Chapter 35 Ginger Milk Pudding and Shrimp Trays - On the Market! On the Market! On the Market! ...
Upon hearing his call, Wen Lie immediately straightened the basket in his hand.
He looked up, his dark eyes gazing upwards.
"Yu Yan, what's wrong?"
Yu Yan flapped her wings and landed on the ground, lifting the brim of her hat and glancing into the pit.
Inside were the skeletons of wild animals, fragments of fur, and other unwanted items.
Because of the strong smell of blood, which might attract ferocious wild animals, it has always been disposed of by landfill.
He looked at Wen Lie and said, "The fur of the sheep beast can be used."
Wen Lie put down the basket and explained, "The sheep I exchanged for was too badly injured. Its body was covered with holes pierced by sharp horns. Even if we cut off the hide, there was no way to treat it, so we had to throw it away."
Yu Yan: "That's why I was talking about animal fur. Haven't you noticed that their fur is shorter and softer than that of other animals? And it doesn't have many other colors. After cleaning and processing it, you can use it to spin thread and weave cloth."
The sheep in the animal kingdom were large, but their wool was similar in appearance to that of modern sheep. Wool performed exceptionally well in textile production.
The advantages of linen and burlap are their high toughness, durability, and coolness to wear. The disadvantages are that they are not soft and close-fitting enough and their water absorption is not good enough.
Yu Yan was originally worried about this matter, wanting to find cotton and weave some cotton cloth.
Now that we have wool, the problem is solved.
Wen Lie nodded after hearing Yu Yan's words and said, "I see. But I don't know how to weave. Even if I spin it into thread, I'll have to ask someone else to weave it. How about this," he handed the basket to Yu Yan, his eyes showing seriousness, "you need it, I'll give it all to you."
Yu Yan: "That won't do. We've only hunted a few dozen sheep. Once we've used up this batch of fur, we don't even know where the next batch will come from."
Like Lanxiu, Wenlie's father, Yafu, is no longer in the beast world, and he has no partner, living alone in the tribe.
He was a bit older than Lan Xiu, and his beast form was a red falcon with a pair of light brownish-red wings and cool, beautiful misty blue hair.
Coupled with his sharp and piercing face, he's even more eye-catching than the most fashionable person.
Yu Yan knew that he had a hard life, having to trade his cloth and clothes with the people in the tribe. She advised him, "Keep it. I'll take you to process the animal hair into yarn. Even if you don't use it to weave cloth, you can still get more things by trading the yarn."
Anything is better than throwing it away.
Touched, Wen Lie said softly, "Thank you, Yu Yan."
“No need,” Yu Yan smiled. “I happen to be free tomorrow afternoon. Could you please tell the others in the tribe that anyone who wants to learn how to process animal fur is welcome to come.”
Wen Lie nodded: "Okay, I will definitely pass on the message."
"I'm off now, goodbye~"
"goodbye."
Yu Yan was thinking about his little plot of land, so she carried her basket and went to the field to take another look.
Not far from the same riverbank, a newly cultivated field has appeared, the turned soil not yet fully dry.
"Who opened this place? Are they going to farm with me too?" Yu Yan was quite happy about this.
If everyone in the tribe farms and stores food, they will be more resilient to harsh winters and natural disasters.
He turned away and strolled over to his field.
The beet and sweet potato tubers were buried a little deeper, and I couldn't tell if they had sprouted.
However, about one-third of the cucumber seeds have sprouted.
The tiny sprouts have just broken through the soil, their tender white leaves tinged with a hint of new green, full of vitality, a sight that fills one with joy.
The weeds in the field are growing faster than the seedlings; some are already half a finger long.
Yu Yan couldn't let them steal the seedlings' nutrients, so she bent down and plucked them from front to back.
After pulling the weeds, he flew back home.
Feng Gui and Lan Xiu have both returned; one is boiling water, and the other is chopping wood.
Beside the tree where the sheep was tethered, a tall haystack had been piled up.
"Father, Lanxiu!" Yu Yan called out loudly.
Feng Gui: "You're back?"
Lan Xiu: "Where did you go?"
Yu Yan turned around and showed them the empty basket on her back.
"I planted the honeysuckle and then went to the field to weed again. Father, you didn't go to cut hay for the sheep beast this afternoon, did you?"
Feng Gui nodded and smiled, "I'm just idling around anyway."
Yu Yan gave a thumbs up and asked Lan Xiu, "Didn't you go to catch up on your sleep? How come you still chopped so much firewood?"
Lan Xiu smiled and said, "Just doing it."
Feng Gui: "Everyone's back, so shall I prepare dinner? I'll roast some lamb meat, stew some flatfish, stir-fry some shredded stems, and make a soup with catnip, okay?"
