I've been transported to the orc continent.

The Snow Mountain Tribe was the furthest from the High Tree Tribe, and Bai Ling's group was the last to return; the other tribes had already arrived long ago.

Now, the elderly and children from the surrounding tribes are all in the Gaoshu tribe, along with the children's fathers or grandfathers. The tribe is much more populated and lively than before.

Bai Ling transformed into human form in the square. Before he could even speak to his father, he heard a cheerful voice call out, "Brother, you brought back the Sweet Grass?"

Chen jumped up, holding the basket Bai Ling had taken off his back. His smile was incredibly bright. If it weren't for so many people in front of him, he might have spun around with the basket full of sweet grass.

Bai Ling wrapped her robe tighter around herself and walked away laughing: "I told you when I left that I would bring back some sweet grass."

Chen clung tightly to the basket filled with sweet grass, saying, "Brother, the Snow Mountain Tribe values ​​sweet grass very much. They only exchange some out during the Chada Conference each year. I didn't expect you to actually get it back this time, and so much of it at that."

"Brother, when can we eat these sweet grasses?" Chen looked at her brother expectantly.

Bai Ling took the basket from her younger brother's arms and said, "I plan to make a new kind of food with sweet grass. If it's made, the sweet grass will become even sweeter."

Chen became even more interested: "Brother, when are we going to do it?"

Bai Ling: "Let's wait two more days, and I'll think carefully about how to make it taste good."

Besides Sweet Grass, Bai Ling also exchanged several snow beast pelts, which she intended to give to Uncle Lin.

Lin's partner is named Qu, a female Pallas's cat beastman. She has a handsome face, light yellow eyes, and speaks very gently. When she met Bai Ling, she even specially changed the fur of her unborn child to that of a snow beast. Qu's round yellow eyes are full of smiles.

"Ling, thank you. Your uncle and I were planning to get snow beast pelts next spring, but you actually managed to get them for us."

Bai Ling smiled and said, "Uncle, I was just going to the Snow Mountain Tribe, so I exchanged a few snow beast pelts for them."

Standing beside his partner, Lin laughed and said, "Ling, you're really amazing now. That kang (heated brick bed) is fantastic. I'll never feel cold at night again, and my whole body will be warm when I wake up in the morning. It's also not as damp as sleeping on the ground. Those old beastmen all say that sleeping on the kang will prevent their bodies from aching."

"Your uncle is sleeping very comfortably and won't wake up from the cold at night. He's currently living in a small cave with several pregnant orcs. In the few days since they arrived, the pregnant orcs have all looked much better."

The cave floor was damp, which was unbearable for the young orcs, and even more so for the older ones. They would wake up with severe pain in their legs and backs. Many of the older orcs would lay several layers of dry grass on their beds, but it still couldn't keep out the cold and dampness.

Sleeping on a kang is different. The kang not only insulates against the dampness and cold of the ground, but it can also be heated to keep warm. The elderly would be incredibly comfortable sleeping on it. All the orcs who have slept on a kang have decided to learn the technique of building a kang from Bai Ling.

Bai Ling had also thought of these things, and he smiled and said, "As long as Uncle sleeps comfortably, that's good. Uncle, the kang (heated brick bed) shouldn't be too hot, otherwise it's easy to get a sore throat."

Qu said, "We know that. We heat the kang (heated brick bed) once in the morning so that the cave is warm during the day and the kang won't be too hot at night."

Bai Ling's father, Feng, said, "Let's go back. Ling, you must be tired from the journey. Let's have dinner together as a family tonight. I'll steam some sausages for you to help you recover."

*

Bai Ling and her family walked up the low hill. Bai Ling found many red persimmons drying on the flat ground in front of the hill. The persimmons were all peeled and neatly arranged, and it looked like they were drying persimmon cakes.

Father Feng explained to Bai Ling, "Ling, when you went to the Dahe Tribe last time, you taught them how to dry persimmons. They did it the way you said, and the dried persimmons were indeed delicious. This time, the elders and children of the Dahe Tribe came to stay, and the tribe chief agreed to let the tribesmen pick red berries in their tribe. These red berries were all picked by the tribesmen." Feng pointed in a direction, "Those are ours. Now that the weather is cold, we dry them outside during the day and bring them back into the cave at night. The red berries have softened now."

Chen said from the side, "Brother, the Longhorn Tribe said that next year you can lead your people to their tribe to cut down hollow trees, as many as you want."

Bai Ling nodded to indicate that she understood, and Chen continued, "Other tribes also sent a lot of things, mostly animal meat and hides. Brother, the chief said that you would receive a share of these things, and Father has kept them all."

*

When Bai Ling returned to the tribe, many elderly people and orcs with children came to thank him because he had invented the kang (heated brick bed), which would make winter much easier for the elderly, orcs, and children. He also invented a way to eat large root grass, which would save many people from starving to death this winter.

Bai Ling wasn't very good at handling these kinds of situations, but luckily his father and father were there. He could just smile and say a few polite words, and let his father and father handle the rest.

Feng said he would make a good meal to reward his son. Bai Ling picked and chose in his own cave, taking out cured meat and smoked meat. He also asked his father to exchange the smoked meat with some fresh meat from the tribe. He planned to make a pot of meatballs.

Eating a hot pot in winter is the best thing, but unfortunately he didn't have enough ingredients to make a delicious hot pot. Eating meatballs was enough to satisfy his craving.

Bai Ling invited Yue to have dinner together again, but Yue declined. Bai Ling's whole family was together, and Yue felt embarrassed to come.

Bai Ling smiled and said, "Alright, let's eat together when we have time."

Yue's eyes lit up: "Then it's a deal. I'll go catch some prey, and we'll cook something delicious together."

*

The fresh meat that was brought back was chopped into minced meat, and the scallions and ginger were also chopped. A little cooked cassava was added as starch. Water was boiled in an iron pot with scallions and ginger, and the cured meat was steamed in a steamer. A fire was lit next to it, and after the stone slab was heated, animal fat was brushed on it. The smoked meat was sliced ​​and fried on it again.

Cang went to the tribe and brought back some cassava. Cassava is now the staple food of the tribe, and the orcs in the tribe eat it with every meal.

The water in the iron pot boiled, and Bai Ling began to simmer the meatballs.

The method is very simple: hold the minced meat in one hand and a spoon in the other. With a slight force, the minced meat will leak out from between your thumb and forefinger. Gently scoop it out with the spoon, and a meatball is ready.

It's a pity there are no fans in this world, otherwise it would be even better to make a pot of meatball and vermicelli soup.

Steaming hot meatball soup, fragrant steamed sausages, sizzling fried smoked meat, and sweet cassava—a delicious dinner is ready.

Pick up a meatball, take a sip of hot soup, eat a piece of cassava and sausage, and then taste a bite of fragrant smoked meat. Your body and soul will feel warmed up.