Chapter 70: Chapter 70: Wooden Barrels

A warm breeze brushed her face.

Sitting in front of the western cave, they chatted idly while grinding white nuts.

“Changxia, what’s that pile next to the rosewood?”

“Duck feathers.”

“Duck feathers? What are you keeping those for?”

Changxia smiled mysteriously, looking very secretive. She had her own plans for the duck feathers, but now wasn’t the time to reveal them.

Besides, she didn’t have enough yet.

“You’ll find out later. Nuanchun, if you see anyone in the tribe catch wild ducks or big white geese, let them know to save the feathers for me—I’ll need them.”

Nuanchun nodded, still a bit confused.

“What about chicken feathers?”

Changxia shook her head. “No need for chicken feathers.”

Chicken feathers could be used for dusters or shuttlecocks. If she got bored during the rainy season, she could make some shuttlecocks to pass the time—but she’d already packed her schedule full, so she probably wouldn’t have time.

Maybe, if she found a spare moment, she’d make a few for the beast cubs to burn off their endless energy, so they wouldn’t turn the tribe upside down every day.

Gen and the elders had agreed to expand the tribe, probably because it was getting too crowded.

Every day, the beast cubs wore them out. With more space, even if the cubs got rowdy, at least they wouldn’t be right underfoot.

Soon, Changxia and Nuanchun, with the three little ones, had ground two big baskets of white nuts.

“Let’s go home,” Changxia said. “Time to get dinner ready! We’re going to Red Leaf Ridge tonight, so we need to eat early and get the torches and baskets ready.”

She didn’t know exactly how many people would be going to Red Leaf Ridge tonight—that would depend on Gen and the elders.

But knowing the beastfolk, it would probably be a big crowd. Even after a whole day of hard work, they were still full of energy at night.

And the delicious maple sap from the red maples was hard to resist.

To get a taste of maple sugar as soon as possible, the whole tribe might turn out.

Thinking of this, Changxia walked back to her den with a spring in her step.

With everyone working together, how could the tribe not thrive?

“Changxia-jie, can we go to Red Leaf Ridge too?” Shanque asked, skipping along beside her, head held high.

Wuliu and Luyou didn’t say anything, but their eager eyes said it all.

Before Changxia could answer, Nuanchun flicked Shanque on the forehead, rolled her eyes, and said, “If I can’t go, do you little radishes think you can? Don’t forget, you’re usually not even allowed to come to Baihu. This time, it’s only because the tribe is expanding that you got a chance to come here and play.”

Both Changxia and Nuanchun had grown up from beast cubs themselves.

How could they not see through Shanque and the others’ little schemes?

“Sigh!”

Three childish sighs sounded in unison.

Which made Changxia and Nuanchun burst out laughing.

Small in size, big in mischief.

“You’re still young… When you grow up, not only will you be able to go to Hongye Ridge, you can even visit the Qinghai Plateau, or even the East Sea!” Changxia smiled, tempting them.

As expected.

Whether it was Shanque or Wuliu and Luyou, they were all drawn in by Changxia’s words.

Living in the Twilight Forest, of course they’d heard of the famous Qinghai Plateau and East Sea. Who wouldn’t long to see the outside world?

Like fledgling eagles spreading their wings, all yearning to soar high.

“Sister Changxia, can we really go to the Qinghai Plateau and the East Sea?”

“The bird tribe is arrogant, the fish tribe aloof, tch!”

Suddenly, Changxia heard Luyou mutter.

She couldn’t help but marvel at how precocious Luyou was—arrogant and aloof, and he really captured the essence of the bird and fish tribes. Those two tribes called the beast tribe “savages,” looked down on them as crude, and never took them seriously.

Likewise.

The beast tribe despised the other two for putting on airs.

“Changxia, Chenrong wants you to start preparing dinner.”

As soon as Changxia returned to the beast den, she heard Nan Feng’s familiar voice outside.

She saw Nan Feng approaching, carrying two wooden barrels.

Unlike ordinary barrels, the ones on Nan Feng’s shoulders looked like lidded wine casks. Seeing these newly made barrels, Changxia’s face lit up with delight.

These barrels were perfect for collecting red maple sap.

“Don’t worry, I’m already on it,” Changxia replied, then asked, “Who made these barrels?”

“Chenrong. He said these are the kind of wine barrels they use in the Western Lands, usually for storing barley wine.” Nan Feng lifted the lid to show Changxia.

The more she looked, the more satisfied Changxia felt.

“Great, really great,” she praised.

Nan Feng set down the barrels, excitedly saying, “Elder Yami has gotten all the tribe elders to help make barrels. I think they’re planning to sweep Hongye Ridge clean.”

The barrels were all the same size and style.

Each could hold about a hundred jin of red maple sap.

Each maple tree usually produces 35–50 liters of sap, and 40 liters of sap can be boiled down to about 1 liter of maple syrup. The red maples at Hongye Ridge are old and have never been tapped before, so the yield should be even higher.

Changxia estimated that red maples over a thousand years old could yield 60–100 liters of sap per tree; those around five hundred years old could yield 50–70 liters; the rest would give about 45–60 liters each.

By that calculation—

The whole Hongye Ridge could produce at least over ten thousand jin of maple syrup.

With over a thousand people in the Heluo tribe, that meant each person could get about ten jin.

Thinking of this, Changxia was thrilled.

Ten jin per person might not sound like much.

But for the Heluo tribe, it was a considerable fortune.

Of course, this was just Changxia’s estimate. The actual yield would only be known once the sap was collected.

“Nan Feng, how many of these round wooden barrels has the tribe made?” Changxia asked.

“Right now, there are a few hundred,” Nan Feng replied.

Changxia was shocked.

“That many—” she asked, “How many people did Elder Yami call in?”

“All the tribe elders, and Xiling and the others, too,” Nan Feng answered.

Xiling was also a beast cub from the tribe.

But he was older than Shanque and the others—thirteen this year. Usually, the elders taught him hunting skills, and sometimes he’d go out with the hunting parties.

“Elder Yami is impressive,” Changxia murmured.

Nan Feng’s comment about the tribe wanting to sweep Hongye Ridge clean wasn’t just empty talk.

Most likely, the tribe really did plan to do just that.

If the tribe really sent over a hundred people to Hongye Ridge, they might just be able to finish collecting all the sap before the rainy season.

That evening, Changxia wasn’t in the mood to fuss over dinner.

She simmered bone broth and roasted some meat.

On the side, she had washed wild vegetables, ready to be blanched in the bone broth as soon as Chenrong returned, so they could eat right away.

As the sun set in the west,

Nan Feng and Nuanchun led Shanque and the other three little ones back to the tribe, while Changxia quietly prepared bone knives and vine baskets. The tribe already had torches in stock; they’d be handed out when they went to Hongye Ridge, so Changxia didn’t need to worry.

Today, Granny Suye and Baiqing hadn’t come by.

The last two barrels of red maple sap weren’t wasted.

While waiting for Chenrong, Changxia poured the sap into clay pots and simmered it over a low flame.

As the pots heated up, the water in the sap gradually evaporated, and the liquid began to thicken. A rich caramel sweetness filled the air.