The Infrastructure’s Guide Chapter 7

"Who’s he? From where did he appear?” Crossing their arms, the Tang brothers snorted. "I've never heard of a male in our tribe with that name. Is Zhong Yang really willing to bestow such a high honor on a stranger? Moron.”

Since Meng Sheng had captured everyone's attention, the sub-females and females around them were excitedly discussing this new male.

Kong Jia, who had been neglected by the females around him, didn't take it as lightly as the Tang brothers. While applauding, he even felt uncomfortable. "Who has been unfaithful to whom? It's become quite difficult to tell!"

"Kong Jia, what are you talking about?" The female next to him overheard him whispering and inquired sideways.

He smiled gently. "It's nothing, I said I saw Qiu Juan coming,"

"Kong Jia, you were so sweet to Qiu Juan. I'm overjoyed for you two."

Kong Jia politely took his leave and went around the females. As he approached Qiu Juan, tribe’s people gave him way. Today's tribe’s gathering had a large number of members. If Qiu Juan stabbed him and Tang Tong by saying something, he would lose all of the prestige he had fought so hard to gain.

"Why don't you come over to my side, Qiu Juan?"

The sub-female in the crowd only noticed him as he stood beside him; Qiu Juan brows furrowed, and he moved to avoid him, but he was caught by his wrist.

Qiu Juan didn't want to speak to Kong Jia in public, so he cast a sidelong look at him and said, "I'm not going to have anything to do with you."

Kong Jia coaxed softly: "Go to my side, I will share a little more meat for you later. Come back. Didn't you always help me split my prey?”

"I don't want your meat." Qiu Juan broke away and rubbed his wrist.

Kong Jia was irritated: "No? Do you want that pup’s Meng Sheng's prey?"

"I told you it has nothing to do with you!” Qiu Juan dropped the sentence, slipped into the crowd, and fled Kong Jia.

Kong Jia glared at the person walking away, his chest pounding wildly. He was about to pursue, but the chief announced that the food distribution had begun, therefore he had to let Qiu Juan go.

All hunters were assigned to their positions. Zhong Yang invited Meng Sheng to divide the meat for everyone.

Few members in the tribe were capable to hunt such huge beasts. In past they had only tasted this species’ cubs. The meat in memory was soft and ‘sweet’. Now most tribe’s members aligned in Meng Sheng’s line.

Zhong Yang was skilled at dividing meat and knew how to do it quick. Today there was a lot of meat. Any slice of meat he split was twice as big as it usually was. Meng Sheng stood to the side and handed the cut meat pieces to the waiting tribe's members. When he saw the tribe's aged and frail getting the meat and smiling gratefully, he felt a warm human touch reaching his till now indifferent heart. He realized that food distribution was a very important matter, and it was no wonder that Zhong Yang would relentlessly hunt wild beasts.

"Eh, I find it's unusual today. Look at Qiu Juan and Kong Jia; they aren’t splitting the meat together and are very far apart. Aren’t they always together?”

"I just saw it. The two of them seem to be arguing. But I didn’t hear about what.”

“It’s already an honor for Qiu Juan to be selected by a male like Kong Jia as a partner. Why should he quarrel? Be me, with a partner like Kong Jia, I would always flatter him!”

"If you want to flatter, go ahead and do it! Kong Jia is no longer the person I worship."

"Who if not Kong Jia? Brother Zhong Yang or the Tang family's two brothers?"

"What are you on about? I'm referring to Meng Sheng! He is so handsome that I believe he is more desirable than Kong Jia!"

Meng Sheng, who hadn’t fully hold in his breath, overheard what the two females said in the midst of the crowd. He wasn't interested in young girl admiration, but learning about Qiu Juan quarrel with Kong Jia, sparked his curiosity.

He was looking for Qiu Juan's figure while sharing food with the locals. In truth, when he saw Qiu Juan, he knew something was wrong. Since the sub-female's foot had been hurt, his partner hadn’t expressed concern about how he’ll get food.

