No one cared who had said it, but everyone's actions were uncannily synchronized.
The group casually stuck the skewered forest frogs upside down in front of the fire and used thick tree branches to pull the lunchboxes off the heat.
To be honest, using a lunchbox to cook things was incredibly inconvenient. Mainly, the lunchboxes of this era had no handles, and their entire surfaces were smooth with no grip.
To put it bluntly, they were fucking scorching!
However, these things had one advantage: when stewing meat in them, perhaps because they sealed so well, the result was fragrant and tender.
Not daring to touch the lunchboxes with their hands, the group used combat knives or army knives to pry open the lids.
As soon as the lids were opened, a rich and seductive aroma immediately wafted toward them.
Just as other animal meats have their own unique scent after being cooked, stewed forest frogs carried a fresh fragrance. It smelled exceptionally clean, with a hint of rice-like aroma.
It had to be said that truly delicious food requires no culinary skill and no fancy seasonings; it doesn't even need salt or water. You just need to cook it simply.
Take the grilled forest frogs they had just eaten—they had no seasonings and no salt.
As for the lack of salt, it wasn't that they didn't want to use it, nor had they run out of the salt they brought into the mountains or fed it all to the horses.
Although the vast majority of the salt had been fed to the horses, everyone still had two or three ounces left.
The purpose of keeping some salt was for the eventuality of killing a wild beast, so they would have something for the meat.
The fundamental reason they hadn't used salt for the grilled frogs was that they tasted good with it, but they also tasted good without it. Whether salt was added or not didn't make much difference, and without it, the flavor was actually more unique.
Of course, they had added salt to the forest frogs stewed in the lunchboxes. After all, forest frog soup was delicious, and no one would waste it. But no matter how savory a soup is, if it lacks salt, it's worse than drinking cold water.
It had to be said that the saying "Soup without salt is worse than water; a man without money is worse than a ghost" was an absolutely brilliant, lightning-strike truth.
The group snapped branches to use as chopsticks, picking up a frog, blowing on it, and popping the whole thing into their mouths. Those with smaller mouths just took a bite, and that sensation instantly made them subconsciously close their eyes, wanting to savor the invincible deliciousness of the frog meat.
The stewed forest frogs were slippery and tender, and the fresh fragrance instantly filled their mouths. There was no need for heavy chewing; a few gentle closures of the teeth were enough.
Before one frog had even gone down, another was already clamped in the chopsticks. Eating this stuff was just too fucking blissful!
From the moment they opened the lunchboxes, everyone shut up. Not a single person spoke.
The only sounds in the entire scene were the "crackle crackle" of the burning flames, the "hiss hiss" of people being burned, and, of course, the "gulp gulp" of people swallowing food.
Soon, each person's lunchbox of frogs was consumed. Only after drinking every last drop of the soup did the group begin to voice their exclamations.
Wu Dong remarked with a solemn face
"I've eaten toad for so many years, but I feel like the toad I ate today is the best. It feels like all the toad I ate before was a fucking waste."
Ma Guoqiang also said with great bewilderment
"Right on. I feel like this toad is the most delicious thing I've eaten in my entire life."
Hearing this, He Liang added with a puzzled expression
"Yeah, I've eaten plenty of good things before, and at the time I thought they were pretty great, but I've never had this feeling. What the fuck is going on?"
Sun Nian suddenly said with a face full of resentment
"This is too delicious. I feel like I'll never be able to taste this flavor again in the future."
Wang Shuai nodded repeatedly
"Indeed. The taste of today's toad is something I'll never be able to forget. Even if I wanted to, I fucking couldn't."
But after saying this, Wang Shuai suddenly shifted gears and complained to Wang An
"It's all your fucking fault. You can even manage to cause a scene just by going to the toilet. What are we going to do now? Where are we going to find something this delicious to eat?"
Hearing this, Wang An was completely stunned. Out of all the things in the world, even the time spent taking a shit was a mistake?
To be fair, this really was Wang An's fault. If Wang An hadn't gone to take a shit, he wouldn't have been shining his flashlight around; if he hadn't been shining the flashlight around, he wouldn't have found the forest frogs; and if he hadn't found the forest frogs, he wouldn't have called everyone to catch them.
And if they hadn't caught the frogs, Wang An wouldn't have rubbed hard against the two "greats" on Sun Nian's chest... no, he wouldn't have eaten the frogs. And if they hadn't eaten frogs and had just chewed on dry flatbread, nothing would have happened.
So, it really was Wang An's fault!
Having realized this, Wang An simply replied with a "Fuck," forgot everything else, and began to carefully reminisce about that previous "rubbing"...
As he thought, Wang An moved his head from side to side, as if the back of his head were currently being pressed tightly by those two "greats."
Actually, that indescribable feeling was very much worth savoring.
However, when Wang An's gaze subconsciously drifted toward those two "greats," he suddenly shuddered.
While others didn't know or notice Wang An's action of squinting and slightly shaking his head, the owner of those two "greats" knew exactly what was happening at a glance.
So, when Wang An cast that lecherous look over, what greeted him were two eyes filled with indignant rage.
He had to admit, those eyes were beautiful—genuine double-eyelid peach-blossom eyes.
But Wang An felt that they were filled to the brim with fucking killing intent—killing intent that was about to overflow at any second!!!
After the shudder, Wang An behaved himself and immediately stopped reminiscing. Regardless of everything, compared to "rubbing," his little life was more important.
In truth, everyone knew why the forest frogs tasted so fragrant and delicious this time, and why their feelings were so profound.
The reason was simple: they had chewed on dry flatbread for three consecutive days and had been traveling non-stop; they were both exhausted and starving.
As the old saying goes, "When hungry, bran tastes as sweet as honey; when full, honey doesn't taste sweet." Moreover, they were eating a top-tier delicacy like forest frogs, and specifically, frogs just entering the mountains in spring—the peak of their deliciousness in the year.
Therefore, it wasn't strange at all that they felt this way.
It was just like the "Pearl Jade and Emerald White Jade Soup" that the young Kangxi emperor ate only once but could never forget for the rest of his life.
(End of Chapter)