Chapter 103 Popcorn
The babies in this world are more developed than human babies. On the second day after birth, two meerkats that look like meerkats can crawl around, stand on their hind legs, and look straight up.
Jian Mo gave the two meerkats a physical examination. The two meerkats tentatively scratched his thighs with their claws and sniffed him with their little noses: "Meow, meow, meow."
He gently picked up a meerkat and put it on his lap to check.
The meerkat tucked its tail tightly between its legs, covering its belly, and looked at Jian Mo with its big gray-blue eyes.
Wu Jiong gently picked up another meerkat, and the other meerkat made a sound, then directly grabbed Wu Jiong's hand and used his fingers to grind its teeth.
Jian Mo checked the little meerkat in his hand and said, "There's nothing wrong with this little meerkat. Everything is fine."
Wu Jiong handed the little meerkat in his hand to Jian Mo: "It's rare to see such a lively little cub."
Jian Mo raised his eyes and smiled: "Banqiu and the others are not much quieter than these two cubs."
Wu Jiong: "They were very quiet when they were just born."
Speaking of which, the fertility rate of beastmen and sub-beastmen is not high. After Jian Mo arrived at the Riverside Tribe, he had not seen any newborn cubs, nor any sub-beastmen pregnant.
I don't know when the Riverside Tribe will have cubs to play with.
Jian Mo really wants to see the cubs of the cat and canine families.
After the examination, Jian Mo said to Ba Tong who was waiting beside him: "Both little guys are developing well. It seems that there is no problem. Just feed them normally in the future."
Jian Mo wanted to hand the little meerkat in his arms to Ba Tong.
The little meerkat refused and hugged his wrist with its claws: "Meow meow meow."
Seeing his brother like this, the little meerkat next to him also stretched out its claws to hook Jian Mo's pants and tried to climb into his arms.
The little meerkat, who was born not long ago, was covered with soft fetal hair and had a soft body. It was so cute when it stretched out its claws to rub against people.
Jian Mo's heart was about to melt, but he still handed the little guy to Ba Tong: "You can take it back."
Ba Tong carefully picked up the two cubs and nodded to thank him: "Thank you, Doctor Jian Mo."
Jian Mo smiled: "You're welcome. There's nothing to do here. We plan to go back early tomorrow morning. We have already told your tribe leader."
Ba Tong: "So soon, won't you stay a few more days?"
Jian Mo shook his head: "No, we have things to do in the tribe too. If you need anything, you can just ride Dara to find us."
Ba Tong nodded silently.
After Ba Tong left, Jian Mo packed up his things and planned to go for a walk around the area with Wu Jiong. It
was his first time in Tianning tribe, and he had never seen many plants before. If he went out for a walk, he might find some interesting plants to take back.
Then, just as they walked out the door, before they had time to walk far, they saw Ba Tong walking towards them with a backpack on his back.
Jian Mo was surprised: "Why are you here again?"
Ba Tong said: "Thank you for helping with the delivery. I heard that you charge for your consultations, and I don't know how much to give. This basket of metal blocks and pottery is for you. Do you think it's enough? If not, I'll give you more."
As he said, he handed the backpack to Jian Mo and put it on the ground, leaving a mark on the mud.
Jian Mo looked down and saw that most of the basket was filled with metal blocks, and on top of the metal blocks were stacked pottery pots, bowls, basins and other pottery.
With just a quick look, Jian Mo saw more than a dozen pieces of fine pottery, each with a very exquisite pattern.
Jian Mo was shocked: "This is too much, we don't need so much. I'll take a few pieces of pottery and a few pieces of metal, and you can take the rest."
Ba Tong: "Not much. If it weren't for you, the two cubs would definitely not be born smoothly. You saved Shan Yan and the cubs' lives, and also saved our family."
Jian Mo waved his hand: "No, no, no, what I did is not that great, and the labor I put in is not that much, so I don't need that much reward. Besides, you still need supplies. "Baby, I can't accept it."
