Chapter 7: Meat Feast

“I’m back～”
Yu Nuan quickened her steps—mostly because she was starving. That half a steamed bun in the morning really didn’t last.

“Ya Niu, did you manage to get any grain?” Yu Mother reached out, feeling the door frame, trying to stand.

“I did! Got quite a bit too. You and Dad just stay seated—I’ll cook.”
Yu Father glanced at the now-empty basket. She must’ve delivered the gift. His heart finally relaxed a little.

Even if two rabbits weren’t much, the gesture mattered.
That kind of favor shouldn’t be left unpaid.

Yu Nuan carried the grain into the kitchen, set it down, and immediately began chopping the snake meat.
She had twenty years of cooking experience in her past life—
starting from age six, standing on a little stool, she’d learned to cook on stoves taller than her head.

Once she began working, she’d always cook herself good meals whenever she had time.
She was confident in her skills.

Yu Father hobbled in, leaning on a stick.
When he saw the contents of the basket, his face lit up with both surprise and delight.
“You got this much grain just for the snake meat?”

“The Liu family’s daughter-in-law just gave birth. They wanted it to help her recover.
There were a few households fighting over it. I picked the one offering the most.”

Yu Father reached into the basket and touched the grains—
the rice was coarser, but clean, no husks or chaff mixed in.
The flour was yellow but had a bit of white mixed in—authentic stuff.
And there was even a small pinch of salt!

He pinched a few granules and rubbed them between his fingers.
This salt… wasn’t the usual coarse kind.
He glanced at the busy Yu Nuan, eyes full of curiosity,
Could she have conjured it out of thin air?

There were even two small packets of seeds!
Yu Father couldn’t help but be baffled—was snake meat really that popular?

But staring at the basket filled with food,
his old, wrinkled face finally eased into a slight smile.

He gently organized the rice and flour, then carefully hung them by the wall.
After that, he hobbled outside to chop firewood.

Once he was gone, Yu Nuan seized the opportunity to pull out a jar of lard from her space.

Back in modern times, lard had been demonized as unhealthy—causing cholesterol, digestive issues, heart problems…
But that was really just part of early business marketing wars.
In reality, a spoonful of lard could be more beneficial than medicine.

It nourishes the organs, helps with fatigue, replenishes energy, and keeps you full longer.

Wealthy families could afford refined diets, but rural folks?
They ate whatever they had.

Back when she was young, their stove always had a clay pot of lard sitting by it—
the smell was fragrant, and the nutrition was top-notch.

She was short on fat these days anyway.
Patting her belly, she barely had a couple of ounces of meat on her.

She really wanted to eat herself into a flying wild boar…

She carefully scooped just a small spoonful of lard—
not too much, just enough to enhance the flavor without shocking their stomachs with a sudden greasy feast.

Too much might cause diarrhea, and it’d look suspicious.

She let the oil render, then added in the chopped snake meat.
With a few quick tosses, the meat sizzled and turned golden.
A pinch of salt—nothing else.

With wild game, you wanted to taste the freshness,
not drown it in seasonings.

Well, to be honest… I just don’t have any spices right now.

If she had ginger, that’d help.
Yep, definitely needed to look for seeds.

She shifted the iron pot slightly to make sure it leaned on the intact side,
added two ladles of water, and covered it to simmer.

While it stewed, she scooped out a bowl of flour, kneaded it into dough,
and slapped it onto the side of the pot to cook into flatbread.

Soon, the aroma of snake meat began bubbling out of the pot,
drifting all the way outside, making both Yu Father and Yu Mother swallow hard.

Yu Nuan stepped out of the kitchen and began scanning the yard with new eyes.

The thatched roof on the house hadn’t been repaired in years.
Last night, she’d kept tossing and turning—there was this persistent damp, musty smell.

She recalled seeing a small corn patch at the base of the mountain this morning.
The leaves were lush and the cobs bulging.

It was likely June now.
This must’ve been spring corn—set to harvest in August.

Which meant… the rainy season was just around the corner.

Once the rains came…
The thatch would definitely leak, and the musty smell would get even worse.

Sigh. So many things to do…

She mourned silently in her heart.

Over half an hour later, the snake meat was ready.

The rich, savory aroma filled the room.
She poured everything into a small wooden basin—it was full to the brim.

The four pieces of dough cooked on the side of the pot were a bit tough and dry,
but they smelled fantastic.

Yu Father came over and scrubbed the small square table outside the kitchen clean.
He even fetched three straw stools.

Yu Nuan brought the meat out, and Yu Mother had already made her way over by feeling along the wall.
Yu Nuan went back to get three rough ceramic bowls and chopsticks.

