The Infrastructure’s Guide ☆ 15

After the day they hunted, it rained for several days in a row.

It's challenging to go hunting on a rainy day. Meng Sheng took advantage of the rain to go out after he smoked the rest of the meat.

By the time he returned, he was already drenched. He retrieved the wood sticks he had chopped up and the hemp he had picked up a few days earlier and washed in the creek. He laid them beside the fireplace.

After soaking them for a few days, the skin of the hemp had softened. He sat cross-legged, pulled the skin off like a thread, washed and dried them one by one over the flame. After everything else had been processed, the front was already dry. He separated it into two strands and rubbed them in his palm, and after a while he rubbed out a long strand.

The indigenous tribes' inhabitants used vines to tie things together, but vines were not as flexible as ropes. When he saw hemp in the jungle, he couldn't help but bring some back.

After rubbing the hemp rope, he cleaned the two wooden sticks with thick fingers. He had intended to chop yellow bamboo, but after searching for a long time, he couldn't locate it. When he went hunting, he had never seen it before. He was fortunate to come across an old willow tree by the water, so he cut off the roots and returned to replace the yellow bamboo.

Willow was much more durable than other trees, and it was a perfect material to make what he wanted. He cut the branches, opened two notches at either end, tied the twisted hemp rope to the notches, bent the branches, and pulled the rope as tight as he could. After the bow was roughly formed, a little fire was kindled and the branches were roasted in the middle to correct the shape.

After making the rough bow, he smoothed it with a knife to make it look more pleasing. Finally, he sharpened the front part and opened a slight gap in the back so the bowstring could jam with the remaining raw branches.

He couldn't wait to try it out once the bowstring was ready. He drove the arrow onto the string and pulled back the hemp rope. After the arrow had enough power, it flew out of the cave with a swish.

Meng Sheng rushed to the entrance of the cave to verify. The wooden stick was stuck in the ground outside the cave. Due to his basic archery skills, nothing was hit.

However, this did not dampen his enthusiasm for the bow and arrow he had made. He even overlooked the rain outside and went to Qiu Juan's cave with his bow and arrow.

He hadn't seen Qiu Juan for several days after gathering in his cave, but Aunt Luo came by to send wild vegetables.

He smelled meat from afar, they were probably preparing lunch.

"Aunt Luo, are you there?"

The people in the cave heard the voice and quickly emerged. Normally, the young sub-females with quick legs would appear first, but today, Luo was the first.

The old sub- female smiled when he saw him, "Meng Sheng, why are you here?"

"Oh, I want to find Qiu Juan."

"He hasn't come back yet after he went out."

Meng Sheng's brow furrowed, and he said, "Going out on a rainy day?"

"It's pouring outside. Come on in. You're soaked to the bone. Aunt Luo also made the bone soup like you showed." Luo extended an invitation to him.

"No, Aunt Luo, next time. I'll go back and make lunch first," Meng Sheng quickly shook his head.

Before Luo could say again, he waved his hand and turned back into the rain.

He came suddenly, if he did go in to eat with them, he would be considered rude. Furthermore, if he went to eat, he would be taking advantage of two weaker ones. It was completely different from when they came to eat at his cave where meat was plentiful.

He was so excited at that moment that he rushed over without thinking of the time. He had no idea what Qiu Juan was doing outside in this bad weather.

Back in the cave, he roasted the remaining red peppers until they were crispy. After the peppers were crisp, he ground them up with a stone to make pepper powder, which would later be useful for roasting meat.

He had only these peppers left. Fortunately, the lemons and peppers planted outside the cave survived, but he planned to wait until the peppers were ripe and old before collecting seeds and scattering them directly in the spring.

Through his daily barbecue eating, he had mastered his grilling skills and heat control to achieve the tenderness he needed.

After consuming a large piece of meat, he cut up several small pieces of meat and went out to feed the chicken.

The rain had been pouring heavily for the past few nights. Although the chicken coop was covered, Meng Sheng, when he took the meat out, discovered that rain was leaking in. The pheasant inside was nesting. It saw him spreading the feed, but didn't get up to feed.

