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Chapter 32 - Making Meat Buns

Max stepped forward and effortlessly lifted the baskets onto his shoulder.

After calming down, Eric felt a little embarrassed and gestured to Max that he could walk on his own. Leo understood and jumped down, walking beside him.

Leo must have been quite scared today, so Eric nudged him with his head to comfort him.

It was only then that he remembered Max was probably training in the valley with the other warriors. He didn't see Michael or the others, which meant Max must have come specifically to save him. His hearing was so sharp; he was the only one who heard the call for help. Otherwise, Eric would have either been gored into a meat patty or fallen into one today.

After all the commotion, it was getting late. Still thinking about the large pot of bone broth, Eric hurried back to the tribe.

"Max, thank you for saving me today. I'm planning to invite everyone for dinner tonight. You, Luci, and Thomas should come too," he said, extending a sincere invitation.

He knew Max disliked the original owner, but Max had helped him quite a bit. Today, he had even saved both him and Leo, so he genuinely wanted to thank him. Max didn't refuse and followed Eric home.

To repay the life-saving favor, Eric had originally planned to make only vegetable buns, but after some thought, he decided to make meat-filled buns instead.

Mincing the meat filling was a big job. Luckily, he now had the fish-scale knife and no longer needed to use his claws.

He prepared several large basins of meat filling, mixing it with chopped wild onions, animal fat, and salt. Then, he used a wooden stick to mix it all evenly and let it sit to marinate. The physical strength of this body was truly excellent; if it were his modern-day self, he would have been exhausted after this amount of work.

Max curiously watched the little one bustle about. He had intended to lend a hand, but unfortunately, the fish-scale knife felt as small as a toy in his hands and was less effective for mincing meat than his own claws. So, he decided to take the spiky boar to the riverbank to process it instead.

By now, it was dark, and people were returning to the tribe one by one. Eric told Leo to go and call everyone for dinner while he took out a large wooden board to knead the dough.

The Snow Wolf people had hearty appetites, and he was too lazy to be meticulous. He made each bun larger than a fist, which was just the right size to be steamed in the boiling pot of bone broth.

It had been a while since he had made buns, and his skills were a bit rough. Placing the buns on a makeshift steamer made of branches, he covered the ceramic pot with a wooden lid.

Grass's family was the first to arrive. At Leo's invitation, Flower came running excitedly from her house, with Grass and Jessica following reluctantly behind.

Grass hadn't wanted to come, but she was a little startled when she saw Max. If it weren't for her curiosity about the changes in Eric, she wouldn't have come today.

But seeing Max here truly surprised her, because before, it was always Eric trailing after Max; she had never seen Max willingly come to Eric's home.

Michael, Kevin, and Sam also arrived. When they came, Eric was skewering fish, so their help was timely. Luci and Thomas arrived later, bringing him a large bag of beans.

In the afternoon, Luci had led the gathering team and picked a lot of beans.

The tribe had decided to start farming next year, so they were saving most of the beans for seeds. The rest they brought to Eric.

At the same time, Max returned with the cleaned spiky boar.

Michael was a bit confused and asked, "Did you suddenly leave earlier just to fight this spiky boar?"

While they were in the middle of intense training, right when it was Max and Michael's turn to spar, Max had suddenly left with a grave expression, leaving everyone puzzled.

"Eric and Leo were attacked by this spiky boar in the forest. I happened to hear their cries for help and ran over," Max explained coolly.

"Attacked!" The tribesmen were shocked. Michael immediately grabbed Eric and Leo, checking them over from head to toe.

Eric's body in this world was over 1.7 meters tall, but among the Snow Wolf people, who averaged about two meters in height, he looked incredibly small. Being lifted up by Michael, he looked just like a figurine.

He struggled and jumped down, recounting the entire story from beginning to end: how he went into the forest to pick mushrooms, wandered farther and farther, and accidentally got too close to a sow's nest, which led to being chased by the mother boar until he was luckily saved by Max.

Only then did the tribesmen relax. Luci even poked him on the head, warning him not to take Leo out alone again, as the forest was still very dangerous for young beasts.

Eric quickly promised he wouldn't dare do it again. In truth, he was still terrified.

While they were talking, the buns in the ceramic pot were cooked. The aroma of bone broth and steamed buns mingled, wafting into everyone's noses. The fish grilling by the fire had been basted with layers of fat, making it smell incredibly fragrant.

Eric took out all the large buns and placed them on the wooden board to cool, then ladled a large stone bowl of bone broth for each person.

The bone broth had been simmering over a low fire. The broth was a golden color and rich in flavor, with the marrow from the bones having dissolved into it completely. A single sip left a wonderful aftertaste.

In front of them was a mountain of fist-sized buns. At first, everyone thought they were vegetable buns and eagerly grabbed one to take a bite.

A stream of hot, savory meat juice gushed out. Luckily, the Snow Wolf people had thick skin, or they would have been burned.

These buns were even more delicious than the vegetable ones. The outer skin was soft, sweet, and fragrant, having absorbed the meat juices, while the meat filling inside was fresh and not at all greasy.

The group of Snow Wolf people ate with gusto—a bite of bun, a slurp of soup, followed by a piece of grilled fish. The meal warmed their entire bodies, leaving them feeling utterly content.

The truck-sized spiky boar was also cut into pieces, grilled, and devoured by them.

After the meal, Flower and Leo lay on the ground, contentedly rubbing their round bellies. Eric asked Jessica to make him a few steamers. Jessica was skillful; she successfully crafted them based only on Eric's description.

Eric was delighted, as if he had found a treasure, and stored the steamers in his house.

After five days, the yeast starter was covered in fine, white fungal threads. Seeing that the fermentation was successful, Eric set aside a few cakes for later use and stored the rest.

He thought about making sweet fermented rice wine and fruit wine, but sorghum liquor required distillation, and he didn't have the equipment. For now, he had to put that idea aside.

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