The Infrastructure’s Guide Chapter 11

“Careful!” Qiu Juan exclaimed loudly, but he didn't have time to stop the male who had vanished over the cliff's edge.

He hurriedly checked down the end.

Meng Sheng stood on the rocks between the cliffs. “It’s alright, there is a perch here.”

He noticed that the grass on the rocks had been trampled, suggesting that males might jump down often.

Since someone had come down here, there weren't many berries in this area that he could reach. However, he hadn’t come to gather them. Instead, he began removing the little lemons that he could take out along with the roots.

He speculated that the aboriginals tried lemons and thought the flavor was too bitter and not as delicious as berries, so almost no one picked them, resulting in a large number of lemons growing on the small trees, maybe a dozen.

He yanked down all the lemon trees in the area that could be pulled down.

"What are you picking? Come up quickly!" Qiu Juan shouted at him.

"Don't be worried; just catch these sour fruit plants.” He throw up the lemons in his lap.

With quick eyes and quick paws, none of the plants dropped, not even the fruit. Qiu Juan safely hugged the tossed plant.

Meng Sheng opened his mouth and gave him a thumbs up before grabbing the vine to head towards where the orchids grew.

Qiu Juan's beloved orchid grew high in the light. There were no surrounding rocks to use as stepping stones. He could only get there by climbing with the aid of vines and weeds.

"I don't want that orchid, come up soon!"

Qiu Juan blinked his eyes open to see the male already on the cliff, his feet barely touching the stone. He couldn't help but be shocked.

No matter what Qiu Juan said, Meng Sheng expelled his breath and as his body became light, he leapt over, pulled out the leafy orchid with one fist, and easily retrieved it.

Qiu Juan exhaled a sigh of relief when he saw how easily the male picked the orchid, but then he vanished and he only heard a dissatisfied sound.

“Uhh!”

Qiu Juan berated inwardly the tall male for disappearing from his sight. Could he survive if he plunged into the bottomless depths? Qiu Juan was overwhelmed by the abrupt change and exclaimed, "Meng Sheng!"

After a while, he heard his voice: "I'm in a tree pocket, it's okay."

After hearing that he was fine, Qiu Juan felt a wave of relief wash through him.

"Can you climb up? Do you want me to go back to the tribe to find someone to rescue you?"

“Yeah, I can climb up. Don’t worry, I’ll be up in a while.”

Qiu Juan had no idea what Meng Sheng was up to down there. He couldn't see anything, and he had no clue. Was he hurt or trapped? He cocked his head, hoping to see his figure through the gaps in the vegetation. However, he could only see Meng Sheng's back swaying in a blurry form.

He stepped back and forth on the cliff with trepidation.

The male eventually emerged just as Qiu Juan was about to jump on the rock where Meng Sheng had landed.

Meng Sheng caught the vine with one hand and held the content in his arms with the other, striding up as if he was flying.

When the vines came to an end, there was still some way to the top.

Qiu Juan rushed to lie down on the ground and held out his hand, saying, "I will pull you up."

Initially, Meng Sheng planned to go up by flipping over, but when he saw the hand reach his brow, he abandoned the thought and immediately took Qiu Juan's help. The hands of the sub-female were slim and long, somewhat smaller than his hands. When he grasped his palms, he felt little dry but warm.

He chuckled softly and pulled himself back to the cliff's edge. When Qiu Juan saw the male return intact, he may be assumed to have restored his heart to his stomach.

"Unexpectedly, despite the fact that you aren't big, your power isn't small."

Qiu Juan disagreed with his statement "I’m the tallest sub-female in the tribe!"

"Really?" True, the legs were very long, but he couldn’t admit it aloud. "I haven't paid attention to other sub-females, so I don't know."

Qiu Juan was suspicious. "Do you dislike sub-females? In the future, you only want a female mate?”

"It makes no difference whether they are a sub-female or a female. It is up to whether I like them or not." Meng Sheng sat down and handed him the orchid. [TN: Said the person who from the first day had noticed only Qiu Juan, a man (even if in this world he was a sub-female)]

"Hey, take it back and plant it."

