Chapter 33: Chapter 33: Midnight Conversations

Night fell.

Chang Xia helped Shen Rong with his physical therapy.

Shen Rong brought over a basin of hot water for Chang Xia to soak her feet.

“Is it too hot?” Shen Rong asked gently.

Chang Xia dipped her toes in to test the temperature, then nodded. “It’s good. Why don’t you fetch another basin and soak your feet too? Soaking before bed relieves fatigue and improves circulation.”

“Alright, I’ll join you,” Shen Rong replied with a smile.

Each with their own wooden basin, they sat quietly in front of the beast den.

The bright moon shone over the lush Twilight Forest, veiled in a thin mist, dreamy and enchanting.

“Tomorrow we’ll install the doors and windows, and finish the kang bed and stove. After that, we can help Nuan Chun and Nan Feng build their cave house. As for furnishing the cave, that can wait,” Chang Xia said, soaking her feet until they turned red, her eyes half-closed in comfort.

Shen Rong nodded. “That works. Digging a three-chamber cave house doesn’t take long, two days at most. We can finish everything in three to five days.”

With experience, things would go much faster.

Plus, the doors and windows were already made. After that, digging, plastering, and installing doors and windows would be quick. The beast people were strong—manual labor was easy for them.

“Nuan Chun wants to finish before the rainy season—she’s waiting to have a baby,” Chang Xia chuckled.

Once the others saw the cave house, she guessed the tribe would get even busier. When building, they had to consider the moisture in the loess layer—rainy season was definitely not suitable for construction.

If they didn’t finish before the rains, they’d have to wait until after, but the first half of the cold season was hunting season.

The tribe needed to stockpile food to survive the long, harsh winter. If you did the math, unless you didn’t mind the cold, you’d have to wait another year to build.

Of course, you could still build during that time, but you’d have to hunt, gather, and build at the same time.

That would be exhausting.

Chang Xia had calculated all this from the start.

“If the doors and windows are installed tomorrow, and the kang bed is built, we just need to let everything dry. Is there anything else to do in the cave house?” Shen Rong asked. “When do you plan to start expanding and renovating the cave?”

“During the rainy season,” Chang Xia shook her head. Everything that needed to be done in the cave house was already finished. Once it aired out, they could move in from the beast den.

She wanted to plan the cellar carefully, so there was no rush to expand the cave.

“The rainy season works,” Shen Rong agreed, understanding Chang Xia’s plan.

While helping Nuan Chun and Nan Feng build their cave, they’d also need to set aside time for hunting and gathering.

The rainy season brought plenty of food, but it was also dangerous.

Continuous rain made both gathering and hunting difficult.

If possible, it was best to stockpile as much food as they could—very necessary.

Once they moved, the beast den would be torn down and leveled. After tidying up, Chang Xia planned to plant flowers and trees there. Since the den was close to the cave house, she wanted to include it in the courtyard. Of course, all this would take time.

“Shen Rong, can you help me make a flour mill?” Chang Xia propped her feet on the edge of the basin, not in a hurry to dry them, and looked seriously at Shen Rong.

These past few days,

While busy with the cave house, Chang Xia had been thinking about processing fruit flour.

If she couldn’t make a mill, she’d try making rice flour by hand. The ginkgo nuts were drying, and she and Shen Rong ground some every night—about half was done. The clay jars the tribe had given them were almost full.

Tonight, they chose to soak their feet instead of grinding, simply because they’d run out of jars for the flour. Ginkgo nuts kept better than flour, so once the cave house was done, Chang Xia planned to make some things to trade with the tribe.

She didn’t want to trade food anymore.

Once was enough.

When Nan Feng and the others went back to the tribe today, Chang Xia had chatted with her for a bit.

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Let Nan Feng pass a message to Gen: from now on, the tribe doesn’t need to send her any more food. She’s part of the tribe too, so it’s only right for her to contribute some food back. Besides, the tribe helped her a lot with building the kiln this time.

Chang Xia doesn’t want to become someone greedy or insatiable.

