Chapter 169: Chapter 169: For Love—A Lifetime Reward Bonus Chapter

“If you want to eat it, you can have some right now,” Chang Xia said, stirring the chili sauce in the wooden basin with chopsticks to help it dry out faster.

She planned to sun-dry it for another day tomorrow.

Chang Xia didn’t store the chili sauce in clay jars yet.

Instead, she kept it in the wooden basin.

Nuan Chun licked her lips and said, “Give me half a bowl—I’ll take it back to my cave and eat it with roast meat tonight.”

“Want some chili oil too?” Chang Xia asked.

“Yes, give me a bit of everything,” Nuan Chun replied quickly. With twins to care for, it was hard for her to do much, and even if Shan Kun came back, they’d probably just throw together some roast meat for a quick meal.

Chang Xia went inside to get a bowl and some chili powder as well.

She packed a small half-bowl of each for Nuan Chun.

Judging by how eager Nuan Chun looked, she’d probably finish all the chili sauce and such tonight. That’s why Chang Xia didn’t give her more—eating too much chili can cause inflammation, and if she got constipated, that would be trouble.

After seeing off Nuan Chun and her twins,

Chen Rong and Bai Qing gathered up all the chili peppers drying in the courtyard and stored them in the wooden shed. If it didn’t rain tomorrow, they’d bring them out to dry again.

“Let’s go!” Su Ye called out.

If they delayed any longer, it would be dark.

The four of them left the courtyard, closed the door, and headed toward the tribe.

As they walked through the tribe’s plaza, they could still faintly smell the sweet scent of seaweed syrup. But by now, there were no tribe members in sight—the seaweed syrup had finished cooking, and everyone had dispersed. The finished syrup was set out in the wooden shed on the plaza.

Just like with the maple sugar and grass root sugar before, the seaweed syrup was poured into ironwood molds. Once it cooled completely, it would be unmolded and become solid seaweed sugar.

Pieces of reddish-brown seaweed sugar lay flat in the ironwood molds.

The tempting aroma wafted from the molds.

Compared to the sugar yield from beets, the Bear tribe had brought several thousand pounds of seaweed this time, which would yield at least several hundred pounds of seaweed sugar. A 40% yield was not low. If the seaweed roots were sweeter, the yield could be even higher.

Thinking of this, Chang Xia walked with a spring in her step.

From now on, the tribe wouldn’t have to worry about running out of sugar. How wonderful!

They walked through the plaza and deeper into the tribe.

Gen and Mu Qin’s cave dwellings were built in the center of the tribe.

With some tribe members having moved to White Lake, the tribe felt much more spacious. The neat and orderly cave dwellings lined up in rows. The eaves weren’t decorated with carvings, but the cool gray ironwood gave them a sense of dignity.

Clearly, the tribe members had been influenced by Chang Xia.

All the cave dwellings now had eaves and corridors, and even the courtyard gates looked about 70–80% similar to Chang Xia’s home.

“The whole tribe has changed!” Su Ye exclaimed.

Every time she came to the Heluo tribe, she could feel something different.

That difference was full of vitality.

And all of it was thanks to Chang Xia.

“It just keeps getting better!” Chang Xia said confidently.

Hardworking and kind beastfolk shouldn’t have to live in poverty or go hungry.

“It smells so good! Looks like… you don’t need my help today. I just need to bring my mouth and eat!” Chang Xia joked, opening the door and letting Su Ye go in first.

Then she and Chen Rong brought Bai Qing inside.

The house was a bit smaller than Chang Xia’s, but otherwise almost identical.

Even the placement of the water jar was exactly the same.

“Wu—”

Gen hurried over to welcome Su Ye inside.

At that moment, Xi Feng was sitting by the stove in the courtyard, carefully turning some roast meat. His expression was so focused and solemn, it looked less like he was roasting meat and more like he was performing a ritual or prayer.

Chang Xia and the others twitched their noses.

They caught a familiar scent of rosemary.

They immediately understood.

