“Over one zhang long?”
Li Mai could not help but voice a question from the depths of her soul.
Li Shu stiffened slightly. Holding the knife, he quickly walked to the pile of timber, aimed at a section about one zhang from the back end, and chopped out a notch, explaining,
“The back section is about one zhang in length.”
Hearing this, Li Mai estimated it visually, roughly a bit over three meters.
She then nodded, indicating she understood.
To speed things up, Li Mai directly swung the knife in her hand and, following what Li Shu had just described, cut the required pieces of wood.
“Crack, crack, crack!”
In an instant, all the necessary wood was cut. With a kick, the pieces rolled aside.
“What next?” Li Mai asked impatiently.
“Uh… the two front main pillars should be slightly taller, and the rear pillars slightly shorter. Drill holes at the same height on each. The front pillars also need an additional notch at the top to insert the purlins and beams.”
Li Shu tried his best to describe the structure of the shed from memory.
At this moment, a rough structure began to form in Li Mai’s mind. She subconsciously sketched it out on the ground.
After drawing a simple structural diagram of the wooden shed, she looked at Li Shu, who was still stroking his chin in thought, and called out,
“Come take a look, is it like this?”
The sudden voice snapped Li Shu out of his thoughts. He hurried over, frowned, and stared at the drawing on the ground in astonishment.
“You… how did you draw this?”
If he had not seen it with his own eyes, Li Shu would never have believed that such a drawing, one that looked almost identical to the real object, could exist.
Looking at the diagram, it was as if a finished wooden shed stood before him. Just by looking at it, he could already imagine the construction process.
“With my hand. If it looks like this, I’ll start working.”
Li Mai glanced at him, tossed aside the stick in her hand, dusted her hands, and walked toward the wood she had just cut.
“I’ll help too!”
Li Shu quickly followed.
Having a plan was one thing, but the actual construction was the most troublesome part.
Li Mai soon realized that they did not have any proper tools. They could only rely on axes and machetes.
Cutting and shaping the wood was manageable, but drilling holes into the timber proved exhausting. Both of them ended up drenched in sweat.
Even so, after working for most of the day, until Li Qiao had already started preparing dinner and dusk had fallen, they still made little progress.
Li Mai understood that drilling the holes was essential. There were no tools to fasten wood together, so the wood itself had to serve as the connecting structure, otherwise the shed would never be completed.
However, with food at hand, she decided eating came first.
“We’ll continue tomorrow, let’s eat first.”
With that, Li Mai left Li Shu behind and quickly headed toward Li Qiao.
Hearing footsteps, Li Qiao did not even need to look up to know who it was. She smiled and said,
“This pot of clear bird soup is almost ready. Being able to drink it is all thanks to you, Eldest Sister, you must drink more.”
Li Mai was very satisfied with this and stood beside the pot without moving.
Watching the milky white broth rolling and bubbling, she could not take her eyes off it.
But she soon noticed something was off and asked,
“What about the other birds?”
“I’ve salted them all. After salting, they can be preserved longer. I used the salt and jars you brought back, Eldest Sister. Honestly, your memory is great for remembering we needed jars, otherwise I wouldn’t even know what to use to preserve the food.”
Li Qiao glanced toward the cave, where the jars of salted birds were stored. However, as she spoke further, her tone carried a hint of regret.
“It’s just that we don’t have many containers. I don’t know what we’ll do if we need to preserve more food later.”
“How do we make them?” Li Mai asked calmly.
If Li Qiao had not known she was responding, she might not have noticed the question at all.
But compared to the wooden shed, making wooden basins, buckets, or pottery was far more difficult, not something just anyone could do.
“I don’t know either. Father used to make all those things at home.”
“Which things?”
“Like the basket I carry, the bamboo baskets Second Brother uses, and the wooden basin for washing. As for jars, that’s a family craft from other households, Father doesn’t know how.”
Hearing this, Li Mai frowned slightly. She had not expected there to be so many missing necessities, and all of them were things they could not make for now.
As she was thinking, Li Qiao continued,
“Also, the wild boar is too big. We don’t have a proper container to store it. It’s hot now, so making salted pork isn’t ideal. If we keep it too long, it might spoil.”
“Then we’ll make jar-cooked pork and air-dried meat.”
Li Mai immediately proposed two solutions. These were preservation methods she had seen in recipe books.
Not only could they extend the storage time, but they also gave the meat a unique flavor.
“What is jar-cooked pork?”
Li Qiao could guess what air-dried meat meant, but jar-cooked pork left her completely puzzled.
“It means cutting the meat into palm-sized chunks, frying them in a pot until they release oil, then putting both the meat and the oil into a jar. As long as the oil covers the meat, it can be preserved for a long time.”
Li Mai tried to recall the method and summarized it in a few simple sentences.
But Li Qiao listened with great interest, finding the method very practical.
Their family had always used lard, which could be stored for a long time. Using it to preserve meat should not be a problem.