What she really wants is to gradually change the Heluo tribe, so that her people no longer have to go hungry or cold, and don’t need to spend every day hunting and foraging just to survive.

Of course, she knows this isn’t something that can be changed overnight.

But there’s a long road ahead, and Chang Xia is confident she can do it.

“A flour mill? You mean turning fruit flour into rice flour?” Shen Rong asked hesitantly.

“Yes!” Chang Xia nodded happily, and explained the principle of the flour mill to Shen Rong. Even if they couldn’t make a flour mill, building a press would be good too.

As she thought about it, Chang Xia started talking about the press.

Mentioning the press, she suddenly thought of fresh-pressed rice noodles. Compared to using a flour mill to make dried rice noodles, making fresh-pressed rice noodles was much simpler.

In that instant, Chang Xia felt like giving up on the complicated flour mill.

“Shen Rong, let’s not make a flour mill. Let’s make a press instead. With a press, we can make fresh-pressed rice noodles. The press is simple to make, and the tribe can learn it much faster.”

Shen Rong didn’t say anything, but silently took note of what Chang Xia had just said.

After soaking their feet, the two of them got ready for bed.

Before sleeping, Shen Rong said, “Chang Xia, how about this… I’ll go help Nuan Chun and Nan Feng build their kiln, and you stay home to work on the fruit flour? The rainy season is coming soon, and the tribe has been gathering white fruit lately. From what Nan Feng said, the tribe has set aside a share for both you and me.”

He understood Chang Xia—she would feel awkward if the tribe just gave her things directly.

But if she traded rice noodles for it, then everyone would feel good about it.

This way, the tribe wouldn’t have to go out hunting and foraging during the rainy season, and he and Chang Xia could trade for enough white fruit.

“That won’t do,” Chang Xia shook her head.

When she built her kiln, Shan Kun and Nuan Chun both came to help. Nan Feng was there from start to finish, even contributing wood and stone for the construction.

Now it was their turn to build, and Chang Xia felt it was her duty to help—how could she make excuses to get out of it?

“Shan Kun, Ya Dong, and I are enough for building the kiln. You two stay in the den and work on the fruit flour. Lately, Nuan Chun’s been getting sleepier and sleepier. You can help Shan Kun keep an eye on her—I think he’d appreciate it,” Shen Rong explained.

As he spoke, his gaze fell on Chang Xia’s hands resting on the fur bedding.

He remembered when they first met at the Normandy market—Chang Xia was fair-skinned and petite. The hands that handed him the fish balls were slender and delicate, without a single callus. Just looking at them made you want to hold them in your own.

But lately, she’d been so busy.

Now Chang Xia’s hands were covered in fine scars, and Shen Rong felt guilty.

But he didn’t know what to say.

Chang Xia was strong-willed and liked to do things herself.

She looked soft and delicate, but in reality, she was stubborn and determined.

After several failed attempts to persuade her, Shen Rong could only team up with Ya Dong and Shan Kun to gently encourage Chang Xia to rest more. After all, even training needs to be gradual, right?

Shen Rong brought up Nuan Chun’s health.

Sure enough, Chang Xia hesitated.

Shen Rong wasn’t wrong—Nuan Chun’s condition lately was worrying.

Today, when they were building the kang and passing stones, she fell asleep several times. If she and Nan Feng hadn’t noticed quickly, Nuan Chun might have collapsed on the ground more than once.

At the time, it scared both her and Nan Feng half to death.

“But if we help carry the earth, you’ll save a lot of time,” Chang Xia said.

Shen Rong replied bluntly, “Once the chief sees our kiln, I’m sure more people in the tribe will want to build their own. When that happens, we can ask other tribe members to help.”

Besides, Ya Dong and Shan Kun each have their own partners.

Asking them to help out for a day or two isn’t a big deal.

He also believed the tribe would be happy to help. According to Nan Feng, if Gen hadn’t been holding them back, people from the tribe would have already come over to check out the kiln.