Ever since everyone in the tribe learned how to collect and reuse animal fur, it had become a habit for them to bring along a spindle or knitting needle whenever they went out.
Jian Mo couldn’t help but pause for a moment whenever he saw the scene at the gathering place: both beastmen and sub-beastmen, busy spinning yarn or knitting clothes, all immersed in this simple activity. The serene atmosphere left him momentarily speechless every time.
The beast folk really seemed to enjoy this newfound pastime. Even without any formal training, they quickly figured out how to knit all sorts of accessories like necklaces, headbands, and even dye them.
In the blink of an eye, several days passed, and it was once again Jian Mo’s turn to take a rest day.
Having grown used to a busy schedule, Jian Mo found himself at a loss with so much free time on his hands.
After wandering around the village for a while, he went to check on the Winged Beast.
The Winged Beast was looking much healthier than before. Upon inspecting it, Jian Mo found that all its wounds had fully healed, and its broken wing had nearly recovered.
At the very least, the fracture wasn’t causing it much trouble. Jian Mo observed it using its front claws to grab food with the broken wing hanging slightly.
When it focused on its food, Jian Mo realized that the Winged Beast was probably even hungrier than he had initially thought.
Not only had it eaten all the food the tribe had provided, but it had also gnawed away at the surrounding grass.
Using itself as the center, it had cleared a circular patch, eating the grass down to the roots, even digging up and chewing on the root systems.
When it finished, it lay dejectedly on the now bare ground, its large eyes half-open, looking pitiful.
With nothing better to do, Jian Mo, seeing the creature’s plight, went and cut a bunch of fresh grass for it. He also brought back some less appetizing tubers and a dried bone he found at home.
The Winged Beast noticed the food from a distance and immediately flipped over to sit upright, chirping excitedly: “Chirp, chirp!”
Jian Mo approached from the side and placed the food in front of it. “So, that’s what you sound like when you’re happy.”
The Winged Beast immediately grabbed the large bone, blinking its eyes as it chirped happily at Jian Mo again: “Chirp, chirp.”
Clutching the bone with its front claws, the beast began gnawing on it. However, it seemed to lack strong bite force; after chewing for quite some time, it had only managed to scrape off a few bits of meat.
Amused by the sight of it focusing so hard on the bone, Jian Mo couldn’t resist patting its chubby rump.
Its soft, plump backside was covered in smooth fur—it had a surprisingly pleasant texture.
The Winged Beast didn’t mind at all, only glancing back at him with its usual clear gaze.
Jian Mo sighed, “Keep eating. If I have time this afternoon, I’ll see if I can find more food for you.”
The Winged Beast chirped joyfully in response: “Chirp, chirp!”
The sun climbed higher, warming the air.
Jian Mo, who hadn’t bathed in a couple of days, decided to take advantage of the warm weather to bathe. Before that, he figured he might as well wash the fur clumps he had collected the day before.
The fur from the Long-headed Beast was quite soft, but having been stored for a while, it was tangled with debris and had gotten dirty. It would need a good wash before he could spin it into yarn.
However, washing fur in the water could be tricky since it tended to float around. Jian Mo found a basket at home, planning to submerge it in the river with the fur inside. The basket was woven from vines, allowing water to flow through while keeping the fur from drifting away.
Before heading out, he made sure to grab a good-quality bar of soap from where he had left it to cure.
With the basket of fur in one hand and the soap in the other, Jian Mo made his way to the riverbank.
As for clothes, he had no spares to change into, so he would have to wash what he was wearing first, then leave them to dry on a large rock while he bathed. He planned to put them back on once they were dry.
Thinking about it, Jian Mo sighed—there was still so much he needed to make.
The river beside the tribe was wide and calm. Jian Mo walked upstream a bit to find a quieter spot where he could wash both himself and his clothes.
The first thing he did upon entering the water was wash his clothes and hang them up to dry. Then he began washing the fur clumps.
Since the fur had been shed some time ago, it didn’t have much grease on it. Mostly, it was just covered in dust, making it fairly easy to clean.
As he washed, Jian Mo carefully sorted through the fur, picking out particularly short or coarse strands and discarding any debris mixed in.
Once the fur was clean, he wrung out the excess water, spread it flat on a rock to dry, and weighed it down with a couple of sticks to keep it from being blown away.
As Jian Mo was busy washing the fur, he suddenly noticed a dark shadow moving in the water.
Squinting, he realized there was a large fish swimming leisurely around his feet, completely unguarded.
Startled, he instinctively punched the fish.
The fish wobbled for a moment, then flipped belly-up, floating to the surface.
