Chapter 43 Laying the Foundation: If You Don't Feel Pain, Then I Don't Feel Pain Either
Feng Gui and Lan Xiu stopped what they were doing, walked over, and helped Yu Yan serve the dishes and set out the bowls and chopsticks.
On the stone slab that served as the tabletop, there were brightly colored shrimp and cucumber salad with a lime aroma; there was salted pork that was stir-fried in hot oil until it was translucent and the edges were slightly curled; and there were fragrant bird eggs that were golden in color and garnished with green pepper slices.
Yu Yan wiped the sweat from her forehead, sat down with her legs apart, and handed the chopsticks to Feng Gui and Lan Xiu.
"Try what I made and see how it is."
Everyone has a very sensitive nose and could smell the chili peppers in the dish long ago.
After cooking, it became less pungent and had a strange aroma.
Even after smelling it for a while, their noses still felt itchy, and it was as if a voice in their minds was reminding them to stay away from this ingredient.
Regardless of what Feng Gui and Lan Xiu thought, Yu Yan took the chopsticks, picked up a shrimp, and stuffed it into her mouth.
Mmm, fresh, live shrimp that have been cooked and then peeled are just different – crisp, bouncy, and incredibly fresh.
Moreover, these shrimp were huge, and the shrimp meat was curled up from being scalded. They were more than half the length of my palm, enough to fill his mouth. It was so satisfying.
The vegetables had been left to air dry for half a day and were now cold; the flavor of the sauce had seeped into the shrimp.
The aroma of garlic and chili, the refreshing taste of lime and perilla, combined with the unique flavor of fresh shrimp, made Yu Yan's eyes light up as she ate, feeling like she was floating on air, wishing she could fly up into the sky for a couple of rounds.
It was so delicious that he felt like crying.
Chili pepper, oh chili pepper, I've finally got to eat you! Do you know how I've survived these past few months without you?
After swallowing the shrimp in his mouth, he ate a cucumber stick.
Mmm! It's refreshing and delicious, even more flavorful than shrimp!
Immediately afterwards, Yu Yan ate salted meat and bird eggs.
Lanxiu was a skilled hunter, and the people in the tribe always traded animal meat with him for other things, so his family never lacked fresh meat and rarely had the opportunity to eat salted meat.
It's nice to have something like this once in a while to change things up.
Stir-frying fresh game meat and salted meat with chili peppers results in different flavors.
Yu Yan really likes this method; the spiciness blends in perfectly, making the salty and savory flavor just right, and it's not greasy at all.
It's a pity there's no rice, otherwise he could have eaten two bowls of this dish in one go!
The bird eggs in the Beast World are all "all-natural." The yolks are a deep orange color when they are not fried, but their aroma is greatly enhanced after frying.
A scrambled egg with a slice of chili pepper—it's so delicious, even the gods wouldn't trade it for that!
Yu Yan nodded repeatedly as she ate, muttering, "Delicious, really delicious."
Feng Gui also ate salted meat and bird eggs, but he ate them without chili peppers.
As he chewed, he took in Yu Yan's reactions and couldn't help but become curious.
Is it really that delicious?
He was a little indecisive, reaching for the spicy dishes several times with his chopsticks, but halfway through, he turned to pick up the non-spicy ones.
Looking up at Lanxiu again, he saw that he had also started tasting the spicy dishes.
He lowered his eyes, chewing slowly, savoring the taste of the chili.
A moment later, his eyes slowly lit up as he looked at Yu Yan with a mixture of confusion and surprise.
"Gulp," he swallowed what was in his mouth.
Yu Yan smiled at him: "How is it? Is it delicious?"
Lan Xiu opened his mouth: "...Wait, let me try it again."
He tasted every spicy dish before slowly saying, "The taste is strange... but what's even stranger is that I want to eat more after I finish eating."
His mouth was clearly sore and numb, which should have been uncomfortable, so why didn't he dislike the feeling at all?
Yu Yan laughed heartily: "That's just how chili peppers are! If you don't like them, you won't want to eat a single bite; if you like them, you can't miss a meal! In my opinion, you're someone who can handle spicy food!"
