Chapter 4 The thank-you gift is just too huge!
Yu Yan was amused by him: "Hmm?"
Shuoxing straightened her back: "Since we're going to eat fish, we can just cook it until the fish is soft and mushy in the soup, right?"
Yu Yan didn't dampen his enthusiasm: "What you said makes sense. However, if you use a spatula to scoop up the fried fish, the fish meat will easily fall into the soup."
Shuoxing: "Ah..."
Yu Yan looked down into the stone stove.
"It'll be almost done when all the firewood has burned out. A little more or less time won't make a big difference."
"When it's almost done cooking, add some wild vegetables according to your preference, then taste it to check the saltiness. It's very simple."
"By the way, if you don't want to eat fish bones, you can use a straw ladle to filter the fish soup."
Looking at the milky white fish soup in the earthenware pot and smelling its irresistible aroma, Shuoxing immediately said, "Wasn't the fish meat filtered out too? No, no, I want to eat the meat."
His greedy look made Yu Yan and the other two adults burst into laughter.
The handsome young boy blushed deeply and turned away angrily.
In my line of sight, a man with a lazy demeanor, somewhere between a teenager and a young adult, strolled slowly by not far away.
He was tall and upright, with pale skin beneath his straw skirt, short hair mostly black with a little white, and sharp, defined bone structure.
Shuoxing exclaimed, "Huh?" "Lanxiu lives so close to you guys?"
Yu Yan and the others looked up, and Lan Xiu, as if sensing something, also looked over.
Thanks to the Toya orc's excellent eyesight, Yu Yan could see his face clearly even from twenty meters away.
His first reaction was that Lan Xiu was too handsome.
In his past life, he was attracted to the same sex. However, due to his busy work schedule, he wasn't interested in dating and remained single.
Now, facing Lan Xiu's incomparably superior and wildly handsome face, it was hard for him not to feel admiration.
My second reaction was, "Wow, this kid actually has double eyelids!"
With such thick eyebrows and such beautiful double eyelids, if he opened his eyes wider, they would definitely be bright and piercing.
But he looked like he hadn't woken up yet, with half of his pale eyelids drooping.
Only when his gaze swept downwards, across the pottery cauldron, did he become a little more alert.
Yu Yan raised her hand and greeted him with a smile, "Lan Xiu, good morning, have you eaten yet?"
Lan Xiu opened his lips, his voice magnetic and pleasant: "Good morning, I haven't eaten yet."
In her past life, Yu Yan would definitely have invited him to eat with her. But beastmen have huge appetites, and he and his adoptive father didn't have much for breakfast, so he couldn't bring himself to ask.
So Yu Yan smiled and said, "Then you should go back and prepare breakfast."
Lan Xiu lowered his eyes and glanced at the pottery cauldron, then hummed in agreement. "I need to go check out the cave first."
Yu Yan: "Oh, okay."
Xin Yu looked up and asked Lan Xiu, "How are you doing here?"
Lan Xiu: "It's alright."
Feng Gui also reminded him, "The mountain just collapsed, be careful when you go over there."
Lan Xiu: "Understood."
After saying that, he turned his back and transformed into a large white tiger about eight meters tall!
The distance was so close that Yu Yan was instantly stunned.
He knew that the adult beastmen were enormous in their beast forms, and that he had seen a giant bird with a wingspan of over fifteen meters fly overhead just yesterday.
But it still couldn't compare to the shock that Lan Xiu's beast form brought him at this moment.
This is enormous! It's taller than a two-story building! Its four legs are as thick as Roman columns! Its paw pads are so wide they could be used as a bed!
His head was round and his ears were big and round, and they looked thick.
It also has a thick tail with black and white stripes, hanging down lazily, the tip of which sways unconsciously from side to side...
Yu Yan's heart pounded; she found it hard to control her innate fear of giant species.
But at the same time, his hands were incredibly itchy, and he wanted to know what it would feel like to rub those thick ears and that thick tail...
As if sensing something, Lan Xiu turned his round tiger head and glanced at him with his deep, bright tiger eyes.
Yu Yan gripped the wooden shovel tightly, not daring to move.
Lan Xiu twitched his ears, quickly turned his head, and ran against the wind, his powerful limbs pounding as he ran through the forest.
That agile and powerful figure disappeared from Yu Yan's sight in no time.
Yu Yan looked on with reluctance.
It was Feng Gui's voice from behind that drew his attention: "Yu Yan, is the fish soup almost ready?"
"Ah, let me see." Yu Yan turned around, dipped some in with the spatula, and tasted it.
"All done!" he announced with a smile.
Xin Yu stared intently at the pot, saying, "It's done already? That's fast and convenient."
Shuoxing swallowed hard, his eyes filled with longing.
Just like last night, Yu Yan made a large pot of fish soup.
He took two clean ceramic bowls from the side, ladled a bowl for both Shuoxing and Xinyu, and said warmly, "You should try some too."
Xin Yu felt embarrassed and waved her hand to decline, but Shuo Xing quickly took the bowl from her.
He said happily, "Thank you, Yu Yan! I knew we were best friends!"
Xin Yu smiled awkwardly, took the bowl, and thanked him.
The two had just taken a sip when Shuoxing excitedly exclaimed, "Father! It's so delicious! This fish soup is not only fragrant, but it also has a subtle sweetness!"
Xin Yu's eyes were full of amazement as she nodded, "Yes, so this is how sweet the fish is after removing the fishy smell. Yu Yan, you are such a good cook."
