Chapter 646: Looking For Trouble
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Li Du was planning to cook beggar's chicken and veal shanks. This time around, he brought out a lot of meat as working in the wilderness was tiring and hence, required the consumption of meat for nourishment.
He aptly used the soil that was dug out when digging the pit to make mud by mixing water into it. In the truck were large banana leaves that he had found in the garden. After slicing open the stomach of the marinated chicken, he placed a packet of seasoning inside and used the banana leaves to wrap it before sealing it with mud. All that was left to do was to bury it inside the pit and the preparations were complete.
Roasting veal shanks required a lot of skill as it was very easy to charr the shanks when cooking with an open flame.
As such, Li Du used a knife to slice open the center of the shanks and smeared the inside with butter that had been frozen solid. He then brushed a layer of butter onto the surface of the veal shanks, skewered them, and then roasted them while rotating the skewer.
The butter melted very quickly. It either slipped into the shanks or dripped onto the flame, which produced a sizzling sound and caused the flame to grow.
Li Du anxiously rotated the veal shanks in order to prevent the outer layer from charring. As the temperature of the flame was hard to control, it was inevitable that he fumbled a little.
Seeing this, Brother Wolf took the initiative to take over the skewer by extending his hand, and said, "Let me."
The heavy skewer was like a toy in his hand. Although he rotated the skewer at a slow pace, it was rhythmic. In some areas where the meat was tender, he would rotate them away after heating them for a while. In the areas where the meat was thicker, he would heat them for a longer time.
Very soon, the aroma of the veal filled the air.
Brother Wolf waved. "Bring a plate over."
Li Du brought over a square iron plate. Brother Wolf took out the veal shanks, held a dagger close to the top of the veal, and brought the dagger to life.
Without moving his wrist, his fingers continuously moved the hilt of the dagger. The blade of the dagger moved up and down the veal and sliced off pieces of veal speedily. The slices of veal were similar in size and as thin as a cicada's wing.
Godzilla, who was at the side, could not help but remark, "Great knife skills!"
Brother Wolf gave a faint smile as a reply. Ivana whispered, "My dad can use a knife well . . . "
"Thank you." Brother Wolf was very polite to his daughter.
Ivana continued, "It's just that the dishes he cooks are not nice."
Brother Wolf was speechless.
Li Du and Godzilla burst into laughter.
After slicing off a layer of veal, Brother Wolf continued roasting. Li Du served the food to Godzilla and Ivana so they could eat first. Ah Meow and the other two animals were the most enthusiastic about eating and came running over with plates in their mouths before staring intently at the veal with glistening eyes.
They had waited for a very long time and would definitely not miss this opportunity to eat.
However, as they did not need to eat cooked meat, Brother Wolf, while roasting, gave them half-cooked veal. Although the veal, which had a few streaks of blood, looked disgusting, they ate it with relish.
At this point in time, Brother Wolf's exquisite knife skills were even more noticeable. With only one hand holding the skewer and the other working the dagger, the veal that was sliced off would not fall into the flames. When each slice of veal was about to fall, Brother Wolf would twist the dagger for the slice to fall securely onto it before tending to it.
When all the veal had been sliced off, Brother Wolf roasted the calf's bones and used the dagger to cut out the ligaments, which he would then throw to Ah Ow.
Seeing such fragrant big bones, Ah Ow launched forward and dived head first into the heap of bones and let out a blissful expression on her plump face. She was simply intoxicated.
After the veal shanks were roasted, Li Du took out the beggar's chicken that was buried underneath the fire.
As the mud was burnt and dry, he used a rock to smash it open, which revealed the steaming hot banana leaves inside.
After peeling away the vibrant green leaves, there was chicken inside, which had meat that was tender and white as snow. On the outside of the chicken was a layer of translucent chicken oil that was glistening. The fragrance of the chicken filled the air.
