Chapter 75: Chapter 75: Tasting

A blazing bonfire was lit in the tribe’s central square. Pots were set up, and red maple sap was poured into stone cauldrons. Changxia and Elder Yami stepped back to give space to the tribe members handling the syrup. No one was in a rush with the first batch—they followed Changxia’s instructions and used their own judgment to start making maple syrup.

With the high temperatures, the syrup wouldn’t solidify easily. They needed the right molds or containers to pour the finished syrup into and let it cool. Once cooled, the syrup would harden into sugar. Of course, if you stirred or spun it rapidly, it would turn into powdered maple sugar, similar to brown sugar.

But that kind of stirring took too much effort, and Changxia didn’t want to bother with it for now. She just wanted to make some syrup or sugar. There’d be plenty of time to experiment with new things next year.

Gurgle, gurgle—

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The stone pot was heated until the red maple sap inside began to boil, bubbling and crackling. At the same time, a tempting caramel aroma drifted through the morning air.

Elder Yami smiled and said, “With this smell wafting around, the little ones in the tribe won’t be able to resist coming over soon.”

Other than the people making maple syrup and sugar, only the beast cubs under ten years old were still in the tribe. Everyone else, even those just over ten, had been assigned tasks by Gen and sent off to help build the kilns.

The tribe’s central square was some distance from the beast dens where everyone lived. Occasionally, the faint sounds of digging could be heard, but they were distant and muffled.

“Forget them, even I’m getting hungry,” Nan Feng muttered, craning her neck to peer at the stone pot, swallowing her saliva quickly. She looked just like a hungry wild animal.

Elder Yami rubbed her forehead and gave Nan Feng a light smack, telling her not to fool around.

Sure enough, not long after their conversation, the chirping of sparrows grew louder, coming closer. Along with them came the other beast cubs, all bouncing and running over from the depths of the tribe.

“Changxia-jie, it smells so sweet!”

“Tree sap—can we have some tree sap?”

“This sweet smell, Sparrow, is this the tree sap you were talking about?”

Suddenly, a chorus of soft, childish voices filled the air. Changxia covered her ears and quickly stepped back, overwhelmed by the noise.

Nan Feng twitched her lips and let Changxia hide behind her.

Elder Yami, exasperated, raised her hand to quiet the noisy cubs and called out, “Stop! If you want to drink the red maple sap, you have to be quiet. If you want to talk, do it one at a time. No more shouting and fussing!”

With Elder Yami taking charge, the rowdy little ones quickly fell silent.

Changxia, still hiding behind Nan Feng, let out a sigh of relief.

“Changxia-jie, what are you hiding for?” Lu You, grinning, came over and tugged gently at Changxia’s sleeve.

Changxia rolled her eyes and retorted, “Why do you think I’m hiding? Can’t you guess?”

Lu You was small but clever—definitely the sharpest of all the cubs. Changxia remembered Granny Suye once saying that if Lu You had the talent for being a shaman, she would have wanted Lu You to inherit the position. That was the highest praise for Lu You.

Bai Qing had the talent, but not Lu You’s personality. Still, Changxia believed that as long as a shaman was strong enough, personality didn’t matter much. If something couldn’t be solved, then just solve it physically.

“Hehe!” Lu You giggled. “Changxia-jie, are those for us?”

“Maple syrup lollipops. Let Sparrow hand them out,” Changxia nodded.

Hearing that the maple syrup lollipops were indeed for them, Lu You’s face lit up and she hurried over to Sparrow. No one knew what she whispered in Sparrow’s ear, but soon Sparrow dashed to Elder Yami.

Elder Yami nodded and handed over the straw sticks to Sparrow, who then led the group of cubs away.

They came quickly and left just as fast.

Even more surprising, this time Sparrow and the others didn’t pester Changxia—probably because they knew the tribe was busy and she didn’t have time to play with them.

With their treats in hand, the cubs obediently left, returning to their designated area in the tribe to play or exercise.

“Elder Yami, did Elder Ximu go to Red Leaf Ridge?” Changxia asked as she watched the cubs leave. Before they left, Lu You had waved goodbye to her.

Yami replied, “He took some people over early this morning.”

By now, some of the tribe members should be returning from Red Leaf Ridge.

Sure enough, the sound of footsteps grew louder in the distance. Turning around, they saw a team approaching the tribe.

This time, Gen was leading the group. He must have returned to oversee the kiln construction. Most of the tribe members came back with him.

All the red maple trees at Red Leaf Ridge had already been tapped, with wooden spouts inserted. Now, they just had to wait to collect the sap, so not many people were needed there.

Besides, building the kilns also required manpower. The beastwomen were strong, but not as robust as the males. For digging kilns, the males were more efficient.

“See, just as we were talking, they’re back,” Elder Yami said with a smile, going over to greet Gen and the others. She directed them to set the barrels of red maple sap aside, planning to see how the first batch of syrup turned out before deciding whether to cook several batches at once.

The first batch was for practice.

“Elder Yami, Changxia,” Gen greeted as he walked over.

“Chief, how’s the progress at Red Leaf Ridge?” Changxia asked. As the temperature rose, the maple sap would start to crystallize into sucrose, making it impossible to collect more. If the tribe wanted to gather as much sap as possible, they had to do it within the next couple of days.

“Everything’s going smoothly. Before the rainy season, we’ll be able to store a good amount of red maple sap,” Gen said happily.

With this supply, even if Changxia didn’t manage to make maple sugar powder, the tribe would still make a splash at next year’s Normandy Market.

“That’s great!” Changxia said, delighted.

Elder Yami was also pleased. “Now we just have to wait for the first batch to finish. Let everyone have a taste of the maple syrup. Chief, I’ve had the tribe prepare some roast meat—have everyone go eat breakfast.”

After breakfast, they’d have to get back to kiln-building. Progress had been good yesterday, with dozens of kiln caves completed. Today, some would continue digging, while others would start trimming and smoothing the walls—finishing up the details.

If they finished before the rainy season and let the kilns dry for a few days, they’d be able to move in soon.

Originally, when Su Ye’s mother-in-law came over, Chang Xia had planned to host a hotpot feast.

But now, the whole tribe was caught up in a whirlwind of activity.

It looked like they’d have to wait until things calmed down before there’d be time for a hotpot gathering.

As they chatted, Gen and the returning tribespeople quickly finished off their roasted meat.

Meanwhile, Elder Yami’s first pot of maple syrup was almost ready.

Since it was their first attempt, Chang Xia thought it would be better to keep the syrup a bit thinner. If it was too thick, there wouldn’t be enough to go around—especially with so many people in the square.

“Chief, get the bowls ready.”

“The first pot of maple syrup is done—everyone come and have a taste!”

“It smells so sweet and delicious!”

In an instant, the square was buzzing with excitement. Tribe members crowded around the stone pot, waiting for Elder Yami to ladle out samples of the syrup.