Chapter 14: The Great Renovation Of The Cave

February 9, 2022 by danmeiheaven

A few days later, the flat ground in front of Zhuang Yu’s cave had been completely replaced with stone slabs.

A group of small radish heads is rolling on it.

“Brother Yu, look, the land is so clean and beautiful. There is no mud at all.” The little radish heads rolled into a ball on the ground shouted.

They built it piece by piece, so they cherished it more than anyone else. If there’s a little dust on the slate, they soaked the animal skins with water and wiped them clean.

I cherish the fruits of my labor. These little radish heads are probably thinking of this now.

On the slate, there is a circle of dried pepper. The peppers from Zhuang Yu’s chili field have been harvested. In order to store them for a long time, they are now drying the peppers.

Zhuang Yu is now looking at the pear tree by the pool. In just a few days, the original three-meter-high pear tree is now close to five meters. The pears on the tree are big and beautiful, and grow much faster than his peppers.

In his knowledge, no plant has such a strong growth ability. Not to mention this is the pear tree he’s familiar with.

Doubtful and puzzled. It seems that the plants around him can grow abnormally.

Under the pear tree, in the mottled shade, there is a simple beach chair. He took time to make it in the past two days. Now, a leisurely little mushroom is lying there. The mushroom boy is simply enjoying it. Later, he’ll go to play with the water for a while. If he gets tired, come and lie under the shade. If the tree were a little bigger, it could completely block the sun.

In the past two days, the mushroom boy has been a little unusual. He always covers his face and runs shyly under the root of the pear tree.

Zhuang Yu also secretly followed him, but there seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary. That is, the mushroom boy probably took this place as his exclusive place to pee.

The summer sun, the refreshing swimming pool, the mottled shade, and the green pepper fields. Now, this is a very good place. Even Zhuang Yu has never been so leisurely in his original world. Before, whether it’s in life or work, it seems that every day is spent in busyness. He really never stopped to look at the beautiful scenery around him.

Coming to this strange world is not entirely a bad thing.

A group of little radishes went to play in the water again. For them, this is also a happy place they never thought of.

Zhuang Yu is now taking care of his cave. Now that he is free, he just sorts out his messy cavern.

The cave is very big, but it’s too messy. All the firewood, shells, and everything are piled up in it.

How do you describe it? Just like the firewood house in the countryside.

The little radishes were lying on the edge of the pool, “Why did Brother Yu take all his things out?”

“I don’t know. I guess he wanted to sun them out.”

Zhuang Yu found that these messy things are basically useless except for taking up space. He decided to just throw them away.

Looking at the empty cave, this cave is actually not bad. The ground is just a little bumpy and the place where he and Feng Wen sleep are completely two corners. But they’re all nothing to fuss about.

He thought for a moment and decided to just simply dig two more small holes in the cave to make it seem like it’s a two-bedroom and one-living-room house. In this way, it’s much more convenient if there’s a separate space for sleeping and activities.

He will fill in the potholes and flatten the ground, and then lay wooden floors. Just think about it, it’s a very good living environment. There’s no shortage of wooden boards here because the mountains are full of towering trees.

As for being too empty, he will make some wooden shelves and put his salt jars on them. Then it would be neat and beautiful.

In his mind, the appearance of the transformed cave simply emerged. It’s clean, simple, and particularly comfortable.

As soon as he said it, Zhuang Yu started digging the new chambers in the cave as bedrooms.

At this time, the little radishes who had been playing in the water also came in to help.

Zhuang Yu thought for a while, and after telling these little radishes how to dig holes, he took the stone ax and ran to cut wood.

The cave is very strong. There’s no need to worry about it collapsing.

In the mountains, there are many big trees that several people can’t hug. Zhuang Yu cut down one. With such a big trunk, there’s no need to think about splicing the boards. A whole piece is a complete plank.

Because the tool isn’t really sharp, there are actually some burrs on the cut wood.

But it doesn’t matter. Zhuang Yu started baking them with fire. First, he roasted the moisture and insect eggs in the wooden boards out to make them compact and firm. Second, he burned off the burrs, and then ground them on the planks. Grinding it to a very smooth surface is a hand-polishing technique that woodworkers and sculptors presumably do.

This is a method of making handmade wooden floors. Although it’s very tiring, when he thinks of rectifying the cave for himself, he’s full of energy.

