Chapter 37: Chapter 37: Cold Tossed Rice Noodle Sheets

"It looks pretty simple,"Nuan Chun said, sipping her soup, one hand on her chin, eyes fixed on Chang Xia’s movements.

She watched as Chang Xia put the bone pan into the stone pot and added firewood to the stove. Whether it was mixing the batter or pouring it into the pan, it all looked easy—completely different from Chang Xia’s usual cooking.

Nan Feng shook her head and explained, "Nuan Chun, handmade rice noodles only look simple. Once you try, you’ll see how tricky it is."Most beastfolk were rough by nature, and delicate work like this was anything but easy for Nan Feng.

It was easy to make the batter too runny or too sticky, so Nan Feng didn’t dare try herself. Just like when she tried frying yam and fruit flour cakes—sometimes she overcooked them, sometimes they were still raw. She ruined several batches before she got the hang of it and stopped wasting ingredients. Thinking about those cakes, Nan Feng started craving them again.

Maybe she’d ask Chang Xia to fry a batch for her to take home later. But she’d have to hide them at home—her parents were too sneaky, always stealing her food when she wasn’t looking. Sigh—how did she end up with such shameless parents? Every time she complained to Chang Xia, Chang Xia would say she shouldn’t eat alone, but her parents stole food way more often than she did...

"I’ll give it a try in a bit,"Nuan Chun said excitedly, her face eager. Unlike Nan Feng, Nuan Chun didn’t have as strong a bloodline and hadn’t become a powerful totem warrior, but she was more careful and persistent when it came to doing things.

Chang Xia didn’t refuse. "Sure! Come help after you finish eating. I’ll make some toppings and sauces, and we can mix them with the noodles later."Chang Xia had grown up in southern Hunan, where she was used to eating Guilin, Shaoyang, and Changde-style rice noodles. As society developed and the service industry grew, food was no longer limited by region. No matter what city you were in on Earth, you could find delicacies from all over the world if you wanted them.

Unfortunately, all that was destroyed by the apocalypse.

Chang Xia shook her head, pushing away the chaotic thoughts. With humanity’s resilience, no matter what disasters they faced, she believed they would eventually pull through. Now living in the Twilight Forest, she wished that Earth could one day regain its peace.

"Are the toppings and sauces tasty?"Nan Feng asked, swallowing eagerly.

When it came to food, she was always interested—especially if the toppings could be mixed with the noodles.

"Toppings and sauces are basically the same thing. You cook meat, wild vegetables, and bird eggs together, and once the noodle sheets are ready, you mix them all together to eat,"Chang Xia explained, grabbing a clean wooden bucket to fill with water. Once the noodle sheets were steamed, they’d need to be cooled in cold water.

Then she’d brush them with oil, take them out, cut them into strips, and put them in a bowl—either stir-fried or mixed with the toppings and sauces. Either way, it would taste delicious.

Thinking about the taste of handmade rice noodles, Chang Xia felt she should have started making them sooner. She shouldn’t have insisted on making dried rice noodles—they were just too much trouble.

However, if you really want to store ginkgo nuts, dried rice noodles are essential.

Forget it, let’s eat first and think about it later.

“I’ll cook the toppings,” Nan Feng said cheerfully, fetching water to wash her hands.

On the stove beside her, the stone pot was steaming, and the faint aroma of rice noodles drifted into her nose. Nan Feng estimated that the noodle sheets were almost done.

So, she sprang into action.

Nuan Chun ate a piece of roasted meat and drank a bowl of bone broth. Satisfied, she let out a burp and stood up. “Nan Feng, you prepare the meat, bird eggs, and wash the wild vegetables. I’ll do the stir-frying.”

When it came to cooking, Nuan Chun was better than Nan Feng.

Nan Feng’s food was edible at best, but you couldn’t expect much in terms of flavor.

Nuan Chun’s cooking could rival Chang Xia’s, though she was still a bit less skilled than Shen Rong. Sometimes, Chang Xia couldn’t help but sigh that teaching apprentices might starve the master—her apprentices were just too talented, making her look bad by comparison.

Still, she could only say one thing: “Well done.”

Unfortunately, they hadn’t found any chili peppers.

