In the dream, Bai Shuo flipped through page after page, the words drifting up before his eyes and gradually etching themselves into his memory.
He slept soundly that night, and by the time he woke again, the sky had already brightened. Bai Xun and Bai Yun had already set out, only the three brothers remained in the massive nest inside the cave.
More precisely, three fluffballs.
Chicks who sensed their surroundings were safe while sleeping would naturally revert to feather form, the most comfortable state for them, last night, the three brothers had lain in a row, and now three fluffballs of different sizes were curled together in a heap. Bai Shuo was sandwiched right between them: his brother, a few sizes bigger, on his left, his little brother, bigger still than their brother, on his right.
Yes, their family’s build really was this strange, he was, without question, the smallest of the three brothers, while the youngest, Bai Le, was the biggest of them all. A chick’s size still fluctuated before age three, between three and sixteen, feather-form size stayed essentially fixed, and one’s size at three offered a decent gauge of strength. So barring anything unexpected, Bai Le was destined to be the strongest of the three brothers.
A chick’s down was much softer than an adult Feather Clan member’s feathers, which was exactly why Bai Shuo hadn’t immediately noticed anything wrong when Wu Yan caught him that day, even a chick who looked fierce had down as soft and comfortable as being nestled in a warm nest.
Wrapped between two fluffballs, Bai Shuo felt as though he were floating in a world made entirely of feathers, nothing around him but softness upon softness.
Bai Shuo squeezed his way out from between them, rolled to the edge of the nest, and shifted into human form, then sorted through the three pieces of animal hide to find his own. A chick’s hide garment was like an oversized sack, you just pulled the whole thing over your head, and since the tanning wasn’t done especially well, it didn’t fit snugly, there was too much empty space inside. Bai Shuo found it a bit uncomfortable, but with nothing better on hand right now, he had no choice but to keep wearing it. At least the hide covered him thoroughly, a grass skirt tore too easily and was even less practical.
The moment Bai Shuo finished putting on his hide, the stirring woke Bai Su, who shifted into human form, rubbed his eyes, and called out to his little brother: “Shuo, hungry? I’ll go grill some meat.” A chick who’d just successfully shapeshifted needed a bigger appetite than usual, Bai Su didn’t remember his own appetite as a small child, so he could only use his youngest brother as a reference, the day Bai Le turned human, he’d started crying for food from the middle of the night and eaten four or five meals that day.
Seeing his brother already poised to go fetch food and feed him, Bai Shuo quickly shook his head.
“Not hungry yet.”
“Chirp—” So hungry.
The first line had been Bai Shuo’s answer, the second was the cry of the plump fluffball, Bai Le. Still half-asleep, the moment Bai Le heard anything related to food, he woke up on reflex, and, eyes still shut, informed his two brothers of his feelings. That massive build of his, and that enormous strength, hadn’t come out of nowhere, Bai Le not only ate a lot, he also digested faster than other chicks, whatever he’d eaten last night was already long gone.
Bai Su and Bai Shuo: “……”
With their little brother hungry, the two older brothers obviously weren’t about to stay in bed, especially since neither of them was sleepy anymore either.
The tribe didn’t eat breakfast, normally, the Feather Clan only ate one meal, after the hunting party returned in the evening, then slept soundly through the night, waking the next morning fresh and ready to go find more food.
But chicks were different from adult Feather Clan, a chick’s appetite was smaller, and after finishing a meal, they’d feel hungry again after just a day or a night. Most chicks would snack on fruit, leaf-greens, or leftovers from the day before to tide themselves over in the morning. Bai Le wasn’t picky, as long as it was edible, he’d eat anything, but his two brothers certainly weren’t going to let their little brother subsist on nothing but plain green leaf-greens. Meat, without question, had to be included.
With Bai Xun and Bai Le around, cooked meat rarely went uneaten in their household, but there was still stored meat down in the cave. Bai Su had taken his two younger brothers down the mountain to cook before, and had gotten quite practiced at handling this task, since Bai Le had eaten whatever he’d made these past few days.
Before heading down the mountain, Bai Shuo thought for a moment and grabbed an extra piece of meat, planning to trade for a bit of food once they got down there. He found Cailin. “Auntie Cailin, could I trade for a bit of food?”
