Chapter 118: Chapter 118: Sister Sa, Maple Leaf

“Chang Xia,” Maple Leaf greeted, waving her hand, a hint of awkwardness flashing across her handsome face.

Chang Xia stepped forward and hugged Maple Leaf, whispering, “Kong Shan is wonderful. I wish you both happiness!”

With those words, Maple Leaf instantly calmed down. She wasn’t usually shy, but she’d felt awkward because she and Kong Shan had been keeping their relationship a secret from the tribe.

Now that it was out in the open, even someone as confident as Maple Leaf couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed.

“I told you… no one would gossip,” Kong Shan said with a smile.

Hearing this, Maple Leaf glanced up at him.

Kong Shan paused, quickly turning away, not daring to meet Maple Leaf’s sharp gaze.

Off to the side, Chang Xia covered her mouth and giggled.

“Sister Sa” referred to Maple Leaf. When it came to intimidation, Nan Feng couldn’t compare to her.

Maple Leaf was a totem warrior who could pin down and beat up the males.

No one dared to mess with her.

Once news of Maple Leaf and Kong Shan’s relationship got out, it would cause a huge stir in the Heluo tribe—and probably among all the beast tribes in the Twilight Forest who admired Maple Leaf.

Maple Leaf herself didn’t mind.

But Kong Shan… that was another story. He’d probably go through the same ordeal Chen Rong had.

Still, Kong Shan was no pushover.

He’d be able to handle it.

“I’ve been wanting to try your fish balls. No matter how many times Kong Shan and I try, we can’t get them to taste like yours,” Maple Leaf said with a smile.

Earlier, Kong Shan had brought over a lot of meat for Chang Xia to make into crispy fried pork.

He and his friends had also taken some fish balls with them.

Maple Leaf had tasted Chang Xia’s fish balls—they were fresh and bouncy.

But she just couldn’t replicate the flavor. When Kong Shan had Chang Xia make the fried pork, Maple Leaf had been out hunting with the hunting party and wasn’t in the tribe.

At that time, Maple Leaf was torn about whether or not she should tell the truth about her and Kongshan.

“Don’t worry, Nan Feng caught a bunch of green carp from the pond by Bai Lake. We’ll have fish balls for lunch,” Chang Xia said, her gaze landing on the rattan basket Maple Leaf was carrying.

This rattan basket was much bigger than the one Chang Xia usually used.

It looked more like a small backpack basket.

“I heard you like beef, so there’s beef in here. I happened to catch one this morning when I was out digging for thatch roots,” Maple Leaf explained, shaking the large basket in her hand.

There were quite a few clan members digging for thatch roots together.

Whenever there was a catch, everyone got a share. Each person received a portion of the black-horned cow.

Maple Leaf had brought all of her share.

“I do love beef, especially braised beef,” Chang Xia said without hesitation, taking the large rattan basket from Maple Leaf and heading into the kitchen. Maple Leaf followed her in, intending to learn a thing or two from Chang Xia.

“Maple Leaf, you’re here,” Warm Spring greeted her.

Nan Feng grinned at Maple Leaf, then slipped into the small living room to continue eating.

The green carp and shrimp had already been cleaned and prepared, and there were six river crabs on the side, each weighing four or five jin.

It was obvious that Nan Feng had specially picked out these crabs.

Although the river crabs in Bai Lake were big, ones weighing four or five jin were still rare.

If they wanted to steam them, they’d need a fairly large stone pot.

Most likely, steaming the crabs would have to wait until the very end.

“Nan Feng, what are you sneaking?” Maple Leaf walked into the small living room and saw Nan Feng eating happily. She couldn’t help but go over to take a look, reaching out to try some herself.

“Braised meat made by Chang Xia. Here, use these wooden chopsticks,” Nan Feng said.

Maple Leaf didn’t stand on ceremony. She took the chopsticks and grabbed a piece of braised meat, popping it into her mouth.

