Chapter 32
In Lang Shuo’s view, whether it was the Black Wolf Tribe or the Snow Wolf Tribe, the daily life of sub-adults was basically: learn from one mistake, then make another mistake. There were always endless lessons waiting to be eaten.
Yesterday, their stomachs hurt because they had eaten too many pumpkin seeds. Today, it had turned into indigestion from eating too much.
Fortunately, neither was a major problem. But since the scorched grain tea had already been boiled, they definitely had to drink it.
The sub-adults pinched their noses and brought the bamboo bowls closer. After taking one sip, they found it really was bitter, and immediately frowned.
Scorched grain tea without sugar was indeed bitter. To wolves with sensitive taste, the bitterness was even more obvious. Seeing them take one sip and frown once, Lang Shuo advised, “Close your eyes and drink it all in one go. That way, it’ll only be bitter once. If you keep drinking like this, you’ll still be tasting bitterness until midnight and won’t finish.”
Hearing this, the sub-adults closed their eyes and downed it in one gulp.
The moment it entered their mouths, the bitterness made them open their eyes.
Lang Shuo, quick-eyed and quick-handed, stuffed a sweet dried fruit into each person’s mouth. “It’s sweet. Hurry and eat.”
There was a limited quantity of sweet fruit. Aside from the low yield, the most important reason was that when beastmen ate fruit, they would eat the sweet ones first. Among the fruit the Black Wolf Tribe had sent over for processing, only one back basket was sweet. Worried that the finished products handled by the sub-adults would become less and less, Lang Shuo had personally led people to dry them. Once they were done, he put them away directly, specially keeping them to coax young wolves.
Sure enough, after eating the sweet dried fruit, the sub-adults immediately forgot the bitterness from just now and asked Lang Shuo, “Shuo, what is this? Why haven’t we eaten it before?”
Lang Shuo thought, of course he could not let them know. If they knew, would it have lasted until now? He casually found an excuse and brushed it off. After fussing for half the night, it was getting late. Lang Shuo told them to clean up in the morning and go back to rest.
Because he had woken once in the middle of the night, Lang Shuo woke much later than the past few days. The cave was a bit empty. They had probably gone out to throw stones again.
Lang Shuo yawned and reached into the large basket beside him, taking out a cub to wake himself up.
The cub had been chasing a hollow ball. Its body suddenly rose into the air, and it bared its teeth and waved its claws while whining twice. Discovering that it was Lang Shuo, its voice immediately changed, and it let out a soft little cry.
Lang Shuo trembled from the cuteness and kissed the cub on the forehead. “Such a tiny little thing, yet you have two faces.”
It was small in size, but its scheming was even deeper than the sub-adults’.
The cub seemed not to understand his words and continued softly acting spoiled. Its tone was pitiful, as if it had suffered a world-shaking grievance.
“Hungry?” Lang Shuo touched the cub’s belly. It was not round, but it was not flat either. It had probably eaten in the morning, then run around for half the morning and used up most of it. Seeing that he was awake, it wanted to trick him into giving it food.
The scene of the sub-adults eating until they were stuffed last night was still vivid in his mind. Lang Shuo did not dare casually add extra meals for them. He asked Lang Yun, “Yun, how much did the cubs eat today?”
“Half a ladle more than yesterday. The chief said they’ve been moving around more these past two days, so we can add a little food.” In previous snow seasons, not only did adult wolves dislike moving, even cubs hardly moved at all. These past few days, the cave had been warm, and the cubs were awake for longer periods. If they were fed according to their previous amount, it would be a little too little.
Lang Shuo nodded. He understood that the cub was deliberately pretending to be pitiful to ask for food. This time, meat jerky was impossible. At most, he could give it a dried fruit to satisfy its craving. Thinking this, he lifted his hand and hung the cub on the animal hide he was wearing, then went to get dried fruit.
The cub used all four claws and tightly grabbed the animal hide on him. Seeing a tendency to slide downward, it opened its mouth and bit the button with an “awoo.”
Lang Shuo lifted it upward with his hand and helped it climb onto his shoulder. “Hold on. I’ll get you something to eat.”
The cub crouched on his shoulder and obediently waited.
Lang Shuo had only recently discovered that cubs did not understand nothing. They could still communicate. It was just that communication with cubs was limited. Cubs only listened to what they wanted to hear. For example, right now, after hearing the key words, the cub became incredibly obedient.