Zhuang Yu actually has the feeling of decorating a new house. So yes, can he not be excited? These planks are all free. In his original world, such a large piece of a complete board would be an exorbitant price.

A few days later, two new caves in the dens were dug, and the pitted ground was covered with wooden floors.

The wooden floor is the primary color of the trees, and you can also see the annual growth rings of the trunk. It was originally ordinary, but after it was laid on the ground, it seems to have changed.

A group of radishes walked barefoot on the wooden floor, all in a trance. They stretched out their hands and touched the floor.

“So smooth, so clean, and so beautiful. There’s no smell at all.”

“It turns out that the cave can be so beautiful.”

There’s nothing inside, except for a wooden shelf in the corner with several salt jars, oil jars, and pickle jars on it.

The wooden floor of the newly dug cave is covered with animal skins. The skins are a little old, but they’re very clean and were warmed in the sun.

Such a simple decoration method is Zhuang Yu’s favorite.

From now on, this is where he and Feng Wen will live.

The little radishes were still happily touching the wooden floor, “If there’s mud on my feet, I would be embarrassed to step on it.”

“Fortunately, we just played with the water and washed our feet clean.”

This is a problem. There’s no such thing as shoes in this world. Every time they go out, they’re barefoot so they always have dirt on their feet.

Fortunately, a swimming pool has been dug outside the cave and paved with slate. Before entering the cave, later on, just wash the soil on his feet.

Feng Wen lowered his head and tangled his fingers together. This is where he and his brother will live in the future. He likes it very much. There’s also a nest specially dug for him, which is clean and beautiful.

“Feng Wen, your brother is so kind to you. You can live in such a beautiful cave in the future.”

He lowered his head shyly, with sweet dimples on his face.

The little turnip heads rolled around on the floor in admiration, like a litter of small animals, rolling around. So cute.

Zhuang Yu was also very satisfied. He looked at the group of little radishes who were reluctant to leave, and then looked at the remaining wooden floors, “I’ll put wooden floors on your collective cave, too.” 

As soon as his words fell, there was silence for a while. Then a marmot-like exclamation sounded, “Brother Yu, do you also want to make our cave so pretty?”

“Can we live in such a nice and clean cave in the future?” He still couldn’t believe it. They are the children of the collective cave. They have always lived in the worst place. Suddenly, they can’t react to living in such a good-looking place.

Zhuang Yu can probably understand why these children are so surprised. It’s like suddenly moving from a thatched cottage into a small villa, which isn’t something that ordinary people can immediately react to.

He smiled, “Of course, I’ll make your collective cave exactly the same as mine.”

It just takes some effort to bake some more wooden floors. Compared to letting these children have a comfortable nest, it’s not worth mentioning.

The children were overjoyed that they ran to the collective cave with the rest of the planks in their arms regardless of the heat outside.

The collective cave is not far from Zhuang Yu’s cave. Their caves belong to the most remote places. So they’re actually neighbors?

This is the first time Zhuang Yu to come to the collective cave. The little radishes are a little shy. Brother Yu likes cleanliness the most. Will he dislike our cave for being dirty?

In fact, Zhuang Yu was prepared in his heart. A group of children with no parents and no one taking care of them crowded in a cave. The situation can be imagined.

As soon as he got close to the cave, he smelled a faint odor. This was the result of these little radishes cleaning up in the past few days. Because they felt that Zhuang Yu loved cleanliness too much, they had to clean up.

The little radishes lowered their heads and said with a guilty conscience, “We…we love cleanliness, really.”

Zhuang Yu smiled and didn’t care, but the odor still had to be resolved.

He asked them to take out all the things inside, and then light the fire and start smoking. He let the smoke sterilize and remove the smell.

The things the little radish heads brought out were even messier than the things in Zhuang Yu’s cave. Half of them are bones from unknown animals and chipped shells. If they’re a little useful, they would pick them up and bring them back to the cave. This was the life of the children in the collective cave before. They basically use things that the tribesmen don’t want after they use them.

Zhuang Yu frowned. These things are too dirty. No one knows how many bacteria there are. Even if the cave is renovated, if these things are moved in again, it’s estimated that it’ll be the same as before. He thought for a while. In the future, he will make some wooden shelves and some household utensils for these children. These messy things will not be needed anymore.

The little radishes were stunned for a moment. It seems that it’s really useless. They eat at Brother Yu’s place every day. Not only are these things unsightly, but they’re completely unusable now.

