Chapter 21

"Well, it's best to chop it up and cook it before fermenting it, so the fermentation process will be faster." Making fertilizer is a dirty and disgusting job, chopping up leftovers along with digested or semi-digested materials, and then cooking them... Just thinking about it is quite "flavorful"!

Emily stopped imagining and said seriously, "We'll ferment the farm manure this afternoon. We'll need to dig a big pit, probably... seven or eight people, and we'll also need to cut some banana leaves and gather various weeds. Are there banana leaves nearby?"

"Yes!" Moon replied excitedly.

Emily secretly found it amusing, wondering if Moon would regret her current excitement once she discovered how "flavorful" fermenting farm manure could be.

Lunch was a big pot of tiger meat, mixed with green wild vegetables and tuberous foods.

It was really hard to swallow!

There was no salt, only a plant called "jiāo," with thin green leaves resembling chives and a slightly salty taste. This plant was used as salt by the Nuwa tribe, and using "jiāo" added a faint fragrance and saltiness, making it a decent seasoning.

But the tiger meat had an indescribable gamey and sour taste, and even though Emily knew food was hard to come by in the Nuwa tribe, she could only force down a few bites before she couldn't stomach it anymore.

Watching Moon, Banana, Dashan, and Male eat the tiger meat without wrinkling their brows, Emily sighed inwardly and let her imagination run wild: What would Moon and the others' reaction be if the System sent them fast-food fried chicken legs, known as junk food?

This brainstorming session made Emily start to miss various delicious Chinese dishes.

She loved the spicy and fragrant flavors of Sichuan, Chongqing, and Hunan cuisine, whether it was home-cooked dishes like boiled pork slices or boiled fish, or the unique cultural experience of hot pot. Even simplified versions like clay pot dishes, Oden, and spicy stir-fried dishes...

She couldn't think about it; her mouth was watering!

Emily forced herself to chew on another piece of tiger meat from the bamboo tube, sour and gamey, with a strange taste that had nothing to do with deliciousness.

Sigh, the contrast was too stark!

Thinking ahead, solving the problem of food and ensuring that the Nuwa tribe wouldn't go hungry for a short time without having to hunt was the current goal.

Just waiting for the System to give them seeds, who knows when that will happen.

Looking at the wild vegetables and tubers in the bamboo tube, Emily decided that once her blisters healed, she would go out to see if there were any wild grains or vegetables that could be transplanted or cultivated.

After a short nap following lunch, Male had cleaned the meat off the tiger bones. Pondering, he felt that the cool and dry Forbidden Area was the perfect place to air-dry these tiger bones.

Moreover, Granny Maple was considering putting something in the Forbidden Area to scare away people who sneaked in, so she wouldn't have to be vigilant day and night, unable to sleep peacefully. This big pile of tiger bones, when placed in the Forbidden Area, wouldn't be easily recognized as such without close inspection, which seemed quite appropriate!

During the afternoon break, Male took all the tiger bones and placed them in the Forbidden Area. He then went to the closest passage from the Fukien tree hole to the Nuwa True Goddess statue, paid his respects, and returned to Banana's house. He didn't mind Banana being there and gently held Emily, who was dozing off, in his arms against the wall for a rest.

After a sleepless night, although he was still energetic, resting with his little companion in his arms brought an unusual sense of satisfaction to his heart.

Male carefully took off Emily's strange shoes and found that her feet were indeed blistered again. He felt sorry for her and went to get some medicine to apply to her feet.

In the afternoon, he didn't let Emily go out and instead had her instruct on how to ferment the fertilizer. After hearing the process, he went to organize people for cooperation, and Moon was also ordered to accompany Emily along with Banana.

Moon, who wanted to contribute to fermenting the farm manure, felt a bit downcast. Emily smiled and told her that once they started planting, there would be a high demand for farm manure, so she would have plenty of opportunities to participate in fermenting it in the future.

Fermenting farm manure didn't require much technical expertise. Emily told Male that she trusted him to supervise the work, and she was happy to have some leisure time.

While planting soybeans, she didn't feel much, but with idle time on her hands, she realized her feet were burning with pain. If left untreated, an infection wouldn't be a trivial matter!

