Building a Civilization and Raising Cubs in the Beast World – CH44

Chapter 44

Although Bai Tu was startled by Bai An’s sudden self-pinching behavior, he didn’t argue with the latter’s claim of being overjoyed. After all, anyone in his position would feel the same way. 

Gaining dozens of free bodyguards and laborers, who even provided their own food, was a deal so rare that there likely wasn’t another tribe nearby that could compare.

When Bai Tu returned to the table, he was greeted by the sight of Lang Ze and Hei Yan in the middle of yet another round of combat. 

Both of their chopsticks had latched onto the last piece of meat in the hotpot, and neither was willing to let go. 

Hei Xiao, meanwhile, kept his head down, quietly eating from his own bowl, deliberately avoiding Bai Tu’s incredulous gaze. He had decided to pretend he didn’t exist.

Lang Qi, on the other hand, remained silent as he divided the freshly grilled meat onto his plate and Bai Tu’s. 

The two bickering teenagers were so focused on their tug-of-war over the last piece of hotpot meat that they didn’t even notice Lang Qi had already claimed the roasted meat for himself and Bai Tu.

Bai Tu: “…”

Bai Tu sighed and finally spoke up. “Why don’t you just split it in half?” At this rate, they’d still be fighting over that piece of meat by sunrise tomorrow.

“No way!” Lang Ze and Hei Yan rejected the suggestion in unison. Then, as if realizing what had just happened, they turned to glare at each other.

“Why are you copying me?!” they both snapped simultaneously.

It was clear that the issue wasn’t the meat itself—they weren’t lacking food. This was now a matter of pride. At this point, whether they actually got to eat the meat or not didn’t matter. What mattered was making sure the other person didn’t get it.

The synchronization of their words only reignited their competitive spirit. Both applied more force to their chopsticks, and as the meat continued to bob in the rolling hotpot, Bai Tu couldn’t help but warn, “Be careful, you two—”

Before Bai Tu could finish, the piece of meat, unable to withstand the two teenagers’ tug-of-war any longer, broke apart and self-destructed, splitting cleanly in two. 

Neither Lang Ze nor Hei Yan had time to adjust, and their chopsticks flung a splash of red chili oil straight toward Bai Tu, who was seated closest to the stone pot.

Lang Qi’s expression changed instantly. He reached out and yanked Bai Tu behind him, shielding him from the flying oil and scolding sharply, “Sit down and eat properly.”

Hei Xiao, who had been startled by the commotion, quickly recovered. After confirming that Bai Tu was unharmed, he shoved Hei Yan to the other side of the table. “I’ll get the food for you. Just sit there and wait to eat.”

Having nearly caused a disaster, both Lang Ze and Hei Yan obediently quieted down. “Okay,” they muttered in unison, subdued.

Whether it was hotpot or grilled meat, neither could be finished in under two hours once it was on the table. This time was no exception. The meal lasted until the moon was high in the sky, but they finally managed to finish without further mishaps.

As the meal wrapped up, Lang Qi patted his younger brother, who was still squabbling with Hei Yan, and reminded him, “It’s time to get to work.”

Lang Ze let out an enthusiastic howl halfway through his response, only for it to be cut off abruptly as Lang Qi, quick as lightning, clamped a hand over his mouth.

Lang Qi’s voice dropped into a stern command: “No taking off your animal pelts!”

The howling stopped abruptly. A group of wolves who had been just about to throw off their pelts and shift into their beast forms immediately restrained themselves, obediently lining up in a row to follow their leader out.

After discussing it with Bai An, Bai Tu decided they would set out to meet the cat tribe early the next morning. 

The rabbit tribe wasn’t well-suited to moving around at night, and it was better to wait for the wolf tribe to return from their hunt. Besides, the rabbit tribe still had an important task to complete tonight: preparing living quarters for both the cat tribe and the wolf tribe.

Thanks to their natural inclination for digging, the rabbit tribe had the most abundant housing among the tribes, and with the Snow Rabbit tribe’s relatively small population, there were plenty of unoccupied caves. 

However, with the sudden addition of so many beastmen—nearly three-quarters of their own population—plus the hawk tribe members already residing there and the five lion tribe members captured earlier, even the rabbit tribe’s ample caves required some reorganization.

The lion tribe and cat tribe could share caves, a few members per cave. The wolf tribe and hawk tribe, as allies, deserved better accommodations. 

After tallying up the number of people and available caves, Bai Tu quickly decided on a system: “standard rooms” and “communal dorms.”

The standard rooms would house at least two beastmen per cave. 

Rabbit tribe, wolf tribe, and eagle tribe members with families or mates would stay together, while single youths would share with a roommate. 

The communal dorms would house five or six beastmen in a single cave and were designated for the lion and cat tribes.