"It tastes great, doesn't it? It's hot now, but when it gets cold, eating some chili peppers will warm you up from head to toe. That's what I call really satisfying!"
Lan Xiu savored the taste for a while, realizing he was truly captivated by chili peppers.
He smiled at Yu Yan and continued eating the cold spicy and sour shrimp.
The crisp and bouncy shrimp meat is very chewy, and the spicy and sour flavors are perfectly balanced. It's also a cold dish, which is very appetizing in the summer.
Lan Xiu's eyes were also bright, and his lips and cheeks were red from the spiciness, but he couldn't stop eating.
"Delicious." He was completely won over by the chili peppers.
Yu Yan successfully promoted "chili peppers" and felt quite accomplished.
He then looked at Feng Gui and advised, "Father, why don't you try it too? If you really can't get used to it, then don't eat it. Anyway, there are other non-spicy dishes."
After the two younger members ate, Feng Gui also made up his mind and tried the salted meat.
When your teeth bite into the succulent slices of meat, the first taste on your tongue is saltiness and spiciness, followed by the unique aroma of cured meat.
I used to stir-fry salted pork, and it always had a nice meaty and salty flavor, but this time it was so different.
The presence of the chili peppers was like an instant ignition on the tip of his tongue, a tingling, burning sensation.
At the same time, it makes the salted meat even more fragrant, and even removes the fishy smell of the fatty meat!
No wonder Yu Yan said before that chili peppers, like scallion roots and garlic, can remove fishy smells!
"Hiss..." Feng Gui gasped softly from the spiciness.
Yu Yan poured him a teacup of boiled goat milk and said, "Drink this, it will relieve the spiciness."
Feng Gui brought it over, drank two sips of milk, and sure enough, the spiciness in his mouth was gone.
His eyes gleamed as he picked up another piece of spicy salted meat and put it in his mouth.
As he chewed, his slightly furrowed brows relaxed, and he looked at Yu Yan with a mixture of surprise and delight.
Yu Yan raised an eyebrow knowingly and smiled, "I told you it was pretty good, didn't I?"
Feng Gui nodded in agreement: "Although my tongue hurts a little, I have to admit it's really delicious."
Yu Yan raised her chin even higher and placed two pieces of food on his plate: "I knew you would like it. We're father and son, so our tastes are similar. If I like it, how could you not like it?"
Feng Gui chuckled: "Fine, you know me better than I do."
Both he and Lanxiu liked spicy food, which made Yu Yan very happy, and the smile on her face never faded.
On a summer evening, the three of them ate until they were drenched in sweat, as if every pore on their bodies had opened up. Then, they took a sip of rich goat milk, which felt especially refreshing.
That night, Yu Yan lay in the bird's nest, still savoring the aroma of the food.
Feng Gui stayed in the thatched hut under the tree, did some handicrafts, washed up, and returned to the tree. He saw that Yu Yan was already asleep, with a satisfied smile on her lips.
He watched for a moment, then smiled and went to sleep.
The next morning, Yu Yan woke up feeling refreshed.
After he climbed down the tree, Feng Gui asked him, "Our foundation... that's what it's called, right? When are we going to start laying it?"
Yu Yan looked at the azure sky: "It'll be less hot in the afternoon, I need to do some housework in the morning."
Feng Gui: "Hmm, do you need my help?"
"No need, I can do it by myself."
"Then I'll go gather with the people from the tribe and come back early this afternoon."
After breakfast, Feng Gui went to gather resources, and Lan Xiu went hunting, leaving Yu Yan alone at home.
He fed the sheep, milked them, dried the herbs and wild vegetables, and then went to check the two pickling jars.
The reason there were two was because the three of them had eaten every last drop of the pickled radish in the small jar.
The two large jars of pickled vegetables are currently in good condition, although the pickling brine has become less clear and has developed a slightly sour smell.
After checking, he put the earthenware bowl back upside down.
Then, he went to the thatched shed and dragged out the jar containing mutton fat.
