Eldest Sister, we can make a pot of sweet and soft lotus seed porridge.”
As she spoke, Li Qiao was surrounded by an aura of happiness.
The abundance of food here truly delighted her. Compared to the days at home when they ate wild vegetables every day, it was much better.
Hearing Li Qiao’s description, Li Mai unconsciously swallowed, her gaze fixed intensely on the porridge in the pot.
White lotus seeds, soft rice, and red dates were mixed together. The rich aroma of rice and the sweetness of red dates spread freely through the air, stirring the cravings within.
Li Mai was the most eager of all.
Watching the ingredients churn up and down in the pot, the clear water gradually thickened, and the porridge took on an enticing sheen.
Her burning gaze almost seemed to scorch Li Qiao’s hand as she stirred the porridge.
Unable to bear it, Li Qiao slowly raised her head and looked across, only to see a pair of glowing eyes. Her desire to continue simmering immediately stopped.
She quickly turned toward her second brother by the riverside, cupped her hands around her mouth, and shouted,
“Second Brother, come back and eat!”
Hearing her call, Li Shu quickly turned around. He saw Li Qiao’s anxious look, and Li Mai who looked ready to bury her head into the pot.
He glanced down at the wild boar that had not yet been fully processed, shook his head helplessly, and replied,
“Coming right away!”
After saying that, Li Shu quickly covered the boar meat with folded lotus leaves, washed his hands, and hurried back.
By the time he arrived, Li Mai was already on her first bowl, and the bowl Li Qiao handed him was the second.
“Thank you,” Li Shu said as he took it.
“Second Brother, hurry and try it. These lotus seeds were freshly picked this morning, taste it and see how it is.”
Li Qiao smiled brightly as she invited him to taste.
Before Li Shu could even take a sip and give his opinion, Li Mai, who had already taken her first mouthful, could not wait to share her thoughts.
“The lotus seeds are fresh and soft, the red dates are sweet, and everything is perfectly blended together by the rice. The taste is excellent.”
Although Li Mai had never eaten lotus seed porridge before, that did not stop her from applying the evaluation standards she had learned from recipe books to today’s dish.
It was the first time Li Qiao had heard someone praise her cooking in such a way. Her almond-shaped eyes sparkled like stars.
Then, as Li Mai quickly finished the lotus seeds in her bowl, Li Qiao immediately added another spoonful with a smile.
“Eldest Sister, eat more.”
Naturally, Li Mai did not refuse another bowl of sweet, soft porridge.
After lunch, the three of them quickly split up to attend to their respective tasks.
Hearing that Li Mai was going to cut firewood, Li Shu quickly handed her the family’s knife and explained,
“If this knife gets damaged, it won’t matter. Yours doesn’t look like it’s meant for this kind of use.”
Li Mai glanced at it and realized that she currently had no way to obtain other weapons. Her own knife was best used for hunting and self-defense, using it to cut wood would indeed be excessive.
So she accepted Li Shu’s suggestion, took the knife, and headed up the mountain.
Following Li Qiao’s advice, the first things she targeted were naturally the dry, fallen trees on the ground.
But this was a deep forest, and such opportunities were rare.
Li Mai practically searched the entire mountain, yet only managed to gather two large bundles of firewood.
Recalling Li Qiao’s expression when talking about the required amount of firewood, she realized what she had collected was far from enough.
She had no choice but to shift her attention to the towering trees that had stood in the forest for unknown years.
“Bang!”
To speed things up, Li Mai used her ability on her arms and swung the knife at a selected tree, producing a sharp impact.
The recoil made her palm go numb, and she looked at the tree in disbelief.
Li Mai refused to believe she could not conquer a motionless tree. She used her ability again, raised the knife high, and struck twice more.
“Crack, crack, crack…”
The tree, now mostly cut through, let out its final creak before falling.
With a light push from Li Mai, the nearly twenty-meter-tall tree toppled with a loud crash.
The sudden collapse destroyed the nests of birds at the top, sending them into panicked flight.
Scenes like this repeated countless times afterward.
