LSLFBW: Chapter 67

The last time he came to the beach, Qi Bai’s attention was completely attracted by salt making.

More importantly, at that time, supplies were scarce, and everyone was just pursuing a full meal. Who would have the leisure time to consider improving the taste of the food?

Now it was different.

The life of the Black Mountain Tribe had gradually become more prosperous. The tribe members had more ingredients to choose from. Qi Bai was no longer satisfied with using only onions, ginger and garlic for seasoning.

Now there was one condiment that was within easy reach. That was oyster sauce.

Qi Bai knew how to make oyster sauce thanks to his high school class teacher.

During the school’s annual class activity, other classes were organizing activities such as watching movies, hiking and going to the amusement park. Meanwhile, his class teacher took everyone to the ‘Chinese Traditional Food Skills Exhibition.’

Due to this incident, many students launched a protest.

It wasn’t until now that Qi Bai understood the teacher’s good intentions. If there was another chance, he really wanted to thank the teacher in person for the ‘grace of rebirth.’

Having said that, it was at this exhibition that Qi Bai saw many traditional techniques left by his ancestors. This included the methods and tools for making various sauces.

In comparison, oyster sauce was probably the sauce that was closest to modern times and the easiest one to make.

Lang Ze was holding a rattan basket in one hand. Qi Bai, who was following behind him, was holding a concave stone just found on the beach.

Qi Bai placed the stone on the fire. He sat next to the rattan basket, took a bone knife, picked up an oyster, and pried it open. Then he threw the oyster meat into the stone pot.

The method of making oyster sauce was simple. No other seasonings were needed, and even water wasn’t needed. Just put the oyster meat into the pot, stimulate its juices, and boil it to get the purest oyster sauce.

As Qi Bai added oyster meat into the pot, he couldn’t help but pick up one or two cooked oysters and quickly throw them into his mouth. The meat made him breathe out continuously.

Compared to Qi Bai, who was only thinking about oyster sauce, others weren’t so enthusiastic about oysters.

After all, as long as they peeled off the hard shells on the top layer, they would find all types of hidden seafood.

Even though the stones they found for stone pots were used to make salt, this didn’t prevent everyone from enjoying the delicious food.

Most of the seaside delicacies came with their own tableware, such as palm-sized scallops, oyster shells that could be used as small bowls, and sea urchins and starfish that could be grilled directly over the fire.

There was already half a basin of oyster meat in the pot. Qi Bai put away the boning knife and moved closer to Lang Ze. Lang Ze handed him a roasted octopus and Qi Bai took a big bite without hesitation.

So satisfying!

Almost an hour passed before Qi Bai picked out all the oyster meat, leaving only the juice. Then he continued to simmer it over low heat while constantly stirring it to prevent the oyster juice from sticking to the stone wall.

Ma Ling, who was about to go to bed, saw Qi Bai stirring something. He walked over and asked curiously, “Bao Bai, what are you doing?”

Qi Bai raised his chin and smiled. “I want to make something that can make wild vegetables taste good.”

Ma Ling shook his head. “No matter how you cook wild vegetables, they aren’t as delicious as meat.”

“Wait until I make it, and you’ll know when you try it.”

The juice in the pot gradually turned from milky white to thick. It wasn’t until the sky was slightly bright that Qi Bai’s big pot of oyster juice was finally cooked.

He dipped a bit of brown oyster sauce into his mouth, and his eyes lit up instantly.

The oyster sauce was made entirely from oyster meat and was very different from the oyster sauce he usually ate, which was thickened with other seasonings.

The saltiness and umami flavor of oysters had been completely blended together after a long period of cooking. He could taste the mellow aroma of oysters just a little bit.

The texture was completely different as well. Qi Bai’s oyster sauce was also a thick sauce, but there was no need to worry about it sticking to a bottle and not being able to shake it out.

Qi Bai happily took out the small bamboo tube he had prepared in advance from the animal skin bag. He poured the oyster sauce in the pot into the bamboo tube little by little.

Of course, he didn’t waste the oyster sauce left in the pot.

Qi Bai ran into the nearby forest, picked some fresh wild vegetables, and blanched them. Then he chopped the wild garlic sprouts, put them into the oyster sauce pot, and stir-fried them evenly. Finally, he poured the sauce over the wild vegetables.

The three people who had fallen asleep were awakened by the fragrance.

Ma Ling ran to the wild vegetables and asked while sniffing, “Is this what you said can make wild vegetables delicious?”

“Yes, this is oyster sauce.” Qi Bai showed him the oyster sauce in the bamboo tube. “This isn’t difficult to make. It is almost the same as boiling salt.”

At this time, Lang Ze had already tasted it and found that what Qi Bai said was indeed true. The blanched wild vegetables still had a crisp taste. After adding the chopped garlic sprouts fried with oyster sauce, even Lang Ze ate a few more bites despite being a standard meat lover.

They finished a small dish of wild vegetables in no time. Then the three of them looked towards the beach with a hint of ruthlessness in their eyes.

Ma Ling threw away the branch he was using as chopsticks. He ran to the back, grabbed the rattan basket, and ran towards the beach.

Ma Shu swallowed his saliva. “Wait… wait for me! I want to go too!”

It was slightly dark, and there was light rain in the air.

Boom!

The tightly closed wooden gate made a loud noise and slowly opened inwards.

“Brother Bao Bai!”

The children came out cheering. Then after circling the salt hunting team, they didn’t see any signs of Qi Bai.

