Chapter 43 — ILK Chapter 43

Buns, All Kinds of Buns

The dormitories were gone, but the Sentinels had the choice of sleeping on the spot or pitching tents. The high-ranking officers, without exception, chose tents. Sang Ye shared one with Rong Cheng.

The search for the missing Major General Keliu, the lost Sentinels, and Du Yuan was set for the following day. This time, Sang Ye was determined to join. It would be her first time facing the Snow Mountain directly, and she needed to be as prepared as possible.

Aside from keeping Rong Cheng by her side, Sang Ye prepared numerous energy packs for herself and the Sentinels. They contained not just rice balls, bread, instant noodles, and rice noodles, but also a large quantity of homemade milk candies—foods capable of rapidly replenishing both physical energy and mental power.

One could say Sang Ye was a workaholic, or that she derived a sense of achievement from mental grooming; in reality, she simply enjoyed the process of food prep and cooking. It was therapeutic and brought her inner peace. After finishing the packs, she started on the next day's breakfast.

To be honest, she could have phoned it in with bread and rice balls, but after being here so long, she truly missed a proper Chinese breakfast. Chinese breakfast varies by region—morning tea in the south, deep-fried dough sticks and pancakes in the north, and spicy soup or meat burgers in the west. But the most representative item was the Bun. From north to south, east to west, regional differences unified under the banner of the bun.

Sang Ye prepared to make Braised Meat Buns, Vegetable and Mushroom Buns, and Shao Mai. More delicate items like soup dumplings or shrimp dumplings would wait until they returned to the main base.

There’s a trick to making the dough: first, mix a rough dough and let it rest in a humid environment, then knead in lard to achieve a smooth texture. Lacking a humid environment, Sang Ye covered the dough with a wet steamer cloth to achieve the same result. The kneaded dough was left to ferment until it was about 2.5 times its original size. At that point, a finger poke would leave a hole that bounced back slightly rather than collapsing; pulling the dough apart revealed a honeycomb structure. This was the "first proofing."

Sang Ye preferred a "second proofing"—letting the buns rest again after being stuffed before steaming. This made them softer and lighter, though if left too long, they could over-ferment and become "dead" dough.

The Braised Meat filling was simple: pork belly blanched with ginger and scallions, minced, and stir-fried with cooking wine, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and pepper. After simmering until the sauce thickened, she added green onions and chilled the mixture in the fridge so the sauce would solidify, making it easier to wrap.

The Mushroom and Vegetable Buns contained exactly what the name suggested: diced mushrooms and chopped greens stir-fried with lard and sesame oil to keep them moist.

For the Shao Mai, glutinous rice was steamed first. Diced pork and mushrooms were rendered in a pan, and then the rice was mixed in with a sauce similar to the braised meat filling.

Then came the dough. As an expert, Sang Ye didn't need precise tools; she could pinch off uniform dough balls with a single hand. With a small rolling pin, she flattened them, scooped in the filling, and twisted her fingers with agile precision to create beautiful, even pleats.

Rong Cheng, whose skills were lackluster to begin with, had forgotten everything after years in the Interstellar world. She was essentially learning from scratch. Surprisingly, the robots learned faster than Rong Cheng. Sang Ye left the meat and vegetable buns to them.

Sang Ye had a more important task: making the Paper Skins for the Shao Mai. Shao Mai skins must be translucent yet resilient. This required rolling the dough into thin sheets, larger than dumpling skins, to hold the juicy glutinous rice filling. Because they were as thin as paper, they were nicknamed Paper Skins. This task fell solely on Sang Ye; the robots lacked the fine motor skills, and Rong Cheng... well, best not to mention it.

Once the skins were ready, Sang Ye looked at the motley collection of buns made by Rong Cheng and the robots. She sighed silently: At least they look like buns. She wrapped the Shao Mai herself; if the paper skin broke, all that effort would be wasted.

Even while the fillings were being made, many Sentinels were peering out of their tents like a stack of human blocks, looking toward the warm glow of the temporary kitchen. The curtain muffled the light, but it couldn't stop the aroma.

The first steamer went on the heat. The buns needed twenty minutes of "room temperature" proofing in the steamer first, and then had to be started in cold water. This ensured they cooked evenly with the rising temperature and didn't collapse. When finished, they were round and lovely, like white jade—well, the ones Sang Ye made, at least.

In this climate, she couldn't wait until the next day to steam them, or they would turn into "dead" dough. It was better to steam them all tonight and keep them in the steamer to reheat in the morning.