Overall, dried fruit was divided into two kinds. One kind was whole fruit dried directly. The production cycle was long, and most of the ones currently being dried were this kind. The other kind was fruit cut into pieces, with the cores removed, dried, and then steamed. Among these, snow fruit was the most abundant.
The ones given to cubs were without fruit cores. Lang Shuo took one out and passed it up to his shoulder. The cub immediately held it in its mouth.
After getting a snack, the cub immediately sat up straight, spirited and proud, looking down at the other cubs.
After Lang Shuo finished taking the remaining dried fruit, he covered the back basket, freed one hand, and flicked the cub’s paw. “Hold on properly.”
“Awoo!” the cub answered and obediently lay down.
Only then did Lang Shuo take it with him to distribute dried fruit to the other cubs.
The appeal of dried fruit naturally could not compare to meat jerky, but to cubs, getting anything to eat was profit. Seeing that there was new food, they all threw aside the hollow ball they had been fighting over just now and waited for Lang Shuo to feed them.
Lang Shuo first placed two bamboo boards inside the large basket to serve as temporary dining tables, then took out a clean animal hide and wiped their paws one by one. After wiping one, he gave it a piece of dried fruit and placed it back.
The cub on his shoulder could not wait any longer and began urging him.
Lang Shuo picked it up, wiped its paws too, and placed it into the large basket.
In truth, wiping paws only had a psychological effect, because the cubs would not hold the dried fruit the whole time. Their paws would still land on the bottom of the large basket.
The group of cubs’ eating postures were almost exactly the same. Their two front paws held the dried fruit while they took bite after bite. When they grew tired, they put the dried fruit down and rested their heads beside it for a while.
The cubs changed the fastest. When Lang Shuo first woke up, every time they ate, it was like a fight. In order to eat more, the cubs would not chew and would directly swallow. Now, they were still a little anxious when eating, but at least they would chew before swallowing.
However, looking at this posture, no matter how he saw it, they were learning from adults. Because they had not yet changed into human form, they used their two front paws to help. Unlike before, when they only used their mouths, and after finishing one meal, they could end up half a meter away.
Lang Yun finished helping serve food and turned to see that he was still watching the cubs. She reminded him, “Shuo, time to eat!”
Sometimes, Lang Yun suspected that Lang Shuo was not a sub-adult. Before meals, other sub-adults wished they could gather around the pot and wait. Lang Shuo was never in a hurry, and sometimes she even had to call him.
“Coming!” Lang Shuo answered and went over to get his own meal.
Breakfast was meat porridge with some red dates added. The taste was fairly good. Lang Shuo held the bowl and slowly drank it. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one cub finish its dried fruit and tentatively try to bite the fruit belonging to the cub beside it. He reached out and poked its head.
The discovered cub made “awoo, awoo” sounds with its mouth, looking left and right. Unable to find the culprit, it finally raised its head, saw Lang Shuo’s hand, and bit it.
Feeling the little sharp teeth biting him, Lang Shuo understood that this one was over three years old and could understand speech. He simply picked it out to lecture it alone.
The other members of the tribe judged cubs’ ages by memory. Tribe members familiar with the cubs could tell each one apart. But perhaps because of his transmigration, Lang Shuo was a little face-blind toward wolves in beast form and could only distinguish them through size, personality, and other traits.
Cubs over three had teeth that were slightly sharper and were sturdier. They could understand many words. Cubs under three bit like they were scratching an itch and were lighter when held. When speaking to them, one had to trigger key words, such as “eat” or “food.”
Lang Shuo faced the cub he had picked up.
“One each. You can only eat your own. Understand?” Lang Shuo instructed.
The cub was perfectly confident. “Awoo~”
“If you steal someone else’s again, you won’t get snacks next time.” Seeing that it was not cooperating, Lang Shuo threatened.
The cub reluctantly said, “Awoo~”
Understanding that the cub had understood, Lang Shuo touched its belly again, judged that it was not yet feeding time, and placed it back.
After returning to the large basket, the cub indeed did not continue bothering the other cubs. It only turned around, pointing its butt toward Lang Shuo’s side, using action to express its dissatisfaction.
Lang Shuo ignored it and continued eating.
After not hearing the familiar voice for a while, the cub could not hold out and turned back around, concentrating on staring at Lang Shuo, attempting to use its gaze to intimidate Lang Shuo into giving it more food.
It was just that this gaze had no deterrence whatsoever. It was soft and milky. When Lang Shuo saw it, he only wanted to pick the cub up and knead it.
As the other cubs ate toward the end, they also stopped focusing. They ate while looking around and whined a few times from time to time.