Ba Tong: "I can go hunting again and get the supplies back soon."
Jian Mo shook his head: "It's different. I really shouldn't accept so much. Besides, if you give so much supplies, it will be difficult to take care of the patients behind. If I accept so much, some patients may feel that they can't afford the supplies and eventually dare not come to see a doctor."
Jian Mo's attitude was firm. Ba Tong refused several times, but seeing that he really didn't want so many supplies, he had to carry the remaining metal blocks and pottery back on his back.
When Ba Tong was about to leave, Jian Mo asked, "Have you thought of the names for the two kids?"
Ba Tong smiled happily, "I have, Shan Ning and Ba Wu, Shan Yan and I discussed it."
Jian Mo read out the two names, "These two names are really nice."
Ba Tong smiled again, looking like a silly father, "Thank you so much."
Jian Mo was also happy for them, "That's great, if you have time in the future, you can come to the Riverside Tribe as a guest."
This time when they came to the Tianning Tribe, Jian Mo and his friends not only brought back some pottery and metal blocks for medical expenses, but also exchanged for some spices and clay.
The clay produced by the Tianning Tribe is particularly white, fine, and heavy. No wonder they can make such good pottery. They are really better than other tribes from the beginning.
The two of them were not in a hurry when they returned. Jiujiu just flew a little faster than usual. They didn't return to the Riverside Tribe until the evening.
The whole Riverside Tribe was filled with the smell of cooking smoke. Some people brought out their meals and ate dinner in the open space, chatting with others.
Seeing Jiujiu flying back, someone shouted from a distance: "Jian Mo, Chief, was your delivery of the orcs in the Tianning Tribe smooth this time?"
Jian Mo also shouted in a hoarse voice: "Very smooth! The father and son are safe, and they are twins--"
Everyone who heard the news shouted in unison, their voices full of envy.
It is not easy to have cubs these days, let alone twins.
Qing Kuang called out to the crowd, "Don't cook since you just came back. Come out and eat. I have a lot of grilled meat at home."
Min Dang also called out, "I have a lot of grilled meat at home. We can distribute it out evenly."
Qing Kuang said, "Let Ban Ming and the others take Jiu Jiu and feed him. You just come out and deal with the two of them."
Ban Ming was not convinced and called out to his father, "I also want to hear about how Jian Mo and the others went to the Tianning tribe this time."
Jiujiu was already telling Jian Mo and his friends to get home soon. Jian Mo just heard the voices from behind and shouted louder, "No need, wait a minute, I'll make some noodles and come out to chat with you guys soon—"
Jian Mo and his friends had just put away their things when they got home and hadn't had time to go to the kitchen to light a fire and cook. Qing Kuang Gan Cui came to his house with meat and helped cook while chatting.
That's fine. Jian Mo told them about what happened in the Tianning tribe.
When they heard that Shan Yan had a difficult birth with twins, everyone took a deep breath.
Min Dang sighed, "In the previous generation of the Mengshui tribe, there was a beastman who was also pregnant with twins. She also had a difficult birth and lost both of them. The beastman couldn't bear it after the cubs were pulled out by sharp claws, and she died soon after due to injuries during childbirth."
Zhou Fu: "I heard that he seemed to be very young when he died. He had just been with his partner. At that time, we heard that he would get pregnant soon, and everyone was envious of him."
Min Dang "Yes, his partner also left the Mengshui tribe not long after, saying that he was going to travel outside and come back when he was not so sad anymore, but he never came back."
Another beastman sighed: "If his partner stayed in the Mengshui tribe, seeing the familiar places and people, he would always think of his partner, right?"
Jian Mo concluded: "The scene brought back memories."
Everyone chatted for a few sentences, and after praising Jian Mo's amazing medical skills, the topic gradually spread out.