Thus, after the scent of roasted lamb, the base was greeted by the savory smell of pork buns. The meat aroma was pure and concentrated, drifting into every tent. It didn't have the sweet airiness of bread, but it possessed the magical chemical reaction of flour and meat, a smell that radiated strength.

The moment the lid was lifted, the specific, slightly acidic scent of steamed dough hit the air. As the steam cleared, it revealed dough translucent with rendered fat; the thinnest parts wobbled with the weight of the meat juice inside. Then came the scent of savory pork, fresh mushrooms, and sweet glutinous rice.

Sang Ye broke a white bun in half, revealing the steaming filling glistening with oil. The dark soy-braised pork was thick and rich, having stained the inner layer of the bun a deep brownish-red. Despite having eaten her fill earlier, Sang Ye couldn't resist. The satisfaction of a bun was no less than that of bread.

Beside her, Rong Cheng wasn't the type to be full after a few dumplings. She devoured a whole steamer of Sang Ye’s buns in minutes. Sang Ye glanced at the wound on Rong Cheng’s back; the deep gash was already mostly healed, leaving only a faint pink mark. It would likely be gone by morning.

A few younger, restless Sentinels slipped over to the kitchen door with bright smiles, asking for a taste. Sang Ye gave them out generously. Soon, a layer of savory pork sauce aroma was added to the lingering lamb scent of the base, drifting through everyone's dreams.

As for what to pair with the buns? Porridge, of course. Using the remaining pork bits and greens, she crushed several century eggs, rinsed the rice, and set the pots to simmer. By morning, they would have thick, savory Century Egg and Pork Porridge.

Her work finished, Sang Ye stretched comfortably. Just as she was about to crawl into her tent, she noticed Lin Changli was gone. His tent was empty. It was strange; Asu Ment and Wu Huansheng were always surrounded by guards and aides, but Lin Changli was alone, a wandering ghost on this planet. Yet he was freer than anyone; no one commanded him, and no one dared stop him from leaving.

…

A world of ice and snow. A vast white void. A piercing wind.

On the snow-covered mountain range, a solitary figure walked alone. Above his head flew a magnificent fiery beast. It had a sharp beak, powerful talons, and a massive wingspan that seemed to blot out the sun—looking up, one couldn't even see Black Tower’s perpetual gray clouds. Every feather shimmered with gold light as if burning. When its tail swept the clouds, the resulting friction fell like a rain of sparks, threatening to turn the world to ash.

The Phoenix soared and dived, churning the air and affecting the mountain's weather. Lin Changli walked in silence, seemingly immune to the cold. Manifesting the Phoenix drained his mental energy, but at least it was quiet."I miss Chuanchuan," the Phoenix chirped after a brief silence. "She must be all grown up. She’s probably more beautiful than Jiang Sili’s sister now. Her mental power is even stronger than Mother’s. When she grows up, no Guide in the Empire will be able to touch her."Lin Changli rolled his eyes. "Then go back and see her yourself.""As if you don't want to," the Phoenix poked. "I'm your spiritual form. Don't forget I represent your subconscious.""My subconscious wishes you were a mute."

"You could poison yourself just by licking your own mouth," the Phoenix dived beside him, the heat nearly causing Lin Changli to sink into the instantly melting snow.

"Just get your exercise so we can go back and sleep," Lin Changli said helplessly. "Your mental state is so stable today; why did you insist on coming out?""I am a Phoenix, a divine beast!" it said righteously. "Who ever heard of a divine beast locked in a cage? Of course I have to wander. By the way, where are we?"Lin Changli stopped and looked around. The snowfields were a blinding white, devoid of direction. His terminal had no signal; even the fleet’s network couldn't reach here. "We’re at the Snow-Pear Plains."

The Phoenix landed beside him. "Isn't this the place the Snow Mountain tribes revere as a Holy Land?"Lin Changli sneered. The so-called Holy Land was simply the area with the highest Black Crystal content and the strongest radiation in the entire mountain. Approaching this area caused radiation sickness—vomiting and mutation at best, instant death at worst. Almost no one could enter the heart of it. Even the base wouldn't dare enter until the surrounding mines were exhausted and the radiation faded, at which point they would send in large mining ships controlled by Eve.

The Snow Mountain tribes, who used radiation to evolve their spirits, naturally treated this as a Holy Land and had fought the base for control for years.

The proud Phoenix raised its head, its colorful crest dancing in the wind. "It takes the two of us to be this powerful!""We aren't the first to arrive," Lin Changli said, his gaze fixed on a distant point where a faint light flickered.