The Infrastructure’s Guide Chapter 10

Qiu Juan walked in front of Meng Sheng on the road between the caves, frequently turning back to see the male carrying the stone pot.

Meng Sheng frowned when he saw him staring back three times in a row, unsure if he was pleased or unhappy.

In the end, he expressed helplessly. “Walk carefully.”

Qiu Juan was delighted, but a little troubled when he learned that the stone pot was for his cave. After all, the amount of effort required to chisel a stone pot was exaggerated. It was unimaginable how difficult it was to make a pot with dull stone tools.

If it were any easier, he would have long ago begun making the stone pot he desired.

Qiu Juan muttered. "When did my mom ask you to chisel the stone pot? He didn't tell me anything."

"Aunt Luo spotted one in my cave. We discussed it, and I mentioned in passing that I could chisel another when I had nothing else to do."

"It took you a lot of time."

Meng Sheng smiled, but did not specify how long.

The two arrived at the cave's entrance.

At the time, Luo was sitting in the cave with a piece of animal skin on his lap, as if he were making an animal skin skirt. He looked up in surprise when he saw the two of them enter.

“Meng Sheng, you really struck the stone! And it’s already done?”

"It's done, Aunt Luo sees where it's meant to go, and I'll help you build the pedestal.”

Luo Cai had merely joked, not expecting anybody to do anything for them on the spur of the moment. This step was much too strong! He was so overjoyed that he didn't know where to place his hands and feet, so he quickly wrapped the animal skins on his lap into a ball and handed it to Qiu Juan.

"This, this… we really troubled you!"

Meng Sheng put down the stone pot first. “No trouble. There’s no point in being idle in the cave.”

Luo Cai and Qiu Juan had no experience positioning stone pots, so he went outside to look for the particular stones on his own. He fitted some flat stones to the stone pot and placed it in Luo's specified location.

He grasped the two sides of the stone pot and gently shook it twice. Seeing that the stone pot was not prone to falling, he told the mother and son, "It's done!"

Luo Cai's expression was filled with gratitude. "Meng Sheng, thank you very much; Qiu Juan's wish has been fulfilled, and he will no longer be drooling about the stone pot in the Chief’s Cave!"

Qiu Juan had gone out with a bamboo tube to fetch some freshwater. He wanted to offer it to quench Meng Sheng's thirst, but returning he heard his mother teasing him, so he raised his voice. "Mother!"

"Haha, this child is embarrassed!"

Meng Sheng drank half a tube of water and stood there watching, mother and son interaction.

Qiu Juan turned his head sideways, but his lips were curled in a smile.

"Is that the reason why Qiu Juan declined to go to the Chiefs Cave at the food distribution day? The child has very thin skin."

"I'm an adult, not a child!”

Qiu Juan felt worse about Meng Sheng's comments than he did about his mother's, but he dismissed both and went to use the new stone pot.

Luo looked at the person who had been mad, and said to Meng Sheng. "Qiu Juan enjoys taking baths, but the water in the river is so cold. It’s now more convenient with a stone pot." [TN: Aunt Luo, too much info, there’s limit how much you should embarrassed your children. XD]

"Aside from boiling water, you also could boil meat."

Luo Cai's face lit up. "Is this the meat you gave us the last time?"

Meng Sheng nodded: "When boiling the meat, season it with salt to better the flavor. Add more salt if the meat was boiled in a lot of water. Put a little less if there was less water. After the meat is cooked, you can also drink the remaining broth. You would be healthier if you eat salt-cooked foods.”

Meng Sheng understood that Aunt Luo was the one who normally cooked, so he shared his wealth of experience with him. The two were speaking vehemently. Qiu Juan put a few red berries in his mouth as they talked. Meng Sheng noticed it and was enticed by the red berries near his lips, and he wanted to eat one as well. When he wasn't sad, those amber eyes were bright and agile, and especially attractive.

He wickedly snatched the berries from his lips.

For a brief second, Qiu Juan was stunned. "I've already eaten that."

Meng Sheng's eyes twitched. What was he doing right in front of the boy's mother? So he hastily said, “I thought you would share them with me."

He took another berry from the sub-female and returned the one that had been bitten.

As Meng Sheng nibbled on the berries, Luo said lovingly. "Qiu Juan picked them. I don’t let him go hunting because of his injury. He just returned after picking wild berries and vegetables.”

"I just got some from Zhong Yang this morning. I'd like to collect them myself, but I'm not sure where the cliff with the most berries is.”

Qiu Juan said, "Don't you know? I'll take you there."

Meng Sheng quickly refused: “No, Zhong Yang will take me there in few days. Your feet are inconvenient.”

"There’s no inconvenience, only a minor injury." Qiu Juan was worried that he wouldn't believe him, so he bent his knees with his back to him and raised his feet slightly. “Look, this foot was injured even more seriously than the one that is hurt now, but it is fine.”

At first, Meng Sheng wanted to chuckle at his juvenile behavior, but then he saw the old scars on the feet extending from the sole to the heel. Even if it was healed, when he glanced, it astounded him.

Luo knew his son too well and thus persuaded Meng Sheng. "Let him accompany you; otherwise, he would feel bad about taking your stone pot for a long time."

