Culinary God in Wilderness

「Five minutes later.」

Connor’s face was stiff. He silently put down his chopsticks, then picked up a spoon made of bark and shoveled some shredded pork with green peppers into his mouth.

"These utensils of your Great Xia are a real pain to use. Why make eating so complicated? It’s like performing an acrobatic trick."

"Because they’re convenient," Lin Chen explained calmly, not at all annoyed. "What do you normally use to beat eggs at home?"

"An eggbeater, of course."

"We use chopsticks."

As Connor chewed the exceptionally tender and juicy strips of pork, a flash of surprise crossed his eyes. The rich, smoky aroma from the charcoal fire was a flavor he had never experienced before.

More importantly, the tenderness of the pork far exceeded his imagination. Judging by the color, it was fully cooked, yet it was more tender than a rare steak, with none of the bloody taste.

He glanced at the two wooden sticks and nodded. "Looking at the shape, I guess they do look a bit like an eggbeater."

Lin Chen continued, "Besides beating eggs, you can use them to mix meat fillings, pan-fry meat, deep-fry, stir-fry, and wrap dumplings. You can do it all with chopsticks."

"Dumplings?"

Connor latched onto the familiar-sounding name. "I think I’ve heard of those. They’re a famous dish, right?"

"You’ve had Italian ravioli, right? The preparation is similar. You roll dough flat to make a wrapper, then fill it with a mixture of vegetables and meat or seafood. You can steam them, boil them, fry them, or pan-fry them. They’re one of the most traditional and famous foods in Great Xia."

"Flour... I think I saw you have some in your cabin. Can you make them?"

"..."

Lin Chen rolled his eyes.

’This guy doesn’t hold back,’ Lin Chen thought. ’He’s barely been here any time at all, and he’s already got his sights on my most precious ingredients.’

"I *can* make them, but the exchange price for flour is incredibly high. Even I don’t eat them often. If you want dumplings, you’ll have to trade me food for them."

"I’ve got deer meat right here. Name your price."

Connor gestured to the deer meat beside them, already starting to freeze in the snow. He wore a nonchalant expression, as if to say, ’I’ve got food to spare, so name your price.’

"One bag of flour is five hundred grams, and it costs five kilograms of meat. One hundred grams of flour makes about fifteen dumplings. For a guy your size..."

Lin Chen’s eyes scanned Connor’s frame. "That filet earlier... how many of those would you have to eat to be full?"

"Four would be delicious. Add in some sides, a dessert, and a Coke or something, and I’d be stuffed."

"So, your appetite is about three pounds’ worth of food. In terms of dumplings, that would be fifty or sixty, depending on their size."

He thought for a moment. He was still reluctant to use his entire last bag of flour on Connor, especially since he had barely had any himself.

"The most I can give you is half a bag of flour. And because of its scarcity, I’ll need to charge extra." 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"From what I know, you still have an elk and plenty of grouse back at your camp. You’re not exactly short on food. So, how about this: five kilograms of deer meat for half a bag of flour. That’s my final offer."

"Deal!"

Connor wasn’t surprised that Lin Chen knew what he had in stock. It was an unwritten rule of the show’s production team to reveal the accomplishments of the top-performing hunters to the other contestants.

Those who lost confidence in their ability to surpass the leaders would quickly opt to withdraw. It was a roundabout way of encouraging contestants to quit.

Contestants who buckled under pressure weren’t very interesting to watch, didn’t have much potential, and were unwilling to challenge themselves. Naturally, they couldn’t generate more traffic for the show. If they left, they left; it even saved the production a good deal of manpower and resources.

"By the way, Lin, your own stockpile can’t be small, right? I seem to remember Robert mentioning something about it, though I don’t recall the specifics."

"Not anymore," Lin Chen said, shaking his head. "These spices you see, this second set of pots and pans, the flour... I traded meat for all of it. Each one cost me five kilograms."

"What did you trade for with the production team?"

"I didn’t trade for anything."

Connor gestured outside. "With that little guy around, I go through a ton of meat every day. There was nothing on Robert’s list that I desperately needed, so I didn’t trade for anything."

That made sense. Connor could let himself go hungry, but he absolutely had to keep the Coyote well-fed. A hungry wolf’s aggression would spike, and that would just be asking for trouble.

Lin Chen immediately understood. He felt a pang of sympathy for the sixty to seventy kilograms of meat in Connor’s storeroom.

’Maybe it’s this thrilling sense of danger, like dancing on the edge of a knife, that draws so many viewers to Connor’s daily streams,’ Lin Chen mused. ’It seems like foreigners just have a death wish in their DNA.’

After lunch, the two of them sat in the yard, staring blankly at each other and making idle small talk about nothing in particular.

Other than chatting, they couldn’t think of any better way to pass the time.

"Oh, right, Lin. I almost forgot. What did you need me to do?"

"I haven’t decided yet. What do you think you can offer me?"

Connor pondered for a moment before asking, "What do you need most right now? Or, to put it another way, what’s your next objective?"

"Right now, I have enough food for a week, an incredibly secure shelter, and plenty of firewood. Andre just helped me build a warehouse yesterday, and tomorrow I’m going to catch some King Salmon to freeze for later. It seems I’m not really lacking anything."

Lin Chen racked his brain for a moment, then shook his head. "If I had to name something I’m missing, it would probably be various seasonings for cooking. But Robert already said he can’t give me anything that would be too game-breaking."

Having no needs... that was something Connor hadn’t anticipated.

