Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains 067
Chapter 67
The morning sun of the day of the 2nd moon shone through the half-open curtains. In the silent space, the crackle of wood burning in the fire could be heard from time to time. Having exerted excessive energy for the whole night, Chen Qi woke up unhurriedly. Reminiscing about the scene from last night, he turned over and reached out his hands to pull the person next to him into his embrace and continue his affections, but all he grabbed was air.
Chen Qi opened his eyes. Blinked and then blinked again. What’s this? The morning after the completion of the bridal chamber rituals and the wife has disappeared?
The room was still the same as it was yesterday. The leftover food was still on the low table by the fire. The suit that he’d thrown to the ground yesterday laid folded neatly on the end of the bed. Chen Qi woke up completely from his drowsiness. He hurriedly got up and put on his clothes, then walked around the house, but he did not find Aze at all.
Chen Qi couldn’t help supporting his forehead. Did he not work hard enough yesterday? Where would Aze have gone in the early morning if he wasn’t hunting?
Chen Qi put on his warm fur coat and opened the door to find Ka Luo hurriedly running back with a large pottery jar of clean snow. Usually, the task of melting the snow was always Ake’s responsibility. Why was Ka Luo doing it today?
There was a place in the yard that was especially reserved for the snow that was to be used for melting. The ground was paved with clean slates to separate it from the soil. When water was needed, they would go there to fetch snow. The snow there was almost one meter thick, enough for them to use until the next snowfall. Chen Qi wanted to ask Ka Luo if he saw Aze, but before he could say anything, Ka Luo had already gone back into the house and directly closed the door with the back of his hand.
Chen Qi: “. . . . . .”
Following Ka Luo, Chen Qi opened the door and entered the house. The structure of Ka Luo’s house was very similar to Aze’s old house. The ceiling was very low. Chen Qi could touch the ceiling if he raised his hand. Unlike Chen Qi’s house, the hide curtain was behind Ka Luo’s wooden door. Chen Qi opened the thick hide curtain and found that besides Aze, Azhang and Ali were also inside, and even Ajing and the little wolf cub were sitting obediently by the fire.
“Why are you all gathered here this early in the morning?” Chen Qi’s face was full of questions.
Ka Luo, who was setting the pottery jar on the fire, raised his head, and with a big bright smile at Chen Qi, said proudly, “Chen Qi, I am a father.”
“What?” Chen Qi, who had just come in, was so shocked that he almost fell over. Aze, who was standing beside him, hurriedly tugged at him. Just then, Chen Qi noticed Ake sitting on the bed on the heated kang, carrying a small mass of fluffy, white fur in his arms, which seemed to have something wrapped in it.
Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains (CLWP) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
Aze pursed his lips and smiled. “Ake gave birth to a little female last night.”
Chen Qi’s mouth was half-open in surprise. The females didn’t wear as many layers as he did in the winter. He hadn’t noticed how much Ake’s belly had swelled up. He even watched him climb up and down the wall these past two days when they were tidying up the wall. How did he suddenly end up giving birth after a night’s sleep? Was it so easy to have a baby?
Chen Qi stepped forward and tried to peek in at the bundle in Ake’s arms. Ake wore an expression of rare gentleness and moved the fur bundle towards Chen Qi so that the other could see the child inside.
The newborn baby’s face was flushed red, the skin on his face was wrinkled, the hair on his head was sparse and his small mouth would smack together from time to time. This was Chen Qi’s first time seeing such a tiny baby.
“He is kinda ugly.” Ajing muttered quietly, holding the little wolf cub.
How could Ka Luo, who had just become a father, allow himself to hear those words that disdained his own cub, and he gave Ajing a knock on the head, “You were even uglier when you were born.”
Ajing pouted and was too lazy to refute him. He hugged the little wolf pup and went to sit a little further away. He stroked the little wolf cub’s beautiful white fur with his little hand, and silently complained in his heart that he was not as good-looking as his Little Wolf.
“Do you want to hold him?” Seeing Chen Qi continuing to stare at the child, Ake asked tentatively.
Chen Qi quickly took a step back, waved his hand and shook his head. “No thanks.” You’ve got to be kidding me. What if I accidentally dropped the tiny thing?
