Chapter 2: The ginger no longer smelled fishy at all!

The group's surprised gazes swept back and forth between Yu Yan and Tao Fu, almost making Yu Yan uncomfortable.

He slowly suppressed his smile, curled his fingers, and looked at Feng Gui, the only person he knew well.

"...What's wrong?"

Feng Gui then came to his senses and introduced them to Yu Yan: "Yu Yan, this is our clan leader Cang Feng, and this is the orc Lan Xiu from the tribe."

"It rained a while ago, and a lot of water accumulated on the mountain, which just caused a landslide. Lanxiu's cave was buried, but thankfully he is alright."

“There’s an empty bird’s nest over there,” Feng Gui pointed in a direction. “The clan chief said that Lan Xiu should stay there for the time being.”

"So that's how it is," Yu Yan nodded to Cang Feng and Lan Xiu.

Cang Feng is definitely older than Feng Gui. He already has the appearance of a mature man, with a tall and strong build, deep bone structure, and a particularly handsome appearance.

The man beside him, Lan Xiu, was about the same height as him, with broad shoulders and long legs, but he looked much younger, probably not long after he came of age.

Yu Yan realized that in the beast world, there were no people who were not good-looking.

Lan Xiu was an incredibly handsome man, with sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes. His high, straight nose cast a faint shadow on his cheek, and his lips had a beautiful curve, just the right thickness, with a slight hint of a smile.

Because she herself was white-haired, Yu Yan wasn't surprised to see Lan Xiu's hair with more black than white highlights; on the contrary, she thought it was quite cool.

Like Lanxiu, Cangfeng wore a short animal skin skirt, revealing his strong arms and legs, exuding a wild and beautiful aura.

If they wore this outfit on a modern runway, they would definitely stun a huge crowd.

After exchanging greetings, Cangfeng eagerly walked towards the stone stove, pointed to the still steaming earthenware pot, and asked:

"Yu Yan, what's in here?"

Feng Gui and Lan Xiu also looked over curiously.

Yu Yan was taken aback and said, "Fish soup."

He glanced at Feng Gui, scratched his face sheepishly, and said, "I saw you hadn't come back yet, so I said I'd cook the food first, and you could eat it when you got back."

"Besides fish soup, I also pan-fried fish, stir-fried wild vegetables, and steamed stems."

Feng Gui was immediately moved: "My little one is so capable."

Yu Yan's ears turned red again when she was called "baby" in front of two other grown men.

Lanxiu asked, "But why does the fish soup taste like this?"

Yu Yan was stunned. Fish soup... what other flavor could it have?

Being close to the stove, the rich aroma kept wafting into their noses, making their stomachs ache with hunger.

Cang Feng's eyes were intense as he asked Yu Yan, "May I open the lid and take a look?"

Yu Yan was worried that the soup would get cold, so she covered the earthenware pot with a clean wooden board.

After he nodded, Cang Feng, completely unfazed by the heat, simply lifted the wooden board.

Instantly, a cloud of milky white steam rushed toward his face. He took a deep sniff and involuntarily swallowed hard.

As the heat dissipated, everyone naturally looked into the earthenware pot.

A pot full of milky white fish soup is gently bubbling. Scattered green wild vegetable pieces float on top of the soup.

Yu Yan picked up a wooden spatula from the side and stirred the pot a couple of times along the edge.

Two sea fish that had sunk to the bottom floated to the surface.

Although there was only a little light from the stove fire nearby, everyone had good night vision and could see the tender white fish meat falling off the fish and into the soup, making the soup even richer.

Cangfeng swallowed hard and said in surprise, "It really is a fish commonly found by the sea!"

Feng Guiye nodded: "It's true that I brought back the fish."

Cangfeng: "But isn't sea fish supposed to taste very, very fishy? We've tried making soup with it, but the fishy smell got even stronger after cooking, and it was inedible. When we have to eat fish, we always grill it."

Seeing that Feng Gui's surprise was no less than his, it was probably not a new way of eating that he had discovered.

So, it really was Yu Yan who did it?

How did he do that?!

Cangfeng was very excited. Although there were many fish in the sea, they were all very fishy. If they could cook the fish well, the tribe would have more food!

He looked at Yu Yan, wanting to ask, but also feeling that such a good method might be his secret, so he was caught in a dilemma.

Yu Yan finally understood that they were praising her fish soup for being delicious and fragrant.

It's just a pot of fish soup, but such a big fuss made him almost laugh.

At the same time, there is also a sense of joy in having one's own labor recognized.

Their peninsula tribe lives in a territory where half of the land borders the sea, so the wind is quite strong and it gets a bit cool in the mornings and evenings.

He had been waiting for so long in a drafty straw skirt and was getting a bit cold. Putting others' feelings into consideration, he said, "Let me serve everyone a few bowls of fish soup to warm them up."

We can't let them praise us for nothing all this time, haha.

Cangfeng and Lanxiu were surprised that Yu Yan was going to treat them to soup! They both looked at him in surprise.

Yu Yan asked Xia Fenggui for his opinion: "Uncle, Uncle, is this alright?"

Feng Gui smiled and said, "Of course! Let me get a few bowls. We've been busy for so long, and no one has eaten anything."

Soon, Feng Gui brought over the washed ceramic bowl.