Yu Yan was quite satisfied: "Great, this is a real feast. Father, you keep cooking, I'll get something else to eat."
Lan Xiu: "Do you need my help?"
"No need, no need, it's very easy, you just wait to eat."
Yu Yan rummaged through the thatched shed, and just as she gathered everything together, someone from her family arrived.
"Yu Yan, we've brought you some white root vegetables and leafy greens!" Tan Nian's clear and pleasant voice rang out.
He looked up and saw Tan Nian sitting on the back of Shu Yu, who had turned into a big white rabbit, with more than a dozen baskets around him filled with white radishes and bright green mustard greens!
Accompanying them were Cang Feng, Xin Yu, and several enormous pythons!
These giant pythons have bodies that are tens or even hundreds of meters long, heads as big as cars, and large, round, bulging eyes, all with terrifying vertical pupils.
The giant python slithered forward, making a "swish" sound, and moved very fast.
And because they are so large, at first glance, the forest seems to be crowded.
The snake tail that Yu Yan saw in the morning was not in the same league as these pythons.
He swallowed hard, a chill running down his spine.
Lan Xiu walked over at some point and stood a step in front of him, his strong body blocking him.
"This place is too small, so you should all transform into human form," Lan Xiu said calmly.
Shuyu and the others readily agreed, "Okay."
The giant rabbit shed its back and transformed into human form; several giant pythons also transformed into handsome men with deep-set features and a commanding presence.
Yu Yan felt relieved and gave Lan Xiu a grateful look.
Cangfeng led Xinyu forward and introduced them to Yuyan: "Chief Shuyu has come to deliver white root and leafy greens to you as agreed. That is Chief Fansu, from the Shenhu tribe to the west of our tribe. He has brought his people to exchange supplies with us."
"They heard you were home and wanted to come over and say hello."
A tall, aloof, handsome man with black hair and green eyes stepped forward, looked at Yu Yan, and said softly, "Yu Yan, hello."
Yu Yan adopted the attitude of a guest and said with a smile, "Chief Fan Su, welcome to our tribe. Please have a seat."
Fan Su nodded: "Okay."
He and several of his clansmen remained silent, their gazes following Yu Yan's figure with intense intensity.
Lan Xiu came over and poured water for them in earthenware bowls. Fan Su and the others thanked him.
On the other side, Yu Yan came to Shu Yu and Tan Nian and looked at the contents of the basket.
The freshly dug white radishes and mustard roots, still covered in soil, both exuded a fresh fragrance.
Yu Yan said with delight, "You brought so many? Thank you so much!"
Seeing that he liked it, Shuyu and Tannian were also very happy.
“When we get back, we’ll get the people in the tribe to find these two vegetables. You can eat these for now, and if you need more, we can go back to our tribe to dig them up.”
"Our tribe has plenty!"
Yu Yan hurriedly said, "That's enough, that's enough. Come on, sit down and have some water."
Shuyu and Tannian exchanged a smile and followed Yu Yan into the thatched hut.
Everyone sat together and talked for a while.
Yu Yan noticed that the orcs of the Deep Lake Tribe had cold appearances and cold personalities. They spoke sparingly and had little expression.
If it weren't for their friendly attitude and sincere eyes, he would have thought they had a problem with him.
This is probably the world of aloof, cool men, Yu Yan thought.
It was getting late, so the people from Qingqing Tribe and Shenhu Tribe didn't stay any longer.
After finishing their water, they got up to say goodbye.
Shuyu said happily, "Yuyan, let's go back first. I'll select someone to come over in a couple of days to learn papermaking from you."
Tan Nian winked cutely at Yu Yan: "See you then!"
Yu Yan smiled and said, "Okay, see you then."
Fan Su and the others only brought supplies for exchanging things on this trip. Upon hearing this, they all looked at Shu Yu with envy.
Shuyu suddenly felt her face glow and straightened her back.
He transformed into a giant rabbit over three meters tall, carried Tan Nian on his back, and turned to run towards the Qingqing tribe.
After running out of the woods, Tan Nian burst into laughter: "Shuyu, did you see the looks in the eyes of Chief Fansu and the others?"
Shuyu smiled and said, "I saw it."
Tan Nian: "The people in their tribe are cold and aloof, and they are also very good at hunting. They never interacted with us before, let alone envied us! Oh my, I never expected that we would get ahead of them this time and acquire the papermaking technology!"
"Hahaha, it feels so good just thinking about it! I almost burst out laughing!"
"When we get back and tell the people in the tribe, they'll all laugh their heads off!"
