The Infrastructure’s Guide ☆ 21

Unaware of the jealousy he had caused, Meng Sheng happily followed Zhong Kui who led him deeper into the bamboo grove. Finding the young bamboo, he felt a pang of regret. Had he found it sooner, he would have used it instead of a willow tree to make Qiu Juan a better bow.

As he worked, cutting young bamboo shoots, Zhong Kui noticed his blade shine and asked. "Meng Sheng, how did you make your weapon? It looks much sharper than mine, ah!"

The young woman seemed to be merely curious, therefore he answered while looking at the blade, "This, ah? I found it at the bottom of the cliff. However, it was still rather blunt at the time. I sharpened it in my spare time, not knowing if it would work or not. Fortunately, it did and now it's sharp as this!"

The female didn't doubt: "Then you are quite lucky."

"I guess so."

Zhong Kui kept up the chatter while they worked to pass the time. At some point, she asked. "You seem to be older than A Yang and have already been an adult for a few years… do you have a female you fancy?"

Meng Sheng did not hide: "Yes."

Zhong Kui's hand halted for a second, and then she burst out laughing; it was the first time she had encountered such a frank male: "How come you aren't together?"

Meng Sheng also laughed: "I haven't courted them yet. What about you, do you have a male you like?"

In the face of the open-minded male, Zhong Kui, who had been concealing her feelings from everyone, suddenly wanted to let them out into the sunlight. She nodded her head earnestly.

"You are beautiful and gentle; there is no reason why the man you like would not like you back; so, why are you still single?"

Zhong Kui sighed softly and some sadness rose to her face: "He's not from our tribe and I haven't seen him for years."

Meng Sheng was surprised to learn that Zhong Kui had such a story to tell.

"So," the young female smiled, "If you have someone you like, you should tell them; else, you'll wind up like me."

"I'll tell them when the moment is right." Meng Sheng finished cutting the bamboo, "Let's go back."

After parting with Zhong Kui, Meng Sheng stayed in the cave all afternoon, splitting the bamboo into four halves and peeling off the bamboo skin.

To be honest, he only knew how to prepare the materials and not how to weave the basket itself. It wasn't a skill he needed to learn in the twenty-first century. But, thankfully, he had an easily accessible encyclopedia at his fingertips.

Later in the evening, when the bamboo strips and skins were ready, he dragged them all into the cave and summoned his golden finger [The Infrastructure’s Guide] which held not only a detailed explanation on how to but also played a step by step video.

According to the instruction in the encyclopedia, he first needed to make a square bottom by overlapping bamboo skins. Make sure they hold together. And start viewing the thin bamboo strips, twisting along the sides, slowly shaping a bamboo basket.

When he was finally done, his back was all uncomfortable and aching, and his hard labor and patience resulted in a crooked and unsightly basket. But, at the very least, it held together and didn't break when he exhorted some strength. It was adequate for his first attempt.

Satisfied, he put his new basket away and went to bed early. He had promised to help the Zhong sibling early tomorrow morning.

While the food sharing was usually held in the afternoon, some preparations were necessary early. Not to mention, there were those tribe members who were especially poor and waited very early since the distribution happened only twice a month. Also, there were those who simply came for the fun.

Meng Sheng when out when it was still dark outside. Because even the largest stone pots were too small to feed everyone, he'll have to boil several batches of cooked food, which will take a lot of time.

At first, he believed to be the first to arrive, before he noted the three butchered big beasts and cleanly swept place.

Zhong Yang greeted him, "Meng Sheng, you're here!"

Meng Sheng returned the greeting.

"I stayed up all night, but only cooked half of the meat. I was worried that if we only started cooking in the morning, we wouldn't be able to finish by the time we needed to eat."

"You're overworking yourself. We could have prepared just enough to give everyone a taste. If they like it, they may take it home and cook it themselves."

"How can that work? You are aware that most caves lack stone pots? Only caves with strong males do."

"Right." Meng Sheng had completely forgotten about it. "So, having tasted the boiled meat, they won't be able to eat it again until they have a stone pot?"

"Father said to see whether people would like this sort of cooked meal; if they don't, forget it; but if there are many people who do, we'll have some powerful males make a large stone pot and set them in the community cave. Anyone who wants to eat boiled meat can bring their own salt and prepare it."

Meng Sheng nodded: "Sounds good."

Zhong Kui brought out a few large pieces of meat. "Come, don't just talk. Help me wash and divide the meat. I'll bring more."

Meng Sheng didn't mind following Zhong Kui's prompt and began washing.

Chief's cave was in a good location, having a nearby mountain spring with freshwater, thus the job was easy.

While they were working, another person joined them.

Qiu Juan raced to the food distribution site first thing in the morning. He came not for the food; his family had recently been able to hunt enough for themselves; rather, he came because Zhong Yang invited him to help. He couldn't refuse to give back after having been aided in the past by the tribe's food sharing.

