Wu Yan glanced at the flock of little cluck-birds, then at Bai Shuo standing there earnestly guarding them, hesitated a moment, and decided not to reveal the truth after all.
Under the scorching gazes of the chicks, the little cluck-birds trembled with fear, and Bai Shuo, for some reason, found himself thinking of his own self the day before.
Blocking the chicks’ view, Bai Shuo started assigning tasks. “Wu Yan, take three people to wash the leaf-greens, wash them properly, and be careful, no playing in the water. Caihong, take the rest to gather branches, and pick the dry ones.”
No one objected to this arrangement, once all the chicks had headed off to their jobs and only Bai Shuo remained nearby, the little cluck-birds burst into a chorus of chirping, as if lodging a complaint against the terrifying Feather Clan that had just been looming over them.
Bai Shuo pulled out a large leaf with its edges curled up, poured in a little warm water, and set it on the ground.
The little cluck-birds, who’d just been chattering away in a scattered mess, swarmed toward it at once, gathering in a circle, heads down, drinking eagerly.
Bai Shuo didn’t let them drink too much, though, once he’d made sure every last one had gotten a drink, he took the leaf away, planning to have Bai Xun build a proper feeding trough for the little cluck-birds that evening.
Thanks to the practice he’d gotten cooking the past two mornings and evenings, this batch of pan-fried meat came together even faster than before, by the time the chicks finished washing the greens and came back, the first bowl was already done.
Bai Shuo still wasn’t hungry, so he set some aside separately and let the chicks divide up the rest: “Three slices each, no fighting over it.”
Fresh-washed leaf-greens, wrapped around a slice fresh off the fire, just the sight of it made mouths water, for the chicks who’d already tried this way of eating, waiting even a moment felt like agony.
Bai Le, too impatient to wait, took a bite right away and yelped in pain, scalded, but he couldn’t bring himself to spit it out either, so he just kept sucking in air and blowing it back out until the meat in his mouth cooled down enough, then swallowed it whole, unable to wait any longer.
“So good!” Bai Le exclaimed, thrilled.
Watching him so happy, Bai Shuo couldn’t help but feel a lift in his own mood too.
Meanwhile, the other chicks were still divvying up their slices, thanks to Bai Shuo’s earlier instructions, every single one of them stuck strictly to three pieces each. One slice was about the size of a palm, three slices, plus leaf-greens, was enough to leave a chick about half full.
Once every chick had taken their share, Caihong came over with his bowl. “Bai Shuo, there’s three slices left.”
“Three left?” Bai Shuo found that odd, he’d portioned it out exactly by headcount earlier, and whatever remained was all sitting in Bai Le’s bowl, if there was extra, that meant one chick hadn’t taken their share.
He looked around, counted heads, and realized something was off, one person short compared to before, and asked, “Where’d Wu Yan go?”
Caihong shook his head, saying he didn’t know, they’d all been too busy staring at the meat earlier to notice when Wu Yan had slipped away, let alone where he’d gone.
Another chick nearby spoke up eagerly. “He’s over there!”
Bai Shuo looked in that direction and spotted Wu Yan, apparently just having left Cailin’s spot, now heading toward another cave. Wu Cang and Wu Yan had joined the tribe late, and by the time they arrived, all the caves up the mountain were already occupied, so the father and son lived in one down at the base, not far at all from the cave where food was stored.
Bai Shuo told Caihong to go eat first, then handed the bowl to Bai Le. “Take this over to Wu Yan for me, and when you get back, you can have an extra slice.” Probably because they’d only recently moved in, Wu Yan didn’t seem particularly close with the tribe’s other chicks, usually he’d finish whatever job needed doing and leave right after.
“Okay!” Bai Le agreed between bites, and the moment he heard there’d be more food in it for him, he grabbed the bowl, nearly as big as his own head, and took off running.
“Don’t run so fast!” Bai Shuo called after him, watching a few chicks still practicing walking down at the base of the mountain, then watching his own little brother’s wind-whipped sprint disappear into the distance, and couldn’t help but reflect on just how powerful the pull of food really was, not a single bite Bai Le ate ever went to waste on him.
Before long, Bai Le came cheerfully running back, the bowl in his hands swapped for a different one, half full of Redtop fruit. “Brother, this is for you.”
