Chapter 9: Dare To Show Off (Revised)

December 29, 2021 by danmeiheaven

The next day, Zhuang Yu got up very early and started preparing the fish. After eating the fish, they had to go up the mountain to find food today, because there was nothing to eat at home except this fish and a jar of pickled pepper.

This fish is almost the same as the common fish, but its scales are very hard. Ordinary knives can’t cut it open. Fortunately, he doesn’t need to scrape the scales, just needs to remove them. The meat is still very tender.

He processed the fish last night, so now he can just cook it directly.

He’s going to make a pickled pepper fish because there’s only one ingredient. It’s just right to remove the fishy smell.

It didn’t take long for the fragrance of fish to float out. The little mushroom hadn’t woken up completely, like a sleepwalker, he came out with his eyes closed and following the smell. He’s really a foodie.

Feng Wen also woke up soon. He hid in the cave and looked outside. His brother was making delicious food again. He wanted to help him, but he’s a little scared. The past events left him with lingering fears, he’s afraid that if he doesn’t do well, his brother won’t want him again.

A child with very complex psychological activities is also to be expected. After experiencing some things, his thoughts will indeed be a little different.

After Zhuang Yu cooked the fish, he divided it into three bowls. As a result, the fragrance floats everywhere.

The little mushroom ran to the largest bowl the fastest and began to blow it. Zhuang Yu didn’t care about him. He’s just a mischievous child. He would go to his small bowl later.

This pickled pepper fish is different from the previous roast mushrooms. It has a soup and can’t be just grasped with your hands. Zhuang Yu cut three pairs of chopsticks and stuffed a pair into Feng Wen’s hand who’s bowing his head. The child is still too autistic. He gave the little mushroom a pair of special chopsticks and started eating on his own.

The little mushroom felt novel. He used to eat by hand. However, he’s the most beautiful boy in the mountains, so he has to learn.

Feng Wen also cautiously poked the fish in the bowl with his chopsticks, but couldn’t pick it up.

Zhuang Yu began to teach Feng Wen how to use chopsticks. The boy lowered his head and burst into tears. Is he too stupid? Will his brother dislike him?

However, watching Zhuang Yu patiently teach him, a small dimple appeared on Feng Wen’s face. He must study hard and not let his brother dislike him.

Five or six catties of fish was enough for two people and one mushroom. Zhuang Yu sliced ​​the fish, which was very tender and smooth.

Now to mention Feng Wen, he had never eaten such delicious fish before. The same as Little Mushroom, they’re both shocked by the taste. Oh my god, it tastes better than my brothers.

The two of them drank the soup cleanly, touched their stomachs, and smiled at each other. It’s really comfortable. Even Feng Wen smiled secretly. It’s a good day to have a brother.

After breakfast, it began to dawn. Zhuang Yu began to go up the mountain with Feng Wen and Little Mushroom.

However, when passing by the tribe land, there were people who got up earlier than them.

It was a group of teenagers stepping on giant beasts, practicing with stone spears. They rode on giant beasts and stabbed their stone spears at the training target while in a sprint.

It’s not an innate ability to be able to stand on a giant beast and pierce a stone spear while the giant beast is running. It requires constant practice since childhood.

Zhuang Yu saw these boys fall from the backs of giant beasts during training. No one cares whether they’re hurt or not from the fall. Now they can’t stand stably. If they fall off the giant beast in this way in the future, they will only become the food of the beasts.

Of course, it’s not all sprint training. There’s also a group of teenagers who are splitting stones with stone axes. They are really chopping stones. Large pieces of stones are cut into smooth sections, which shows how strong the physical strength of these teenagers is.

Standing in front of these young people, it was Shaohao who’s training them. He patrols with a three-meter long spear, tall and straight.

The weight of the stone spear is conceivable. Zhuang Yu felt that he might not be able to lift it, but Shaohao was okay.

Zhuang Yu looked at the teenagers who were chopping stones, and then at Shaohao’s arms. He probably knew how this man’s unicorn arms1 were trained.

He and Shaohao have made it clear that they are strangers, so it’s not easy for him to say hello. He had to bypass the trainees to walk up the mountain.

But at this time, aside from these training teenagers, they’re too conspicuous.

A group of teenagers arrogantly raised their heads. They’re the giant beast warriors in the future. They will hunt food and shoulder the future of the tribe. They’re different from those who don’t have giant beasts and go out to gather some berries at most.

Little Mushroom stared blankly. Oh, are they showing off? Great, great.

Little Mushroom ran up to Zhuang Yu, bent over, and waved his hands to him. Quickly hop on my back, then I’ll charge with you behind me. Look, we don’t show our might to them2, so they dare to flaunt in front of us.

Zhuang Yu looked at Little Mushroom’s small body. Does he want to eat mushroom sauce?

Zhuang Yu and the others began to go up the mountain. Of course, Shaohao also found Zhuang Yu and them. Perhaps for the same reason, he didn’t greet them. He frowned at a group of young people who were proud of themselves, and said loudly, “Today’s training is doubled.”

They all wailed. What’s wrong with the young patriarch? It’s not like they didn’t do the same before, and they weren’t punished. Being a giant beast warrior in itself is a matter of pride for anyone. They were just proud.

Zhuang Yu and his group went up the mountain, the little mushroom is still angry. He didn’t show up his strength just now so he’s a little unconvinced.

But immediately, he rushed up the mountain yelling. It’s important to find his brothers. His brothers are incredibly tasty.

Under Little Mushroom’s leadership, Zhuang Yu picked a lot of mushrooms. Even Feng Wen carried a lot in his animal skin skirt.

However, there’s also a problem. These mushrooms look dry and are about to die. In other words, it’s likely that they won’t be able to get mushrooms in the future.

