Extreme germ phobia

Chapter 243 Rack of Brains
"A cow?" The three men stared wide-eyed, each eye brimming with a hope and longing that defied description.

That's a cow!

Braised beef, boiled beef, beef and potatoes, black pepper beef tenderloin, pan-fried steak, roast beef...

Countless ways to eat it flashed through his mind in an instant. Ou Yangteng jumped up and scrambled into the back of the truck on all fours: "Where's my gun? Where's my gun? Where's my M27?"

Jiang Yuwei patted Ou Yang's shoulder anxiously: "Hurry up, hurry up!"

Zhu Yiming urged repeatedly, "What are you still looking for? There's a big pineapple here, use the big pineapple!"

Ouyang, always one to listen to advice, immediately lifted the roof and placed the pineapple on the roof, relying purely on muscle memory to get a pretty good shot.

The black bull, oblivious to its impending tragic fate, let out a moo and a strangely human-like expression of joy suddenly appeared on its face. It skipped happily to the other side of the road, stuffed its massive head into a patch of grass, and eagerly began to graze.

Ouyang's finger on the trigger wouldn't pull: "Hey, did you guys see that? This cow has an expression!"

Jiang Yuwei's eyes widened even more, her mind suddenly going blank: "Why does this look like a cartoon?"

"Where? Where? Where is it?" Zhu Yiming gripped the back of the chair, craning his neck, but saw nothing. "Hey, hey, forget about expressions, just shoot already!"

If you don't love me anymore, then let's destroy it!
Ou Yang's mouth watered: "Don't worry, he can't escape!"

Just as he was about to fire, the black bull suddenly raised its head and let out a moo.

It was just a cow moo, but to the three people, it had a unique flavor.

Ouyang's brows furrowed instantly: "That's strange, why does it sound like that cow is mooing so contentedly?"

Zhu Yiming nodded in agreement: "That sounded pretty good!"

Jiang Yuwei's face darkened: "Are you two out of your minds? That's a cow, not a person. You two, translate for me, what exactly is it saying?"

Before he finished speaking, the black bull suddenly rolled over and lay down on the ground, kicking its four hooves wildly as if having a great time.

Moreover, its movements give the impression that it's having a lot of fun and is really into it.

The group exchanged bewildered glances, while Ou Yang was completely stunned: "Wait, what's going on?"

Zhu Yiming stared blankly, rubbing his eyes hard: "Is this a cow or a dog?"

“Of course it’s cow!” Ouyang answered with absolute certainty.

"A cow's body, a dog's soul?"

Ouyang...

He really couldn't refute that!
As they were talking, the black bull changed its posture again, lying on the ground and twisting and turning like a snake, rubbing its belly vigorously on the ground.

What kind of quirk is this?
Jiang Yuwei couldn't help but comment: "What kind of cow is this? It's so bizarre!"

"Alright, alright, hurry up, let's fight it out!" Zhu Yiming urged again.

boom--

With a belly full of doubts, Ouyang pulled the trigger. The bullet shattered Black Bull's skull. The lively guy twisted his body and twitched his legs, then became completely still.

Putting away the pineapple, Ou Yang jumped out of the car with his military knife, took a few steps to the black bull's side, and with several stabs, finally pierced the bull's carotid artery in its neck. Fresh bull blood gushed out like a fountain, flowing all over the ground, and the strong smell of blood kept wafting into his nose.

If Ouyang hadn't dodged quickly, he would have been covered in blood.

He once saw a claim online that some organizations in Europe went to extremes, believing that slaughtering animals was too cruel. Under the strong advocacy of this organization, Europe used electric shocks to kill both pigs and sheep, and did not bleed them, so European meat was extremely unpalatable.

Ouyang didn't know if this was true or not, but no matter what was killed in China, there was always bloodshed!
So he immediately rushed over to bleed the cow.

However, he had only watched videos of slaughtering livestock online and had never done it himself. He was a typical example of someone with unrealistic expectations, so he stabbed several times but couldn't find the right spot.

If this were in China, no one would waste it like that. They would definitely collect the cow's blood, put it in a basin, sprinkle it with salt, and make all sorts of delicious dishes.

But it won't work here. Firstly, no one knows how to do it, and secondly, there aren't the necessary conditions, so the cow's blood can only be wasted.

What a waste!
Ou Yang sighed. Seeing that the bleeding had stopped, he was pondering where to make the incision when he suddenly sniffed and smelled a faint spore scent in the air.

He turned around suspiciously and was surprised to see a patch of white mycelium in the roadside grass, with signs of grazing on it!

Ou Yang first looked at the scarred silk, then at the black ox, and almost wanted to give the ox a thumbs up.

Goodness, that's some serious guy, tough as nails and doesn't talk much.