The food the gathering party brought back wasn’t just leaf-greens, of course, it was just that the other varieties were fewer in number, and not every kind could be divided out to give everyone a share the way Redtop fruit was. Food that was scarce but kept well was stored in the cave where the tribe kept its collective supplies, distributed once enough had accumulated.
Anyone in the tribe could trade meat for a share of the stored food. Meat functioned as this world’s general currency, nearly anything could be traded for with meat, including precious salt.
Cailin managed the tribe’s food supplies, so naturally Bai Shuo went to find her.
“Of course you can, what does Bai Shuo want to trade for?” Cailin asked kindly, reaching out on reflex to rub the chick’s head. An obedient, adorable chick like this always put people in a better mood without them even realizing it.
Bai Shuo had already grown used to getting his head rubbed and his cheeks pinched wherever he went, there was no dodging it anyway, so he’d given up struggling. He thought it over and asked, “What kind of fruit is left in the cave right now?”
Truth be told, plenty of creatures in this world resembled ones he’d seen in his past life, a moo-beast like a cow, a baa-beast like a goat, a cluck-bird like a chicken crossed with an ostrich, and animals weren’t the only ones, plants were the same way. Probably because civilization here had developed differently, the names were almost entirely different, but the ways of preparing them could be replicated wholesale, last night’s pan-fried meat had proven exactly that.
It was still early in the morning, and Bai Shuo didn’t want to eat the same thing as last night, he wanted to make something lighter.
Cailin simply pulled out a few large leaves. “Go take a look inside first, and use these to carry back whatever you want.”
Hearing he could pick freely, Bai Shuo immediately took the leaves. The trees around here were plentiful, and so were their leaves, though each type of tree had its own distinct shape if you looked closely. The kind used to wrap grilled meat earlier had less visible veining and didn’t easily tear when folded, making it perfect as a wrapping material.
The kind used to hold fruit was thicker, with a naturally curved rim that curled upward all around, its shape fixed, more like a large plate, it could hold water, hold food, didn’t need washing after use, and wasn’t a shame to throw away or burn as kindling once it wore out. Extremely convenient.
Bai Su, seeing his little brother head inside, followed along. Bai Le crouched down outside the cave to wait, he wanted to go in with his brothers too, but was afraid he wouldn’t be able to resist the food once he saw it, so he decided to wait outside instead. As he waited and waited, Bai Le suddenly caught a whiff of food and twitched his nose.
There wasn’t a huge amount of food stored in the cave right now, this wasn’t the season when plants ripened in bulk, and the various leaf-greens didn’t keep well, usually picked and distributed the very same day. The food that did keep well was in short supply, sitting in just one big pile and two small ones.
The slightly bigger pile was leftover Redtop fruit from yesterday’s distribution, “bigger” only in relative terms, just a few dozen pieces, most of them still green and needing a few more days before they’d be ready to eat, with hardly any showing red yet.
Of the two smaller piles, one held a fruit that looked to Bai Shuo something like a tomato, called Redsour fruit here, the smallest pile held a fruit resembling a cross between a winter date and an apple, called Little Crisp fruit, named that because, later in the growth season, there’d be a similar-tasting but larger fruit called Big Crisp fruit. The Feather Clan’s naming conventions were, evidently, this simple and blunt.
Bai Shuo decided to trade for a bit of each of the three: Redtop fruit for marinating meat, Redsour fruit to make a soup with moo-beast meat, and Little Crisp fruit as a snack.
Having made up his mind, Bai Shuo started packing them into the leaves with Bai Su. Once they’d loaded up and were heading out, Bai Shuo suddenly noticed a dozen-odd cluck-bird eggs sitting in a corner of the cave, cushioned underneath with a layer of dry grass, probably to keep them from cracking.
Bai Shuo instantly stopped in his tracks. Cluck-bird eggs tasted similar to chicken eggs, with a faint milky fragrance to them, Bai Shuo had eaten them before, but only ever grilled. Now he wanted to try frying them instead. And he happened to have Redsour fruit on hand right now, too.
An otherworldly version of tomato and scrambled eggs, that would be today’s breakfast! He handed the fruit he was holding over to Bai Su and started picking out cluck-bird eggs.
