Xu Zhan's eyes lit up, and he slapped his thigh.
"Got it!"
"I got it!"
He held up the clay pot, a look of fanaticism on his face, his expression extremely excited.
"This is called antifreeze!"
"You bunch of country bumpkins don't understand, the temperature in this snow nest is low, if the meat freezes hard, it'll be like a rock, it'll break your teeth!"
"But wine is different, wine doesn't freeze!"
"Our sister wrapped the pot with wine just so the meat inside wouldn't freeze solid!"
"And this wine vapor can also dispel the cold and kill poisons!"
"What is this?"
"This is wisdom!"
"This is our sister's painstaking effort for us!"
The surrounding soldiers listened, dumbfounded.
Although they didn't understand the principles behind it, it felt very impressive.
"So that's how it is!"
"No wonder they said it was a fifty thousand tael shipping fee, this is what you call fastidious!"
"The Eldest Miss is truly a god!"
Xu Zhan held the clay pot as if he were holding the Imperial Jade Seal.
Even though his hands were frozen stiff, he couldn't bear to let go.
"Don't just stand there!"
"Quick!"
"Move all these treasures into the tents!"
"Be careful, don't bump them!"
As he shouted, he took the initiative to remove the oilcloth from the clay pot.
His movements were as gentle as if he were changing a diaper.
Although his fingers were frozen stiff and didn't quite listen to his commands, he still carefully tore off the oilcloth soaked in wine layer by layer.
This oilcloth was wrapped really tightly.
Layer upon layer.
With great difficulty, he finally tore open the innermost layer, revealing the dark brown body of the clay pot.
But just then, an accident happened.
Because Xu Zhan was too excited, his hands trembled a little.
Coupled with the fact that he had been rolling around in the snow just now, a lot of snow had accumulated on his armor bracers.
With this tremble, a lump of snow on his bracer slid down.
*Patter.*
It just so happened to fall into the crack of the mud seal at the mouth of the clay pot.
This little bit of snow wasn't much originally.
But because the mud seal of this clay pot had cracked a little during the bumpy journey.
The snow water slipped right in along the crack.
This wouldn't have been a big deal either.
But at the bottom of this clay pot, there was a thick layer of quicklime.
That was the extra ingredient Xu Qinghuan had specially ordered.
Quicklime is a very bad-tempered thing.
Usually, when it's dry, it's just a harmless white powder.
But once it meets water.
Even if it's just a little bit of water.
It will immediately go crazy, releasing a massive amount of heat, and the temperature can instantly boil water.
The next second.
Xu Zhan was holding the clay pot, smiling foolishly.
Suddenly.
*Sizzle—*
A strange sound came from the clay pot.
That sound was like a ladle of cold water being poured into boiling oil.
Immediately after.
The clay pot began to vibrate.
*Buzz buzz buzz.*
Xu Zhan's hands were numb from the vibration.
"What's that noise?"
He was taken aback and brought the clay pot closer to get a better look.
*Whoosh!*
A puff of white smoke shot out rapidly from the crack in the mud seal.
Straight at Xu Zhan's face.
The white smoke was boiling hot, carrying the choking smell of lime, as well as a strange mixture of heated meat and wine aromas.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
Xu Zhan was choked to tears, feeling as if his face had been scalded.
This wasn't over yet.
The clay pot, which had been icy cold just a moment ago, saw its temperature soar in an instant.
Hot!
It was really hot!
It was like holding a red-hot branding iron in his hands.
"Ouch!"
Xu Zhan let out a miserable scream, entirely a reflex reaction. His hand trembled, and he threw the clay pot away.
"Boss, what is this thing?"
The sixteen or seventeen-year-old new recruit, Goudan, swallowed a mouthful of saliva and shuffled forward two steps.
His eyes revealed a clear stupidity.
"Don't move!"
Xu Zhan roughly pulled him back.
"Didn't you see that thing smoking? My sister is a spendthrift, true, but she's also lawless. Who knows if there's gunpowder or poison inside?"
Wang Tiedan was currently slumped on the ground, panting heavily.
Hearing this, he rolled his eyes, wanting to curse, but he didn't even have the strength for that.
