Rebirth in a Courtyard: I Am a Little Hunter

Wei Chen put the spice packet into the soup pot, then added the large chunks of beef shank and the remaining beef brisket. He covered the pot with a heavy wooden lid, letting the firewood crackle and burn in the stove, while the soup simmered and gurgled softly in the pot.

While waiting, Wei Chen didn't sit idle. He quickly cleaned the kitchen floor and put the tools back in their place. Then he moved a small stool to sit by the stove, picked up an old book he had found at a recycling center, and started flipping through it. But the increasingly strong aroma of meat lingering around his nose made him a little restless.

Lately, even he felt his mouth was "as bland as a bird." The situation outside was getting more and more tense, and the price of food on the black market had risen to an astonishing level, while meat was practically priceless and unavailable.

Although the family never ran out of food, and her mother, Wang Xiulan, always managed to cook something different, they never dared to be too ostentatious. They would weigh the oil bottle carefully when cooking, and meat was a rare treat.

His mother was used to being frugal, always thinking of saving up good things or using them sparingly. Although Wei Chen could obtain supplies from the game world, he had to be careful and couldn't indulge himself.

At this moment, the pot of beef, slowly simmering and infused with flavor, seemed to be a powerful stimulant against this era of scarcity, stirring up his cravings.

Two hours passed slowly amidst the simmering aroma of the meat. Wei Chen estimated that it was almost done and lifted the lid.

In an instant, a plume of white steam, a blend of rich meaty aroma, mellow bone fragrance, and a subtle medicinal scent, wafted through the kitchen. The broth in the pot had thickened and glistened, turning an enticing reddish-brown. Large chunks of beef were stewed until tender, easily pierced with chopsticks. The meat on the bones had long since fallen off, trembling slightly in the broth.

Wei Chen used a large strainer to scoop up the stewed beef and placed it in a large basin prepared nearby to cool. The dark red beef chunks trembled slightly, emitting an irresistible aroma.

He put most of the 100-plus kilograms of cooked beef and offal back into his backpack, leaving only a piece of beef brisket weighing about five or six kilograms and a small bowl of soup.

Using the embers of the stove, he cut up more than half a pound of stewed beef brisket, ladled out a large bowl of piping hot and fragrant beef soup, and sprinkled some chopped green onions on top. Sitting at the small table in the kitchen, he took a bite of meat, a sip of soup, and then a bite of the slightly hardened multigrain pancake he had brought from home.

The beef was stewed to perfection, tender yet still chewy, with the flavors of spices and herbs perfectly infused into every fiber. Far from being gamey, it brought out a deeper, richer meaty aroma. The hot soup sent a warm current spreading from the stomach to every part of the body, dispelling the chill of late autumn and soothing the stomach that had been suffering from bland soups for days.

"Phew..." Wei Chen exhaled a satisfied breath, feeling as if he had come back to life. This is what people should eat! He secretly vowed to himself that he would "improve his meals" more often in the future, at least to make sure that he and his mother ate comfortably.

After eating and drinking his fill and tidying up, Wei Chen finally turned his attention to today's "main topic"—the oil press he had just acquired.

He left the kitchen and went to the room on the side of the small building. This place was originally an empty lot, which he had divided into several functional areas. Near the small house was a simple mill built of stone and wood, containing two machines he had acquired through the trade: one for grinding flour and the other for grinding cornmeal. The two mills ensured that Wei Chen would not lack food.

Next to the mill is a newly renovated, more spacious shed. It used to be filled with miscellaneous items, but now it has been cleared out and the ground has been leveled and compacted.

The rusty hand-cranked oil press, which they had traded for from Tiger, stood quietly in the center of the shed. Several bulging burlap sacks were piled up next to it.

Wei Chen stepped forward and carefully examined the machine. After he had cleaned, derusted, and oiled it using tools and materials he had collected in the game world, and replaced the broken belts and severely worn gears, the old machine was now brand new. Although the marks of time were still visible, the key components such as the screw, pressing chamber, and bearings were all moving freely and could work normally.

He opened the burlap sack beside him, which was filled with plump peanuts, each with a light pink skin, weighing about two hundred pounds. These were harvested from his "farmland" in the game world using planting techniques, and had undergone simple drying and shelling. Another sack contained golden, round soybeans, also weighing nearly one hundred pounds. Wei Chen had many of these crops in his spatial backpack, but the peanuts were all in their shells; these two hundred pounds were the result of him secretly shelling them over a long period of time.

"Let's try peanut oil first," Wei Chen muttered to himself. Peanuts have a relatively high oil yield and a strong aroma.

He poured about fifty pounds of peanuts into a clean wooden basin next to him, carefully picking out any shriveled kernels and impurities. Then, he poured these peanuts in batches into the feed inlet of the hand-cranked stone mill next to him.

He gripped the handle of the millstone and began to grind it at a steady pace. The heavy millstone emitted a deep, rumbling sound as the plump peanuts were crushed and pressed, gradually turning into a smooth, pale yellow sauce with a rich peanut aroma. The sauce slowly flowed from the millstone's crevices and fell into the wooden bucket below. This process required patience and a certain amount of strength, but for Wei Chen, it was effortless.

