“Crack!”
The moment Li Mai took the bowl, she immediately pinched a piece of meat and stuffed it into her mouth. Before she even exerted any force, the slice shattered between her lips and teeth.
The rich aroma of meat and the mellow fragrance of fat burst open in her mouth at once, awakening the most primal desire.
The hot oil hidden within the meat exploded as well, scalding her so much that she could only keep inhaling sharply, using her tongue to toss the fried meat around inside her mouth.
“Hiss, hiss…”
The constant sounds of her inhaling made Li Qiao worried, and she could not help but advise,
“Eldest Sister, be careful, it’s hot. The whole bowl is yours, you can let it cool a bit before eating.”
But Li Mai naturally filtered out such words.
After finishing the crispy, fragrant piece in her mouth, she immediately stuffed in another, her cheeks puffed up like a squirrel storing food, paired with her youthful face. At that moment, she finally looked like a fifteen-year-old girl.
Seeing this, a sense of warmth spread through Li Qiao’s heart.
She thought that their eldest sister was only five years older than them and still young. She did not need to act like an adult all the time just for the sake of her younger siblings.
It had to be said that Li Qiao’s imagination was quite vivid.
But for Li Mai, whose desire for food bordered on obsession, it was simply a beautiful misunderstanding.
Even though she had just eaten not long ago, Li Mai, under the incredulous gazes of the other two, finished two large portions of jar-cooked pork.
In the end, she even licked her lips, patted her slightly bulging stomach, and said with some distress,
“My stomach is still too small.”
The two of them were afraid she might overeat and harm herself. Seeing that the meat in the pot was nearly done frying, they quickly scooped it out and stored it in jars.
Back and forth, they managed to solve about half of the wild boar meat’s preservation.
That night, Li Mai fell asleep to the aroma of fried pork, and her dreams were especially pleasant.
The next morning, Li Qiao woke up early, and her first destination was the jar placed in the corner of the cave the night before.
With anticipation, she lifted the lid. What greeted her was a layer of white lard completely covering the meat inside. She could not help but exclaim in delight,
“It really works!”
Hearing her voice, Li Mai immediately recalled the delicious taste from the previous night.
She quickly rushed over, snatched the jar from Li Qiao’s hands, and saw only a white surface. The aroma had already faded somewhat compared to last night.
But that did not stop her appetite. She picked up her chopsticks, dug out a piece, and stuffed it into her mouth.
The lard melted in the warmth of her mouth, turning into a slick layer of oil that slid down her throat without needing to be chewed.
Li Mai smacked her lips in confusion and said,
“Not tasty.”
Li Qiao had no time to stop this shocking act, only reacting when Li Mai voiced her dissatisfaction.
She quickly covered the jar and explained,
“That’s lard. It’s only for cooking, it doesn’t taste good on its own.”
Hearing this, a trace of awkwardness flashed across Li Mai’s otherwise expressionless face. She quickly set the jar down and changed the subject.
“Later, make a dish stir-fried with lard.”
“No problem.”
Seeing the jar safely back in place, Li Qiao finally let out a sigh of relief and agreed.
Afterward, once Li Mai ate wild vegetables stir-fried with lard, she immediately understood how delicious lard was.
She felt that in the future, she absolutely needed to hunt more wild boars, because every part of them was incredibly tasty.
Still savoring the flavor of the stir-fried vegetables, she had already walked to the area where they had been working the previous day.
Li Mai felt there was no need to waste time on such tasks when she could be hunting. She directly snapped a chipped blade in half.
“Clang!”
Hearing the crisp sound, Li Mai looked at her “new” weapon with satisfaction, the Tang blade.
Then, under Li Shu’s astonished gaze, she quickly began chiseling the necessary holes into the wood.
Her speed was so fast that Li Shu could only see wood chips flying past his eyes.
By the time he came back to his senses, all four pillars already had their holes carved. It looked as though once connected with the prepared purlins and beams, a simple wooden shed could be completed.
“Like this, right?”
Li Mai held a pillar with one hand and a purlin with the other, preparing to connect them.
Li Shu trembled slightly in shock and quickly replied,
“That’s right. Insert the purlins into the holes, then connect the beams, and that forms the frame.”
Soon, with the two working together, the basic structure of the shed lay on the ground.
After nearly two days of work, they finally had results. Both of them stared intently at the wooden frame.