Lang Shuo lowered his head and quickly finished the remaining porridge. When he placed the bowl aside, his movements paused. He lowered his head and looked at the cubs holding dried fruit with their paws.
The cubs’ eating posture… could they have learned it from him?
Recently, he seemed to have been teasing the cubs while eating.
Realizing this, Lang Shuo guiltily touched his nose and decided to change places when eating next time. Ideally, it should be a place where he could see the cubs, but the cubs could not see him.
After eating, the little wolf cubs began playing and biting one another’s ears. Lang Shuo took away the bamboo boards and let them play by themselves, then went to check the young wolves’ work results.
Among the separated foods were wheat, oats, sorghum, corn, soybeans, walnuts, and chestnuts—five kinds of grains and two kinds of nuts.
The nuts would be kept for eating. Aside from the portion of grains used last night, the rest needed to undergo a second selection. The full and undamaged ones would be chosen for planting after snow season.
Selecting seeds was an important part of farming. If this step was done well, they could save time later and avoid many unnecessary troubles.
The seeds that were not full enough would be kept as a precaution. These could all be saved as food.
Grains could be stored for several years, and they were less affected by temperature. Even in hot seasons, as long as they were sealed and placed somewhere cool and did not get insects, they could always be eaten. In this regard, they surpassed meat and fruit, and could save lives at critical moments.
Beastmen usually ate whatever they had. When there was a lot of food, they would first pick what they liked to eat. Lang Shuo, however, changed the arrangement method and arranged food according to freshness duration. They would eat the things that spoiled easily first and put foods that could be stored long-term later. This way, their ability to withstand risk was stronger.
Most of the tribe members did not recognize these foods. After hearing Lang Shuo’s arrangements, they simply did as told. However, Lang Yun looked at those grains for a while. Without saying anything, she walked to an inconspicuous corner of the cave and pulled out two somewhat tattered animal hides stacked together. After opening them, there was some food inside, roughly about two bowls’ worth.
“Shuo, can these be planted?” Lang Yun asked.
Lang Shuo looked over and was somewhat surprised. They were peanut seeds.
“They can be planted. Did you bring them from the previous territory?” Lang Shuo thought back. Their previous tribe had also had some grains, just not as many varieties as the Black Wolf Tribe had taken out this time. He had not seen peanuts here, so they were probably brought back from the old territory.
“Mm. We didn’t eat them on the road. We originally planned to take them out if food wasn’t enough,” Lang Yun explained.
Adult wolves seemed steady, but when it came to food, their self-control was still limited. If they directly revealed how much food was left, everyone would be unable to resist. Therefore, before setting off, Lang Yu had divided the tribe’s food into several portions, with several members each leading a team to carry some.
This portion Lang Yun carried was the last bit. After settling here, Lang Yun had separated and hidden what little food remained, planning to take out a little every day.
All the other food had been eaten. These two bundles had been kept for when everyone really could not hold on anymore. Later, the gathering team and hunting party both found food, so these had remained in their original place.
These few days, Lang Shuo had kept watching the young wolves sort grains, and only then did Lang Yun suddenly remember. Since the food here could be planted, the food from their previous territory should also be plantable.
Two bowls of peanuts were about three jin. It could plant a small patch. Lang Shuo put the peanut seeds away. “We’ll prepare to germinate them in a few days.”
Regardless of whether they could survive, he would try.
Lang Yun had taken them out because she wanted him to see if they could be used. As for what to do afterward, she did not know either. Hearing this, she nodded. “You decide. If you need soil, tell me.”
More than half of the adult members and sub-adults were now outside the cave. Lang Yun was worried he might need something and go out to get it himself.
“No need for now.” Lang Shuo pointed beside the potatoes. “Nuo and the others already brought some back before going out.”
Sub-adults were playful, but occasionally, they could be reliable too. For example, now. Knowing he often used soil recently, before they went out in the morning, they had first dug some and brought it back, so they would not be called away to work while playing.
He did not know how they had dug so much on such an icy, snowy morning.
Lang Yun looked and felt reassured. “Then good. Take your time. I’ll go cook for the cubs.”
The longer the cubs were awake, the more often they needed to eat. Once hungry, they would howl and cry, not stopping until they got food. For the sake of her ears, Lang Yun usually cooked the food when the cubs were not too hungry, placed it in the pot, and let it slowly stew over low heat. Once the cubs’ bellies flattened, she could serve it directly. It was softer than freshly cooked food, and the cubs liked it more.
