Eric decided to eat that pesky black fish first. He cut it into countless fillets and marinated a portion with the remaining wild onions and coarse salt in the house.
The pieces of fat in the pottery jar slowly rendered into oil, and he stirred them gently with a self-made wooden spatula.
More and more oil rendered out, and the pieces of fat shriveled into small pork cracklings, a fragrant, toasty aroma spreading through the air.
A nostalgic look appeared in Eric’s eyes.
When he was a child, his maternal grandparents loved to render pork lard. They couldn’t bear to eat the resulting cracklings, so they all ended up in Eric’s stomach. The cracklings, fresh out of the pot with a little salt and a sprinkle of chili powder, tasted incredibly fragrant.
Unfortunately, later on, people all said that eating lard caused cancer. His grandparents stopped rendering lard, and he no longer got to eat pork cracklings. In the end, even his grandparents were gone.
He only had coarse salt on hand. He scooped the pork cracklings into a stone bowl, mixed them with the coarse salt, and waited for the little ones to come back and eat.
He had rendered a full jar of lard. He scooped half of it into a bowl for later use, and heated the remaining half in the pottery jar. Eric then placed the marinated fish fillets in to fry.
The fish pieces tumbled in the hot oil, sizzling fragrantly. The rich, irresistible aroma of fried food overwhelmed the fishy smell in the air.
Leo returned with Flower and the other kids, put down the wild onions, and ran to the pottery jar, looking inside with eager anticipation.
"You greedy little cat." Eric laughed and teased Leo. Afraid that the hot oil in the jar would splash and burn the cub, he shooed Leo away and took out a full bowl of pork cracklings for him to share with the other beast cubs.
The crispy and fragrant pork cracklings immediately conquered the beast cubs’ stomachs. The little ones crowded around the stone bowl, sitting and eating with relish, nearly sticking their entire heads into it.
Fish meat cooked quickly. After frying for a while, Eric took the pieces out and added more raw fish to the jar to continue frying. He let the cooked pieces cool a bit before giving them to the beast cubs.
Fortunately, the quality of the pottery jar was very good; nothing stuck to it.
The meat of this large fish had no small bones. He had already removed the large bones when processing it, so the fish meat was very clean.
The golden, fragrant fish fillets made even Flower forget her prejudice against the fishy smell, and she impatiently stuffed a piece of fried fish into her mouth.
Because the fish was fresh, the fried result was both delicious and springy. The taste of the fish was completely different from that of magic beast meat. The fish was tender, smooth, and fresh, with a unique savory flavor that made it impossible to stop eating.
The soft and tender fish meat was even more suitable for the beast cubs to eat. Eric used the wild onions they had picked to marinate all the remaining fish, planning to fry it all later.
Including Leo, the five beast cubs ate four or five pots of fried fish. Eric was afraid they would get a stomach ache from eating too much and told them to rest for a while to save room for other food. Only then did the beast cubs reluctantly lick their lips and stop.
Eric also ate several large pieces himself. Perhaps because the river water was unpolluted, the fish meat was especially fresh and sweet. After being fried, the surface gained a rich, fried aroma, creating a perfect combination.
The crispy, fragrant fish skin was particularly delicious. If there was alcohol, it would be a fantastic snack.
A belly full of fried fish was a bit greasy. Eric poured the remaining lard into a basin, washed the pottery jar clean, and then cooked a pot of fish soup.
He would wait until he had test-fired the bricks. If it was successful, he would try to fire some more pottery. Otherwise, having only one pottery jar in the house was really not enough.
The milky-white fish broth bubbled vigorously in the pottery jar, smelling wonderfully fragrant. When it was taken off the heat, he added salt and wild onions, making the flavor even more amazing.
Eric and the beast cubs drank a lot of fish soup, their bellies becoming round and full. One by one, they lay sprawled on the ground. The sun shone warmly on them, and after eating and drinking their fill, the beast cubs couldn’t help but doze off.
After their training ended, Michael led Kevin and Sam, carrying the processed magic beast, and hurried back to the tribe.
The robust figures of the Snow Wolf people crossed the valley. They were very strong, and the training ground was located far away so as not to affect the tribe. However, the running speed of the Snow Wolf people, even the cubs, was very fast, so it didn’t affect them at all—at least, it didn’t affect them from coming back for a free meal.
Once through the dense forest, the tribe was visible. Their keen sense of smell caught a fragrance wafting from the tribe, a scent they had never smelled before. Their feet seemed to gain wind as they ran even faster.
When they arrived at Eric’s house, they saw him on the open ground in front of the mud house, wrapped in an animal hide and sleeping soundly. A bunch of sleeping wolf cubs were crowded on his head, legs, and neck. On his chest, there was a small golden lion, snoring with its belly up.
Under the eaves of the mud house hung a row of large fish, like a curtain made of fish, hanging in a full circle around the wall of the house. The Snow Wolf people’s houses were all built very tall, nearly five or six meters high, convenient for them to live in when they transformed back to their original forms. Even so, the tails of some fish were almost touching the ground.
On the ground, there was a half-eaten large fish, which looked bigger than all the other fish combined. Next to the large fish was a pile of strange creatures with two large claws, six legs, and hard carapaces, flopping about on the spot.
Having smelled the strange fragrance mixed with the scent of fish the entire way, the expressions of the Snow Wolf men were very puzzled.
"Is this fragrance coming from food made with this fish? Why do I remember these fish tasting so bad..." Kevin asked in confusion.
Michael and Sam shook their heads, indicating they didn’t know either.
The three Snow Wolf men squatted beside Eric, hesitating whether to wake him up, when they saw Eric hear the noise and slowly open his eyes.
Eric had been sleeping warmly and peacefully when he suddenly felt the sunlight disappear. His vision went dark, and he heard several people muttering by his ear. He opened his eyes.
He was startled as soon as his eyes opened. Three tall, sturdy Snow Wolf men were surrounding him, their heads together, discussing something. Eric, still half-asleep, almost thought he had been kidnapped.
Realizing he had transmigrated, Eric sat up and touched his chest, letting out a long sigh of relief. He rubbed his eyes and said, "Michael, you guys are back. It’s perfect timing. I caught some fresh fish today. I’ll make some fried fish for you."
He poured the previously rendered lard back into the pottery jar and waited for it to heat up. While waiting, he cut meat from the large fish, removed the big bones, divided the meat into pieces, and marinated it with wild onions and salt. The fish he had prepared earlier had already been eaten by him and the beast cubs.
As he got up, the beast cubs also woke up. One stretched its legs, another stretched its back—each fluffy ball was incredibly cute.
Flower and the other cubs smelled the aroma from the pottery jar and were a little reluctant to leave, but their round bellies truly couldn’t fit anything more. So, one by one, they squatted nearby, watching the pieces of fish tumbling in the jar.
Eric looked at them with some amusement and said, "If you like to eat it, you can ask the adults in your family to come and learn. I’ll teach them, and then you can eat it whenever you want."
These Snow Wolf people were simple and honest. Since coming to this world, Eric had received a lot of care from them, including from the ice-faced Grass today. He also wanted to repay their kindness. If he taught these Snow Wolf people how to cook fish, the tribe would have another type of food source.
"And the fishing net I used today, if anyone wants to learn, you can bring them over," Eric instructed.
The beast cubs nodded happily.