Chapter 36: Chapter 36: Handmade Rice Noodles

“Chang Xia, the sun’s strong at noon. You should rest at home for now. There’s no rush to work on the rice noodles. I’m heading out,” Shen Rong withdrew his gaze from Nan Feng and gently reminded Chang Xia.

He needed to finish building Nuan Chun’s kiln as soon as possible, so he could go hunting and help Chang Xia make ointment.

After a few more words to Chang Xia, he left with Shan Kun and Ya Dong.

“Ya Dong, you and Shan Kun take good care of Shen Rong. The poison in his body hasn’t been cleared yet, and he’s not fully recovered. He can’t overexert himself,” Chang Xia said, standing on tiptoe to wave as she watched the three of them head toward the neighboring hill.

Nuan Chun’s family’s kiln was being built on the next slope over.

It was only a few hundred meters away—a ten-minute walk. Once the kiln was finished and a path built, it’d only be three to five minutes away.

Similarly, Nan Feng and Ya Dong had chosen a spot for their kiln not far off.

All the kilns were spreading out from Chang Xia’s home as the center, facing White Lake.

“Got it!” Shan Kun replied.

He exchanged a glance with Ya Dong.

Shen Rong wasn’t even fully recovered—

Yet he could beat them as easily as he’d swat a beast cub. Once the poison was gone, they’d probably have no chance to fight back at all.

Since when had the Wolf Tribe become so formidable?

“Shen Rong—”

Meeting Shen Rong’s approachable smile, both Ya Dong and Shan Kun couldn’t help but shiver.

Shen Rong smiled and said, “I don’t eat people, so what are you afraid of? Do you know when Kong Shan will be coming over? Let’s hurry and try to finish your kilns in the next two days. We need to stockpile more food before the rainy season.”

“After the hunt, Kong Shan will come straight over,” Ya Dong said.

Shan Kun added, “We haven’t joined the hunting party these days. We really need to focus on building the kilns. Even if we can’t hunt, we should gather more white nuts and wild vegetables.”

He was feeling the pressure—Nuan Chun was about to give birth, and things were unpredictable.

If the chief and Chang Xia hadn’t repeatedly assured him that Nuan Chun was fine, Shan Kun would have taken her to the Bird Tribe’s shaman by now.

Shan Kun’s tone was heavy, and Shen Rong and Ya Dong understood his worries.

“Shan Kun, Nuan Chun is just sleeping a lot—she’s fine,” Shen Rong said calmly.

Ya Dong patted Shan Kun on the shoulder, flashing a confident, cheerful grin. “Shan Kun, listen to Shen Rong. If he says Nuan Chun’s fine, she’s fine. Don’t forget where he’s from—the Western Lands, which are even more prosperous and advanced than the Eastern Lands.”

“Mm!” Shan Kun nodded firmly.

With Shen Rong and Ya Dong’s reassurance, Shan Kun felt a bit better.

The three of them headed straight to their destination, shifted into their beast forms, and began clearing the area around the kiln and getting to work.

Back in the beast den, with Nuan Chun sound asleep, Chang Xia and Nan Feng started sifting fruit flour. Chang Xia wanted to try making handmade rice noodles, but the fruit flour was a bit coarse and needed to be sifted. After several rounds of sifting, the fine and coarse flour were separated; the coarse flour would be ground again, and the fine flour set aside for use.

“Chang Xia, is this good enough?” Nan Feng held out a wooden basin for Chang Xia to inspect.

The sieve was woven from reeds, about the size of the wooden basin.

Chang Xia glanced over and shook her head. “Sift it again. The finer the flour, the better the rice noodles will taste.”

If it was too coarse, she worried it wouldn’t steam evenly.

Not to mention the appearance—it might even affect the texture.

So, the two of them sifted the fruit flour again and again. After nearly half an hour, they finally finished sifting the whole bucket.

The sifted flour was fine and white.

It looked completely different from before.

“It’s so white!” Nan Feng exclaimed, grabbing a handful in surprise.

The flour they usually ground was yellowish, and after a few days, it would get damp and turn grayish-black—almost like it was moldy.

But after sifting, the flour seemed completely transformed. It was amazing.