Previously, when Gen brought back some chili peppers to the tribe to ask about them, he was told that Kong Shan had found them. Kong Shan said he’d picked them by chance, far from the tribe, at a place called Qingshan Rock, on the border between the Heluo and Tianshi tribes. The Tianshi tribe belonged to the lion beastfolk, and Kong Shan had only gone there while patrolling the tribe’s territory. For now, there was no way to pick more.

Chang Xia had Gen ask Kong Shan for the location of Qingshan Rock, planning to go there with Shen Rong once the cave dwellings were finished.

She was determined not to give up on chili peppers. She could do without many things, but not chili peppers.

Since they couldn’t find any, Chang Xia considered using zanthoxylum (Sichuan pepper). In ancient times, before chili peppers existed, zanthoxylum was used as a spicy seasoning. It was usually harvested in August, pounded and filtered for juice, then mixed with lime to make zanthoxylum oil, also called “spicy rice oil.”

Spicy rice oil had a pungent, spicy flavor and could be used to season dishes.

But at this time of year, there was no zanthoxylum to be picked. As for the chili peppers Kong Shan had found, who knew what was going on there?

Chang Xia guessed that the climate varied greatly across the Twilight Forest.

Otherwise, there wouldn’t be such differences in the plants.

Chang Xia had a dream: to travel across all the tribe’s hunting grounds, and, with the help of the shamans, to visit other beastfolk territories. The bird and fish tribes were also on her list, but that would take time.

After all, as far as she knew, beastfolk rarely set foot in other tribes’ territories.

Unless invited, approaching another tribe’s land was seen as provocation and invasion. If discovered, it would definitely lead to a fight.

Chang Xia preferred peace and had no intention of solving problems with violence.

She chose to make friends and exchange goods through mutual benefit.

Just like trading with the tribe—if she had enough good things to offer, Chang Xia didn’t believe the other beastfolk wouldn’t be tempted.

She washed the stone pot, added oil, and stir-fried the chopped meat until fragrant.

She scooped it out, then stir-fried the bird eggs and wild vegetables separately.

Each bowl was filled more than halfway with toppings, and the mouthwatering aroma quickly spread.

Meanwhile, Chang Xia brushed oil onto the steamed noodle sheets.

She rinsed them in water to cool them down.

The bone pot was about nine inches wide, and after cutting up the noodle sheets, it was filled to the brim.

They were white and translucent.

They looked delicious.

Nan Feng swallowed, just waiting for Chang Xia to say the word.

After cutting up the noodle sheets, Chang Xia poured more rice batter into the bone pot to steam a second batch. With the beastfolk’s appetites, no matter how many noodle sheets she made, it would never be enough.

Besides, Chang Xia planned to make a few extra bowls.

Later, she’d have Nan Feng bring some to Shen Rong and the others to try.

“Chang Xia, Chang Xia—” Nan Feng called out impatiently, silently urging her on.

Nuan Chun didn’t say anything, but she used her wooden chopsticks to pile plenty of toppings into her bowl.

She ate absentmindedly, her eyes fixed on the bowl of noodle sheets.

It looked like she was trying to satisfy her craving just by looking at them.

“Bring your bowls,” Chang Xia said. “Cold noodle sheets taste even better with a bit of bone broth mixed in.”

Mixing them naturally made her think of soy sauce. Ah, soy sauce! Chang Xia sighed—her dream of a foodie paradise was still far away. To make soy sauce, she’d need to find soybeans first. It would be a long journey of exploration.

Nan Feng and Nuan Chun quickly handed over their wooden bowls.

Without wasting words, Chang Xia divided the noodle sheets evenly into three portions and handed the bowls back to Nan Feng and Nuan Chun, letting them add their own broth and toppings.

She herself added a small bowl of bone broth and all three kinds of toppings, then eagerly dug in.

Even though it had only been a little over an hour since lunch and she wasn’t really hungry, the tender, delicate noodle sheets paired with the colorful meat, bird eggs, and wild vegetables looked incredibly appetizing.

With the first bite, the rough, hearty texture of the handmade noodle sheets amazed Chang Xia—she’d worried they might not taste good.

“Delicious! These cold noodle sheets are the best thing I’ve ever eaten,” Nan Feng said.

Nuan Chun snorted with laughter and teased, “That’s not what you said before. You said beggar’s chicken was the best. Now it’s cold noodle sheets?”

“Did I? You must be mistaken, Nuan Chun,” Nan Feng replied sheepishly.

Chang Xia and Nuan Chun exchanged a glance and burst out laughing.