Chapter 79 Hot and Sour Noodles: The Rainy Season is Over, Everyone's Building Houses...
As Yu Yan wove her net, she asked, "Many metal tools are now made by people from your tribe. How can you still spare so many people to learn weaving?"
"Of course we can! Our tribe has several hundred people. Many of our sub-orcs have never forged iron tools themselves."
Jiang Kuo said confidently, "They are very skillful. They are definitely more suited to and prefer weaving than metallurgy."
Yu Yan nodded: "Okay, then there's no problem. Your tribe has a lot of people and is close to our tribe. Our two tribes have cooperated so many times. I was originally planning to select more people from your tribe."
The people of Mingyuan tribe were overjoyed: "That's wonderful!"
"Go back and tell everyone in the tribe what you said. They will be extremely happy!"
Yu Yan smiled and said, "It's not just you. I plan to have the Qingqing Tribe and the Shenhu Tribe send more people to learn as well. Being close by makes it convenient for them to go home if anything happens."
"Mmm. When does the assessment start? I want to start learning now."
"It will take a while; the news hasn't spread yet. Besides building workshops, the tribe also needs to build dormitories for everyone to live in."
"A dormitory??" they asked in surprise. "Is it... a house?"
Yu Yan nodded, "Yes. It's similar to the one I built, but building materials are scarce right now, so we might arrange for four or six people to share a room first, and then build a small canteen to cook for everyone..."
Mengyun and Zhong Hai also came with Jiang Kuo this time. After hearing Yu Yan's description, Mengyun was extremely excited.
He couldn't imagine what the dormitory would look like, but that didn't stop him from longing for it.
Living in the same house as Yu Yan, working, eating, and resting together... Beast God, this life is too wonderful! I wouldn't even dare to dream of something this beautiful!
"Yu Yan, I really want to work in the workshop too!" Meng Yun said to Yu Yan with longing eyes.
Yu Yan chuckled: "Then what about your baby Shuanghong?"
Mengyun sighed heavily, "Yes, Shuanghong is still young and can't do without our care. I would definitely come when he's a little older."
Yu Yan: "Yes, the workshop is still in its early stages, so we can only hire young people who don't have children yet."
If things develop well in the future, we can expand the factory buildings, dormitories, canteens, etc., and make the dormitories into family compounds so that people working in the workshop can have independent houses and courtyards to live in with their children.
Well... the workshop hasn't even started construction yet, and so many people are already scrambling to come. He'd better not tell them about the follow-up plans yet, or he's afraid they'll be too worried to sleep at night.
Zhong Hai was surprised to hear Yu Yan refer to them as "young people" instead of sub-beastmen, and asked, "Can beastmen also participate in the assessment?"
Yu Yan said, "Yes, anyone who wants to come is welcome. I think there must be beastmen in the beast world who aren't so interested in hunting, right? Aren't the beastmen of the Qingqing tribe like that?"
There's also the Chongchong tribe, which allows wild boars to proliferate in their territory.
Jiang Kuo and the others nodded: "Yes, that makes sense."
Yu Yan smiled and said, "There are also people who want to learn new things and try more things they've never tried before. To put it more bluntly, fabric is a good thing that everyone needs. It's understandable that they want to learn it in order to earn more supplies."
As everyone listened to his unhurried narration and gazed into his bright and clear eyes, they remained stunned for a long time.
Yu Yan is such a gentle person.
"However," Yu Yan concluded, "whether you pass the assessment depends on your own abilities; I won't go easy on you."
Jiang Kuo laughed and said, "Of course. In any case, Yu Yan, thank you for giving the beastmen a chance."
The others agreed with this and looked at Yu Yan with gratitude.
Several orcs were clearly wavering, unsure whether to continue hunting and metallurgy or to participate in the assessment.
Yu Yan didn't try to persuade them further. There was still some time before the assessment, and she believed they would come to their senses.
He chatted with the people of the Mingyuan tribe and wove nets until noon.
During the conversation, I mentioned the wild boars in the Chongchong tribe and asked them to help spread the word.
Seeing that it was almost time, Yu Yan put down what she was holding, stood up, and asked, "Are you in a hurry to go back?"
"No rush."
"Then you guys get on with it, I'm going to go and dry the starch."
Jiang Kuo and Zhong Hai stood up: "We'll help you."
Yu Yan smiled and led them to move the vat out, poured out the water that had cleared on top, and then scooped out the sedimented wet starch and laid it out on the board that had been prepared beforehand.
