Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains 048

by Miiya · February 5, 2022

Chapter 48

At noon, a heavy snowfall came fluttering down and the area that Aze had cleared in the morning was soon covered in snow again.

Chen Qi had laid out a piece of animal hide and was sitting by the fire sewing some round wooden cushions, while Aze had been sent by Chen Qi to make the round wooden cushions. Though he called them round wooden cushions, in fact, they were actually just a few flat, round, blocks of wood with a layer of animal skin sewn on them. It was the first day of winter, but the temperature had fallen drastically. Chen Qi could feel the chill through the single layer of hide laid on the ground. Only then did he think of making some round wooden cushions.

Since the confession, Chen Qi’s eyes kept falling back to Aze from time to time. He felt as if he’d, in an instant, resembled his past younger self; Feeling his first budding love bloom and having his lover in his sight yet feeling that he couldn’t get enough of looking at them. Aze, on the other hand, calmed down his prior agitated emotions and continued his work seriously. Occasionally, he’d find Chen Qi’s gaze on him and he’d raise his head to smile slightly at him, making Chen Qi’s heart skip a beat. Chen Qi couldn’t look at him directly and inwardly complained. I’ve been around Aze for over a month. Why hadn’t I noticed before how attractive his smile was?

Chen Qi made a sumptuous lunch. He made practically everything he could using the materials he had on hand now. He busied himself for most of the day and cooked as many as 16 dishes before he stopped even though he felt like he hadn’t fully expressed himself. Fortunately, they had several pottery bowls that could be used as serving dishes. Aze was stunned by the lines of dishes that almost filled the living room. Although Aze was helping out the whole time, he still could not comprehend how Chen Qi managed to make so many different dishes with the few materials they had.

Chen Qi clamped a fried meatball to Aze’s lips and said proudly, “Aze, try this. See if it tastes good.” This kind of fried meatball was made by mashing up pork belly from the warthog, wrapping it into a ball with a layer of rice berries and then frying it in hot oil. When previously processing the preys, Chen Qi set aside the fat and cooked it into oil, storing it in a large pottery dish. The weather was not hot these days, so the flavor did not change.

Today, after confessing to Aze, Chen Qi was like a male peacock that couldn’t wait to show off its tail to its mate.

Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains (CLWP) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.

Not only did he fry meatballs, Chen Qi also fried potatoes, sweet potatoes and cabbage. The cabbage was part of the yield from Aze’s trip to the forest yesterday. Chen Qi cut the potatoes into strips to make fries and fried them in oil. But he’d found that the center of the fries were not cooked through. So, he steamed the potatoes for a while, then took them outside the house to freeze them a little bit and then put them in the oil to fry them again. After frying, he fished them out and sprinkled salt on them directly. Chen Qi tasted one. Although it was not as delicious as that sold in fast food restaurants, it should still be very novel for the beastmen who had never eaten this kind of food before.

The meatballs were big and couldn’t be eaten in one bite. Aze bit half of the one Chen Qi had offered him with the chopsticks. Earlier, when Chen Qi was making it, he’d felt that this thing’s fragrance was particularly appetizing. Now, it was crispy and crunchy in his mouth. It was very different from any kind of meat he’d eaten before.

Chen Qi happily ate the Aze-bitten fried meatball. Naturally, the taste was not as good as those he’d eaten before, but Chen Qi felt that this was the best fried meatball he’d ever eaten. Chen Qi then took one of the fries to Aze’s mouth. Aze paused for a moment and then only bit half of it again. Watching Chen Qi eat the remaining half after him, Aze’s ear tips, which had not been partially transformed and thus, not covered in fur, turned red unconsciously.

When Ake arrived, it was to this mushy couple scene. Full of doubts, he glanced at Aze, and then at Chen Qi, but did not give in to his curiosity to ask what was going on.

This was Chen Qi’s first time seeing a beastman in complete beast form. Actually, the very first time he’d met Aze, Aze had also been in his complete beast form. Unfortunately, he’d fallen unconscious too quickly at that time and did not really see Aze’s beast form clearly. Ake only wore a hide skirt around his waist and except for his facial features, he was covered with fluffy black-spotted, white fur. He looked like a strong and healthy snow leopard.

Feeling a little awkward, Chen Qi coughed, but Aze calmly asked Ake, who’d arrived so suddenly, “Why did you come over at this time?”

Ake gave him a narrow-eyed look. “Uncle Azhang asked me to tell you that the tribe plans to hunt hydrochoerus dragons tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Aze frowned. Right now the hydrochoerus dragons would not have come to the outskirts of the forest at all. If they were to hunt the hydrochoerus dragons at this time, they’d have to go into the depths of the forest, which meant they would not be back within the day. He couldn’t leave Chen Qi at home for so long on his own. “Didn’t everyone usually wait until the hydrochoerus dragons arrived at the forest periphery?”

Ake had moved over by the fire, his nose twitching, as he eyed the dishes that were lying all over the floor. Then he looked at Chen Qi. The meaning in this look was obvious. He wanted to eat. Chen Qi generously handed him a clean pair of chopsticks. Ake accepted them and unceremoniously grabbed a fried meatball. He took a big bite and his eyes lit with surprise, but he did not forget to answer Aze’s question. “Uncle Azhang thinks there are too many abnormalities in the forest and plains nowadays. If we hunt enough hydrochoerus dragons early, we won’t have to go into the forest during the deep winter.”

Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains (CLWP) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.