So, he was roasting anaconda meat—no wonder he looked so serious.

“Chang Xia, you’re so slow!” Nan Feng complained.

They’d almost finished preparing dinner, and Chang Xia was only just arriving—she must be doing it on purpose!

Chang Xia handed the vine basket she was carrying to Mu Qin, ignoring Nan Feng’s complaints. “Aunt Mu Qin, there’s a jar of chili sauce in the basket, along with some chili oil and chili powder.”

Mu Qin happily took the basket from Chang Xia.

After tasting a few chili dishes, Mu Qin had become a fan of spicy food.

Before, when the tribe had no chili, she’d always been thinking about it.

Now, with the tribe having reached a trade agreement with the Lion tribe,

They wouldn’t have to worry about running out of chili anymore. Chang Xia kept coming up with new ways to cook with chili, which made Mu Qin even happier. It meant there would be more and more delicious food.

"Chili sauce—"Anbian suddenly stood up by the riverbank, excitedly asking, "Changxia, can I try some?"That evening, Milu came to the tribe.

As soon as chili sauce was mentioned, Anbian had been craving to try it ever since.

But Changxia still hadn’t shown up.

Anbian waited so long, she felt like the flowers were about to wilt.

Xifeng walked over, curious. "Is chili sauce really that tasty?"He’d eaten raw chili peppers before and hadn’t found them very good.

Milu explained that chili sauce was made by chopping up chili peppers and mixing them with salt, ginger, and garlic—supposedly making them taste better? Xifeng found this hard to believe. He’d tried dipping raw chilis in salt before, and it didn’t improve the flavor at all.

"Chiefs, please wait a moment. I’ll go get some bowls and chopsticks—"Changxia, a little embarrassed, hurried into the kitchen. After all, they couldn’t just eat straight from the clay jar with their hands—that would be too dirty and unhygienic.

Soon, Changxia returned with bowls and chopsticks.

She poured out half a bowl of chili sauce and handed the wooden chopsticks to Chiefs Anbian and Xifeng. Of course, Gen and Muqin weren’t left out either.

So—

The group used their chopsticks to try the chili sauce.

"Huh?"Xifeng was the first to exclaim in surprise. "I’ve eaten raw chili peppers with salt before, and they weren’t good at all. Why does chopping them up and adding salt make such a huge difference?"It was the same salt—how could the taste be so drastically different?!

Raw chili with salt—was Chief Xifeng really that hardcore?

Impressive, truly impressive.

Muqin’s eyes lit up, and she praised, "Changxia, this chili sauce is wonderful."Changxia, if you ever need help from the Heavenly Lion Tribe in the future, just say the word,"Anbian said simply, without making any grand promises.

Yet that simple statement moved everyone in the courtyard.

"Chief Anbian, you’re too kind!"Changxia was startled and quickly insisted there was no need to be so formal. The promise left her feeling both honored and a little overwhelmed.

Milu and Jie didn’t say anything.

They knew very well how important the appearance of chili sauce, chili oil, and chili powder was for the Heavenly Lion Tribe. For years, the Lion Tribe had wanted to popularize chili peppers, but other beast tribes had always rejected them, making it impossible to spread the idea.

But now—

Changxia had given them hope.

After a bit of polite back-and-forth, the matter was settled.

Tonight’s main dish was python meat; Muqin hadn’t prepared anything else. She simmered python bones for soup and made some fruit-flour cakes.

After marinating the python meat, the rest was left for Anbian and Xifeng to cook themselves.

It seemed like a simple dinner, but everyone ate with great satisfaction. Grilled python meat paired with chili sauce, chili oil, or chili powder brought a fresh, spicy flavor—a brand new taste that was utterly addictive.

Everyone gathered around the stove, grilling python meat and chatting.

The atmosphere was warm and friendly, and before long, the conversation naturally turned to the topic of the wanderers.

"Those endless vultures—"?? Liu Xiangcheng: The rest of the bonus chapters will be up tomorrow!