“We all listen to Brother Yu.”

“Yes, yes, we also have to live a clean life.”

The longing for beauty is the same even for children.

After smoking the cave for a while, Zhuang Yu thought and simply dug another bedroom.

So a group of kids started working again.

Decorating a cave can’t be done in a day, but these little radish heads are too diligent. In just two days, the whole cave has changed.

Inside, there’s a chamber called “bedroom” by Zhuang Yu. The ground has also changed from the original potholes to a good-looking primary color wooden floor. The growth rings on it look particularly natural.

A group of little radishes still couldn’t believe their eyes.

Look at the open, simple, clean, and beautiful cave with your own eyes.

They smelled every place with their nose. There’s still a faint smell of smoke but the previous stench is completely gone. Even with the smoky smell, they all felt very comfortable. Brother Yu said that the smell of smoke would dissipate by itself soon.

Touching the smooth wooden floor with their hands, their expressions were in a trance, “Is this our cluttered and smelly home?”

Zhuang Yu reached out and rubbed some of the children’s heads, “This is where you will live in the future. Clean the place up, don’t get it dirty.”

They all nodded their heads like woodpeckers, “We’ll also wash our feet clean like Brother Yu before entering.”

“Right, right, we can’t have any dust at all. We should wipe it clean all the time. Just like what Feng Wen has done recently, we’ll also wipe the floor at home every day.”

Feng Wen recently found his hobby, which is to wipe the floor without leaving any grime.

Zhuang Yu smiled and ordered several times that the wooden floor shouldn’t be wiped with water. The wet animal skins must be twisted until there’s no moisture left.

The little radishes nodded their heads. They would definitely cherish such a beautiful place. This is what they treasure the most.

Zhuang Yu said with a smile, “Why don’t you try your new nest.”

“Ah!” They reacted. They also dug a new nest, which also has a clean and flat wooden floor covered with washed animal skins.

The new bedroom was dug into a long strip because they were crowded.

They ran over and then lay in a row, “Brother Yu, it’s so comfortable to sleep here. You can roll around.”

Zhuang Yu looked at the children lying in a row with excited faces. They were really a litter of cute little animals.

He looked at them for a while and made some wooden shelves for them to put their stone bowls and stone cups for drinking water.

Now, these little guys have learned from Zhuang Yu and have chiseled some tools by themselves. They don’t need shells anymore.

After playing in the new collective cave for a while, a group of talents came out laughing and joking, extremely lively.

However, they found another problem. As soon as they walked out of the cave and into the ground, their feet were all muddy again.

In Zhuang Yu’s place, you can wash your feet in the pool, walk on the paved stone slabs, and enter the cave. There’s no such problem at all.

But here in the collective cave, no matter how clean they washed their feet in the pool when they walked back, their feet would still be filthy.

The little radishes looked at Zhuang Yu with eager eyes. We don’t want to make our new home dirty. We want to keep it clean all the time.

This is indeed a problem. Zhuang Yu thought about it and said, “We will build a stone road connecting my place to yours. As long as the road is kept clean, it won’t dirty your feet when you wash your feet there.”

Their eyes lit up. The slate laid on Brother Yu’s place is clean. If there’s a little dust, they will wash it off with water. Even if they roll on it, there will be no dirt. If they really built a stone road, they would also wash it cleanly. In this way, they wash their feet, take the slate road back to the collective cave, and they won’t bring the soil into the cave.

With a solution, the children were more active than Zhuang Yu. They already started to move the slabs, while he is responsible for paving the way for them.

So, outside Zhuang Yu’s cave, there is a stone road joining the collective cave.

The small radishes washed their feet and ran on the slab stone road while shouting, “The feet are not dirty, not at all. We won’t bring soil into the wooden floor.”

They were so happy that they kept using animal skins to wipe the stone road little by little until it was obviously clean.

Zhuang Yu is also very happy. Their current living environment has changed a lot, becoming better and better, and they’re all done by themselves, little by little.

The living environment has improved, so the mood has become much happier. Outside Zhuang Yu’s cave, there is silver bell-like laughter every day.

Zhuang Yu felt the happy mood brought by the improved environment, looked at the stone platform in front of his cave and the flat stone road, and called a group of children over, “In the future, you will pick any wildflowers you see back. We will then plant them by the side of the road so that it will become more appealing.”

