The two men went closer and saw that the tree hole was filled with all kinds of nuts.
There were plump, round pine nuts, hard-shelled chestnuts, and some wild fruits whose names I didn't know.
The nuts, stacked layer upon layer as if carefully arranged, shimmered with an enticing luster in the dim tree hollow.
"This must be the squirrel's winter food stash!"
Lu Fan suddenly realized and said with a smile, "It seems we've stumbled upon the squirrel's treasure trove by accident."
Looks like one squirrel is going to go hungry.
An Lan joked with a smile.
Lu Fan scratched his head and thought for a moment: "It's okay, there are plenty of nuts in this forest, and the squirrels must have other places to hide food."
As he spoke, Lu Fan reached into the tree hole and soon pulled out a handful of nuts.
[Wilderness Survival Announcement]
Chinese contestant Lu Fan triggers a 10,000-fold return.
【Nuts 46*】
【Pine Nuts 198*】
Chestnuts 40g*
...
These nuts vary in size, some still have their fresh shells on, and emit a faint fruity aroma.
Big Black also came over, sniffing the nuts curiously, wagging its tail even more enthusiastically, as if to say, "Master, what delicious things are these?"
"These pine nuts and chestnuts are great. We can roast them or grind them into powder to make pastries."
As Lu Fan spoke, he put the nuts into the basket on his back.
Anlan also joined the "treasure hunt," carefully taking the nuts out of the tree hole, afraid of breaking them.
"I never expected to have such a great harvest just from chopping firewood. This wilderness is full of surprises."
The two were busy when they suddenly heard a chirping sound.
They looked up and saw a little squirrel standing on a branch, looking at them angrily, its tail wagging incessantly as if in protest.
"Haha, this must be the squirrel's owner coming back and finding out we're taking its treasures, so it's angry."
Lu Fan smiled and said to the little squirrel, "Little guy, don't be angry. We only took a little. We left a lot for you."
The little squirrel seemed not to understand him, and continued to jump around on the branches, chirping incessantly.
Big Black was also attracted by the squirrel's calls and barked a few times at the tree, scaring the squirrel into hiding behind it.
"Big Black, stop barking, you're scaring the little squirrels away," An Lan quickly stopped Big Black.
While "confronting" the little squirrel, Lu Fan and An Lan continued digging into the tree hole.
They divided the nuts into two piles, and Lu Fan grabbed a handful and put them back into the tree hole.
In no time, the basket was full of nuts, and there was still a handful in the tree hole, which looked like dozens of nuts.
"Alright, that's enough. We should go now and not disturb the little squirrel."
As Lu Fan spoke, he put the last handful of nuts into his basket.
Carrying the dried goods and the firewood they had chopped, the two hummed a little tune and walked briskly back to the shelter.
Big Black followed behind them, running around happily from time to time, as if it too was excited about this unexpected gain.
Upon returning to the shelter, Lu Fan was like a master chef about to unleash his culinary skills.
He put the firewood aside, rolled up his sleeves, and looked at the fresh chestnuts and plump pheasants. The tempting image of chestnut stir-fried chicken already appeared in his mind.
"Anlan, today I'll let you try my signature dish—chestnut stir-fried chicken. It's a fusion of nature's bounty, guaranteed to make your taste buds dance!"
An Lan smiled and nodded, then began to help wash the ingredients.
Lu Fan took out half a chicken from the storage room and muttered to himself as he processed it.
"This pheasant must have eaten plenty of good food in this wilderness, so its meat must be firm and chewy. Combined with the chestnuts we found, this dish is a match made in heaven."
He cut the pheasant into evenly sized pieces and put them into the boiling oil. Instantly, the oil sizzled and the aroma of the meat filled the air.
While waiting for the chicken to fry until golden brown, Lu Fan started preparing the chestnuts.
It took him a lot of effort to remove the chestnut shells, and he complained as he peeled them: "These chestnut shells are really hard, although they're not as hard as mine."
After finally peeling the chestnuts, he poured them into the pot and stir-fried them with the chicken.
With the addition of various seasonings, the aroma becomes even more intense.
An Lan couldn't help but swallow hard, and said with a smile, "Lu Fan, your cooking skills are really amazing."
Lu Fan smiled at An Lan: "Actually, cooking is all about applying knowledge to different dishes. Once you can skillfully cook a few dishes, you can roughly recreate other dishes after you've seen them before, although the taste may not be comparable to those of master chefs."
Soon, the stir-fried chicken with chestnuts was ready.
The golden-brown chicken paired with soft and chewy chestnuts is an enticing sight that makes your mouth water.
The two sat in the shelter, enjoying the delicious food, while Big Black watched longingly from the side, occasionally making "woof woof" sounds.
Suddenly, Dahei's ears perked up, and Lu Fan looked at Dahei, who had suddenly become alert, with some surprise.
Just then, the Heavenly Dao notification sounded.
The Monkey King arrived at the sanctuary.
Lu Fan looked up and, sure enough, the Monkey King was standing at the door, sticking his head out to probe.
Its eyes were fixed on the chicken in front of Lu Fan, its gaze filled with longing.
It turned out that after eating the cooked meat that Lu Fan gave it, it couldn't forget it, so it couldn't help but follow Lu Fan to the shelter.
An Lan also saw the Monkey King: "What's it doing here? Does it want to see us?"
"I guess they were attracted by the delicious food I made," Lu Fan guessed.
Lu Fan picked up a piece of chicken and handed it to the Monkey King, saying with a smile, "Then you can have some too."
As a result, the Monkey King immediately turned around and ran away.
Lu Fan: ?
An Lan looked at Lu Fan holding the chicken blankly and couldn't help but laugh: "Looks like it was just passing by."
After we finished eating, the sun was still high in the sky.
Lu Fan decided to spread out these dried goods to air dry.
He found a clean, flat spot and spread the various nuts evenly on it, allowing them to be evenly exposed to the sunlight.
Seeing Lu Fan's serious expression, An Lan couldn't help but tease him, "The way you're doing this, it's like you're drying a pile of gold instead of nuts."
Lu Fan said in a serious tone, "These nuts are no different from gold. In this wilderness, their value is even greater than that of gold."
During the drying process, Lu Fan would occasionally turn the nuts over to check if any were spoiled.
As he flipped through the nuts, he explained to Anlan, "Did you know that drying nuts is a skill? If you dry them too much, they will lose moisture and become shriveled."
If it's not dried enough, it's prone to mold and spoilage. So you need to find the right balance, just like in life—not too much, not too little.
An Lan listened with great interest. Men are truly amazing creatures; they can even glean life lessons from drying nuts.
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