Carrying a Jurassic on me

Having been on tenterhooks all night, dreading the destruction of his "seed nursery" by dinosaurs, Yan Fei stepped out early in the morning.

After about twenty steps out the door, he arrived at a firecracker selling shop. Yan Fei had already decided what to buy, a box of firecrackers, neatly arranged in small bundles.

This was something popular when everyone was poor. During the New Year, people would buy a couple of these boxes, and symbolically let off a small bundle before each meal. Although the box didn't seem large, two boxes could last the whole New Year period.

Nowadays, this was out of fashion, and everyone bought a big bunch of firecrackers.

For Yan Fei, these were enough.

Unsure whether it was Yan Fei's charm or the charm of the scrambled eggs, Xu Xiaoyan came by again for breakfast.

Yan Fei didn't have any vegetables to stir-fry. The veggies he usually ate were homegrown and brought over by his rural grandparents and uncles. Sometimes other relatives would also bring some. When there was some, he'd eat, and when there was none, he wouldn't buy any. After all, he only had a little money in his pocket now, and buying was never part of his plan.

After the hustle and bustle, and having sent away the gluttonous girl, Yan Fei started his operation.

Operation Code: Territory Defense Battle.

A cotton twine was lit. This was exclusively used by children to set off firecrackers during New Year. Once lit and the visible flame was blown out, it would keep burning slowly, much like a mosquito coil. Some children who were afraid of firecrackers exploding in their hands would use the incense meant for worshiping deities and ancestors. But that was seen as a loss of face, and only the timid ones used it.

This long cotton twine was one of Yan Fei's battle weapons, with firecrackers being the second, and a large broom as the third.

In the morning, the satiated Compsognathuses started to return to the woods and come to the small watering hole for a drink. That's when Yan Fei sprung into action.

With firecrackers in one hand and a twine in the other, he suddenly appeared by the small watering hole. With a subtle swing of his hand, the firecrackers, sparking and crackling, fell among the Compsognathuses drinking and playing by the water. The terrified island locals screamed and bolted, some even jumping into the water in their fright.

Yan Fei laughed heartily: Primitive islanders, you've never seen this "high-tech", have you?

Suddenly disappearing and reappearing, his hand was already holding a large broom. Then, constantly disappearing and reappearing behind the Compsognathuses, he swept the broom and knocked over those tiny bodies.

The Compsognathuses of the small island, which had never faced any predators before, finally met their nemesis.

Yan Fei, holding a broom towards the sky by the small watering hole, let out a loud roar.

The broom made of small bamboo sticks did not cause lethal damage with the sweeping end, but those tiny bamboo sticks certainly didn't feel good when hitting their bodies. At this moment, the hit Compsognathuses were chirping chaotically, further highlighting the prestige of Great Demon King Yan.

Yan Fei, who was accustomed to eating Compsognathus meat, was no longer afraid of these creatures. But he had never felt so relieved before. Sneaking around to kill for meat was pleasing, but where could it compare to the grandeur he felt at this moment?

He had demarcated a zone for himself early on, with several particularly tall trees serving as boundary markers. As long as the Compsognathuses crossed the alert line in his mind, he would set off the firecrackers — he used a broom instead of a knife or stick because he now viewed these Compsognathuses as chickens raised in his own backyard. Have you ever seen anyone kill off all their chickens at once? Besides, it was impossible to eat that many anyway.

As long as life goes on, the fighting will not cease, the territory will not rest, and he vowed to not back down.

Yan Fei's territory defense battle continued day and night, and the once peaceful island center was now filled with the smell of war.

Occasionally he would open his stall in the morning, but the rest of the time was spent eating, sleeping, and fighting dinosaurs.

Always prepared for battle, Yan Fei also prepared a large axe. During his spare time, he would cut down trees, sawing off smaller ones directly and splitting larger ones, using rods to start the formal "enclosure exercise".

The Compsognathuses should be grateful for their ancestor's blessings, as the Great Demon King of the small watering hole finally began to set up his territory. Before, they often got hit and bombed without knowing why. They didn't even know that the Great Demon King had only marked out his territory in his mind, centered around a few exceptionally large trees. As for whether the trees seen today were the same as those seen yesterday, even the devil himself wouldn't know.

This fence was lopsided and didn't necessarily form a circle. Anyway, he just chose two large trees and filled the empty space between them with dense tree trunks, sticks, and branches, without even needing a rope.

By the time the sweet potatoes began to germinate, he had completed only half of the enclosure.

Busy every day, so busy that he almost forgot that he could turn into a dinosaur.

In the meantime, he had received quite a few vegetables sent over by other villagers, as well as a lot more sweet potatoes, which Yan Fei planted. By his calculations, he already had quite a quantity. Sweet potatoes in rural areas were generally used to feed pigs or eaten by people, belonging to very low-priced goods. While going to the market, if anyone remembered, they would bring some as it was no trouble.

His parents had also come to see him twice. Seeing him eat well and sleep soundly, they didn't say much. Yan Fei had no idea what they were planning. Anyway, he already proved with actions that he could take good care of himself — he was eating so well that he had nosebleeds. Ever since he could turn into a dinosaur, the medicine water he used to boil and drink was completely abandoned after just a few tries. He continued to eat and drink heartily, and his food intake increased dramatically. His small frame was like a bottomless pit, he hasn't had a nosebleed no matter how much he ate.

For him, his parents' return meant his wallet was full again, but he was quite busy. Busy during the day and night, he had no time to spend money. He hadn't spent a dime for many days.