Jiang Kuo knew about flour, so he asked Yu Yan, "Is this similar to flour?"
Yu Yan replied, "There are similarities, but this is called starch, which is usually used in cooking."
Zhong Hai: "Cooking?"
Yu Yan: "Yes, for example, marinating meat can make it more tender; using it to thicken broth will make it rich and viscous; and coating food with it before frying will make the food crispy on the outside and tender on the inside..."
Jiang Kuo said enviously, "It's really useful."
Zhong Hai said regretfully, "We should have exchanged for more potatoes."
Yu Yan gestured with her chin toward the lotus root basket: "Lotus root can also be used to process starch, the specific methods are..."
The people of the Mingyuan tribe all pricked up their ears and listened very attentively.
After Yu Yan finished speaking, the starch was also put on the sunscreen.
"I've learned it!" Jiang Kuo laughed heartily. "When I get back, I'll teach the people in my tribe to make starch too!"
Mengyun asked, "Yuyan, could you explain again how to cook with starch?"
"Sure, just wait a moment."
He went inside the house, took out some food, and distributed it to everyone present.
They declined somewhat embarrassedly, but Yu Yan deliberately smiled and said, "We've worked all morning, so let's eat something to replenish our energy. We still have to keep working this afternoon."
Everyone then thanked them and accepted the food.
Yu Yan also sat down, and while eating, she explained to them how to use starch.
He described each dish so vividly that everyone's mouths watered, wishing they could taste it right now.
As they talked, Yu Yan came up with another way to eat it.
"Oh, right! We can also make some glass noodles and rice vermicelli! These keep very well and taste good!"
"Oh?" Jiang Kuo and the others looked curious.
Yu Yan quickly got up and went to check on the starch that was drying.
"This level of sun drying is perfect for making vermicelli! Let me go find the tools."
Under everyone's watchful eyes, he plunged into the warehouse and began rummaging through it with a clanging sound.
Feng Gui returned carrying two large baskets full of food and greeted Jiang Kuo and the others.
"Looking for Yu Yan?" he asked with a smile.
Jiang Kuo replied, "Yes."
What is he doing?
As soon as she finished speaking, Yu Yan poked her head out of the storeroom: "Father, do you have any fine-mesh strainers at home?"
Feng Gui put down the basket: "I've woven some, but I don't know if they meet your requirements. I'll go find some."
"Uh-huh."
Soon, Feng Gui brought over several straw-woven strainers.
Yu Yan looked at the sunlight and selected two suitable ones.
"These two will do! Can someone boil some water for me?"
Mengyun immediately said, "I'll do it."
Feng Gui was a beat slower: "...Then I'll go wash the cucumbers. They were picked from the fields by the river, and they're all old. I'll peel them and dry them in the sun to eat in the winter."
Yu Yan: "Mmm. Old cucumbers are quite delicious, they're sour. Let's save some for cooking tonight."
Feng Gui: "Okay."
Jiang Kuo and Zhong Hai helped Feng Gui carry the old cucumber to the water's edge and washed it with him.
Inside the house, Mengyun started a fire with firewood and boiled a large pot of water.
Yu Yan asked him to help scald the strainer while she cooled a basin of water.
Take another empty basin, put the semi-dried starch in it, and mix in an appropriate amount of salt.
The water had cooled down a bit, so he poured it into the starch and stirred it continuously with chopsticks until it became a transparent paste.
Then, keep kneading the dough until cracks appear on the surface, then cover it with a damp cloth and let it rise.
About half an hour later, Ruihua and Lanxiu returned from their hunting trip.
Yu Yan carried the ingredients, and Meng Yun helped him with the tools. They went outside to work, and the courtyard was bustling with people.
"Father, Lanxiu, you're back?" Yu Yan asked with a smile. "How did the hunt go today?"
Ruihua replied with a smile, "It went very smoothly. We cooperated very well and hunted five sharp-toothed beasts."
Yu Yan's eyes lit up: "The meat of the Sharp-Toothed Beast is delicious!"
Lan Xiu washed his hands, walked over, and asked, "What are you doing?"
"Vermicelli~"
"I'll help."
"OK!"
Yu Yan had him hold the strainer while she squeezed the dough down into thin strips.
The thin strips fell directly into the stone pot filled with water, which remained at a state of just about to boil.
These thin rice noodles float to the surface as soon as they are cooked.
Yu Yan quickly asked Meng Yun for help: "Quickly, help me scoop out the vermicelli and put it in this basin of cold water."