Looking at the noodles kneaded by Wu Jiong, Qing Kuang suddenly remembered: "The noodles you planted have turned yellow, and it seems that they can be harvested."
In the entire riverside tribe, only Jian Mo's family planted noodles, and other families planted various stems. The public farmland of the tribe was also planted with stems, and it was not yet time to harvest.
Jian Mo didn't expect it to happen so soon: "Doesn't the flour grass turn yellow in autumn? Let's go and take a look tomorrow."
Qing Kuo: "I don't know. No one has ever grown this thing. Maybe it's because you planted it early. I remember you started planting it when it was very cold, and you used your germination technology. The flour grass sprouted much earlier than the grass sprouts outside."
This is also possible. Jian Mo nodded: "If it is ripe, we will hurry up to harvest it."
Going out is actually quite tiring.
After a quick dinner and feeding Jiujiu, Jian Mo took Wu Jiong to take a bath and go to bed.
Early the next morning, when Jian Mo wanted to collect the fish cages, he thought of the flour grass. He went around the field to take a look. He saw that a large area of flour grass in the field had turned yellow, which was particularly obvious against the surrounding green weeds.
He crossed the river specially to take a look at the fields.
The ears of wheatgrass were heavy and looked slightly larger than the ears of wheatgrass harvested in the wild last year.
Perhaps it was because the wheatgrass had not withered yet and had a high moisture content, or perhaps it was because they provided more fertilizer, the ears of wheatgrass were large this year.
Jian Mo reached out and grabbed an ear, put it between his teeth and took a bite.
The ear had grown completely hard, and it had the same texture as raw rice when bitten, indicating that it was really ripe, and not because the leaves had turned yellow for some reason.
Jian Mo simply cut a handful of ears, carried the fish in one hand and the ears in the other, and staggered home.
After feeding the tuo beast, Wu Jiong came back from the backyard and saw the ears of corn in his hand: "The ears seem to be growing well."
Jian Mo: "I think so too, look - they are heavy."
Wu Jiong took it and took a look: "Heavier than last year's ears of corn."
Jian Mo: "Yes, although it may be because it is raw and has more water in it, but it is so heavy, at least it shows that our work this year is not in vain."
Wu Jiong: "I didn't work very hard."
Jian Mo: "Then it's more or less I was busy for a while, letting the cubs help chase away insects and birds, and using spring thunder eggs as pesticides, and also bringing water and fertilizer to them..."
Counting on his fingers, Jian Mo looked at this hard-earned bunch of ears and said with emotion: "'Who knows that every grain of rice on the plate is hard-earned'."
The two went back to the kitchen to cook, and Wu Jiong asked: "What are you going to do with this bunch of ears?"
Jian Mo perked up: "Popcorn! Wait for me to show you how to make popcorn!"
Wu Jiong's face was full of confusion.
Jian Mo couldn't explain, so he had to move out the charcoal basin used for burning charcoal in winter, wash it with water, wipe it with the weeds beside the stove, and then put the ears in.
Wu Jiong: "Then?"
Jian Mo: "Cook first, and leave some charcoal fire after the rice is ready. I will use it later."
The two washed and cut together, and Jian Mo quickly made three dishes and a soup for breakfast.
After the rice was ready, Jian Mo used a large shovel to scoop out a shovel of ashes with sparks from the stove and poured it directly into the charcoal basin with the ears of popcorn.
Then, he took a large backpack and put it on the charcoal basin, leaving only his hands in the basket, slowly turning the stems of the ears of popcorn.
Wu Jiong squatted aside and watched him operate slowly with a mysterious smile on his face.
For a long time, there was no movement in the basket.
Jian Mo was a little suspicious whether the ears of popcorn he used were wrong, the water content was too high or the variety was wrong, so the popcorn could not be made.
In theory, plants such as wheat and rice can be used to make popcorn. Although the seeds of wheat and rice are a little smaller, it is not impossible to make popcorn.
