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Xie Juanhan: "Once it's cooked, pour in the wine. It'll be fragrant, sweet, soft, and a little slippery—"

The furry creatures' ear tips twitched even more violently.

Xie Juanhan looked out from the door frame, taking in their every move, and his smile deepened.

Making these solid sweet rice balls is very simple.

If you have glutinous rice flour, just mix it in and roll it into balls.

For this type of ordinary rice, the rice flour needs to be scalded with boiling water first, then mixed with starch and powdered sugar and kneaded together to prevent it from falling apart during cooking.

Soon, the meatballs were ready, and the water was boiling.

Xie Juanhan poured an appropriate amount of meatballs into boiling water, and after they were slightly cooked, he gently pushed them apart.

After the meatballs floated to the surface, Xie Juanhan asked Telingewei to extinguish the firewood and simply cover the pot to simmer the meatballs.

The sweet aroma had already begun to waft out.

Harper and the others have a very keen sense of smell.

Smelling the rich, sweet aroma, they had no desire to lie down at all; instead, they all rolled over and sat up straight, squatting properly at the doorway.

Xie Juanhan turned his head and saw their adorable figures squatting in a row.

The little ones were squatting so upright that Xie Juanhan opened the pot lid, took out Yuri Berry wine, and specially used a clean large spoon to scoop three large spoonfuls of the sweet berry wine into the pot.

That's not all.

He scooped in a large spoonful of powdered sugar and spread it out, and also added a handful of dried flowers specifically for making tea.

"It's ready to eat--" Xie Juanhan announced.

"Awooo!" The little ones immediately turned and ran, scrambling to grab their food bowls, "Awooo!"

Telingewei glanced at them, took the food bowl away to wash it, and then breathed out a mouthful of Dragon Flame.

The golden bowl instantly became shiny and clear, without a single drop of water.

Xie Juanhan then placed the bowl on the tray and scooped local-style sweet rice balls into it.

The little ones' eyes followed Xie Juanhan's hand, not only looking forward to this new dessert, but also wanting to find the bowl with the most filling.

Xie Juanhan's hands were extremely steady; not only was there the same amount of sugar water in the bowl, but the number of meatballs was also exactly the same.

He cooled the sugar water to a suitable drinking temperature before distributing it to the children. "Try it, it's similar to a local specialty from my hometown."

As soon as Telingewei put the food bowls down, the little ones immediately started eating with a "plop, plop" sound.

Xie Juanhan's meatballs were cooked until they were translucent, and tasted sweet, smooth, soft, and glutinous.

Take a bite of the meatball, then a sip of the sweet soup.

The syrup is fragrant with Yuri Berry liqueur and dried flower petals, and each sip is both sweet and warming.

These rich, sweet sap flowed like streams in the forest, gushing down into Harper's throats as he and his companions ate with gusto.

They couldn't help but squint their eyes happily, making a "purring" sound in their throats.

Xie Juanhan served two more bowls to him and Telingewei.

He did not use a gold bowl, but rather a thin-walled porcelain vessel he had bought in Teme Port.

White, translucent dumplings float in the golden-red sweet syrup. I gently scooped one up with a spoon and tasted it; it was fragrant and sweet.

You can barely taste the alcohol in it; there are only various warm, blended aromas.

The meatballs were also delicious, smooth on the outside and chewy on the inside, with the aroma of rice and a slightly chewy texture.

Xie Juanhan blew on the sugar water in the spoon and took another sip.

In this early spring season, it's definitely a good time to drink this kind of sweet soup.

Xie Juanhan looked at Telingewei: "How is it?"

"Delicious," Telingewei commented, adding, "One jar of wine can be used to make this syrup many times."

Xie Juanhan's eyes crinkled into a smile, "Yes, the aroma won't be lost when it's made into a sweet soup, it's perfect."

Telingewei nodded. "To save costs."

The little ones didn't care what they were talking about; they were all engrossed in eating.

They all saw that there was still half a pot of sugar water left in the pot.

If you eat fast enough, you can still have another bowl after you finish!

However, before the little ones had finished their bowl of sugar water, a "click-clack" sound suddenly came from outside the yard.

The first thing Harper and the others did upon hearing the sound was exclamation, "Chirp?"

They buried their heads and quickened their eating pace.

Moli took a beat to react. "Awoo?"

Nibote couldn't react at all, but that didn't stop him from speeding up and finishing the rest of the sugar water in a few bites.

"Chirp!" Haxi finished drinking first, picked up the food bowl and rushed to the kitchen, indicating that he wanted another bowl.

The other Companion Beast followed suit.

Seeing their hurried manner, Xie Juanhan knew they were worried about giving the remaining syrup to the guests.

He didn't expose them, but simply took their food bowls, filled another bowl for each little guy, and thoughtfully cooled the sugar water to a temperature that was just right for them to drink.

The Tata Fish were calling out loudly outside, "Click, click, click!"