So what it just ate wasn't grass, but a small piece of pneumoconiosis fungus that had sprouted mushrooms!
Strange things happen every year, but this year there are especially many.

This cow not only refuses to eat grass, but it also deliberately comes over to snatch mushrooms; it's clearly a repeat offender.

But why does it love eating mushrooms so much?
Judging from the cow's behavior, this thing must have been affected by Pneumocystis jirovecii.

Thinking about this, Ou Yang was completely stunned, and his expression was almost unable to hold back: Have I discovered some incredible secret?

"Damn, he's got quite a appetite!"

Jiang Yuwei happened to come over and, hearing this, asked in confusion, "What are you muttering about?"

Ouyang pointed to the dead cow on the ground: "Do you know what it ate?"

Jiang Yuwei was taken aback: "What?"

Ou Yang gestured towards the roadside bushes with his chin: "See for yourself!"

Jiang Yuwei stared blankly at the familiar silk, then suddenly let out a sharp bang: "Phantom Lung Fungus?"

Ouyang quickly covered his ears: "Don't shout, don't shout, it's killing me!"

Jiang Yuwei grabbed Ou Yang's arm: "It eats phantom lung bacteria!"

“I know!” Ouyang scratched the back of his head, puzzled. “That’s strange, how come the spores work on cows too?”

According to Luo Hui, no other regions have been found to have spores that have an effect on animals except for Kamed. It seems that this conclusion is incorrect. The variant strains that have an effect on animals are not unique to Kamed, but have already spread.

He briefly explained his speculation.

Jiang Yuwei shook her head blankly: "I don't know!" Thinking about the cow's behavior, she added, "But I have heard that there are indeed records of animals becoming addicted in nature!"

"What the heck?" Ouyang suddenly wondered if he was still half asleep. "There's such a thing?"

"Of course there are, and quite a few!"

"For example?" Ou Yang asked curiously, thinking to himself that this was really outrageous.

"To give you the simplest example, have you ever heard of catnip?"

Ouyang nodded: "I've heard of it. I've always wondered what effect mint has on cats?"

Jiang Yuwei didn't know the difference between catnip and mint, and continued, "Also, Australian dogs especially like to lick the poisonous secretions on the backs of toads. To help dogs quit their addiction, there are even special toad addiction treatment centers... toads."

Give up toads?
This is truly well-deserved!

Ou Yang's face twitched as he looked at Jiang Yuwei in surprise: "You're not making up a story to tease me, are you?"

"Why would I tease you!" Jiang Yuwei rolled her eyes. "And there's more, the Russians dumped tons of empty fuel barrels in the no-man's-land. Apparently, there was still some airplane fuel left in the barrels. For some reason, the brown bears there developed a liking for the smell of fuel. Later, when the fuel in the barrels ran out, those brown bears dared to chase after helicopters just to smell the fuel." Ou Yang was even more confused: "That's too far-fetched, isn't it? What kind of nonsense is this?"

Jiang Yuwei said seriously, "I just want to tell you that drug addiction is not a human-only problem. This cow is definitely a repeat offender!"

"I see!" Ou Yang said thoughtfully. "So, this area must be an epidemic zone, no doubt about it!"

If cows are addicted to eating pneumoconiosis bacteria, how can their numbers be small?

Jiang Yuwei kicked the cow beside her feet, her gaze hesitant: "It ate so much lung bacteria, is its meat still edible?"

“No problem.” Ou Yang squatted down and stuffed a cow hoof into Jiang Yuwei’s hand. “I’ve eaten before!”

Jiang Yuwei was incredibly surprised: "You've eaten this kind of meat? When was that? I've never heard you mention it before?"

The two met in Bear City. If Ouyang has eaten it, she should have eaten it too!
Ouyang used his knife to make a circular cut around the cow's hoof, the sharp blade slicing through the hide to reveal the tendons beneath: "I'm not talking about the meat!"

"What is that?" Jiang Yuwei asked curiously.

Ouyang paused, his mind replaying those unbearable memories: "Phantom Lung Bacteria."

Jiang Yuwei was completely stunned: "You, you, you've eaten pneumoconiosis?"

Ou Yang slashed with his blade, cutting from the hoof all the way down to the heel: "This is a complicated matter, so don't ask so many questions!"

"You didn't feel anything after you finished eating?"

“No…” Ou Yang suddenly realized that he had no feeling at all when he ate it, so why did the cow have a different experience?
"Maybe it's because humans and cows have different structures!" Ou Yang gave himself an excuse, then grabbed the cowhide under the hoof and tore it off with force, revealing a large piece of tender red beef.

Jiang Yuwei felt dizzy, as if she were floating on clouds.

Ou Yang made a few more cuts and successfully removed a cow leg. Holding it in his hand, he suddenly felt a little scratchy.

Jiang Yuwei had just come to her senses when she suddenly noticed that Ou Yang had stopped moving. She couldn't help but give him a nudge: "What are you spacing out for?"