Jian Mo was about to check it out when he suddenly heard a "bang" from the backpack, followed by a series of "bangs".
Wu Jiong immediately bent his waist and stretched out his hands to protect Jian Mo.
Jian Mo was also startled and let go of his hands, causing the backpack to "bang" and completely cover the charcoal basin.
When he reacted, Jian Mo was a little amused: "This is the popcorn I told you about."
Wu Jiong: "It makes a lot of noise."
Jian Mo: "Yes, so I brought a backpack over specially. Wait a minute, let me see how it's popping?"
As he said that, Jian Mo carefully lifted the backpack a little, and then saw small, light yellow popcorn on the edge of the basket.
He quickly reached out and grabbed a handful of the still hot popcorn: "Look! Success!"
The edges of the popcorn were a little burnt brown, with the aroma of grains, smelling very tempting.
Wu Jiong took one from his palm: "Eat it directly?"
Jian Mo threw one into his mouth: "Yes, just eat it and it's done."
As you chew it, the unique aroma of popcorn becomes stronger. Even without syrup, the sweet taste of the starch inside is very obvious. It is fragrant, sweet, and slightly hard, and tastes very good when chewed.
Jian Mo narrowed his eyes with a nostalgic look in his eyes: "I ate this when I was a child, but my grandparents wouldn't let me, for fear that it would hurt my eyes."
Wu Jiong: "Your snacks?"
Jian Mo: "Yes, there wasn't much for us to eat back then, and we wanted to stuff our mouths with any food we could get."
Wu Jiong: "It should be nice for the kids to eat it for fun."
Jian Mo waved his hand: "It's better not to teach them, let us adults keep it for fun, it would be bad if it hurts our eyes."
The grass seeds in the charcoal basin were still popping, and when the sound stopped a little, Jian Mo gently lifted the basket a little, grabbed the grass stalks and spun them to allow the grass seeds to fully come into contact with the sparks.
After waiting for a while, there was no more movement inside, so Jian Mo took away the backpack, picked up a piece of firewood and scraped off the ash, and scraped all the popcorn to the edge.
Jian Mo: "Some of them are a little burnt, but they should be delicious."
Wu Jiong: "Bring some for Jiujiu to taste."
Jian Mo agreed: "Okay."
Before he finished speaking, Jian Mo laughed again: "The popcorn made from this flour grass is so small, I don't know if it is enough to fill Jiujiu's teeth, maybe it can't taste anything."
Wu Jiong: "Then it can only taste the aroma."
Jian Mo laughed again.
After breakfast, they took sickles to harvest flour grass.
The flour grass was ripe, with the aroma of grains, but the seeds would not fall off because of their shaking.
Both of them were good at work and cut a large area at a time.
The cut flour grass was put into a pile, tied up, and transported to the other side of the river to dry.
With limited seeds, they didn't grow much flour grass, just a large field.
However, the amount of flour grass they cut exceeded their imagination. When they were dried in bundles, they were more than the wild vegetables they collected in half a month.
The free people in the tribe came to help, and when they saw this scene, they couldn't help but sigh: "You really planned the flour grass."
Jian Mo pounded his aching waist, looked at the flour grass and said: "It's indeed planned, and the seeds grown are also large. Let's study it. If we can plant it in the second half of the year, we will plant another crop."
Flour is really precious. If we plant one more crop, we should not be short of flour for the New Year this year.
In fact, it's just that there are not enough seeds. If there are enough seeds, Jian Mo would like to plant the whole riverside.
There is so much land along the river, and there are many people who can help. If there are enough seeds, they can plant a large area, and when they come back to harvest, they can probably eat noodles all year round, and they don't need to eat all kinds of stems.
Some stems taste good, but it must be said that some stems are really unpalatable.
Not only are they unpalatable, but they are also difficult to digest. Eating too much makes people feel sour in the stomach. If there is a choice, Jian Mo never wants to eat more of this stuff.
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