"All right."

Qiu Juan was pleased and gave Meng Sheng two more berries, which the two of them eat as they exited the cave.

Initially, Lou considered Meng Sheng to be a frail male with a warm heart, but the stone pot in the cave told him that things were not so easy.

In the past two days, Qiu Juan returned more than twice as much food from the food distribution center as usual. They were particularly excited about the big piece of Ewing meat. He was still a bit taken aback when he heard that Meng Sheng and Zhong Yang had hunted it together. Now he was at a loss for words after seeing the stone pot that had been chiseled in just two days.

According to all evidence, Meng Sheng was unquestionably a powerful male. Luo even had a faint feeling that his strength surpassed his imagination.

As Qiu Juan and Kong Jia's misery occurred, he secretly pulled in Meng Sheng. He thought Meng Sheng was frail and unremarkable at the time. Perhaps he will accept Qiu Juan. Luo Cai was getting older, and maybe the day would come, he won’t be with Qiu Juan no longer. Qiu Juan was still young, but he couldn't just watch him spend his whole life alone. It is far too difficult. It would been a good thing if Luo found a trustworthy male for his son while he was still alive.

So, after being aided several times by Meng Sheng, he secretly memorized the male and continued to observe him and see how he acted. As a result of this observation, the behavior did not see anything wrong, but rather discovered his powerful strength, which caused him immediate trouble.

Gold always shines and attracts attention. He was too appealing, which would lead to same path as Kong Jia.

Meng Sheng's feelings toward his son seemed a bit ambiguous, close to how one might treat a child, but not exactly the same. He couldn't help but be concerned, wondering if he should keep Qiu Juan close to him.

***

“You go here through the jungle. Most in the tribe know that that there are a lot of berries on the edge."

Qiu Juan led the way, and the two soon found themselves in a vast forest of tangled trees. This was the same forest where he met Kong Jia and Tang Tong that day.

Meng Sheng trailed the sub-female's brisk pace, feeling his feet wind up and start to hurt from the pace.

He inquired. “Is this wooded area dangerous? Why did you suddenly go so fast?"

For a split second, the sub-female foot hesitated. He had an almost subconscious need to get through here as soon as possible. "There was no danger; I just wanted to get you there faster.”

Meng Sheng let out a soft chuckle.

The sub-female was young and not very good at lying. He bore his true emotions on his face. He appeared to be in distress, but Meng Sheng didn’t expose it.

"You dislike spending time with me?"

Qiu Juan was taken aback and turned to face to him. "Of course not!"

Meng Sheng smiled more intensely when he saw him seriously denying it: "Does that imply you like being with me?"

"No!"

"Either you liked it or you didn't. There’re two options. You say no to both. What does this mean?” Meng Sheng folded his hands across his chest and took a careful look at Qiu Juan.

Qiu Juan told the truth, even though it seemed strange when separated like that. He can't figure out what's wrong, so he took a step forward and said, "Hurry up, you'll be there soon."

Meng Sheng stood, shaking his head and smiling, and he hurried to catch up after a moment.

Passing through the woods, his field of vision suddenly opened up, and he could see some semi-green and semi-red berries hanging from the tall or low bushes. Qiu Juan was standing on the edge, gathering the red berries.

"I used to pick quite a handful of them here. I'm guessing they were picked here recently. Many of the good ones have been picked. The ripe ones are now all on the cliff.”

Qiu Juan took the last few berries and expressed regret as he gazing at the red and ripe berries on the cliff.

Meng Sheng walked around the flat area on the cliff's edge. This was a steep cliff. There were just a few large trees growing on its side, with the bulk of them being bushes. These bushes could grow here because there were no large trees to shade them from the light. The greenery was spectacular with red, green and red-greed dots.

When looking about, his attention was drawn to a plant the size of an index finger. He squatted down to examine it more closely, fearful of being mistaken. The small green fruit resembled an orange that had not matured. He was relieved that it was a lemon tree.

Qiu Juan probed: "What are you looking at?"

Meng Sheng pointed with his finger. "Look, there's a green fruit tree growing really well."

Qiu Juan's eyes shifted. There were a variety of green fruits in the jungle. He didn't know what Meng Sheng was talking about, but he saw a big orchid blooming in the sun in the direction he was pointing.

"There are orchids!" he exclaimed, pleasantly surprised.

Meng Sheng gazed at the sub-female next to him, who had forgotten to keep his distance because he was happy. When he turning his head, he could see his skin up close.

The skin of the cold-skinned Qiu was not only white, but also very delicate. The type that would been envied in his world if there were no scars. With a face like this, he was unfit to be a savage. He should be pursued by a swarm of fans who are vying to be on the tip of his heart.

He did not interrupt the sub-female approaching unconsciously, and only asked casually. "Do you like orchids?"

"No…" Qiu Juan immediately refused, but when he saw Meng Sheng, who laughed unintentionally. He was a little embarrassed. "I mean, isn’t it weird for a sub-female to like flowers, plants and greenery? In general, only females enjoy these."

"Everyone likes them. There’s nothing odd about it." Meng Sheng patted the boy on the head, before he could escape and than he abruptly jumped down and said, "I'll pick it for you."

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