Because they received too many sheep, they couldn't finish them all, so the fat was rendered into oil and put into this vat.
This stuff won't spoil even if left out for a long time, so he decided to dry a batch of chili peppers and then use mutton fat to make hot pot base.
Seeing that the weather was nice today, he dragged a large basket of red chilies and a small basket of garlic to the stream to wash them clean.
After returning home, he set up a simple frame outside the thatched shed, placed a wind-woven bamboo sieve on it, and poured the washed chilies and garlic on it to let them drain.
While waiting, he brought over alkaline soil, filtered it to obtain alkaline water, and then heated the alkaline water.
Then, the mutton fat was extracted from the vat and mixed with alkaline water, plant juice, shell powder, etc., to make a batch of "mutton fat soap".
Surprisingly, mutton fat has a strong, muttony smell, but once it's made into soap, the smell is almost completely gone.
After saponification, mutton fat is a pure white color with a delicate sheen, and it feels very gentle and soft to use.
Yu Yan was very satisfied with this batch of soap. He poured the soap liquid into the mold and waited for it to cool down slowly.
Now, not only the Peninsula tribe, but also several nearby tribes such as Mingyuan, Qingqing, and Shenhu rely on the soap he makes.
“They’ll definitely love this batch of mutton fat soap when they see it,” Yu Yan said with a smile.
After making soap, the chili peppers were dried out of water droplets.
Yu Yan filled a basket with some chili peppers and then took out some dried garlic hanging on the thatched shed and placed it on top of the chili peppers.
Once the basket was full, he placed the salt and utensils he would need later in his small space.
After taking stock of his belongings, he slung his basket over his shoulder and flew toward the altar square, where the tribe's communal stone mill was located.
In the morning, apart from the elderly orcs and young cubs, most of the young people in the tribe went out to work.
Seeing him approach, the children asked curiously, "Brother Yu Yan, what are you carrying on your back?"
Yu Yan put down the basket and took out the garlic from the top layer. The children immediately noticed the red chili peppers.
"Huh, what's that smell?" Shuoxing covered her nose and backed away, her eyes still glancing into the basket.
Qiu Ze skipped and raised his hand: "I know, it's chili peppers! They're delicious!"
“That can’t be right,” Shuoxing said. “I heard it was super scary, that it would make your mouth bleed if you ate it!”
Qiu Ze: "Anything that Brother Yu Yan likes must be delicious!"
Shuoxing: "Terrible!"
Akizawa: "Delicious!"
...
Yu Yan helplessly advised, "Stop arguing. When you grow up, you can try it yourself and then you'll know whether it's terrible or delicious."
Qiu Ze was eager to try: "I can eat it now, I'm already big enough."
Yu Yan rejected him without hesitation.
Akizawa: "..."
The other kids: "Hahahaha!"
Regardless of the arguments, people are genuinely curious about chili peppers.
When they learned that Yu Yan was going to grind chili sauce, they all offered to help.
The few kids chattered away like a large group of people.
"Alright, how about the little orc helps me pull the millstone? And the little sub-orc helps me peel the garlic?"
"Okay, okay!"
A wooden stick was wedged into the millstone, and the stick was connected to a long support rod. By pushing the support rod, the millstone could be turned.
After cleaning the stone mill, Yu Yan added a layer of dried chili peppers inside and gestured for Shuoxing to start it.
Yu Yan ground the chili peppers little by little, then took a wooden spoon and added a thin layer of salt and a layer of garlic cloves on top.
The subsequent ingredients were added in the same way: a layer of chili peppers, a layer of salt, and a layer of garlic cloves.
The kids were quite good at pulling the millstone, and soon they were working well together with Yu Yan.
Coarse chili sauce flowed from the edge of the stone mill and fell into the wooden bucket that Yu Yan had already placed below.
After this initial grinding, it needs to be ground again one or two more times to make the chili sauce smooth.
The chili sauce, made with only garlic and salt, wasn't very flavorful, but it had a lot of layers of taste. The aroma made Yu Yan sneeze and swallow hard.
The surrounding cubs were also affected by the fumes, and "achoo!" sounds filled the air.