Li Du took a drumstick for the little girl and said, "It's a little bit hot, eat slowly."
Although the little girl's expression was hesitant due to her holding the drumstick, it was blissful enough for her to squint her large eyes into crescent moon shapes.
Godzilla took the beer out. Brother Wolf did not drink beer and only drank water.
"Drink some," Li Du said. "We'll take turns guarding tonight."
Brother Wolf shook his head. "Sorry Boss, I have never drunk beer or alcoholic beverages as they affect the sensitivity of the nerves."
Li Du responded, "A habit you developed when you were in the army? There's no need for it now, right? Truth be told, beer is a great beverage. Its taste is simply too amazing."
"No," Brother Wolf said firmly. "I am duty-bound to you now, so I have to be at my best."
With that, Li Du did not try to persuade him and could only indulge in the beer and veal with Godzilla.
As Crispy Noodles was not very interested in the veal, Li Du gave him a piece of chicken. Crispy Noodles held the piece of chicken with his small claws and carried out a washing movement before eating it happily.
Seeing that he liked eating chicken, Li Du tore a piece of breast meat for him.
Ah Meow and Ah Ow also came over requesting chicken meat. Li Du waved his hand, shooing them. "Enough, you guys ate enough already. No more eating for today—eat anymore and you guys are going to become fat like balls."
After hearing Ah Meow let out a wail, Ah Ow, who did not want to lose out, followed suit.
Li Du gave them a glare. He had no choice but to give each of them a chicken foot and said, "You guys still want to eat chicken meat after eating so much veal just now. Look at your fat selves!"
Ah Meow used his paw and slapped the chicken foot away. He was not stupid and knew that the chicken foot was unpalatable.
After seeing him do that, Li Du became angry and bellowed, "Look at your pampered selves—how spoiled have you guys become? Don't like to eat that? Then don't eat anything!"
Ah Ow was very clever. She held the chicken foot in her mouth without eating or throwing it away. Seeing Li Du angry, she knew that there was no hope of getting chicken meat and picked up the other chicken foot before taking off.
Ah Meow was devastated. "Meow-meow!"
Now he didn't even have a chicken foot to eat.
After finishing his meal, Li Du continued his work, which was digging for opals.
As Crispy Noodles was only half-full from his dinner, he followed Li Du the whole way. Li Du would stuff a small piece of preserved fruit into the location of an opal and stroll by the spot with him.
With that, Crispy Noodles would pick up the scent of the preserved fruit and go over to dig it up. Li Du would then mark out the spot for Godzilla to come over and dig out the opal. This whole process would usually result in getting a gemstone.
The number of gemstones in the safe continuously increased. There was already a pile of boxes, which contained an opal in each, accumulated inside the safe.
Even though the number of opals he had dug up was large, he did not encounter any top-grade opals like the Overarching Sunset, a treasure he had stumbled upon by chance.
After working the whole night, Brother Wolf brought Ivana along to rest.
In the early morning, Li Du and Godzilla went to rest while Brother Wolf was on guard.
While he was sound asleep, he suddenly heard someone calling for him.
Li Du, who was in a daze, opened his eyes and saw Brother Wolf unzip the tent's door. Li Du asked, "What happened?"
Something must be wrong. Otherwise, Brother Wolf would not disturb his sleep.
Sure enough, Brother Wolf, with a gloomy look on his face, said, "Someone is looking for trouble."
Li Du sighed. F*ck, what kind of society is this? Can't everyone do their work obediently? Why is there someone here looking for trouble again?
There were not only one or two people here looking for trouble. He heard a lot of noises outside. There were at least a dozen people here.
After Li Du opened up the tent and walked outside, he saw a group of gem hunters on his land. Furthermore, there were also a few security guards and office employees who wore the uniform of the national park.
Seeing this, he frowned and asked, "Gentlemen, what is going on?"
A gem hunter replied angrily, "What's going on? What do you think? You don't know what you did?"