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Jian Mo: "I doubt it will work. This glue was given to us by the Forest Rock Tribe. Even if we go again, they won't make another batch just for us."

Wu Jiong understood this principle. "Then, shall we use the remaining materials to make cabinets according to our original method?"

Jian Mo: "Let me think... I think I know how to make regular glue."

Glue has a very long history on Earth. Before the advent of chemical glue, people used various animal glues.

Jian Mo had come into contact with the famous donkey-hide gelatin when she was in school.

Donkey-hide gelatin is actually glue made from donkey skin, just like cowhide glue. Essentially, it's a type of glue. However, people later discovered its ability to replenish qi and blood, so it was used as a medicine, and very few people use it as glue anymore.

Jian Mo knew about another type of animal glue—fish bladder glue.

This type of glue, like donkey-hide glue and cowhide glue, is made by boiling collagen to make it sticky and gelatinous.

Jian Mo briefly explained to Wu Jiong how to make fish maw, "It's been a while since we've had fish, let's go catch some fish and try making some fish maw?"

Wu Jiong: "Let's go to Green Marsh Source. It's been a while since I've been there."

Jian Mo had no objections. "If we catch a lot of fish, we can make a batch of fish balls. Freshly made fish balls are quite delicious."

Many people in the tribe also wanted to go fishing, so Wu Jiong made some arrangements and simply assembled a large group, leading a grand procession to Green Marsh Source to catch fish.

Upon arrival, the orcs and sub-orcs each used their strengths and quickly scooped up one plump fish after another.

They hadn't come here to catch fish together for almost half a year. There were so many big fish in the water that they could catch them one by one.

Before noon, all the baskets they brought were full.

Although no one particularly enjoys eating fish, everyone was all smiles after this haul.

Catching fish here yields a much greater harvest than hunting or gathering in the usual way.

Fortunately, the swamp here is covered with wild grass, some of which is particularly sturdy.

During their midday break, people cut some grass and twisted it into ropes.

After catching fish in the afternoon, they released the fish with eggs in their bellies that were about to hatch back into the water. The rest were simply lifted up by threading straw ropes through their gills and mouths and taken back to the tribe.

The fish we caught today were so fresh and plump that no one wanted to make them into preserved fish. So we set aside the fish we ate tonight and kept the rest in the river next to the village.

The next morning, most of the tribe came out to process the fish.

They kill, clean, and fillet the fish, then send them to the stone mortar to be pounded into fish paste, and finally make them into fish balls.

With everyone working together, the fish balls were made very quickly.

Jian Mo had previously taught everyone in the tribe how to make meatballs, and the same steps were used for fish balls.

Simply season the fish paste, shape it into balls, and cook it in hot water until it's half-cooked before taking it out.

The fish balls made from fresh fish are both fresh and bouncy, completely different from the fish balls Jian Mo bought on Earth.

Jian Mo tried cooking some fish balls and stem pieces together in a soup. After cooking, she added some chopped green onions. When she ate it, it was fresh and sweet, and tasted especially good.

Jiujiu especially loves fish balls; she can eat a whole bowl of them in one go.

Fish balls are easier to preserve than fish meat. It's okay if you can't finish them all at once. Whether you dry them in the sun or soak them in water in a bucket and change the water regularly, they can be preserved for a long time.

If anyone doesn't feel like cooking one day, they can just make fish ball soup; it's very convenient.

Fish bladders aren't needed for making fish balls, but everyone knows Jian Mo needs them for his cooking, so they specifically saved them for him.

After obtaining the fish maw, he cleaned off the surface debris, dried it outside in the sun, and then brought it back, soaked it in water to prepare it for making glue.

Wu Jiong: "If you're going to soak it in water, why sun-dry it?"

Jian Mo scratched her head. "I'm not quite sure either. I heard that fish maw glue is cooked like this, and it has to be cooked in a double boiler, otherwise it will burn."

Wu Jiong: "That sounds a bit complicated."

Jian Mo: "Yeah. Let's start tonight, stay up all night, and then stay up all night again tomorrow, that should be about right."

Jian Mo cut the fish maw into pieces, put them into a small earthenware pot, then put the small earthenware pot into a large earthenware pot, added water to both pots, and slowly simmered them.

He dared not use the metal pot at home to cook it, for fear that if he made a mistake in any step, he would break the metal pot.

The metal pot was practically the most important asset in his family; nothing could be ruined except the metal pot.

After a busy night and day, the fish maw that Jian Mo had been boiling had indeed melted, turning into a thick, whitish glue that looked a bit like paste.

He perked up and quickly pulled Wu Jiong along to assemble the cabinet using the freshly boiled fish maw glue.

Their assembly went relatively smoothly, except that the fish glue didn't dry as quickly as the glue provided by the Forest Rock Tribe. They used woodworking clamps to hold it in place, and by the next morning, the glue was mostly dry.

Jian Mo tried to pry it off, but the glue was quite strong; he couldn't break it off unless he used too much force.

This type of glue should be sufficient for everyday use.

However, this glue is far inferior to the glue from the Forest Rock Tribe.

The glue from the Forest Rock Tribe was so strong that even Wu Jiong and De Jiang couldn't break it off.

"Interesting," Jian Mo muttered to himself. "The glue from the Forest Rock Tribe is just too good; no wonder it's their secret recipe."

Wu Jiong walked over. "Perhaps this is their tribe's most treasured possession."

Jian Mo then noticed Wu Jiong's arrival and looked up, saying, "That's possible. Their glue must be the best among all the nearby tribes. No wonder Shu Guang still remembers it so fondly after all these decades."

Wu Jiong: "I reckon we'll remember this for decades to come."

Jian Mo: "No, no, no, if we couldn't make such a good glue, we'd remember it for the rest of our lives."

Wu Jiong patted him on the shoulder reassuringly.

Jian Mo sighed, "As expected, it's not so easy to surpass someone else's secret recipe."

Jian Mo looked up. "You said we should go and exchange the secret formula with the Forest Rock Tribe. Is there any chance we could get it?"