Ake saw that Chen Qi was unwilling and he didn’t force it. At this time, Ali had opened up a milk fruit and handed it to Ake. “Let’s feed the young female some milk fruit first.”
Seeing Ake planning to feed the milk fruit directly to the baby, Chen Qi could not help but ask, “It’s such a cold day, would he be able to handle drinking the milk fruit directly? Shouldn’t you warm it up first?”
Ake stopped mid-action and looked at Chen Qi, a little puzzled. The beastmen had never tried to heat up the milk fruit for the little children to eat.
“Uh, can’t babies drink warm milk fruit?” Seeing that everyone was staring at him, Chen Qi was a little confused.
Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains (CLWP) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
“No, they can drink it.” Ake handed the opened milk fruit to Chen Qi. “Can you help me warm it up?”
Chen Qi took it and found a clean pottery bowl to pour the milk fruit into. The milk fruit only filled about half of the bowl. Ka Luo quickly moved to Chen Qi’s side to learn. The milk fruits had been gathered before winter, but the weather was so cold and he was worried that the baby’s stomach and intestines would be unable to adapt to it, as well as concerned that the milk fruits might contain bacteria if they had not been stored well. So, Chen Qi first boiled the milk fruit and then let it cool until the temperature felt suitable before handing it to Ake.
Ka Luo was surprised by Chen Qi’s method of boiling the food first and then letting it cool. Wasn’t this a bit superfluous? Chen Qi briefly explained the reason to him. Although Ka Luo still didn’t understand it very well, he understood that it was better to heat up the milk fruit before feeding it to his cub. He planned to follow Chen Qi’s method in the future.
There was now a child in Ka Luo’s household. When all was said and done, the kitchen and bedroom were both in the same space. Chen Qi was worried that if he cooked here, the smell and smoke would affect the child, so he suggested that they go over to his house for meals for the time being. Ka Luo naturally agreed. At noon, Ka Luo directly roasted a large piece of hydrochoerus dragon meat to supplement Ake’s body, and Chen Qi directly stopped him. “Ake just gave birth. How can you let him eat roast meat right away?”
Ka Luo held the roasted meat and looked puzzled. “What should he eat if he didn’t eat roasted meat?” He’d seen other beastmen in the tribe eat roast meat immediately after they gave birth. En, it was better to state that they didn’t have anything else to eat aside from stewed meat or roasted meat. Now, they could make so many different kinds of food thanks to Chen Qi, so in terms of food, Ka Luo would plainly defer to practically 100% of what Chen Qi said.
Chen Qi thought for a moment, “How about I do it, and you watch?”
“Okay.”
This was from the internal organs of a warthog Aze had hunted before winter. It was placed in boiling hot water to thaw, then casually stir-fried, before being added to the rice berries to be boiled together. The pork kidney had been cured before, so Chen Qi did not add any additional salt. When the rice porridge was almost ready, he added a little bit of crushed wild ginger as well as a bit of wild onions to enhance the taste.
Chen Qi wrapped the pottery dish directly in an animal hide, covered it with the wooden pot lid, handed it to Ka Luo, and told him to warm it on the fire when he got home. Then, whenever Ake wanted to eat, he could serve him some.
As a result, when Ka Luo handed Ake a bowl of the rice porridge, even though there was pork kidney in it, Ake couldn’t help frowning. “I want to eat meat.”
“Chen Qi said that you have just given birth and shouldn’t eat roast meat. Just wait a few days and you can eat it.” Ka Luo coaxed.
Ake’s head was full of black lines. If he could walk at the moment, he really wanted to rush at Chen Qi directly and tell him that there was nothing wrong with him. Which beastman didn’t eat meat after the baby was born? However, some people really did feel uncomfortable for a long time after giving birth, and it wasn’t known whether it had anything to do with what they ate. Ake looked at Ka Luo, who was holding the baby carefully, then inwardly sighed, stirred the rice porridge with the wooden spoon, and took a big mouthful. En, it was a little bland, but it still tasted pretty good.
At this time, Chen Qi was checking the food at home to see what ingredients he might have that were suitable to make meals to supplement Ake’s body during the confinement period*. He used to hear from others that the confinement period was very important. If it was not done properly, it could leave sequelae. Even though Ake was a big man, he had just had a baby, so at any rate he should probably also follow the confinement period.