Just as they were confused and wondering if Qi Bai was locked outside the gate, the little snow leopard jumped out of the bamboo basket next to the giant wolf’s neck.

“Wow!” The children were startled.

Previously when the salt seeking team left, the children didn’t see Qi Bai transform into a beast and hide in the bamboo basket. Now they just thought that Qi Bai was playing with them.

Then they changed into their beast form. They struggled out of their animal skin coat and rushed towards the little snow leopard. Several children started fighting together in an instant.

The adults watched them play with a smile. Then they quickly took off the rattan baskets and bamboo tubes from the three people and carried them into the collective cave.

The rain made the ground ramp. Soon, the beastmen rolling around were covered in mud.

Lang Ze picked up the little snow leopard that was sneaking up to the one-horned rabbit and said, “Let’s go. The priest and the chief are waiting for us.”

The little snow leopard’s four short legs flicked in the air twice as if complaining that Lang Ze had interrupted his plan.

Qi Bai finally understood the mood of Sun Qing, who always teased Sun Yuan. As the group of children played together, the rabbit-like Sun Yuan lay on the side with a bewildered expression. This made people really want to scare him to see his response. Moreover, Sun Yuan’s soft, rainproof fur looked really easy to touch at first glance.

Qi Bai’s little thoughts couldn’t escape Lang Ze’s eyes.

Lang Ze ignored Qi Bai’s struggle. He even crumpled the little snow leopard into a ball, scratching his chin with one hand without any instruction.

The little snow leopard really stopped moving. His eyes narrowed slightly, and his tail swept across Lang Ze’s arm twice, seemingly enjoying it.

Yang Luo, who was originally waiting at the entrance of the cave, turned around and went into the cave directly after seeing this. He thought, ‘Out of sight, out of mind.’

However, Qi Bai didn’t notice anything wrong. It was the first time he discovered that having his fur stroked was so comfortable! No wonder why all the kittens on Earth liked having their fur stroked.

Of course, as an adult in his 20s at heart, Qi Bai felt that he had been very restrained. At the very least, he resisted the urge to purr.

“Today is the ninth day since you left the tribe. It seems that you have successfully found a closer sea area,” Yang Luo said.

Qi Bai, who had just transformed into human form and was putting on animal skin clothes, shook his head when he heard this. Then he recounted their experiences along the way.

Hou Yan asked, “Then the path you took to come back took less time?”

Qi Bai smiled and nodded. After boiling salt at the seaside for three days, they set out yesterday morning and arrived at the tribe now.

The sky was a bit dark due to rain. It wasn’t sunset yet, so the time it took was shorter than they had originally imagined. This could be considered a blessing in disguise.

“Okay, okay!” Hou Yan couldn’t hide the joy on his face when he heard Qi Bai’s affirmative statement.

Yang Luo was obviously more interested in the new seasoning he mentioned. He asked Qi Bai to explain the usage of oyster sauce in detail.

Coming out of Yang Luo’s cave, Qi Bai walked along the stone platform on the right to Ci Yi’s house. He knocked on the door a few times, but there was no response from inside.

Quan Nan, who lived next to Ci Yi, heard the noise and came out of the ave. He saw Qi Bai and asked, “Bao Bai, are you here to pick up the lamb? Ci Yi is watching the sheep at the sheepfold today, so he brought the lamb over.”

Qi Bai thought about it. All the utensils for Chuan Chuan were at Ci Yi’s house. Even if he went to pick up Chuan Chuan now, he would still have to come back. Therefore, he asked, “When will Ci Yi come back?”

“He’ll be back when it gets dark.”

Qi Bai smiled. “Then I’ll come back after dark. Thank you, Quan Nan.”

The moment Lang Ze saw Qi Bai running down with empty hands, he knew that Qi Bai must not have seen Ci Yi. Therefore, he turned around and looked in the direction of the sheepfold.

The moment he opened the bamboo door of the cave, he was greeted by a smell caused by no ventilation for a long time.

Qi Bai opened the door wide and blocked it with stones. However, it turned out that it didn’t work without a window.

Cooking in the cave in winter would have a slight smell, plus he was raising Chuan Chuan. It was usually fine when he cleaned the cave every day, but the smell would immediately show up if the cave wasn’t ventilated for a few days.

However, all Qi Bai could do now was to open the door for ventilation. Fortunately, it was much warmer now and he didn’t feel cold with the door open.

He boiled some water on the charcoal basin and started to unpack his luggage.

There was very little dried meat and sweet potatoes left in the animal skin bag. The butter and peppercorns wrapped in the animal hide were also almost used up. In contrast, there was a small tube full of oyster sauce.

Qi Bai found a small ceramic jar with a lid. He poured the oyster sauce from the bamboo tube into it, covered it with a lid and placed it steadily on the stone cabinet. This was something he had spent a lot of effort to make, so he had to preserve it well.

He placed the bean sprouts in the bamboo tube and several other seedlings on the table. Then Qi Bai looked around and finally remembered what was missing in his room.

He quickly ran out of the cave. He found green onions and garlic at the base of the wall, still in good spirits from the light rain.

After placing the green onions and garlic next to the seedlings, Qi Bai opened the rattan basket at the bottom of the stone cabinet and picked out the beautiful, plump, worm-free sweet potatoes.

Qi Bai’s eyes were shining as he looked at the seeds and seedlings piled together. If it wasn’t raining outside, he really wanted to run out, dig the soil and plant them.