Even eggs from the same cluck-bird varied in size. Bai Shuo crouched down and, after some deliberation, chose one that wasn’t the biggest but looked the most appealing, hugged it tight, and stood up. The egg was heavier than he’d expected, or maybe it was just that his own strength was still too weak right now, Bai Shuo gritted his teeth, put some real effort into it, and managed to lift it this time.
As he shifted his footing, Bai Shuo heard a very faint “crack.” At the same moment, a thin crack appeared along the shell.
Bai Shuo froze. He’d only used a bit of force, and it had actually cracked on him?
After checking it over carefully, he found just the one crack, and figured he must have happened to press against the shell’s weakest spot.
Well, since he was the one who’d broken it, he might as well trade for this one, and while the crack meant it wouldn’t keep long, it didn’t affect edibility at all as long as it wasn’t left too long. To avoid damaging the egg any further, Bai Shuo moved with extra care as he headed out with Bai Su.
Seeing the two chicks come out carrying so little, Cailin spoke up. “One cluck-bird egg and a bowl of fruit won’t even come to one piece of meat, one piece of meat gets you three cluck-bird eggs, or three bowls of fruit. You can still take one more bowl of fruit, or one more egg.”
Bai Shuo thought it over. “I’ll take the cluck-bird egg.” Redtop fruit was in short supply, but he could always trade for more with pan-fried meat from other chicks, cluck-bird eggs, though, only Cailin had any of. This particular egg had already gotten cracked by him, he’d eat this one this morning, and get a fresh one to fry for his parents tonight. Bai Shuo’s little mental abacus (Clicking the little abacus (scheming over his own advantage) (dǎ xiǎo suànpán, 打小算盤) – idiom, quietly calculating one’s own private gain) was clicking away at full speed.
Having decided what to trade for, Bai Shuo looked left and right, but couldn’t spot Bai Le, who was supposed to be waiting at the cave entrance, so he had no choice but to ask Cailin, who hadn’t left yet.
Cailin pointed toward a few nearby fires. “He’s over there.”
Bai Shuo followed her finger and looked over, day or night, there were always a few fires kept burning down at the base of the mountain, just in case the flame ever went out entirely. The tribe members who’d kept watch overnight had gone off to rest, now it was the elders tending the fires, working while they cooked food.
Bai Le was currently crouched by one of the fires, behind him, an elder was working a piece of hide, kneading it over and over to soften it up for use. The tribe’s animal hides were all roughly the same color, and Bai Le happened to be crouched in a spot where the stone pot blocked him from view, which was why Bai Shuo hadn’t spotted him a moment ago.
Good thing he hadn’t wandered off. Bai Shuo left him alone for now and headed to the cooking spot with Bai Su, first carrying over what they had, then going back for the second load.
Bai Su carried the eggs, Bai Shuo went to grab firewood-starter twigs from the fireside, and on his way over, spotted Bai Le staring at the stone pot with visible longing. The color inside the pot was, frankly, difficult to describe, a sea of green, though a hint of meaty smell drifted from it too. That was the elders’ food.
Whatever prey the hunting party brought back, of course the best portions went to the hunting and gathering parties as their share, with the hide kept aside to trade for animal skins, and the remaining bones handed out to those who couldn’t go out searching for food themselves. Most of the meat had already been picked off these bones, leaving only scattered scraps too awkward to bother removing.
The Feather Clan members who received this share would boil the bones together with leaf-greens, if they got lucky, they might taste a bite or two of meat, but this kind of food digested quickly and often left you hungry again come nightfall, just like the chicks, so they’d cook a second batch, eating a bit to fill their stomachs before heading off to work.
Cailin walked over, stirred the pot with a ladle, and scooped out two bones with a layer of meat still clinging to them, handing them to the two brothers to eat.
Bai Shuo pulled his stomach-rubbing little brother back and shook his head, declining. Unlike his own family, these injured or elderly Feather Clan members received very little food, Bai Shuo obviously wasn’t going to eat what little they had. As for Bai Le, he really was hungry, but with his brother pulling him along, all he could do was shake his head too.