—He had knocked it out.
“Wait, does no one here eat fish?”
Jian Mo picked up the belly-up fish and put it in his basket, glancing around.
Sure enough, there were plenty of fish in the water—big and small, their dark backs clearly visible as they swam about.
Jian Mo cautiously took a couple of steps forward, spotted a fish, and lunged to grab it.
But this time, the fish reacted faster, flicking its tail and darting away.
He tried chasing it, making several attempts to catch it, but the fish swam faster and faster, eventually disappearing from his view.
Clearly, he didn’t have the skill to catch fish with his bare hands.
Jian Mo sighed in frustration, watching the fish swim leisurely around him, before returning to his task of washing the fur.
After finishing with the fur, he scrubbed himself clean from head to toe and put his clothes back on.
By the time he was done, his clothes were nearly dry, and he figured they’d be completely dry on his way back to the village.
As he stepped out of the water, he noticed there were still plenty of fish swimming slowly in the river.
The water here was calm, the river wide—it should have been an ideal place to catch fish. But his skills were just lacking.
Even as he left, he felt a lingering reluctance at the thought of all those fish.
Back in the village, he returned to Wu Jiong’s house and immediately started rummaging through the pile of odds and ends.
He remembered seeing several old baskets with holes in the bottom earlier that morning—now, where were they?
“Found it!” Jian Mo cheered as he pulled out the most worn-out basket. He took a knife and carefully trimmed the hole, smoothing it out into a rounded shape. Then, with the basket in hand, he headed out again.
As soon as he stepped outside, he ran into a group of children playing nearby.
The children, having tasted the meat patties Jian Mo made before, obediently greeted him as he approached, “Brother Jian Mo.”
Jian Mo smiled, “Good kids.”
Curious, the children eyed the broken basket he was holding. “Brother Jian Mo, where are you going?”
Jian Mo waved the basket in his hand, “I’m going to catch fish.”
Immediately, Qiu Li, one of the children, blurted out, “Fish taste awful!”
Before Jian Mo could respond, the other children chimed in:
“Yeah, fish are really gross.”
“Brother Jian Mo, didn’t the chief give you any meat? I can get some from home for you.”
“My dad said that when they were kids, they had to eat fish all winter one year. They smelled like fish for so long—even until the next summer.”
“The fishy smell is terrible.”
The kids shivered as they spoke, clearly not fans of the smell of fish.
Jian Mo asked, “Why did they have to eat fish back then? Was it because they couldn’t catch other animals that year?”
Jiang Xing, the oldest among the children, nodded. “Yes, my dad said that year was especially cold. The tribe had no other food, so they could only eat fish.”
Jiang Xing was the most articulate among the group, being a bit older than the others.
Jian Mo looked at the young sub-beastman and reassured him, “The way I prepare fish is different—it will taste good.”
However, Jiang Xing still looked skeptical, and the other children wore expressions of doubt.
Jian Mo changed his approach. “I’m actually catching fish to feed the Winged Beast. It hasn’t been eating enough these past few days and has nearly devoured all the grass.”
The children accepted this explanation.
Jiang Xing’s eyes lit up as he suggested, “Brother Jian Mo, can we come with you to catch fish?”
The other children cheered, eager to join.
Jian Mo tried to refuse but couldn’t manage to turn them down. He relented with a wry smile, “The younger ones can’t come, but those who are a bit older can tag along.”
Jiang Xing quickly took charge, “He Feng, you stay here with the others in the village. Once we’ve caught some fish, we’ll all go feed the Winged Beast together.”
Little He Feng looked reluctant, but under Jiang Xing’s authoritative gaze, he reluctantly agreed with a pout.
Since so many kids wanted to tag along, Jian Mo brought them back to his house to gather more broken baskets. He used a knife to cut out the bottoms, and soon, each child was armed with their own basket. Together, they headed to a calmer, shallower section of the river to catch fish.
Trying to grab swimming fish by hand was difficult, but with the baskets, it became much easier. They just had to spot a fish, plunge the basket down to trap it, and then grab it.
With the baskets, Jian Mo’s efficiency greatly improved—each attempt was almost a guaranteed catch.
The children, with their quick reflexes and sharp eyes, were even better at it than him. In no time, they had caught several large, wriggling fish.
Jian Mo strung the fish together by threading a rope through their gills, creating a long line of fresh fish.
Looking at this string of plump fish, Jian Mo felt a sense of accomplishment.
Though the children weren’t fans of eating fish, they were thrilled by the successful catches.