The cabinets that Bai Tu had previously taught everyone how to make now came in handy. 

Initially, the rabbit tribe didn’t think much of them—given their spacious caves, they had been accustomed to leaving things scattered everywhere. But now, with two people sharing a single space and twice the belongings to manage, their old habits of leaving things lying around wouldn’t work anymore.

Roommates were allowed to choose each other first. Those who couldn’t find someone would be paired randomly by drawing lots, with the caves numbered to ensure fairness.

Although the caves had transitioned from single occupancy to shared rooms, most of the rabbit tribe’s caves were wide and deep due to their digging skills, so fitting two or three people inside was no problem at all. 

Once some of their belongings were stored in cabinets, the space felt even larger. The few beastmen who initially grumbled about the changes quickly stopped complaining once they moved into their new caves and realized it wasn’t much different from living alone.

“We don’t have enough cabinets right now,” Bai Tu reassured the beastmen adjusting to their new accommodations. “Starting tomorrow, we’ll make more.” 

Since the tribe hadn’t been in the habit of organizing their belongings before, they had only made a limited number of cabinets. 

These were originally intended for storing food in designated caves, but since they hadn’t yet been moved to those storage caves, they were repurposed for housing. However, there weren’t enough to go around, and two-thirds of the beastmen still didn’t have cabinets. 

Bai Tu instructed them to settle in first, promising that more cabinets would be made soon.

To address potential conflicts between roommates, Bai Tu offered another suggestion: “If it’s uncomfortable, you can add a partition in the middle.” He emphasized that everything was negotiable.

The rabbit tribe’s members, known for their mild temperaments, didn’t resist Bai Tu and Bai An’s decisions much.

 A few individuals with social anxiety were reassured by Bai Tu’s flexible solutions. Since their new cave-mates were fellow rabbit tribe members, they gradually relaxed and accepted the changes.

After these arrangements were made, not only were the caves sufficient, but there were even a few left over. 

Bai Tu set aside two caves connected to the hawk tribe’s living area to serve as guest rooms for visitors from other tribes. The remaining three caves were reserved for storing supplies.

With the wolf and hawk tribes helping to capture juvenile prey, the demand for dried grass for winter feed was expected to rise sharply. Since Bai Tu had decided to raise pigs, cows, sheep, deer, chickens, and ducks, it was essential to start stockpiling fodder in advance.

Once everything was settled, the sky had just begun to lighten. Bai Tu yawned as he prepared to head to bed, but then he heard faint voices.

“I think I hear the wolf tribe,” someone said.

The voices of beastmen in their human forms usually didn’t resemble their animal forms, making it difficult to identify them by sound. However, the wolf hunting team led by Lang Ze was an exception. 

When they were in high spirits, their voices naturally betrayed their excitement, sounding increasingly like their wolf forms. Judging from the noise, it seemed like they had a bountiful night.

Bai Zhou, who had the best hearing, nodded seriously. “I hear them too.”

Sure enough, the voices grew louder as they approached. About ten minutes later, the wolf tribe’s hunting team appeared in everyone’s line of sight. As soon as Lang Ze spotted Bai Tu, his eyes lit up.

“Tu! We caught over ten chickens today!” Lang Ze announced proudly as he displayed their haul. Over a dozen chickens were crammed pitifully into a bamboo basket, their little heads poking out, clucking miserably as they tried to breathe.

Lang Ze hadn’t forgotten Bai Tu’s comment the previous day about catching chickens if they came across any. So last night, every chicken they encountered was captured—Lang Ze didn’t let a single one escape!

“Dong, take the chickens to the cave and keep them locked up separately,” Bai Tu instructed. 

He didn’t plan to eat the live chickens immediately, but since Lang Ze had worked hard all night, he couldn’t let their efforts go unrewarded. 

Bai Tu deeply understood one thing: the right amount of reward could motivate young people to strive harder. So, with a wave of his hand, he announced, “We’ll have steamed eggs with minced meat for breakfast.”

“Awwooo~!” A chorus of howls erupted from the wolf tribe, their excitement practically shaking the ground.

Hei Yan, however, looked completely unimpressed. “What’s the big deal?” he muttered, eyeing the overexcited wolves disdainfully.

Lang Ze, clearly offended, retorted, “Then don’t eat any!”

“Not eat—?” Hei Yan started to snap back, but then he paused midway, realizing something. “Why would I not eat just because you told me to? Why should I listen to you?” 

He wasn’t stupid. He knew exactly what Lang Ze was trying to do. There was no way he’d sit by while the rabbits and wolves ate their fill, leaving the hawks to just watch. Not happening.

Bai Tu raised his eyebrows in mild surprise. 

This time, Hei Yan’s reaction was quicker than usual. 

Normally, he’d have fallen right into Lang Ze’s trap by now. 