[TN: Misunderstanding on its way 5… 4... 3…2…]

When he got to the food distribution spot, he spotted Meng Sheng on the path from afar. At the moment, Meng Sheng had his back to him and was washing meat with Zhong Kui. When he went hunting yesterday, he overheard the tribesmen discussing Meng Sheng and Zhong Kui hunting together. He was surprised and skeptical because he had never seen them together before. And yet, here they were, laughing and talking, appearing fairly familiar with each other.

Meng Sheng was so handsome and Zhong Kui was beautiful as well. They'd form an excellent pair and together they would benefit the tribe. Qiu Juan believed that, yet his heart wasn't at ease. It felt uncomfortable.

"Qiu Juan, you are here! Don't just stand there, come over here!" Zhong Kui spotted him and waved for him to come.

Meng Sheng looked up and met Qiu Juan's eyes. Qiu Juan quickly shifted his gaze and walked over to greet Zhong Kui.

Watching the sub-female calmly walk over and crouch down to help, Meng Sheng raised an eyebrow, "Why didn't you greet me?"

Qiu Juan hesitated for a moment before greeting, "Meng Sheng," with polite discomfort.

Meng Sheng rubbed the tip of his nose with the back of his palm. It was better not to receive a greeting with such an attitude.

Zhong Kui gazed at their odd expressions, then bowed her head and smiled, but said nothing.

With more persons, the meat was swiftly prepared and boiled.

As a thank you for coming to help, Zhong Yang handed Qiu Juan a large piece of the leg in advance.

"No need, I can hunt now, give it to those who need it more."

"Hey, why not? You also worked." Zhong Yang insisted and tried to shove it into his hands. "Besides," he lowered his voice and added, "This was caught by Meng Sheng and there are two more that need to be divaided."

Qiu Juan's eyes widened. "Two more?"

Zhong Yang's eyes gleamed. "Meng Sheng is amazing, so you must take some back."

Qiu Juan knew Meng Sheng was formidable, but he didn't anticipate the male could hunt three wild beasts at once. This undoubtedly made him feel even more embarrassed for letting Meng Sheng help him previously hunt. Still, he couldn't figure out why Zhong Yang had brought it up, and what Meng Sheng's greatness had to do with the fact that he had to bring back meat.

"Fine, then, I'll take some back."

"Good."

The tribespeople soon gathered at the food distribution ground, as did other males with their fresh catch.

Unlike Zhong Yang, who was busy greeting the natives who came, Meng Sheng had nothing to do after dealing with the meat, so he relaxed and watched the tribe's bustle.

Shortly afterward, he noticed Qiu Juan emerge from the cave and lean on the large stones on the outskirts of the crowd. He stared at him for a while before walking over.

"I've recently started practicing my archery, and while it's not as amazing as yours, I can still shoot down some animals."

Qiu Juan glanced at the male leaning next to him. He didn't know why Meng Sheng said that suddenly, but he replied honestly, "I know."

Meng Sheng was irritated when he heard it: "You know, and yet you still avoid me!"

"I…" Qiu Juan was usually a direct and honest person, thus Meng Sheng revealing his recent behavior pricked him twice as hard. He couldn't stick his neck and say, no and deny him, so he simply kept his mouth shut.

He couldn't figure out why Meng Sheng was acting so strange today.

When Meng Sheng noticed Qiu Juan look away, as if he had no intention of paying any more attention to him, he felt a bit angry.

He gently tugged on Qiu Juan's hide. "Let's go hunting another day; don't hide from me, alright?"

Qiu Juan's gaze moved.

He hadn't had much interaction with many males. Kong Jia was a self-sufficient and steady male, whereas Zhong Yang was a friendly and strong-willed male. He'd never met a male like Meng Sheng… a male who would lower his voice to sound coquettish.

His mind buzzed, and he hastily pushed Meng Sheng's hand away, saying: "Let's talk about it another day." And he was gone like the breeze.

As Meng Sheng watched the sub-female flee, a deep sense of frustration rose in his heart.

Was it because he didn't grasp the right mood, or was the sub-female just uninterested in him?

No, how could he remain unmoved when a handsome male showed so much interest? If he truly felt nothing, he wouldn't have fleed! [TN: Meng Sheng, that is how creepsters think.]

In the end, Meng Sheng concluded that either Qiu Juan missed his hint and misinterpreted something, or he was actually disinterested in him.

While pondering, he was kicking surrounding stones, utterly oblivious to when the unusual silence covered the food distribution grounds.

"Meng Sheng, what are you doing here! Hurry up and listen, my father will announce the good news!"

Zhong Yang spotted an agitated male in a rocky nook and dragged him out.

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