Chapter 135

Qi Bai lifted the door latch, shook the snow off his body at the doorway, then entered the house.

Since not everyone knew woodworking involving mortise and tenon joints, the wooden doors and windows of the tribe's houses were all made by Fox Huo and the horned beastmen together,算是 included as free additions with the houses.

Qi Bai added an extra small latch on both sides of the wooden door. These latches didn't provide any theft prevention—they were purely to ensure the door wouldn't be blown open by cold winds.

From the bamboo Wolf Ze cut down, Qi Bai used his free time to make two small kang tables and stools for tending the fire. The rest he cut into suitable lengths, stacking them behind the stove for convenient use whenever needed.

Qi Bai lit the fire under the stove, casually tossing some bamboo scraps into the fire.

Taking advantage of this time, he returned to the bedroom, rolled up the hide mattress and blankets used for sleeping, placed them against the wall, and carefully swept the entire kang surface with a small broom.

When the heated wall in the bedroom started warming up, there happened to be a sound of the door being pushed open from next door.

Qi Bai smiled: "You came at just the right time. Come get warm on the kang."

As soon as Rabbit Ruo put down the rattan basket she brought, Qi Bai placed a warm bamboo cup in her hands: "These are small flowers I dried at the end of summer. They smell quite nice when brewed in water."

Rabbit Ruo watched the small purple petals swirling in the bamboo cup, feeling everything in Qi Bai's house was so interesting.

While spreading out the two hides he just obtained, Qi Bai asked: "What style of hide clothing do you want to make?"

Beastmen didn't have the habit of wearing hide clothing. Even though Rabbit Ruo had seen linen tribe clothing at the Xushan trading day, such expensive linen was something she as a slave could never touch.

It wasn't until coming to Black Mountain Tribe and seeing the various clothes of the tribespeople that she truly understood clothing wasn't just for showing status and wealth—it was to keep everyone warmer in winter.

So after receiving her hide, she had wanted to make herself some clothing. Today, hearing Qi Bai was going to work on his two new hides, Rabbit Ruo tentatively asked Qi Bai, never expecting he would invite her to make hide clothing together.

Rabbit Ruo pointed at Qi Bai: "Can I make something like what you're wearing?"

Qi Bai nodded: "Of course."

What Qi Bai wore was clothing made last year—mainly cutting out front and back pieces plus sleeves, then sewing them together with hide cords. It was indeed quite suitable for beginners.

Qi Bai opened the kang cabinet, pulling out a clean hide shirt to hand to Rabbit Ruo: "First measure and cut the hide based on this one of mine. But my clothes might be bigger—I'll help you adjust it later."

Qi Bai was considerably taller than Rabbit Ruo, but their hide clothing wasn't completely fitted anyway, so using his clothes as a pattern should work.

Rabbit Ruo took the hide shirt, happily saying: "Dog Liu gave me his hide. Since you're similar sizes, I can make one for him first. When he returns, he can wear it right away."

Dog Liu was Rabbit Ruo's partner. His beast form was a mastiff, very suitable for fighting alongside wolf tribesmen, so he had been selected by Wolf Ze for the sheep herd search team this time.

Qi Bai agreed: "That works perfectly. After making the first one, you'll know how to adjust later."

Rabbit Ruo watched Qi Bai drape the whole hide over himself—this was different from the method he taught her. Curious, she asked: "What kind of clothing are you going to make?"

"These two hides are very complete and thick—it would be wasteful to cut them up. I plan to make two hooded cloaks."

Cloaks were much simpler to make than hide clothing, only requiring cutting out the garment piece and hood.

Qi Bai looked at the inside of the hide cloak, thought for a moment, then found two thinner hides.

With the furry side facing inward, he sewed two large pockets on the cloak's interior using bone needles.

This way, the pockets hidden inside the large cloak could warm hands while conveniently holding everyday items.

The jet-black hide gleamed with a sheen, making Qi Bai's already fairer-than-average face appear even more refined.

Rabbit Ruo didn't know how to describe the handsome young man before her, only feeling she had never seen someone so good-looking: "So beautiful."

Hearing Rabbit Ruo's admiration, Qi Bai thought she was complimenting the clothing and smiled: "This winter will probably be very cold. The priest and chief should distribute more hides to everyone. When you have extra hides, you can make a cloak like this too."

Rabbit Ruo smiled and shook her head, continuing to sew the hide in her hands with a bone needle. She was already very satisfied to have such hide clothing now—she didn't have such greedy thoughts.

When night fully fell, Rabbit Ruo agreed on a time to come tomorrow with Qi Bai before packing up her hide-making tools to go home.

Qi Bai also put away the half-finished second cloak. The tribe still had no lamps now. Even with a crack in the window at night, only a little moonlight could enter.

While pondering getting some cotton to make a wick and trying to create a lamp, Qi Bai found soybeans in a bamboo basket against the wall.

