The Primitive Adventures of a Chipmunk 30

Chapter 30

In a corner of the forest, lush deciduous shrubs grew wildly. The mist-shrouded hillside and the sun-drenched glades were like verdant farmland, with large patches of crops rustling in the wind. Green and blue intertwined, and a rich, fruity aroma filled the air.

There are so many, it’s practically a blueberry plantation! Hua Shi’an was dazzled. He quickened his pace with the sub-beastmen, back baskets on their backs, and plunged into the sea of blueberries.

He placed the coir-lined back basket beside him, squatted down, and started picking. The first handful of blueberries would definitely not make it into the back basket. The brightly colored berries fell into his palm. Hua Shi’an gently rubbed them with his fingertips, tilted his head back, and popped them into his mouth.

They were very different from the blueberries he had eaten before. Wild blueberries had a higher anthocyanin content, a richer fruit flavor, and were perfectly sweet and sour. The flesh inside was also purplish-red.

If he accidentally broke the skin while picking, his fingertips would also be stained purplish-red. And if he ate as he picked… in a short while, Hua Shi’an’s pale lips had turned a dark red, as if he had been poisoned by a poisonous fruit.

The honestly working sub-beastmen were gradually led astray by the unreliable priest. One by one, they followed his example, picking and popping them into their mouths. They hadn’t been there for long, and there weren’t many berries in their back baskets yet, but the four sub-beastmen had already applied the same shade of “lipstick.”

Harvesting without planting or watering, a gain without sweat, was as delightful as finding money on the street. And there was a new discovery. Accidentally spotting a hint of red in a sea of pure blue, Hua Shi’an leaned in for a closer look, and bright red cranberries came into view.

Wild berries were as numerous as ox hair. They couldn’t be finished in a day or two. By noon, Hua Shi’an and the three sub-beastmen’s back baskets were all full, so they had to take the berries back to the tribe first.

Picking berries seemed easy, but it was very tiring after a while, especially for the arms. They washed the blueberries on their way past the river. After returning to the tribe, Hua Shi’an and the sub-beastmen rested for a while before getting back to work.

Four back baskets full of berries seemed a bit much to make into jam. Not knowing if the tribe members would like it, Hua Shi’an thought for a moment and had Hong Yinglan bring over a few winnowing baskets. He spread most of the berries on the baskets and took them to the meadow to dry.

The sun was strong but not scorching. The natural oven would slowly bake them, and in five or six days, they should be able to enjoy a delicious snack.

As for the remaining blueberries—light the fire, wash the pot!

Making jam was simple. The washed blueberries were poured into the pot and crushed one by one with a bamboo sliver. First, they were brought to a boil over high heat, then simmered over low heat. No extra water was needed. The berries themselves were full of water, which would naturally be released during the heating process and fully integrate with the pulp.

Stir while simmering to prevent it from sticking to the bottom, until the pulp is soft and the juice is thick. If conditions allowed, some lemon juice and white sugar could be added, but unfortunately—Hua Shi’an had no such conditions.

With only blueberry and cranberry jam, Hua Shi’an was a little apprehensive. Before pouring the jam into the bamboo tubes, he gently touched the jam-covered bamboo sliver with his finger and slowly brought it to his lips.

As his tongue curled over his fingertip, Hua Shi’an’s brow furrowed tightly.

One word, sour, so sour! Much sourer than eating blueberries directly.

Even Hua Shi’an, who quite liked sour flavors, couldn’t stand it, let alone others.

The thick jam was purplish-red, with a particularly rich fruity aroma that smelled very tempting. Seeing Hua Shi’an start to taste it, Hong Yinglan, Yan Zhile, and Chang Yueyue, who were watching from behind, all swallowed their saliva and brought over a pair of chopsticks each.

Taking the three pairs of chopsticks, a flicker of twisted pain flashed in Hua Shi’an’s eyes. His brow relaxed, and he gave each of them a large dollop of jam, with a warm reminder, “Be careful, it’s hot. Blow on it before you eat.”

The sub-beastmen were very obedient. They held their chopsticks and blew on them for a long time. When the jam was no longer steaming, the three of them opened their mouths and, like eating a lollipop, stuffed the entire jam-covered chopstick into their mouths.

In an instant, the sub-beastmen’s faces changed drastically. They bent over and spat wildly.