Time passed slowly until a gust of wind blew, snapping Li Shu out of his daze. He quickly explained,
“Next, dig four holes according to the distance between the pillars, place the posts in them so they stand firmly. Then add thinner wooden slats between the purlins and beams to reduce the spacing, making it easier to lay thatch on top. After that, the shed is done.”
This sounded much simpler than drilling holes. Li Mai immediately picked up a hoe and started digging.
With her experience digging kudzu roots, she quickly finished all four holes.
Then the two of them each carried a pillar, trying to align them with the holes.
Seeing this, Li Qiao hurried over to help. As an observer, she could guide them more accurately.
She watched as her Eldest Sister and Second Brother slowly moved the pillars, standing on tiptoe and stretching her neck while giving instructions,
“A little to the left, too much, now a bit to the right, ah…”
Just as Li Mai was about to lose patience, she finally heard,
“Okay, that’s right! I’ll count to three, then both of you let go together. Three, two, one, release!”
“Boom!”
The four pillars dropped into the holes at once, and even the ground shook slightly.
Standing at the center, Li Shu felt dizzy. When he looked down, even the grass beneath his feet seemed to spin.
As Li Qiao carried the hoe to fill in the holes, she noticed something was wrong and shouted,
“Second Brother! What’s wrong?”
The sudden shout brought Li Shu back to his senses. He shook his head and said,
“I’m fine. Is the frame okay?”
“It’s perfect, all four pillars are in the correct position.”
As she spoke, Li Qiao continued filling the holes.
Then, looking at the filled pits, she suggested,
“Second Brother, try letting go and see if the pillars are stable.”
Li Shu had the same thought and nodded.
But before letting go, he glanced over, intending to remind Li Mai.
To his surprise, she had already released her grip. The two pillars stood upright, as if nothing chaotic had happened before.
With that, Li Shu no longer hesitated and let go as well.
With three pillars stable, the last one naturally posed no problem.
In the end, what stood before them was a wooden frame with a slanted roof.
For the first time, having built the outline of a structure, the three of them felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction and stood there quietly for a long time.
Afterward, Li Shu climbed onto the frame, adding wooden slats and covering the roof with bark as a temporary substitute for tiles, providing a shelter for firewood.
Meanwhile, Li Mai used leftover wood to craft several storage racks based on her memory.
Though she was not particularly particular about such things, when conditions allowed, she was willing to improve their living space.
She also applied the mortise-and-tenon technique she had just learned, securing the boards firmly without additional materials.
This method of building without extra tools greatly intrigued her.
Once finished, she carried the racks into the cave and neatly arranged the food that had previously been scattered on the ground.
When Li Qiao came to call them for lunch, this was the scene she saw.
No one who handled household tasks could resist such neatness.
She immediately hurried over and said excitedly,
“Eldest Sister, you can make shelves! Now everything has a place. I was worried about insects getting into the food before, but now that it’s off the ground, that problem is much smaller.”
As she spoke, she could not help but run her hands over the wood.
The rough texture felt reassuring, and the smile on her face never faded.
Seeing her work appreciated, Li Mai was also in a good mood.
After enjoying lunch, she set out again with Li Shu. They would hunt, gather thatch for the roof, and collect firewood.
It could be said that their task this time was quite heavy.
For that reason, Li Shu even brought the donkey cart, hoping to bring back more in one trip.
Accompanied by the creaking of the cart wheels, the two of them followed their previous path up the mountain.
But after only a few steps, Li Mai noticed that Li Shu had stopped.
Turning back in confusion, she saw him cutting wild grass by the roadside with complete focus.
Perhaps her gaze was too intense, because Li Shu immediately stopped and explained,
“These can be used as thatch for the roof. I wanted to cut some when I saw them.”
Hearing this, Li Mai glanced at the grass beside her. The serrated edges of the leaves could easily cut skin.
She had no interest in such inedible and tedious tasks.
Without hesitation, she left Li Shu behind and continued forward.
Along the way, whenever she saw dry branches, she picked them up. Occasionally, she also cut fresh wood about the thickness of her calf.
By now, Li Mai had learned how to judge suitable firewood sizes, and her harvest was plentiful.
But just as she targeted another tree, she suddenly heard an unusual sound from the grass.
“Hiss, hiss!”
Li Mai immediately put down her knife and picked up her bow.
Using sound to locate her target, she released the arrow the moment she confirmed its position.
“Whoosh, thud!”
The sound of an arrow piercing flesh was familiar. Though she did not yet know what kind of prey it was, she had already begun imagining its taste.
Just as she was about to move forward to retrieve her prey, she suddenly heard a similar sound again.