He’s going to decorate the platform and stone road in front of his cave with flowers.

The eyes of a group of little radishes are shining. Why didn’t we think about it before? How beautiful will our road be?

So, when Zhuang Yu went up the mountain to pick bamboo shoots, they also ran along the whole mountain, like wild monkeys. As long as they were pleasing wildflowers, they dug them back and planted them on the roadside.

He originally thought that with these children’s careless operations, probably only two or three of the wildflowers planted would be able to live, and only those with particularly vigorous vitality could survive.

But…

Zhuang Yu looked at the wildflowers that were extremely lush and blooming around the stone slab road and the platform outside his cave. He touched his nose. He just poured the water in the pool, and not even waiting for the next day, these wildflowers actually grow so well.

If it wasn’t for the water in the pool that these children brought back from that big river, he would have thought it was some kind of holy water.

With wildflowers as decoration, their remote place is as beautiful and gorgeous as if embellished with colors. It’s dizzying. Or at least that’s the case for the children.

With wildflowers, Feng Wen’s bees in the hive were also buzzing. They landed on the flowers, full of vitality. It’s beautiful field scenery.

Every day, the little radishes are so happy that they can’t close their mouths. The place where they live is so wonderful. The first thing they do when they get up in the morning is to look at the wildflowers on the roadside, then chase the hard-working bees, or be chased by the bees.

For those who have endured hardship, happiness is very simple. Just like now. The children even hope that time will stay in the present forever.

The little radish heads also have very regular work and rest times. They go to fetch water early in the morning and fill the swimming pool.

When the sun comes out, they go up the mountain to pick bamboo shoots with Zhuang Yu. When they come back, the weather is already very hot, so they will play in the water with the mushroom boy.

In the evening, they will use the water from the pool to water the field, the flowers, and the pear tree. The chili field had been harvested several times and was all dried by Zhuang Yu into dried chili peppers.

It has to be said that the pear tree has been growing day by day. Now it’s getting taller and taller, and has really become what Zhuang Yu thought. It has become a shady tree with many fruits on it. It looks very gratifying.

Everything is going in the right direction.

At night, a group of small radishes washed their heads clean and said goodbye to Zhuang Yu.

Not far from the cave, Xiao Pimao was stunned and couldn’t close his mouth. He had been forced to train for the past two days and had no time to come here. It was only a few days, but what did he see?

It’s completely changed.

Yu’s stone platform surrounded by flowers is also stunning. In addition to the crystal clear pool, there’s a tall tree full of berries hanging on the branches. There’s also a beautiful slate road surrounded by flowers leading to the collective cave.

Xiao Pimao kept rubbing his eyes. This place has always been a place where the Golden Centipede Tribe disdains to visit. It’s too remote and too simple. No one wants to pay attention here, but now, who can tell him that this is crude? He’s the first to not believe that this place was more beautiful than the rest of the tribe.

He thought for a while and ran to the collective cave. He’s embarrassed to enter Yu’s cave, but he dared to enter the collective cave. Well, it’s sneaking.

Xiao Pimao covered his nose as he sneaked inside. He thought he would smell a peculiar stench, but there’s nothing at all.

Immediately, he noticed the difference. The cave was bare and not messy at all. There were only a few wooden shelves with some chiseled stone bowls neatly placed on them.

Then, under his feet. Xiao Pimao squatted down with a surprised look on his face, touched it, looked at the wooden floor by the moonlight, and couldn’t close his mouth again. This is simply impressive and clean.

Can the cave still be arranged like this? Is this still that messy and smelly collective cave?

Incredible. What happened in the few days he didn’t come?

Xiao Pimao liked the smooth and beautiful wooden floor under his feet so much that he swallowed.

Then with a straight face, he sneaked towards the “bedroom” where a row of small guys slept.

“Ouch! Who stepped on my belly?”

“Ah! Who stepped on my brother.”

“…”

The next day, early in the morning, when everyone was still sleeping, Xiao Pimao came out of the collective cave with a swagger. Hmph, so what if I didn’t drink Yu’s bone soup? Didn’t play in Yu’s pool? He still slept in the beautifully decorated new cave.

In front of Zhuang Yu’s Cave.

“Brother Yu, there must be a wild child in our cave. He stepped on my belly last night.”

“And stepped on my brother.”

