Chapter 21

With the fire, Lin Bei thought things had improved a lot, but soon realized that the difficulties had just begun.

Having a fire naturally meant roasting something to eat. Lin Bei had no stored meat, so he skewered a piece of dried meat with a branch and placed it over the fire. For ten days, he had been eating cold food, so it was easy to imagine how much he craved something hot. However, when he started roasting, things turned out to be quite tragic.

On TV, those martial artists always roasted wild game to a golden brown, with oil dripping off, but in reality, it was all fake, or the martial artists had a part-time job as a chef. Anyway, after roasting the dried meat for a while, it was hot but also charred black, making it unappetizing. Lin Bei finally frowned and rinsed the hot meat in the spring, then put it in his mouth. It was wet and tasteless.

Lin Bei then caught a lobster from the small river. There were many wild lobsters in the river, and the one he caught was quite large, about the size of two palms. He carefully removed some of the shell and skewered it with a thin branch, then placed it over the fire. Hearing the sizzling sound, Lin Bei was initially quite pleased, but soon the branch burned through, and the lobster fell into the fire, making the flames even more vigorous. Lin Bei felt a thousand grass mud horses galloping in his heart.

After some thought, roasting things seemed unreliable, and he should try boiling them, like boiling taro.

The taro Lin Bei brought back from outside had already sprouted, but that didn't stop him from digging up a couple to eat. If it tasted good, he might focus on cultivating these plants in the future. So, he dug one up, removed the sprout, and threw it into the fire. He then used a branch to carefully position the taro and added some hard wood. After an hour or two, the taro should be cooked, but he wasn't sure if it would be burnt. If this didn't work, he would have to make Beggar's Chicken.

Most modern people could describe how to make Beggar's Chicken: remove the chicken's innards, wrap it in mud, and throw it into the fire. No seasoning is needed; once the mud dries, the feathers will fall off, saving the trouble of plucking them. This method, supposedly invented by a beggar in ancient times, has been passed down to the present, indicating its merit. Even if Lin Bei couldn't get it right the first time, he believed he could master it with practice, given the abundance of wild chickens and birds in the forest.

Thinking about this, Lin Bei no longer worried about his food supply. He was grateful that he was a snake; if he were a lion, his appetite would be much larger. Lin Bei felt that he could go without a meal or eat two to three pounds of food, but he was still in the stage of striving for a basic living.

While the taro was roasting, Lin Bei went back to the taro field. On both sides of the field, he had brought back two new trees. One was the wild walnut tree he first saw, which he had transplanted with great effort by pulling it out of the ground. The other was a soapberry tree.

Lin Bei had wandered in the forest for ten days but found no apple, pear, or apricot trees. In the end, he transplanted these two trees. The wild walnut tree needed no explanation, and the soapberry tree was only about two meters tall, with a slow growth rate, making it about 20 to 30 years old. Lin Bei brought it back because there were many soapberry trees in the forest, with a large one at least 500 years old. The smaller soapberry trees were its descendants. Lin Bei chose one that looked nice and transplanted it. Although the area around Longtan was also full of trees, the wild ones he transplanted were different. Watching the small trees grow gave him a sense of accomplishment and something to do, reducing his loneliness.

The wild walnut tree looked a bit wilted, but the soapberry tree was thriving. It was a sun-loving plant, and the water source was abundant, so it adapted well to the new environment. In a few years, when the soapberry tree grew larger, he could use the soap pods to wash things. He might even give some to people when he met them. In ancient times, some poor people couldn't even afford soapberry powder and had to wash their hair with rice water, which was quite miserable.

After a while of aimless thinking, Lin Bei saw that the fire had weakened and quickly added more wood. He then smelled the aroma of the taro.

Roasting things was particularly fragrant, like roasting bread. Lin Bei had a colleague's child who loved standing outside the bakery but didn't like eating bread.

The taro wasn't bread, but it was still very fragrant. However, it wasn't fully cooked yet. Lin Bei patiently waited for another half hour before using a branch to pull out the taro, which was charred on the surface.

He rolled the taro on the ground to remove the burnt skin and cool it down. When it was cool enough, he carefully used a clean branch to peel off the taro's skin, and a tempting aroma wafted out. Smelling this, Lin Bei felt like crying. His efforts were all for the sake of this familiar scent.

It was his first time roasting, and he wasn't familiar with it. A one-pound taro, after being charred, left about half a pound of white, starchy flesh. Lin Bei savored it for half an hour, finding it slightly sweet and rich in starch. In two words: delicious.

"Starting today, I'll roast things to eat. I need to plant more taro. If I can get sweet potatoes or potatoes in the future, I'll plant those too. I can also hunt wild chickens and larger birds for food. My spring has finally arrived."

Lin Bei was a man of action. He added more wood to the fire and climbed up the 'Flying Dragon Wall.' There were many wild chickens behind the wall, and touching the bushes would make them fly out. Lin Bei used his tail to knock them down. In less than 15 minutes, he had killed three chickens, each weighing about seven to eight pounds and quite fat.

Cleaning the chickens was no problem for Lin Bei. Without a knife, he used a stone or a sharp stick to cut open the chickens, remove the innards, and wash them. He then rolled them in the taro field, coating them in mud, and threw them into the fire, adding more wood. He wasn't worried about the outcome; he had plenty of practice material.

Two small birds were chirping again, and Lin Bei quickly climbed the large locust tree. The crab meat had already been eaten, and he sighed, knowing he had to catch more crabs or lobsters.

"You are truly little masters. You have a place to live and someone to take care of you. I wonder what you'll be like when you grow up and if you'll recognize me as your 'mother.'"

Lin Bei was looking for a hole when he noticed ripples on the distant river. He didn't pay much attention at first, as there were many insects on the river surface, but the ripples were moving straight toward him. He became curious and saw a large turtle slowly moving its legs and swimming leisurely.

After seeing the shrimp and crabs, Lin Bei knew there must be turtles in the river, but he hadn't explored it yet. Now, the turtle had come to him.

Should he kill it? Lin Bei always thought of making Beggar's Chicken, but he hadn't heard of Beggar's Turtle. In the end, he decided against it, considering the turtle a neighbor. It wouldn't be right to harm a neighbor.

After feeding the two little ones, Lin Bei checked the Beggar's Chicken and found it completely burnt. The mud hadn't been applied thickly enough and had fallen off when thrown into the fire.

"No wonder they use lotus leaves. Next time, I'll use taro leaves."

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**End of Chapter**