Lang Shuo answered and went beside the cubs to select the peanuts, picking out the damaged ones. As for those that were a bit shriveled, their germination rate was actually not high, but there were only this many peanuts. Not wanting to waste them, Lang Shuo simply kept them and would see if they could be improved later by applying more fertilizer.
After this, Lang Shuo was almost never idle. Aside from tending the potatoes that had already sprouted, he had to prepare new crops every few days.
The temperature inside the cave was high, but the lighting was insufficient, so the seedlings grew relatively slowly. There was nothing Lang Shuo could do about this. It was too cold outside. It was impossible to move the seedlings out just for light.
However, he had originally started seedling cultivation a bit early. After snow season, they should be able to catch up.
While thinking this, Lang Shuo recorded the time when the new seeds began germinating.
These days, every time he sowed a kind of plant, Lang Shuo would record the date. Later, when it sprouted and how many cotyledons and true leaves appeared, he would also record them. This year was the first year of seed cultivation, so the timing was actually not completely correct. But with these records, next time they raised seedlings, they could adjust the timing appropriately and try to transplant the seedlings at the most suitable time.
Every time he recorded things, Lang Shuo regretted not having paper and brush. He did know the raw materials for making paper. Bamboo and dry grass were also available nearby, but papermaking required too much time. Even if they started now, it would take several months to get a finished product. By then, the daylilies would have gone cold. Therefore, Lang Shuo used bamboo.
Using a small bone knife to carve characters onto bamboo slips was troublesome, but the advantage was that they could be preserved for a long time. It was not like writing with a burnt stick, where after a few touches, the writing would begin to blur.
The recorded bamboo slips were sorted according to content. Each bamboo slip recorded one or two time points, and records of the same plant were tied together with rope. After finishing, they looked somewhat similar to bamboo scrolls. Aside from plants, he also recorded the situation of the animals in the upper cave. At first, he had used stones, but later, after switching to bamboo slips, he transcribed everything once.
It was just that carving characters was very tiring for the hands. Lang Shuo pondered that after they had a separate cave in the future, he could first make brushes and ink. Right now, there were too many people in the cave, and people walking back and forth could easily bump into things. Using ink was unsafe. He always felt that whether during the making process or while using it, it would end up everywhere.
Ink was not difficult to make. He did not plan to make anything precious. As long as it did not easily lose color, it was enough. Brushes were even simpler. The fur on the members’ tails was ready-made material. Although it was not as suitable as weasel hair, who told him he could not find a weasel? They would use whatever they had.
Lang Shuo walked to the cave entrance and looked outside. His gaze swept over several sub-adults who were play-fighting.
Cub fur was too soft, and adult wolf fur was too stiff. Sub-adult fur was just right.
The longer the sub-adults stayed in the cave, the more impatient they became. At first, practicing with slings could still consume some of their energy. After a long time, this activity could no longer satisfy their activity needs. They gradually became irritable and would start fighting at the slightest provocation.
Lang Yu did not care, and the other wolves also pretended not to see it. In any case, even if they separated them, before one meal’s time passed, they would gather together again. The reason for fighting was different every day, each more absurd than the last. Someone glancing at someone else one extra time could start a fight, making people suspect that they simply wanted to fight and only casually found reasons. There was no way to stop them. Even looking an extra time was a waste of energy.
Lang Yu disliked them causing trouble inside the cave and drove the sub-adults outside. Outside had a large space, so they could fight however they wanted.
Today, the sub-adults had started fighting again. They had even transformed into beast form and attacked each other. It was impossible to tell who was on whose side. Every single one was fighting one against seven.
Sub-adults fought much more fiercely than cubs. Wolf fur flew everywhere, and no one approached within ten steps.
At this moment, the sub-adults had snow on their bodies and wolf fur bitten off from others. Not even the word “messy” was enough to describe them.
As they fought, sensing Lang Shuo’s gaze, the group of sub-adults who were fiercely gnawing on their companions suddenly felt a chill down their backs, and their movements could not help pausing.
Seeing them stop, Lang Shuo asked, “Are you done fighting? If you’re done, pluck some tail fur for me. Since you just finished biting, it should be easy to pluck.”
Sub-adults: “???”
In the end, under Lang Yu’s threat, the group of sub-adults each cut off a tuft of tail fur for Lang Shuo. When they handed it over, their hands were trembling.
Lang Yu could not stand them pretending to be pitiful and swept his gaze over them. “Speak properly.”
The group of sub-adults did not dare challenge the chief’s authority and stood straight obediently.