"Poison?"
Goudan sniffed, a hint of flush appearing on his frostbite-covered little face.
"Boss, if it's poison, isn't it too fragrant?"
Fragrant?
Xu Zhan was stunned for a moment.
And in that moment of distraction, the intense fragrance had already spread.
It was the aroma of Nu'er Hong wine mixed with caramel, and the smell of heavy salt and oil.
This smell would definitely not be pleasant in normal times, but in the minus thirty degree snowfield, for a hundred soldiers who had been starving for three days and three nights, this smell was deadly.
*Gulp.*
It was unknown who swallowed a mouthful of saliva first, followed by a continuous series of gulping sounds.
"Boss..."
Goudan's eyes were green with envy.
"Even if it's poison, can't you let me die a full ghost? I don't want to be a starved ghost. If a starved ghost reincarnates, they still have to beg for food in their next life."
Saying this, the kid didn't know where he got the strength from, violently broke free from Xu Zhan's grip, and lunged straight at the nearest clay pot.
"Bastard!"
Xu Zhan roared, his eyes instantly turning red.
He kicked Goudan in the ass, sending the kid rolling three times in the snow.
"If anyone's going to die, I'll die first! You're a soldier of the Xu family, and I'm a member of the Xu family!"
Xu Zhan's voice was trembling, partly from anger, partly from being enticed by that fragrance.
"The Xu family's poison can only be cured by the Xu family themselves!"
He rushed over menacingly.
Xu Zhan picked up the still-sizzling clay pot with trembling hands.
Hot!
So damn hot!
In this place where water dripped into ice, this pot was actually hot enough to make his palms ache.
Xu Zhan's heart trembled violently.
Self-heating without fire?
What kind of divine method was this?
Could it be that his spendthrift sister, for the sake of this hot meal, had dug up the Xu family's ancestral graves in exchange for this heaven-defying Mohist mechanism?
A warm current rushed straight from his palm to his forehead.
Xu Zhan no longer hesitated and reached out to uncover the oiled paper sealing the mouth.
*Boom!*
The white steam, carrying a rich meaty aroma, sprayed directly onto his face.
Xu Zhan only felt a flash of white before his eyes, his head a little dizzy.
Too fragrant.
So fragrant it made one dizzy, making one want to kowtow to this pot.
Squeezed inside the pot were ten dark, oily squares.
Those were the meat bricks Xu Qinghuan had specially ordered.
Each piece was coated in syrup and salt crystals, and under the high-temperature baking, the surface was a purplish-red.
That was the color baked out of high sugar and high oil.
Xu Zhan tremblingly stretched out two fingers and picked up a piece.
Still dripping oil.
Lard slid down the texture of the meat brick.
"Sister, if I'm poisoned to death, I'll protect you as a ghost."
Xu Zhan silently recited a last will in his heart, then closed his eyes, and with the look of one facing death unflinchingly, stuffed that piece of meat brick into his mouth.
*Crunch.*
The first bite broke through the outer layer of caramel shell.
Crispy.
Following that, a surge of scalding fat instantly rushed into every corner of his mouth.
In that instant, Xu Zhan's mind went blank.
There was no highly toxic attack on his heart as he had imagined.
There was only a primal, crude joy.
Salty!
So salty it made one's tongue numb!
Sweet!
So sweet it made one's teeth chatter!
Oily!
So oily it made one's throat greasy!
But!
This heavy-oil, heavy-salt thing had now become the best thing to replenish physical strength.
The aroma of strong liquor volatilized as he chewed, rushing straight up his nasal cavity and sweeping away the chill from his body.
Ah—!!!
Xu Zhan let out a loud shout.
How could it be this delicious!
How was this meat?
This was clearly an immortal elixir refined in the alchemy furnace of the Supreme Venerable Sovereign!
Boss, how is it? Is it deadly poison?
Goudan lay in the snow, looking eagerly at Xu Zhan, his drool having already frozen into an icicle on his chin.
Xu Zhan did not speak.
Because his mouth was completely stuffed by that brick of meat.