Meng Yun had been prepared for this, and as soon as Yu Yan spoke, he started to scoop her up.
The group worked together seamlessly, turning all the prepared dough into rice noodles and vermicelli.
The vermicelli soaking in the basin of cold water wasn't as pure white as the ones Yu Yan had seen in modern times; instead, it was a pale gray, glossy and translucent.
I stirred the glass noodles in the bowl with my hands. They were slippery and looked delicious.
Yu Yan scooped out most of the rice noodles and vermicelli and hung them up to dry.
He put the rest in another bowl, intending to cook them for dinner.
Yu Yan completely dried a lot of starch, put it in bags, and saved it for later use.
The people of the Mingyuan tribe stayed here for a long time before Jiang Kuolai and Yu Yan took their leave.
Yu Yan: "I'll pack some starch for you to take back."
Jiang Kuo repeatedly declined, saying, "No need, no need. It's too much trouble to make it. You can keep it for yourself. We already know how to make it. We can just use lotus root when we get back."
Yu Yan: "Really don't want to?"
"Really, no."
Yu Yan did not force them.
The sun was setting in the west, the sky was high and the clouds were wide, and the autumn wind was blowing in gusts.
The beastmen of the Mingyuan tribe transformed into majestic wolves, carrying the sub-beastmen, howling at the sky a few times, and galloped towards their tribe.
They had barely left when Cang Feng arrived with his men again.
"Yu Yan! The weather's been pretty good for a while now, so we're getting ready to start digging the foundation and building! Can you tell everyone where we'll build it?"
"They're here!"
The people of the peninsula tribe unanimously agreed that the land where Yu Yan built her house was excellent, and chose it as the tribe's new home.
Yu Yan simply led a large group of furry creatures and dug up the entire area.
Trees that needed to be removed were removed, large stones were piled together and transported away as a whole, and the terrain was leveled out.
Yu Yan had sand and gravel brought over to fill in the areas that were prone to sinking.
Everyone worked quickly in their animal forms, and by evening the ground was almost completely turned over.
Yu Yan took an iron rod and roughly drew the locations of the main road and the side roads.
“You should build houses along these main roads, preferably in a row, so it’s easier to install streetlights and sewers later; this area is reserved for a weaving workshop, a mill, and a drying yard, with dormitories and a canteen behind the weaving workshop; I want to build a small square here for the kids to play in, and the altar square can be moved over there…”
Yu Yan walked across the newly excavated land, pointing out the purpose of each plot.
Cang Feng and the others followed behind Yu Yan, listening attentively with anticipation on their faces.
After giving a brief explanation, Yu Yan took out a few sheets of paper.
"I've also drawn a map, you can take a look, and we can improve it if there are any problems."
Yu Yan's painting skills are average, and her paintings are simple, but everyone who sees them falls deeply in love with them.
"These houses will be our homes from now on..."
"What a huge workshop, dormitory, and canteen! Can people who don't work in the workshop eat there too? Hahaha."
"Once we build these houses, the village will become so beautiful."
"I know what's standing up, but what's that gray paint on the ground?"
Yu Yan glanced at it and explained with a smile, "It's a cement road."
"My God!" many people exclaimed in shock, "A road paved with cement, how smooth must it be?"
"The roads won't be muddy when it rains anymore!"
"A cement road is much easier to walk on than a dirt road."
"Chieftain, Yu Yan! Let's not sleep tonight, let's dig out the foundation!!"
Cang Feng sighed and rubbed his forehead in exasperation, while Yu Yan couldn't help but chuckle.
“We still need to sleep,” Yu Yan said. “Besides, the cement we’ve saved up is only enough to build the first batch of houses. We’ll have to put the road construction on hold for now.”
They compromised halfway: "Okay, then we won't dig the foundation, we'll burn cement tonight!"
Yu Yan: "..."
Forget it, even if there were something really good in front of him that he could get by working hard, he still wouldn't be able to sleep.
Finally, Yu Yan reminded everyone to be careful, and left the rest to them.
He led Feng Gui and the others home. Ruihua and Lanxiu busied themselves with chores outside, while Feng Gui washed vegetables, chopped meat, and prepared dinner.
Yu Yan took out the glass noodles she had made in the afternoon, added them with shredded tender cucumber and soaked wood ear mushrooms, along with seasonings, and made a sweet and sour appetizing cold dish.
He took another piece of meat from the sharp-toothed beast, chopped it into minced meat, stir-fried it with the hot pot base he had made before, added water and simmered it, then reduced the sauce and set it aside.
