It must be said that Luban really helped Eric a lot.
Just like the grinder he helped make; although the structure was simple, it was extremely useful. A three-element magic core could be used many times.
The washed potatoes were cut into pieces by wind blades. This was something Eric researched himself, based on what Uncle Thomas told him about the wind blades used by the mages in the mercenary group that attacked the Dwarves, combined with descriptions he had read in various novels. Finally, he managed to figure it out.
Each wind blade was like a white crescent moon dancing in the air at extremely high speed. In no time, they had sliced the potatoes submerged in water. Only then did Eric withdraw the water magic, letting the white potato slices fall into the basin.
"Eric is using magic more and more proficiently." Michael said with an appreciative tone.
Eric was also very satisfied. It wasn’t in vain that he racked his brains every day recalling the magic he had seen in anime and novels. Among countless spells that were forbidden curses with the power to destroy heaven and earth, finding a usable magic was truly not easy.
The potatoes needed more water added to be ground into a slurry, then left to settle in a ceramic jar for a while before pouring off the clear water on top. The remaining part was potato starch.
The potato starch settled at the bottom like blocks of congealed fat. Eric placed them on a wooden board, using a small fireball underneath to dry them, while casting a wind magic spell above to blow continuously.
Once dry, the starch would become light. The wind magic Eric used wasn’t strong, just enough to help the starch dry faster.
Mung beans were soaked for a while, ground into mung bean milk using a stone mortar, and then filtered with gauze. The filtered mung bean milk was also left to settle to extract the mung bean starch at the very bottom, which was then dried.
The mung bean residue couldn’t be thrown away. Eric mixed in white sugar, inserted a few small wooden sticks, and placed it outside to freeze. After it froze hard, he brought it inside; it became mung bean popsicles.
If there were cow’s milk, it would be even better to make some condensed milk and fresh cream to add to the mung bean residue. The resulting popsicles could rival the Trang Tien mung bean ice cream that Eric loved in his previous life.
The two of them ate the sweet popsicles, fragrant with the scent of mung beans, and filled with energy. They took the remaining bag of potatoes and ground them into flour as well. The starch was spread out on wooden boards to dry.
Working outdoors would make things freeze easily, so Eric and Michael worked in the living room which doubled as a kitchen. The starch was placed in the storage room to wait for it to dry.
"By the way, what meat is this? It’s so fresh, it must have been hunted today."
While waiting, Eric curiously lifted the piece of meat and asked. The smell of the meat was quite familiar; it must be a magical beast he had eaten before, but he couldn’t recall it immediately.
Michael’s smile became meaningful: "This is Thunder Fire Beast meat, and it’s the tenderest part on the belly. Max specifically saved it for you."
His heart suddenly skipped a beat. Eric unnaturally scratched his itchy neck and silently put the meat down.
"Then why didn’t he bring it himself?" Eric muttered in a low voice. The complaint slipped out before he could think, and after realizing it, his face turned pale then red.
He still hadn’t figured out how to face Max, nor did he know what kind of relationship they would have when they met again. If Max actually came right now, Eric mostly wouldn’t know what to say.
He didn’t know when Max had developed feelings for him. Initially, he thought Max and Michael were a couple in the original story. Later, Eric felt that Max might have started treating him well and then liking him because of the original owner’s mother and the change in his personality...
But he was actually a wandering soul from another world. He himself didn’t know why he came here and took over someone else’s body. Although it wasn’t voluntary, he was ultimately not the original owner.
If Max’s affection for him contained elements meant for the original owner, then...
Michael originally wanted to tease Eric a bit, but he didn’t expect Eric’s expression to suddenly become very unsightly.
He bent down and asked with concern: "What’s wrong? What are you thinking about? Did something happen between the two of you? Did Max make you unhappy? No wonder he asked me to bring the meat to you today; I told him how could he not come just because he was shy."
Eric hurriedly shook his head: "No, no, it’s just..."
He didn’t know how to explain it. He thought awkwardly for a moment, then sighed.
Romance really was the most troublesome thing. Eric truly wasn’t good at it; he felt conflicted every day.
But saying he had no feelings for Max would be a lie.
"Alright then, but if Max bullies you, just tell me. I can’t beat him alone, but I’ll get Grass, Kevin, and the others to join in and take revenge for you."
Michael said half-jokingly.
Eric looked at Michael with a mixture of amusement and gratitude: "Thank you, Michael."
Regardless of the reason, Eric kept the kindness of Michael and the others towards him in his heart.
After being busy for half the day, taking advantage of the break, Eric brought out some mung bean cake for Michael to taste and ladled him a bowl of mung bean sweet soup cooked until the beans burst open.
Mung bean was a crop with low yield, so the Ox-Head tribe didn’t easily trade it. This was also the first time Michael had tasted mung beans.
The mung bean cake was cool, sweet, fragrant, and smooth, but one couldn’t eat a large piece at once or they would choke.
Michael didn’t know and stuffed a whole piece into his mouth, almost choking to the point of doubting his life, and hurriedly drank the mung bean sweet soup to swallow the cake.
"What is this called again? Mung bean cake?"
Having swallowed it with difficulty, Michael picked up another piece of mung bean cake, not understanding why this small piece of food made of loose powder was called a cake. Shouldn’t cakes be sticky and held together?
However...
"Mung bean is also a good type of bean. It makes good popsicles, good soup, and good cakes!" Michael affirmed the taste of mung beans.
"It’s a pity the yield is low. Next year we will mainly grow staple food; we’ll plant a little less of the low-yield mung beans." Eric said with some regret.
Mung beans and red beans weren’t bad, but unfortunately, their yield couldn’t compare to soybeans.
Next year would be their first time farming, so naturally, they would prioritize crops with high yields and many uses.
With the help of magic, the starch placed in the storage room dried one after another.
Eric intended to make mung bean glass noodles first. He used boiling water to scald a small portion of the mung bean starch, then mixed the scalded starch with dry mung bean starch, adding water to stir it into a thick paste.
Boiling water in a ceramic pot, Eric held a homemade perforated spoon, while Michael carefully poured the mung bean starch mixture into the spoon.
The perforated spoon used for making glass noodles had quite small holes so that it could filter out thin strands of noodles.
The mung bean starch mixture fell through the perforated spoon into the pot and cooked almost instantly, turning into clear noodles with an ivory color like beast milk.
Michael, witnessing the whole process, couldn’t help but widen his eyes:
"How can you turn mung beans into this... Actually, your most powerful magic is cooking!"
Who could have guessed that these strands of food floating in the water, thin as hair and transparent as crystal, were made from green beans? If this wasn’t magic, what was it?
Even though Michael had participated in the entire process, he couldn’t help but be shocked.