He only felt a stream of heat rise from his lower abdomen. His previously frozen hands and feet began to regain feeling, and the strength to lift a blade and hack at people returned to his body.
He suddenly opened his eyes. There was no longer despair in them, but a blazing fire.
Poison!
Xu Zhan roared indistinctly, dark brown sauce still hanging from the corner of his mouth.
Deadly poison! This is a gut-piercing poison!
When the surrounding soldiers heard this, their hearts instantly turned cold.
It is over, the boss is really done for.
However, in the next second, Xu Zhan tightly hugged the clay pot in his arms, guarding it fiercely, and turned his back to the crowd.
But this poison, only I can withstand it! None of you move! I will take on this whole pot of poison by myself!
The soldiers: ???
Although Goudan was a bit slow, his nose was not blind.
He saw Xu Zhan's ravenous back, his heaving shoulders, and heard the sound of him smacking his lips.
How was that being poisoned?
That was clearly enjoying a feast!
Brothers! The boss wants to hog it all!
Goudan roared in grief and indignation, We are all going to die anyway! Why does the boss get to die with a full stomach while we have to die as starving ghosts? Grab it!
Grab the damn thing!
Leave a mouthful of soup for me!
That pot is mine! I will fight whoever fights me for it!
The originally solemn and tragic atmosphere collapsed in an instant.
A hundred defeated and crippled soldiers charged madly toward the dozen or so carriages.
There was no discipline, no hierarchy.
There was only the most primal craving for food.
Do not push! That pot is smoking the most, it definitely has the most meat!
Ouch! Who stepped on my broken leg? Whatever, get the meat first!
Give me a spoon! How can I drink the soup without a spoon?
Screw your soup! Lick it! Lick it clean!
Wang Tiedan watched this scene, completely dumbfounded.
He had escorted goods his whole life, seen highwaymen, and seen murderers, but he had never seen such a group of starving ghosts in military uniforms.
One soldier grabbed a clay pot and, not even having the time to peel off the oiled paper, bit it open with his teeth.
The next second, he howled from the scalding steam inside, tears and snot flowing down together.
But he absolutely refused to spit it out.
Even though his tongue was blistered from the heat, he forcefully swallowed that scalding brick of meat.
Mother, I see my great-grandmother. Great-grandmother is feeding me braised pork...
The soldier ate as he cried, his face a mix of happiness and twisted pain. Why is this meat sweet? It is sweeter than the candied melon we eat during the New Year, boohoo...
Another soldier was even more extreme.
Unable to grab any meat, he simply hugged an empty pot someone else had finished, stuck out his tongue, and licked the bottom clean of the leftover grease and sauce.
Good liquor! This is authentic vintage wine!
The soldier's face was flushed red, whether from drunkenness or excitement was unknown. This taste packs a punch! It is even better than the drinks I had at the brothels!
Xu Zhan had already polished off more than half a pot by now.
He felt like he was going to explode.
Not from being too full, but from the surge of intense heat.
That wretched girl Xu Qinghuan, in order to get back at him, really spared no expense.
The salt in this single piece of meat was equal to a normal three-day supply.
The sugar in this piece of meat was enough for him to sprint ten kilometers in the snow.
But in Xu Zhan's eyes, this was love.
This was the weighty love between a brother and sister.
Sister...
Xu Zhan let out a liquor-scented burp, looking tearfully at the empty pot in his hands.
Your brother wrongly blamed you.
To let your brother eat a hot meal, you actually came up with such a mystical method.
......
However, the effect was also quite obvious.
For these men who were severely lacking in salt and oil, such rich food quickly gave them diarrhea.
Meanwhile, in the barbarian camp, it was also mealtime.
The sentry on patrol was leaning against the wall.
He touched his traditional hair tuft, then took out his precious flatbread from his pocket.
Touching my hair tuft and eating my bread, even the great Chanyu cannot compare to my joy...
Just as he was eating enthusiastically and beginning to fantasize, a strange smell drifted over.
Who is boiling shit?
He opened his eyes in disbelief, then twitched his nose with three parts confusion, three parts shock, and four parts seriousness.
Holy crap!
They even added sugar?!