"Coming!" Xie Juanhan responded, and together with Telingewei, they carried four clean buckets out.

"Long time no see." Xie Juanhan looked at the Tata Fish swimming anxiously in circles in the water and said with a smile, "You've arrived very early."

"Click-clack."

"Thank you for your hard work. Can we trade meat and seaweed for fish milk again this time?"

"Click."

Seeing that the Tata Fish had agreed, Xie Juanhan placed the buckets one by one on the water's surface and tilted them slightly.

The Tata Fish took turns swimming over and squeezing their milk into the bucket.

Xie Juanhan and Telingewei had exchanged fish milk with the Tata Fish many times, so they were very familiar with the process.

This time, they exchanged for three and a half buckets of fish milk.

Telingewei placed the bucket filled with fish milk on the riverbank.

Xie Juanhan reached out and touched the raised forehead of the first Tata Fish: "Wait a moment, we'll go prepare the meat and seaweed."

The Tata Fish: "Click-clack."

They agreed, but their eyes kept darting towards the kitchen.

A sweet and fragrant aroma!

Xie Juanhan could tell what they were thinking just by looking at their little expressions, and asked with a smile, "Can you smell the aroma? We're cooking sweet rice balls, would you like to try some?"

Several Tata Fish bobbed their heads vigorously in the water, splashing up a large patch of river water.

Xie Juanhan: "Wait a moment, I'll go cook."

After a long winter of hard work, the Tata Fish are much thinner than they were last autumn.

Xie Juanhan looked at the thin Tata Fish and softened his voice. "This time, we don't need to change the fish milk for the sweet wine dumplings. We'll still pay for the seaweed and meat as agreed before."

The Tata Fish exclaimed with delight, "Click-clack!"

Xie Juanhan and Telingewei split up into two groups: one went to cook the remaining sweet rice balls, and the other went to gather water plants.

Soon, Xie Juanhan cooked a new pot of sweet rice wine dumplings.

He not only gave some to the Tata Fish, but also gave Harper and the others another bowl.

Harper and the others looked at the bowl full of fragrant and sweet rice balls and had no complaints whatsoever.

The Tata Fish were quickly won over by this peculiar little sweet water.

They love both its abundant energy and its sweet and fragrant taste.

They ate in circles in the river, wagging their tails like little dogs.

Xie Juanhan and Telingewei will prepare the aquatic plants and meat for them.

Seeing the large bundles of water plants and animal meat, they were even happier.

Xie Juanhan asked, "Do you want to go back now, or stay here and play for a while?"

The Tata Fish chose the latter without hesitation.

"Click-clack?" The Tata Fish looked expectantly at the furry creatures in the water.

It means asking, "Want to go out and have some fun?"

Harper and the others readily agreed, "Chirp!"

The little ones on both sides quickly ran upstream to play.

Moli and Nibote excitedly ran after him.

Xie Juanhan watched them go and smiled.

Previously, Xie Juanhan didn't care where the little ones went to play.

Ever since the Tata Fish got lost in the sea while carrying Harper and the others, Xie Juanhan has forbidden them from playing in the sea.

To prevent them from getting lost again, it would be terrible if they fell into the sea in this cold weather.

Xie Juanhan withdrew his gaze. "There's so much fish milk this time."

Telingewei: "The quality is good too."

Telingewei was examining the fish milk.

He used to feed the Tata Fish with meat marinated in strong liquor when milking them, and then milk them after they were drunk.

The fish milk squeezed out that way would have a slightly bitter taste due to the influence of strong liquor, and would not be as rich and fragrant as it is now.

Telingewei looked at Xie Juanhan.

Xie Juanhan: "What are you looking at?"

Telingewei: "You've brought about many amazing changes since you came here."

Xie Juanhan: "That's right, I am a powerful dragon after all, and wherever I go, I will have an impact on the local area."

"Speaking of which, if the Tata Fish are willing to cooperate with us long-term, we won't need to raise dairy cows," Xie Juanhan said, looking at the fish milk. "We still need to treat the Tata Fish better."

They have a long-term partnership with the Tata Fish, which saves them the trouble of raising dairy cows in enclosures and allows them to obtain higher-quality milk.

It's rare to find such a high-quality collaborator; we must cherish and maintain this relationship.

After examining the fish milk, Xie Juanhan said, "There's a lot of fish milk this time. Shall we extract some cream?"

Telingewei: "For making pastries?"

Xie Juanhan: "You can use it to make pastries, or store it for cooking."

Fish milk is very thick and rich, with a much higher fat content than regular cow's milk.

After they are churned, they produce a buttery, creamy substance with a rich, fragrant flavor that makes everything taste delicious.

As for fish milk with most of the fat removed, it can be used to make pastries, boil sugar water, or even drink it like water, so nothing is wasted.

Xie Juanhan and Telingewei poured the fish milk into the churning bucket and stirred it slowly.

The stirring process should not be too vigorous, otherwise the quality of the finished product will be reduced.