Page 49

Qing Kuo asked, "Will drying them like this affect how you make Flour Fruit cakes?"

Jian Mo studied the Flour Fruit and said, "Probably not. They were only dried in the sun; they haven't rotted or anything. Once we carry them back and soak them in water, they'll be the same."

Relieved, Qing Kuo said, "Then let's get ready to head back."

At Qing Kuo's word, everyone gathered up the Flour Fruit and packed it into baskets, ready to leave.

Jian Mo wanted to help too, but everyone said he was a good cook and insisted on settling him by the fire pit they had just made, asking him to make breakfast. They also assigned a few people to help him.

There was plenty of fish and beast meat left over from the night before. Jian Mo looked it over and decided to heat it up, then roast the wild vegetables and fruits they had gathered just yesterday in the ashes and mix everything together.

The sub-beastmen helping him had never seen this cooking method before, but they had no objections to what Jian Mo was doing. They even found it amazing:

"Just roast it in the ashes and peel off the skin, and it's done? That's so easy!"

"I was just saying yesterday that the roast meat and fish were too dry. I didn't expect them to taste so good mixed with wild vegetables and fruit."

"This sour, salty flavor is so good! I'm going to make it again when I get back!"

Jian Mo smiled as he listened to everyone, though he regretted that there were no chili peppers here.

If there had been chilies, he could have roasted some and mashed them into a sauce, then mixed in the vegetables, fruit, meat, and fish. The taste would surely have been incredible.

The others knew nothing of Jian Mo's regret and were already very satisfied with the breakfast.

After eating, everyone packed up, tidied the temporary camp, and hurried back to the tribe.

As soon as they returned, they put the peeled Flour Fruit into baskets and placed them in the river, weighing the baskets down with large stones so the current wouldn't carry the fruit away.

Watching the ceaseless flow of the river, Jian Mo had a feeling that leaving the fruit in it would work better.

The large volume of river water should dilute more of the unpleasant smell from the Flour Fruit.

But there was no telling yet. They would have to wait a few days and see.

The weather was growing colder, and winter was nearly upon them. Their food stores were still not very plentiful, so everyone was seizing the last opportunity to stockpile as much as they could.

The beastmen were spending longer and longer out hunting, and the sub-beastmen were spending more time gathering as well.

Before, everyone had taken turns resting or left the main group to go out separately with friends, partners, and the like. Now they no longer did so, instead making the most of their time by working with the main group.

To Jian Mo, it felt a little like the rush to harvest and plant during the busy farming season when he was a child. Time was tight in both cases.

The Flour Fruit had soaked in the river for several days, but they hadn't found the time to process it. That day, Zhou Fu brought Xi Lu to find Jian Mo and told him that the Flour Fruit had soaked long enough.

Zhou Fu said seriously, "I pulled some out and couldn't smell anything unpleasant with my beast nose. I think it's ready."

Hearing that, Jian Mo said, "Then let's make some cakes tonight and try them."

Zhou Fu's eyes shone. "Can we stay and watch too?"

Jian Mo smiled. "Of course. I was going to ask Qing Kuo and the others to come help anyway, so I can show everyone how to process the Flour Fruit."

Zhou Fu immediately said, "I'll go get them. You rest here for a bit."

Zhou Fu pulled Xi Lu along as they ran off to find the others, while Jian Mo and Wu Jiong took some of the soaking Flour Fruit out of the river.

The fruit had swollen considerably and felt soft to the touch. A light grind was enough to crush it into a pulp.

Jian Mo rubbed some pulp between his fingers. "Using a stone mortar is a bit troublesome. When we have time, let's see if we can find some suitable stones by the river and make a stone mill."

Wu Jiong said, "A stone mill?"

Jian Mo gestured with his hands. "It's two large, round stones stacked on top of each other, with a hole in the middle of the top stone. Whatever you want to grind, you put it in the hole, then turn the stone, and it grinds it up."

Wu Jiong understood. "Our tribe doesn't have one, but the Mengshui Tribe has a water mill. They sometimes use it to grind roots and tubers."

Jian Mo remembered all at once. "Is it near where they bathe? I saw some large stones there that day. They looked like they'd been chiseled, but I couldn't go over for a closer look."

Wu Jiong said, "That's the one. They have plenty of stone over there. When we have time, we'll go trade for a couple of pieces."

"All right," said Jian Mo. "There won't be much to do in winter anyway, so we can process the food we've gathered."

Many households in the tribe still hadn't stored enough food, but that wasn't a problem for Wu Jiong's household. A beastman as strong as him had more food at home than most, more than he could finish even with Jian Mo there.

Much of the food had been dried and hung from the roof beams. Jian Mo had looked at it while cooking, and it could be processed further.

While they were talking, Qing Kuo arrived with the sub-beastmen.

When they heard the Flour Fruit would be processed that evening, everyone came without hesitation to help and learn.

Jian Mo wasted no words. Once everyone had arrived, they carried the Flour Fruit together, added lye water and pounded it into a pulp, then scooped it out, kneaded it into masses, shaped them, cut them into pieces, and boiled them in a large pot.

Once boiled, the Flour Fruit pulp quickly set into cakes. The translucent grayish-brown pieces looked quite appetizing.

They boiled three batches in succession, and Jian Mo broke the cakes apart and shared them with everyone to taste.

Even without another soaking, the Flour Fruit cakes had almost no unpleasant flavor, only a faint, fresh fragrance unique to lye water.

Eating a piece, Qing Kuo said thoughtfully, "If all Flour Fruit cakes taste like this, then it's truly a perfect food to store for winter."

Ordinary tubers had a limited shelf life even when kept somewhere cool and dry. If stored too long, they would either spoil or become very unpleasant to eat.

Flour Fruit was different. Its thick skin kept it from spoiling for a long time, and judging by how hard it became when dried, it could probably be stored for eight or ten years.

Jian Mo said, "Maybe it's because we dried it before soaking it. The sunlight and river water both carried away its unpleasant smell."

Qing Kuo nodded.

Jian Mo glanced at Wu Jiong, and seeing no sign that he objected, said, "Why don't you all stay here for dinner tonight? I'll make a stew with the Flour Fruit cakes, and we can see if they taste even better that way."