Chapter 118: Not as Good as You

Aola hurriedly averted his gaze, pretending to leave.

Just as he took a step, Wuze stopped him.

“Are you waiting for me?”

Without a second thought, Aola denied it. “No.”

“Then who else are you waiting for?” Wuze glanced around at the empty surroundings.

Aola looked embarrassed, pressing his lips together and falling silent.

Wuze moved a bit closer, staring at him intently. “Have you thought about it?”

Aola raised his eyes in confusion.

“Be my partner.”

Seeing that Aola didn’t speak and instead lowered his head, Wuze felt a bit irritated.

“If you agree, just say so, don’t be silent.”

As an orc living in a primitive society, Wuze didn’t have complicated thoughts, he expressed his feelings directly.

With his hands tightly clenched, Aola looked up at him. “The people in the tribe don’t like me. Being with me will only make everyone hate you. Are you sure you still want me as your partner?”

Aola felt both uneasy and secretly delighted.

He had made some mistakes in the past, and although Fei Li had forgiven him, the tribe members always looked at him with strange eyes.

He knew they looked down on him from the bottom of their hearts. If it weren’t for Luo Sang and Fei Li, he probably would have been driven out of the tribe by now.

Seeing a trace of sadness on his face, Wuze leaned closer. “That’s just right. I’m not popular in the tribe either, so I will protect you in the future.”

Upon hearing this, Aola looked up at Wuze, unable to express what he felt.

Wuze’s words were straightforward, he didn’t say he liked Aola, just simply stated, ‘I will protect you.’

In this chaotic time, the notion of protection seemed all the more precious.

“Hey, you…”

Just as Aola was about to speak, Wuze lifted him onto his shoulder.

Without any extra words, Wuze carried Aola home and directly tossed him onto the wooden bed.

His heart raced, and Aola could hardly look into Wuze’s eyes.

Just when Aola thought Wuze would pounce on him, he suddenly spoke, “If you don’t want to, just tell me.” With those words, Wuze no longer concealed the desire in his eyes and directly moved closer.

Aola’s hands, resting at his sides, instinctively clenched tight, and surprisingly, his body reacted to Wuze’s movements.

Noticing Aola’s responsiveness, Wuze seemed encouraged and fearlessly continued to explore Aola’s body. The sun blushed and quietly sank down the hillside.

At this moment, they expressed all their feelings in the most primal way.

Night fell early, but their night had just begun.

The next day, Fei Li came looking for Wuze early in the morning. Upon reaching Wuze’s doorstep, he found that the door to Wuze’s house was surprisingly tightly closed.

After hesitating for a moment, he was just about to leave when Aola walked out of the house.

Upon seeing him, Aola froze for a second, not expecting that his relationship with Wuze would be discovered so quickly.

His face flushed, and Aola instinctively lowered his head.

Wuze came out of the house and saw Aola standing at the door. He asked, “What’s wrong? You’re not having second thoughts, are you?”

Aola turned and shot Wuze a glare, wishing he could find a hole to hide in.

It wasn’t until Fei Li let out a chuckle that Wuze realized someone was at the door.

Feeling both embarrassed and angry, Aola turned around and went back inside.

Wuze scratched his head in embarrassment and walked over to him. “Sorry for making you the joke.”

He noticed that now Wuze had a smile at the corners of his mouth when he spoke.

He was no longer the stern-faced person from before.

“Look at you, you didn’t even need our help and managed to win over Aola by yourself.” He patted Wuze on the shoulder, teasing him.

Wuze’s smile widened, radiating happiness.

Remembering the purpose of his visit to Wuze, Fei Li quickly said, “By the way, the stone mill should be almost done, right?”

Wuze nodded. “I’ll take you to get it.”

The two arrived at Simi’s house, where Simi was staring at the finished stone mill in a daze.

Upon seeing them, Simi rushed over. “Lord Wuze, Lord Fei Li, you both are here! The stone mill is ready, and I was just about to bring it to you.”

Fei Li walked straight toward the stone mill, not hiding his amazement.

He didn’t expect to actually have a stone mill made here.

With the stone mill, the ways of preparing food would become more diverse.

Simi looked at the stone mill in confusion, finally turning his gaze to Fei Li. “Lord Fei Li, even though we’ve made the stone mill, I don’t understand what it can be used for.”

He patted the stone mill, frequently nodding at Wuze’s tribe’s craftsmanship.

He turned back to Wuze and Simi. “This stone mill is very useful! The rice I’ve collected can be hulled with it, and not only that, the corn we grow in the future can also be ground into flour with the stone mill. There are so many uses for it.”

None of them had ever seen the rice that was sold, let alone knew what corn was.

However, they believed Fei Li’s words.

If Fei Li said the stone mill was useful, then it must indeed have significant value.

“Wuze, please find a few orcs to help me carry the stone mill to my house. Once I’ve ground the rice, I’ll have you all taste it first.”

Simi was the first to raise his hand. “I’ll go! I’ll carry the stone mill and make sure it gets to your house safely.”

“Okay, thank you.”

With a heartfelt “thank you,” Simi felt energized.

