I've been transported to the orc continent.

During the days that Bai Ling was away, the tribespeople strictly followed his instructions and turned over the dried mud bricks every day.

The sun has been shining brightly these past few days, and the weather has been dry, so the adobe bricks have almost dried out.

Bai Ling led her people to carry the adobe bricks in baskets to the foot of the low hill and neatly stack them in a sunny spot.

After drying for another two or three days, the adobe bricks will be ready to use, and then he can start building the kang (heated brick bed).

Bai Ling had never built a kang (a heated brick bed) by himself in his previous life, but he had seen the elders in his family build kangs several times, so he knew the general process. He planned to practice in a small cave first, and then go to a large cave to build a fire wall and build a kang.

Bai Ling arrived at the smallest cave, a small cave of about twenty square meters. The entrance to this cave was relatively large, with a shape that was wider on the outside and narrower on the inside. Inside, on the mountain wall opposite the entrance, there was a small opening about the size of a ceramic basin.

Bai Ling's plan was to first build a wall at the entrance of the cave, with an opening in the wall to serve as a stove, and two fire holes behind the wall. These fire holes would be used to boil water and cook meat. The fire holes and the kang (a heated brick bed) would be separated by the wall, so that a fire could be lit outside and food could be cooked inside the cave.

The cooking fumes are expelled through the kang (heated brick bed) opening, so the kang is heated as soon as the food is cooked, saving both firewood and time.

The cave had been cleaned. Bai Ling, holding a tree branch, walked around the cave, drawing lines on the ground as she went. Building a kang (heated brick bed) was not complicated; it was not much different from building a wall. All that was needed was to leave room for the chimney.

*

Bai Ling's mind was completely occupied with how to build the kang (heated brick bed), and he didn't even hear footsteps outside the cave. It was only the shouts of his clansmen that brought him back to his senses.

"Ling, come here," the little boy called out. "Ling, are you done with your work?"

Behind Xiao was a large group of tribesmen, all of whom were young female beastmen. They were all looking at Bai Ling with curiosity in their eyes.

Ye asked, "Ling, what are you drawing on the ground?"

Bai Ling clapped her hands: "It's the flue of the kang (heated brick bed). We'll be building the kang once the adobe bricks are dry, so I need to draw the flue in advance."

The clansmen were all very curious about what a kang (heated brick bed) was, but that wasn't why they came this time.

Xiao laughed and said, "Ling, the animal hides are soaked. Can you teach us how to dry them? We won't dare to start until you show us how, for fear of tearing the hides."

Bai Ling slapped his forehead and said, "It's all my fault, I completely forgot about this. Drying animal hides is very simple, I'll go with you now."

The tanned hides still need to be dried. The simplest way is to nail the hides to a wooden board for drying. Since there are no nails in the tribe, Bai Ling can only use a more primitive method to dry the hides.

The soaked animal hides were placed in the square. In addition to these young tribesmen, other orcs working in the square also came to watch how Bai Ling dried the animal hides.

Tie a square shape with tree branches, poke small holes along the edge of the animal hide, thread a sturdy rope through the holes, and then tie it to the tree branches.

Drying animal hides doesn't require much skill. Apart from using some strength to pull the hides, there are no other requirements. Orcs are all very strong. Even the smallest animal in the tribe, the long-eared rabbit orc, is several times stronger than a human.

Bai Ling demonstrated it only once, and the other tribesmen understood it immediately. They gathered in twos and threes, with one person tying animal hides to the tree branch and another person holding the other end of the hide. There were also people watching nearby. They chatted and laughed as they tied the animal hides together.

The bound animal hides were laid out to dry at the edge of the square. The young animal people came and went to look at the hides and judged whose hide was the most neat and beautiful.

In the end, a lynx orc won first place. The other young orcs surrounded him and laughed. The lynx orc smiled shyly and was pulled to one side of the square by his tribesmen, where they began to laugh and joke.

Orcs are generally optimistic, and even the smallest things can make them cheer. Just like now, the young orcs started celebrating simply by choosing who dried the best animal hides, almost to the point of singing, dancing, and cheering in unison.

*

The adobe bricks are almost dry, and we can start building the kang (heated brick bed) in two more days. We can't go out to other tribes to exchange things for the next two days either, as Yue has gone out hunting again. Bai Ling can't even find someone to walk around the tribe with.

He thought about it and decided to tidy up the house.

Other tribes sent him many things, and he had no idea how much stuff he actually had. He took this opportunity to take stock of everything and see what was useful.

Father had carefully arranged all the seeds, tied up the animal hides, wrapped the dried and smoked meat in leaves and put them in the basket, and sorted out all the other items.

Bai Ling pulled out half a basket of sausages. He slapped his forehead. Wasn't this the sausage he had specially collected to make sausages? He had forgotten about it because he was too busy later.

He simply cleaned the intestines with wood ash, then tied them up and put them in a small basket.

Bai Ling took out all the intestines and a basket of smoked meat. There was no fresh meat at home, so if he wanted to make sausages, he would have to exchange it with his clansmen for fresh meat.

Bai Ling carried a basket on his back to the village square. Cai was leading the villagers in cooking when she saw Bai Ling coming over with the basket. Cai asked, "Ling, what are you carrying on your back?"

Bai Ling put down her basket: "Grandpa Cai, I'm carrying cured meat. I'd like to trade it for some fresh meat with you."

Cai glanced at the cured meat in Bai Ling's basket and asked, "Ling, are you going to replace all of this with fresh meat?"

Bai Ling nodded.

A beastman nearby said, "Ling, even if the people in the tribe catch prey at this time, they will make it into cured or smoked meat. Why are you exchanging cured meat for so much fresh meat? Fresh meat is not easy to preserve."

Bai Ling said, "I want to make a new kind of food that requires fresh meat."

As soon as Bai Ling mentioned that he was going to make new food, the beastmen who were cooking in the square became interested. They all gathered around and asked Bai Ling what kind of new food he was going to make.

"I want to make sausages." Bai Ling briefly explained how to make sausages, which piqued the beastmen's interest even more.

Food that can be preserved for a long time in winter, and which sounds delicious, naturally piqued the interest of the beastmen.

Bai Ling traded a basket of cured meat for a basket and a half of fresh meat. The meat he received in return was all good quality, with a good balance of fat and lean, which was perfect for making sausages.

Bai Ling used a bone knife to cut the meat into small pieces, added salt, scallions, and ginger, mixed it well by hand, and set it aside to marinate for a while. While that was marinating, Bai Ling went to clean the sausage casings.

His father had saved up a lot of intestines for him. These intestines had only been simply cleaned. If he wanted to make sausages, they would have to be cleaned thoroughly.