The next morning in the Thomas tribe, Eric woke up.
The first sight that greeted him was a sprawl of Snow Wolves sleeping soundly in all sorts of bizarre positions. He was so astonished he was speechless.
Discovering that his few jars of wine had been secretly drunk clean, Eric was both angry and amused.
When the Snow Wolves woke up, they were extremely embarrassed. They scurried away, not forgetting to drag Max along with them.
To atone for their mistake, every time Michael and the others returned from patrol, they would tacitly bring large baskets of berries for Eric. Only Kevin was left clueless about what had happened.
Taking this opportunity, Eric used the berries to make a new flavor of candy. This candy was a vibrant pink with a refreshingly sweet and sour taste, and it was even more popular with the young cubs.
He had used up all the white sugar in the house, so Max brought him another full bamboo tube. Eric used the remaining three large ceramic jars in his house to ferment more berry wine.
When Luban came to get candy for the Dwarf children, he saw Eric busy in the yard, using a stone basin to crush juice from the fruit. Luban slapped his forehead, suddenly remembering his promise.
Previously, when Eric was making sugar, he had said he would forge a grinding tool for him, but he got busy and forgot.
After returning, he spent two days forging a grinder for Eric.
The machine was over a meter tall, its structure very similar to a modern meat grinder, except that a complex Wind-element magic circle was carved on its lid.
The machine could be operated by simply attaching a second-tier magic core to it. Eric got one from Michael and excitedly put the berries into the machine.
After a few "whirring" sounds, the berries turned into a thick fruit pulp, which was incredibly convenient.
It was precisely because he was too lazy to chop the fruit that his stock of thorny beast honey jam had been empty for days. Now with this treasure, he put the wild fruits in, pressed the switch for a few seconds, and then turned it off. Jam was better with a little texture. He cooked the last batch of jam, stored it in a bamboo tube, and poured the water used to rinse the pot into a cup.
Just then, Grass brought him some large, fresh shrimp. Eric immediately poured her a cup of the sweet jam water.
Grass loved this drink. She quietly drank it all in one go. Seeing that no one was around, she relaxed and drank a few more cups, feeling so comfortable that her whole body seemed to unwind.
Noticing that women indeed preferred sweets, Eric packed some candy and jam for Grass. She hastily and awkwardly refused, feeling that it was already imposing to come here to eat and drink so often; taking things home was not right at all.
"Just take it, Grass."
Eric urged sincerely, pressing it into her hand and not allowing her to refuse.
"I only do the work; the ingredients are all brought back by the tribe members. Please consider it my thank-you gift."
He wasn’t wrong; most of these things were given to him by enthusiastic tribe members.
His cellar was now piled with countless wild fruits, various types of eggs, and even wild vegetables that Aunt Luci had dug up for him, which brought great comfort to a stomach deprived of greens.
Lately, the tribe’s kiln had been firing not only bricks but also pottery.
Eric, Max, and the other four took the time each day to shape a good amount of pottery clay. Jessica showed the most talent; the pottery she made was even more uniform than his.
She also learned how to make tofu from Eric and could now handle it on her own. Even the stone mortar had been moved to the communal kitchen.
Today, over the matter of spices, Aunt Luci scolded Thomas again, saying he wasn’t thoughtful enough. When the merchant caravan came, he didn’t go to trade, and now a cub had to prepare them himself.
Eric stood by watching and was about to speak up to mediate when Max pulled him away.
"It’s fine, don’t worry about it. It’ll be over in a moment." Max said nonchalantly.
Eric gave him a skeptical look. As they walked away, he could still hear Thomas’s tragic screams and pleas.
He couldn’t bear it and said:
"Actually, I was about to say that the merchant caravan will be back next spring. We can just trade more with them then."
"As a chief, he should think a bit more." Max turned back, a nearly imperceptible smile on his lips.
Eric tilted his head and stared at him, only now discovering that Max had such a dark side.
He thought to himself, *Having you is truly Thomas’s "blessing."*
Max’s body suddenly stiffened. He gave a light cough, then abruptly quickened his pace:
"I’m going hunting. Kevin said he found a herd of violent fire one-horned goats. I remember you said they were delicious last time."
It wasn’t even his turn to hunt today. He was clearly embarrassed and making an excuse.
Eric remembered something and hurriedly shouted at his retreating back:
"Max! Leave some of the organs for me!"
Max shouted a reply and then quickly departed.