Before long, all fifty pounds of peanuts had been ground into a thick, smooth peanut butter. The air was filled with a rich aroma reminiscent of roasted peanuts, making one's mouth water.

The next crucial step is oil extraction.

Wei Chen carefully inspected the oil press, confirming that all parts were securely connected and that moving parts were adequately lubricated. He placed a clean, large earthenware jar under the oil outlet and several sturdy bamboo baskets under the cake-outlet.

Use a wooden spoon to carefully scoop the ground peanut butter into the pressing chamber of the oil press. Do not fill it too full, nor too loosely; it needs to be evenly and compacted. After filling, cover with the pressure plate and insert the large wooden pressure wedge.

Then, he walked to the side of the machine and gripped the nearly two-meter-long rocker arm with both hands. He took a deep breath, focused his waist and hips, and began to slowly rock it.

"Crunch... crunch..."

At first, it was a little sluggish, but as he applied force evenly, the rocker arm drove the heavy internal screw to rotate, applying pressure evenly through the pressure plate to the pressing chamber filled with peanut butter. The heavy sounds of friction and squeezing echoed in the quiet shed.

Gradually, a clear, golden oil, exuding an intoxicating aroma, began to seep from the gaps at the bottom of the pressing chamber, gathering into a thin stream, dripping down, and then becoming a small trickle that flowed gently into the earthenware jar below. At the same time, the peanut residue (oil cake) after the oil was squeezed out was slowly pushed out from the cake outlet on the other side, forming hard, brownish-red round cakes that fell into a bamboo basket.

The golden oil, like an amber stream, flowed with a vibrant sheen and an intensely rich aroma. Wei Chen stared intently, his hands moving the crank arm steadily and powerfully, controlling the pressure. Fine beads of sweat gradually appeared on his forehead, but his heart was filled with an indescribable sense of satisfaction and joy.

This is peanut oil! Oil you can use with confidence for stir-frying and deep-frying! No more watching your mother carefully hold the oil bottle while cooking, only daring to drip a few drops! No more enduring bland, watery, and utterly tasteless meals!

As the shaking continued, the rate of oil extraction slowed down, and the color of the oil changed from its initial bright golden color to a slightly darker shade—a normal phenomenon in the later stages of pressing. When no more oil could be squeezed out, Wei Chen stopped.

He didn't even bother wiping his sweat as he eagerly approached the earthenware jar. At the bottom, a thick layer of golden, translucent peanut oil, radiating a rich nutty aroma, had already accumulated! He roughly estimated that those fifty pounds of peanuts had yielded at least seventeen or eighteen pounds of oil! The oil yield was quite considerable!

He dipped his finger in it, brought it to his nose, and smelled it—rich and fragrant; he gently rubbed it, finding it smooth and oily. He couldn't help but smile, a sense of grounded and fulfilling happiness welling up within him.

"It's a success!" he muttered to himself, his voice filled with barely suppressed excitement.

Without stopping, he continued grinding and pressing the remaining peanuts in batches. The roar of the machines and the soft sound of flowing oil became the most moving melody at that moment.

As the last drop of oil flowed into the spare jar, the shed was already filled with four large earthenware jars containing golden peanut oil, and a large pile of hard peanut cakes. The peanut cakes were excellent fodder or fertilizer, and of course, in those days, they were also a good snack.

Looking at these results, Wei Chen was satisfied. He found the prepared, washed and dried glass bottles and earthenware jars, and carefully divided and sealed the freshly pressed peanut oil. He stored most of it in the space of his backpack where time had stopped, leaving only two small jars in a conspicuous place in the kitchen, ready to take them out "openly and legitimately" and say that he had traded grain in the countryside or obtained them through a "hunter friend".

After completing all this, although I was physically exhausted, I felt incredibly invigorated. The goal of achieving "oil freedom"—a luxury in this day and age—has finally taken a solid first step!

After tidying up the oil press and tools and cleaning the shed, Wei Chen estimated the time. The time flow in the game world is different from reality, and he has a certain degree of control over it; it should be around three or four o'clock in the afternoon outside.

He checked his "harvest" again—he had exceeded his main goal for the day: over 200 jin of peanuts and over 80 jin of peanut oil!

With a thought, he left the warm and fragrant hunter's cabin and returned to the desolate riverbank in the real world.

The afternoon sun in late autumn had already begun to set in the west, becoming weak and powerless, and the river breeze was even colder.

Wei Chen looked around, but there was still no one there. He quickly took out more than twenty large fish from his inventory space in the game world. Each one weighed between three or four and seven or eight pounds, lively and jumping, their scales shimmering in the dim sunlight. He had caught and stored these fish in the river in the game world beforehand. In total, they weighed more than 150 pounds.

He placed the heavy catch of fish into the buckets in the baskets on either side of the back seat of his bicycle, his recent go-to setup. Only then did Wei Chen leisurely put away the fishing rod he had been using as a prop, get on his bicycle, and leisurely ride back.