Chapter 5 As the sun began to set, the four children…
As the sun began to set, the four children returned together, each carrying a large bundle of firewood. They had even tied it neatly with vines, just like Cang Li had done. Cang Li called the four children to a stop, picked up the younger ones, and prepared to head home. He planned to stop working here for the day, go back and dry the firewood, and find a water source while there was still time. Without a water source, relying solely on the little bit of pure water and praying for rain would definitely not be enough.
On the way down the mountain, Cang Li pointed to the puddle and taught the children the word "water." Once the children understood, she would have them lead her to a water source, as she remembered there should be a river nearby.
The two youngest parrots, seemingly understanding but not quite, repeated: "Water!"
"water!"
The third and fourth cubs also joined in the fun. After their fevers subsided, the little cub, who was looking around with its eyes wide open in Cang Li's arms, also let out an "ah".
Clearly, these little brats aren't mute; they just can't speak.
Cang Li suddenly felt something was strange. How could someone be so unable to speak that they couldn't even make a sound?
The eldest son excitedly waved a withered branch and shouted at Cang Li, "Firewood!"
"firewood!"
Then, without warning, he tripped and fell flat on his backside.
Cang Li: ...
Cang Li, with a sour face, pulled the slightly bewildered eldest son up and emphasized, "Call me 'sister'!"
The older child looked blank for a moment, then asked, "Call me 'sister'?"
His tone still sounded a little confused.
Cang Li got angry, smacked the eldest son on the head, pointed at herself and emphasized: "Sister!"
The eldest child looked a little aggrieved, covering his head for a while before whispering, "Sister..."
Cang Li nodded in satisfaction. Er Zai, ever quick to respond, grabbed Cang Li's hand and called out, "Sister!"
The remaining three or four cubs immediately surrounded her, calling out, "Sister!"
"sister!"
For a time, the rugged mountain road was filled with the constant calls of "Sister!"
Cang Li was initially quite happy, but after walking more than halfway, the four talking ducks were still constantly calling "Sister," and even the slightly more energetic little one in her arms was also making "Ah" noises. Cang Li felt like she was surrounded by five hundred ducks, and the noise was giving her a headache. In an instant, Cang Li regretted it a little. She should have known better than to teach the ducks to talk. Quiet and well-behaved ducks would be so much better.
The children were very happy, taking turns shouting the few words that Cang Li had taught them. On this ordinary day, they learned to express their emotions with their voices.
When they returned to the cave, Cang Li was panting heavily, carrying a baby weighing about ten pounds in his arms and dragging a large bundle of firewood on his back. Fortunately, his two babies also helped to share some of the burden.
Cang Li tossed the cub to the adult cub and sat down to rest at the entrance of the cave. As soon as she sat down, Cang Li felt that she might be an idiot. The collector had a backpack to put firewood in, so she could have put the firewood in the backpack and brought it back without any burden. Why did she have to drag it back so laboriously?
Realizing this, Cang Li became even angrier, kicked over the pile of firewood, and said to Da Zai, "You stay here and take care of the child."
Then she turned to Erzai and said, "Take me to the river."
The eldest and second sons didn't understand.
Cang Li took Erzai's hand and walked away. Dazai immediately wanted to follow, but Cang Li turned around and stopped Dazai: "You stay here."
The eldest cub seemed to understand, and obediently held the youngest cub, leading the third and fourth cubs to sit at the entrance of the cub cave and watch Cang Li and the second cub walk away.
Cang Li pointed to the puddle and asked Erzai, "Water, do you know where there's water?"
The second child repeated, "Water!"
Cang Li patiently spoke while gesturing: "Water, take me to find a large body of water, flowing water."
Erzai seemed to understand, and pulled Cangli forward. After walking for about half an hour, they parted the tall weeds and saw the river, which stretched between two mountains and flowed from east to west, its destination unknown.
The river water wasn't very clear, probably because of the recent heavy rain. There were still some fish in the river, and Cang Li breathed a sigh of relief. With fish, at least they wouldn't starve after they finished eating the steamed buns.
Cang Li looked up at the opposite bank of the river. She had looked at it from a distance in the cave before, but because it was covered by weeds and the terrain was not high, she had not seen the river. Now she realized that she could only reach the mountain on the other side after crossing the river.
The river was wide, and without any tools, Cang Li did not want to risk crossing it. However, as he got closer, he noticed that the shape of the mountain was indeed a bit strange, though he couldn't quite put his finger on what was so strange about it.
The sun was completely out of sight. Cang Li thought for a moment and then simply and directly filled her backpack with water. She wanted to wash herself and her five children, who were so dirty that they were unrecognizable. After washing and changing into new clothes, Cang Li didn't want to see herself naked.
Fortunately, the backpack didn't reject Cang Li's actions, and the river water successfully entered the backpack. Cang Li looked at it and felt that it was about time, so he took his hands out of the river and hurried back with Erzai.
Erzai looked at Cangli with confusion, not quite understanding what "sister" was doing.
Cang Li hurried back, arriving about ten minutes faster than he had come. The eldest cub was still sitting obediently at the cave entrance, while the younger cub in his arms was asleep. The third and fourth cubs huddled close to the eldest. Upon seeing Cang Li and the second cub, the eldest cub's eyes lit up, and it jumped up, calling out to Cang Li:
"sister!"
Cang Li walked over and led the children into the cave. By then, the light was almost gone. Cang Li quickly brought back the children he had picked up the night before and placed them at the cave entrance. He also carried in firewood that had dried over the day. He dug a hole near the cave entrance with a hoe, set up the firewood, and took out some matches.
When the faint light appeared, the cubs seemed a little scared and hid behind Cang Li, but their eyes were fixed on the light, both curious and afraid.