Yu Yan laughed and said, "It's tough, isn't it? Can you still keep going?"
Shuoxing, who was pulling the millstone, sniffed and stubbornly said, "Of course! My nose doesn't hurt at all!"
Not far away, Qiu Ze mumbled, "If you're not in pain, then I'm not in pain either... Shuo Xing, you're right, chili peppers are really scary!"
Yu Yan burst out laughing.
Fortunately, he didn't have too many chilies to grind. On the second round, he had the children add the ingredients while he turned the millstone himself.
Only one person is needed to add the feed, so the little ones have to line up and count crisply: "...eight, nine, ten, you've added ten times, it's my turn!!"
Upon hearing this, the first child had no choice but to give up his position to the second child.
When it was Shuoxing's turn, he winked at Yu Yan and said, "Brother Yu Yan, do you think we worked really hard?"
Yu Yan raised an eyebrow: "Yes, I'm working hard."
"Could you give us a reward?"
"What kind of reward do you want?" Yu Yan asked, considering the food in the house.
Unexpectedly, Shuoxing said, "I want a football!"
Yu Yan was taken aback.
Shuoxing's eyes were full of longing: "Last time when you were processing animal fur here, didn't you say that you would make a sturdier soccer ball when you had time? When will you have time?"
Qiu Ze: "Yes, Brother Yu Yan, the balls we made later with animal hair, leaves, and mud were all weak and couldn't be kicked properly. I really want a sturdy soccer ball."
Yu Yan's heart softened.
It turns out that what he said before was firmly remembered by the children.
He said gently, "It's my fault. I've been busy making charcoal lately and haven't been able to make any soccer balls. Today, when the orcs return from their hunt, I'll make soccer balls for you, okay?"
The children were overjoyed when they heard this, jumping for joy.
"Great! Great!" Their hard work really paid off, hahaha!
With the soccer ball hooked around them, they worked even harder, their little faces flushed red, whether from the heat or the fumes.
The freshly ground chili sauce is bright red in color, very juicy, and has a unique aroma of raw chili and garlic.
Yu Yan lightly rubbed the stone mill with her finger, then put her finger in her mouth and tasted it.
"Hmm, it's very good. Would you like to try some?"
The children shook their heads repeatedly, indicating that they didn't like spicy food.
Yu Yan grinned, put the ground chili sauce into a small jar, then fetched water and carefully scrubbed the stone mill many times.
He dealt with chili peppers too much today; his fingers were burning from the spiciness.
After finishing his work in the morning, he led the kids to rest under the tree for a while.
The little ones have a habit of taking a nap. Shuoxing yawned and transformed into beast form, then plopped down on the ground.
He flapped his wings on the ground and invited Yu Yan, "Brother Yu Yan, come and lie down next to me. It would be even better if you could groom me."
Isn't the last sentence the key point?
Yu Yan smiled and walked over, sat down next to him, and used her fingers to comb his feathers.
When the other children saw this, they also gathered around, wanting Yu Yan to help them comb their hair.
Under the shade of the tree, the cubs transformed into beast forms, jostling Yu Yan and making her stagger.
The sunshine was warm and cozy, and Yu Yan was sleepy, so she leaned against them and fell asleep.
He hadn't been asleep long when he heard the sound of a giant beast running approaching.
When I opened my eyes, I found that Lanxiu and the others had returned from hunting.
Everyone was pleasantly surprised to see Yu Yan: "What are you doing here today? Did you just come back from collecting them?"
Yu Yan rubbed her eyes, stood up, and said, "No, I was waiting for you."
"Wait for us?"
“Hmm,” Yu Yan glanced at the prey on their backs, “When you’re dividing the prey, give me their bladders… I need them.”
Cangfeng: "Sure! But do you want to eat it? We don't want this stuff."
Yu Yan shook her head: "I won't eat."
"That is..."
Shuoxing transformed into human form and eagerly said, "Brother Yu Yan is going to make a soccer ball for us! Right?"
"That's right."
Cang Feng and the others were surprised. A bladder can be used to make a soccer ball? It's so light, how are you going to kick it after it's made?