She split the four pieces of flatbread—giving one and a half each to Yu Father and Yu Mother,
and keeping one for herself.

She also ladled out half a bowl of soup and several big chunks of meat for each of them.

Yu Father picked up a piece of flatbread and rubbed it slowly, reluctant to take a bite.
Only when he saw Yu Nuan already eating did he carefully tear off a small piece and put it in his mouth.

The rich aroma of grains bloomed instantly in his mouth.
Then he picked up a piece of meat—tender, springy, and infused with a delicious fatty fragrance.

The bread was a little rough on the throat, so they all dipped it into the soup before eating.
Every sip of the broth was nerve-wracking—it was so fresh, fragrant, and slightly sweet that they almost didn’t dare believe it.

Yu Nuan still felt a bit hesitant about eating snake meat.
But when she sniffed it, there wasn’t the slightest gamey smell—in fact, it was mouthwateringly fragrant.
She tried a bite.
It was a lot like chicken, only more tender and flavorful.

Still, despite how good it tasted, she didn’t dare eat much.
Yu Father, thinking she was holding back for their sake, kept adding more meat to her bowl.
She could only shed metaphorical tears… and eat it all!

“Dad, can you take a look at those two packets of vegetable seeds?
I was thinking of fencing off a piece of the yard to grow vegetables,” she said once they were done eating.

Yu Mother had already felt her way back inside to check on Gou Wang.
Yu Nuan, meanwhile, was talking with Yu Father outside.

“Alright, but our land always attracts sparrows.
Nothing ever grows well, and what little sprouts do come up, the birds peck ‘em clean.
Didn’t you used to say growing vegetables was worse than just foraging wild greens…”
Yu Father frowned, but still got up and went to check the seed packets in the kitchen.

Attracts birds?
Yu Nuan thought for a moment—just how many?
That could be a problem…

Forget sparrows—
Even cuckoos, which eat bugs and seeds, could damage crops.
And don’t even get her started on magpies—those feathery menaces loved to dig up seeds and delicately place the young shoots in neat little rows outside the fields like evil gardeners.

Flying intruders were the hardest to guard against.

But wait… with how good the ecosystem was in this time period—lush forests, abundant wild food—
Why would birds still swarm farmlands this badly?
Seemed odd.

She strolled out to the yard, taking in the surroundings.
There was a patch of loosened soil just outside the yard, likely used in the past for growing crops.

The location was ideal—plenty of sunlight, no trees nearby to steal nutrients.
She stepped into the plot, stomped on the soil, and rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

How did they keep birds away when I was a kid…?
Oh right! Her grandma used to stick a tall pole in the ground and tie bright red plastic bags to it.
The wind would rattle the pole, making the bags rustle—
Birds hated that noise.

Too bad she didn’t have any plastic bags in this world.

If childhood tricks won’t cut it, time to call in the cheat system…

She typed into her mental search: “How to prevent bird damage to crops.”
But all she got was a bunch of modern bird-repellent tech—lasers, audio systems, motion sensors…

She rolled her eyes.
Come on, this cheat was supposed to match the current era, wasn’t it?

She changed her phrasing and searched again.

Ah, here we go:

Hanging beer bottles that whistle in the wind

Bright colors to frighten birds

Scarecrows (but birds adapt quickly)

Yeah, scarecrows had their flaws.
The smarter birds would observe for a few days, realize the scarecrow didn’t move,
then hop right onto its head and mock it by pecking it.

“Ugh, growing veggies is harder than I thought. The hardest part is always getting started!”
She sighed and walked back into the courtyard.

There, Yu Father was weaving a bamboo basket.
His foot might not be good, but his hands were nimble and skilled.
The thin bamboo strips danced between his fingers, flowing like water.

Yu Mother sat nearby, holding the baby Gou Wang while sunbathing.
Now and then she’d wave a piece of bamboo to shoo away ants and bugs, producing a satisfying crackle.

An idea flashed through Yu Nuan’s mind, but before she could fully grasp it,
Yu Father looked up and said, “Ya Niu, I checked the seeds—it’s cabbage and chili peppers.”

Chili seeds weren’t worth much—just one pepper could yield dozens of seeds.
And not many families liked spicy food.

Chili was pungent.
Most folks’ stomachs couldn’t handle it—eating too much could cause issues, and medicine wasn’t cheap.

At most, people ate it in the winter to warm up and sweat a little.
Using it any other time was mostly a waste of energy.

The cabbage seeds were few, but enough to grow two good batches for their family.