Bai Shuo didn’t expect Wu Yan to actually prepare something in return, this exchange had probably left him at a loss overall, and decided he’d bring it up with him at some point.
The chicks nearby finished their food and happily scattered off to play, Bai Shuo started preparing a portion for the group that had gone out with Bai Su, those chicks had helped with chores today too, after all, and he certainly wasn’t going to play favorites.
By the time Bai Su made it back with the other chicks, his hide bundle was loaded with plenty of Redtop fruit. After handing it all out, he washed his own share clean and brought it over to his little brother, and, noticing the bowl already sitting beside him, calmly nudged it aside without missing a beat.
Bai Shuo, catching his own brother’s little sleight of hand: “……”
Bai Su’s favorite thing in the world to do was feed his little brother, before, and now too. He picked up the chopsticks, taking over the job from him. “Go eat, I’ll keep watch here.”
Bai Shuo decided to follow his eldest brother’s lead and moved aside to eat the fruit, Redtop fruit the size of a fist, fully ripe and purely sweet, the less-ripe ones carrying a hint of tartness, both delicious in their own way. Wu Yan’s batch was a touch redder, probably because he’d found a spot the other chicks hadn’t gotten to yet, Bai Su’s batch was paler, but just as tasty.
As he ate, Bai Shuo peeled a couple extra for his older and younger brothers, then washed his hands and got started on the family’s dinner.
Amid all the busyness, the sky gradually dimmed. As evening drew near, the gathering and hunting parties trickled back one by one, and the tribe grew lively again.
Bai Shuo was cooking soup, of the ten pieces of meat he’d earned through processing, only one remained, just enough to make a pot of Redsour-fruit-and-moo-beast-meat soup. They’d already had some that morning, but his parents hadn’t gotten to try it yet.
Bai Yun and Bai Xun made it back to the tribe around the same time, today’s catch had been a bit smaller than yesterday’s, but the gathering party, having traveled further, had brought back more food than usual, taken together, the day’s haul wasn’t small at all.
The two of them dropped off their food and made straight for their chick, as they drew closer, the first thing that hit them was a smell, strange yet somehow familiar.
“Cooking meat?” Bai Xun’s nose twitched. On closer thought, though, it didn’t quite match, this was a more fragrant smell, more appetizing than boiled meat.
“Yes, Papa, Mama, I made a soup with Redsour fruit and moo-beast meat, try some.” Bai Shuo picked up a wooden bowl to serve some, but Bai Yun took over for him.
Bai Yun ladled out three half-bowls for the chicks first and set them aside, then filled bowls for herself and her mate.
The reddish soup churned with bobbing slices of meat, chopped scallion sprinkled on top, the whole thing looked utterly appetizing, and Bai Xun beside her couldn’t help swallowing at the sight. Their second chick always managed to conjure up foods they’d never eaten before, and every single one turned out delicious.
With the crackling and pan-fried meat from before as a preview, Bai Xun already knew, even before tasting it, that this bowl of soup would beat anything they’d ever had, the smell alone was enough to tell him how good the food would be. He blew on it a couple of times and, unable to wait any longer, took a sip, and immediately got worked up, urging his mate in a rush of jumbled words to hurry up and try it, still slurping away despite scalding his tongue, without slowing down one bit.
Bai Yun wasn’t in such a hurry as her mate, waiting until it had cooled a little before drinking, and once she tasted it, she understood exactly why he’d gotten so excited.
Redsour fruit wasn’t quite as sour as some other tart fruits, but it was still one of the foods most Feather Clan members didn’t particularly enjoy, only the chicks liked eating it on its own, and eating too much of it would make your teeth ache when you ate other food afterward. But stewed into a soup, it transformed into something else entirely, tangy and refreshing, perfectly masking the gaminess of the meat, leaving nothing but smooth, tender, savory flavor that made you want to keep drinking.
The two adult Feather Clan each drank a big bowl of soup and instantly felt wonderfully at ease all over. Usually, after a long day’s work, they had to cook before they could eat, and hunger had simply become a habit no one thought twice about, but filling their stomachs a little first, that sense of contentment felt just like catching your first kill after the snow season, filling you with hope.
Bai Xun set his bowl aside and scooped up his chick, about to start the toss-in-the-air game, when he spotted the little cluck-birds huddled together on the ground and lit up. “Where’d you catch these little cluck-birds? I’ll help you clean them up, Papa’ll grill some for you later?”
