Published: March 11, 2025
Chapter 40: Rice
Zhao Hai was quite frustrated. This was the first time he had seen someone eat rice like this. Although it wasn't the same as the white and fragrant rice he was used to, it was similar enough. The thought of fluffy, aromatic rice being turned into this made him feel like he was about to break down.
He understood why Merlin didn’t want to cook rice for him; it was likely that these people didn’t know how to cook rice at all. If the rice turned out this way, it certainly wouldn’t taste good, which was why only slaves were given such rice on the continent.
Just then, he noticed a large stove where a fire had just started, but no oil had been added yet. Unable to hold back any longer, Zhao Hai walked over and said to a female slave who was about to pour in oil, “Wait a moment; don’t pour in the oil yet.”
Seeing Zhao Hai's expression, the female slave thought she must have done something wrong, and immediately knelt down, saying, “Please punish me, Master.”
This took Zhao Hai by surprise, but he quickly regained his composure and shook his head, saying, “I’m not going to punish you. You did nothing wrong. Just listen to me for now; don’t pour oil into the pot yet. Use this basin to wash the rice. I can see this pot can hold about this much rice. Wash the rice properly, then pour out the water and put the rice into the pot.” While speaking, Zhao Hai took out a copper basin.
The female slave didn’t know what Zhao Hai was up to, but she promptly took the copper basin from him, filled it with rice, and went to the spring to wash it thoroughly before bringing it back and pouring it into the pot.
Zhao Hai continued, “This copper basin is half full of rice. Now go get the same amount of water and pour it into the pot.” The female slave obediently went to fetch a basin of water and poured it into the pot. Zhao Hai then asked her to fetch another basin of water. After pouring in two basins, the pot was almost full. He then asked her to get a bowl of water and pour it into the pot, before searching the storage and finding a larger copper basin, which he turned upside down over the pot, and then instructed the female slave to start a fire underneath.
Zhao Hai just wanted to make them a meal of rice. Cooking rice was actually very simple. Back on Earth, he lived alone, so he was quite good at cooking rice. The ratio of rice to water was roughly one to two; one pound of rice needed two pounds of water. However, with this type of pot, he needed to add a bit more water because it was directly over a wood fire, which was quite intense. Therefore, he purposely added an extra bowl of water and didn’t let the female slave use the big fire, instead allowing it to simmer gently beneath the pot.
Meg and the others were watching Zhao Hai. They had boiled rice before, but back then, they treated rice as a vegetable and used it as an ingredient in soup, so they had never seen what rice was actually like.
Cooking rice didn’t take long. Before long, the aroma of the rice wafted out from the pot. It was known that the rice used in the pot was all organic, free from pesticides and fertilizers, making it taste exceptionally good.
When the slaves ate, they also had bowls, but theirs were wooden. Each person received a set, and apart from the pot, everyone only had one wooden spoon, which was sufficient.
Ten people shared a field kitchen, each with a wooden bowl, a wooden spoon, and a wooden cup; these were all the possessions of the slaves. Even so, they felt very happy because they previously didn’t even have these things.
As Zhao Hai was focused on the pot of rice, Merlin walked out of the grass hut and came to Zhao Hai's side, saying, “Young master, can you take a look at how to start a fire with the kitchen utensils?”
Zhao Hai was taken aback but quickly followed Merlin into the grass hut. He hadn’t really paid attention to the kitchen utensils before, but now he saw that all the kitchenware was electrical: rice cookers, electric griddles, electric frying pans—everything was powered by electricity. What baffled Zhao Hai the most was that he had no idea where the wires were connected. All the wires were tucked into the walls of the grass hut, and there was a switch over the pot, unlike anything he had seen before.