Chapter 8

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Without hesitation, Bai Shuo first examined the second egg. On the surface, it showed nothing unusual, but when held close to the ear and listened to carefully, a very faint chirping sound could be heard. This was another egg about to hatch, likely within a day or two.

After confirming that the little cuckoo bird inside the second egg was still alive, Bai Shuo took the meat to Cai Lin to exchange for the remaining cuckoo eggs.

Cai Lin’s initial reaction was to refuse. After all, it was normal for a youngling to trade a piece of meat for food, but exchanging so many cuckoo eggs at once made Cai Lin worried that the youngling might be acting recklessly. Although Bai Shuo was very well-behaved and Bai Su was one of the most obedient younglings in the tribe, Cai Lin still could not agree so casually.

“That many cuckoo eggs—if you take them back and one breaks, they’ll spoil right away,” Cai Lin said. Cuckoo eggs were delicious, but needed careful storage; if they were bumped or cracked, they would rot by the next day. Trading over a dozen eggs for one family might be too much and wasteful.

Bai Shuo could only explain the reason for wanting the cuckoo eggs: “I want to hatch little cuckoo birds. I want to take them back and raise them.” To prove his point, Bai Shuo even brought back the little cuckoo bird that had just emerged from its shell as evidence.

The little cuckoo had been out of the egg for a short while; its feathers were sparse. Cuckoo birds could only run, not fly, with very short wings. Upon closer look, their feather shapes were completely different from the feather tribe, so there was no chance of mistaken identity or any deception that a youngling was impersonating a cuckoo bird.

Cai Lin looked at the newly hatched cuckoo with some surprise—those eggs recently exchanged had actually hatched—but still did not dare agree to let him take all the eggs away. Instead, Cai Lin suggested, “There are too many cuckoo eggs in the cave. How about this: I’ll keep the cuckoo eggs in the cave for you. Wait until your father and mother come back tonight, then you can come to exchange them. How’s that?”

The obedient and adorable youngling was showing results in front of her, yet she could only refuse. Cai Lin sighed. The tribe brought back quite a few cuckoo eggs, but no one had ever raised cuckoo birds before. Bai Xun and Bai Yun would certainly not allow the younglings to waste food. The younglings might be disappointed in the evening. Thinking of this, Cai Lin couldn’t bear to reveal that the little cuckoo birds would die within a few days.

Bai Shuo hesitated a little. Cuckoo birds could hatch eggs, but without parent birds incubating, the temperature would certainly be different. The longer the incubation stopped, the lower the success rate. Yet Cai Lin seemed unwilling to agree. Even if he persisted, the chances of exchanging all the eggs were slim. After some thought, he proposed, “Then can I have my brother watch over those cuckoo eggs?”

Cai Lin thought he was afraid others would take the eggs away and agreed, “Sure, he can watch them for as long as he wants.”

Receiving this answer, Bai Shuo went to discuss it with his brother.

“I thought of a really delicious food. Do you want to try it?” Bai Shuo asked his brother.

Bai Le remembered the fried meat from yesterday, swallowed, and nodded seriously: “I want to eat it.” The food his brother made was so delicious; he wished he could eat it every day.

“But I ran into a little problem. Can you help me solve it? If you can, I’ll go cook.”

“Yes!” Bai Le nodded earnestly. He was sure he could do it!

Hearing this, Bai Shuo smiled in satisfaction. “Alright, change into feather form now.”

After a moment, Bai Le, incubating the eggs in feather form, looked at the cuckoo eggs beside him, then glanced at his brothers’ departing backs, feeling that something wasn’t quite right.

On the other side, Bai Shuo saw the stone pot finally hot, dug out some fat, put it in the pot, then poured in the moo-moo beast meat. After frying, he transferred it to a bowl and then fried some red sour fruit.

The red sour fruit tasted similar to tomatoes; after frying, it tasted even more like them. Bai Shuo added water and poured the fried meat back in, completing a pot of red sour fruit moo-moo beast meat soup.

Bai Shuo ladled a small spoonful into a bowl, waited for it to cool a bit, then tasted it, instantly conquered by the flavor.

Slightly sour with a hint of sweetness, the meat slices were fresh, fragrant, and tender—very appetizing. Bai Shuo felt a slight regret; if only there were rice nearby. This kind of soup would be delicious with rice. However, from childhood to now, he had never seen rice, let alone cooked rice. All he could do was imagine.

Nearby, Bai Su was frying meat on a stone slab. Bai Shuo turned off the fire under the stone pot and went to call his brother. On the way, he saw Wu Yan, waved, and casually said, “Have you eaten breakfast? I made some soup. Want to try?”

Wu Yan was about to go out when he heard Bai Shuo’s words and paused briefly, then nodded slowly.

