Chapter 74: Boiling Sugar

"If I answer correctly, is there a reward?"

Leng Xiu felt he should take back what he had just said about A Li's beast form being far more attractive than her human form—right now, she was even more stirring than her beast form.

Yun Li released her grip, having seduced him and then without hesitation letting the male go. "No reward. Just take good care of the cubs."

The cubs were still right there—what did he think he was going to do?

Leng Xiu glanced down at the female cub crawling restlessly in his arms, then reached out and pressed his hand against the back of Yun Li's head, kissing her almost fiercely.

Yun Li suddenly had her breath taken away and instinctively tried to push him off, but Leng Xiu ended the kiss very quickly—it was the suggestive words he leaned in and whispered afterward that made her legs go a little weak.

"A Li, you should dote on me too, shouldn't you~ Am I not good to sleep with?"

In the past, only Leng Xiao would speak to her like that, while Leng Xiu always acted perfectly proper. This sudden remark caught her off guard.

Yun Li flushed and said, "Then tonight I'll sleep with you."

Leng Xiu's lips curled slightly. "Then I'll wait for A Li to call me tonight."

Yun Li gave a low "mm," then caught something in the corner of her eye and pushed him away. "The boss and the others have all finished eating. Go bring them back quickly."

The crawling cub already had the urge to venture out and explore the world.

Leng Xiu, having obtained his female's promise, went off in an excellent mood to grab the few cubs that had crawled away.

After settling the cubs in a wooden tub placed at Yun Li's feet where she could watch them close up, Leng Xiu began making a crib for the cubs as his female had requested.

It was a simple version of a crib. Once finished, Yun Li had Leng Xiu line it with dry grass and beast hide blankets, and even installed six wheels underneath, so that when Yun Li and the others took the cubs out, they wouldn't have to carry them.

On the other side, two females watched the young male processing prey by the water pool not far away. "Did you really find out clearly? That male's father is really the Hunting Squad captain?"

"He's First Beast Husband pointed out this male to me, so he told us to come hang around in front of him more."

A Lan said in a low voice, "Anyway, I don't want to go to some Youbuluo full of Snake Beastmen. Aren't you afraid of Snake Beastmen?"

A Lian, plain-looking but with a reasonably curvy figure, quickly shook her head, but looking toward the male, she was still a bit afraid. "I'm worried he won't even look twice at us?"

After all, when they arrived, the two of them, being ordinary-looking, hadn't drawn much attention from those males—their gazes had all been captured by several pretty females.

A Lan was worried too, but she was far more courageous. "Let's try! He can't possibly raise a hand against two females."

With that, A Lan released A Lian's hand and walked toward the male.

……

Leng Xiao building good relations with the Patrol Team's beastmen had indeed been very necessary, because they really did bring back the long-haired prey Yun Li wanted and several kinds of wild fruit she had never seen—one of which, a thorn fruit, could be used to boil sugar.

As for the long-haired prey, it was the so-called black goat. Unfortunately, it was already dead when caught, so after shearing its wool, this black goat became their family's dinner that very night.

"A Li, you don't want any of the filtered stuff? Just this water?"

Only the not-particularly-thick outer flesh of the thorn fruit was edible, and it was very sweet, so Yun Li had Leng Xiu and the others pluck the thorns off the thorn fruit, then peel away that bit of flesh and mash it together with clean water.

Then they let the basin sit and settle overnight, and used some kind of dried plant woven into a filter net to strain out the crushed residue.

Now Leng Xiao was looking at the basin of filtered water and residue, watching Yun Li with a puzzled expression.

Yun Li nodded. "Just this water. That residue doesn't look edible anyway."

Hearing this, Leng Xiao agreed inwardly and tossed the residue into the garbage stone bucket.

"Then simmer it slowly over a low fire. Don't put anything in."

Yun Li continued directing her males. "I'll go check if A Xiu has finished washing the wool."

Wool was not easy to wash, even though beastmen had their own natural soap—soapberry fruit, a kind of fruit that produced copious foam when squeezed and rubbed.

Leng Xiu still spent a lot of time and effort scrubbing the wool. Yun Li saw sweat on his forehead and reached up to wipe it for him. "Are you very tired? Do you want to rest a bit?"

Leng Xiao called out from not far away: "Brother, if you're tired we can switch, or we can let Mu Qing do it."

Mu Qing, who was cooking, looked up and asked, "Want to switch?"

He had broken through to Blue Rank the night before last, quite a bit later than Leng Xiu had expected.

The day after Mu Qing broke through to Blue Rank, Yun Li received the things the Patrol Team brought. Knowing that Yun Li needed more thorn fruit, he had gone out with Leng Xiu and picked quite a lot—otherwise, the small amount of thorn fruit the Patrol Team delivered would clearly have only been enough for a taste.

"No need, I'll be done soon."

Leng Xiu flatly refused their kind offer to help.

He wasn't so weak that he needed their help just to wash some wool.

Yun Li, however, saw that washing wool had quickly used up quite a few of the household's soapberry fruit, and she began thinking about how soap was made.

But the more she thought about it, the more her head ached. She simply couldn't recall how to make soap—or rather, she had never even stored in her memory what soap was made of. She only remembered hearing someone say that lard seemed to work for making soap. And then? And then what?

And then she didn't know?

If she had known she'd transmigrate after dying accidentally, she should have watched more useful short videos back then.

Then she wouldn't be at the point of not even knowing how to make soap now.

If soap could actually be made, the beastmen of the Silver Eagle Tribe would definitely use it.

But since she truly didn't know, she'd just have to let it go and stick to making what she did know first.

After the wool was washed, the next step was to find a place to spread it out to dry, and once dry, spin it into yarn.

Once yarn balls were spun, it would be time for Yun Li to put them to use. She had knitted clothes for dolls before, so she could still manage simple-style sweaters.

The courtyard already had quite a lot of things in it, so the washed wool was finally placed on the roof to dry in the sun.

And just as Leng Xiu finished washing the wool on his end, Leng Xiao over there seemed to have spotted the first traces of sugar as well.

Yun Li leaned over to take a look. "It still needs to boil. We'll eat and watch the fire at the same time in a bit."

Mu Qing's lunch was not lavish—mainly because everyone was busy—so roasted meat, wild vegetable soup to cut the richness, and the steamed buns Yun Li wanted to eat made up today's lunch.

By the time lunch was finished, the sugar water steeped from the thorn fruit had already been cooked down into a paste.

Yun Li told Leng Xiao to set down the Stone Pot, picked up some chopsticks, dipped them in, and put it into her mouth.

"It's done! A Xiao, taste it—it's very sweet!"

Yun Li turned the chopsticks around and scooped up a portion for Leng Xiao, letting him taste it too.

"Mm, very sweet."

But Leng Xiao doesn't really like sweets; his older brother does.

And the thick, paste‑like taste of this candied fruit syrup that's boiled is not only sweet, but cloyingly sweet.

I didn't expect that the sugar A Li mentioned was actually boiled by him.

Just like when we boiled salt before, I still don't know how A Li thought of it.

"Sweet, then after it dries, store it in a dry place; when you want candy, just eat the candy."

Yun Li smiled, waved and called out to Mu Qing and Leng Xiu, "A Qing, A Xiu, come taste the candy that A Xiao boiled!"