The pickled cabbage made by Eric received enthusiastic praise.
Kevin had clearly eaten his fill at the cafeteria, yet he still forced two more large earthenware bowls into his stomach, leaving with an indescribably painful expression.
The tail end of winter was passing, and the weather was getting warmer day by day. Aside from the vegetables in the cellar, the vegetables stored in the tents of the tribe began to show signs of spoiling, and the potatoes had sprouted.
Eric’s cellar was full, and the cafeteria’s cellar was also filled with flour, rice, and other grains, leaving only one level for vegetables. The remaining vegetables were stored in the tribe’s food storage cave, and what didn’t fit was piled up in the tents.
The tribesmen had consumed quite a few vegetables, especially the Horned Goat tribe whose main diet was vegetables and grains; otherwise, there would be even more left.
Pumpkins were the easiest to preserve; as long as they didn’t freeze, they could be kept for months just thrown in a corner of the house. But cabbage and potatoes began not to keep well as the weather gradually warmed.
Eric set aside a day, leading Sam, Iris, Jessica, and the tribesmen working in the cafeteria who skipped class (though unintentionally) to pickle thousands of jars of cabbage.
"I didn’t get a share when eating, so this time I have to taste what pickled cabbage actually tastes like." Sam didn’t stop arranging cabbage and sprinkling salt into the earthenware jars, his mouth also ceaselessly muttering complaints.
Kevin also skipped class to help, standing quietly on the side, bruises still visible on his eyes. He silently lamented in his heart: why was he the one getting beaten every time!
Eric, not far away, pretended not to hear. Who told Arthur to eat so much? By the time he remembered to save some for everyone to taste, the pot was empty...
Cooking again would make them late for class, and Eric didn’t want to set a bad example, so Kevin had to suffer the loss.
Pickling cabbage wasn’t hard; one just needed to pay attention to the amount of salt and keep the cabbage and jars clean to succeed.
It was just that pickling so much cabbage meant they couldn’t find enough stones of the right size to press down. Eric had to let Sam step in, finding a large boulder and smashing it with one punch to have enough to use.
As for the sprouted potatoes, Eric simply collected them, putting them in a warm place to let them sprout further. When it was time to plant, he would use them directly as seeds.
Beastmen didn’t have calendars, and Eric wasn’t sure when spring would arrive.
But the tribe elders had lived here for many years. Based on experience, they told Eric that winter was ending, and in no more than half a month, the continent would welcome the beast tide.
The Horned Goat tribe was even more sensitive to the changing seasons. Elder Kenya knew they had to farm this year, so he came early to remind them that in just a few days, the temperature would rise sharply.
Eric had never farmed before, and hearing this, he began to worry. Whenever he was free, he went out to dig at the surrounding soil to see if it was still frozen hard.
Sure enough, over time, the ground was no longer as frozen as in mid-winter. With the strength of beastmen, digging the surface layer of soil took no effort at all; it was time to clear the land.
Although the Ox-Head tribe had agreed to help with planting, Eric thought they didn’t necessarily have to wait for them to arrive to start.
After all, the Hadu tribe wasn’t like the Ox-Head tribe with years of farming experience; they had to start from clearing wasteland. This step would take a lot of time, so he decided to let the tribesmen clear the land first.
To do a good job, one must first have good tools. Before clearing the land, naturally, enough farming tools had to be prepared.
The Dwarves hadn’t been idle all winter, and just recently finished manufacturing the number of farming tools the tribe needed.
Eric walked around to check; indeed, the craftsmanship was exquisite. One look and you could tell they were sharp. With good tools, work efficiency would double.
The only regret was that the "technology tree" here hadn’t been lit up; everything required manpower. After all, this place wasn’t even equal to the ancient times of his previous life.
When Eric was small, his family only consisted of his elderly grandparents, so they didn’t grow rice. He had only followed his grandparents to grow some vegetables in the small yard of their house.
But most other families in the village lived by farming, and the village was surrounded by vast fields.
Although Eric hadn’t eaten pork, he had seen pigs run; he might not be clear on the specific details of farming, but he grasped the general process.
Farming naturally required clearing land first, and to clear land, one had to zone the fields. Eric led Thomas and Uncle Joseph on several rounds around the tribe’s vast territory, zoning the ranch area and leaving a large living area for the tribe, preferably on the scale of a city.
Eric wanted to find opportunities to expand the population later, so a small living space wouldn’t be enough.
Winter hadn’t even fully passed, and Eric was already busy to the point of dizziness. Max couldn’t bear it, so he had Grass and Michael temporarily take over the warriors, while he stayed by Eric’s side to help.
"To get rich, build roads first. The ground in our tribe needs to be leveled, and later we have to build a cement road to the Red Grass tribe. Then we won’t need manpower - no, beast power - to carry things. With a flat road surface, pulling carts won’t risk overturning. And the road to the coal mine needs fixing too..."
Here he was, drawing a map for land clearing, but Eric’s mind jumped to road building; truly a hundred things to worry about.
Max wiped the sweat for him with heartache, then handed him a cup of sweet soy milk to wet his throat.
Max didn’t understand some of the things Eric said, but that didn’t stop him from supporting him unconditionally. He knew Eric was always wholeheartedly devoted to the tribe.
"Sigh, so troublesome. Infrastructure construction in reality turns out to involve so many considerations. Playing games is still better; just follow the map and do quests."
Eric rested his head on Max’s shoulder and sighed, letting his face be squished by Max’s hard muscles.
Ever since the two spoke openly, Eric shed his disguise in front of Max, saying whatever he thought without needing to hide anymore.
Although he didn’t fully understand what Eric was saying, Max gently patted the back of his neck. The warmth from his shoulder tickled Max’s heart: "Don’t rush, take it slowly."
Comforted, Eric’s mood wasn’t as anxious as before. He hugged the map he drew and continued to study it.
"The cement factory can be built near the brick kiln. Right, next year, pottery firing also needs to expand production. We can turn around and trade with humans, and we can also sell to other beastman tribes. If we lower the price a bit, there won’t be a lack of market."
Hearing him mutter, Max curled his thin lips into a slight smile: "Our pottery is both sturdier and more beautiful than the humans’, and the price is lower; there will definitely be many beastmen wanting to buy it."
Moreover, this was pottery made by the beastmen of their Hadu tribe, so naturally, it had an advantage over humans.
Previously, beastmen on the Fantasy Dream Continent had no choice but to trade with humans, but they always held strong vigilance in their hearts.