After more than ten days, Lin Qiu finally couldn't stay at home anymore. She heard some noise outside the tribe and wanted to go out and take a look.
"Xiao Qiu, what are you going to do?"
"Is today the tribe's pairing ceremony? It's so lively, I want to go and see it."
Although females can mate with males at any time, the tribe holds a formal mate-making ceremony for females who have reached adulthood this year after the winter season each year. This involves divination in front of a sacred stone, or mate-making with a male they already like.
In addition to newly adult females, it is also a large-scale courtship scene for other females and males. This ritual related to reproduction is also a celebration of everyone's safe passage through the cold season, and a good wish for the growth of the tribe's population.
In short, it is the busiest time of the year in the tribe, almost the same as the Chinese New Year in human society.
"What are you going to do?"
Song Mu pulled Lin Qiu closer to him and said, "It's windy today, don't go out."
Lin Qiu tilted his head and looked at him.
Song Mu turned his head away in embarrassment.
"Is it because the wind is so strong that you won't let me go out?" Lin Qiu turned around with Song Mu, forcing Song Mu to face him.
Song Mu turned back helplessly: "Xiao Qiu, you clearly know."
"What do I know?"
Lin Qiu thought it was fun to tease Song Mu, but he didn't expect that his feet would be hanging in the air in the next second.
Song Mu carried Lin Qiu horizontally back into the house. "You promised us you wouldn't mate with another male. Why are you still going to the mate ceremony?"
Song Mu placed Lin Qiu on the kang, and put their noses close together: "Do you have another male you like?"
Lin Qiu pinched Song Mu's face and said, "No, I just came to watch the fun."
Song Mu went to the side and picked up a cub in her arms: "I understand, you are tired and want someone new."
He lowered his head and stroked the little tiger's back, looking like a man who had abandoned his husband.
The little tiger cried for food, humming with its toothless mouth open. Lin Qiu felt like a bad woman who abandoned her husband and children.
She rubbed her forehead: "That's me."
"You go ahead."
"I'm not going."
"go."
"Okay, I'll go."
Lin Qiu jumped off the kang, leaving Song Mu standing there in stunned silence.
"Xiao Qiu..." He was just saying that out of anger, why did Lin Qiu really want to go?
"Haha, I was just teasing you."
Lin Qiu thought that Song Mu must stay at home to take care of the cubs. He couldn't go out with her, and there was no point in going out to play by himself.
She turned around and took Song Mu and the cub in his arms into her arms: "I'll just stay home and watch over you, okay?"
Song Mu's ears turned red and she nodded.
Lin Qiu's hot and cold behavior made his heart almost stop beating.
The next day, Dongxue brought a new male to find Lin Qiu. This male also looked like an adult. Lin Qiu remembered that he was many years younger than her. He didn't look very stable, but he kept staring at Dongxue, looking silly but also cute.
"Okay, okay, I want to talk to Lin Qiu. Please get out of here quickly. Don't stay in my house anymore."
Dongxue waved goodbye, and her new love left, looking back every few steps.
"Why didn't you go to the ceremony yesterday? It's been so long since you gave birth, and you're still afraid of the wind?" Dongxue said, looking outside. "Did Songmu not let you go? You can't let the males be so willful."
"No, the kids are at home, and Song Mu has to look after them. Is there no one to go with me?"
"That's the downside of having only two males. Ling Yun is now the clan leader and has so much to do every day. Song Mu is busy taking care of the cubs, so how can he take good care of you? Look at my new partner Qiu Hui from yesterday. Isn't he adorable?"
Dongxue seems to like her current male very much.
Lin Qiu smiled and said, "I'd better not look for one for now. Unlike you, I can't handle too many males."
"You just spoil them too much."
Dongxue knew that she couldn't convince Lin Qiu, so she changed the subject and talked to her about something else.
Lin Qiu is in good health now and the weather has become warmer. Now is the season for all things to grow, and Song Mu has opened a piece of land next to their house.
Qiu Hui looked at Song Mu. He and Song Mu were six or seven years older than each other and they didn't play together when they were young, so they didn't have much friendship. In addition, because of Song Mu's personality, Qiu Hui felt that this male was not easy to get along with.
He was a bit bored standing there, so he asked, "What are you doing? Hasn't the tribe already opened up a large piece of land under Ling Yun's leadership? They said they were going to plant things like thorns and potatoes."
"This isn't for growing those things. We collected some chili pepper seeds when we went to the trading center before. We fried meat with a small amount of chili peppers and it tasted really good, so we wanted to give it a try."
Song Mu was surprisingly easy to talk to and answered Qiu Hui's questions.
"Oh, really?" Qiu Hui watched from the side, "How do we plant it?"
"Xiao Qiu said to just bury the seeds shallowly and water them. Bury the fertilizer aside and the plants will absorb it themselves."
Song Mu said.
After burning for a whole winter, the entire tribe has stored up a lot of wood ash, and now they have started to pile up manure.
"It can grow just like that? I thought it would take a lot of complicated things for a plant's seeds to grow after they fell to the ground."
"Watering and fertilizing should be done in moderation. It's not difficult, but it does require some effort."
Song Mu dug dozens of neat little holes and planted half of the seeds in them. He didn't dare to plant all of them because it was his first time. In case of failure, he could still keep half of the seeds and plant them again.
"If this is really delicious, I'll go to the trading center to look for it and bring some for Dongxue."
Qiu Hui said.
Song Mu raised her waist, glanced at Qiu Hui, and said, "Xiao Qiu said these peppers will be mature in about a hundred days. She will send some to Dong Xue when the time comes. You can leave the seeds here so you don't have to go so far."
"That's great, but I'm a little embarrassed."
"Nothing, they have a good relationship. You just became a couple with Dongxue, so you don't know yet."
Song Mu looked at Qiu Hui, who was young, energetic, and full of motivation. He was a little worried about Tan Yuan for a moment.
His Xiaoqiu is still the best. He will never let other males join their family.
Song Mu did not feel lucky, but felt that he should work harder to be worthy of Lin Qiu's kindness to him.
"I just became a partner with Dongxue, so I really don't know anything. Can you tell me more about Dongxue?"
Song Mu said, "I don't understand either."
"Oh, okay. It's just that the other males in Winter Snow won't tell me about this. They must be jealous of my youth."
“…” Apart from this, the way you speak is also quite unpleasant.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