He’s a little worried. After today, they had no mushrooms to eat. Where can they find food again?

But immediately, his eyes lit up. They walked a little farther today because he had already harvested the mushrooms nearby.

In front of him, a large green area attracted Zhuang Yu’s eyes. It’s a bamboo forest. He ran over excitedly. Sure enough, there were many fresh bamboo shoots on the ground, which were probably grown after the heavy rain.

Zhuang Yu stood still, his eyes shining brightly. He was just worrying about where to find food for their next meal.

Little Mushroom looked puzzled. Why didn’t he leave? There were still many brothers in front of him, they’ll visit them one by one.

Zhuang Yu has already started digging bamboo shoots. They’re so tender.

Then the little mushroom saw Zhuang Yu gnawing on bark. For him, these bamboo shoots were just barks. He ran over and took a bite in doubt. There’s no smell, only the taste of soil.

Zhuang Yu happily dug a lot until he and Feng Wen’s skirts couldn’t hold them anymore. Today’s harvest is really good. The key is that he can come here to dig bamboo shoots next time. At least the food won’t run out in the following days, so he doesn’t need to worry about starving to death.

He cheerfully walked back with a pile of food, but Little Mushroom is a little regretful. There are still many brothers in front of him.

On the road, some people can’t help pointing, “Has Yu of the Water Lake Tribe reached the point of eating bark?”

“It’s too hard for his brother Feng Wen to follow him. I’m afraid he didn’t even live in a collective cave.”

“Who makes Yu lazy? He can’t do anything.” 

Feng Wen lowered his head and balled up his hands tightly. I didn’t suffer. My brother makes delicious food, and he’s not lazy and knows nothing. These people are talking nonsense.

Zhuang Yu didn’t care. Arguing can’t make you full3. They would know the facts slowly.

Soon, the matter of Yu of the Water Lake Tribe being too lazy to start eating bark spread in the tribe, which made everyone sigh, “Yu is too lazy. If he’s willing to go out with the gathering team to pick berries, he wouldn’t reach this point.”

At this time, Zhuang Yu returned to the cave with Feng Wen. Not far from the cave, a group of children from the collective cave was watching them come back.

They’re still holding a pile of bones in their hands. This is what the members of the hunting team wanted to throw away, but they went and asked for them.

Yesterday, they drank bone soup made by Zhuang Yu. It was delicious and satisfying. They had never been so full before. Yesterday was their happiest day.

So they found bones again today, but they were worried that Yu wouldn’t make bone soup for them anymore. They looked pitifully from a distance.

Zhuang Yu sighed in his heart. It’s really a group of pitiful children. Living in a collective cave also showed that this group of children had no family members because if it’s an ordinary family, they would also get a cave of their own.

In the Golden Centipede Tribe, no one cares about these children. They’re living the hardest life now. Perhaps because they are young, they haven’t thought so much, but when they get older, they will know how dark their future is. That is to say, these children are destined to live a hard and bumpy life.

He is also not a saint. If he doesn’t have the condition, he can’t manage it, but if he can do his best, he won’t just watch and ignore them. Perhaps this is the most beautiful aspect of human nature.

Zhuang Yu looked at the mushrooms and bamboo shoots in the animal skins. It was just enough to make a mushroom and bamboo shoot bone soup.

In fact, the requirements of these children are very simple. They already feel very satisfied with a bowl of soup.

Zhuang Yu smiled. It was just boiling a pot of bone soup. The bones were prepared by others, so he could still do such a small thing.

He beckoned to a group of woeful children looking at him. The children were taken aback and then ran over with a happy scream.

“Brother Yu.” A chorus of voices sounded, their eyes clear.

Because during the tooth replacement period, there are no front teeth, so their voices are airy, but it’s particularly innocent.

Zhuang Yu looked at the bones held by them and said, “If you want to drink bone broth in the future, just bring the bones. But don’t take so many, my pot isn’t that large to can’t hold them.” 

The children squealed in joy, just like a flock of screaming chickens. Yu promised to cook them good bone broth in the future. The pot is so big that they could be full with just one pot.

In their young hearts, they confirmed one thing. No matter what others say about Yu, he is a good person to them. He’s the only one who cares about them when they’re forgotten by everyone.

Zhuang Yu began to cook the soup for these children, while they’re animatedly chattering beside him.

“Brother Yu, let us do something. We promise to finish it.”

Zhuang Yu was stunned. He really had some work to do.

He now has a small pepper field that has to be watered every day, but the water stored in the shells is not enough.

He has to dig a large reservoir. In addition, the weather is hot now. In the daytime, it’s unbearably hot inside and outside the cave. It just so happens that this reservoir can be used as a swimming pool for Feng Wen to cool him down.

In hot weather, just think about how useful a swimming pool is.

But he didn’t know when to finish digging if he did it alone. With the help of these children, it would save a lot of time.

This does not raise the issue of child labor. When he was a child, he helped out at home, so can he hypocritically call it child labor? More importantly, after the swimming pool is done, can it not be used by these children?

They can build a swimming pool for themselves.

Since it’s necessary to build a pool for water storage and swimming, Zhuang Yu thought that it must be completed in one go.

They definitely don’t have the floor tiles used to pave the bottom and walls of the pool, but if they don’t have that, the water in the mud pool must be very muddy.

Zhuang Yu’s eyes flashed. This morning, when those teenagers were training, the stones that had been flattened with a stone ax could be used.

 

 

Translator’s Notes:

Basically means that it’s muscled. Although in Baidu it says asymmetrical arm, where one arm is more muscular than the other so it’s not aesthetically pleasing. Idk if the latter is the ML’s arm XD. 看我們不洋氣死他們 – Can someone help with this??? 爭辯兩句又不能當話吃 – Please take this with a grain of salt.