Chapter 63: The First Meal with Salt

After bringing the salt fruits back to the camp, Xu Yi instructed Su Keke to stay behind.

The best method was to soak these salt fruits in water so that all the salt content would dissolve, and then boil the water to harvest the salt. In this way, they could extract all of it. If they simply put the salt fruits into the hollow gourd tree and shook or beat them, a portion of the salt would inevitably remain on the surface. There was also a final alternative: dropping the sour salt fruits directly into boiling food, which would impart both a salty and a sour flavor.

For now, Xu Yi did not dwell on it. After telling Su Keke not to wander around, he went back to retrieve the other bag of salt fruits.

When Xu Yi returned, he found that Su Keke was covering the fruits with two bowls and continuously shaking them to rattle the salt off the surface. Although this method was relatively slow, it made it easier to detach the salt from the fruits. Xu Yi figured that Keke probably had some experience with this. Having something to do would also keep her from getting too bored.

Xu Yi carried the second bag of salt fruits into the treehouse and then went back out to cut bamboo. Today, he had to finish building the remaining walls. Once that was done, only the roof of the treehouse would be left. With the treehouse completed, he would have more time and energy to devote to other tasks.

By now, he had begun to truly enjoy the feeling of building something from scratch. Every time he successfully finished an item, a deep sense of accomplishment washed over him. This feeling provided Xu Yi with extra motivation, preventing him from ever feeling exhausted.

As noon approached, Xu Yi had already hauled back two bundles of bamboo. He believed these would be more than enough to finish the remaining two walls.

With salt now at their disposal, both Xu Yi and Su Keke looked forward to lunch with great anticipation. Xu Yi butchered some fish and washed a large batch of fresh stream snails to bring back. Even without any seasoning previously, Su Keke had eaten them quite happily. Now, with salt available, the flavors would be even better.

However, to let the seasoning fully penetrate the stream snails, it was best to snip off their tails or pick the meat out. Since they lacked proper tools, they simply tossed them into a pot, sprinkled a handful of salt over them, and started boiling.

For the fish this afternoon, Su Keke wanted to try a different cooking method: stone-slab grilled fish paired with stone-slab grilled chicken-leg mushrooms. Xu Yi was naturally more than happy to satisfy this small request from his daughter. He prepared some saltwater and began grilling their lunch on a flat stone.

"In the wilderness, cooking is actually quite an interesting process. The process of heating the food you gathered yourself brings a small sense of accomplishment, along with a sense of anticipation," Xu Yi remarked as he used a pair of chopsticks to flip the fish and mushrooms.

Since the stone slab was not very large, he and Su Keke ate while grilling.

"With salt, the taste is completely different. It's so much more delicious."

"Another day, I should go look around with Keke to see if there are any chili peppers nearby."

"Also, if it's not dark yet after finishing the treehouse this afternoon, I need to go gather some lemongrass."

Using lemongrass to boil fish soup yielded a wonderful flavor. Even when they had no salt before, the father-daughter duo thought it tasted pretty good. With salt added, it was bound to be even better.

Before long, Xu Yi and Keke finished off the fish and the sliced chicken-leg mushrooms. Yet, both felt they still had room for more. That was when the boiled stream snails came into play. The shells of these stream snails were quite thin and could be cracked open with a gentle bite. Then, with a firm suck, the meat slid right out.

"With that salty taste, these are so much better."

Xu Yi and Su Keke sat on the ground, sucking on the stream snails with immense contentment. Xu Yi planned to build a long bench attached to the underside of the treehouse during his free time that evening. Afterward, he would find a large tree stump to use as a table, making dining much more convenient. Furthermore, now that they had a pot, they could set up a clay stove beneath the treehouse for cooking.

After finishing three handfuls of stream snails, Xu Yi stopped to resume his work. The afternoon would be spent tying down the remaining walls. Su Keke continued processing the salt fruits, putting the harvested salt into a bowl. She also filled an empty chocolate-bean bottle with some salt so that if Xu Yi took her out and they didn't return by noon, he could carry the salt along to cook lunch.

By 4:30 in the afternoon, Xu Yi had finished the rest of the walls, leaving an entrance a little over a meter wide. Now, only the roof and the door remained. He could easily build the door that very night; with plenty of bamboo scraps left over, weaving a door would be a breeze.

At this hour, it was time for Xu Yi to gather some lemongrass. He had already used up his previous batch. Without crushed lemongrass juice to repel mosquitoes, they would be completely swarmed by nightfall. Therefore, collecting lemongrass was an urgent priority.

Arriving by the riverbank, Xu Yi began his search. Fortunately, this plant was extremely resilient and grew in dense clusters. After finding three clusters, he gathered enough to last them five or six days. While Xu Yi was harvesting the lemongrass, Su Keke cleaned the fish for dinner in the shallow stream. Because they were not far apart, both felt completely at ease.

"Keke, do you feel like it's getting hotter every day?" Xu Yi realized he was starting to find his long-sleeved shirt a bit too warm. Yet, he was reluctant to cut it into short sleeves; otherwise, he wouldn't have a long-sleeved shirt for winter. If he used snakeskin to sew short-sleeved shirts and shorts, it wouldn't breathe and would only feel hotter.

"Yeah, it's gotten a lot hotter these past two days." Su Keke nodded vigorously and glanced down at the river. She wanted to take a bath, having gone several days without one.

"Before it gets dark, let's take a bath. You can wash here by the stream, and Dad will wash in the river."

Even though dusk was approaching, the water temperature wasn't chilly at all, having absorbed the sun's heat all day long. Thus, the father and daughter enjoyed a refreshing bath. Since the follow-up cameras did not capture those angles, they didn't have to worry about exposure.

After bathing, they had to put their dirty clothes back on. There was no help for it; lacking spare changes of clothing, this was their only option. If suitable materials became available, Xu Yi intended to make new clothes for himself and Keke. Flax was an excellent natural fiber that could be woven into cloth and tailored into garments. If he knew how to spin wool, it would be even simpler—he could just knit it directly.

Of course, an even easier method would be to weave a grass skirt and leave his upper body bare, much like Ed Stafford often did in the wild. Going into the wilderness without even a hair trimmer or clothes, he managed with just a grass skirt. That way, he could alter his own clothes down to a smaller size for Keke. After all, she was a young girl and couldn't possibly go around shirtless.