Zhang Fei looked at the jerky in Zhang Chen’s hand, and his eyes lit up immediately. He rushed over, not even bothering to wash his hands.
"Go wash your hands, wash them clean before you eat." Zhang Chen scolded irritably: "Zhang Tuowei, aren’t you going to take your brother to wash his hands?"
Hearing this, Zhang Tuowei reluctantly put down the jerky with longing in his eyes, and obediently took Zhang Fei to wash his hands. Zhang Chen found some warm water that had been heated in the house, scooped a bowl with a ceramic bowl, then took out the honey and scooped a big spoonful, mixing it into the plain water and brought it in front of his stepmother: "Mother, this is honey I found in the mountains, please taste it."
Honey is a good thing, containing a variety of rich nutrients and a variety of rich vitamins.
"This is a nice thing, and we’re wasting it for nothing. We might as well sell it, which could be exchanged for some coarse rice, or a few feet of cloth to support the family." Mrs. Zhang said with some heartache, looking at the honey water presented in front of her, swallowing, then looked at Zhang Chen: "I don’t like sweet things, you drink it! I’m happy to have a bite of meat, this sweet stuff is too cloying for my throat, I don’t like it."
As she spoke, she pushed the honey water away and bowed her head to pick up her embroidery needle: "You drink it, I don’t like to."
Zhang Chen looked at the frail figure of Mrs. Zhang, and then at her hands full of old scars. A wave of inexplicable emotion surged in his heart, blocking his throat, making him unable to speak.
Zhang Chen looked at Mrs. Zhang and forcibly pressed the honey water into her hands: "Mother, you drink it quickly! I found a beehive in the mountains and learned some beekeeping techniques from others. This honey is nothing to me, and when my bee colony grows larger, we won’t lack honey to eat."
Zhang Chen’s tone was firm. Hearing this, Mrs. Zhang looked at Zhang Chen and seeing his undeniable expression, she hesitated with her lips moving but eventually took the bowl with both hands, then lowered her head and began sipping the honey water.
Zhang Chen brewed two more bowls of honey water, calling the two little ones over, then took out a knife from the basket and started to slaughter the roe deer.
With one knife straight into the artery, Zhang Chen pressed hard with both hands, holding down the struggling roe deer. At this point, the roe deer was completely tied up, plus being pinned down by Zhang Chen, it could only watch as its life force slowly drained away. Seeing the timing was about right, two fangs silently extended from Zhang Chen’s palm, directly stabbing into the roe deer’s neck, and in just three to five breaths, all the blood was absorbed, completely losing its life and ceased to struggle.
Looking at the blood in the basin, only a bowl’s worth, Zhang Chen couldn’t help but shake his head with a sigh: "How come this roe deer has so little blood?"
Zhang Chen worried that Mrs. Zhang might become suspicious, but actually Zhang Chen was overthinking it, as Mrs. Zhang had barely ever slaughtered any game, let alone a roebuck, so how would she know how much blood it should have?
"Let me help you!" Mrs. Zhang quickly finished the honey water and was about to come forward to assist.
Hearing Mrs. Zhang’s words, Zhang Chen, afraid she might detect something unusual, hurriedly raised his hand to stop her: "Mother, don’t soil your hands, it’s just a roe deer, I’ll be done soon. You better boil some water for me, as I’ll need it later to prepare the hide."
Zhang Chen didn’t dare to let Mrs. Zhang help out, fearing she would discover there was no blood in the roe deer, and that would be trouble. He didn’t think he could fool Mrs. Zhang’s keen mind.
"What a pity this roe deer is. If we could sell the meat, how much grain could we get, how many days could we last?" Mrs. Zhang looked at the roe deer, a hint of regret in her eyes.
"Mother, don’t worry, our family won’t lack meat in the future." Zhang Chen smiled, reassuring her. Without mentioning the Hunting Technique, with his Beast Taming Technique, they would eat meat every day and surely not starve.
Over there, the water Mrs. Zhang was boiling was finally ready. Zhang Chen directly cut and chopped the roe deer, placing it in the pot to stew.
Mrs. Zhang watched as the meat was continuously thrown into the pot by Zhang Chen, a look of distress appeared in her eyes: "Don’t put too much! Don’t put too much! We can add more wild vegetables to last a few more days."
"Mother, the weather is such that the roe deer’s meat won’t keep, we might as well stew it now to strengthen our bodies." Zhang Chen said with a smile.
A roe deer doesn’t have much meat, really, about the same as a whole roasted lamb.
"Any meat we can’t finish should be sold." Mrs. Zhang looked at the accumulated roe deer meat and began to calculate.
Hearing this, Zhang Chen laughed: "Mother, you need to trust me, from now on I won’t let you and my siblings live a hard life. Besides, my brother and little sister are growing, how can they grow without eating meat? They might not grow tall in the future, and then they won’t be able to marry a wife."
Hearing Zhang Chen’s words, Mrs. Zhang looked at him, eventually giving in: "You’re now the man of the house, the pillar of the family, from now on I’ll listen to you."
Hearing this, Zhang Chen smiled, began stewing the meat and rendering the fat, constantly processing the roe deer, cutting the meat and placing it in the pot together.
To keep meat for a long time, one is to wind-dry it, the other is to fry it in the fat during rendering, adding a large amount of salt, and it won’t spoil even in the scorching heat.
Over there, the two little ones were eating the stewed meat and drinking honey water, living very comfortably.
Before long, the aroma of roasted meat spread, and Zhang Chen served the fried meat, placing it on the table alongside the stewed meat for the family to start eating.
The two little ones ate joyously, and Mrs. Zhang was also eating with her mouth full of oil.
"In a few days, I’ll bring more game for you, their meat must not be cut off. Right now, they’re growing and developing, how can they be without meat?" Zhang Chen said as he finished eating, beginning to clean his knife and the hide.