The cut fur could not be used directly and still needed to be treated. Lang Shuo found a box to store it, then looked at the sub-adults with messy hair and animal hides. “If you’re idle, take hoes outside and turn the soil. Turn all of that land over.”
Lang Shuo pointed to the position he had chosen.
The weather had gradually warmed these past two days. Lang Shuo inferred the time based on his memory and knew that the next season would arrive very soon.
After snow season ended, the temperature rose very quickly. It only took a few short days for ice and snow to melt and plants to sprout. The ice and snow would melt into water and seep into the soil. Seeds buried in the soil would rapidly absorb water, swell, sprout, and emerge.
When other plants sprouted, they would also have to transplant the first batch of seedlings out as soon as possible.
The sub-adults all had missing patches on their tails now and did not feel much like fighting. Hearing Lang Shuo’s arrangement, they consciously went to get tools and followed behind Lang Shuo to learn.
Lang Shuo’s leg had fully recovered. Now, as long as he did not carry heavy things, he basically felt no discomfort. He led Lang Nuo and the others to the place and demonstrated for the sub-adults.
The snow that had been exposed to the sun was only a thin layer now. First, they smashed this layer of ice and snow apart, then began digging.
The soil was a little wet. After being dug out, it came up in chunks. Lang Shuo grabbed some and squeezed it. It was still dripping water and needed to dry in the sun for a few days.
Once the sub-adults learned the method, they no longer surrounded Lang Shuo. Each person chose a direction and began digging. Lang Shuo saw that they were neither forming rows nor lines, spreading outward like an octopus. He took a deep breath and picked up the hoe to divide the areas.
Since they liked turning soil this way, each person could have a large triangle. Once they finished, it would just form an octagon.
After dividing the tasks, Lang Shuo did not stay outside long and returned to the cave to check on the seedlings.
In order to prepare more seedlings, he had occupied almost all the empty spaces in the cave. Later, when there was no empty ground, he directly used bamboo and large baskets to make planting racks. Therefore, although this small cave looked small, there were truly many prepared seedlings inside. Otherwise, he would not have had the sub-adults go turn the soil so early.
Lang Shuo had been paying attention to the temperature outside. After the ice and snow completely melted and the plants outside began to sprout, he prepared to transplant the first batch of seedlings, namely the potatoes.
This time was simpler than planting the potatoes. Every potato seedling grew in a fixed grid. After removing the dividers in between, each could be lifted directly. First, they ridged the prepared land outside for convenience in later management. At intervals, they dug holes, placed the potato seedlings inside, and covered them with a layer of soil.
Uncertain of how fertile the soil was, Lang Shuo planted them rather sparsely. Every potato seedling was separated by half a step.
There were quite a lot of potato seedlings. Not only the sub-adults, but the other adult members also helped. From turning the land to transplanting, the entire tribe busied themselves for three days before finishing.
After transplanting the potatoes, they immediately had to plant pumpkin seedlings. Fortunately, the number of pumpkin seedlings and other seedlings was smaller. In addition, they had experience from transplanting potato seedlings, so once they got started, their speed was faster. With the whole tribe working together, in a few days, all the seedlings inside the cave were transplanted to the surrounding flatland.
Finally, there were some crops that had not been raised as seedlings and needed to be planted directly. These were relatively simple. After turning the soil, they dug a furrow or hole, placed the seeds inside, and covered them with soil.
By the time everything was finished, the breeding season had already passed by nearly a month. This should originally have been the season for the young wolves in the tribe to court mates. However, the members of the whole tribe in this age group went out early and returned late every day. Their eyes were filled with nothing but seeds and soil, and they did not notice anything wrong at all.
The older members of the tribe did remember, but there were not many young wolves in the tribe who had reached adulthood over the past two years. In addition, they had only recently moved to a new territory, so it was not suitable to find partners and have cubs. They simply did not remind everyone.
In previous years, the ones who caused the most trouble during breeding season were actually the sub-adults. Young wolves in this age group were extremely restless. No matter what slightest disturbance occurred, they were the most affected. This year, Lang Shuo had arranged too much work for them. When they returned to the cave, they wished they could immediately sleep. They had no energy to cause trouble at all.
In Lang Shuo’s view, breeding season and spring were the same. They were both seasons when all things grew. This season was the best time for planting, and most plants could be planted at this time. Of course they could not waste it. Taking advantage of suitable temperatures and abundant rain, they had to plant as much as they could. As for finding partners and so on, there would be time in the future.