Cang Li grabbed a handful of weeds to start a fire, but the firewood seemed not dry enough, and thick smoke rose. Cang Li quickly pulled the children back, and the smoke drifted outwards. Five or six minutes later, the smoke gradually dissipated, and flames emerged from the pile of firewood, illuminating the cave. Cang Li breathed a sigh of relief and moved some broken stones from the corner. She wanted to build a simple stove platform that could stably hold the iron pot.
The eldest cub put the youngest cub on the haystack and then helped pick up stones. The second, third, and fourth cubs even went to the cave entrance to move stones over. Although they didn't know what "sister" was going to do, they wanted to help.
With the help of a few children, Cang Li quickly built a circle of stones around the dug pit, leaving an opening for adding firewood. Cang Li then moved some firewood to the side to dry it with the heat before turning on the collector, intending to exchange it for an iron pot to boil water.
Cang Li still had 46 gathering points left. After exchanging the iron pot, Cang Li changed the children's clothes, a total of five sets. He put them aside, then looked at the remaining 31 gathering points. Cang Li exchanged the steamed buns, and then simply exchanged the bowls and chopsticks. After that, only 20 gathering points remained. Cang Li sighed and muttered to himself:
"It's not enough. I guess we'll have to think of something tomorrow."
The children stared in disbelief at what Cang Li had conjured out of thin air, unable to process it for a long time. They all exclaimed "Wow!" in unison, expressing their amazement.
Cang Li looked back at the five dirty babies and shook her head. Luckily, she had done all sorts of jobs to pay off her debts before, including a part-time job as a caregiver at an infant swimming pool. Now, all she had to do was clean the babies up, which was no problem for her.
The iron pot was placed perfectly on the fire pit. Cang Li took out the water from his backpack and filled the pot halfway. While waiting for the water to boil, he distributed the steamed buns to the children. The children were surprised to find such fragrant, sweet, white, and soft food, and they all ate with great joy.
After Cang Li ate, he continued to feed the cubs. Once the cubs were full, the water boiled. Cang Li didn't have a bathtub, so he didn't fill the pot with water. He then poured in the cold water from his backpack. When the water was at the right temperature, Cang Li put the iron pot back in his backpack, walked to the cave entrance, and then put it out again. He then took the large soup bowl from the bowl and chopstick set, scooped water from the bowl, and poured it over the cubs.
Since we're not cooking for the time being, scooping water won't make a mess, so we're making the most of it.
The little cub twitched when the hot water hit it. It wanted to struggle but didn't dare, so it could only look at Cang Li with a pitiful expression. After washing and scrubbing it by hand without soap, Cang Li finally got the dirty cub clean and its true nature was revealed. It was a fair-skinned little cub with big, round eyes. Because it hadn't eaten anything good, its head was big and its body was small, but this little bit of nutrition would make up for it. Looking at it as a whole, Cang Li was sure that this kid would definitely grow up to be a tall and handsome man.
After washing the cub, Cang Li took out the clothes for the cub to wear. The clothes were too big; they looked like they would fit the older cub. All five sets were the same size. Cang Li didn't pick and choose. He took the shirt, wrapped it around the cub, and put it on the pile of grass, saying, "Stay here obediently."
Then it waved to the big cub, probably because it saw Cang Li cleaning the little cub, and the big cub stood there cooperatively.
There wasn't enough water, so Cang Li turned up the heat and boiled a new pot to continue washing the eldest cub. After washing all five cubs, Cang Li was exhausted. Looking back, the eldest, second, third, and fourth cubs were wearing new clothes, their hair was smooth, and their faces were clear. Each of them was a handsome young man or a beautiful young woman. This family's looks were impeccable; they would be top beauties even in modern society.
Cang Li sighed and continued boiling water; she wanted to wash as well.
After the water boiled, Cang Li had the children turn their backs to her, and she began to wash up in the corner next to the stove. After washing up, Cang Li felt much more relaxed. After putting on her clothes, she felt like she had come back to life and was a civilized person again.
It was so difficult. Without this cheat code, Cang Li wouldn't know what to do. In this situation where he had nothing, Cang Li felt he wouldn't survive more than three days.
Lying on the haystack, Cang Li, holding the four cuddly babies, quickly fell into a deep sleep.
On the third day of her journey, Cang Li woke up naturally. Looking at the top of the cave, she resignedly got up. In this primitive society, she still had to struggle for survival. Her goal for the day was to cut down a tree and make a wooden bucket.
After finishing her steamed bun, Cang Li waved her hand and led her "soldiers," the five little radish heads, up the mountain.
There are plenty of things on the mountain, so they can't just eat steamed buns. They need to find a way to set a trap to catch some small animals to supplement their protein intake.
The little ones had never felt so refreshed before, and they were overjoyed. They cherished their unfamiliar clothes. The third and fourth children's clothes were too long, so the second child came up with a solution to use thin rattan to roll up the sleeves and pant legs to secure them.
Seeing this, Cang Li gave Erzai a thumbs up, and Erzai understood the encouragement and was even happier.
Once they reached the mountain, Cang Li taught the cubs new vocabulary, then found a spot to put the little cubs under a tree. She directed the older cubs to take their younger siblings to gather fruit and firewood. They also found mushrooms under a tree, and told the older cubs to bring back any mushrooms they saw. She also instructed them not to put them in their mouths, as she had a collector to identify whether they were poisonous or not, so there was no need to worry about poisoning.
After assigning the task, Cang Li rolled up her sleeves, picked up her axe, and chose a thick tree that she could barely encircle with both arms. She started chopping it down. She had thought it through. This tree was indeed difficult to chop down, but if she couldn't chop it down in one day, she could do it in two days. She could chop a little bit each day and eventually she would be able to cut it down.
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