Feng Gui smelled the spiciness, sneezed twice, looked over curiously, and said, "It smells so good."
Yu Yan chuckled, found an empty bowl, and put in his own ground chili powder, Sichuan peppercorn powder, chopped nuts, minced garlic, and small red chilies, then poured hot oil over them—
"Sizzle!" The ingredients were immediately released with an explosive aroma.
Yu Yan swallowed hard, then added salt, honey, oyster sauce, and fruit juice to taste.
He rinsed the vermicelli and tender green wild vegetables, divided them into four bowls, added his prepared seasonings and stir-fried meat sauce to each bowl, and finally ladled out white bone broth from the earthenware pot used for stewing soup and poured it into the bowls.
Four bowls of tempting, fragrant hot and sour noodles are ready!
"Father, please set the table. I'll go call Father and Lanxiu in for dinner!"
"Um."
Soon, the four people sat around the table, each with a bowl of crystal-clear hot and sour noodles in front of them.
Yu Yan smiled and said, "Eat your noodles first, they'll be soaking for a bit. I put less chili in Father's bowl, but we put the normal amount in the three of us."
Ruihua had never eaten such food before. He picked up the bowl, looked at it a few times, and then lowered his head to smell it.
"It smells so good!" he exclaimed in surprise.
Yu Yan smiled even more happily, picked up a mouthful of hot and sour noodles with her chopsticks, blew on it, and put it in her mouth.
Mmm! The sour, spicy, numbing, and sweet flavors, along with the aroma of minced meat and bone broth, combined with the soft, smooth, slightly chewy, and slightly bouncy texture of the glass noodles, are absolutely amazing!
After eating so much plain food, it's nice to have something a little "stronger" once in a while!
Feng Gui and Lan Xiu also started munching away, both showing expressions of great enjoyment.
Ruihua took a bite, his eyes lit up, and he was about to say something when suddenly he choked and started coughing.
"Cough cough cough!" He choked, his face turned red, and sweat beaded on his forehead. Feng Gui quickly handed him a bowl of water.
"Are you alright? Have some water," Feng Gui said with concern.
Yu Yan: "The cold dish I made isn't spicy, so I'll eat some of this to balance it out."
Lan Xiu: "Shall I go get some animal milk?"
"No need, I'm fine..." Ruihua said in a slightly hoarse voice, a little embarrassed, "I choked a little just now, but I'm fine now."
Feng Gui glanced at his hot and sour noodles and asked, "Are you still eating?"
Ruihua immediately said, "It's delicious. It tastes especially good."
Feng Gui smiled and said, "I like it very much too."
"Is yours enough? Here, you can have mine," Ruihua said, reaching for his plate.
"That's enough, there are still many other dishes."
Ruihua smiled at him, her eyes filled with him: "Then I'll get you a bowl of soup."
Yu Yan mumbled, "...I feel full."
Feng Gui: "Hmm? You didn't even finish your bowl of noodles."
He's had enough dog food!
No, they're all bird-like. So...they eat bird food?
If Lanxiu shows off their love in the future, what kind of food will I eat? Cat food?
Yu Yan was amused by his own thoughts again, but this laugh caused him to choke and cough miserably.
Feng Gui sighed helplessly, "Eat slowly."
Lan Xiu stood up: "I'll just bring the beast milk over."
...
For the next two days, Yu Yan didn't have time to do any housework at home, and instead spent all her time with Cang Feng and the others planning the new site for the tribe.
After the autumn harvest fair, many people had enough materials to build houses.
This was a major event for the entire tribe. Whoever wanted to build a house, everyone else came to help, and they worked especially hard.
The tribe's pottery kilns are used to fire clay blanks to make ceramic tiles; the glass kilns also fire glass for use as windows.
Dozens of foundations were laid in a single day.
The newly laid foundation couldn't be used to build houses immediately, so everyone spent their time outside of gathering and hunting collecting and transporting building materials.
In her home, Yu Yan could always see beastmen in their animal forms, bustling about on the ground and in the sky.
The beastmen also liked to come to him to learn his "decoration methods".
The entire peninsula's tribes present a scene of prosperity.
Heng Qing, the chieftain of the highland tribe, arrived with his men to deliver a new batch of iron ore. Seeing this, he asked enviously:
"Yu Yan, your tribe has started building houses!"
He was still in his black panther form when he said this.
Yu Yan stepped out of the fenced courtyard, looked up and answered with a smile, "Yes! Chief Heng Qing, did you bring the magnet I asked for?"
"I brought it!"
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