Qiu Juan took the hard-won orchid, which was just starting to bloom, and the delicate fragrance was wafting out. It smelled wonderful.

He recalled seeing orchids while on a hunting trip with Kong Jia. He wanted to pick it, but Kong Jia disagreed with him and prevented it. According to Kong Jia, a good sub-female should like beasts and the odor of blood.

He used to believe Kong Jia was right, but now that he thinks about it, he's not sure if it was right or wrong.

"It was too risky right now. How should I be responsible if anything happens to you?"

Meng Sheng saw the sub-female holding the orchid and severely scolded him, which made him feel funny. "I live alone, so you don't have to tell anyone if something happens."

“Chief introduced you as a powerful male. Members of the tribe already respect you. How can I explain to them why you died by falling off a cliff? I can’t tell them you were picking flowers for me!”

“Little fool. If this really happened, you can’t honestly tell them it was for the sake of plucking flowers! You’re embarrassed to say so? I’m embarrassed to be known so! I want my pride!” Meng Sheng laughed loudly, “I'd rather be known as smashed by a wild beast.”

Qiu Juan was amused by him.

"I accidentally jumped on two bird eggs by mistake and they were stuck to the soles of my feet. Fortunately, they made me step down and I found more things.” Meng Sheng said as he took the items in his arms.

Qiu Juan took a peek.

Qiu Juan examined his index finger length plan with a long green and red strip.

"What was this?" he wondered.

Meng Sheng noticed he didn’t recognize the pepper, so he said, "Food flavoring."

Qiu Juan glanced at the males harvest. A jumble of things, sour fruits, and unidentified long strips. This time he picked everything except berries.

"Aren't we here to pick berries?"

“There are some berries still left in my cave. I'll go pick them in two days. Let’s go back for today.”

The main reason was that Meng Sheng wanted to rush back, afraid that the lemon tree and peppers will die without earth.

“Alright.”

They split the work and walked back side by side.

It was almost midday now, and both had been occupied for the majority of the day. They hadn’t eaten anything since the dawn. Meng Sheng was already starving at this stage.

On the way back, they both tacitly increased their pace.

The path became narrower as they entered the forest. They marched alongside each other. Meng Sheng kept the pepper plant because its branches were even more delicate than the lemon tree's, and a few were already chopped off by the bushes when he didn’t pay attention.

This peppers were difficult to obtain and pick. Meng Sheng cherished them. He took all of the peppers that were hanging up. He awoke from his thoughts and found Qiu Juan had gone farther then him.

He was about to yell at the sub-female when Qiu Juan stopped first. He hugged the chili plant and dashed after him.

However, he paused as soon as he ran up. There were two tribe’s members in front of him.

"Brother Kong Jia, I didn't expect you can not only hunt, but also make wreaths." The attractive female with yellow flower vines was dancing around the sturdy male. "I'm overjoyed, Brother Kong Jia, that you listen to my persuasion and left Qiu Juan.Soon we’ll be able to be together openly!"

When he heard the words, the male grinned but did not show his joy. Instead, he inquired, "What are you saying? I haven't informed the chief of this."

Tang Tong played with the wild flowers on the wreath, and chuckled, "It seems that Qiu Juan is quite witty."

"What? What do you mean? It shouldn't be so!” Kong Jia blurted out.

Tang Tong was stunned for a moment: "Why not?”

"Qiu Juan must have told the chief of our affairs. It’ll affect not just my reputation, but also yours.”

"Brother Kong Jia, don't worry, Qiu Juan probably didn't say anything. It was told by my dad, who got it from the chief. If Qiu Juan truly spoke out, my father wouldn’t allow me to come near you.”

Kong Jia's brows were still furrowed. “This won’t work either… As a male, I should been the one to dismiss the partnership. He disrespected me!

"I know you have a lot of pride, Brother Kong Jia, but this point had already been reached. To achieve the desired outcome, you should simply wrong yourself for me."

Kong Jia didn’t immediately react when the female snuggled in his arms and behaved coquettishly; his expression shifted, and he didn't respond to the female's words.