He had originally thought Lin Chen would ask him for help gathering firewood or doing some other manual labor. Instead, the man’s life was already perfect—he was living more comfortably than Connor himself.

The competition had only started a month ago. What was the difference between this and having already beaten the game?

’No way. I have to find a way to deplete his supplies, or at least create some danger for him,’ Connor thought. ’Otherwise, this guy is guaranteed to be one of my strongest rivals in the later stages of the competition!’

At this thought, Connor’s eyes darted back and forth as a plan began to form.

"How about this, Lin," Connor proposed. "You give me an amount of dumplings made from three hundred grams of flour. Since there’s nothing you particularly need, the only thing I can really offer is intelligence."

"With my little guy here, as long as we can find any animal tracks, I can help you find their habitats or the areas they frequent."

"Then you can trade the game you hunt for more seasonings and show your audience even more wilderness cuisine. How does that sound?"

"Intelligence on prey, huh..."

Lin Chen stroked his chin, thinking for a moment, before giving a firm nod.

"That is a good idea. At the moment, there doesn’t seem to be a better model for a trade."

The competition’s prize money was the main goal, of course, but the viewer traffic for his stream was also important.

Given his reputation, he had to keep making new dishes to retain his audience. With Alaska covered in snow, foraging for wild ingredients was becoming unrealistic, which made trading the only viable option.

"What kind of prey are you interested in?"

Connor was about to throw out the names of some of the region’s more famous animals to further pique Lin Chen’s interest, but as the words reached his lips, he remembered something.

Alaska’s most famous creatures.

Yukon Wolf? In Lin Chen’s storeroom.

Dai’s Plateau Sheep, also known as Dorper Sheep? In Lin Chen’s storeroom.

A Black Bear, one of the masters of the forest? In Lin Chen’s storeroom.

The largest fish in the Yukon River, the King Salmon? Also in Lin Chen’s storeroom.

What creature could possibly get him excited?

If the standard was based on combat prowess or size, it seemed only a Musk Ox, a North American Bison, a moose, or a brown bear could possibly catch his interest, right?

Adult North American Bison weigh between 350 kilograms and a ton. Cows are relatively lighter, while bulls are heavier, especially forest-dwelling bulls, which average around 750 kilograms.

At that weight class, forget a direct confrontation. Even with a sneak attack, it would be impossible to take one down unless you managed a perfect headshot with an arrow.

If you managed to anger one, a single charge could do more than just destroy this shelter; even if you climbed a thick tree, the bison could knock the whole thing over.

As for the Alaskan moose, while not as extreme as the bison, they weren’t much better. A bull’s average weight is most typically cited as 1,400 pounds, or 635 kilograms.

Brown bears are in the same weight class as moose, and can reach a height of three meters when standing on their hind legs.

One of these creatures was the size of an SUV, the other a veritable humanoid mech. Neither was an opponent that could be taken down with a mere hunting bow.

That only left the Musk Ox.

Male Musk Oxen average around four hundred kilograms, and females around three hundred. Comparatively, that seemed somewhat manageable.

Just as Connor was frantically wracking his brain for a way to convince Lin Chen to hunt big game, Lin Chen finally spoke.

"You wandered around the wilderness near here for a whole day yesterday. Besides whitetail deer, Yukon Wolves, and Dorper Sheep, did you find tracks from any other animals?"

"Musk Ox!"

Connor blurted out without a second thought.

"Musk Ox, huh... Andre did mention them the other day."

Seeing that he was indeed interested, Connor tentatively added, "If you want, I can also find tracks for brown bears or American Bison."

"There’s no need for that. I’m not arrogant enough to go looking for a death sentence."

’What a shame,’ Connor sighed inwardly. Lin Chen was far more cautious and prudent than he’d imagined, not like one of those reckless hotheads who rush in at the slightest provocation.

"This is the season when brown bears are starting to enter hibernation. It’s also when they’re at their heaviest. Anyone who dares provoke them right now has my utmost respect."

The two chatted a little longer, finally settling on the Musk Ox and various deer herds as their targets.

Compared to other large game, he was most familiar with beef and venison. He’d often eaten wild beef before; the restaurant where he worked would get ground wild beef, mix it with pork to make meatballs, and then roast and stew them with canned tomatoes to create a local favorite: tomato meatballs.

They were delicious on their own, or tossed with some pasta.

Back then, he’d thought it was just regular beef. Later, out of curiosity, he looked up the word and discovered it was actually American Bison.

But it wasn’t until he joined this show and specifically researched the wildlife of Alaska that he truly understood the weight behind the name "American Bison."

To be more efficient, he set out with Connor, preparing to head toward the area where Connor had spotted Musk Ox tracks the day before.

To be on the safe side, he also brought his gillnet. He figured he could detour by the river on their way back to set it, which would allow him to collect a harvest first thing in the morning.

Thirty or forty meters ahead of the two men, the Coyote ambled along, occasionally glancing back over its shoulder. It looked no different from a person walking a pet Czechoslovakian Wolfdog.

After walking for over an hour through the snow, Lin Chen finally couldn’t take it anymore.

"Connor, how much farther is it to where you found the Musk Ox tracks yesterday? If the walk is more than two hours one-way, let’s just forget it. I have no desire to drag a three- or four-hundred-kilogram carcass all the way home by myself."

Never mind the danger of the scent of blood attracting predators; the weight alone would be the death of him.

No wonder Andre had tried to team up with him a few days ago. A beast like that really wasn’t something one person could handle alone.

"We’re close, it’s just up ahead!"

Connor laughed awkwardly and lowered his head, a clear flicker of anxiety flashing in his eyes.