Chapter Twelve: Who Says the Stone Mill Is Useless? It Can Grind So Many Things

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But Mu Qing was willing to waste his female’s efforts, and He felt that if they said anything more disagreeable, Yun Li would surely be displeased. After all, she was here to befriend Yun Li, so it was best not to upset her. Standing at the back, Green Grass wanted to warn Yun Li not to be too difficult, lest Mu Qing grew tired of her. Yet just as the words were about to leave her mouth, she saw Mu Qing crush the entire block of salt ore with his hands. A malicious thought flashed through her mind: let her keep acting this way. Once Mu Qing was truly annoyed, she would no longer have such easy days ahead.

“Ah Li, it’s done,” Mu Qing said after squeezing the ore, stepping aside to show her.

Unwilling to let go, Yun Li grabbed his arm and pointed at the hole on the stone plate. “Ah Qing, gather those less-crushed ore pieces into that hole, then hold it like this and turn it.”

Mu Qing followed her instructions.

The stone plate above began to spin, accompanied by a harsh grinding noise. He and the others watched curiously to see what this stone mill could produce.

Some of the males leaned in for a closer look. When Yun Li told Mu Qing to remove the upper stone plate, revealing the ore that hadn’t been ground much, one or two males laughed aloud. “Looks like what Mu Qing’s female made is useless.”

He and the others exchanged glances, unsure of what to say.

“Seems this thing is completely useless; we were just hoping for nothing,” one female whispered to her companion.

“Yeah, thought she could make something good, but in the end, it’s just wasting food and salt ore,” the companion added quietly.

Though He agreed with their words inside, he gave them a look to stop talking. The two females immediately fell silent, though they clearly didn’t take it to heart. They were simply stating facts.

Beastmen have keen hearing, and although they spoke softly, Yun Li overheard everything. Mu Qing frowned and glanced toward He’s group, then quietly comforted his female.

“Ah Li, don’t listen to them. This stone mill is very useful. When I grind salt ore with it, it doesn’t take much effort. If you want to grind salt ore in the future, I’ll keep doing it for you. Our household salt ore is all ground with this stone mill—use it however you like.”

Yun Li was mentally prepared for this outcome. Salt ore is quite hard, and the stone plate was just stone; it was normal that it wouldn’t grind completely. But hearing Mu Qing say this made her heart swell with happiness.

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Yun Li picked up the salt granules from the stone plate and smiled at Mu Qing. “You said so, then help me grind the rest of the salt ore like this. I’ll need it later.”

Though she didn’t quite remember how to extract refined salt from salt ore, she still recalled the concepts of boiling salt and sun-drying seawater. Boiling salt obviously meant using a pot, and sun-drying salt was done with seawater, producing sea salt by evaporating water in the sun.

So if she boiled saltwater made by soaking salt ore, the process would be correct—it all depended on crystallizing at high temperatures.

Grinding the salt ore into finer pieces would help it dissolve faster. If she acted quickly, maybe she could make some coarse salt today.

“Okay!”

Seeing her happy, Mu Qing naturally followed her lead.

“Then hurry and grind. I'll go get a basin to collect the crushed salt.”

Yun Li said this and ran back inside.

Several males, hearing Yun Li mention a basin, couldn’t help but laugh. “Mu Qing, is your female okay? There’s no need to use a basin just to collect crushed salt.”

Mu Qing knew this fact but wouldn’t say a bad word about his female.

“Ah Li has her own thoughts. If she says it’ll be useful later, then it will be. If you say another word, maybe when I’m free later, I’ll show you all how it’s done and help you practice.”

With this, the males had no choice but to fall silent.

Behind He, two females who had whispered earlier felt a bit resentful. They were just speaking the truth—was it really necessary to be so protective?

He also thought Mu Qing was overly protective, but considering Mu Qing had been an adult male for four or five years and only just had a female willing to accept him, who even made him her first mate, his protectiveness seemed understandable.

Anyway, He’s males wouldn’t bother Mu Qing, so even if Mu Qing wanted to pick fights with other males, it wouldn’t affect He’s group.

But Green Grass became mischievous again, quietly telling the other females, “It’s all Yun Li’s fault for spoiling Mu Qing.”

“She’s Yun Li’s male. If he doesn’t protect his female, would he really badmouth her to other beastmen?”

At first, the female who had laughed at Yun Li’s naive attempt to pickle wild vegetables rolled her eyes, irritated by Green Grass’s comment. “Can’t you just be quiet for once?”

Hearing this, Green Grass immediately gave He a look of grievance.

He frowned at the expression. “Qing Ye wasn’t wrong. Who are you showing that face to?”

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Green Grass felt helpless. Did He not see that Qing Ye was targeting her? She hadn’t said much—was it really necessary to speak about her like that?

If not that, then what else?

He’s sister was close with Qing Ye. If He didn’t back his own people, was he going to side with a female who had forcibly inserted herself into their small group?

So when Yun Li came out with the basin, Green Grass immediately fixed her gaze on her. She wanted to see what Yun Li would pull off today. Tomorrow, when they went on the gathering expedition, she would make sure everyone knew how Yun Li looked down on her old friends.

“Ah Qing, hurry! Put all the crushed salt into the basin. I also brought out some iron fruits. The shaman said boiling these in water is good for your health. Crush them and grind them into powder with the stone mill. That way, drinking it won’t scratch your throat.”

Only when Yun Li went inside to get the basin did she remember this. The shaman had said the iron fruit was good for health when boiled, but no matter how much she crushed them, when boiling the fruit, large hard pieces still scratched her throat, so she seldom drank it.

Luckily, they had a stone mill at home, and seeing the iron fruit suddenly reminded her.

After Mu Qing helped sweep the crushed salt into the basin, he hesitated briefly at the iron fruit Yun Li handed him but took it nonetheless.

Seeing Yun Li grinding the salt ore and then moving on to the trees’ fruit, He sighed helplessly. “Ah Li, that iron fruit is good stuff. Don’t you know it’s...”

“Iron fruit is also called the pregnancy fruit. I know,” Yun Li said, glancing at Mu Qing quietly crushing the fruit. “Don’t you ever get your throat scratched drinking iron fruit? Or do you use stone tools to crush it into powder so it doesn’t bother you at all?”

He looked at the crushed salt in her basin. “But your stone mill clearly isn’t very effective.”

Yun Li looked at the crushed salt in her basin and thought quickly. “How is it not effective? Think about it—every year, the shaman has to get the tribe’s males to help crush and dry herbs. Even after smashing with their palms, they can only make a little, and the shaman complains it’s too slow. This stone mill can even crush hard salt ore; how could it not crush dried herbs?”

At these words, Gong’s eyes immediately burned with intensity as he stared at the stone mill.

He was the male who had to help crush herbs every year and was always criticized for being too slow.

How had he never thought to use a tool for crushing herbs before?

He was stunned.

Indeed, if the stone mill could grind tough salt ore, then surely it could grind dried herbs as well.