“Wait here a bit; I’ll be right back,” Bai Shuo said, then went to the cave to call his brother who was incubating eggs. Before announcing the meal was ready, Bai Shuo made sure his brother came out, worried that if excited, he might instantly shift to human form and smash all the eggs into an omelet.

Sure enough, upon hearing it was mealtime, Bai Le transformed into human form and tried to rush out. Bai Shuo blocked him with one arm and put a piece of animal skin on him. The animal skin was truly ugly but convenient—just one throw and it was on.

The sweet and sour soup was indeed popular. Bai Le drank a whole big bowl. Full, he rubbed his round belly and, following his brother’s instructions, went back to the cave to continue incubating the eggs.

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Cai Lin stayed at the cave entrance, so there was no worry about Bai Le wandering off. Bai Shuo and Bai Su felt at ease. Actually, if he did wander off, it wouldn’t be a big deal; younglings in the tribe began playing at the foot of the mountain after they could shift to human form at age three, and the elders would look after them.

Bai Shuo had made quite a bit of soup—over half a pot. Four younglings, even if two of them ate a lot, didn’t finish it all. Bai Shuo served some to Cai Lin and then invited the surrounding younglings.

These younglings usually went out with Bai Su. When it was almost time, they came over and saw the group eating. Seeing the fried meat in front of Bai Su, their mouths watered in temptation. Most had smelled the fried meat yesterday, but only a few had tasted it. Those who hadn’t tasted it now wanted to try, and those who had remembered how delicious it was yesterday and wanted more.

Bai Shuo ladled out the remaining soup for the younglings to share, then asked, “Do you want to eat fried meat?”

As soon as he spoke, a group of younglings turned their heads toward him swiftly.

“Are you going to give us fried meat?” One youngling, about five or six years old, couldn’t resist the temptation and asked quietly after swallowing.

Bai Shuo nodded, then shook his head, and answered, “I can fry meat for you, but not for free. You have to trade red-top fruit for it.” He was still short of red-top fruit for frying meat. Trading raw meat with Cai Lin wasn’t cost-effective. Also, the red-top fruit left in the cave was too raw and sour. It was more cost-effective to trade fried meat with the younglings for red-top fruit.

The younglings looked at the soup in the bowl, then the fried meat on the stone slab, and huddled together to discuss.

In the end, the group pushed one youngling forward as a representative.

The youngling representative walked up to Bai Shuo, looking a bit shy. But the others urged him on, so he had to make a request: “We want to try a bite first!” The younglings were very clever, knowing that some foods smelled good but tasted different, so they wanted to sample it first to decide if it was worth trading red-top fruit for.

Bai Shuo naturally did not refuse this small request. After all, he still needed the younglings to do some work, and now he had to instill a thought: following him meant having meat to eat.

He took out a few slices of fried meat, cut into small pieces, and gave them to the younglings, waiting quietly for feedback.

“I want to trade! I want to trade!” The first youngling who finished eating shouted, and the others immediately echoed, fearing they would miss the chance. They often ate red-top fruit, but had never tried fried meat before.

After a while, Bai Shuo used the red-top fruit traded back to marinate the leftover meat slices. Nearby, Wu Yan helped. Bai Su was still flipping meat slices. Not far off was a group of younglings eating fried meat.

Many younglings, to get fried meat, took out all their treasured red-top fruit. Unripe red-top fruit wouldn’t spoil even after ten days or so, so many younglings had stockpiles. But from now on, none had any reserves; all were traded away clean.

After frying several portions of the semi-processed meat slices, Bai Shuo placed them in the cave, waiting to give them to the feather tribe in the evening. Bai Shuo told Bai Su that he wanted to go out with him: “Brother, I want to pick red-top fruit.”

Picking red-top fruit was just an excuse; what he really wanted was to observe the surrounding plants.

There were many plants around the tribe, but the picking team only gathered what was edible. Those with strange flavors were not part of the feather tribe's diet and naturally not picked. Bai Shuo needed those plants as seasonings.

However, Bai Su refused his plan: “No, you just transformed. You have to stay in the cave. Only after two more years can you go out.”

Younglings who just transformed were not required to work. At this stage, they often lost control of their form, shifting between human and feather forms frequently, and going out casually was very dangerous. For example, two people walking in a line—if the one in front suddenly shifted to feather form and the one behind didn’t react in time, they might step on him.

For other younglings, this might cause injury; for Bai Shuo, it would be even more dangerous, as his brother’s feather form surely wouldn’t withstand a stomp.

Bai Su had no intention of taking his brother to pick red-top fruit. He just wanted Bai Le to wait obediently at home until he returned.

Although the feather tribe’s younglings from the same nest were not twins, Bai Shuo knew his brother well. After Bai Su said this, Bai Shuo guessed his thoughts.

“Brother, I just want to look around. You work, I’ll watch nearby, okay?”

“This is the first time I’ve transformed into human form since I was little. I want to see the place where you pick red-top fruit.”