As she spoke, Nan Feng suddenly took a bite.

“Ptooey, ptooey!”

Chang Xia: Σ(☉▽☉”a

Was this really the Nan Feng she knew?

Had she been swapped by some mysterious force?

“Nan Feng, does it taste good?” Chang Xia asked dryly.

Nan Feng froze, grinning sheepishly at Chang Xia. “The sifted flour just looked so tasty, I wanted to try it—”

“…” Chang Xia.

The Leopard Tribe shouldn’t have any husky traits.

So why was Nan Feng acting like such a goofball?

“Nan Feng, what are you eating… I want some too.” Nuan Chun opened her eyes, groggily sat up, and realized she was lying in the beast den. She patted her forehead and mumbled, “Chang Xia, did I fall asleep again? Where’s Shan Kun?”

"I didn't eat much,"Nan Feng said quickly.

She refused to tell Nuan Chun about her earlier blunder. At the same time, she shot a pleading look at Chang Xia, silently asking her not to say anything either.

Chang Xia shook her head helplessly and said, "Nuan Chun, are you hungry? Shan Kun and the others have gone to start building the kiln. Nan Feng and I are sorting fruit flour, and we're planning to make rice noodles in a bit."I think... I'm a little hungry,"Nuan Chun said, rubbing her round belly and licking her lips. It hadn’t been long since lunch, but she already felt hungry again.

Lately, besides feeling sleepy, Nuan Chun had also been getting hungry very easily.

She needed to eat at least seven or eight times a day, and every time she finished eating, it wouldn’t be long before she felt hungry again.

"Nuan Chun, there’s food in the pot on the stove. Get up and I’ll bring it to the table for you so you can sit and eat slowly,"Chang Xia said, brushing the fruit flour off her hands before getting up to bring over some roasted meat and bone broth for Nuan Chun.

"Is there still bone broth?"Nuan Chun asked, getting up with Nan Feng’s help. She’d had some at noon and was already craving it again.

Chang Xia nodded. "Yes, you can have as much as you want,"she said, ladling out the soup.

"Chang Xia, get me a bowl too,"Nan Feng said.

The smell made her realize that even though she was already full, she could probably squeeze in another bowl.

Chang Xia rolled her eyes, but didn’t refuse. She served two bowls of soup and placed them on the table, then went into the animal den to fetch the tools for making rice noodles: a flat-bottomed pan made from animal bone, and a rattan basket.

The animal bone pan had been brought back from the sacred mountain of Kana by the shaman. It was originally used for brewing medicine for Chang Xia, and she’d brought it along when she moved.

The rattan basket had been specially woven by Chen Rong at Chang Xia’s request. The craftsmanship was exquisite, even finer than the flour sieve. The original sieve had also been made from thin rattan, but it was too tightly woven and hard to use.

"Chang Xia, are you going to brew medicine?"Nan Feng asked, sipping her soup and chatting with Nuan Chun.

When she saw Chang Xia take out the old animal bone pan, she was startled and hurried over to check Chang Xia’s health. Only after confirming she was fine did she relax a little.

Nuan Chun stayed quiet, but put down her bowl and stared intently at Chang Xia. Was Chang Xia overworked from helping build the kiln lately?

Sensing their concern, Chang Xia quickly explained, "I’m fine! I’m just using the animal bone pan to make handmade rice noodles. Clay and stone pots aren’t convenient for steaming the noodle sheets..."As long as you’re okay, that’s good,"Nuan Chun murmured.

Nan Feng blinked, let go of Chang Xia, and asked curiously, "How do you steam the noodle sheets?"You mix the fruit flour with water to make a batter, add a bit of salt, and pour it evenly into the animal bone pan. Then you put the pan, batter and all, into a stone pot, cover it with a wooden lid, and cook it over high heat,"Chang Xia explained as she scrubbed the bone pan with plant ash.

Once the pan was clean, she scooped out half a bowl of fruit flour, mixed it with water to make a batter, added salt, stirred again, then poured the batter into the bone pan. She placed the pan on a rack of wooden chopsticks inside the stone pot and started cooking it over high heat.

Making handmade rice noodles wasn’t difficult, but since it was her first time, Chang Xia still felt a bit nervous.