Before leaving, Bai Shuo glanced once more at the oddly colored food in the pot and offered a suggestion. “Auntie Cailin, the leaf-greens will be done soon, next time you make soup, you could boil the bones first, and add the leaf-greens once the bones are cooked through.”
When the Feather Clan cooked, they didn’t bother thinking about which ingredients cooked faster or slower, they’d just dump the whole pile of ingredients into the pot at once. By the time the meat was cooked through, the leaf-greens would already have clumped into a soggy mess, and you could just imagine how unappetizing that looked, the soup didn’t taste great either. Adding the leaf-greens in a little later would at least make for a fresher bite.
Cailin knew Bai Shuo’s pan-fried meat from the day before had tasted especially good, and hearing this, she thought she might try it that way next time.
……
Bai Shuo and Bai Su had already brought down everything they needed and started cooking, even Bai Le, young as he was but strong as an ox, had been drafted into service by Bai Shuo.
The cooking spot looked exactly as it had the night before, the stone pot and slab were covered with leaves, weighted down with stones, now all they needed was to remove the stones and leaves to start using them right away, no need to wash a second time.
Bai Shuo set out the bowls and picked up the cluck-bird egg, which weighed over a jin.
Probably jostled a bit during the carry over from the cave, the crack on top looked a little bigger than before. Bai Shuo tapped the egg gently against a nearby rock, and with a crisp “crack,” the top of the shell shattered.
Bai Shuo slowly peeled the broken shell away, moving carefully to avoid letting any pieces fall in and contaminate the egg white, and it took a good while before he’d gotten the whole shell fully removed. He set the shell aside, washed clean, it might come in handy for something.
Discarding the shell, he looked up again, and found himself staring at a small, fuzzy head.
Bai Shuo: “……” He must have opened it wrong.
Bai Shuo picked the shell back up and slowly set it back in place.
The little cluck-bird chick pushed the shell aside, poked its head out, and chirped away at Bai Shuo.
Bai Su, off tending the fire, heard the noise, turned to find its source, and froze too.
“Shuo, it hatched?” Bai Su could hardly believe it, the cluck-bird egg his little brother had traded for had turned out to have a live chick inside.
Bai Shuo nodded, his feelings thoroughly mixed, well, if it had hatched, then obviously it couldn’t be eaten now. Cluck-birds incubated their eggs the way most birds did, waiting until they’d accumulated enough eggs before starting to brood, ensuring all the chicks hatched around the same time. And judging by the timing, this was exactly the cluck-bird breeding season, so the rest of what remained in the cave probably had very little chance of being edible either.
But at the same time, another thought struck him. If they’d already hatched, didn’t that mean they could be raised and farmed on their own?
The Feather Clan had a habit of storing food, but unfortunately most food didn’t keep well, and the amount stockpiled fell far short of demand, often the reserves would run dry early in the rainy season, never mind the snow season stretching right after it, when food shortages were a problem every single Feather Clan member had to face.
At the root of it all, the Feather Clan relied too heavily on nature, whether hunting or gathering, everything came down to luck. Find food, eat, find none, don’t. More food, eat more, less food, eat less. The moment prey happened to vanish for several days running, everyone had to go hungry, never mind the two-month-long snow season on top of that.
The best solution to this problem was to prepare ahead of time, during the season when plants grew lush and prey began breeding, which was to say, right now. Start raising them now, and by the time the snow season arrived, the little cluck-birds would just have grown up.
With that thought, Bai Shuo started tallying up what resources he had at his disposal.
Between yesterday and today, they’d made ten batches of pan-fried meat total, meaning he had ten pieces of raw meat at his disposal. He’d just used one, leaving nine. There looked to be sixteen or seventeen cluck-bird eggs left in the cave, trading for all of them would still leave enough meat to cover the raw ingredients.
Trading a few pieces of meat for a whole flock of cluck-birds that would grow up in time, an absolute bargain.
Bai Shuo looked at the little cluck-bird chick still working hard to free itself from its shell in front of him, and made up his mind: “That settles it, I’m going to raise cluck-birds!”
The little cluck-bird chick had no idea what fate had in store for it, chirping away as it kicked at the shell still trapping it.
Bai Le, who’d been watching the little cluck-bird with great curiosity, looked up in bewilderment. If his brother was going to raise cluck-birds, where would that leave him?