Chapter 30: Chapter 30: Doors and Windows

That day,

As the rainy season approached, the weather grew brighter and sunnier.

Changxia yawned and stepped out of the animal den.

She called out to Chen Rong, who was heading toward White Lake. “Chen Rong, you keep working on the doors and windows. I’m going to check the fish traps at White Lake, and maybe walk through the reeds to see if I can catch any chickens, ducks, or wild rabbits.”

The white nuts had already been dried and were piled in baskets next to the den.

During the day, Changxia and Chen Rong were busy building the kiln. After dinner, before bed, they’d grind white nuts for half an hour. Changxia stored the flour in clay jars, but to turn it into rice noodles, she’d need a noodle press—which meant she’d have to wait a bit longer for rice noodles.

After thinking it over, Changxia decided to finish building the kiln first.

She also told Chen Rong and Nan Feng about the issue.

If they wanted to eat noodles, it would have to wait until the kiln was done.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay by yourself?” Chen Rong stopped and asked hesitantly.

Changxia covered her mouth as she yawned, waving her hand casually as she walked off. “What’s there to worry about? The kiln just needs doors and windows. I’ll make a good meal for Nan Feng and the others—they’ve been waiting for those rice noodles I promised, but it’ll still take a while.”

She still needed to figure out how to press the flour into noodles.

Making a noodle press was no small task and would take time, but she had some ideas. Once the kiln had doors and windows, she should be able to make one—maybe something like a mooncake mold.

She picked up her basket and headed toward White Lake.

By the lake, Chen Rong had built a stone pool.

It was full of fish, so they could catch some whenever they wanted—very convenient.

Changxia quickly reached the spot where she’d set the fish traps. She emptied them, sorted the fish, shrimp, and crabs, and when she was done, didn’t head back right away. Instead, she walked toward the reeds upstream.

In the early morning, the dewdrops sparkled in the sunlight.

Changxia carried her woven basket as she walked through the reeds.

She picked up any bird eggs she found—the reeds were like a natural farm, adding plenty of variety to her daily meals.

Once Nan Feng and Warm Spring moved in, Changxia thought about fencing off the reeds to raise chickens and ducks. With the lake nearby, feeding them would be easy.

Cluck, cluck—

She’d just picked up a few eggs when she heard a wild chicken crow. There must be a flock nearby.

Lucky! (＾－＾)V

Changxia set down her basket, bent over, and quietly parted the reeds ahead.

Just seven or eight steps away, she spotted three wild chickens foraging. With no natural predators, these chickens and ducks were all plump and healthy.

The biggest hen must have weighed over ten pounds.

Impressive!

As Changxia marveled, she moved swiftly and decisively, not giving the chickens any chance to escape.

With a few quick moves, she caught all three.

They were heavy in her hands. Stewed with yams, they’d make a hearty meal.

She also found a nest of eggs nearby.

She tied up the chickens with reeds, picked up all the eggs, and headed back to the lake to grab her basket before strolling back to the den.

“Nan Feng, you’re up early!”

From a distance, Changxia saw Nan Feng squatting in front of the den, fiddling with something.

Ya Dong and Shan Kun stood not far from Chen Rong.

It was still early, so Warm Spring hadn’t gotten up yet. She’d been feeling sleepy lately, but she was so eager about the kiln that she still came by every day.

“We want to get the doors and windows installed as soon as possible, then build the kang walls, kang beds, and the cabinets and beds you mentioned,” Nan Feng said excitedly.

As the kiln came together bit by bit, everyone’s anticipation only grew stronger.

After half a day’s work, Chen Rong managed to make the doors and windows.

There were still some issues with installation, though.

The windows were wooden lattice windows—no glass, of course, just the classic grid. With grass curtains, they let in light while providing privacy.

In the cold season, they’d cover them with animal-skin curtains.

With Shen Rong leading the way, Yadong and Shankun followed along, learning as they went. In just two days, they managed to install all the doors and windows in the cave dwelling. Actually, for a place like this, some of the furniture could be sculpted from yellow earth—carved, smoothed, and re-mudded—just as practical and attractive as wooden pieces.

But Changxia wanted the cave to have a bit more color.

So, she decided to accent it with wooden furniture instead.

“Changxia, we’ve figured out the doors and windows. Today, let’s focus on making them, and hopefully we can get them installed by tomorrow,” Shen Rong said gently.

Changxia: o(*￣▽￣*)o

“You all keep working—I’ll make a feast to reward everyone.”

She raised the wild chickens in her hand, set down her basket, and took out a rattan basket as she headed toward the animal den, calling Nanfeng over to help before she left.

The mention of a feast immediately piqued Yadong and Shankun’s interest.

Gen hadn’t come by since he’d told Changxia about Wu heading to the bird tribe a couple of days ago. But he’d sent Nanfeng and the others over instead.

These days, Nanfeng and her two companions hadn’t gone out hunting.

They were all totem warriors, unlike Nuanchun, who was pregnant.

Normally, they’d go hunting or foraging every day.

Lately, though, they’d been staying away from the tribe’s hunting parties, which made Changxia suspect it had something to do with the cave dwelling. The day Gen saw the finished cave, his reaction was pretty dramatic.

Changxia thought he’d come ask her about it, but to her surprise, he said nothing and went straight back to the tribe.

After that, Nanfeng and the others stopped going out hunting.

“Changxia, what kind of feast are you making?” Nanfeng asked curiously. Her gaze shifted to the wild chickens in Changxia’s hands, and she frowned, “Why did you catch three sharp-beaked beasts? They’re all bone and taste terrible. Are you using them to practice your hunting skills?”

Lately, Changxia had been training a lot.

They’d all noticed and occasionally offered her some pointers.

Unfortunately, Changxia refused to train in her beast form.

When she was little, Nanfeng loved to cuddle Changxia’s beast form—soft, chubby, and the most comfortable thing to hold.

But as Changxia grew older, she stopped transforming, let alone letting Nanfeng cuddle her.

“Chicken stew with yams, and beggar’s chicken,” Changxia replied.

Three chickens might not be enough, so she’d add some roast meat and fruit-flour cakes. Yam and fruit-flour cakes took too long to make, and Changxia didn’t want to make them in the morning—they were too greasy. Of course, the beast tribe had no concept of “greasy”—they could eat roast meat three times a day without complaint.

That was something Changxia found hard to handle.

“I’ll roast the meat?” Nanfeng asked hesitantly, rubbing her hands together.

Changxia handed her the wild chickens. “You start by killing and cleaning the chickens. I’ll handle the marinating.”

She grabbed a bowl and a beast-knife.

Clearly, she didn’t intend to waste the chicken blood.

Before marinating the meat, Changxia squatted next to Nanfeng and taught her how to kill a chicken and clean its innards. Only after explaining did she start marinating the meat.

She also prepared leaves and wet clay for the beggar’s chicken.

Two chickens would go into the yam stew, and the smallest one would be used for beggar’s chicken—it looked young enough. If it was too old, it would be too tough to eat.

After helping Changxia for several days, Nanfeng had become quite adept, perfectly following every instruction. Once the chickens were killed, the water in the clay pot on the stove was boiling.

They scalded the chickens and plucked the feathers.

Changxia took the one she needed and began coating it with wet clay, stuffing the cavity with aromatics to remove any gamey smell and add flavor.

Then she buried the clay-covered chicken in the ashes of the stove.

Nanfeng kept craning her neck to watch, full of curiosity.

“Stop staring. When it’s ready, I’ll call you,” Changxia said, rolling her eyes. Where was the calm, steady Nanfeng she knew? This foodie in front of her was a stranger.

Nanfeng just grinned sheepishly.