Shuyu said gently, "Our beast forms are not as strong as theirs, but our gathering skills are no less than theirs."
Tan Nian: "Hmm! Think with me, what other good things does our tribe have that the peninsula tribes don't? I want Yu Yan to teach me how to dye cloth and make clothes..."
...
After seeing the people from the Deep Lake Tribe off, Yu Yan chatted with Cangfeng and Xinyu about internal tribal matters.
From the couple, he learned that the newly cleared land on the riverbank belonged to the tribe.
"We'd like to learn how to grow sweet potatoes, cucumbers, garlic, and other things like that. Could you teach us?"
"Of course, no problem. But it's a bit late today, how about tomorrow?"
"No rush, no rush. I'll be learning how to process animal fur with you tomorrow afternoon, right?"
"Yes."
"How about we meet at the altar square tomorrow? There's plenty of space there."
Yu Yan was a little surprised: "So many people want to learn? Sure, I'm all set."
Hearing that white root vegetables and leafy greens were delicious, Cangfeng asked Yuyan to exchange two more baskets for them.
After they left, silence returned to the area under the ginkgo tree.
Yu Yan hurried towards the thatched hut, muttering, "Where's the ginger I just found...? It's here!"
Lan Xiu: "I've finished chopping the firewood, let me help you."
"Okay, then help me move the white root and leafy greens to the other side of the shed."
Yu Yan rinsed the shell knife with water, peeled the washed ginger, and chopped it into small pieces.
Take out a wooden pestle and grind the ginger in the earthenware bowl to extract the ginger juice. Then divide the ginger juice into three equal parts.
I've never processed ginger like this before when cooking, and Feng Gui looked over with great curiosity.
After preparing the ginger juice, Yu Yan brought over the goat milk, poured it into the earthenware pot, added a few pieces of honey, and finally started a low fire to simmer it slowly.
As the sun sets and a gentle breeze blows, weary birds flap their wings and return to their nests.
Yu Yan was in a good mood, humming a tune they had never heard before, and stirring the goat milk in the pot.
With his other hand, he would occasionally reach out to check the temperature of the pot.
When he felt it was about time, he immediately used animal hide as a pad and carried the pot and milk away.
Seeing that Feng Gui was cooking, he said, "Lan Xiu, could you stir the sauce in this bowl for me? It's settled at the bottom."
"They're here."
Lan Xiu quickly stirred the mixture with chopsticks, and Yu Yan, holding the pot, poured the hot goat milk into the ginger juice in one go.
After pouring out all three bowls, he put down the pot, found a lid, and covered the bowls.
Lan Xiu asked, "Is this all you need?"
"Yes, just wait a moment, and you can eat."
Three to five minutes isn't a long time, but Yu Yan was so hungry that she was getting impatient waiting.
His eyes lit up when he lifted the lid and saw that the milk in the bowl had solidified.
He took out the small clay spoon he had used last time, rinsed it clean, and placed the back of the spoon on the ladle, but the spoon did not fall.
"It's ready!!" The ginger milk curd is done!
Yu Yan picked up a bowl and ran towards Feng Gui.
“Father, please have a taste.”
Feng Gui took the vegetables out of the pot and was about to cook the next batch.
"You guys eat first, I haven't finished cooking yet."
"I'll cook it later, you try it first, it's best while it's hot!"
At Yu Yan's urging, Feng Gui smiled faintly and accepted the bowl.
Yu Yan returned to the hearth and divided the remaining two bowls between herself and Lan Xiu, one bowl each.
He couldn't wait to scoop up a spoonful of ginger milk curd and put it in his mouth.
Mmm, it's smooth and has a rich flavor!
He bought it in his past life for convenience, but he hadn't made this kind of thing for many years and hadn't quite mastered the amount.
Compared to ginger, less honey was added, so the first sensation on the tongue is spiciness.
Fortunately, it wasn't pungent, and the goat milk he used was very rich. Once you got used to it, you could taste the milky and sweet flavor.
Several ingredients collide and intertwine to create a unique flavor, and the texture is absolutely amazing, so tender it feels like sliding down your tongue.
"Delicious, delicious! It would be even better with more honey." Yu Yan ate half a bowl in one go.
They looked up at Feng Gui and Lan Xiu, their expressions differing.
The former was quite receptive, nodding repeatedly as she ate, saying, "The food you made has a very special texture, a rich milky flavor, and the addition of hand shank roots warmed my stomach right after I finished eating it."
The latter must have found it strange, but was too embarrassed to say so, and kept raising his eyebrows as he ate.
Yu Yan laughed and said, "Lan Xiu, if you really don't like it, then forget it."
Lan Xiu: "It's okay, I can eat it. I just didn't expect that Hand Root could be made with Beast Milk."