Meng Sheng found Qiu Juan with a scowl beside the unremarkable large stone. He was hesitant to go over and show care. After all, his partner was nearby. It wasn't his turn to deal with other people problems, so he averted his eyes, but incidentally glanced at Kong Jia, who was earnestly distributing meat to the tribe’s members while completely ignoring his partner.

"Zhong Yang, I’m going.”

The male raised his head to look at him as he held the sharp stone. “You’re leaving?”

“No, just taking a break. You haven't given me salt yet."

Zhong Yang smiled. "Alright."

Meng Sheng walked over to the large stone.

"Does your foot still hurt?" He inquired, lowering his head and glancing at the sub-female’s foot. Even without seeing the injury under the foot, he could see that his left foot was clearly larger than his right.

Hearing the magnetic male’s voice, Qiu Juan, who was in a trance, immediately lifted his head and saw Meng Sheng.

"It's fine," he replied faintly.

"Aunt Luo could have come to get the food. Why are you coming all by yourself? If you worry about Aunt Luo coming out, you can also have me bring the food back for you."

The corners of Qiu Juan's lips twitched. His expression embodied reluctance. "I'm not here only for the food; I also have something to do with the chief."

Meng Sheng considered. “The chief will need some time to finish here. You go and sit in the cave. Standing like that your feet...”

"I'm not so frail, thank you; go back to work. Everyone started to stare at me when you came over.”

Meng Sheng let out a sigh. He wanted to say more but restrained himself. “If you need help, just call me.”

Saying so, he returned to Zhong Yang.

Qiu Juan was right. People not only watched them at this time, but they were also talking about them: "What happened to you and Qiu Juan, Brother Kong Jia? I just caught a glimpse of him conversing with Meng Sheng."

Kong Jia glanced up and saw Meng Sheng coming back. Secretly he squeezed the stone tool in his palm while his tone was calm: "It is not unusual to interact with others. Everyone knows it. It's normal to say hello. It's just that Qiu's temper has been strange lately, and I'm not sure what's wrong with him."

“He’s too cold and has no empathy. You can’t love someone like that!” The charming voice rang out abruptly, and many faces turned to look at the speaker.

"Sister Tang Tong, you are here!" A young female exclaimed as she smiled at the visitor with envy in her eyes.

Tang Tong walked slowly in front of Kong Jia, her arrogant head lifted.

Kong Jia had told Tang Tong not to come today so as not to annoy Qiu Juan, but he didn't expect the person still come, so he scolded coldly: "What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Why are you speaking so aggressively, Brother Kong Jia? Sister Tang Tong did not make a mistake, in my opinion. Look at Qiu Juan, he didn’t come over to you, but he went to Meng Sheng. Where’s the nonsense I’m talking about?" Tang Tong twisted her waist: "I just kindly remind you. Don’t be so trusting in Qiu Juan. The sub-female might be fooling with you.”

Tang Tong snorted quietly and said nothing as Kong Jia glared at her.

Food distribution took longer than usual this time, therefore it wasn’t so early anymore. After everybody expressed gratitude to a few strong males who had hunted, they left the bustling food distribution area one by one. It eventually calmed down, and in the end, only some shambles remained.

"Qiu Juan, return." Kong Jia asked Tang Tong to accompany her two brothers on their departure, and he wished to get rid of others who hadn’t yet departed.

Qiu Juan looked into his eyes and said persistently: “You are finally done, let's go to the chief."

“I already said my stance and didn’t agree!” Kong Jia gritted his teeth and muttered. “There won’t be peace between us if we break up.”

"It's just that you unilaterally believe, whether you want to be with me or not, that I will go to the leader today."

Kong Jia sneered and nodded. "Alright, then! You're on your own. Even if you tell the chief I cheated, the chief will understand me as a male. Furthermore, Tang Tong is still the deputy chief's daughter. If you ruin her reputation, do you believe Tang Donghu will let you go? Don’t blame me when you and Aunt Luo are driven out of the tribe by then!”

"You are threatening me?" Before the shaking sub-female could fully react, Kong Jia turned and left.

Qiu Juan slammed his fist into the stone beside him, and the flesh and bones at the joints was torn away, but the humiliation in his heart made him unable to feel any pain.

