A Long Journey

Jian Mo smiled. "It can. We have quite a few foods made with lye water where I come from."

Lye-water zongzi, lye-water noodles and the like—he had made them as a child, and they tasted pretty good.

What he remembered most clearly was his grandmother making konjac tofu with lye water.

Konjac had such a peculiar taste, yet after being stirred with lye water and cooked, it became delicious. It was truly amazing.

He just didn't know whether this magical cooking method would improve the flour fruit.

Wu Jiong was skeptical about the lye water, but he said nothing and came over to help.

Jian Mo copied what he remembered his grandmother doing. Together, he and Wu Jiong ground up the flour fruit, mixed it with lye water into a paste, divided it into pieces, and put them in a pot to boil.

He didn't know whether it was the lye water or the boiling that worked.

The flour fruit paste solidified in the boiling water, taking on a texture like a flour cake.

Jian Mo scooped some out and sniffed it. The strange smell did seem weaker.

They changed the water several times and boiled it for half the night, then scooped out the cooked flour fruit cakes and put them in a large basin full of cool water to soak.

Jian Mo planned to soak them for another day and deal with them tomorrow.

Jian Mo pounded his aching lower back and prepared to go upstairs, but when he turned around, he saw Wu Jiong still staring at the flour fruit cakes. He couldn't help asking, "What's wrong?"

Wu Jiong said, "When we put them in to soak just now, I pinched off a corner and tasted it. It's edible now."

Jian Mo smiled. "It was edible before. It just didn't taste good."

Wu Jiong turned to look at him.

He waved a hand. "All right, all right, I won't argue. Before, beastmen with sensitive palates couldn't swallow it, but now they finally can, right?"

Wu Jiong nodded.

Jian Mo said, "It might be a little better tomorrow. Then I'll pick some spices and stir-fry it, and see if I can cover up the strange taste completely."

Wu Jiong nodded again. "Get to bed early."

Jian Mo said, "I'm going now."

He walked to the foot of the ladder and was about to climb up when he suddenly stopped. "Um, do you want to come upstairs to sleep?"

Wu Jiong looked over.

Jian Mo held on to the ladder and spoke faster. "It's getting cold, and it's a little damp down here. Sleeping here for a long time probably isn't good for you. There's plenty of room on the second floor. You can sleep on one side and I can sleep on the other. There's enough space."

After hearing him out, Wu Jiong said, "In a couple of days, when I have some free time, I'll air my bedding in the sun and move upstairs."

Jian Mo nodded repeatedly and quickly climbed upstairs on his hands and feet.

The first thing Jian Mo did when he got up the next morning was check on the flour fruit cakes.

After repeated soaking, rinsing, grinding, boiling and soaking again, the flour fruit cakes had almost no strange smell left. Instead, they mostly had the light sweetness of starch and the fresh fragrance peculiar to plants.

Jian Mo tasted a piece. If he ignored that tiny bit of strange flavor, it tasted all right.

In fact, they ate wild vegetables and roots and tubers, many of which were bitter or had a coarse texture that scraped their throats. They didn't taste as good as the carefully prepared flour fruit cakes.

Wu Jiong came in from outside. Seeing him crouched beside the basin, he walked over too, scooped up a corner of flour fruit cake and tasted it.

Jian Mo's eyes shone as he asked, "How is it?"

Wu Jiong said, "Before, I thought flour fruit couldn't be eaten. Now it seems we might just not have known how to eat it."

That was high praise. Jian Mo smiled. "Wait a moment. I'll go outside and pick some Sour-Sour Fruit and cool leaves. It'll taste even better stir-fried."

Having been in this world for so long, Jian Mo knew exactly what grew where around the tribe. He no longer had to go into the forest every time he needed spices.

Wu Jiong said, "I'll go with you."

The two went outside and gathered the accompanying ingredients. Once they returned, Jian Mo scooped out a piece of flour fruit cake and sliced it, then stir-fried it on the stone slab with cured lean meat, Sour-Sour Fruit, cool leaves, shellfish powder and other ingredients.

The stir-fried flour fruit cake was soft and chewy, with a fragrant sourness and a coating of sauce. Its texture made a sharp contrast with the other ingredients.

Wu Jiong could no longer taste the strange flavor in it. All he could taste was the carefully seasoned sauce, and it was quite delicious.

Jian Mo held a piece of flour fruit cake in his chopsticks and stared at it.

Wu Jiong asked, "What's wrong?"

Jian Mo said, "This tastes like a snack I used to eat."

Wu Jiong also stared at the flour fruit cake. "What's a snack?"

Jian Mo thought for a moment. "A kind of food you eat between meals to satisfy a craving? The point is satisfying a craving, and this flour fruit cake really does that."

There were still plenty of flour fruit cakes on the stone slab.

Jian Mo couldn't resist and dished some out onto a large plate. "I'll let Zhou Fu and the others try it too, and see what they think of the flour fruit cake."

Wu Jiong caught hold of him as he started to leave. "Finish eating first. It won't matter if you wait a little."

Chapter 17: A Long Journey

After hurrying through breakfast, Jian Mo wrapped a large bundle of flour fruit cakes in a big leaf and went to the clearing, hoping to let the others try them too.

Several of the tribe's sub-beastmen were waiting there for their companions, preparing to head out gathering.

Jian Mo walked toward the group of sub-beastmen he knew.

Zhou Fu saw him and raised a hand in greeting. "What are you holding?"

Jian Mo walked over and opened the leaf to show them. "It's a new food I made. Have a taste and see if you can tell what it is."

Hearing that, Zhou Fu immediately reached out to pinch off a piece of flour fruit cake.

Jian Mo turned aside to avoid him and called out, "Wait! I brought skewers."

Zhou Fu muttered, "Skewers are hard to carve too. Wouldn't it be better to save them for next time? My hands aren't dirty."

Jian Mo didn't answer. He just smiled and held out the skewers and flour fruit cakes a little farther.

Everyone picked up a skewer, speared a piece of flour fruit cake and tasted it carefully.

Soon, looks of surprise appeared on their faces one after another.

Jian Mo asked, "Can you tell what it is?"

Zhou Fu sucked on his skewer and shook his head. "Forget telling what it is. I can't even tell whether it's meat or a tuber."

The others began discussing it:

"It seems like meat, maybe the skin? Otherwise it wouldn't be so smooth and springy."

"I don't think it's meat. Meat isn't that tender."

"If it isn't meat, what is it? It has such a rich flavor."

Seeing that none of them had guessed, Jian Mo was just about to reveal the answer.