There were more fish than I expected; my basket was almost full. There was definitely not enough room for all of them, but luckily the campsite wasn't far, so I planned to make another trip.

After I put everything down, I went back to the lake and retrieved all the fish in my basket.

I don't have much food left, so I'll smoke and dry all these fish. I estimate it will yield about eight or nine pounds of dried fish.

The fish is still peeled open from the back using the reed stems, making it easier to put on the grill and greatly shortening the grilling time.

While I was cleaning the fish, that freeloader monkey, as if it had figured out some kind of pattern, came to wander around me again.

I handed a fish with its back cut open to the monkey and demonstrated how I gutted it. I figured the monkey might imitate me, and then I'd have another helper.

The monkey did take the fish that was handed to it, but it was a little puzzled as to why I would give it a raw fish.

Seeing me take out the fish's internal organs and throw them away, it actually copied me and took out the fish's internal organs as well.

However, this guy didn't throw away the fish's innards; instead, he tried putting them in his mouth.

But soon the monkey vomited up those foul-smelling entrails. Judging from its bitter expression, it must have bitten through the gallbladder inside. It quickly drank several mouthfuls of water to rinse its mouth.

I laughed and said to the monkey, "That thing doesn't taste good. Help me remove its internal organs, and I'll treat you to a big meal tonight."

The monkey seemed to understand, looking at me with a puzzled expression. This thing doesn't taste as good as it did yesterday. Why is this person wasting time preparing this?

However, the monkey only ran around nearby for a while before returning to my side. This time, it brought me a few wild fruits again. Perhaps it felt that I hadn't gathered anything good today, so it went to find some wild fruits to give me.

I accepted the clever monkey's kindness, smiled, patted its head, and continued with what I was doing.

The monkey didn't understand why I was so insistent on preparing those unpalatable things, but it didn't leave. Instead, it sat by my side like an old friend, watching me process the fish.

It probably got bored sitting there for too long, so it started joining in and helping me clean the fish's internal organs.

The monkey was very quick. Knowing that the internal organs inside were something it didn't need or wanted, it took them out and decisively threw them into the water, letting them drift away with the current.

I smiled as I looked at this well-behaved monkey, and I grew to like it more and more.

We quickly finished processing the remaining fish. I left a large bag of fish entrails, wrapped it in banana leaves, and hung it on a tree branch downwind.

I can still make use of these things; maybe I can get a good harvest tomorrow.

I skewered the fish one by one with dry branches, just like the skewers at a barbecue stall, making more than thirty skewers in total.

Once I got to the campfire, I stuck the fish around the fire and left them to dry slowly in the smoke.

Next up is the python meat that I prepared this morning and kept in water to keep it fresh. For today's main meal, I plan to have a pot of nutritious and delicious snake meat stew with turtle eggs.

I took out the snake meat. After a day of being washed by the water, the snake meat had long since been cleaned of the foul-smelling blood. At this moment, the snake meat was as white and clean as chicken.

Stewing snake meat directly isn't strictly necessary, but it will significantly affect the taste and texture. The best method is to stir-fry it in hot oil until golden brown, triggering the Maillard reaction.

Then add the prepared boiling water and stew with the snake meat. This will make the soup milky white and delicate, and the snake meat will be soft but not mushy, with a more chewy texture.

However, my current conditions are limited; I don't have a metal pot that can heat up quickly or cooking oil, which makes my idea of ​​copper smelting even more intense.

Even so, I decided not to waste this ingredient and planned to make a low-budget version of stewed snake.

I first skewered the snake with a stick, then roasted it by the fire. Next, I filled my two bamboo pots with water and put in a lot of turtle eggs.

The turtle eggs were small, and they all cooked through as the water boiled. I picked out the turtle eggs one by one from the bamboo pot and peeled off all the outer shells.

Then the peeled eggs were put back into the bamboo pot, which was used as the base for hot pot.

I placed the two bamboo pots at a suitable distance from the fire, keeping the water inside at a gentle simmer with slight bubbles.

Next comes the roasting of the snake meat. After roasting for a while, the surface of the snake meat emits an enticing aroma.

I tore off a little bit from the top and tried it in my mouth; it was pretty good. But if I want to stew it, it needs to be dried out a bit more.

When the monkey saw me eating snake meat, it stared at me with such a pleading look, its innocent expression capable of outshining any cute kitten or puppy.

I smiled helplessly and shook my head, then tore off a piece of snake meat and handed it to it.

Monkeys are naturally curious animals, wanting to try everything. It probably never dreamed it would have the chance to taste the flesh of its natural enemy.

It imitated me, pretending to blow on the snake meat before swallowing it all.

The moment the snake meat entered its mouth, the monkey's big, bright eyes widened. I knew it was attracted by the delicious taste.

Despite its somewhat frightening appearance, snake meat is quite delicious. The ancient saying, "Dragon meat in the sky, donkey meat on the ground," wasn't given lightly.

I patted the monkey's head and laughed, "Don't worry, the best is yet to come."

After roasting for a while, my snake meat has become somewhat dry, but not as dry and hard as wild boar meat; it's about 60% dry.

At this point, I put the bamboo pot back into the fire, and the turtle egg soup quickly boiled again.

The snake meat was already cooked, and I easily separated it into countless small pieces with my hands. I then put the dried snake meat back into the bamboo pot and stewed it with the turtle eggs.

The Maillard reaction in food requires a temperature of at least 300 degrees Celsius to occur, while water boils at a temperature of at most 100 degrees Celsius, which is far below the conditions for the Maillard reaction.

That's why I roast the snake meat over a fire before stewing it; this brings out the delicious flavor of the snake meat.

Add to that the equally delicious turtle eggs, and the combination of the two flavors must create a wonderful experience.

After stewing for another ten minutes or so, a rich and fragrant aroma wafted towards us.