Chapter 106: Chapter 106: Chang Xia, Long Time No See

“Bai Qing, where’s Chen Rong?”

Chang Xia was anxious, glancing repeatedly toward the bathroom.

When she saw Bai Qing come out, she hurried over, grabbed his arm, and asked in a low voice.

Bai Qing’s face was pale and his expression wasn’t great. “He’s bathing. He’ll be out once he’s done, don’t worry. Chang Xia, do you have any sour fruit left? Give me one.”

After the ordeal in the bathroom, Bai Qing felt he needed something sour to calm his nerves.

Chang Xia paused in surprise.

She knew Bai Qing—he hated anything sour, especially sour fruit.

“I do,” Chang Xia didn’t ask further. She took a sour fruit from a vine basket by the kitchen cupboard, washed it, and handed it to Bai Qing. She asked gently, “Bai Qing, why do you want sour fruit all of a sudden?”

“To calm my nerves,” Bai Qing replied, still visibly shaken.

Su Ye had talked about parasite poison, had described the bugs.

But seeing it with his own eyes was something else entirely, and Bai Qing couldn’t help but feel a lingering fear.

Still, he managed to keep it together and didn’t throw up in the bathroom.

“Are the parasite bugs really that scary?” Nan Feng came over, curious.

Bai Qing’s mouth twitched. “...They’re disgusting.”

When Su Ye extracted the mother parasite, Bai Qing got a clear look at it.

He couldn’t imagine the pain Chen Rong must have endured.

The blood-red mother parasite was about half a finger long, its body covered in tiny, blister-like sacs that looked like suction cups. Bai Qing couldn’t help but wonder if those sacs were filled with eggs.

The more he thought about it, the more nauseated he felt, so he quickly broke off a piece of the sour fruit and stuffed it in his mouth, using the intense sourness to suppress the urge to gag.

“Chang Xia, long time no see!”

Just then, Chen Rong emerged from the bathroom.

His handsome face was lit up with a gentle smile as he waved at Chang Xia.

Living under the same roof, yet rarely seeing each other.

The poison was finally cured. Shen Rong gazed greedily at Chang Xia’s face, his smile growing even brighter.

Chang Xia looked up and returned his smile, her own radiant. “Shen Rong—”

Everything was understood without words. The two exchanged a knowing smile.

“Shen Rong, do you want a sour fruit?”

“Yes, give me one.”

Their conversation flowed effortlessly, perfectly in sync.

Even Bai Qing, just watching from the side, felt a bit nauseated by their sweetness; for Shen Rong, who was actually involved, it must have been even worse. However, Shen Rong was much older and, thanks to his experiences, quickly adjusted his emotions and didn’t let them show as openly as Bai Qing did.

“Here, have a piece of maple sugar.”

Chang Xia opened the cupboard and took out a delicate ceramic jar.

Inside was half a jar of maple sugar. Chang Xia took out two pieces and handed one to each of them.

The tribe distributed some maple sugar and maple syrup to everyone, but most of it was stored away in the tribe’s caves.

Because of Su Ye and Bai Qing, Chang Xia’s family had received quite a bit.

Adding a bit of sugar to certain dishes made them taste even better, so Chang Xia kept half a jar of maple sugar in the kitchen cupboard. With Shen Rong and Ya Dong busy for days, Chang Xia’s family’s cave dwelling had been transformed.

Once the corridor and eaves were finished, it would be a perfect courtyard-style cave home.

Now that the first spring rain had stopped, she figured there would soon be another wave of tribespeople coming to visit.

“Chang Xia, give me one!” Nan Feng reached out her hand. All the maple sugar and syrup in her house had been taken away by Mu Qin, who said Nan Feng was too much of a sweet tooth and would never have enough. Now, Nan Feng only got a ration once a month, and when it was gone, she had to wait for the next month.

Chang Xia wasn’t stingy—everyone present got a piece.

During the early spring rains, Shen Rong had been busy making furniture and renovating the cave dwelling.

Likewise, Chang Xia hadn’t rested either.

She wandered around White Lake, gathering wild vegetables and hunting chickens and ducks. She also found a patch of wasteland north of White Lake, where the thatch grass grew especially thick.

