Steamed Egg Custard

Lin Yan grew more and more delighted the more she listened. "Are there really a lot of people reclaiming wasteland?"

"Indeed. Most of the land on the Hare-Rabbit Plains has been claimed by various families. Those with many family members have staked out large plots, while smaller families pool their efforts to claim land together, clear it, and then divide it up."

"Mother, our family's land is still too small, and nobody has cleared the surrounding wasteland yet. Let's clear out a section of this area next year."

Lin Yan felt that two mu of land were far from enough, especially since a small half of it was occupied by the hairy chestnut trees. Once she discovered other plants suitable for cultivation, it would be too late if they didn't have enough land to farm.

Hua Hong, however, remarked, "What do you need so much land for? Just plant it all with jute. There are only two of us; we can't possibly use that much jute anyway. Nowadays, every household has plenty of jute to use; nobody is short of it."

In her view, the jute grown by each family was enough for self-sufficiency. Growing any more was pointless and not worth the strenuous effort of clearing wasteland.

"Mother, we should clear the land first. When we find other things to plant later, it will be too late if we don't have the land. Besides, jute has numerous uses, and growing a bit more is always beneficial. The hemp paste and oil I made earlier will have great uses. Tonight when we get back, I'll make you a novel dish."

"What kind of dish?" Hua Hong was most interested in food.

That hemp paste and oil tasted quite good when mixed with meat, and their family prepared it every couple of days.

"Steamed egg, drizzled with hemp oil. It tastes completely different." Lin Yan had stumbled upon this new recipe while browsing through the science and technology museum database.

In her past life, she had been obsessed with scientific research and experiments, paying little attention to daily life as long as it kept starvation at bay. She mostly subsisted on various quick-fix rations. Besides, the food of that era had been so heavily processed that its original ingredients were unrecognizable, leaving her with no culinary imagination beyond boiling eggs.

A few days ago, when she entered the room numbered 0101, she accidentally flipped through a book that mentioned the method of making steamed eggs, though she hadn't had the chance to try it yet.

Today presented the perfect opportunity to let her mother taste a brand-new dish.

Hua Hong couldn't picture what a steamed egg looked like, but she yearned for food with great anticipation. Her hands moved a bit faster, and soon her basket was filled to the brim with grass.

She picked up another basket and took Lin Yan to the pheasant woods.

Their family's land bordered the pheasant woods, making it very convenient to get there—just a ten-minute walk.

Lin Yan was thrilled, periodically scanning the surroundings with her spiritual power. Sure enough, she discovered several clutches of eggs, all well-concealed in the grass and extremely difficult to spot.

Hua Hong happily collected the eggs, though she gradually began to notice something amiss.

"Lin Yan, how on earth do you know where the pheasant eggs are?"

Clearly, they were blocked by vegetation and located too far away to be seen at all. Even for the ones close by, you couldn't find them without parting the grass.

Lin Yan paused, momentarily unsure how to answer the question.

Her uniqueness was something the people in the tribe had long since grown accustomed to, so she had gradually let her guard down.

However, Hua Hong was different from others; she always wanted to get to the bottom of her daughter's peculiarities.

"Mother, I am different from everyone else—you already know that. If you really must know, I'll tell you in a few days."

Lin Yan suddenly thought: since she could cultivate her spiritual power, could others do the same?

According to what she had learned from Pang Bao, the stronger one's spiritual power, the longer one's lifespan.

She used to worry that because people here lived such short lives, her ambition to change the status quo and usher in a prosperous civilization within her own brief decades was highly unlikely to succeed.

Yet, with the assistance of spiritual power to prolong human life, creating an entirely new world might actually be possible.

If others could also cultivate spiritual power, then under everyone's joint efforts, the Sun Tribe stepping out of this current region was just a matter of time.

Since her mother was asking, once her own spiritual power advanced further, she would let her mother practice it too and see if she could succeed.

Hua Hong had just passed thirty, which already made her somewhat elderly in the tribe, but Lin Yan felt she was still very young, with vast untapped potential waiting to be awakened.

Hua Hong pressed no further. She had known since her daughter was little that she was different.

With Lin Yan as her cheat code, today's harvest was exceptional. Within an hour, they had gathered more than half a basket of pheasant eggs.

As it was time for lunch, Hua Hong picked up the two large baskets and led Lin Yan back home, still harboring high expectations for the steamed eggs.

As soon as they arrived home, Hua Hong urged Lin Yan to explain how to make the steamed eggs so she could get started.

"Take two bowls, crack the eggs into them, add a bit of warm water, beat them thoroughly, and put them into a clay pot to steam. Once they're done, take them out and drizzle some hemp oil over them."

Lin Yan watched Hua Hong's operation while taking a bowl to shell the hemp seeds.

Once the hemp kernels were extracted and mashed, it yielded a mixture of hemp paste and oil; under current conditions, this was as far as they could go.

Looking at the clay pot set over the fire with its wide-open mouth, water inside, and a bowl placed within, Lin Yan said, "Mother, this won't work. We have to cover the clay pot so the heat doesn't escape."

Hua Hong looked around and found a flat stone slab to cover it.

There were plenty of clay pots at home, both large and small, but all of them were open-mouthed. Lin Yan slapped her forehead, realizing she had forgotten to tell Old Hei to fire lids along with them.

An open mouth was fine for boiling water, but it probably wouldn't do for steaming eggs.

About half an hour later, the steamed eggs were ready. Lin Yan added a few drops of oil from the hemp paste.

A brilliant, vibrant yellow, soft and tender, with a few floating droplets of oil—it looked simply irresistible.

Lin Yan looked at the long-awaited steamed eggs, finally having produced something that resembled a proper dish. It truly hadn't been easy.

Hua Hong had never seen such food before. Even before tasting it, merely looking at it made her swallow hard.

"This is too pretty." Unworldly Hua Hong found a single bowl of steamed eggs completely beyond her comprehension; she had never known food could be made to look this gorgeous.

"Hehe, Mother, hurry up and taste it."

Lin Yan smiled, well aware of the shock the steamed eggs would bring to her mother.

Previously, everything they ate was in its original flavor, mostly simply boiled or roasted meats—how could anything compare to the beauty and visual impact of steamed eggs?

"Is it really edible?" Hua Hong hesitated, finding it too pretty; eating it felt almost like desecration.

"Of course it's edible, Mother, hurry and taste it," Lin Yan urged. "This is just steamed egg, the simplest kind of food. Later on, we'll make even more and prettier things to eat."

Hua Hong used her chopsticks to pick out a small piece and tasted it. Her eyes lit up instantly. "It's so soft and tender, completely different from boiled eggs. It's delicious!"

She pulled another bowl over and divided a small half of it for her daughter.

Holding her bowl, Lin Yan ate with gusto. It was truly delicious; perhaps due to the high quality of the ingredients, the flavor far surpassed her memories.

Mother and daughter relished the large bowl of steamed eggs with great enjoyment.

Hua Hong happily remarked, "This hemp oil makes a great seasoning, and it makes the steamed eggs taste even better. I'll make more of this in the future."

"Mm-hmm," Lin Yan nodded contentedly. This was the best thing she had eaten so far; naturally, it would be even better if she could have it often.

After the meal, Hua Hong busied herself washing dishes, tidying up, and feeding the hare-rabbits before walking with her short steps over to Old Hei's place.

Old Hei had also just finished eating and was planning to rest for a moment before heading to work at the kiln.

"Lin Yan, come here. I've got two boiled eggs left over; eat them."

Old Hei was immensely fond of Lin Yan and wanted to give her whatever good things he had.