"Chang Xia, come here a minute—"
It was nearing noon.
Suddenly, Nan Feng's voice came from the beast lair.
"Nan Feng is here," Nuan Chun said, putting down the wicker basket. "She should be here with the yam. She went to the brush early in the morning. Many of her people went with her. She should have finished digging all the yam in the wasteland in the next two days."
"Come, let's go over." Chang Xia nodded and called for Nuan Chun to return to the beast lair together. It was almost noon, and they could go home to rest and prepare lunch.
"Sure," Nuan Chun said.
She wasn't tired, but the sun was too warm and comfortable for sleep.
"Chen Rong, take a break. We'll go back to the beast lair to prepare lunch. Come back early later." Chang Xia turned and shouted at Chen Rong, reminding him to rest.
"All right," Chen Rong replied.
In front of the beast lair, Nan Feng unloaded four baskets of yams. Among them, three baskets were brought over by Nan Feng. The forest was a huge wasteland, and it would take the tribe three to four days to dig up all the yams.
"That's a lot…" Chang Xia gasped.
Nan Feng explained, "I dug up a basket. These three baskets are from the tribe. They said they were for you and the shaman to try."
"A little too much. The yams spoil easily and are not easy to store." Chang Xia frowned, her head aching as she looked at the four large baskets of yams and thought about what to do with them. It would be shameful to waste food.
The yam was as thick as an adult's arm and a meter long.
It was obvious that the four baskets of yams had definitely been selected. Otherwise, it was impossible for them to be so neat.
"So what do we do?"
"The tribe dug up a lot of yams."
Hearing this, Nan Feng became anxious.
Cherishing food was something every beast knew. The fact was that yams could be eaten to enrich the tribe's diet.
But it would be shameful to waste it!
"Bring them back to the tribe and put them away first. Don't dig in the shrub forest for the time being. Wait until the tribe's stockpile is finished." Chang Xia thought for a moment and gave a plan as she thought about the yam dishes such as stewed chicken, stewed meat, yam cake…
Soon.
A long line of thoughts flashed through Chang Xia's mind.
"Nan Feng. Let's move the yam to the back of the beast lair."
With that, Chang Xia called for Nan Feng to move the yams to the back of the beast lair for storage. There was a small straw shed at the back that her clansmen had built when they helped clean up the beast lair. It was usually used to store firewood and miscellaneous items.
It was just enough to store the yams and avoid exposure to the sun.
After moving the yams, the three of them fetched water and washed their faces and hands.
"You didn't pick with the group today, Nuan Chun?" Nan Feng asked.
Nuan Chun replied, "No. There are wild herbs, yams, and bird eggs at home. Shan Kun went hunting, so he doesn't lack food for the time being. I want to see Chang Xia build the house cave and learn from her."
This was someone who wanted to compete with her.
"You've decided?" Nan Feng was aggrieved.
"Mmmm!" Nuan Chun said, rubbing his belly. "My babies will be born during the rainy season. I'm afraid of accidents. It should be safer if I live in a house cave."
Hearing this, Nan Feng fell silent.
This concerned her children's safety, so how could she argue with Nuan Chun?!
It seemed that she had to learn the method of building the house cave as soon as possible with Chang Xia. This way, she could build the house cave herself without Chang Xia's help.
Nan Feng heaved a sigh of relief at the thought.
They chatted while the fire was lit for lunch.
The tribe used to eat two meals, and ever since Chang Xia said three meals a day…
Slowly…
The tribe followed Chang Xia and ate three meals a day.
"Chang Xia, do you want to eat a pancake at noon?"
Chang Xia started preparing lunch. Nan Feng was no longer depressed and squeezed in front of Chang Xia to ask what to eat for lunch. In the past, she only thought about eating when she was hungry, but now, she was thinking about eating before it was time.
Sure enough, good food decided the meal.
"Nan Feng, do you want some powdered fruit pancakes?" Chang Xia asked after a slight pause. There wasn't much powdered fruit left at home, but there should be enough for lunch. However, seeing the yams, Chang Xia wanted to try the yams.
Unfortunately, the tribe had no sugar.
Still, the saltiness tasted good.
Chang Xia did not abstain from eating, whether it was salty or sweet.