These earthenware bowls do not appear to have been fired in the same batch; they are different sizes and colors, and one of them even has a chip.

Since there was no wooden spoon, Yu Yan thought of using the chipped earthenware bowl to scoop soup from the pot.

Feng Gui pushed him aside: "It's hot, let me do it."

He served everyone a bowl of soup, and they all smiled and said thank you.

Several people stood around the stone stove, and Feng Gui held his bowl and blew on the milky white fish soup.

Knowing that this soup was made by his own son, he was very happy and almost reluctant to drink it.

Even if it doesn't taste that good, he still has to praise Yu Yan.

Having made up his mind, he took a bite.

The wonderful taste that spread across his tongue made his eyes widen in surprise!

Beast God, this tastes so good!

Is it definitely made from the seafood he brought back?

The soup was salted, and the saltiness was just right, bringing out the flavor of the fish.

He savored it carefully, confirming that it was only the freshness of the fish, with a very faint fishy smell that could be completely ignored!

"Glug," Feng Gui swallowed the soup in his mouth, blew on it quickly, and then drank the soup one sip after another, completely forgetting to talk.

Like him, Cangfeng and Lanxiu's eyes lit up after taking a sip, and they held their bowls, drinking intently.

The soup was very hot, and for a moment, the only sound all around was the slurping of soup as people drank it.

Yu Yan had already tasted the soup when it was being made, so she drank it in the most "elegant" way.

Seeing everyone's infatuated expressions, he couldn't help but smile.

Soon, the soup in the bowl was gone. Cangfeng tilted his head back and poured the last bit of soup and the small pieces of fish into his mouth.

As for Lan Xiu, Yu Yan always felt that he seemed to want to lick the bowl clean...

"It's so delicious! Really, I've never had such good fish soup before!" Cangfeng exclaimed. "I never knew fish could be made so delicious!"

Feng Gui was also curious and asked, "Yu Yan, how did you do it? Why doesn't the fish smell fishy at all?"

Cang Feng was taken aback, not expecting Feng Gui to ask such a question, and looked at Yu Yan with great anticipation.

Even Lan Xiu waited earnestly for Yu Yan's answer.

Yu Yan: "I used something to remove the fishy smell. It's this."

He walked a few steps toward the stone stove, where there was a wooden stool used as a stove.

At this moment, besides the shell knife, there was also a cut stem on the stool.

Only after Yu Yan reminded them did everyone smell the aroma of the stem.

Feng Gui blurted out: "Hand root?"

Yu Yan muttered, "You guys call this 'hand root'..."

He always calls him "Jiang".

The species in the beast world are much larger than those in modern times. The ginkgo tree where he and Feng Gui live is conservatively estimated to be forty meters tall, and it's not even the tallest in the entire forest.

This piece of wild ginger is quite large, with several branches, and its shape does indeed resemble a human finger.

Perhaps due to prolonged storage, the surface color has turned dark brown and is wrinkled.

He broke off a piece, checked the cut surface to make sure it was okay, and then used it to cook.

“I used this,” Yu Yan said, looking at Feng Gui. “It was in the same basket as the edible stems, so it shouldn’t be poisonous, right?”

Feng Gui: "No, we don't eat the roots of our hands. We only boil them in water to ward off the cold when it's cold or when we've been caught in the rain."

Cangfeng echoed, "Yes, the taste of the root of the hand is particularly awful. I've hated it since I was a child. If it weren't for its ability to ward off the cold, I would never have picked it for home."

Yu Yan nodded. Ginger does indeed have a warming effect; did the people of the beast world use it as medicine?

Lan Xiu: "Now that you mention it, the soup does indeed have a bit of a 'hand root' flavor."

Cangfeng asked earnestly, "If I cook the roots of my hand and the sea fish together, will that remove the fishy smell?"

Yu Yan: "It's fine to cook them together, but I cut the ginger and ginseng root into thin strips, rubbed them on the fish, and marinated it for a while. When it was time to make the soup, I picked out all the ginseng root strips because I don't like the taste of them."

Cangfeng: "So that's how it is! I never imagined that the root of the hand could be used in this way!"

He then asked Yu Yan how many shreds she had cut and how long she had marinated them, and Yu Yan answered him one by one.

Cangfeng thanked him solemnly, glanced at the completely darkened sky, and said apologetically:

"It's so late, you guys should eat quickly. I'll take Lanxiu to see where he's staying, and then I'll go back."

Feng Gui hummed in agreement. "Xin Yu and the others must be getting impatient."

After watching Cangfeng and Lanxiu leave, Yu Yan quickly called to Feng Gui, "Father, let me get you some water. Wash your hands, and then we'll have dinner."

Feng Gui laughed and said, "Alright. But let me light a torch first, it's too dark."

After they both washed their hands, Yu Yan placed the prepared food on the chopping block.

The pot for the fish soup was quite large, so he placed it directly on the ground.

The torches, already lit, were also stuck in the ground not far away, their warm light illuminating the surroundings.

The two sat on a stone by the stool, eating their dinner, which was still warm.

"You fried this fish very well. Not only the skin, but the bones are also crispy and you can chew and swallow them. Most importantly, there is no fishy smell."

Feng Gui swallowed the fish in his mouth and asked Yu Yan, "But how did you know that the roots of the hand could remove the fishy smell?"