I've been transported to the orc continent.

Chapter 335 Beef

The elder arranged a large courtyard for the guests who had come from afar, and all the orcs from the High Tree Tribe lived in this courtyard.

At this moment, there were several beastmen waiting at the gate of the courtyard. Two of them were carrying a large basket containing a skinned wild animal leg, while the other two were carrying baskets on their backs.

Xiao and Chen walked quickly and saw two orcs waiting there. Xiao greeted them in a light tone and asked them what they were carrying.

One of the orcs laughed and said, "We hunted two bison today, and the Grand Elder asked me to bring you some beef."

The central tribe has bison. Today, the tribe's hunting team caught two bison, and the elder sent a leg of a bison and two baskets of beef over.

It's not just beef; whenever the tribe catches wild animals, fish, or shrimp, the elder will have the best portion sent over.

The four of them sat around a pile of beef, the younger one's voice filled with delight: "Ling, there's so much beef, how are we going to eat it all?"

Yue also looked at Bai Ling: "Ling, should we stew the beef?"

I've eaten beef several times this month, and it's delicious whether stir-fried, stewed, or grilled.

Not only Yue, but all the beastmen who came out of the high tree loved beef, especially freshly slaughtered beef. Nothing else was needed; just a suitable amount of salt and stewing it made it a very delicious food.

Bai Ling thought for a moment and said, "There's so much beef, we definitely can't finish it all at once. How about we make the rest into beef jerky?"

Even though it's autumn now and the temperature is relatively cool, fresh meat is still difficult to preserve without a refrigerator and has to be eaten within two or three days.

Chen said, "Brother, didn't we agree that you can decide on the food? You said you wanted it made into beef jerky, so let's make it into beef jerky."

Without further ado, Bai Ling first cut out the beef for dinner, then said, "I'll stew the beef. You guys cut the rest of the meat into strips about the thickness of your thumb. I'll marinate the meat after you've cut it."

Stewing beef is very simple. Cut the beef into small pieces, wash away the blood with clean water, put it in a pot with water, add chopped green onions and ginger slices, add an appropriate amount of salt, cover the pot and simmer over high heat.

Bai Ling started stewing the beef, but Xiao and the others hadn't finished cutting it yet. While cutting the beef, Xiao said, "I wish we had cows in our tribe. Just thinking about going back to the tribe and never being able to eat beef again makes me feel so sad."

Chen said from the side, "Xiao, if you like to eat beef, then I'll save up some things for a few more years, exchange them with a tribe that has cattle, and drive them back to our own tribe to raise. That way we can eat beef."

Xiao sighed, "It's too far. It takes the Sky Orcs more than a month to fly from our tribe to the Giant Stone Tribe. It will take us more than half a year to travel. If we travel by cattle, we will be even slower. It may take us several years."

Yue said from the side, "Ling said that cattle are not only edible, but also very important livestock. They can be used for plowing fields, pulling carts, and doing all kinds of farm work, just like oxen."

Xiao put down the knife in his hand and looked at Yue, his eyes wide: "Really?"

Yue nodded.

Xiao looked at Bai Ling, who was tending the fire, and her voice rose slightly: "Ling, is it true?"

Bai Ling nodded: "Yes, that's right."

Xiao nudged Yue with his elbow: "Yue, when we get back, we'll talk to the chief and ask him to discuss with the elders in the tribe whether we should travel such a long distance to exchange cattle with other tribes."

*

Making beef jerky isn't difficult. Cut it into strips about the thickness of a thumb, marinate it with spice powder and salt, then sun-dry it. After it's dried, steam it, then sun-dry it again. Once it's dried again, it can be stored.

The beef jerky was cut and marinated, the stewed beef was ready, and the clansmen who had gone out returned. Everyone sat in a circle in the courtyard and began to eat.

*

Take the ramie that has been soaked overnight out of the water and shake it vigorously a few times to remove the excess water.

The ramie in autumn is older. After soaking overnight, the ramie skin begins to soften and can be scraped.

Scraping ramie requires two people working together. One person holds one end of the ramie bark tightly with both hands, while the other person holds the bark with one hand and uses a knife to scrape off the outer layer, leaving only the fibers underneath.

The ramie fibers, once sorted, need to be dried. With so many people working together, there was naturally a lot of ramie bark to be harvested. Wooden racks were set up at the edge of the tribal square, and strands of ramie were laid out to dry on the racks.

"You have to spray water on them while they're drying; you can't just let them air dry like that." Bai Ling had a ceramic basin at his feet. He scooped water with a ladle and slowly poured it onto the ramie he was drying.

As Bai Ling poured water onto the ramie, she moved her body, and the thin stream of water was poured onto the ramie, soaking the dehydrated ramie again. Water droplets dripped down the ramie and finally fell to the ground.

One of the orcs asked, "Ling, if you're going to dry the ramie, why do you need to water it?"

“Yes, if you water it, the ramie won’t dry easily,” another orc said.

When Bai Ling worked with the orcs, they would have all sorts of questions. Bai Ling was not impatient with them at all, but instead encouraged them to think and ask questions.

No matter how tricky or profound the question is, Bai Ling will answer it carefully and seriously. If it is a question he does not know the answer to, Bai Ling will directly say that he does not know the answer.

"Sprinkling water during the drying process makes the ramie more resilient and easier to separate the fibers," Bai Ling answered the beastmen's question. "If you don't add water, the ramie will dry very quickly, making it more difficult to extract the fibers."

Having obtained the answers they sought, the beastmen dispersed in twos and threes. Many ramie plants were drying in the square, and the beastmen, in groups of two or three, imitated Bai Ling by watering the ramie plants.

Yue was naturally with Bai Ling. Bai Ling held the earthenware basin with both hands, while Yue used a ladle to scoop water and slowly poured it onto the drying ramie.

"Ling, let's take some ramie seeds with us when we go back." Yue is now like Bai Ling, wanting to collect any seeds she sees. Even though her tribe has cotton and silk, Yue still wants to collect any usable ramie cloth she sees.

Bai Ling: "Yes, we'll take the ramie seeds back with us and scatter them outside the tribe so they can grow on their own."

Yue continued, "Ling, we already have cotton, silk, and willow cloth. In the future, we'll have linen, and maybe even other fabrics. We can wear different clothes all year round."

The first thing Bai Ling made was willow cloth, which is made from a fruit that grows on trees. Peeling off the fruit reveals fibers that resemble willow catkins. That kind of cloth is very thin and not very durable.

Bai Ling smiled and replied, "Mm."

Yue has a great figure. Even in the simplest clothes, she looks as good as a runway model. Bai Ling wants to make many beautiful clothes for Yue, and he needs to find more fabric.