“Ptui ptui ptui, hiss—”

“Heavens, my saliva won’t stop. What is this taste?”

“So sour, hiss hiss, so sour, my teeth.”

“It’s like an unripe wild fruit, so sour it could kill you!”

“Lord Priest, you lied to us!”

The vanished smile had perfectly transferred to Hua Shi’an’s face. He couldn’t help it; people always have a bit of a mischievous streak.

A failure, a big failure. Jam without sugar was really not good.

The plan had changed. They wouldn’t make any more jam for now. The already-made jam was poured into bamboo tubes, and Hua Shi’an led the sub-beastmen to spread the remaining blueberries and cranberries on the winnowing baskets to dry.

Drying them into fruit leather was a safer bet. The tooth-achingly sour jam couldn’t even be given away. Hua Shi’an could only tearfully carry it back to his own tree hollow.

But with such a large patch of blueberries, they still had to be picked. Hua Shi’an couldn’t bear to let them rot in the forest. In the afternoon, he and the sub-beastmen went again with their back baskets. The four of them picked slowly, as many as they could.

The sub-beastmen were full of energy, each picking faster than the last. But Hua Shi’an didn’t have the same drive as in the morning. He picked the blueberries absentmindedly, crushing several of them.

The reason was none other than that he was preoccupied with the seasoning that could make the jam delicious—

Sugar.

Speaking of sugar, the first thing that came to Hua Shi’an’s mind was sugarcane, but did that thing grow wild? Hua Shi’an had never seen it in a documentary and wasn’t sure.

What else? Maltose, malt?

Hua Shi’an suddenly chuckled. If there was wheat, it wouldn’t be a matter of sugar, but of flour.

Stevia, beets, coconuts… Hua Shi’an slowly remembered. These plants could all be used to make sugar, but he didn’t know if they were in the forest.

His mind was no longer here. After crushing two more blueberries, Hua Shi’an grabbed a handful of leaves, wiped the dark red juice from between his fingers, and then picked up his back basket and stood up.

He walked over to the young girl who was busy picking blueberries, lifted his back basket, and poured all the berries he had just picked into Hong Yinglan’s back basket.

“Lord Priest, what are you doing?”

Looking at his actions, Hong Yinglan was bewildered.

Yan Zhile, not far away, heard the commotion and looked over. “Are you going somewhere?”

Hua Shi’an slung the empty back basket over his shoulder and gestured around. “I’m just going to take a look around. You three continue picking. When you’re full, take them back to the tribe first. Don’t mind me.”

“No!” Chang Yueyue shot up from the blueberry bush, looking at Hua Shi’an with worry. “Lord Priest, this is already far from the pine nut forest. You can’t go any further in. It’s very dangerous.”

Hua Shi’an smiled. “I won’t go further in. I’ll go up or down, as long as I follow the river, okay?”

Chang Yueyue shook her head. “That’s not okay either. It’s not safe to be alone. You even hurt your foot last time, and it was Mo Huaishan who brought you back.”

Was he sent by Chief Mu to keep an eye on me? Looking at the stern and righteous sub-beastman, Hua Shi’an shrugged helplessly and asked with a smile, “Then is two people okay? Who will go with me?”

“Me, me, me!”

As if he had been prepared, Yan Zhile quickly squeezed out of the blueberry bush with his back basket and ran to Hua Shi’an like a gust of wind, leaving behind a speechless Chang Yueyue and a dumbfounded Hong Yinglan.

There was no shortage of competition. Hua Shi’an gestured to Yan Zhile with his chin. “Pour out the blueberries. Let’s go.”

Although it was the same forest, the vegetation on both banks was slightly different. The side with the pine nut forest had more and more varied herbaceous plants. Not long after they set out, Hua Shi’an had already seen several kinds of edible wild vegetables.

There was the uniquely beautiful and delicate alfalfa; the fish mint, which was either loved or hated; the fragrant wild celery growing by the riverbank; and the wood-ear-like, delicious but extremely difficult to clean earth skin vegetable.

As the saying goes, since they were already here, and the wild vegetables were right at their feet, it would be a bit of a waste not to pick them. So, completely forgetting the purpose of this trip, Hua Shi’an and Yan Zhile picked as they walked.

The back basket was filled with a variety of wild vegetables, and the sun was almost setting, but they still hadn’t found any plants that could be used to make sugar. Hua Shi’an was not discouraged. After all, the forest was not his own vegetable garden, and he didn’t expect to find anything just by taking a casual walk.

