Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Planting Green Onions, Weaving Fish Baskets

“The taste is… just so-so,” Changxia said.

She sipped her soup, not really hearing what Shen Rong said next.

This pot of fish ball and wild vegetable soup was fresh, but still a ways from being truly delicious. Mainly, it lacked ingredients to remove the fishy smell—ginger, cooking wine, and so on.

“This is the best thing I’ve ever eaten,” Shen Rong said, his narrow eyes curving in praise. Eating the fish balls and sipping the fresh soup, he even felt his injuries ease a little. When he saw Changxia didn’t look up, his hand paused slightly. Without a word, he quietly put the “Miracle” away.

“When I find ginger, green onion, and garlic, I’ll make you something even better. Are you full? If not, I can make you some boiled river shrimp. As for river crabs, I’ll just steam them,” Changxia said, shaking her head, not quite satisfied, and asked.

After a busy morning, both of them were hungry.

The fish ball and wild vegetable soup was ready, but the shrimp and crabs hadn’t been dealt with yet.

Shen Rong drank three bowls of soup, rubbed his belly, and felt like he could still eat two more. So he nodded and said, “Eat.”

The bowls were carved from wood.

Ceramic bowls were fragile, and Changxia was too poor to afford more pottery.

All the pottery in the beast den had been given to her by the tribe. The Heluo tribe had a kiln—a stone kiln. The elderly who could no longer hunt were in charge of firing pottery, and the tribespeople could barter for pottery with animal hides, bones, teeth, or food.

Poor Changxia had never left the area within three miles of the tribe her whole life.

Hunting was as far-fetched to her as a fairy tale.

Usually, river shrimp needed to be kept in water for a day or two to purge sand.

But now, they couldn’t be picky.

Changxia picked out the smaller river shrimp, planning to dry them and grind them into powder with shrimp shells for seasoning. After finishing the fish ball and wild vegetable soup, she washed the pot, added water, and put in some green onion and river shrimp to boil.

When the shrimp started to change color, she gently stirred them.

Soon, all the shrimp turned red. Changxia quickly scooped them out, set two wooden chopsticks across the clay pot, and put in the river crabs tied with straw.

Then she called Shen Rong over to eat shrimp.

“Try it—”

Shen Rong copied Changxia, pinching off the heads and peeling the shells.

“Huh?”

Shen Rong exclaimed in surprise at the sweet, tender taste of the river shrimp—it was different from the fish balls. The shrimp was fresher, springier, and seemed to dance between his teeth, tender yet with a pleasant bite.

“If only we had some vinegar or soy sauce, it would taste even better!” Changxia said regretfully. Compared to the fish balls, she liked the boiled river shrimp more.

Shen Rong glanced at Changxia and quietly kept eating.

After a few days together, he’d gotten used to Changxia’s occasional “nonsense.”

Four grass carp, several pounds of river shrimp, and a palm-sized river crab—both of them ate until they were stuffed, lying down and unwilling to move.

“This afternoon, I’ll go cut some green vines to weave a new fish basket,” Shen Rong said, his mind still full of the flavors of fish balls, shrimp, and crab. Without needing Changxia to remind him, he volunteered to make a new fish basket, eager to get to work.

Chang Xia nodded and replied, “Sure. This afternoon, I’m planning to clear the weeds near the animal den and plant the scallions while I’m at it. Tomorrow, we’ll need to go out and forage.”

Shen Rong’s injuries hadn’t healed yet, so hunting was too dangerous for him.

Chang Xia never intended for him to join the hunting team, but foraging was fine. Her own body was too frail and needed exercise.

They divided up the work.

After resting for half an hour, the two of them worked together to wash the bowls and chopsticks.

Then they split up and got busy with their own tasks.

Shen Rong took a stone knife and headed down to the shrubs on the mountainside. There were a lot of green vines growing there. Besides those, he wanted to see if he could find any vines better suited for weaving fish baskets.

Chang Xia, who stayed at home, planned to tidy up the wasteland near the animal den.

She had chosen this den mainly because of the slope on the west side of the mountainside. Chang Xia wanted to build a cave dwelling there, making it her home in the Heluo Tribe.

The loess layer in the Heluo Tribe was very thick, much like the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia region on Earth, and perfect for cave dwellings. The Twilight Forest was dangerous during the cold season; in the depths of winter, even wild beasts dared to attack the tribe.

The animal den didn’t give Chang Xia a sense of security, so building a cave dwelling had become her obsession.

Now that she had Shen Rong, Chang Xia decided to put cave construction on the agenda.

Because of this, she couldn’t just clear the land haphazardly. She planned to plant the scallions on the left side of the animal den. In the future, she could fence off this area as a vegetable garden.

Without a hoe, Chang Xia tied a sharp, long stone to a stick with some vines, making a simple stone hoe. She pulled up the weeds, used the stone hoe to dig out the roots, and piled them up to dry out before burning them into ash. The ash could be used to fertilize the soil, and also for cleaning kitchenware.

She hadn’t found any soap pods yet, so for now, she had to use plant ash for bathing and washing her hair.

Perhaps because they were so furry, the beastfolk generally didn’t like bathing much.