It always flopped over when the food was given. It was strange to see him so sluggish. He opened the door of the chicken coop and was about to go in to see if the pheasant was sick when he heard the voice of Qiu Juan.

"Meng Sheng!"

He straightened up and saw Qiu Juan running towards him, holding a pheasant in one hand and some peppers in the other. The young man grinned and flashed his white teeth.

Seeing him, the cold raindrops striking Meng Sheng seemed to warm up.

"I brought you a pheasant I caught!" He hurried over to Meng Sheng and handed him the pheasant, its feathers were still wet.

The pheasant seemed to have been in the rain too long, for it held its head motionless and let the two of them touch it.

Meng Sheng picked up the chicken and couldn't tell exactly what he felt. He only knew that Qiu Juan's hair was soaked and stuck to his shoulders, and he needed to dry it. He stared at Qiu Juan for a moment, internally struggling, before holding his hand back to stroke the young boy's head.

"I came to see you earlier. Aunt Luo said you went hunting."

Qiu Juan nodded, "On rainy days, pheasants hide in their nests. They are easy to catch alive."

Meng Sheng remained silent, but his eyes narrowed slightly.

"What's wrong? You ... don't like it?" Qiu Juan 's grin vanished as he pondered why the male in front of him was so odd.

"No, I like it very much."

Qiu Juan was once again overjoyed, "Then don't hesitate and put it in the chicken pen. I also found these peppers when catching the pheasants and picked them for you."

"Thank you," Meng Sheng said quietly as he stood at the door of the chicken coop.

"What's with the thanks? Didn't you say we are friends and you didn't have to be so polite?" While he was saying that, Qiu Juan saw the pheasant in the chicken pen and rushed in saying, "How strange your pheasant is, it doesn't move."

Qiu Juan thought it was strange and went to pick up the squatting pheasant on the nest before calling out. "Meng Sheng, come and see, the little pheasants will hatch soon!"

Meng Sheng recovered and entered as well. As hoped, the eggs in the chicken coop had broken shells, and one could see the sharp beaks of the chicks inside. He immediately put the pheasant aside and fiddled with the little pheasant that was hatching.

Qiu Juan flicked his hand. "Don't touch it. Your hands are so big. What could you do if you broke them?"

Meng Sheng burst out laughing, "Am I that clumsy?"

Yet he stopped and withdrew his hand.

Qiu Juan fell to his knees and looked up to the roof. "It's all leaking inside. Don't let little pheasants get wet. Let's put some grass on top of it."

"I was about to do it.”

Qiu Juan was the first to leave the chicken coop, and went to gather grass.

Meng Sheng hurriedly stopped him. "Qiu Juan, it's raining and you are all soaked. Go inside my cave first and warm up.

"It's okay, the rain isn’t heavy."

Meng Sheng smiled helplessly, gazing at the sub-female who was helping him to and fro; he was a little surprised, thinking that Qiu Juan was very polite to him at first, always maintaining a cautious and polite distance, but now he was aiding him in catching birds and picking peppers. Qiu Juan seemed to have finally accepted him and the distance between them had decreased.

A child like Qiu Juan, will initially close his heart and build a wall. When anyone confronted him, he would drive them out, but if he really cared for him, he would slowly warm up. Once it happens, he will care about them regardless his own well-being.

In a nutshell, he was a good child.

Qiu Juan choked as he stared at the pheasant he had caught after the two had finished piling leaves and grass on the top of the coop's roof.

"What's wrong? If you regret it now, you can still have it back," Meng Sheng said as he bent aside and patted him on the back.

“What’s there to regret? You think I’m so stingy? I went to catch the pheasant just for you.”

"Huh?" Meng Sheng raised his eyebrows.

Qiu Juan coughed dryly as he noticed there was something wrong in his words. “Then, I have bought the thinks to you and I’ll go back first.”

After speaking, he turned around and ran, but Meng Sheng quickly grabbed his wrist.

"Wait, I have something to give you!"

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