I've been transported to the orc continent.

This afternoon, the beastmen did not go to dig for cassava.

They've dug up quite a lot of cassava; it's piled up like a mountain in the square, and they need to distribute it to the tribespeople.

The cassava with rotten skin should be eaten first. The remaining cassava should be divided into two parts: one part should be used as food reserves for the tribe, and the other part should be distributed among the beastmen.

Zhan and a few old orcs were in charge of distributing the cassava. Each orc spent half a day digging for cassava, which counted as one portion. There were no scales or measuring tools in the tribe, so the amount of each portion was entirely determined by Zhan and the old orcs. Some orcs received more, and some received less. The orcs didn't seem to care at all, laughing and joking as they distributed the cassava.

The tribe is surrounded by low hills with many caves. Each household in the tribe has a place in a cave to store their food.

The orcs who received cassava would carry it in baskets to their own caves, then return to watch the chieftain distribute cassava to the other orcs.

Orcs who didn't participate in labor wouldn't get cassava, but they didn't need to worry. If they ran out of food in winter, they could do what they could for the tribe in exchange for food.

In the past two and a half days, the cassava in that valley has not been completely dug up. Zhan decided that the group will not go to dig cassava together tomorrow. Winter is coming soon, and we need to start preparing firewood for the winter.

Excluding underage orcs, elderly orcs, disabled orcs, and those assigned to guard the territory, all other orcs had to collect firewood for the tribe. Zhan divided the able-bodied orcs into six groups, and these six groups took turns collecting firewood for the tribe. On the five days when they weren't assigned to collect firewood, the orcs could hunt and gather on their own. A portion of their hunted game had to be left for the tribe, and the rest could be distributed among themselves. The food they gathered didn't need to be given to the tribe; they could keep it all.

Zhan also specifically instructed the tribesmen not to dig up all the cassava in the valley, but to leave one or two plants every two white wolves' distance, otherwise there would be no cassava to eat next year.

Bai Ling was surprised that the orcs knew this principle, but thinking about it, it made sense. If the orcs really collected everything like plucking feathers from a passing goose, over time, the edible plants around would definitely become fewer and fewer, and the orc tribe would not be able to survive here.

*

Since Bai Ling invented cooking with animal fat, the tribe's stored animal fat has been used up very quickly. Since the tribe happened to have some fatty meat, Zhan asked Cai to lead the people to get more lard.

Orcs used to roast animal meat over a fire to obtain lard, but after seeing Bai Ling make meat rolls with a stone slab, they came up with a new method: placing the animal meat on a stone slab, lighting firewood underneath, and the fat on the meat would slowly melt and flow down as animal fat.

When Bai Ling saw Cai and his men using this method to extract animal oil, he was stunned. He then stepped forward and asked, "Grandpa Cai, are you extracting animal oil?"

Cai laughed and said, "Yes, this method is really convenient, much more convenient than roasting with fire."

The other orcs working also nodded in agreement. Bai Ling clapped her hands lightly: "Uncle Cai, I have an even better way. That way, the animal oil will not only be more plentiful, but it will also taste better."

Now, no one in the entire tribe dares to underestimate Bai Ling. When they heard that he had a better way to make animal oil, everyone stopped what they were doing and asked Bai Ling how to do it.

Bai Ling had rendered lard in his previous life, and he wanted to use the same method to render animal fat.

*

Rendering lard is very simple, and rendering animal fat is not complicated either.

Bai Ling gathered the animal meat together, explaining to the tribespeople as she cut off the fat from the meat.

With the help of the tribesmen, all the meat was quickly prepared, and the water that had been boiled in advance was also boiling. Bai Ling poured an appropriate amount of meat into the water, added a handful of chopped green onions, and started cooking.

Bai Ling's actions far exceeded the expectations of the beastmen.

An orc asked, "Ling, aren't we supposed to be making animal oil? Why are we boiling it in water? Can you really get animal oil from water?"

Water and animal fat seem like an incompatible combination. How can you make it with water?

Bai Ling smiled mysteriously: "You'll find out soon enough."

The water in the earthenware pot boiled quickly. Bai Ling used a shell knife to skim off the foam. When it looked ready, she scooped the meat out of the pot, poured out the water, put the pot back on the fire, and poured all the meat back in.

"When rendering lard, the meat should be chopped as finely as possible, and the amount of water should be adjusted according to the amount of meat. Generally speaking, the meat and water should be level."

Bai Ling pulled out a few pieces of firewood: "The fire shouldn't be too high when rendering animal oil, otherwise the oil will be bitter."

"You need to stir it a lot when rendering animal fat," Bai Ling demonstrated to the beastmen, holding a wooden spatula. He had made the spatula himself, and it had taken him a lot of effort. But with the spatula, cooking was much more convenient; he no longer needed to use a twig to stir-fry the food.

The water in the earthenware pot slowly evaporated, and the meat, soaking in the animal fat, sizzled.

Bai Ling kept stirring with a wooden spatula in his hand. More and more animal oil appeared in the earthenware pot, and the white fat animal meat slowly changed, turning slightly yellow.

Bai Ling's hands didn't stop; he kept stirring slowly until the animal oil had almost rendered out, then he took the earthenware pot off the stove.

He took a large leaf that he had prepared beforehand, poked many small holes in it with a thin twig, and then tied the leaf to a smaller ceramic pot, causing the middle part of the leaf to sink.

Bai Ling scooped up some animal oil rendered from a seashell with a seashell and slowly poured it onto the leaves.

The animal fat seeped through the small holes in the leaves, while the scraps of animal meat remained.

All the animal fat was poured into the earthenware basin, and Bai Ling carefully collected the scraps of animal meat and put them into an earthenware bowl. This was a good thing; sprinkled with salt and fried again in animal fat, it would be a very delicious food, and the cubs would surely love it.

Because it wasn't completely filtered, there were still some small bits of meat in the animal fat in the earthenware basin. However, this didn't affect the quality of the animal fat; in fact, it tasted better when stir-fried with a few bits of meat.

Cai nodded repeatedly: "Ling, the animal oil you rendered is so clear, unlike the animal oil we used to render, which had a lot of black stuff in it."

Qing also said, "Yes, the animal oil extracted this way is not only clear, but also plentiful." He thought for a moment and said, "It's almost half again as much as the previous method."

The orcs around were used to doing odd jobs, and they knew exactly how much fat the cut meat would yield. Now, looking at the fat in the earthenware basin, it was almost half as much again as they had expected.

This is what makes them happiest.

Bai Ling smiled and said, "It's good to have more animal oil, so we can eat more delicious food."