Bai Shuo, scooped up before he could object: “……” It really seemed like everyone except him assumed the little cluck-birds were food, worried they might lose their lives before the night was over, Bai Shuo hurried to explain that he wanted to raise them to full size before eating them.
Hearing this, Bai Xun didn’t take it seriously, and remarked offhandedly, “Little cluck-birds can’t be raised, the ones you catch, if they won’t eat or drink, they’ll starve to death in a couple of days.”
His chick’s ideas really were different from other chicks, what a shame, though, that a little cluck-bird stopped eating the moment it entered the tribe, if they didn’t kill it now, it would still have to be killed in a few days anyway, once it had starved.
“Won’t eat or drink?” Bai Shuo looked down at the flock of little cluck-birds, all huddled together but still peeking outward, and thought this claim didn’t quite sit right. “Maybe it’s just that the food they were given wasn’t something they liked?”
That, Bai Xun didn’t know, and shook his head. “No idea, every little cluck-bird we’ve ever caught before, we always just ate it.” Little cluck-birds were small to begin with, and starving them for even a couple days left barely any meat at all, so the usual practice was to eat them the moment they were caught, rather than waste them.
Since he’d just given the little cluck-birds water that afternoon, Bai Shuo felt this whole “won’t eat or drink” business was worth questioning. “Papa, these ones only hatched today, I want to try feeding them for a few days.”
“Sure, feed them as many days as you like.” A chick who’d only just turned human two days ago wouldn’t understand these things, Bai Xun figured it didn’t matter either way, it was just a few little cluck-birds. “Once this batch starves, Papa’ll go catch you a fresh one!”
Bai Shuo: “……” Now he could see it clearly, his father held zero hope whatsoever that he’d manage to raise these little cluck-birds to full size.
It suddenly struck Bai Shuo, that hesitant, tongue-tied look Wu Yan had worn that afternoon while watching the little cluck-birds. He suspected Wu Yan had thought the exact same thing, just hadn’t had the heart to say it out loud.
Bai Shuo crouched down and gave each little cluck-bird a pat on the head in turn. “You’d all better grow up big and strong,” he said, with real feeling. Grow up quietly, and then astonish everyone.
Elsewhere, Wu Yan was in the middle of discussing something with Wu Cang. “Papa, could you catch me a batch of little cluck-birds?”
Bai Shuo had guessed right, Wu Yan really did know these little cluck-birds wouldn’t survive, he just hadn’t said so directly. Instead, he was planning to have Wu Cang catch a fresh batch of little cluck-birds every single day, then quietly swap out the ones close to starving before Bai Shuo noticed.
Still young, Wu Yan hadn’t thought through one crucial detail, if he actually went through with this plan, Bai Shuo, watching his little cluck-birds never seem to grow at all, might start to seriously question his own sanity.
……
Unaware of Wu Yan’s plan, Bai Shuo wrapped up his work by the fire once his parents got back, and with Bai Xun and Bai Yun helping out, went to collect the wheat that had been drying for most of the day.
The wheat had already been fully ripe, and after drying half a day besides, it needed hardly any extra effort, just set the head in your palm and rub it a few times, and the grains would fall right off on their own. The only downside was that the awns were a bit sharp, prickling at the palm.
Bai Yun noticed the thing in her chick’s hands looked familiar and picked some up to help him rub the grains loose. “Shuo, what are you planning to do with these?”
As gathering-party captain, Bai Yun had of course seen this plant before, it just tasted rather ordinary, and prickled the mouth when eaten, plus it ripened around the same time as other fruits and leaf-greens, so no one had ever bothered picking it.
Bai Shuo explained a little. “It’s called wheat. Once it’s ripe and dried, it can keep for years without spoiling, and it’s especially good at staving off hunger.” Wheat was packed with starch, and while it couldn’t compare to meat, it could still make a huge difference during the food-scarce snow season.
Bai Yun looked at the grains in her hand, deeply surprised. “It really keeps that long?” Even as she asked, some part of her had already half believed it, their chick had been different from other chicks since he was small, even though he’d been slow to turn human, he seemed to understand things that plenty of adult Feather Clan didn’t, and whatever he said, people just found themselves believing.