The vegetables he ate were given by others, the oil was brought by relatives, the condiments as well, and so were the grains. In short, apart from the salt, which he bought, he did not spend any money on anything else.

On Sancha River, rice was not produced and had to be bought if he wanted to eat it. The problem was that making porridge was too much of a hassle, Yan Fei wouldn't bother, he would make do with corn grits.

He had developed many new ways to eat dinosaur eggs: dinosaur egg tea, dinosaur egg soup, dinosaur egg noodles, dinosaur egg cake — basically anything that could be made out of chicken eggs could be made out of these, except for poached eggs.

He even made dinosaur egg white twice, just like making griddle cakes, pouring a layer of stirred egg liquid on the bottom of the pot. This was a bit difficult, if the speed was a little slow, it wouldn't turn out well, but when done right, it was quite tasty, it could be eaten cold with seasonings or eaten directly.

There's roasted dinosaur meat, stewed dinosaur meat, and so on.

Right now, Yan Fei is standing in the glow of the setting sun, staring at the braised meat stall in front of him.

"Old Uncle Ding, could you teach me how to braise meat?"

The middle-aged cart-pusher who had just arrived, who was sweating profusely, wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked cautiously, "What are you up to?"

"Making braised meat!" Yan Fei replied straightforwardly, making no attempt to hide his intention.

"Don't waste your money. I've been running this stall for decades. The art of making braised meat is honed over time. What are you up to with your needless effort?" The stall owner was exasperated. As he was speaking, a customer came to buy braised meat, forcing the stall owner to hastily stand and tend to the customer.

Everyone in the town knew each other. The buyer waved to Yan Fei, "Little Fei, are you treating yourself better today?"

Yan Fei replied cheerfully, "Yes, yes! I've been eating loads of salted vegetables and turnips but not growing a bit!"

Both the butcher and the buyer smirked, cursing inwardly: "This wastrel, always glowing with health, eating 'salted vegetables' and 'radishes'? Your salted veggies must be marinated in ginseng, and the 'turnips' must have been transformed from ginseng indeed."

After a busy spell, "Ginseng marinated vegetable-eating" Yan Fei resumed: "Comrade Old Ding, tell me how to do it! I'm not stealing your business. I just want to cook something myself."

Stall owner Ding was helpless: "What do you want? Can I give it to you for free? Come, would you like the tail? An ear? Just tell me!"

Yan Fei didn't waver: "I just want to eat what I cook myself. Free food tastes bland."

Another customer arrived. After serving them, tearful Old Ding said: "Free food is bland, you say. Didn't get enough of it while growing up? How much can one person eat in a meal? If people find out that I taught you to waste money, can I still run this stall? I'm begging you, please leave. Stop bothering me!"

Yan Fei chuckled: "I'll really leave! When I get back, I'll tell people you've been secretly collecting dead rats at night."

Old Ding laughed and cried at the same time: "All I sell here is pork meat and intestines and the like. Everyone knows what they look like. I've been selling this for decades. Who would believe you? Get out of here... "

Yan Fei was nonchalant: "Then I'll just say that the great taste of this braised meat comes from adding dead rat meat to the broth. The more days the rat has been dead, the better the soup tastes. I'll repeat this every day to everyone I meet. Even if they don't believe me, they'll still be disgusted by you!"

Old Ding was really puzzled: "I say, Little Fei, haven't you been gnawing on my braised pig tails since you were a kid? Do you really hate me having a stall near your house that much?"

Yan Fei was firm: "Then just tell me how to braise meat!"

As it turns out, persistence pays off. A determined person is bound to succeed.

Ten minutes later, Yan Fei waved goodbye: "Uncle Old Ding, thank you! When I've successfully braised some, I'll invite you to be the first to taste it!"

Tearful Old Ding responded, "Knowing it's beneficial, you switched from comrade to uncle! Just don't invite me, I wouldn't dare eat it. When it's done, feed some to a dog first. If it doesn't die, then you can eat it..."

Two minutes later, Yan Fei was standing inside the Chinese medicine store, looking at the densely packed small drawers above. Each one was labelled, and many contained unfamiliar characters.

Senior He was busy with patients, and the apprentice was busy grabbing medicine; no one had time to deal with him. When they were finally free, the apprentice asked him, "Little Fei, what can I do for you?"

"Buying spices!"

The apprentice laughed: "Then you should go to the spice store!"

Yan Fei waved his hand: "Don't interrupt; I'm trying to remember. Are you going to get it: cloves, cinnamon bark, Dahurian angelica root, nutmeg..."

The apprentice, who was the nephew of Mr. He and had a family history of learning herbal medicine, understood after a few items: "I get it, you're preparing to make braised meat, right?"

Yan Fei was thrilled: "Yes, you can do it too! If I had known you could do it, I wouldn't have bothered with Old Uncle Ding."

Apprentice Xiaohe laughed: "No, if you had come straight to me, I would've just given you some common compound. If Old Uncle Ding sent you, then I could give you his compound!"

Yan Fei also laughed: "Then hurry up and get it for me!"

Xiaohe articulated something that Yan Fei understood: every profession has its own rules. If someone comes with a formula to buy something, you can't assume the formula as your own. Knowing is one thing, but spreading it around is against the rules.

Just as Xiaohe was about to grab the medicine, he turned around and asked him, "How much meat are you planning to braise?"

Yan Fei: "A whole chicken."

Xiaohe: "..."