The birds that had originally nested on this mountain came to a unanimous conclusion, never build nests here again, there is a monster.
For a long time afterward, Li Mai would no longer hear the crisp chirping of birds on this mountain.
But at this moment, Li Mai faced a troubling problem.
Cutting the trees had been exciting, but transporting them back was not easy.
In the end, she could only choose to carry two at a time, drag them up to the mountain peak, then release them.
With a smooth sliding sound, logs large enough to serve as house beams slid down to the foot of the mountain.
Li Qiao, who was scalding feathers off the birds, stared at the scene in disbelief.
If she remembered correctly, her eldest sister had gone to collect firewood. Why did it now look like she had gone to cut timber for building a house?
Li Shu, who had just finished processing the wild boar, stood frozen in shock as well.
He instinctively wanted to move closer, but the rapid descent of the logs stopped him.
Unconsciously, he began counting the logs in his mind.
“One, two, three… twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three!”
“Twenty-three!”
Li Shu repeated the final number involuntarily. Staring blankly, he rushed toward Li Mai as she came down the mountain.
When he saw that she was still dragging two bundles of firewood as large as small hills, the words he had intended to say stuck in his throat. When he finally spoke, they came out differently:
“Eldest Sister, aren’t these logs too big?”
“Big? Isn’t that good?”
Li Mai noticed that his expression was not one of joy and asked in confusion.
“They’re too big, they probably can’t be used as firewood right away.”
“What!”
Li Mai exclaimed in confusion. She had worked hard to cut this wood for cooking. If it could not be used, then she had wasted her ability.
She absolutely could not tolerate such waste.
Especially when she thought of the birds spoiling from not being processed in time, she dropped the two bundles of firewood and turned to head back up the mountain.
She was determined to gather enough usable firewood today.
Seeing the sky, Li Shu quickly called out to stop her.
“Eldest Sister, these two bundles are enough. They’ll definitely be enough to process the birds. As for the larger logs, we can use them to build a wooden shed.”
Hearing this, Li Mai turned to look at Li Shu.
With just one glance, Li Shu understood her question and explained,
“I’ve noticed that most of the wood in the mountains is fresh and needs to be dried before it can be used. There’s been a lot of rain recently, so we can build a shed to store the firewood and let it dry, and also prepare for winter.”
After the explanation, Li Mai finally understood.
As long as her effort had not been wasted, that was fine. At the same time, she realized how important firewood was for survival.
However, she knew nothing about building a shed, so she would have to leave it to Li Shu.
At this moment, she suddenly felt that Li Shu was somewhat useful.
He understood many things about this era and could be considered a decent teammate.
Only now did Li Mai truly regard Li Shu as one of her own. She pointed at the firewood on the ground and said,
“Alright. You take that, I’ll drag the logs.”
Without waiting for a response, she grabbed a log in each hand and dragged the twenty-meter-long trunks toward the cave.
This sight made Li Shu feel deeply inferior. He pulled hard at the firewood in his hands, but could barely move it.
In the end, he gave up the idea of carrying it himself.
He ran back to the cave, brought out the idle donkey cart, loaded the firewood onto it, and easily drove the cart back.
Along the way, Li Mai cast frequent curious glances at him, but Li Shu had learned to pretend not to notice.
Only the redness at his ears revealed the turmoil and embarrassment in his heart.
After all the wood had been moved near the cave entrance, Li Mai glanced at Li Qiao, who was still surrounded by the smell of raw meat, then remembered the important matter of the shed and asked Li Shu,
“Can we build the wooden shed now?”
“Yes.”
Li Shu answered quickly, though inwardly he lacked confidence.
He was only ten years old, how could he possibly know how to build a proper shed?
He could only rely on his memory of kitchen structures to construct a simple shelter for storing wood.
But Li Mai did not know this. Looking at the nearly twenty-meter-long logs, she gripped the axe, ready to begin.
“How do we do it?”
Hearing this, Li Shu thought for a moment before replying,
“The shed doesn’t need such large logs. We only need the top sections, about one zhang long. We need four main pillars, six purlins, three long beams, and smaller pieces of wood to support the thatch.”