If he hadn’t known that the mentioned sub-female was Qiu Juan not far away, Meng Sheng would have mistaken the two as the true lovers with a third person mercilessly interfering between them.

It was precisely because of these unintentional encounters and witnessing these hateful conversations that he discovered why Qiu Juan was so depressed and had to request that the chief separate him from Kong Jia.

"Damn it!" Meng Sheng cursed in a low voice.

Despite the fact that Kong Jia was the one who didn’t take responsibility, he anyway badmouth Qiu Juan. What a disgrace that this dog man was praised by the whole tribe!

Meng Sheng couldn't control his anger, his clenched fists trambled. He'd feel sorryif he didn't go up and beat him today.

However, the victim's attitude was much more stable than his at this time. It was beyond Meng Sheng's expectation, from the startle at first sight to the rationally holding him now.

Qiu Juan saw the violent blue veins on Meng Sheng's arms and immediately shook his head, beckoning him not to go, and pulled him to the bushes aside: "There's another way around, let's go there."

"You protect him. So what are you up to with him?" After being dragged away by Qiu Juan, Meng Sheng couldn't help but yell. "Qiu Juan, I've always supported your ideas and decisions, but you’re still cordial to such a male. Tell me honestly, do you still like him?"

"No!" Qiu Juan's eyes suddenly reddened. His voice trembled yet was determined.

Meng Sheng's heart twisted fiercely.

He had a strong impression of Qiu Juan after seeing him on the day of heavy rain and thunder.

"I've disliked him since I first saw him and Tang Tong in the deserted cave!"

Meng Sheng softly asked. “The what are you doing in prevent me? Are afraid that I couldn’t beat him?”

"No." Qiu Juan looked sad. "I just don't want anything to do with Kong Jia anymore. After all, he had previously treated me well. It's preferable to get along than to do anything else."

Meng Sheng clenched his brows. "Qiu Juan, because to the male’s higher status in the tribe, you’ll be in a disadvantageous position if you separated. Does he feel sorry for you? Do you regret your first love, and does he miss his first love? If you don’t tell anyone of the cause for your split, you’ll suffer from the rumors till you’re old. Little one, there are always plenty of chances to meet a guy who is sincere to you and better suited to you.”

“Then I want to remind you that Kong Jia lied and was having an affair with the deputy chief's daughter. So I speak and become the laughingstock of everyone's sympathy for the rest of my life! Even if I wound Kong Jia's pride, his face will soon rise again. If he becomes a chief in the future, he will certainly not let me and my mother go. Also, Tang Tong is deputy’s daughter. Once I speak out, her father and brothers will undoubtedly despise me. If they try to mess with me, whatever; but what about my mother? My mother and I are both weak sub-females. With their cautious schemes they can make us unable to live. It's not that I want to shrink; I just want my mother to enjoy her golden years in piece."

[TN: I once read somewhere someone write that Qiu Juan was dumb for not speaking out… they probably skimped over this part. If you live on lawless world, no matter how nice face slapping might seem, there are consequences to actions. For his and his mothers safety, Qiu Juan chose to stay silent and let Kong Jia keep his reputation. This also shows how Kong Jia had never feared about his place in the tribe (unlike Qiu Juan who grow up alone with mother), since from his point of view, Qiu Juan will speak out.]

Meng Sheng's demeanor abruptly deteriorated. He hadn't expected Qiu Juan to understand and endorse so much. When he was at this age, he couldn’t think so far.

Qiu Juan had been wronged so many times, but there was no way to tell anyone the truth.

"I'm sorry, I was too hasty." His brows trembled. Meng Sheng had never felt so emotional from other people's experiences as he did right now.

Unconsciously, he extended his hand and embraced Qiu Juan. He had no other intention but to console Qiu Juan. Perhaps a warm hug will make this person feel more at ease at this moment.

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[TN: Two things bother me about this novel.

First is the age gab between MC and ML (I try to delete it from my mind because as someone from Europe, pedo bear is dancing when I think about it)

Second is the silly, the forest is so big and yet they always tumble where Tang Tong and Kong Jia are together and at that exact time discuss Qiu Juan. XD XD]

^ Kong Jia ^