Yu Yan smiled and said, "I'm glad you like it. Did you learn it now?"
Xin Yu: "I've learned it, thank you for teaching me."
His heartfelt thanks made Yu Yan genuinely happy: "You're welcome."
Soon, Xin Yu and Shuo Xing finished all the soup in their bowls. Shuo Xing licked his lips and urged Xin Yu, "Father, let's go home and make fish soup. Father is getting impatient and has to go hunting after he's eaten."
Xin Yu laughed and exposed him: "You glutton, is it your father who's anxious, or you?"
Shuoxing chuckled but didn't answer.
"Wait for me a little longer." Xin Yu gently patted Shuoxing's head.
Then, he looked at Yu Yan, flipped his hand, and a bundle of old ginger tied with dry grass appeared in his palm.
Yu Yan was not surprised by this.
In the beast world, everyone has a small personal space.
An adult subhuman's living space is about one cubic meter, while an orc's is larger, around ten cubic meters.
There is no air circulation in the space, and nothing else, so it cannot grow or hold living things; it can only be used for storage.
Everyone puts their most important things in their space.
For example, Feng Gui filled the space with items such as straw skirts, animal oil, and polished bone needles.
The beastmen would also store the animal skin skirts they wanted to wear in their space, so that when they transformed from beast form to human form, they could simply put the clothes on.
Clearly, Xin Yu had also stored this bundle of ginger in his spatial storage.
He handed the ginger to Yu Yan and said sincerely, "This bundle of ginger roots is for you."
Yu Yan was taken aback and looked at Feng Gui for a question.
Feng Gui declined, saying, "Xin Yu, no need. Everyone's roots were collected last autumn and winter, and you probably don't have much left. Keep them for yourselves."
Xin Yu insisted on stuffing the bundle of ginger into Yu Yan's hands.
“Cangfeng was worried that my son and I would catch a cold and get sick, so he dug up a lot of them last year. He gave them to you, but I still have quite a few at home.”
He deliberately scolded Cangfeng a few times, saying, "I was saying that a few leaves of the root of the hand-leaf plant are enough to boil a pot of water, and he dug up so many, he must have been really bored. Now look, he's the one saying to me, 'Look, the root of the hand-leaf plant is so useful, you regret not digging up more, don't you?'"
Everyone laughed good-naturedly.
Xin Yu then said seriously, "In any case, please accept it, otherwise I will feel bad about it."
Feng Gui sighed and gestured for Yu Yan to take the things.
“Ever since his father had that accident, the tribe has been taking good care of the two of us…” He said, his voice tinged with guilt.
Xin Yu, who was older than him, smiled and comforted him, "Since we're from the same tribe, it's only right that we help each other. Now that we have a good way to cook fish, everyone will have one more dish to eat."
Shuoxing chimed in, "Yeah, yeah! My favorite food right now is fish! Yu Yan, do you want to go fishing with me during the day?"
When asked about this, Yu Yan said, "I'm not going. I want to go out and gather resources in the wild with the people from the tribe."
Upon hearing this, Feng Gui looked at Yu Yan in surprise.
Shuoxing scratched his head: "Okay, I forgot you're different from before. Be careful when you go out, and stay close to my father and the others."
Yu Yan found it both amusing and touching to be told these things by this young boy.
"Okay."
Yu Yan collected so much ginger and diligently told Xin Yu that ginger could also be used to remove the fishy smell of meat and to enhance the flavor of wild vegetables.
Xin Yu's eyes lit up, and he thanked Yu Yan repeatedly.
It was getting late, and he had to go back to prepare breakfast. He said goodbye to Yu Yan and Feng Gui.
In front of several people, Shuoxing transformed into beast form.
Like his father, Cangfeng, he was a dark gray peregrine falcon, standing about three meters tall.
"Father, come up quickly." He opened and closed his beak, urging Xin Yu.
Xin Yu nimbly climbed onto his back and sat down, patting his furry back: "Okay, let's go."
Shuoxing raised its head, let out a joyful cry, spread its wings, and flew into the sky.
Yu Yan watched his nearly ten-meter-long gray wings flapping back and forth, feeling extremely envious.
When will I be able to master flying skills?
After Shuoxing carried Xinyu away, Yu Yan returned with the wind and said, "Father, have some soup too. I'll steam the stems, fry a fish, and stir-fry some leftover wild vegetables from yesterday. It'll be ready soon."
Feng Gui laughed and said, "I'll steam it, you go fry the fish. Put the hand root in your space first."
"Okay!"
Working together, the two quickly prepared breakfast.
During the meal, Feng Gui asked him, "Are you really going to come with us to collect resources?"
Yu Yan smiled and said, "Yes, I've fully recovered."
Feng Gui immediately showed a touched expression, and his eyes reddened slightly.
"Then why don't you go with Xin Yu's group? We bird-type sub-beastmen have to fly to more distant places to collect things, it's too hard."
Yu Yan was worried about not being able to fly, so she immediately nodded: "Okay."
Feng Gui couldn't help but remind him, "After you go out, just observe and learn more, and especially remember not to fall behind. Gather as much as you can; I will gather enough food for both of us."
Yu Yan carefully wrote it down: "Mmm."
After a moment of silence, Feng Gui said, "How about I go with you?"
Yu Yan chuckled: "...Really, no need, Father, don't worry!"
That being said, Yu Yan was inevitably nervous about going out to gather resources for the first time, and she was afraid of holding back the people in the tribe.
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