They continued walking upstream, catching fish as they went. By the time the sun was beginning to set, they had used up all the rope they had brought.
Jian Mo called out to them, “That’s enough. Let’s stop and head back.”
The children protested, still full of enthusiasm:
“Let’s catch a few more, Brother Jian Mo—there are still fish up ahead.”
“Yeah, it’s not even dark yet. Hunters only return when it’s completely dark.”
“Brother Jian Mo, if you’re tired, take a rest on that rock. We’ll keep catching fish!”
Seeing how engrossed they were, Jian Mo tried to reason with them, “If we catch any more, we won’t be able to finish eating them. Let’s save some for next time.”
Jiang Xing stared at the fish and declared, “I can help eat some.”
The other children reluctantly agreed, saying they could help eat some too.
Jian Mo couldn’t help but laugh, “If you like it so much, we can come back another time.”
As the evening grew colder, the river water became chilly, and a strong wind blew through the valley. Staying in the cold water for too long wouldn’t be good for their health. Moreover, most of the fish in the calm section of the river had been caught. The rest would require venturing into deeper, faster-moving waters.
With a gentle but firm tone, Jian Mo insisted they head back.
The children, still somewhat afraid of the adults, reluctantly climbed out of the water, washed their feet, and followed him back.
When they returned to the village, Jian Mo gave the children some of the fish they had caught, letting them feed the Winged Beast.
Jiang Xing held a string of fish hesitantly and asked, “Brother Jian Mo, are you really going to eat this fish?”
Jian Mo nodded with a smile, “Yes, if it’s prepared properly, it won’t taste bad.”
Jiang Xing handed over the fish. “In that case, take it. My dad says food should be eaten by beastmen first, and only then used for other purposes.”
The other children also pushed their fish towards him, “Brother Jian Mo, you eat it.”
Jian Mo’s heart warmed at their gesture. “Alright, I’ll use the scraps to feed the Winged Beast, but we’ll save the best parts for ourselves. I should be able to prepare these by tomorrow afternoon after I finish gathering. Make sure to come by then.”
Jiang Xing shook his head firmly, “No, thank you, Brother Jian Mo. We won’t eat it!”
The other children also shook their heads.
Jian Mo laughed, “You can come by tomorrow to watch. Who knows, you might change your mind.”
The children hesitated.
Jian Mo encouraged them, “Come on, after all, you caught these fish yourselves. At least watch how I prepare them—it might be interesting.”
Reluctantly, the children agreed.
Jian Mo asked them to help carry the fish back to Wu Jiong’s place. He then fetched a shell knife and a large basin, setting up in the courtyard to clean the fish.
He only filleted the meat from both sides, leaving the fish heads, tails, and innards in the basin. Once cleaned, he planned to give these scraps to the Winged Beast as a snack. Given how it had even gnawed on grass roots, it surely wouldn’t mind eating fish offcuts.
When Wu Jiong returned, he found Jian Mo sitting on a small stool, surrounded by a crowd of children, skillfully cleaning fish.
Upon seeing the fish, Wu Jiong’s first reaction was to frown. “Why did you bring back fish? They don’t taste good.”
It was rare to see him frown like this. Jian Mo looked up with a smile, “Don’t worry, the way I prepare them will be different.”
Wu Jiong’s frown didn’t ease. “I have plenty of beast meat here.”
Jian Mo smiled. “I know, but fish has a completely different flavor. Once I’m done, you’ll see—it’ll taste great.”
Wu Jiong stared at the fish for a while longer but eventually stopped objecting. Instead, he came over to help fillet the fish.
Seeing him working with a furrowed brow, Jian Mo nudged him with his elbow. “I can handle it.”
Wu Jiong replied, “If I help, it’ll be done faster.”
Jian Mo laughed and tried to shoo him away. “But don’t you hate the fishy smell?”
Wu Jiong simply said, “I’ll endure it.”
Jian Mo suggested, “How about you sharpen the shell knives instead? They’ve gotten dull after all this use.”
Reluctantly, Wu Jiong took a basin full of shell knives and headed to the river to sharpen them.
Today’s catch was quite substantial, so Jian Mo processed the fish rather roughly, simply scaling them and filleting the sides. Because of this efficient method, he finished before nightfall.
While he was working, the hunters and gatherers returned. Someone shouted that it was time to distribute meat in the open space, so Jian Mo sent Jiang Xing to fetch their share while he continued with the fish.
By the time all the fish were cleaned, he had a large basin of fillets and another filled with fish heads, bones, and innards.
Jian Mo took the basin with the scraps to feed the Winged Beast.