Chatting with Banana and Moon in the house was quite pleasant, but having nothing to do made Emily lie down on Banana's bed of grass, feeling anxious.

The weather was hot, and her clothes and pants were starting to smell! What to do without changing clothes? Should she cover up like Moon and the others, using animal hides on such hot days?

Moreover, Moon and Banana had wheat-colored skin, so wearing animal hide clothes didn't look out of place on them. However, she had not been in this place for long, and in her homeland, she hadn't been exposed to much sun, describing her fair skin as "white as snow" wouldn't be an exaggeration. Wearing animal hide would make her stand out conspicuously.

Perhaps during the dark and windy night of the festival, wearing animal hide would be fine, but in broad daylight under the blazing sun, wearing such clothing would make her feel extremely uncomfortable.

But this System sometimes was reliable and sometimes not! Items like lighters and small knives were essential for life, which was good. Soybean seeds, corn seeds, and items beneficial for long-term farming were also excellent, but they were in very limited quantities, currently only these two types.

And the System could teach her how to weave a cushion, which wasn't a necessity, but it didn't provide essential items like cloth.

Oh, wait, it's not that there was no cloth; the bags for storing soybeans were made of cloth!

But those ten small bags, even if opened up, had very limited fabric...

And the System's tasks, besides the thunderous language system perfect for intimacy with the Nuwa tribe, kept switching between farming, handicrafts, medicine, and more in just a few days. Who knows if there will be other types in the future?

It's too chaotic and disorderly, and the System isn't intelligent enough yet; apart from translation, it can't interact with her!

Emily's eyebrows were almost tied in knots.

No, she couldn't rely entirely on this System. It's all over the place, and when would it provide clothes? When would it provide delicious food to enjoy instead of just filling the stomach?

Looking at her feet, she sighed. She had to wait for them to heal before exploring farther away; daydreaming was useless now.

Even so, lying on this messy bed of grass, Emily had a sudden idea – weaving a cool mat!

There were too many aspects of her current life that needed improvement! She didn't want to feel like a little dog or cat living in a nest all the time.

A tightly woven cool mat wouldn't be comfortable to sleep on, so why not make a rectangular one like the starting cushion? It would have a certain thickness and would look neater, making her feel more comfortable even just looking at it.

Emily sat up and said, "Moon, Banana, why don't we weave some bed straw?"

The saintly cushions were quite good. Moon and Banana had been finding time these past few days to weave them and had already made several. Sitting on a pile of them was much more comfortable than sitting on stone stools.

When Emily mentioned weaving bed straw, both of them lit up with excitement.

Weaving the cushions with corn husks would actually be more comfortable, but Emily hadn't found corn in this world yet. The System did provide corn seeds, but they were just seeds...

Since cutting and drying the papyrus grass was a process, Emily used Banana's bed straw to weave something similar to the cushions. First, she taught them how to braid a section, then explained the similarities and differences between weaving the cushions. It was straightforward, and Banana and Moon quickly caught on.

Moon couldn't wait and went out to cut and dry the grass, while Banana stayed inside to help Emily weave the "bed mat."

By the time Moon returned with slightly reddened skin from drying the grass, Emily and Banana had connected their braided sections into one long braid. Together, they formed it into a rectangular shape and secured it. By dinnertime, their rectangular "bed mat" was finished.

It looked nice but was quite uncomfortable to lie on. It couldn't compare to modern spring mattresses in terms of elasticity and comfort. If they had cotton or something similar, adding a mattress pad would have been much better.

However, Banana and Moon seemed quite satisfied. "It looks much better this way, and the bed straw won't be all over the place."

Banana happily took down some fur from an unknown animal hanging on the wall and laid it on the bed mat. It wasn't bad, but it was too hot for such material at the moment.

Emily tried to ignore their admiring gazes and started chatting casually. She felt a bit guilty; this was such a simple task, how could she bear their admiration as if they were ordinary people admiring a fashion designer?

The fertilizer fermentation went smoothly, but they still didn't have a toilet.

After dinner, Male carried Emily back to his house, and Moon brought them a bunch of dried papyrus grass. Male had washed it already and kindly offered to help Emily wash herself, but Emily declined firmly, feeling embarrassed to accept.

Seeing Male looking hurt, Emily felt guilty again. He seemed genuinely concerned about her foot and just wanted to help her wash up. Besides, they were already companions, and she had decided to get along well with him...