He felt like he was being treated as an equal, and finally, he could contribute something to the tribe.

After leaving Simi’s house, he headed straight home.

Just in time, Luo Sang returned from patrolling the tribe and sat down to rest at home.

He looked at Luo Sang with a beaming smile. “I’ll make you something delicious for lunch today, so you can enjoy a meal from our hometown.”

Upon hearing about the food, Luo Sang’s eyes lit up.

Luo Sang got up and walked over to him, hugging him from behind and resting his head on his shoulder. “What are you planning to make for me? I don’t eat fish mint.”

Ever since being pranked by Fei Li and trying fish mint a few times, Luo Sang had developed an aversion to it.

Just the smell of fish mint made him want to throw up.

Tightly holding onto the hands he had placed around his waist, Fei Li reassured him, “Don’t worry, it definitely won’t be fish mint. This time, the meal will be unforgettable for you.”

As it turned out, Fei Li truly delivered, that meal was indeed unforgettable for Luo Sang.

“What if it doesn’t taste good?” Luo Sang teased.

Fei Li replied, “That’s impossible, you have to believe in my cooking skills.”

“If it’s not good, you’ll have to compensate me with meat.”

After saying that, he bit Fei Li’s earlobe, making Fei Li shiver all over.

At this moment, heavy footsteps were heard outside, and Fei Li quickly pried Luo Sang’s arms off his waist.

Turning back to Luo Sang with a smile, he said, “Wait for me.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he dashed outside.

He had Simi and the others place the stone mill in the open area at the front of the house. He called out sweetly to Luo Sang inside, “Lord Luo Sang, hurry and help me get some rice!”

His charming voice completely shattered Luo Sang’s self-control, and the desires within him surged wildly.

Forcing himself to suppress that restless feeling, Luo Sang grabbed a large stone bowl, filled it with rice, and handed it to Fei Li.

Without even looking at Luo Sang, Fei Li took the bowl and placed it next to the stone mill, then grabbed a handful of rice to put into the grinding chamber.

According to some procedures in modern rural areas, rice collected from the fields should first be separated from impurities and shriveled grains using a winnowing fan.

However, he had carefully checked the rice while drying it, and this batch was plump with very few impurities.

When he and Wuze left the tribe, he had specifically instructed Xiao Chun to arrange for everyone to strip the dried rice from the stalks and, after sorting, pack the individual grains into bamboo baskets.

After placing the rice into the grinding chamber, he began to turn the stone mill, applying moderate force to grind the rice.

After more than ten turns, some yellow coarse bran slowly fell into the grinding trough.

He grabbed a handful of bran from the trough to check, realizing he hadn’t used enough force, as this bran still contained half unhulled rice grains.

Putting the unsuccessfully hulled rice back into the grinding chamber, he increased the force while turning the stone mill. This time, there were no rice grains left in the bran, and he was finally satisfied.

Luo Sang stood nearby, watching him turn the stone mill, secretly observing his technique and learning to rotate the mill.

Seeing Fei Li continuously improve his method, Luo Sang was focused on learning as well.

After a while, Fei Li’s technique stabilized, and Luo Sang had learned enough.

He stepped forward to Fei Li, saying, “Let me turn the stone mill! You take a break.”

As he spoke, he wiped the beads of sweat from Fei Li’s forehead.

He couldn’t bear to let his delicate wife, Fei Li, do such rough work himself.

Without waiting for Fei Li to agree, he started turning the stone mill.

At first, Fei Li was worried he might be too rough and feared he would grind the rice into flour.

But after a long while, the grinding trough contained only bran, confirming that his worries were unfounded, and Fei Li finally felt at ease.

At this moment, while Luo Sang turned the stone mill, Fei Li added rice to the grinding chamber.

The two worked in harmony, and within a short time, they had finished grinding a full bowl of rice, producing half a bowl of white rice.

Seeing the white rice, he couldn’t contain his joy.

“This is great! We can have white rice for lunch!”

He quickly moved the stone bowl inside the house and immediately prepared to cook the rice.

Scooping out a bowl of rice from the stone bowl, he soaked the rice in water to remove the fine bran.

After several rounds of soaking, the fine bran in the bowl was completely cleaned.

He set up the stone pot, added some water, then placed the cleaned rice into the pot, and increased the heat to bring the water to a boil.

While the stone pot was cooking, he began preparing the dishes.

Rice must be accompanied by soup, so he took out some dried kelp that he had sun-dried earlier and poured a little hot water from the stone pot to soak the kelp.

Taking a piece of meaty bone from the wall, he trimmed off some lean meat, chopping the bone and meat into small pieces and placing them in a stone bowl for later use. He also separated the fatty and lean meat, cutting the lean meat into strips for later.

Looking at the sliced meat, he couldn’t help but marvel at his perfect knife skills.

Staring at the prepared ingredients for a few seconds, he stepped outside to gather some wild vegetables.

At this moment, Su Li hurried over, clutching some green items.

Seeing him, Su Li handed over the items in his arms. “These are for you, no need to thank me.”

He looked down at the items in his hands, a hint of surprise appearing in his eyes.