Beauty and the Beasts

Chapter 9: Unique Food Culture

1

When Parker and Bai Qingqing returned to the wooden house, the fire at the entrance had been extinguished, and a large part of the wolf meat had charred. After restarting the fire, Parker invited Bai Qingqing to eat the meat. “Quickly come over, some parts of it are ready to be eaten.”

Bai Qingqing, who was enthusiastically fiddling with the condiments, walked to the fire and asked with a slightly displeased look, “We’re going to eat it just like that?”

Parker cast a dubious look at Bai Qingqing. Then, he brought out a stone bowl containing white powder. “Of course we’re going to dip it in salt and eat. Why are you so stupid?”

Parker felt that she wasn’t merely stupid, but it also seemed like his female had a severe lack of common knowledge. She must have been reared in captivity by her tribe since young. It made sense though—she was so good looking, so she must have been cherished, and the food she ate was probably seasoned before being brought to her mouth.

Bai Qingqing stared at the salt bowl, stunned. Dip it in salt and eat… you think this is a dipping sauce?

Afraid Bai Qingqing didn’t understand what he was saying, Parker grabbed a slice of meat with his fingers that had sharp and tough nails. He dipped it in the salt, then brought it to Bai Qingqing’s mouth. “Here, eat it.”

Bai Qingqing swallowed her saliva and took a bite from it curiously.

Ugh, the meat was super dry. But even though Parker seemed to have dipped it in a lot of salt, the level of saltiness was actually just fine. Perhaps the purity of the salt wasn’t high. But the meat tasted better as she chewed it—there was a plant-like fragrance, not something you’d expect from meat.

“Why is there a fragrance to it?” Bai Qingqing didn’t believe that wolf meat itself carried a plant-like fragrance. Moreover, she had watched as Parker roasted the meat and hadn’t seen him add any seasonings to it.

Wait a minute. Parker had asked her what flavor she wanted. Could it be… that firewood?

Bai Qingqing looked at the fire, then glanced back at the firewood in the house.

Parker watched her with a look of admiration in his eyes. Not bad. Although his female lacked common knowledge, she was quick to respond and was very bright. She was indeed a member of the ape tribe.

“This is the fragrance of sandalwood bark. I’ll roast it with willow bark next time and let you try it. Meat roasted with willow bark has a fatter and more moist taste.”

Bai Qingqing’s horizons expanded. This world’s food culture was truly unique!

But come to think of it, this was within reason. Just like there was a difference between Eastern and Western food culture. Before the various parts of the world interacted with each other, they had developed their own different cooking techniques. Since this world of beastmen had no connection with the world she lived in, the difference was naturally starker.

She took another bite of the meat. The sense of novelty made her feel that the bland meat she was eating tasted even better now.

Seeing Bai Qingqing enjoying the meat, Parker felt invigorated. He kept helping Bai Qingqing tear out roasted meat from atop the fire.

“Eh, try and use these things to roast the meat. My people do this. It tastes really good with these.” Bai Qingqing handed Parker the condiments she had selected earlier.

Parker instantly said, “These are medicine, they can’t be eaten.”

“Believe me, just try it!” Bai Qingqing looked at Parker earnestly. The mud and marl had mostly fallen off, revealing her oval-shaped face with delicate features.

Parker felt his heart pound wildly at being stared at by the pretty female he fancied, his handsome face instantly turning red. There was no way he could refuse her. “Okay, then let’s try it.” At most, he would try it himself first. And if there was no problem, he would then let the female eat it.

In the past, he had despised those males who had lost all their intellect after getting a female. It was only now that he had a female himself that he suddenly understood why they behaved like that.

Never mind medicine, even if the female wanted to eat his meat, he would cut a slice of it for her without even blinking his eyes.