CHAPTER 195: CHAPTER 195: SO THERE’S A ROMANCE

Seeing Tu guiltily tucking the cakes away for his wife, Eric suddenly remembered and hurriedly found a few woven leaf boxes, carefully arranging some fried cakes and sticky rice cakes in each.

He then asked Kevin, who was eyeing the food hungrily, to fetch some clean cloths to wrap up a few bundles of steamed buns.

The buns Eric steamed were each as big as a small melon; making them smaller wouldn’t even be enough for a beastman’s bite, and he was too lazy to do extra work, so he made them super-sized every time.

As for the pumpkin cakes and potato chips, they had long been completely devoured, and Eric didn’t want to make them again. The steamed pumpkin was all used up; starting over would be both time-consuming and exhausting.

He only packed the remaining dishes. As for the grilled meat skewers, since they were grilled on the spot anyway, anyone who wanted to eat could just take the meat back and grill it themselves. Eric figured the Ox-Head tribe would know how to do it after seeing it once.

Many dishes weren’t difficult to make; it was just that people didn’t think of them at the moment. Just like in some places, people preferred steamed food, while in other regions, they were accustomed to baking cakes and various grains.

Tu looked at him with an even more benevolent gaze. Being able to bring these rare cakes back for his mate to taste, naturally, he couldn’t be happier.

"Great, I can just gift them to Minie; she will definitely love them." Bi giggled.

Balu and Kiet exchanged a knowing glance, bursting into laughter that was a bit mischievous.

Oh, so there was a romance. Eric squinted at Bi, his eyes a bit playful.

Bi’s bovine face couldn’t show embarrassment, but his eyes darted away, and he quietly stuffed a handful of roasted peanuts into his mouth.

Beastmen also used delicious food to woo their crushes, Eric thought amusingly, just like modern boys buying bubble tea and snacks for the girls they loved.

This feast of Eric’s had completely conquered the Ox-Head tribe. Seeing him skillfully process various grains, the Ox-Head tribe all felt inferior.

For example, glutinous rice; the Ox-Head tribe only liked the thick, sticky texture when cooked into porridge, which was tastier than regular rice porridge, so despite the low yield, they still planted some every year. If they had known earlier that glutinous rice could be made into all kinds of delicious chewy cakes like this, they would have planted at least a few hundred more acres.

They easily accepted the names "fried cake," "sticky rice cake," and "steamed bun"; they were both descriptive and easy to remember. Because they loved them so much, the Ox-Head tribe wouldn’t forget their names.

Of course, to eat delicious food, Bi and the others finally got used to Eric calling peanuts "peanuts"; for the sake of eating, they had to bow their heads.

The name "earth bean" used for so many years had to be changed, which made Eric feel guilty, but he really easily confused the terms for "potato" and "earth bean".

Originally, Ox-Head people like Bi weren’t very optimistic about the Snow Wolf people’s intention to start farming. They couldn’t understand letting a cub be the chief, and allowing him to lead the tribe into a new way of life.

When Eric made tofu, this thought began to waver. Not to mention the taste of tofu, just the fact that soybeans could be turned into an amount of food three to five times heavier was enough to astonish people.

That meant increasing the tribe’s food supply by three to five times; ask who wouldn’t be moved.

After Eric left, the Ox-Head people, eager to taste the delicious dishes he made again, actively ran to Chief Tu, successfully piquing his curiosity.

Waiting day and night, they finally saw Eric arrive. But unexpectedly, this time Eric improvised dishes in a new style. The few pumpkins brought with a stroke of luck actually became sweeter in his hands, so delicious that even Bi couldn’t believe it.

They had been planting wheat and glutinous rice for so many years, yet they weren’t as good at cooking as a Snow Wolf cub. Soft, fluffy steamed buns went very well with grilled meat, and the various cakes made from glutinous rice flour directly captured their hearts.

The Snow Wolf people letting Eric be the chief was truly a wise decision. If only their Chief Tu knew how to cook like that too. Eating until the end, all the Ox-Head people thought so.

This time, Eric didn’t plan to stay long. Teach the Ox-Head tribe to make tofu, then take the traded food and leave quickly; after all, the tribesmen were still at the tribe looking forward to their return every day.

But the heavens didn’t favor people; the next day, snow began to fall again, drifting down, soon covering the ground in a thin layer.

When it snowed, the weather wasn’t too cold, but every time the snow melted, the temperature would drop deeply. Based on experience, Eric estimated that recently, the nights had already reached minus thirty or forty degrees; if the temperature dropped further, it would probably be close to the Arctic.

It was hard to imagine how cold the extreme north where the White Bear tribe lived was.

Winter on the Illusion Dream Continent was basically impossible for ordinary people to travel in. Even swordsmen with Origin Power to protect their bodies, unless they circulated their Origin Power constantly, would be frozen stiff after a short while.

If one had tools providing magic shields or protective items on them, they wouldn’t freeze to death, but these things were all very expensive.

Added to that were the strict defenses and exclusionary attitude towards humans of the beastmen tribes, along with the danger from magic beasts everywhere; unless they were desperadoes, ordinary people wouldn’t easily set foot here.

Fortunately, both the Ox-Head tribe and the Snow Wolf people could withstand the cold. Although Joseph was a Dwarf and seemed less cold-resistant compared to beastmen, he was still much stronger than humans. Moreover, he also had Origin Power; as long as he didn’t spend the night outdoors, he would be fine.

Early in the morning, Tu led a female Ox-Head beastman along with Bi and the others to the front of the wooden house; behind them were other curious beastmen coming to watch.

Making tofu in the kitchen with so many people would be very crowded. Eric planned to grind soy milk outdoors, and only move it indoors for the final step of pressing it into tofu; otherwise, it would freeze immediately.

The snow fell heavier and heavier. Kevin and the others used animal skins and wood to set up a large shed outside so the snow wouldn’t fall into the pot.

Max carried the stone mill out, along with the soaked beans, and prepared several large jars.

Grinding soy milk, in the eyes of the Snow Wolf people, was almost like playing. Every time the tribe made tofu, as long as they had time, every Snow Wolf person would roll up their sleeves to do it, even fighting over the chance.

Today was no exception; the warriors argued noisily, and finally, Kevin won, standing smugly in front of the stone mill, starting to grind soy milk.

A handful of beans, a ladle of water, the thick white milk flowed down the groove into the ceramic jar below. With Kevin’s movements, a large jar was soon filled. Another warrior went over and poured it into the iron pot set up nearby.

High fire boiled the soy milk, removing the raw bean smell, leaving only the rich aroma of beans.

At this point, the soy milk was drinkable. They soaked a lot of beans today; even if everyone here ate tofu until they were full, there would still be plenty left. So Eric scooped a bowl of hot soy milk for each of them to warm their stomachs.