Whenever the two argued, especially over food, Lang Ze’s instincts as a foodie always gave him the upper hand. But it seemed that, over the past two days, Hei Yan had learned a thing or two and managed to hold his ground this time.

Hei Xiao, standing quietly nearby, subtly retracted the hand he had placed on Hei Yan’s waist to hold him back. It was a relief—Hei Yan hadn’t blurted out something reckless like “Fine, I won’t eat.”

With so many mouths to feed, it was clear they couldn’t just rely on eggs. 

The remaining beastmen lit fires and began cooking their own meals. Over the past two months, everyone had learned a variety of cooking techniques from Bai Tu—stir-frying, frying, braising, stewing, and boiling. 

Combined with Bai Tu’s homemade chili sauce, even the wolf tribe, known for their less refined cooking skills, could produce dishes that hit at least two out of three marks: aroma and flavor.

As everyone cooked and ate, they kept an eye on Bai Tu, waiting for him to finish preparing the promised steamed eggs with minced meat. 

The dish only required eggs and meat. Bai Tu went to the storage cave to retrieve some eggs and handed them to Hei Xiao, asking him to crack them into a basin. 

This was a task Bai Tu only entrusted to careful and meticulous individuals. If someone like Lang Ze or Hei Yan were given the job, the end result wouldn’t be steamed eggs with minced meat—it’d be something like steamed egg whites, yolks, and broken shells.

The minced meat, however, could be left to Lang Ze and Hei Yan. Bai Tu handed each of them a piece of meat, evenly proportioned with 70% lean and 30% fat. “This is for the steamed eggs later. Chop it well.”

Lang Ze and Hei Yan exchanged a quick glance before springing into action. 

Both had been up all night—Lang Ze hunting animals and juveniles, and Hei Yan assisting the rabbits with cave assignments. Yet neither showed any sign of fatigue. Instead, their chopping grew faster and faster. 

Bai Tu, hearing the increasingly frantic rhythm of their knives, walked over to check, only to find that their “minced meat” had been reduced to a fine paste. The two pieces of meat were now so pulverized that the result was better suited for dumpling filling than steamed eggs. If you used a magnifying glass, you’d still be hard-pressed to find any distinct meat grains.

Bai Tu: “…”

For steamed eggs with minced meat, the topping needed to have some texture for the dish to taste right. This fine paste just wouldn’t do. 

Resigned, Bai Tu scooped up the meat paste, set it aside for later use as dumpling filling, and pulled out two new pieces of meat. He turned to Lang Ze and instructed, “Chop it like you would for making meat sauce—coarse, with visible grains.” Then, he looked at Hei Yan and added, “Lang Ze can handle it. Don’t tell me you can’t?”

But Bai Tu had forgotten about a certain troublemaker in their midst. Before Hei Yan could respond, Lang Ze immediately poured fuel on the fire. “He definitely can’t learn it! Just look at him!”

Hei Yan exploded. “Impossible!” he shouted, pulling out his iron knife from his belt. “Watch me! I’ll show you all how it’s done!”

It took both Bai Tu and Hei Xiao to stop him in time.

“Not that! Not that!” Bai Tu quickly intervened, waving his hands. “Use a stone knife or a bone knife instead.” 

Iron tools were rare and precious, and using an iron knife just to chop meat would be a huge waste. Moreover, given Hei Yan’s current mood, Bai Tu was pretty sure he’d end up splitting the cutting board into eight pieces. They still needed to eat this meal, and the cutting board hadn’t done anything wrong—it didn’t deserve to be sacrificed like this.

With a huff, Hei Yan put away his iron knife. He glanced at the stone knife Lang Ze was using, then at his own empty belt, and finally nodded in satisfaction.

Adolescents had a way of turning everything into a competition, and Hei Yan wouldn’t rest until he claimed victory in at least one area.

Learning from his earlier mistake, Bai Tu didn’t let them chop for too long this time. As soon as the meat was adequately minced, he called for them to stop. He stir-fried the minced meat with seasonings, letting its aroma fill the air, and then set it aside while waiting for the steamed eggs.

The steamed eggs were prepared using the tribe’s bamboo steamers and a large round plate specifically made for cooking rice. 

When the steaming was done, each tray of hot, fragrant steamed eggs was topped with several generous spoonfuls of stir-fried minced meat. The dish, with its vibrant colors and enticing aroma, was incredibly appealing.

Perhaps the wolf tribe had been trained in table manners after their return to the tribe last night, because this time, they weren’t as chaotic as before. 

When the steamed eggs were ready, they each took their bowls and lined up in an orderly queue. Even Lang Ze, who usually seemed ready to dive headfirst into the pot, held his bowl obediently while tapping his chopsticks against it impatiently to urge Bai Tu to hurry.