HCB Chapter 77 I declare...
Chapter 77 I declare...
Sitting by the fire pit, Lezhi watched as the interested tribespeople gathered around him in twos and threes, and then explained in detail how to make starch.
"...That's about it. Except for stone fruit, anything with a high starch content can be used to make starch in principle. It's just that the final starch product will be slightly different."
Lezhi took out a sweet fruit from his spatial storage and gestured to his people, "Here, a sweet fruit will do too."
The surrounding tribesmen listened thoughtfully. There wasn't much controversy about the ingredients; what they hesitated about was something else Lezhi had mentioned.
"But Lezhi, we've never seen that stone mill before. How about this, we'll come to your house to take a look another day, okay?"
"Can what?"
The clansmen were having a heated discussion when they were startled by the sudden appearance of Le Chu.
"Chieftain..." "The chieftain has arrived..."
"Alright, it's nothing. I just came to take a look." Le Chu waved her hand. "What are you talking about, a stone mill?"
“No, not at all.” One of the tribesmen replied generously, briefly explaining to Le Chu what they had just discussed, “...That’s right, so we were thinking of going to Le Zhi’s house sometime to see how that stone mill is made.”
"Okay, you can do as you please, but don't disturb Lezhi too much." Learning to make new food wasn't a big deal, so Lechu didn't offer any suggestions, only reminding them not to bother Lezhi.
After everyone agreed, they all stood up to say goodbye, leaving the space to Le Chu.
Only when the group of familiar people remained on the field did Le Chu leisurely sit down. He first glanced at Lei Xiu and Le Zhong, who were quietly eating meat beside him, before speaking softly, "Le Zhizai, today I am going to formally inform the clan that you can be cured of the Shadow Disease. Le Jing has already told you, right?"
Seeing Lezhi nod obediently, Lechu's eyes softened. This little one, before he even had a chance to grow up, had to shoulder so many responsibilities that he shouldn't have to bear. "I've discussed it with the clan. Although the Shadow Disease is a big threat, it's not an acute illness. After it's announced, I'll give instructions to the clan to arrange for you to line up according to the severity of the illness. Take your time and do what you can. Don't rush."
Gently admonishing, Le Chu kept a close eye on Le Zhi's expression, afraid of upsetting the cub, "As for the reward, the clan will not participate. You can decide what you want yourself. I suggest you think about what you want first and make a rough standard so that the clan members can prepare in advance and there won't be any chaos on the day."
Thinking of the gifts that Le Zhong and Lei Xiu had given her as a token of their gratitude, Le Zhi raised an eyebrow, understanding what Le Chu meant.
Nodding, Lezhi replied, "I understand, I'll think about it carefully."
"Okay, good boy. You can come to me if you have any questions, okay!" Le Chu raised his hand and patted Le Zhi's shoulder. He originally wanted to ruffle Le Zhi's hair, but it was already covered by fur balls, so he could only settle for patting his shoulder instead.
"Understood, thank you, clan chief."
"You're welcome. By the way, I'm also very interested in those vermicelli. You have to treat me to some sometime, Lezhi." Lechu said jokingly before getting up to leave under the watchful eyes of the others.
"Okay... then."
Watching Yuechu leave, Yuezhi suddenly realized that things were about to change. A sense of unease crept into her heart, but her hands didn't stop moving.
There was still some broth left, so Lezhi simply added some mushrooms to stew with it. Leyou was the main force behind their barbecue tonight, and with the help of Lezhi's special barbecue sauce, the barbecue and mushrooms received rave reviews from everyone.
"Lezhi, your barbecue sauce tastes amazing! A lot of people have asked me if I could get some of this, so that their barbecue will taste much better, and it's convenient and affordable."
Leyou quickly flips the mushrooms on the hot stone slab, demonstrating his excellent control over the heat, making him a qualified teppanyaki chef.
Lezhi, who had been daydreaming, nodded indifferently after hearing Leyou's words, "Hmm, sure, I don't have much to do lately anyway. I'll make some barbecue sauce when I get back, and if anyone wants to change it, they can just come find me."
"Okay, then I'll tell everyone." Leyou pursed her lips, seeing that Lezhi wasn't very interested, and brought up another topic, "By the way, although we ate a lot of mushrooms today, there are still a lot left. We'll be eating mushrooms non-stop for the next few days. Besides grilling and making soup, are there any other ways to cook them? Mushrooms don't keep for long."
"Huh." Leyou really knew Lezhi quite well. With a question in mind, Lezhi quickly perked up. "Frying, stir-frying, stewing, and deep-frying are all fine. Mushrooms can be cooked in any way and they'll never taste bad. And if you can't finish them, you can dry them and preserve them for a long time."
What started as a casual remark turned out to be a genuinely helpful suggestion from Lezhi. Upon hearing that mushrooms could be dried and preserved, Leyou paused, pondering the suggestion carefully before concluding that it might be feasible.
"Should I dry it in the sun? How should I dry it? Should I just lay it out in the sun?"
"Yes, it's very simple. Sigh, has no one in the clan tried doing this before?" Lezhi answered casually, but then realized that Leyou's question seemed a bit off.
"No, mushrooms are always picked and eaten fresh. Nobody bothers to preserve them. If there are no mushrooms, there are other things to eat." Leyou looked thoughtfully at Lezhi, whose eyes were wide open, and imagined that Lezhi must have had a bad time in the forest to come up with this method of preserving food.
"Okay, if the sun is shining tomorrow, let's dry the mushrooms together. If it's feasible, let's take some time to pick more mushrooms to dry and preserve, so that we'll have mushrooms to eat when winter comes." Leyou gave Lezhi a light hug and suggested with a hint of doting.
That gentle hug greatly soothed Lezhi's turbulent emotions. Listening to Leyou chattering away about arranging the next tasks, Lezhi gently raised the corners of her lips and involuntarily responded with a "Okay," her words carrying a smile that even she herself could not perceive.
Lei Xiu, who had been silent the whole time, saw that Le Zhi's somewhat depressed mood had been easily soothed by Le You's few words, and his own heart, which had been heavy with suppressed emotions because of Le Zhi's bad mood, also relaxed a lot. He put away the cleaned powder-pressing tools, then sat down next to Le Zhi, silently keeping her company.
Just as Leyou and Lezhi were discussing the mushrooms, a loud bang suddenly exploded into the sky from the campfire in the middle of the square, drawing the attention of the entire tribe.
At this moment, Yue Chu, who had already spread her pure white wings and flown into the air, looked around to make sure that everyone in the clan could see and hear her before slowly announcing the main purpose of this clan gathering.
"Good night, everyone. I'm sure many of you already know what I'm going to say next, so I won't beat around the bush and will get straight to the point. We, the tree spirits, were born under the protection of the Mother Tree. We are grateful for the Mother Tree's favor and protection from disease and pain. But at some point, an accident occurred: the Shadow Disease."
"The Shadow Disease, which even the Mother Tree couldn't cure, has posed a threat to our entire tree spirit race, but we have never given up, and the Mother Tree has never given up, so we have persevered until now..."
"Today, I want to officially announce to everyone that the Shadow Disease is no longer a threat to us, because our Spirit Feather Clan's newborn cub, Lezhi, has the talent to be the nemesis of the Shadow Disease."