*坐月子 zuò yuè zi to convalesce for a month following childbirth, following a special diet, and observing various taboos to protect the body from exposure to the “wind”
Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains (CLWP) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
Seeing Chen Qi stare at the cured fowls in the storage room, Aze walked over and asked, “What’s the matter?”
“I am wondering whether salted foods are suitable for those recuperating from childbirth.” Chen Qi held his chin in thought, feeling vexed. He had never considered that he would have children, so naturally, he would not have paid attention to what those in the confinement period would need to eat. Although he knew that chicken soup was very nourishing, but these birds had already been salted, and he wasn’t sure if the boiled soup would still be effective.
“We still have a lot of hydrochoerus dragon and antelope meat.” Aze reminded.
“I know, but the meat has been frozen for some time. I’m wondering if there is anything fresher and more nutritious.” Stating this much, Chen Qi paused for a moment, then asked, “Aze, has the Chishui River frozen over?”
Aze nodded, puzzled at this sudden question. The locust dragon swarm was previously able to cross the Chishui River because it had long been frozen over.
Chen Qi clapped his hand. “Let’s go fishing.”
“Fishing? Can fish be eaten?” Remembering those old tales about eating fish and then starving to death, Aze hurriedly tried to stop him. “Chen Qi, let’s not eat fish. The fish can’t be eaten. We already have enough food. If you want fresh food, I can go into the forest to look for some.”
Looking at Aze’s panicked appearance, Chen Qi patted him on the shoulder to appease him, “It’s okay, don’t worry. When have I made something that couldn’t be eaten?”
Although what Chen Qi said was true, Aze was still very concerned. After all, the warning had been passed down from generation to generation that fish should not be eaten.
Naturally, wanting to go catch fish in the Chishui River was not a matter that could be executed as soon as the idea cropped up. It was now already past noon and it got dark faster in the winter. Moreover, the Chishui River was still a long distance away from here. Chen Qi planned to prepare what he’d need today, and then explore how to catch it tomorrow.
Seeing that Aze’s face was still full of disapproval, Chen Qi couldn’t help but put his hands on his waist and asked, “Why did you leave me and run off alone this morning?” Speaking of this morning’s situation, Chen Qi was full of complaints.
“I heard the sound of a baby crying coming from next door. I guessed that Ake may have given birth. After all, his due date was going to be around these couple of days, so I went over first.” Being reminded of the morning, Aze naturally thought of last night’s scene as well and couldn’t help feeling his face heat up. He even temporarily forgot all about Chen Qi’s talk about going to catch fish.
“Then why didn’t you wake me up?”
“I saw that you were very tired, so…” Aze’s voice got softer and softer, and his face turned a deep red from blushing. Why didn’t he know that Chen Qi was a person who liked to ask questions? And how was he supposed to answer such things?
“Tired?” Chen Qi playfully drew out this word a little and slipped his hands into Aze’s fur coat. Since Aze had already removed the suit from the wedding, at this time, the fur coat was smooth and felt very good. “Then, Aze, would you like to try and see how tired I really am? Hmm?”
Hearing Chen Qi’s tone, Aze naturally knew what the other man meant, “It’s still daytime.” Shouldn’t this kind of thing be done at night?!
“It’s alright. I locked the door when Ka Luo left just now.” How could a person who had just started to eat meat* resist the appearance of their other half’s expression of bashful resistance? Especially considering that Aze usually wore an indifferent expression in front of others. Chen Qi saw the other’s face turning completely red after just a few teasing words and he couldn’t help swallowing as he half coaxed and tugged Aze towards the place where they’d ‘fought’ last night.
*not literally eating meat, but.. uh.. having experienced bedroom matters
It was unknown whose hands had begun to remove the wooden buttons that were in the way. The sound of crackling from the burning wood was long drowned out.
Even in the daytime, there was nothing that couldn’t be done.
The red quilt overturned again, and lasted from afternoon until the next morning.
Words from the Translation Crew
Miiya: Several laughs and chuckles this chapter 🙂
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.
Afternoon till morning (@_@)
Thanks for translation