There was still plenty of time. He would look for them slowly in the future. Today’s harvest was very good. He could take the variety of wild vegetables back to the tribe for a change of pace and at the same time, let them get to know some new plants.

Unknowingly, they had walked a long way upstream. The sound of the water grew louder. The creek that nourished the tribe was born here. Its more magnificent mother lay like a silver dragon in the forest. In the distance, the tall and steep rocky mountains rose and fell, looming in the clouds and mist.

Looking up at the sky reddened by the setting sun, Hua Shi’an emerged from the bushes with his back basket and shouted to the slope above, “Yan Zhile, the sun is almost setting. We should probably—”

“Lord Priest, Lord Priest, come up quickly! I saw a very strange tree. It has a super, super lot of fruit! Wow, this fruit is so big and beautiful. Can we eat it?”

He had just started to speak when he was interrupted. Yan Zhile’s ecstatic voice came from the slope.

A lot of fruit on a tree? Jaboticaba?

Hua Shi’an was stunned for a moment, then immediately took off his back basket and climbed up the slope, following Yan Zhile’s footprints.

The bushes on the slope were even denser, and there were many loose rocks on the ground, making it extremely difficult to walk. Hua Shi’an pushed his way through, and after a while, he finally reached Yan Zhile’s location.

Pushing aside the layers of branches and leaves, the first thing he saw was not a person, but a small tree, densely laden with fruit, which instantly captured all of Hua Shi’an’s attention.

The tree really had a “super, super lot” of fruit. It was no exaggeration to say that the fruit on one tree was enough for the entire tribe to share. They were densely packed in clusters.

The fruit was very large, comparable to a beastman’s fist. It didn’t seem to be fully ripe yet, its skin a pale green, slightly yellowish, with a hint of pink on the side facing the sun, very similar to an unripe Bai Feng peach.

But—it was not delicious, even inedible.

Chaenomeles, also known as sour papaya because of its sour taste.

Its taste had nothing to do with its tempting appearance. The sour and astringent taste was prominent, and one bite would make your teeth ache. However, it had high medicinal value and could also be used to stew soup, make papaya vinegar, and dry into papaya jerky…

“Why isn’t the Lord Priest speaking? Do you recognize it? What’s it called? Is it edible?” Yan Zhile’s hand rested on the tree, holding a large, red sour papaya. He was just waiting for Hua Shi’an’s command to immediately pick the fruit and taste it.

He had teased him once today. Hua Shi’an suppressed his mischievous thoughts and shook his head regretfully. “This is called sour papaya. It’s edible but not delicious. It’s very sour, even sourer than the jam I made today.”

As if he were holding a hot potato, as soon as he finished speaking, Yan Zhile quickly withdrew his hand.

He was quite cute. Hua Shi’an smiled. “It won’t bite you. Although it’s not delicious, we can still pick some to make other things. Sour papaya also has many uses.”

“Make jam? Let’s, let’s not.” Yan Zhile shrugged, recalling the chopstickful of jam from noon. His mouth started to water again.

You can’t miss it when you’re passing by. Hua Shi’an quickly stepped forward and picked a fist-sized sour papaya. “We’re not making jam. Let’s pick some. Since we’re already here, we might as well pick some to take back.”

Yan Zhile grunted sullenly and helped pick the fruit, his mouth also not idle, chattering away, “What a pity. It’s so tempting, but it’s sour. I was just saying it smelled quite fragrant and thought it would be delicious.”

“By the way, Lord Priest, why does this tree have so many fruits? Even big trees like chestnuts and pine nuts don’t have this many. The branches are bent from the dense fruit.”

Hua Shi’an: “More flowers mean more ovules, and more ovules mean more fruit—”

His voice abruptly stopped. Hua Shi’an, who was picking sour papayas, suddenly froze, his gaze fixed in mid-air, a flicker of joy in his eyes.

The bewildered Yan Zhile also looked up. With a “buzz buzz buzz,” a large, black, winged insect flew past his head.

“What’s so interesting about an insect?”

“It’s not an ordinary insect.”

Yan Zhile didn’t recognize it, but Hua Shi’an did.

A blackish-brown abdomen, black fur, light brown wings, this was—

A bee, a giant black bee.