Chang Xia, on the other hand, bathed and washed her hair frequently. She didn’t socialize, play, or date, so she naturally became the oddball of the tribe. Luckily, she was fine being a homebody, and the gossip didn’t bother her.

By the time Shen Rong came back dragging a big pile of green vines, Chang Xia had cleared about a third of the land. Nearby, the weed roots were piled up, and the soil was sandy and dark—a patch of excellent land.

Wiping the sweat from her brow, Chang Xia looked forward to the day when this plot would be full of vegetables and fruits, flourishing with harvests. She also planned to build a few sheds near the garden to raise chickens, ducks, cows, and sheep.

After all, if a person has no dreams, they’re no better than a salted fish.

Seeing Chang Xia drenched in sweat, her sallow face a mess, Shen Rong felt a pang of concern and scolded, “Chang Xia, if you want something done, just tell me. I’ll do it.”

“It’s fine. I’m in poor health, so I need the exercise,” Chang Xia waved him off, unconcerned. Female beastfolk weren’t any weaker than the males, and Chang Xia wanted to learn to hunt, so physical training was a must.

“I plan to use this plot for planting. For now, we only have scallions, but we can transplant other crops here when we find them.”

“Oh, by the way, why did you bring back so many vines?”

There were several types Chang Xia had never seen before.

After listening, Shen Rong stopped nagging and pointed at the vines. “The green vines are a bit stiff, so I want to try the others and pick the best one for weaving fish baskets. Besides fish baskets, we don’t have enough baskets or hampers at home.”

Hearing this, Chang Xia slapped her forehead.

“We’re short on baskets, hampers, and sieves. Try splitting the vines—thin, long strips are easier to weave with.” As she spoke, Chang Xia stood up to help Shen Rong drag the vines back to the den, gesturing as she went. “We should also weave a couple of vine mats. They’re useful for sleeping on, hanging up as windbreaks, or for drying things. As for baskets and hampers, we can make them in different sizes for storing things at home.”

Shen Rong didn’t interrupt, just nodded repeatedly.

He tried to picture the things Chang Xia described in his mind, amazed by her ideas.

Together, they dragged the vines back to the den.

Chang Xia fetched water to wash her face and hands. “Shen Rong, come wash up.”

At the entrance to the den stood a stone vat about half as tall as a person, left by the previous owner. Thankfully, they had it—otherwise, they’d have to fetch water from the lake every time, which would be a huge waste of time.

Right now, Chang Xia and Shen Rong were too poor.

They couldn’t afford a clay vat for now, but the stone vat saved them a lot of trouble.

After washing up, Chang Xia didn’t rush back to work. Instead, she went into the den, brought out two green fruits, washed them, and handed one to Shen Rong.

They sat down on the stone bench at the entrance.

“Shen Rong, I want to build a cave dwelling.” Chang Xia bit into the fruit, squinting as she gazed at the blue sky. A warm breeze brushed her cheeks, carrying a hint of coolness. It was so comfortable she almost wanted to shift into her beast form and take a nap.

“A cave dwelling?” Shen Rong tilted his head, looking at Chang Xia in surprise. “You mean a new animal den?”

“No, it’s different from an animal den.” Chang Xia shook her head, picked up a stick, and drew a cave dwelling on the ground. She pointed to the western slope. “I want to build a cave dwelling there, with the vegetable garden on the left, sheds for chickens and ducks, and fruit trees on the right. The wasteland down by the lake can be used for farming…”

Shen Rong was a bit lost.

But that didn’t stop him from understanding Chang Xia’s intentions.

This was a way of life completely different from the current beastfolk lifestyle. It sounded… quite interesting.

“What do you need me to do—?”

“Help out. From now on, we’ll go foraging in the mornings and dig the cave in the afternoons. Of course, for now, let’s focus on weaving the fish basket. We can’t join the hunts, so fish and shrimp will be our main food for now. Also, I want to stockpile some food and invite the tribe to try my delicious fish balls.”

“Alright, I’ll do whatever you say.”

After that, the two exchanged a glance and smiled.

Then, with perfect understanding, they started sorting the vines. The green vines Chang Xia had used before were a bit too stiff for weaving fish baskets, but after roasting, they might work better.

All afternoon, the two of them wrestled with the vines.

Before sunset, Chen Rong used soft, fine rattan to weave three fish baskets. He also made a couple of rattan mats, winnowing baskets, and rattan hampers. The leftover vines were split and set aside to dry, ready to be used when he had time the next day.

Chang Xia was rubbing the split rattan strips, holding them up to her feet for comparison.

“Chang Xia—” Chen Rong called out softly, seeking her opinion.

Chang Xia replied, “I’m seeing if I can weave these rattan strips into sandals. Well, not straw sandals, but rattan sandals.”

The beastfolk had thick skin and flesh and didn’t care much about footwear. The males often went barefoot when hunting, while the females would wrap their feet in animal hides. Chang Xia wasn’t used to this, so she tried poking two holes in the hide, tying it with grass rope to make simple hide sandals.

But the grass rope was too brittle and broke easily.

Now, with the rattan strips Chen Rong had split, Chang Xia carefully rubbed them between her hands. They felt like coarse hemp rope, which gave her an idea.