As expected, the Winged Beast wasn’t picky at all—it eagerly grabbed the fish scraps with its claws and devoured them with gusto, occasionally lifting its head to chirp at Jian Mo: “Chirp, chirp!”
Seeing it so happy, Jian Mo laughed and said, “Maybe I should just name you ‘Chirpy’ since you’re always making that sound.”
The Winged Beast responded enthusiastically, “Chirp, chirp!”
Jian Mo cut the fish meat into large chunks, and laid them out on leaves to air dry.
Before going to bed, he collected the dried fish, then soaked it in fruit wine, coarse salt, and spices to marinate.
Wu Jiong didn’t quite understand what he was doing, but he didn’t object either. Instead, he helped out on the side.
The next morning, before heading out to gather, Jian Mo took the fish that had marinated overnight and laid it out to dry again. He asked Jiang Xing and a few other children to keep an eye on it, making sure no birds stole it.
The children eagerly agreed.
They sniffed the air and noticed that the fish smelled completely different from the day before.
The marinated fish emitted a rich and complex aroma, far more enticing than the raw fish’s pungent odor. This sparked a bit of curiosity and anticipation in the children—they began to think that maybe fish wasn’t so bad after all.
Jian Mo kept his promise, and upon returning from gathering that evening, he immediately began preparing the fish.
Since Wu Jiong didn’t like the smell of fish, Jian Mo moved a stone pot to the open area outside and built a temporary stove. He planned to fry the fish there.
As evening approached and the tribe began to relax, many people came over to watch what Jian Mo was up to.
“That’s a lot of beast fat—are you frying fish? Won’t it splatter everywhere?”
“I’ve tried frying fish before, but the meat just falls apart. The whole pot ends up smelling fishy, and you can’t reuse the oil. It’s such a waste.”
“But Jian Mo’s fish is different—just smell it! It’s so fragrant!”
Jian Mo calmly stoked the fire and heated the oil.
When small bubbles started to form in the pot, he used long wooden chopsticks to carefully lower the fish pieces in, one by one.
These fish chunks had been dried out all day, so their surfaces were completely dry and slightly shriveled.
As he placed them in the pot, there was no splattering at all. The pot was surprisingly silent.
The crowd watched as the fish gradually turned golden brown, releasing a delicious aroma. Their eyes were filled with amazement.
Jian Mo had prepared a large, dry wooden basin, and as the fish finished frying, he placed them inside.
The children could barely contain their excitement, practically drooling at the smell.
Jian Mo used his chopsticks to pick up pieces of fish for them. “You can start eating, but be careful—it’s hot.”
The children eagerly accepted the fish pieces, passing them hand to hand as they blew on them to cool down. “Phew, phew… it smells so good!”
The adults, intrigued, also wanted to try.
Smiling, Jian Mo distributed fish to the adults as well, knowing he had plenty to go around.
The adults, with their higher heat tolerance, popped the fish into their mouths immediately.
They were quickly taken by surprise—these fish tasted far better than they’d imagined.
The fish had been partially dried before frying, which made the outside crispy while keeping the inside firm and flavorful. The result was delicious, without even a hint of the fishy taste they expected.
Everyone’s eyes lit up with delight.
Especially the children, who were amazed that fish could be this good. They gazed at Jian Mo with newfound admiration.
After frying all the fish once, Jian Mo put them back into the oil for a second round. This double-frying made the fish even drier and crispier.
As the crowd watched and ate, they couldn’t stop praising him.
When all the fish was finally done, Jian Mo brought out large leaves he had prepared earlier. He wrapped a big portion of fish for each child who had helped catch them and a smaller portion for those who had watched over the drying fish, letting them take it home.
The children hadn’t expected Jian Mo to give them so much fish. They were overjoyed, shouting, “Thank you, Brother Jian Mo!” as they ran home with their bundles of fish.
By now, the sky had completely darkened. Dinner that night consisted of fried fish chunks, meatball soup, and stir-fried wild vegetables with dried meat.
Jian Mo turned to Wu Jiong, smiling. “So, how’s the fish? Not bad, right?”
Wu Jiong, his eyes shining, responded earnestly, “It’s much better than I expected.”
Jian Mo lifted his bowl of soup. “The fried fish can be stored for a long time. We can eat it over the next few days.”
Wu Jiong nodded. “I’ll trust your judgment. Should we go catch more fish tomorrow?”
Jian Mo shook his head. “Not for now. If we eat the same thing too often, we’ll get tired of it. Let’s wait a while before catching more.”
Wu Jiong agreed. “When you do decide to catch fish again, let me know. I’ll go with you.”
