Chapter 62 The Beast's Resilient Cares for the Wounded and Makes Hot Pot Broth
On the first morning after her injury, Tata woke up exceptionally early.
The main reason was that Blake's pain-relieving magic only lasted for a few hours, and Tata was awakened by the swelling and soreness in her hind legs.
He was very sleepy, but the waves of pain made it difficult for him to fall asleep again. He could only keep his eyes open and stare helplessly at the ceiling.
It was cold inside; you could vaguely see white vapor in the air with each breath. The sky outside was just beginning to lighten, and the faint light shone through the glass, casting blurry shadows of the furniture in the living room.
Due to water vapor and the temperature difference between indoors and outdoors, beautiful patterns of paper flowers have formed on the windows. Under the sunlight, they shimmer and sparkle.
Tata propped her head up with her forelegs against the basket beneath her, holding a corner of the blanket in her mouth, revealing her injured right leg.
The splint on his leg was as ugly as yesterday. He licked the bruises above the splint that weren't covered. For the first time in his life, without the pubic hair, the strange touch gave him goosebumps.
“tuitui!”
Because he had applied medicine to Blake's wound the night before, Tata had a bitter taste in his mouth. He gave up licking his wound, covered himself with a blanket, and lay back down.
That person said they would take the beast back to its parents, and even if they couldn't go, they would raise the beast until they were capable enough to go back. Could that person be lying to the beast?
In the Great Forest of Eton, there are delicious horned bulls, colorful butterflies, four wolf brothers who cry out for their father every day, and a vain elf uncle...
Ah! I accidentally broke the crown that Uncle Elf lent me and hid it. I wonder if he has found out.
Glug~ Glug glug~
Tata, who only ate a little snack that Jack gave her last night, felt unusually hungry.
He tried to recall the various things that had happened recently, shifting his attention away from the hunger and pain.
With a creak, the door to the first-floor bedroom opened.
Ray saw the little guy turn his head to look at him.
"woke up?"
Guh~
Are you hungry?
Tata moved her little head.
"Just bear with it a little longer."
Lai carried Tata, along with its rooster, to a spot far from the fireplace.
He spread a canvas on the ground, wrapped a cloth around his face, and reached a long-handled tool to the bottom of the fireplace. Then, he raked the ashes out of the fireplace from the inside out, letting them fall onto the canvas on the ground to catch the ashes.
After cleaning up the ashes, Lai gathered them into a bundle by the four corners of the canvas. He carried the whole bag of wood ash outside and dumped it in the vegetable garden in the backyard.
Wood ash is an excellent natural fertilizer that can increase soil nutrients and make the land more fertile.
After cleaning the fireplace, Ray piled new firewood on top in a specific way, leaving ventilation holes, stuffed a handful of flammable dry grass inside, and lit it with a flint.
The initial lighting of the wood took a while; it required quite some time for it to burn completely. Ray waited by the fire until it began to consume the surrounding wood before leaving the fireplace.
He went outside and fetched a piece of frozen Gulu meat weighing about four pounds. After the fire was lit, he put it directly into the pot to stew. Half of it was for Tata to have for breakfast, and the other half was sliced, seasoned, and steamed for breakfast.
Ray hadn't baked bread for several days, and he planned to bake some more bread that would keep longer.
The temperature is low now, and given the ingredients used in that bread, it should be fine to keep it for three or four days.
As dawn broke, the temperature inside the house began to rise steadily as the flames consumed the wood. Lei put Tata back in its original place.
"Since there's no fresh meat, I'll cook some for you now. You don't have to worry about parasites with cooked meat, so you can eat as much as you like."
Despite what Lei said, Tata's little brain only took in the words "I'll cook you some meat to eat," and she kept nodding.
"By the way, do you need to go to the outhouse?"
outhouse?
Tata tilted her head and looked at Lei.
"It means excretion, urination, and passing water."
Ray said several words in a row, and Tata finally understood what he meant.
Yes, yes.
Tata nodded.
Lei frowned and thought for a moment, then wrapped Tata's right leg with a bath towel, tied it with a rope, and carried him outside.