Bai Su was always soft when it came to persuasion. Before Bai Shuo finished his third sentence, Bai Su agreed, constantly reminding him: “You must stay by my side. If you feel uncomfortable anywhere, tell me immediately...” He said a lot more. To prevent Bai Le from suddenly shifting to feather form without his knowledge, Bai Su kept holding his hand.

Bai Shuo knew his brother’s personality. He didn’t mind the grip as long as he was allowed to go out.

A group of younglings walked toward the nearby forest. In the tribe, the hunting team went farthest, then the picking team, and the younglings had the smallest activity range. So they didn’t go far before reaching the usual gathering spot. After stopping, several younglings went different directions to collect branches and piled them here. Once enough were gathered, they’d carry them back to the tribe together.

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Bai Su went to pick up branches and again told his brother not to wander or move around, wishing Bai Le would just stay in feather form so he could carry him. After walking so far, Bai Le must be tired.

But Bai Shuo wasn’t tired at all: “...” He felt that since transforming to human form, his brother talked much more than before.

To stop his brother from worrying, Bai Shuo promised seriously, “Brother, I understand. I’ll stay here and not move. I definitely won’t run around.” Even if Bai Su didn’t say it, Bai Shuo wouldn’t wander off. There were many trees around, but unlike other younglings who often roamed in the woods, he wouldn’t want to get lost.

Still, staying in this small area was fine. Bai Shuo observed the surrounding plants within Bai Su’s sight.

There were many types of plants, but most were still seedlings, quite small. Bai Shuo looked around, searching for useful ones.

It was hard to pick a specific plant from a large patch, but distinguishing which were useful and which were not was easy.

First, Bai Shuo saw a cluster of plants that looked like scallions. He broke off one, smelled it—it smelled like scallions. He decided to pick some and bring them back to see if it worked like scallions.

Other plants seemed familiar, some very strange. Bai Shuo picked a few here and there. The most surprising discovery was wheat.

At first glance, Bai Shuo doubted his guess. He approached and examined carefully, confirming it was wheat, though a bit small and with longer awns at the top. But it was definitely wheat.

With wheat, they could grind flour and make noodles.

Bai Shuo instantly recalled countless kinds of flour-based foods—from steamed buns and dumplings to wontons and fried dough sticks... The more he thought, the hungrier he got. But looking down at the small wheat in his hand, Bai Shuo silently dismissed all those foods. This little wheat wasn’t even enough as seeds, let alone food. He probably wouldn’t eat those flour foods anytime soon.

“Shuo, what did you pick?” Bai Su, holding a bunch of branches, noticed Bai Shuo staring at something in his hands and asked.

“It’s wheat.” Bai Shuo had never seen anyone bring wheat back, which meant the feather tribe, or at least their tribe, didn’t recognize wheat. For this unknown plant, he could give it a name himself.

Bai Shuo explained briefly to Bai Su about harvesting wheat and grinding flour, emphasizing that many delicious foods could be made from flour: “Foods made from white flour are very tasty, but the quantity is too small.” He looked at the small patch of wheat; even picking all of it wouldn’t reach two pounds.

Suddenly recalling something, Bai Shuo asked Bai Su, “Brother, have you ever seen this plant?”

Bai Su looked carefully, nodded, and said, “I have. I’ll help you pick some.” Then he started recalling. Having grown up in the tribe and been active in the woods for two years, Bai Su had seen most of the surrounding plants, though he needed to remember the exact locations.

Hearing this, Bai Shuo pondered.

After Bai Su left, whenever other younglings came by, Bai Shuo began telling them they could trade certain plants for meat slices, and even for the soup they drank that morning. In the future, if he made more tasty foods, they could trade those as well.

The younglings’ saved red-top fruit was basically all traded for fried meat today. Though they felt reluctant to trade their red-top fruit, having eaten it all their lives, fried meat was still rarer and more precious. The only regret was that it was all eaten in one meal, and they wouldn’t get to eat it again. Just as they were savoring the morning meal, Bai Shuo’s words instantly lifted the younglings’ spirits, who had been upset about not having fried meat at dinner.

“Bai Shuo, what do we trade with?” asked the young representative from the morning, named Cai Hong, one year older than Bai Shuo and Bai Su. Though younglings under ten stayed together, there were very few nine- or ten-year-olds in the tribe—only three in total. In recent years, the number of younglings in the tribe had slowly increased.

Bai Shuo handed over the wheat ears to him, letting the younglings pass them around for a look: “This is called wheat. If you find it, remember to bring it back.”

“I’ve seen this!” one youngling exclaimed after a brief glance, then dashed off, planning to bring some back to trade for meat!

Then the others followed one after another.

Watching the younglings hurriedly run off, Bai Shuo was extremely satisfied.

Youngling groups were indeed very useful.