The reason Qi Bai made the stone mill first was partly for flour-based foods, but another important reason was he wanted to use the stone mill to grind some wild grain flour to try making soy sauce.

Soy sauce production mainly required two materials: soybeans and wheat flour.

The wild grain obtained from the wild grain tribe had very long awns,不像 modern cultivated short-awn wheat. Qi Bai felt the wild grain resembled barley or highland barley more, but this was the only wheat Qi Bai had found so far. Regardless, he could only try using the wild grain.

However, neither the soybeans growing in hilly areas nor the wild grain obtained from the wild grain tribe—these two important plants—had Qi Bai found around Black Mountain Tribe. To be safe, Qi Bai needed to keep most soybeans and wild grain as seeds for next spring's planting, so he didn't have much material available for production now.

Qi Bai used a small bamboo tube to scoop out a small bowl of soybeans from the bamboo basket, washing them and soaking them in clean water overnight.

Early the next morning, Qi Bai steamed the softened soybeans until cooked.

The thoroughly cooked soybeans were cooled on a winnowing basket, then fully mixed with ground wild grain flour and placed on the basket for fermentation and koji making.

The room kept warm by 24-hour fires allowed molds on the soybeans to grow freely.

So four days later, when Wolf Ze pushed open Qi Bai's door, he was greeted by a green winnowing basket with a strange smell.

Wolf Ze frowned. Qi Bai was always the cleanest person in the tribe—he wouldn't let food spoil without reason.

Recalling what tribespeople just told him—that Qi Bai hadn't gone out for several days—Wolf Ze quickened his steps.

Wolf Ze lifted the hide curtain to the bedroom to see a little snow leopard lying on its back in a small wooden tub filled with steam.

A small piece of hide rested on the little snow leopard's forehead. As water ripples moved, the little tail tip above water gently swayed too—clearly so comfortable from soaking that it had fallen asleep.

Wolf Ze put down the hide, quietly walking to the small tub's edge. When the little snow leopard's ears twitched, about to wake up, he quickly reached into the water basin.

"Meow!"

Qi Bai actually hadn't been deeply asleep. He vaguely heard some sounds from outside earlier, but never expected the other's actions to be so fast—"subduing" him before he could struggle to open his eyes.

Wolf Zhe chuckled softly, bringing his face close to the little snow leopard's, wanting to nuzzle Qi Bai's nose.

A wet little paw stretched out straight,努力 blocking between them.

The rejected Wolf Zhe wasn't discouraged. No nose? Paw tips would do—he gently nuzzled the little snow leopard's paw with his nose.

The little snow leopard wanted to fluff up its fur, but being completely wet made this difficult maneuver impossible.

Wolf Zhe rubbed the little snow leopard's belly: "You need to eat more. Without fur, you're too thin."

"Meow! Meow!" The little snow leopard argued reasoningly.

Unfortunately, Wolf Zhe couldn't understand leopard language. He put the little snow leopard back in the small tub: "I won't disturb you. Hurry and finish bathing."

But despite saying this, Wolf Zhe's large hands一会儿 gently rubbed the little snow leopard's head,一会儿 scratched its chin.

After this full-body massage, Qi Bai felt so comfortable he almost couldn't help purring.

Qi Bai shook his head—no, he wasn't a real little kitten! He couldn't indulge in pleasure like this! This bath couldn't continue!

While Wolf Zhe was distracted, Qi Bai leaped onto the already spread-out hide by the kang, then deliberately shook water off his body, splashing Wolf Zhe.

"You just came back and already bully me!"

Qi Bai said somewhat indignantly. Wolf Zhe had changed! Since becoming partners, Wolf Zhe was no longer the restrained person from before. Whenever he had the chance, Wolf Zhe "bullied" him vigorously.

Just out of a hot bath, Qi Bai's fair skin showed pink beneath, with only a few touches of crimson on lips and chest, making Wolf Zhe unable to look away. Even Qi Bai's slightly puffed cheeks looked exceptionally attractive now.

Heat surged through Wolf Zhe's body. He gently stroked Qi Bai's cheek: "I missed you."

By the time Qi Bai reacted, it was somewhat late.

After his beast form got折腾 for a long time, Qi Bai's human form didn't escape either.

"Wolf Zhe! Leopard Bai! Priest Sheep Luo asks why you haven't come over yet!"

The voice outside like a thunderbolt struck Qi Bai, who was entangled with Wolf Zhe.

Qi Bai pushed Wolf Zhe away, pulling the hide blanket over himself, completely wrapping himself in it.

Qi Bai's lips were even redder than before, his almond-shaped eyes glistening with moisture staring tightly at Wolf Zhe, as if silently questioning.

Wolf Zhe took a deep breath, then lowered his head and touched his nose: "Right, we found four-eared sheep. Priest Sheep Luo asked me to come get you to see together."