Seeing Max agree, Eric let out a sigh of relief. This was great; he had been genuinely afraid that Max would refuse, which would have been very awkward.
"Thank you, Max, you're so kind," Eric said gratefully.
Max stood up unnaturally. "Then I'll take you now."
After giving Eric the grain, he still had to go to training.
After eating, Leo lazily transformed into his beast form and lay basking in the sun, looking like he was about to doze off.
So, Eric let Leo sleep at home while he followed Max to get the grain.
Luci and Chieftain Thomas were both at home. She looked on in surprise as Max led Eric into their house. This was the first time she had seen Max following behind Eric without a sour look on his face.
Eric timidly greeted Luci and Thomas. Max's house was also an earthen house, but the space was much larger than theirs.
"I wanted to borrow some glutinous rice and wheat, so I asked Max to bring me over," Eric said.
"Of course, Eric. See how much you need. I have cloth bags here, take them to pack it in," Thomas said, waving his hand magnanimously.
He and Max looked somewhat alike, except he looked more mature than Max.
Luci took several cloth bags out of a large pottery jar in the corner and opened them, enthusiastically signaling for him to come and get the grain.
Eric stepped forward. The wheat and glutinous rice here were also a bit larger than in modern times; the grains were basically as big as corn kernels.
"The Ox-Head tribe uses this wheat to make black bread. I tried to learn from them several times but couldn't get it right; I only know how to use this to make porridge. These two bags are glutinous rice and wheat. Just take it all. We don't eat it much anyway," Luci said, directly picking up two bags and stuffing them into his arms.
Eric quickly refused, "I can't use this much. I only need a little."
Luci just shoved them at him, saying, "Hurry up and take them home!"
At this moment, Max silently walked over and directly picked up the two large bags of grain. "Let's go."
Unable to refuse, Eric shyly said his thanks.
As he was about to walk out, Max remembered something, turned back, and took another bag from the pottery jar.
"Didn't you say you know how to use these beans to make tofu? This is all for you," Max said.
Luci also remembered that Eric had asked her today where there were a lot of beans, so she also told him to take them home. "That's right, Eric, if you like to eat them, hurry and take them all. When we go out gathering, I'll look for more for you."
Eric looked at the full bag in astonishment and quickly waved his hands, saying, "That's too much, I can't accept it!"
Max maintained an expression that allowed no refusal and directly carried the grain outside.
Thomas laughed from behind and said, "Just take it. If it's not enough, come back for more."
The amount of grain brought back from Max's house was at least over twenty catties for each type. It was truly too generous.
Max brought the grain to his house, then turned and left to find Michael's group for training.
The Vietnamese coriander he had picked yesterday was dry after a day in the sun. Eric used a stone to grind it into a fine powder and set it aside for later use.
He couldn't use this much wheat, and it would be a bit too forced to return it. So he decided to keep most of it as seeds for next year. Besides, he only needed the bran to make the wine starter.
Once the wheat was milled, he could totally use it for food!
Heaven knows how much he had craved a roasted pork banh mi with pâté or a bowl of rice while eating the stew today. The days without staple foods were truly too difficult.
He had no idea how much willpower those dieters who insisted on a no-carb diet must have.
He also used the stone mill to hull the glutinous rice, then pounded it into a fine powder. The milled wheat bran was collected for later use, while Eric ground the hulled wheat into flour.
The hand-ground flour wasn't as white and fine as the kind he bought in modern times, but for the current Eric, it was completely sufficient.
Actually, it would be best to sift the glutinous rice flour and Vietnamese coriander powder through a fine sieve, but with Eric's level of craftsmanship, he could only make a crude one fit for making tofu, so he just used them directly.
He mixed the glutinous rice flour and Vietnamese coriander powder together, added a little bran, mixed well, then added some water. After that, he rolled the mixture into small balls, coated them with a layer of bran, placed them in a stone basin lined with straw, and then covered them with another layer of straw.
It was now early autumn, and at this temperature, it would be ready to use in about 5 to 7 days.
After finishing the wine starter, Eric took out the skin of the gray rabbit from before. He wasn't very skilled at skinning, so it wasn't as intact as others might have done it, but it didn't affect much.
He cleaned all the fat and meat scraps from the rabbit skin, washed the grease and dirt off with river water, stretched it out, and pinned it on a wooden board. Such a large and thick hide would be much warmer when spread over a straw mattress in the winter.
With time on his hands, Eric lay down and slowly recalled the necessary skills for transmigrators that he had seen before.
He had once watched a short video where someone taught how to make refined salt step-by-step, but it had to be done at the seashore.
He thought he would first use activated charcoal to refine coarse salt into fine salt. That way, he would have proof to demonstrate his ability and could ask the clansmen to take him to the seashore to open a salt pan. Their tribe would no longer have to be controlled by others.
However, he remembered that in ancient times, salt was an important means for the imperial court to control the common people. Illicit salt trading was equivalent to a death sentence, and in strict dynasties, it could lead to the extermination of nine generations of one's family.
It was the same in this otherworld; salt was also a monopolized commodity. He didn't know if this action of his would ultimately help the Snow Wolves or bring them danger.
Eric was a selfish person; he wanted his life to be better.
Only when the Snow Wolf tribe became better off could he benefit as well. Moreover, the Snow Wolves were very tolerant and caring towards him. Whether for practical benefits or emotional reasons, he wanted to turn what he knew into reality.