Ou Yang shook the cow's leg, his tone full of melancholy: "Such a big cow, it must yield several hundred pounds of meat. How much can the three of us eat even if we stuff ourselves? We can't just throw the rest away, can we? We have to think of a way to preserve as much as possible."

save?

Many thoughts flashed through Jiang Yuwei's mind in an instant: "Then it's either salting, smoking, or steaming and sealing it to make canned goods."

These were the only preservation methods she could think of.

Ouyang stroked his chin: "What do you think about making it into beef jerky?"

It is said that hundreds of years ago, Genghis Khan's army used beef jerky as military rations, which must have been able to be preserved for a very long time.

Jiang Yuwei hesitated and said, "It sounds good, but can you do it?"

“What’s so difficult about that? It’s just beef jerky!” Ou Yang said with great enthusiasm.

That's what he said, but he really didn't know how to do it. He only knew that some people sold dried beef jerky online.

I vaguely remember a video where beef was cut into strips and hung up.

"Air-drying? Isn't it just like hanging clothes up to dry, and then waiting for the meat to dry completely?" Ouyang said confidently, "That's easy!"

As he spoke, he had already decided on the processing order in his mind.

First, you need to cut the beef into appropriately sized strips, then marinate it with salt, and finally hang it up to air dry!

Perfection is that simple!
"Who told you that beef jerky is air-dried?" Zhu Yiming looked constipated.

Ou Yang was taken aback: "What do you mean? Isn't dried beef jerky air-dried?"

Zhu Yiming sighed, looking defeated: "I have a college roommate whose family is from the grasslands. Every time he came back for vacation, he would bring us authentic grassland beef jerky. I've heard him say that beef jerky is actually roasted!"

"Bake?" Ou Yang and Jiang Yuwei asked in unison.

Ou Yang scratched his forehead: "I always thought beef jerky was made by drying the meat first and then cooking it, but it turns out that's not the case at all?"

Jiang Yuwei said worriedly, "What are we going to do? We don't have the means."

"No problem!" Ou Yang waved his hand confidently. "If we have the conditions, we'll do it; if we don't, we'll create them! So what if we can't grill it? We can just make beef jerky that doesn't require grilling, right?"

Zhu Yiming was a little stunned: "If it's not grilled, it's raw. How can you eat it?"

"Idiot!" Ou Yang glanced at Lao Zhu. "I'm not trying to be mean, but how can you be so foolish? Our goal isn't to eat beef jerky, but to preserve as much beef as possible!"

Zhu Yiming still didn't understand, his mind filled with questions: "What about when we eat it?"

Ou Yang's face darkened: "Why don't you just boil it in a pot? Do you think I'd let you eat it raw?"

"Oh!" Zhu Yiming patted his head, wishing he could disappear into a crack in the ground.

Why can't you think straight when it really matters?
Ouyang ignored him and turned to ask, "Sister Wei, how much salt do we have left?"

Without further ado, Ouyang went into the nearby bushes and soon built several wooden frames using the peeled branches and trunks.

Next, Ouyang took charge of cutting, wielding his military knife to slice the beef into strips slightly thicker than a finger.

Jiang Yuwei complained that Ou Yang had cut too many strips of meat along the grain, while rubbing salt onto the cut meat strips and then hanging them directly on the rack.

Once the salt is almost used up, simply skip this step and hang the meat strips up to dry.

Roasting is out of the question; we must rely on the existing conditions.

Dried meat without salt can be preserved for a long time; you can add salt only when you want to eat it later.

If there's really no salt, you can just boil it to fill your stomach. If you're really in that situation, it's good enough to have a bite to eat. Why would you be picky?

It just so happens that the local temperature has just started to rise and flies and insects haven't appeared yet. Otherwise, if the beef were left to dry on the roadside, who knows how many flies and bedbugs it would attract.

Zhu Yiming couldn't help, and Ou Yang and Jiang Yuwei worked until the afternoon before they could barely fill the wooden frames.

That only accounts for about half of the total; there are still many more left.

Instead of building more wooden frames, Ouyang simply found a tree, climbed up, peeled off the bark from the branches, and hung the meat strips directly on it.

He also wanted to try smoking.

There's nothing else to it, I'm just really unsure how long dried beef can be preserved.

You can't put all your eggs in one basket.

No one seemed to know the exact steps of the smoking process. Ouyang only remembered seeing it somewhere; it seemed to involve setting up a wooden frame, about half a meter high, hanging the meat on the frame, covering it with large plant leaves, and slowly smoking it from below with burning pine branches…

Forget it, I won't use it anymore!

Ou Yang was speechless.

Wooden frames are easy to make, and pine branches aren't hard to find either, but where can you find fresh, large leaves at this time of year?

(End of this chapter)