” And there are footprints left on the floor. It mustn’t have been left by us because we can’t bear to dirty it. A wild child must have come in.”

Zhuang Yu was stunned for a moment. Looking at a group of colorful little carrots, how did he feel like listening to a suspense drama?

But left footprints. Who could it be? Except for a few stone bowls, there is no food in the collective cave. Who will sneak in?

After thinking for a while, he put this matter behind him. It’s good if the kids are all right. Just pay attention to it in the future.

Zhuang Yu has other troubles now. His food is running out.

Half of the meat brought by the young patriarch last time was changed into salt stone and dried into salt. There wasn’t much left now.

Although they cook some broth with bamboo shoots every day and eat them together, they still can’t stand the crowd.

These little radish heads eat a lot, despite their small size.

These two days, he’s busy decorating caves and building stone roads, and he didn’t pay attention to these. Now that he’s got nothing to do, he found that if they didn’t find new food, they would have to be vegetarian and eat bamboo shoots. But there shouldn’t be many shoots in that bamboo forest. 

Where can I find food?

It’s not easy to be in charge of the family, especially to support so many children. Although these children are particularly easy to raise.

Zhuang Yu looked at the little radishes. Among them was a child named Zhi. This child was very strange. He had a web of spider silk wrapped around him all the time.

It’s really spider silk. It’s sticky, but if it’s soaked in water for a period of time, it won’t be anymore, and it becomes like cotton thread. It’s just a little thick, about the width of his little finger.

Zhuang Yu beckoned to Zhi, and the little radish head ran over immediately, “Brother Yu.”

He took a look at the spider silk hanging on Zhi’s body. It wasn’t sticky at all and it’s tough. He asked, “Where did your spider silk come from? Why do you always hang it on your body?”

Zhi didn’t answer directly, but raised his head and screamed with his mouth facing the sky.

Zhuang Yu was taken aback. What’s happening?

Then he saw a red spider the size of a millstone running over and leaning against Zhi’s feet, “Brother Yu, it’s the silk it spits. It’s my giant beast.”

Zhuang Yu: “…” 

The children of the collective cave are not completely without giant beasts, such as the queen bee of Feng Wen and Zhi’s red spider. It’s just that compared with those giant beasts that can fight, their “giant beasts” are the same as those without.

Zhuang Yu looked at the spider the size of a mill, and the corners of his mouth twitched. This is too…

No matter how small and cute a small animal is, if you magnify it ten times, it will look very frightening. What’s more, this spider isn’t only ten times larger than an ordinary one.

Fortunately, he knew that a giant beast with a master wouldn’t attack people indiscriminately.

Zhi asked, “Brother Yu, do you want these spider webs? I still have a lot. If it’s not enough, I can let it continue to spit. It spits up spider silk very well.”

Zhuang Yu picked up the spider silk on Zhi and looked at it again. It’s so tough. Maybe he really has a way to get food now.

He still remembered that the last time he went to the river to fetch water, there was a lot of fish. But because of the ferocious beasts in the water, he couldn’t catch them. Only when the beasts in the water get ashore can they feel the blood deterrence of the ancestral beast. That is to say, those beasts can’t stay ashore for too long.

Zhuang Yu thought about it. If he were to make a huge crossbow, tie the tough pinky-width spider silk to the arrow, shoot the fish, and drag it back. Even if the ferocious beast chased it, it wouldn’t be possible to chase it far. As soon as they got ashore, they will be deterred by the ancestral beast and scared back into the water.

As long as he moves fast enough, he can drag the fish back from those beasts.

Worst case scenario, just tie the other end of the spider silk to a big tree, so there’s no need to worry about being dragged into the water by the wild beasts.

Moreover, among the meat given to him by the young patriarch last time, there happened to be a long dinosaur tendon, which can be used as a string.

As for why he wanted to make a big crossbow, it’s because he discovered last time that although the meat of the fish in the river is very fresh and tender, their scales are very hard. His bone knife can’t cut in. There must be enough strength to shoot the arrow through the scales.

Zhuang Yu’s eyes flickered. If this method can be used, maybe they will have fish to eat in the future, and they’ll also have a way to source meat.

Translator’s Note:

I’m so sad rn. We just found out that my mom got Covid so she had to go to the hospital. I may not be able to translate this week or anytime soon guys, depending on the situation and my emotions, but do know that I’ll be back.

Please pray for my mom.