Thinking about this, Bai Yun felt a small pang of regret, such a shame their tribe was too small to have a priest of its own. If their chick had been born into a larger tribe, surely a priest would have taken him under their personal tutelage by now.
Bai Shuo had no idea his mother was lamenting on his behalf, and nodded in reply. “It definitely will, Mama, you could try it this year. Pick some, dry it out, and see if it lasts until the snow season.”
Bai Yun thought it over and nodded, the taste really was nothing special, but during the snow season, when there was no food to be had at all, even something with a mediocre flavor was still food worth having. After all, no matter how unpleasant, it beat going hungry.
Seeing her agree, Bai Shuo went on, “Mama, remember to only pick the ones that have turned yellow, leave the green ones alone. Wait until they’re ripe before picking those.”
“All right.” Bai Yun agreed, with years of gathering experience behind her, she understood the moment Bai Shuo said it: only the ripe ones.
Getting her answer, Bai Shuo’s mind turned to the idea of planting more widely. He still didn’t know exactly how large the tribe’s territory was, but watching the hunting and gathering parties head to a different spot every single day, he could tell it wasn’t small, and relying purely on hunting and gathering across an area this size felt like such a waste. It wasn’t stable, and it wasn’t efficient either, far better to carve out a dedicated plot and grow crops on purpose.
The trouble was, organizing the labor would be a real headache. Getting the chicks to work saved time on explaining things, just prepare food and that was enough, but clearing a large plot of open land for planting required real strength, which the chicks simply didn’t have. To scale up, he’d need adult Feather Clan, and telling grown adults he wanted to grow crops would take a lot of explaining, with no guarantee they’d even agree.
Bai Shuo’s gaze swept back and forth between his own parents a few times, and an idea began forming in his mind.
After dinner that evening, Bai Shuo suddenly asked, “Papa, Mama, want to file your claws tonight?”
A Feather Clan member’s claw-tips, like human fingernails, grew continuously, to keep them from growing too long, the Feather Clan would regularly file them down, anywhere would do: the inside wall of a cave, a rock outside, a sturdy tree trunk…
If other surfaces worked, then naturally soil worked too, and it wouldn’t matter if it was slower going, since that just meant more time spent filing.
And so, coaxed along by Bai Shuo, the old man shifted into feather form and headed off toward a spot with sparse tree cover to file his claws.
Bai Yun kept feeling like her chick was up to something again, ruffled his hair, shifted into feather form herself, and followed close behind Bai Xun.
A Feather Clan member who’d already finished eating spotted the scene and asked the chick left behind, “Bai Shuo, where are your parents off to?”
Bai Shuo shook his head innocently. “I don’t know.”
That single “I don’t know” instantly stirred up the curiosity of the Feather Clan member nearby.
“Could they have found something delicious?”
“Should we go take a look?” someone suggested.
The moment those words left his mouth, someone else immediately chimed in agreement. “Let’s go, let’s go take a look.”
And with that, a whole crowd of idle Feather Clan shifted into feather form and followed along, only to arrive and discover the two of them were simply filing their claws.
The Feather Clan, who’d assumed something big was happening, were more than a little disappointed, but since they’d already come this far, and were already in feather form besides, they looked down at their own claws and figured they might as well file theirs too. Except there wasn’t a single sturdy tree trunk anywhere nearby, so they made do, scratching at the ground the way the two others had. The soil was too soft to file much of an edge, but sinking their claws into it felt surprisingly nice, and the whole crowd of Feather Clan happily kept at it, purely for the fun of it.
Once shifted into feather form, the Feather Clan always grew a bit restless, a handful of especially lively ones started grabbing clumps of dirt and flinging them at the others, only to get mobbed and pummeled in retaliation, then, moments later, revert right back to their old antics, the very picture of forgetting the beating the instant the fun starts (Remembers the play, forgets the smack (recalls only the fun, never the consequences) (jì wán bù jì dǎ, 記玩不記打) – saying, remembering the good times and forgetting the punishment that followed).
Not until they’d torn up an entire patch of soil did the flock of Feather Clan finally shake out their wings and fly off toward the river to bathe. Chicks got sick easily and couldn’t go in the water at night, but adult Feather Clan had nothing to fear.
The next morning, Bai Shuo led a group of chicks to the spot where the Feather Clan had filed their claws, to sow wheat seeds.