And she also felt disgusted by her own body odor. She wanted to wash up, which would be much more comfortable. But... they had only known each other for a few days. Would it be appropriate to appear bare in front of Male and let him wash her? The thought made her extremely uncomfortable.

Caught in a dilemma...

Emily explained to Male, "It's not that I dislike you, I just..."

Seeing Male's clear and quietly accusing eyes, Emily made up her mind, "You help me bathe, and you also wash my clothes! I need to wear them tomorrow morning!"

Why hesitate? Why be afraid? He had already touched every part of her body legally as her companion. Being overly sensitive would only make her seem pretentious.

A smile of joy spread across Male's face, showing genuine contentment from being acknowledged by his little companion.

Not wanting to go to the riverbank in case others saw his little companion's body, Male washed Emily's body inside the house. Completely naked, with her two injured feet raised high, Emily felt extremely embarrassed, her face probably as red as a tomato.

Fortunately, it was already late in the day, and the room was dimly lit. Emily was grateful that Male couldn't see clearly, which made her feel less awkward.

But Emily had no idea that after Male triggered his bloodline power, his vision improved significantly.

Although initially he had no other thoughts, as he carefully washed her, his palms gently massaging her skin, the clean and soft body of his young companion in his arms made him unconsciously feel dry-mouthed and agitated, with his blood rushing. The animal skin skirt quickly erected a small tent.

He really wanted to engage in the most intimate activities with her that only partners could do!

But he couldn't.

He still couldn't fully control his strength. What if he inadvertently harmed his young companion during such intimate moments?

Endure!

Male kept his eyes on his breath and heart, avoiding looking at his young companion's body. Without the visual impact, the soft touch under his hands only made his blood surge even more, making every wash of his young companion a torment!

Hastening to finish washing Emily, Male laid her on the grass bed, while he used water from a wooden tub he had bathed in to wash Emily's clothes.

This washing of clothes was indeed just rubbing and kneading, without using any cleaning aids.

However, Emily's clothes mainly had sweat, so a little rubbing and scrubbing were sufficient. Thinking about washing clothes in a modern washing machine with detergent and various fragrances, it was indeed a luxury to expect such amenities here.

She had never thought that something she used to consider quite ordinary would one day seem so rare and valuable, worthy of cherishing.

Emily didn't initially notice Male's restraint, but as they both lay on the bed and she heard Male's irregular breathing, even when he was a foot away, Emily somewhat sensed something.

Her face blushed with embarrassment, but she also felt a bit puzzled. Judging by Male's behavior on the night of their bite mark ceremony, he should have pounced on her directly and tried to cultivate repeatedly. Yet in reality, although Male's breathing was unsteady, he never touched her.

It didn't take long for her to recall how Male used to be afraid to even touch her, fearing he might hurt her accidentally, and then it made sense. A sweet, strange feeling filled her heart.

Male kept Emily bedridden for a full seven days until the blisters on her feet had fully scabbed over and were beginning to peel off, allowing her to go outside.

During these seven days, the tasks she received were either arranged by Male for the clan members or done together with Male and the clan members. Emily would narrate to Male, and after they completed what the system required, Male or the clan members would carry Emily to hand in the tasks.

Tasks meant quantity, and speaking of quantity, Emily finally understood why Male had cut down that entire patch of bamboo. Because he couldn't count!

After completing the first hundred, he roughly estimated the rest based on that pile.

So, aside from the children who could count up to four, Emily gained another student—Male.

Male was an adult and intelligent, so Emily not only taught him to count but also used her wet fingers to teach him to write Arabic numerals on a stone table. In less than an hour, Male learned how to count. Emily decided to teach him addition and subtraction another day since those were more commonly used.

If he was still willing to learn, she would teach him how to write as well. Oral transmission was prone to errors, especially for cultivation methods or medicinal formulas. Writing them down made them easier to pass on and more accurate.

Of course, why did she know all this? In her eyes, everything was normal, and she attributed everything to the little pink egg, which Male didn't doubt.

Earlier, after completing the tiger bone collection task and turning it in, they received a medicinal formula for treating bruises and injuries. The medicinal ingredients were common herbs found in the mountains.