After hesitating for a long time, Lai still held Tata in the same way he would a child, letting him take care of his physiological needs.
Tata tilted her head back and stared at him with wide eyes.
"Can't poop?"
You're making the animal really embarrassed!
After waiting for a long time without Tata expelling anything, Lei realized that he might have gone too far.
"I'm putting you on the ground. Make sure you stand firmly on your three legs and don't pee on yourself."
Ray hugged Tata's small chest and laid him on the ground with his limbs down. He carefully let go, and Tata's little body swayed slightly, but finally managed to stand steadily on his three legs and his right hind leg, which only provided a little support.
"Amazing! Amazing! It managed to stand firmly on only three legs."
Lei's timely encouragement instantly ignited Tata's confidence.
It's relatively simple now, but figuring out how to avoid peeing on yourself is still a problem.
Tata turned to look at Lai, but Lai didn't understand his subtle expression.
The animal is about to poop, what are you still doing standing there!
Lai stood there for a while and realized the little guy hadn't made a move yet, then he realized there was a problem.
"Do you need me to leave?"
Tata nodded her little head.
"Ah, really..."
Lei turned around and walked a little further away.
This monster is really intelligent, just like a young child. No, even more intelligent than a child!
They can understand what people say, have a sense of shame, and are reasonable.
Lei recalled the various details of his time with the little guy.
We really can't treat him just as a pet; he's more like a member of the family.
"Aww!"
Tata called out, and Lei turned around and picked up the little guy.
I don't know how this lame little guy managed to cover all his excrement with snow, and not a single speck of it got on his body.
Back inside, Ray put him back by the fireplace to warm up. After washing his hands, he started preparing breakfast. Neil had to go to school today, so he needed to finish early.
The paper-cut window decorations had long since melted into streaks of icy water as the indoor temperature rose. These water pooled together and eventually flowed down to the windowsill, dripping onto the floor and forming a small puddle.
This needs to be wiped off as soon as possible, otherwise it will seep into the floor and cause mold.
After finishing breakfast, feeding the little guy the potion, and seeing Neil off, Lai watered the vegetables growing inside the house and then had some free time after completing various chores.
I had planned to make hot pot broth, but it was put on hold for a while due to various reasons. If I kept putting it off, the butter would just spoil, so Lai was determined to finish it today!
"Stay home and behave yourself. I'm going out for a bit, I'll be back in a few hours after I've finished shopping."
Tata squinted and shook her little head up and down dramatically, indicating that she would be very good and would never run away again.
After closing all the windows and locking the door, Ray set off again with the mule.
Today he mainly bought various seasonings and small jars for storing finished products.
The seasonings were alright; although prices had gone up, they weren't as outrageously expensive as leafy green vegetables. After buying enough, Lai went straight to buy jars.
Lai wasn't sure how much base sauce the small jar could make. Gritting his teeth and haggling relentlessly, he bought forty jars for three silver coins. He even shamelessly asked the shopkeeper to throw in two larger ones before finally leaving the shop satisfied.
It wasn't time to go to Mu's butcher shop yet, so Lai wasn't planning on going for the time being. They had everything they needed at home, and there wasn't much to see at the market.
Upon stumbling upon a fabric shop, Lai thought for a moment and went in to retrieve a small piece of red cloth.
With nothing else to buy, Lai packed everything up and headed home.
After returning home, he first boiled a pot of water and put all the small jars in the pot to sterilize them.
Perhaps due to thermal expansion and contraction, five small jars exploded after being put into the pot. After Lai realized the problem, no more jars exploded.
Making hot pot broth naturally requires various side dishes such as scallions, ginger, garlic, cilantro, and chili peppers.
Ginger, garlic, chili peppers, and scallions are easy to find; Lai has stockpiled a lot. But scallions and cilantro will have to rely on Lai's magic to get them.
Although vegetables grown by magic don't taste as good as those grown by absorbing nutrients on their own, it's better to have something than nothing, right?
Next comes the laborious process of simmering the broth. If you don't keep a close eye on the pot, you risk wasting the entire pot of broth.
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