"May I?" Nan Feng asked.
The powdered fruit pancakes that Root had brought home were all given to the Mu Qin.
By the time Nan Feng found out about the fruit powdered pancakes, they were already gone.
Chang Xia smiled. "Sure. There are a lot of yams. I want to try yams and powdered fruits. At noon, I'll have yams and stewed meat."
"Okay, what do we need to do?"
Instantly, Nan Feng and Nuan Chun were full of energy.
"You help wash some yams, peel and slice them. I'll wash the clay pot, steam the yams in the pot, add the powdered fruit and the bird's eggs…"
The half body of meat that Nan Feng had brought had already been eaten.
Fortunately, the clansmen had sent a lot of food yesterday. Apart from fried meat, Chang Xia had left a small portion. It was just enough to stew yams. Actually, yams and stewed chicken tasted very good and could also strengthen the spleen and stomach.
However, she had to busy herself with the construction of the house cave.
For the time being, she could not find time to catch pheasants in the reeds of the White Lake.
The beasts rarely caught poultry such as pheasants and wild ducks. They had little meat and were difficult to deal with. Even though the chickens and ducks in the Pheasant Forest were a size larger than the ones Chang Xia knew, they were still too small in the eyes of their people.
Occasionally, naughty cubs of the tribe used them to practice their hunting skills.
Apart from that, they rarely took the initiative to hunt.
The three of them worked together. Soon, the fragrance of cooked yams came from the stone pot. It was fresh, sweet, and smelled similar.
"Smells good!"
"Smells good. I can still smell the sweetness."
The beasts liked sweetness, though not as much as the bears.
Most beasts loved sweets.
Unfortunately, it was too difficult to obtain honey. It was not easy to eat sweet things, so the beasts would occasionally pick the stamens of some plants to suck.
"Not so fast. It's not steamed yet." Black lines appeared on Chang Xia's face as she pushed them away. "Nan Feng," she said, "pull the bloody froth out of the stone pot and boil it a few more times. Put the yam chunks in to simmer."
She wants to make a yam fruit powder cake, and leave the yam stew to Nan Feng. Nuan Chun was marinating the meat, and Chang Xia was worried that it wouldn't be enough to eat, so she added roasted meat.
Apart from taking care of Chen Rong, Chang Xia calculated that Ya Dong and Shan Kun might come over.
Hunting in the warm season was not difficult. The clansmen usually went out early in the morning and returned to the tribe around noon. In the afternoon, they would rest in the tribe or go near the tribe to pick with the females.
Overall, life in the beast race was relatively leisurely.
Of course, the cold rainy season was an exception.
The steamed yams were taken out to be cooled, crushed into mud, and added with fruit powder. A little salt and shrimp powder were added to enhance the taste, and the mixture was mixed with yam powder.
After some thought, Chang Xia found a few sour fruits, some wild vegetables, and small pieces of meat.
Sour fruits were pitted and chopped
The wild vegetables were chopped and the meat was cut into pieces.
The stone pot was heated and filled with oil. Ginger was added, and meat grains and wild vegetables were added to stir-fry. Salt was added, and shrimp powder was added.
Sour fruits were different from meat and wild vegetables.
Chang Xia wanted to try which tasted better.
Of course, it was more a matter of trying to make the white fruit more edible. There was no shortage of white fruit in the Twilight Forest. If the white fruit could become a staple of the beast race, Chang Xia was confident that it could evolve the beast race from a primitive way of survival to an era of slash and burn farming.
Food was always the first key.
When the sour fruit and meat fillings were ready, Chang Xia brought the yam powder over and poured it into the size of a baby's fist. She then added the sour fruit and meat fillings and gently pressed them into the shape of pancakes.
Then, she wrapped it in some fruit powder and fried it in warm oil.
The sizzling sound, accompanied by the rich fragrance of yam, quickly wafted into the wind.
Beside her, Nan Feng and Nuan Chun swallowed hard. Even Chen Rong took the initiative to walk back from the west slope.
It smelled good.
It was so tempting that it made her mouth water.
"Chang Xia, can I have a taste?"
Immediately, three different voices spoke at once.
Chang Xia looked up and was speechless. It was just a yam fruit powder pancake. Was it that exaggerated?!