Chapter 132

It was around two in the afternoon, which was when Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er had only slept for two and a half hours of Shouren Xingqiu time for their nap. Fei Er had already come over with Mo De, pulling him along to knock on the door.

Zhang Fan was awakened by the knocking at the courtyard gate; opening his eyes, he saw that Ba Ke Er was also awake, but pretending not to have heard anyone knocking, lying still in bed.

Seeing this, Zhang Fan got a little annoyed and immediately asked Ba Ke Er why he didn't go open the door.

The answer he got was: "It's Fei Er and Mo De outside, no problem—just let them knock. They'll come in themselves once they've knocked enough; do we really need to go open the door for them?"

Hearing that, Zhang Fan got anxious! He quickly sat up, started putting on his clothes, and by the way dragged Ba Ke Er, who was lounging in bed, up as well.

"Ba Ke Er, hurry up and get up! I promised Fei Er I'd teach him how to make smoked meat this afternoon—get up now and help me!"

Ba Ke Er had wanted to linger in bed a bit longer, but the moment he heard Zhang Fan say he was going to make smoked cured meat, he perked up and, following Zhang Fan's pull, got right up.

Then he began dressing and getting up; the whole motion was as smooth as flowing water, leaving Zhang Fan dazzled. Although Zhang Fan had been the first to get up and dress, Ba Ke Er finished dressing first and then started helping Zhang Fan dress.

This left Zhang Fan stunned, but after a moment's thought he understood why Ba Ke Er was so quick: Ba Ke Er wanted to eat the smoked cured meat.

And the most important reason was: a living person like himself actually couldn't compare to those smoked cured meats! Zhang Fan even wondered whether he could cancel today's afternoon, tomorrow's, the day after tomorrow's, and the day after that's smoking schedule.

However, just thinking about doing that would make Ba Ke Er's slightly twitching ears and his excitedly wagging tail droop, making him feel reluctant; thinking this, Zhang Fan felt a bit better.

After Ba Ke Er helped Zhang Fan get dressed, he eagerly pulled Zhang Fan out of the room. As soon as they opened the front door, they saw Fei Er and Mo De sitting on the lounge chair in the courtyard.

At this moment, Zhang Fan admired Ba Ke Er's nose even more, looking at his face with an expression of admiration and even reaching out to touch his nose. After receiving Ba Ke Er's affectionate pat, he finally turned his head to look at the two couples in the courtyard.

"Fei Er, how did you come so early? Didn't I tell you to come in the afternoon?"

Fei Er heard this, helplessly rolled his eyes at Zhang Fan, and said, "Please! Fan Fan, look at the sun in the sky—it's already starting to slant westward, isn't it? It's already afternoon! And before long, it'll be time for dinner!"

After hearing Fei Er's words, Zhang Fan didn't agree, since dinner was still far off! But he could also understand Fei Er's eager mindset—back when he was in school, he too had been a good student with good grades.

Although he had already won many awards, each time he went on stage to receive one he still couldn't help feeling nervous and excited! Zhang Fan guessed that at this moment, Fei Er and his spouse and Ba Ke Er's feelings were probably just like his own back then.

So, Zhang Fan now fully understood them; he first had Fei Er and Mo De fetch water in the courtyard to wash their hands, then he pulled Ba Ke Er along to the bathroom to wash up.

Once everyone was ready, Zhang Fan began assigning tasks. First, he had Ba Ke Er and Mo De take down the already‑prepared meat chunks and hang them on the wooden‑branch rack.

Then he took Fei Er to the firewood shed to fetch a basket of wood shavings and corn cobs.

Once everything was prepared, Zhang Fan started a fire with a flint. When the flames rose, he immediately put the corn cobs on, and once the corn cobs were burning, he then placed the cypress branches on to burn.

But as soon as the cypress branches were placed on, the fire in the rack almost went out, leaving only thick smoke scented with fresh cypress. Seeing this, Zhang Fan quickly added several more cypress branches, and the smoke instantly became denser.

Ba Ke Er and the others looked on, completely baffled—especially Fei Er, who immediately asked Zhang Fan, "Fan Fan, why did you put out the fire you just lit? And now everything's full of smoke."

As he spoke, Fei Er began coughing from the smoke. Zhang Fan, who was washing his hair, saw the other two also looking uncomfortable, and felt a bit reluctant. After adding a few more cypress branches, he got up and led the three away.

Walking along, Zhang Fan explained to everyone, "It's like this: I've already told you how to make smoked cured meat, so this smoke is crucial! If we used direct open flame, it wouldn't be smoking—it would be roasting."

When Zhang Fan saw Ba Ke Er starting to rub something into his eyes with his hand, he quickly stepped forward and grabbed his hand to stop him from rubbing further, then stood on tiptoe in front of him and blew on his eyes.

After Ba Ke Er finally recovered, Zhang Fan then continued with the words he hadn't finished saying.

"Moreover, these fresh cypress branches are perfect for producing smoke! After being held over the open flame, they won't catch fire themselves but will emit a lot of smoke, and this smoke carries a strange fresh fragrance—ideal for smoking cured meat."