He knew Kong Jia was right. A man of his status won’t only have a sub-female that may or may not be able to reproduce. He even hated himself for falling for his deception.

But he didn't want to dwell on what was right or wrong in the past. He simply desired that the two spend as much time together as possible. Why did Kong Jia feel the need to harass and humiliate him?

At this time, only the chief's family remained in the food-sharing area. When the chief was cleaning up, he discovered that Qiu Juan had not yet departed.

"Qiu Juan, are you still here?" he asked, taking a step forward. “Did you get your share?”

“It’s here.” Qiu Juan immediately tucked his wounded hand behind his back and moved his good fingers to point at the beasts meat.

The chief nodded and took another look around: "Are you looking for someone? Kong Jia seems to have left already."

"I'm not waiting for him; I've got something to bother the chief with."

Since the chief admires Qiu Juan, the excellent sub-female, he smiled warmly.

"Don't be polite to me, just tell me what you want."

Kong Jia advised him not to regret it, however if he doesn't say anything now, he will. "I want to end my relationship with Kong Jia," he said after a brief delay.

Qiu Juan's stern words brought Zhong Xin's shock.

"Child, what are you talking about?"

"I've seriously considered it, Chief; please accept it."

This sensible and obedient sub-female rarely acted rashly, but Kong Jia was still a calm and gentle person in front of others. For a moment, Zhong Xin couldn't say who was right and who was wrong, but he kept trying to keep the pair together: "How did Kong Jia feel about this?"

"Don't worry about his opinion; please make it public as soon as possible. I've never requested anything from the chief. I can only hope that the chief can be respectful of this matter. These are my feelings."

"This..." This situation was complicated. He hesitated for a moment before saying. "Don't worry, I'll consider this matter carefully. I’ll give you an answer in a few days, alright?" Therefore, he took a step back and nodded.

The chief relaxed. Qiu Juan couldn't chase after the chief to demand immediate action.

Meng Sheng returned with salt from Zhong Yang’s cave and accidentally overheard Qiu Juan and the chief conversing.

After Qiu Juan finished speaking, he limped away. The chief noticed it and felt even more strange.

Meng Sheng approached the Chief to greet him.

"Are you returning? Don't you plan on staying for dinner?"

"No, next time. I’ll go back with Qiu Juan. We live close. Aunt Luo told me that two days ago Qiu Juan went hunting and got hurt. Aunt Luo asked me to look after him to avoid trouble.”

The chief had a realization: “I thought that he was walking oddly. It turns out, his foot had been injured. Go quickly and don't have any mishaps on the road."

Meng Sheng nodded and chased after Qiu Juan. He ran around a corner and called to the slender figure.

Qiu Juan turned his head and asked. "Have you not gone back yet?"

"Yeah." He stepped forward, and the two stood side by side.

"I overheard your conversation with the chief."

Qiu Juan frowned.

"Is it because of me? Did Kong Jia have a misunderstanding?" Meng Sheng questioned his own doubts.

They used to be close and went everywhere together, but now they were splitting up. All happened too fast, and all he could think about was his encounter with Qiu Juan that day.

"No!" exclaimed Qiu Juan firmly.

“If it's really my fault, I’ll find Kong Jia and explain.”

Qiu Juan immediately stopped this trail of thoughts. "It has absolutely nothing to do with you."

"Than, can you please tell me why?"

Nobody would be happy if their mate cheated, Qiu Juan reasoned. But while everybody would chastise Kong Jia for this, what good would it do? They would give a few words of comfort and then pity, to the sub-female abandoned by his partner, and that is it. More humiliation.

He felt tired and weak just thinking about it.

"Could you please not ask? I don't want to say.”

Meng Sheng nodded; it seemed that the sub-female was very sad. "All right, but if you have any trouble in the future, you can come to me."

"Thank you."

Meng Sheng didn't say anything more as he took the meat from sub-female's hands into his own. Sub- female eventually didn't refuse. The two of them walked without a word until they arrived at Qiu Juan’s cave.

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