As Yu Yan ate her delicious food, she smiled and thought, "There are still many things you haven't thought of."
Once I find more ingredients and seasonings, the dishes I make will be even more amazing to you.
There was still a lot of animal milk left, so Yu Yan ground ginger juice again and made three bowls of sweet ginger milk curd.
Both Feng Gui and he felt that this time it tasted much better than before.
Lan Xiu still couldn't get used to the taste, and slowly said, "It's alright..."
It's too painful to force yourself to eat something you don't like. Yu Yan took his bowl and handed him a bowl of goat milk with only honey in it.
"Okay, you can drink this."
"But I still have a lot left in my bowl..." Animal milk is rare, it would be a waste to throw it away.
To everyone's surprise, Yu Yan said, "I'll drink it."
Lan Xiu stared at him, slightly taken aback, her ears slowly turning red.
Yu Yan belatedly realized that the atmosphere between the two of them was a bit strange and was starting to feel awkward.
Oh dear, he didn't think that much about it!
Normally, when we eat at the same table, we would "eat each other's leftovers," right? It's nothing now.
Yu Yan quickly cheered herself up and said with a smile, "Hurry up and drink."
Lan Xiu lowered his eyes, hummed in agreement, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.
The three of them finished all the goat milk and then had a delicious and satisfying dinner.
After dinner, before it got completely dark, Yu Yan asked Feng Gui for a bundle of rattan, sat down, pulled out one, and measured its length.
Feng Gui asked him, "Are you making something?"
"Yes, I want to make a shrimp trap."
"Shrimp traps...what do they look like? Let me see if I can make one."
Yu Yan described Feng Gui to her based on her memory.
Lan Xiu was also curious about this, so he squatted down and listened.
After the base of the shrimp trap is made, the vines need to be woven upwards, and a trap opening needs to be made at the top.
The trap opening is shaped like a small funnel and is embedded in the cage from the opposite direction.
Feng Gui truly lived up to his reputation as a "weaving master." As soon as the trap entrance was completed, he exclaimed in realization, "I know! This is embedded inside, right? Once the fish and shrimp go in, they won't be able to get out."
Yu Yan praised, "Yes, yes! Father, you're so clever!"
Feng Gui lowered his head and smiled, his handsome face unusually gentle.
It didn't take long for the two shrimp traps to be woven. Yu Yan reached out and tugged at them; they were very sturdy.
The rattan they initially brought wasn't enough, so Lanxiu went out and cut some more.
Yu Yan glanced at the sky, found the leftover animal entrails, scraps of meat, and bones from tonight's meal, threw them into the shrimp trap as bait, and said, "Lan Xiu, come with me to the beach, let's set the shrimp trap."
Lan Xiu stood up: "Let's go."
Feng Gui reminded him, "It's getting dark, and it's dangerous outside. Go early and come back early."
The two replied in unison, "Understood."
The shrimp traps were too big to carry easily, so Yu Yan put them all on the back of the big white tiger and flew in the sky herself.
He led Lanxiu straight to the shallow sea.
"Lanxiu, come over here~"
At the seaside, the sound of waves crashing echoes, and the calls of seabirds are faint and melodious.
The crescent moon rose, casting a shimmering, clear light on the sea.
Yu Yan didn't light a torch. Based on her experience, she found two places with calm waters suitable for placing shrimp traps. She arranged the shrimp traps and slowly lowered them into the water.
He tied a straw rope to the shrimp trap and then tied the other end of the rope to the rocks on the shore, so that he wouldn't have to worry about the shrimp trap being swept away by the waves.
Having done all that, he clapped his hands and said, "That's enough. Let's go back. I'll come back to set up the shrimp traps tomorrow morning."
Lanxiu said, "I'll take care of it. I've memorized the location. You can sleep a little longer."
Yu Yan turned her head to look at him: "Then you're sleeping less?"
Lan Xiu: "..."
It was quite amusing to tease him, Yu Yan said with a smile that made her eyes crinkle: "Thank you, Lan Xiu, for giving me the chance to sleep. Well then, I won't stand on ceremony with you~"
Lan Xiu had no choice but to smile, a hint of amusement appearing in his icy blue eyes, and he hummed in agreement.
The next morning, as soon as Yu Yan flew down from the bird's nest, she indeed smelled a fishy odor from seafood.
Following the scent, I saw two shrimp traps placed side by side on the ground. Inside were water plants, dead branches, and a number of things jumping around.
Lanxiu has already brought the shrimp back in the cage!
Yu Yan was particularly excited about the shrimp trap's catch. He jogged over, shook the trap, and peered inside carefully.
Wow! So much stock!
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