After Zhang Fan said that, Ba Ke Er and Fei Er and his spouse closed their eyes to sniff the air, and that one sniff made them instantly delighted and open their eyes.

Upon seeing Ba Ke Er and the others' expressions, Zhang Fan already knew they had smelled the cypress branches; he said nothing and quietly walked over to sit in the lounge chair.

After Ba Ke Er and the others had smelled enough, they also walked over.

Fei Er excitedly ran to the side of Zhang Fan's lounge chair, looking at him with admiration, and said, "Fan Fan, you're truly amazing! There's nothing you can't do! Wow! Just one whiff of that cypress smoke and I can imagine how delicious those smoked cured meats are!"

After saying that, Fei Er vigorously sucked in the saliva that had just welled up in his mouth.

Seeing this, Zhang Fan also felt a bit of anticipation for those cured meats. Thinking about it, he hadn't had them in a long time and missed them, but right now he missed even more the headmaster's mother and the aunts in the institute who used to make the cured meat.

However, after hearing Fei Er's words, Zhang Fan also gave a teasing reply: "Actually, I'm not omnipotent—at least I wouldn't barge in when the owner hasn't opened the door."

Upon hearing that, Fei Er naturally knew Zhang Fan was talking about him! With such an obvious tone of disdain, if he still couldn't tell, he might as well go back into his mother Am's womb to be remade.

However, Fei Er felt he couldn't just accept defeat, so he pretended not to understand, didn't take up Zhang Fan's remark, and instead cleverly told Zhang Fan about some recent funny incidents in the tribe.

Things like whose kid caused trouble again and got dragged home by his mother Am for punishment, or whose just‑of‑age young female was abducted by a beastman from the tribe—stuff like that. He was trying to divert Zhang Fan's attention.

Zhang Fan of course noticed this, thought about it, and then went along with Fei Er's wish, not bringing up again the fact that Fei Er and Mo De had entered without waiting for him and Ba Ke Er to open the door.

Instead, he simply explained the process of making smoked cured meat to Fei Er. Upon hearing "smoked cured meat," Fei Er immediately perked up, and not only him—Ba Ke Er and Mo De beside him also pricked up their ears and listened attentively.

Before Zhang Fan had finished speaking, Ba Ke Er noticed the smoke thinning over the branch rack. He hurried over, recalled what Zhang Fan had just done, and added a few more branches.

Once the smoke thickened again, he stepped back and returned to Zhang Fan's side. Zhang Fan had been getting excited in his speech and momentarily forgotten to add more fuel; now he suddenly remembered and was about to go check.

He saw Ba Ke Er walk up to him, say nothing, and directly pull his hand toward the branch rack, wondering how Ba Ke Er knew to add more fuel.

And after Ba Ke Er led him to the branch rack, Zhang Fan realized that, while he hadn't been paying attention, Ba Ke Er had already added the fuel for him—and done it well, even better than Zhang Fan had done earlier.

Zhang Fan looked at Ba Ke Er, then at the pieces of cured meat hanging in the rack that were being smoked. At that moment, a piece of cured meat dripped a drop down.

Instantly, the cypress branches caught fire. This startled Ba Ke Er, who had never done such a thing before, while Zhang Fan reacted oppositely—he calmly crouched down and casually grabbed a handful of dirt from the yard to toss onto the flame.

Seeing Zhang Fan extinguish the fire with just a small handful of dirt, Ba Ke Er silently noted the method in his mind.

Over there, Fei Er saw that Zhang Fan hadn't gone back yet, so he hurried over to watch; of course, Mo De, Fei Er's loyal canine companion, followed behind him.

As soon as Fei Er arrived beside Zhang Fan, he started chattering nonstop, even if nobody responded he didn't stop. According to Zhang Fan, Fei Er was practically the embodiment of a talkative beast on the beast‑person planet—truly one of a kind!

The whole afternoon was spent amidst Fei Er's nagging and Zhang Fan's teachings.

When it was time for dinner, Fei Er didn't want to go home; seeing this, Zhang Fan waved his hand and said they could stay and eat together.

This made Fei Overjoyed—even cooking rice, which he usually dreaded being late for, he now eagerly begged Zhang Fan to bring him along. For this small request of his, Zhang Fan didn't mind at all and readily agreed.

But once they entered the kitchen, Zhang Fan realized—this wasn't about doing work at all; it was clearly about stealing techniques and sneaking bites. Watching Fei Er, under the pretense of tasting, continuously eat bowl after bowl of different dishes, Zhang Fan was speechless.

So, when the dishes were finally served, Zhang Fan announced the start of the meal; even though Fei Er was already stuffed, he shamelessly ate a lot more. Later, when heading home, Mo De carried him sideways.

Even when saying goodbye, they just belched and uttered a single word, leaving everyone laughing and crying at once.

After seeing off Fei Er and his spouse, Zhang Fan returned to the kitchen to wash the dishes, while Ba Ke Er was responsible for bringing the cured meat pieces inside the main hall one by one.

After Zhang Fan finished washing the dishes, he shook his hands and went to the hall to store the cured meat inside the Yu pan zhi. Once all the chores were done, Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er returned to the room to rest.

And so, a fulfilling day passed just like that.