HUN Chapter 53: The Sturdy Smokehouse

Lin Yu'an approached and looked at the broth and tumbling deer heart pieces in the pot, his throat involuntarily swallowing.

His stomach, which had felt completely stuffed just moments before, seemed to miraculously make a little more room.

"I swear, I'm already stuffed, really... but..."

"But this deer heart soup smells... so good! It's still tempting me!"

"No way, even if my stomach bursts, I can't miss this deliciousness!"

He found himself a perfect excuse and used a wooden spoon to ladle up a spoonful of clear, slightly yellowish deer heart soup.

A few wild onion leaves floated in the soup. He took a small sip, felt the taste was a bit bland, and added a little more salt.

"Mmm—!"

An indescribable deliciousness instantly exploded in his mouth!

The addition of wild nodding onions made the gamey smell extremely faint, leaving more of the pure, rich meaty aroma.

"This soup... this soup is amazing!"

He ladled up another piece of tender, stewed deer heart and put it in his mouth.

The deer heart piece required almost no effort to chew, with a bouncy yet tender texture. Every fiber had absorbed the soup's deliciousness and the wild onion's fresh fragrance.

"I must say, this pot of deer heart soup is absolutely the finishing touch of my 'presidential feast'!"

"The freshness of the ingredients, combined with perfectly simple seasoning, created this ultimate wilderness delicacy."

After eating and drinking his fill, Lin Yu'an set down the ceramic bowl in his hands, his face radiating irrepressible satisfaction.

Day forty-seven.

The morning by Chilko Lake began to get windy again, with increasingly heavy cold.

Inside the stone house shelter, thanks to last night's residual warmth from the stove and the thick sleeping bag, Lin Yu'an slept exceptionally soundly.

Because for him now, food was temporarily no longer an urgent problem.

This allowed him a more relaxed mindset to plan and implement some "major projects."

"Good morning."

"I slept so comfortably last night! Today is another busy day. I need to build an exclusive 'sauna room' for those forty-plus kilograms of deer meat."

He walked to the stove, where some slightly warm embers still remained in the firebox.

He skillfully added some dry pine cones and split kindling, and flames soon began burning cheerfully again.

For breakfast, he used the stainless steel pot to pan-fry several pieces of tender deer tenderloin, sprinkling a little salt and chopped wild onions.

The golden, fragrant deer tenderloin made gentle "sizzling" sounds in the pot, the meat aroma mixing with the onion's pungent fragrance.

Paired with a steaming cup of pine needle tea, this was the ultimate taste experience in the wilderness.

After enjoying this energy-packed breakfast, Lin Yu'an began constructing the smokehouse.

Although the temperature by Chilko Lake was now approaching below freezing, greatly slowing meat spoilage.

But to preserve this batch of precious deer meat long-term, smoking was essential.

"For building the smokehouse, I'm choosing a forest clearing about a hundred meters downwind from the shelter."

"This position lets me clearly see the whole thing from inside the shelter. Even if a bear comes following the scent, it gives me some buffer time."

Since Lin Yu'an had used his last piece of waterproof tarp for the canoe, he planned to build a sturdy smokehouse this time.

He needed large quantities of logs as wall materials for the smokehouse. He moved through the nearby forest, his gaze sweeping over tall spruces and pines.

"I don't need logs that are too thick, otherwise transportation and subsequent processing would be very difficult."

"About fifteen to twenty centimeters in diameter, with straight trunks and fewer branches, these are my ideal targets."

He selected a spruce that met his requirements, then took out that sharp hand saw he'd made from chainsaw chain.

He pressed the saw chain's tooth section tightly against one side of the trunk, alternating arm force, and the hand saw began reciprocating motion on the trunk.

"Swish... swish..."

The hard saw chain teeth friction against spruce wood fibers created a penetrating sound.

With each pull, a shower of fine wood chips with fresh pine fragrance was brought out, accumulating in a thin layer at his feet.

He controlled the cut angle to form a slightly downward-sloping "V"-shaped notch that would determine the tree's falling direction.

When this directional notch penetrated about two-thirds of the trunk diameter, Lin Yu'an stopped the saw in his hands.

He took up the felling axe, walked to the other side of the trunk, and began cutting at a position about five to ten centimeters higher than the bottom of the directional notch.

"The main cut should be slightly higher than the bottom of the notch, so the tree will naturally tip toward the notch direction due to gravity."

He gripped the axe handle tightly with both hands, swung his arms in a full arc, the axe blade traced a cold light through the air, then "thunk!" struck precisely and powerfully into the trunk! Wood chips flew!

He chopped rhythmically, axe after axe, each blow landing in almost the same position.

As the felling axe continued penetrating, there was a "crack!" - a crisp, loud breaking sound!

That spruce suddenly swayed, then with a whooshing wind sound, fell accurately in his predetermined direction.

Finally crashing to the ground with a "boom," kicking up dust and fallen leaves with a muffled thunderous sound.

Using the same method, cleverly combining saw and felling axe, he felled enough logs one by one.

After each tree fell, he first used the felling axe to quickly remove all branches of varying sizes from the trunk.

Then using a wooden stick as a "measuring rod," he used the hand saw to cut the logs into uniformly sized sections according to the measuring rod.

"Next comes building the main structure of the smokehouse."

"I plan to use a simple but stable 'log cabin' structure, letting logs stack in alternating layers."

"Using the logs' own weight and their interlocking to ensure stability."

He first carefully arranged four logs on the cleared ground to form the smokehouse's foundation base.

Creating a square with sides about 1.2 meters, ensuring the angles they formed were as close to ninety degrees as possible.

Then he began making crucial "saddle notches" at both ends of each log.

Lin Yu'an first used the multi-tool knife tip to lightly score two parallel shallow marks as precise markers for the notch width.

"When making saddle notches, our goal is for this groove's arc to perfectly fit the circular side of the next layer's log, like a saddle."

Next, he used the axe to chop bit by bit.

Dry wood chips flew as a semicircular groove gradually took shape in his hands.

After one saddle notch was basically formed, he made the notch on the other end using the same method, keeping both notches on the same horizontal line.

After processing all the saddle notches on the first layer's four logs, he began stacking the second layer.

The second layer's two logs were placed perpendicular to the first layer's two logs.

Their ends with carved saddle notches could sit steadily on the rounded arcs protruding from the middle of the first layer logs.

One layer, two layers, three layers... he patiently stacked logs with processed saddle notches in alternating layers.

When building to about half height, he left a "doorway" opening in one wall.

He vertically inserted two short wooden stakes on both sides of the doorway as temporary supports.

Then above the doorway, he horizontally placed a thicker log as a "lintel" to support the wall logs above.

When the smokehouse's four log walls were stacked to the intended height of about 1.2 meters, a sturdy "wooden box" had taken shape.

After completing the walls, Lin Yu'an began addressing gaps, collecting large amounts of dry moss and some flexible small branches from the forest. He then carefully tuck them between the log walls, into those inevitable tiny gaps.

"These moss and branches can play a good sealing role and prevent smoke from dissipating too quickly." 

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