Maple sap could only be collected from early March to the end of April.

But thatch roots were different—they could be dug up almost all year round.

And thatch roots could also be used to make sugar.

Of course, sugar made from thatch roots wasn’t as fragrant or sweet as maple sugar or syrup.

Usually, thatch roots dug up in autumn and winter were sweeter, since they stored more sucrose then; roots from other seasons weren’t as sweet.

“Nan Feng, if you want sugar… go dig up some thatch roots from the wasteland north of White Lake, and I’ll make sugar for you. Thatch root sugar tastes pretty good, and thatch is everywhere—there’s plenty of it.”

As soon as she said this,

Everyone in the kitchen looked up.

Before, Chang Xia had said that sugarcane and beets could be used to make sugar.

Red maple trees, on the other hand, were rare and hard to come by.

Now, suddenly, Chang Xia was saying that even thatch roots could be used to make sugar—Nan Feng and the others were stunned.

“Don’t be so surprised. Sugar made from thatch roots is just average,” Chang Xia explained. Actually, you could make sugar from corn or wild fruits too, but you’d have to add white sugar or something else, otherwise it wouldn’t taste great.

She knew Nan Feng craved sweets, but the tribe’s supply of maple sugar and syrup was limited.

There simply wasn’t enough to satisfy Nan Feng and the others’ sweet tooth.

That’s why Chang Xia suggested Nan Feng dig up some thatch roots and she’d help make sugar.

“I’ll go dig up some thatch roots from the wasteland north of White Lake later—”

“Nan Feng, count me in.”

“I’ll go too.”

The tribe didn’t lack food, so there was no rush to go hunting or foraging.

Besides, sugar was a huge temptation for Nan Feng and the others. And while they were at the wasteland north of White Lake, they could also hunt and gather.

With Chang Xia’s guidance, the tribe no longer insisted on hunting only large animals.

Now, chickens, ducks, rabbits, and other small animals were also on their radar.

As they chatted, Chang Xia asked Shen Rong to slaughter two chickens. One was for making soup for Su Ye; as for Shen Rong, he’d keep drinking pork liver soup. For the others, Chang Xia planned to stew pork lungs.

Last time, when they butchered a pig, they hadn’t eaten the lungs.

Later that evening, they’d stewed the lungs with bone broth until they were soft and tender.

Everyone agreed it tasted great.

After that, whenever the tribe butchered other animals, they’d send some offal to Ye Nuan. The rest, aside from what their own families ate, was shared with any tribe members willing to try it.

Gradually, everyone in the tribe got used to eating offal.

These pork lungs had been brought over by Nan Feng, who wanted Chang Xia to help stew them.

Chang Xia looked through the basket of seasonings by the cupboard, planning to make a different kind of stewed pork lung. To make pork lungs tasty, they had to be cleaned thoroughly and stewed until soft and tender.

Most people rarely ate pork lungs.

First, because they’re hard to clean and often dirty.

Second, if not cooked well, they taste bad.

If it weren’t for today being the day Shen Rong recovered from poisoning, Chang Xia wouldn’t have bothered.

“Nan Feng, go wash the pork lungs—make sure to scrub them several times with fruit powder,” Chang Xia instructed. Soon, everyone would be heading out to dig thatch roots, so Chang Xia started preparing lunch.

She calmly organized everyone’s tasks, then shooed Shen Rong and Bai Qing back to the cave to rest.

But Chang Xia knew there was no way they’d actually rest.

After all, the corridor and eaves of the cave dwelling weren’t finished yet, and now that the spring rain had stopped, Shen Rong was probably eager to get to work and finish them. Once that was done, the only thing left would be the courtyard.

“Shen Rong, shall we get started?” Ya Dong asked.

They’d built the cave dwelling from scratch, step by step.

Now, looking at the beautiful courtyard-style cave home, everyone was excited.

Shen Rong nodded. “Let’s do it. Let’s finish the corridor and eaves as soon as possible.”

Once this place was finished, Ya Dong and the others could go home and copy the design for their own cave dwellings—no need to rack their brains, just follow the template.