CHAPTER 191: CHAPTER 191: WRITING

The frankness of the Ox-Head tribe caught Eric off guard; he hadn’t expected them to be this considerate of others. It was no wonder the beastmen trusted them so much.

However, Eric wasn’t used to taking advantage of others either.

The Ox-Head tribe put in the effort to teach them farming. A single recipe for making tofu, for the Ox-Head tribe who didn’t lack food, was just icing on the cake, and the stone mill was the same.

Meanwhile, for the Snow Wolf people, farming was a significant step that could improve the life of the entire tribe; these two things simply couldn’t be compared.

Moreover, regarding the price, Bi even intended to use various vegetables to compensate, which was already very kind.

With a thousand words in his heart he wanted to say, Eric let out a long breath and solemnly thanked Chief Tu: "Thank you very much, you have truly helped us a great deal."

Tu and Bi both burst out laughing.

Balu laughed and said: "You’ve helped us quite a bit too. The peanut milk you taught us last time, everyone in the tribe loves drinking it. There are also the roasted peanuts; everyone says they must plant more peanuts next year."

"And that bean... ah, your potato stir-fry too. We never thought potatoes could be eaten like that before; it’s a pity we haven’t learned that dish yet," Kiet said with a naive smile.

One moment it was "small earth bean", the next it was "earth bean"; Eric’s head was about to be spun around by them. Wouldn’t it be easier to just call them peanuts and potatoes?

Hearing the Ox-Head tribe praise Eric, Thomas smiled happier than anyone else, proudly patting him on the shoulder: "Kid Eric is the best cook in our tribe. Now the tribe’s communal kitchen is full of dishes taught by kid Eric; even fish and offal can be made very delicious!"

He was like a father proudly showing off his child, advertising endlessly to the Ox-Head tribe.

Kevin and the others behind him nodded furiously.

Since Eric started cooking delicious food, they realized how miserable their lives had been before. Now that they could eat communal meals cooked by him, no one wanted to go into the kitchen themselves anymore.

"Fish can be made delicious? And offal too?" Kiet’s eyes widened in surprise, involuntarily revealing a look of slight disgust.

These two types of food were both on the Ox-Head tribe’s blacklist. While other beastmen might be forced to eat a little out of hunger, they would only throw them away.

Speaking of cuisine, the two sides immediately had something to exchange. Kevin gestured wildly, starting to introduce to the Ox-Head tribe the various dishes Eric had made, such as fried fish balls, braised fish in clay pot, and stir-fried intestines with pickles, making the Ox-Head tribe swallow their saliva in craving.

Eric secretly held his forehead; indeed, cuisine had no borders, nor did it distinguish between races, especially for foodies.

Kevin introduced, while Tu and the others listened silently, occasionally nodding.

If this kept going, there would be no end to it; Kevin could write out a whole menu. Eric hurriedly took the opportunity when he paused to speak up: "I’ve already soaked the soybeans. To make tofu, they need to be soaked overnight; we can make it tomorrow morning. Mung beans, red beans, and black beans are best not used to make tofu."

"So they need to be soaked." Tu nodded thoughtfully, signaling Bi beside him to write it down.

Bi took a charcoal pen and a sheepskin scroll from his robe, seriously waving the pen to take notes.

Eric curiously peeked over. It turned out the Ox-Head tribe also had writing. They were all beastmen, so why were the Snow Wolf people such a bunch of illiterates...

Seeing his curious look, Tu smiled and said: "We frequently trade with humans. It would be inconvenient without writing. Gradually, we also discovered the benefits of having writing. Now, children in the tribe all have to study periodically."

Joseph strongly agreed with this point of view, pointing at Eric with a pained expression: "I told you so. I told you to learn our Dwarf script but you refused. Do you know how many people want to learn secretly!"

Here we go again. Eric miserably shifted his chair to hide behind Max. He really didn’t want to start learning from scratch. Wouldn’t that mean his college entrance exam had been taken in vain?

But putting that aside, if the Ox-Head tribe knew how to use writing, then they would need paper and pens. Next time, they could even use paper to trade, or divide paper into equal-sized stacks, stitch one side with thin thread, and make them into notebooks to sell.

It would be best to ask the Dwarves to make a stapler, but he had only used that thing; ask him to draw a blueprint and he would be stumped.

Using thin string to bind books was also a good method. The notebooks he used when he was small were all like that. Only when he got a bit older did glue-bound notebooks appear, and later on, hundreds of flowers bloomed with all kinds of designs.

"The common language of humans... we Snow Wolf people actually should learn it too." Thomas looked gloomy; it seemed he was also a lazy person who didn’t want to learn to read.

Although he really didn’t want to start learning from scratch, Eric knew clearly that writing was something that had to be learned. If a people wanted to continue on, they had to have their own civilization.

The writing and language that humans were using now belonged to the Yas Empire, which had once united two continents. Later, even though this country collapsed, its writing was still passed down among humans. It was all hieroglyphs, one stroke connecting to another, even more squiggly than Thai script.

He reluctantly sighed: "Haiz, after we get back, I’ll let the Dwarves discuss opening a remedial class, teaching the Snow Wolf people to read every day. If we need books, we’ll trade with Corbin next year."

Joseph stroked his beard in satisfaction: "That’s acceptable. You beastmen are good at everything, but you don’t know how to read, especially you, kid Eric."

The Snow Wolf people all sat there dejectedly. Just thinking about having to start learning those things that looked like tadpoles upon returning home made them want to stay at the Ox-Head tribe forever.

Bi couldn’t help but laugh: "Actually, it’s not that hard. You see, we of the Ox-Head tribe just learned it recently too. The human world has many adventure stories; if you learn to read, you can read stories, which is very interesting."

Only then did the group of Snow Wolf people cheer up again.

"That’s right, the pumpkin was brought over by Bi, right? Let’s use pumpkin to cook for dinner; I saw a few in the kitchen," Eric said excitedly, recalling the pumpkin as big as a tire he had just seen.

"Pumpkin?" Bi was a bit puzzled.

Eric gestured in front of him, and only then did he react: "Is it the golden noodle? Our tribe loves eating this dish, especially the children. I took a few for you guys to taste."

"Then can I take these pumpkin seeds back to plant?" Eric looked at Bi and Tu with sparkling black eyes full of expectation.

A smile appeared in Tu’s eyes; he gently nodded his large blue-black ox head: "Of course you can. If you like, I’ll get you a few more; you can take the seeds too. Golden noodle doesn’t spoil easily. We plant a lot every year; it’s very fragrant and sweet when cooked."

Eric was extremely overjoyed: "That’s wonderful. We are lacking types of food that can be stored for a long time like this."

Oxen and cows indeed liked sweet things; if he had known earlier, he would have brought them a few tubes of sugar.

As for sugar beet seeds, Eric had collected quite a lot a few days ago.

The places where sugar beets were discovered had been swept clean by him. He planned to set aside a piece of fertile land next year specifically to plant sugar beets.

When the time came, they could get rich relying on this sugar, it was just that he couldn’t reveal it temporarily.

Wait until the tribe’s strength was greater, then he would use this sugar to trade for things.