Thinking of this, Li Qiao became excited and wished she could try this new method immediately.
“Grrr…”
A rumble of hunger interrupted her thoughts.
Seeing the two gathered around the pot, she quickly said,
“Let’s eat first, let’s eat first!”
As usual, the first bowl belonged to Li Mai.
During this time, Li Mai’s mouth had become like steel. Freshly cooked soup, barely cooled, was already being poured into her mouth.
The rich, savory flavor spread through her body along with the milky broth. The tender bird meat melted at the slightest bite, easily separating from the bone.
Before she could even taste it properly, the meat had already slid down her throat.
She could only speed up her eating, trying to let the food linger in her mouth just a little longer.
In the end, she looked at the empty bowl, then at the empty pot.
Li Mai licked her lips and praised,
“Delicious, make more next time.”
Li Qiao was startled by this and looked worriedly at Li Mai, who was sweating profusely yet still expressionless.
“Eldest Sister, eating too much isn’t good for your body.”
“I’m not the same as you.”
Li Mai, still immersed in the joy of good food, pursed her lips and restrained herself from showing dissatisfaction toward Li Qiao.
Li Qiao wanted to say more, but seeing the reassuring look from her second brother, she remained silent.
Glancing at the dimming sky, she suggested,
“Let’s make the jar-cooked pork inside the cave.”
Hearing that they were about to make the dish she had proposed, Li Mai immediately became interested and helped carry two large baskets of wild boar meat into the cave.
As soon as she stepped inside, the warmth from earlier was replaced by a chill, making her shiver.
She shook herself and continued walking in.
The moment she entered, Li Mai was stunned by the interior.
Compared to when she had left, the cave looked completely different.
The stones, weeds, and bat droppings on the ground had all been cleaned. Even the walls looked smoother.
In the corners, grain, salt, and jars were neatly arranged. A fire pit had been dug out.
The place where she had slept the previous night had been partitioned with wooden poles and cloth, giving it privacy and a sense of home.
Just as she set things down, Li Shu’s excited voice rang out.
“The cave is cooler than outside, it might be a good place to store food.”
“But if we live here, it feels too damp.”
Li Qiao brushed aside the damp hair stuck to her face and spoke her thoughts.
“This is only temporary. Once the wood Eldest Sister cut dries, we’ll build a house.”
Li Shu had already made plans for the next step.
“Why does it have to be dry? Didn’t we just build a shed with fresh wood today?”
Li Mai immediately voiced her confusion.
“The shed is simple, fresh wood is fine. But for a house we live in, dry wood is better. Like in the village, people always prepare wood in advance before building.”
More importantly, for now, the cave could serve as a substitute for a house.
But it was the rainy season, and without a shed to store firewood, continuous rain would put them in serious trouble.
Hearing Li Shu’s reasoning, Li Mai chose to trust him. She casually swept the ground with her foot, sat down, and watched the process of making jar-cooked pork.
Feeling the intense gaze on her, Li Qiao signaled to her second brother to tend the fire and began working.
She cut the already portioned wild boar meat into smaller chunks, roughly the size of the jar opening.
Seeing the flames burning steadily and the pot heating up, she quickly placed the meat into the pot.
“Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!”
The moisture on the surface of the meat met the scorching pot and immediately evaporated with a sharp sound.
At the same time, Li Qiao used a spatula to turn the meat, preventing it from burning.
As time passed, a rich aroma of fat gradually filled the air, and the surface of the meat turned golden brown.
Watching this, Li Mai almost wanted to stick her head into the pot to taste it.
“Be careful!”
Li Qiao quickly warned as she saw Li Mai getting too close.
Startled, Li Mai had no choice but to lean back slightly and look over.
For some reason, Li Qiao felt as if she saw a hint of pleading in Li Mai’s usually cold gaze. Her resolve softened, and she found herself asking,
“Eldest Sister, do you want to taste it?”
“Yes!”
Li Mai’s usually cold face suddenly burst with an excited response, startling the other two.
For a moment, both of them forgot what they were doing.
Only when Li Qiao noticed the dissatisfaction in Li Mai’s eyes did she snap back. The warmth from the fire seemed to vanish as she hurriedly scooped out the largest piece of meat, cut it open, and checked that it was fully cooked.
Relieved, she sliced it into smaller pieces and returned them to the oil, explaining,
“Fry it again so it cooks through, it’ll taste even better.”
Hearing this, Li Mai nodded in satisfaction, her eyes fixed on the pieces of meat floating in the oil.
Her gaze felt hotter than the flames themselves, making Li Qiao feel as though her hands might melt.
Once both sides of the meat turned golden and gave off a crisp texture when touched by the spatula, Li Qiao quickly took them out, placed them in a bowl, and handed it to Li Mai.
“Eldest Sister, taste it.”
Seeing Li Mai take the bowl and shift her attention from the pot to the meat, Li Qiao finally let out a sigh of relief.