Winter here lasted as long as half a year. The “deep winter” that Ake referred to was not the days after half of winter had passed, but rather was the time after only half a month to a month following the start of winter, when the temperature would be a few degrees lower than now, and the snowfall would also increase.

Ake used the chopsticks to move a fry into his mouth. It was his first time eating fried food. The taste and texture were completely different from everything he’d ever eaten, which made him unable to resist wanting more. “If you are worried about Chen Qi, I can bring Ka Luo and Uncle Ali over to accompany him tomorrow.” Ake clamped some fried cabbage then turned to Chen Qi: “Uncle Ali seems to be very interested in the clothes you made. He has been busy storing food before now, so tomorrow you can teach him how you made the clothes.”

Chen Qi asked, “Will it take long to hunt hydrochoerus dragons?” If they could go back and forth within a day, Aze would not have to worry about him. After all, he stayed at home alone yesterday.

“Not long, no. It will take about two days and one night at the earliest.” Ake swallowed the food in his mouth and reached out his chopsticks to another plate which held fried cabbage and meat patties. They were made by mixing mashed cabbage with mashed minced meat, then wrapping them in a layer of rice berries and fried. This was Chen Qi’s first dish. The patties were fried a little loosely and broke apart in one clip. Some of them were also a bit burnt due to poor control of the heat.

Chen Qi handed Ake a wooden spoon. “You can eat with this.”

Ake took it and scooped a large spoonful of it into his mouth. The flavor of meat in the cabbage and meat patty was much stronger than that of the fried meatball. It was mixed with vegetables and did not give off a greasy feeling when eaten. “Chen Qi, how do you make all these dishes? When you have time, you can teach Ka Luo how to make them.”

Chen Qi couldn’t figure out how Ake could articulate clearly with his mouth stuffed with food. Now that he was with Aze, Ka Luo’s identity had turned into his brother-in-law. And Ake would become his brother-in-law’s… wife? Chen Qi was naturally pleased to see Ake liking it. “These dishes are very simple. If Ka Luo comes over tomorrow, I’ll teach him how to cook them.”

Ake nodded, then gracefully scooped another large spoonful of the cabbage and meat patty with the wooden spoon and ate it.

Ake delivered the message and ate and drank his fill, so he was now ready to leave. Knowing how much he’d enjoyed them, Chen Qi fried a few more potatoes and the remaining cabbage and meat patties and fried meatballs, packing them into a pottery dish. Then he used a few animal hides to tightly cover the plate to let Ake bring it back to the tribe and give the others a taste. Since the food was fried with animal fat, Chen Qi also reminded Ake to heat the food a little before eating it.

Ake didn’t stand on ceremony. He took note of Chen Qi’s reminder and held the pottery dish full of food in his arms. He started running as soon as he got outside. With several leaps and bounds, he soon disappeared into the vast snowy expanse.

Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains (CLWP) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.

If Ali came over, Aze would no longer need to worry about Chen Qi’s safety. Now that winter was here, all the animals on the plains had migrated away, and the dragons from the forest would not extend their activities to the plains.

After being interrupted by Ake’s sudden appearance, Chen Qi proceeded to shamelessly play the game of feeding Aze a bite, and taking the finishing bite himself. The two of them were too conscious of their embarrassment to really finish lunch, but Chen Qi really did cook too much food and more than half of the food was not eaten. Chen Qi gathered the food into several ceramic plates, covered them with clean wood boards, and placed them in the corner near the door. Once it was heated up in the evening, it could be served directly as dinner without having to cook it again.

In the afternoon, Chen Qi made a fur cloak using a white furred skin, the color very much resembled snow. Making the cloak was very simple. After cutting out the desired size, he just had to sew on the hood and shoulder straps. With Aze around, it was very easy to poke holes into the fur for stitching, so Chen Qi finished it with little effort.

Chen Qi shook open the cloak. “Aze, come and try wearing this.”

Aze walked over obediently. Chen Qi put the cloak on him and pulled the hood over his head. The hood Chen Qi made was very big; it covered half of Aze’s eyebrows. Almost instantly, Aze’s whole temperament changed, becoming noble and elegant with a hint of mystery. Chen Qi looked at him from all angles and was very satisfied. “Tomorrow, wear this cloak when you go out. It snows heavily nowadays. The cloak can keep out the cold as well as the snow.”

Aze smiled, “Okay.”

Chen Qi clutched his chest. He finally understood what it meant to say the clothes make the man. The smiling Aze, wearing a hooded cloak, was several times more handsome than usual.

Chen Qi then picked out another piece of all-black fur and made himself a black cloak.

In the afternoon, the snow stopped for a while. Aze went out again to clear the snow outside the door. In the evening, the snow began to fall again. This time, the snow was not only heavier, but was also accompanied by howling winds.

The hide door curtain was covered tightly. Chen Qi looked out through the transparent window made of the locust dragon eye carapace. Everything was white, and the snowflakes constantly whirled around in the wind, blocking the view. Chen Qi could not see anything except the outline of the tall fig tree outside the house. It seemed like there was nothing but endless whiteness in the world.

Words from the Translation Crew

Miiya: Thanks for the Ko-fi’s that have supported this translation. 2 more unfulfilled Ko-fi posts to go.

Translator: Miiya
Editor: MushroomNight73
Proofreader: Yume

Editor stepping into the realm of MTL translating, starting with CLWP. Support this translation with a Ko-fi. Three Ko-fis will add an extra chapter from the stockpile to the next weekly release.