Out of curiosity, after everyone took out the urine bladder and gave it to Yu Yan, they didn't rush to leave.
Yu Yan touched the surface of the bladder; it was thick and elastic. After cleaning it and inflating it, he lifted it up to test its bounce upon landing, and it was quite good.
“It’s usable,” he told everyone.
The sub-beastmen who had gathered resources gradually returned.
Hearing that Yu Yan was going to play football, they glanced this way while dividing their prey.
The bladder is actually the "inner bladder" of the football, and the outer skin needs to be sewn with animal hide.
At this point, Yu Yan had to ask the skillful sub-beastmen in the tribe for help.
The beastmen hunted and processed animal hides year-round, so they had plenty of hides to use.
Yu Yan took out a piece of soft animal hide and asked the sub-beastmen to use bone knives to precisely cut it into twelve pieces.
Then, using bone needles threaded with strong hemp thread, the animal hide is sewn together on the reverse side by crisscrossing stitches.
Yu Yan stood beside her and explained, "If you sew it like this, the loose thread will be hidden inside."
Feng Gui nodded: "Yes, the ball that's made should be very beautiful."
It took a long time to cut the fabric because the tools weren't quite right for me.
When it comes to sewing, the skillful orcs could sew with their eyes closed.
They wrapped the animal hide around the inflatable bladder and quickly sewed the surface of the soccer ball together.
Animal hide is used as the dough, a bladder as the gallbladder, and it is filled with air under pressure.
Yu Yan even had someone bring water and pressed the soccer ball down to make sure it wasn't leaking air.
He held the ball, patted it with his hand, and it made a "bang" sound.
"Ready! Here you go!" He tossed the ball to the kids.
The kids were so excited, yelling and rushing to grab the ball.
"This ball should be enough for you to play with for a while. You've all learned how to make it, so if you wear it out, the adults can sew it back up for you," Yu Yan said with a smile.
The children, clutching the ball, excitedly exclaimed, "We understand!! Thank you, Brother Yu Yan!!"
"Let's go play football!"
"I want to be a goalkeeper..."
Yu Yan watched the children running around in the altar square, her eyes full of doting smiles.
Xin Yu walked over and thanked him: "Yu Yan, thank you for making the new toys for the kids. You really spoil them."
Yu Yan told the adults about how the children had helped him with chores, and said with delight, "The children deserve it."
Lan Xiu stood next to Yu Yan and laughed, "It's not just the little one who likes it. I heard from Senbai and the others that they also want to make a soccer ball to play with. They even regretted throwing away all the diapers before."
Yu Yan: "Hahaha."
Perhaps it won't be long before the peninsula tribes are actually able to hold "football matches".
In the afternoon, when the sun was high, Yu Yan went to soak in the river for a while.
When the sun began to set and the sunlight was less intense, he took his tools, called Lanxiu and Fenggui, and went to the site where they were going to build a house.
Yu Yan put her hands behind her back, first measured the area with her feet, then took out wooden sticks and stuck them in the four corners.
Next, tie the wooden sticks together with string, and the resulting rectangle will be the area for digging the foundation.
Considering heating, he plans to divide the house into three parts, with a separate main entrance.
One part, about 150 square meters, is where he and Feng Gui live, including the kitchen, living room, and bedroom;
The second part, about 100 square meters, is where he sees patients. He will set up several beds there so that patients can stay overnight.
The third part, about 100 square meters, is a warehouse.
After tying the ropes, Yu Yan stood up and said to Lan Xiu, "Alright, you can transform into your beast form and uproot all the trees here, then dig a pit this deep."
Yu Yan measured the depth to be approximately one meter.
Originally, a single-story house would only need to be dug 60 centimeters deep, but since he wanted to build the walls with stones, he was worried that the load-bearing capacity would be insufficient, so he simply dug an additional 40 centimeters.
Lan Xiu agreed and was about to get started when shouts came from several directions: "Yu Yan! We're here to help you!"
Yu Yan looked up at the sky and into the distance, and wow!
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