“Wow!” Maple Leaf exclaimed in surprise. “This tastes completely different from the braised meat we usually make. How did Chang Xia cook it?”

“She used all kinds of seasonings,” Nan Feng replied.

When Chang Xia cooked, she used more than just one or two seasonings. Some of them had such a strong smell that just sniffing them would make your nose tingle. But when cooked together with the meat, the flavor became delicious and almost magical.

“This can’t really be called braised meat,” Chang Xia said. “I’m missing some spices. What I wanted to make was soy-braised or marinated meat. But since I don’t have all the right seasonings, it ended up as a heavier-flavored braised meat.”

Normally, “braised meat” referred to meat cooked simply in broth.

Chang Xia’s version was more heavily seasoned, but since she hadn’t added the right marinades or sauces, it couldn’t really be called marinated or soy-braised meat. For lack of a better term, she just kept calling it braised meat.

“What seasonings are you missing?” Maple Leaf asked.

“To make marinated meat, you need a spice pack. Marinade spices are used to make marinated dishes; they’re boiled with medicinal herbs to make a fragrant marinade that gets rid of any gamey or fishy smell in the ingredients.”

“Common marinade spices include star anise, cinnamon, Sichuan peppercorn, nard, fennel, white cardamom, nutmeg, bay leaf, lemongrass, licorice root…”

Honestly, if Chang Xia’s powers in her previous life hadn’t been related to plants, she wouldn’t have remembered so many plant names.

Coincidentally, in this life, the bloodline ability she awakened was also plant-related.

Chang Xia often joked that fate was pushing her further and further down the path of gourmet food.

“Nan Feng, did you understand any of that?” Maple Leaf whispered.

Nan Feng shook her head calmly. “Relax. Let’s just wait for Chang Xia to finish.”

Chang Xia had always talked about things they didn’t understand since they were little.

It didn’t matter if they didn’t know the names. When they came across something, Chang Xia would point it out.

Besides, last time the tribe sent over a pile of miscellaneous items, Chang Xia managed to pick out quite a few spices.

The elders had already drawn pictures and labeled the names. When the time was right, they’d distribute them to the hunting teams, and after the hunters identified them, they’d teach the rest of the tribe.

Shen Rong and Warm Spring, who were in the kitchen, were just as calm.

After a while, Chang Xia finished her explanation.

“There are some spices I don’t even know what they look like. In the future, when you’re out hunting, if you come across any plants with a strong aroma—whether it’s the leaves, bark, or fruit—make sure to bring some back.”

“Got it!”

“Sure, we’ll remember.”

At this point, Nan Feng and Shen Rong both responded.

Maple Leaf felt a bit embarrassed, finally realizing why Nan Feng had said to wait until Chang Xia finished.

Turns out, Chang Xia knew that just hearing the names was useless. She was just indulging herself by talking about them. After all, there were some spices she only knew by name and couldn’t even draw.

At lunch, with Maple Leaf joining, Chang Xia made a few extra dishes.

The chicken soup was a crowd favorite, and the spicy stir-fried and deep-fried meat was so good that Ya Dong even took the bowl and used fruit-flour pancakes to soak up every last drop of oil.

The fish balls had Maple Leaf raving, exclaiming over and over about how delicious the fish was.

Everyone was completely satisfied after the meal.

After cleaning up, the group headed toward the rocky beach.

Warm Spring didn’t want to take the cubs back to the cave alone, so she decided to bring them along to the rocky beach. She claimed it was because totem warriors should start training from a young age.

After hearing this, Chang Xia almost wanted to flip Warm Spring off.

But in the end, she agreed to let Warm Spring bring the beast cubs to the rocky beach.

So, the two cubs were placed in the rattan basket carried by Shan Kun, with soft leaves and bark lining the bottom for comfort, so there was no worry about them getting hurt.

The group chatted and laughed as they followed the Bai Lake upstream toward the rocky beach.