Chapter 40: Reed Mats and Wicker Baskets

The long fruit, which Mutong had renamed "noodle fruit," was one of the staple foods in the tribe. These noodle trees took a long time to bear fruit and yielded a bountiful harvest, especially in autumn. The tribespeople liked to pick them, dry them in the sun, and store them away. When boiled in water with a pinch of salt, they were incredibly filling.

Of course, since it was called a fruit, it could also be eaten raw. Mutong took a bite of the noodle tree fruit; it was crisp, slightly sweet, and had a pleasant texture.

"And what are these?" Mutong asked, pointing to the black and white coconuts and the gourds.

"I don't know, but you'll know their flavor once you open them," A-Yu said. Using a stone spear, he poked a hole in one of the black coconuts, and a scent immediately wafted out that was very familiar to Mutong.

Suspicious, Mutong poured out a little of the black liquid. The color and the aroma made her mutter to herself: Could this be soy sauce?

Xiaoqiang’s analysis confirmed it: it was indeed soy sauce. From then on, Mutong named the black coconut the "Soy Sauce Fruit."

The liquid inside the white coconut was identified as being similar to white vinegar, so she named it the "Vinegar Fruit."

The gourd-shaped fruits were filled with oil—a natural plant-based oil with a distinct aroma. Mutong named these the "Oil Fruit."

A single oil fruit contained nearly two liters of oil, which carried a faint coconut fragrance and, according to analysis, was rich in nutrients. Once the oil was used up, the gourd could be sliced in half to serve as a water container, or left intact, washed, and dried to store other items.

She never imagined that the forest surrounding this primitive tribe would hold so many magical plants. Mutong was truly eye-opened. With natural soy sauce, vinegar, oil, and various seasonings available, why was the tribe living in such hardship? It could only be said that these primitive people were wasting nature’s gifts. Perhaps they were not unintelligent, but they lacked the courage to actively discover, identify, and experiment.

According to Duoji, the types of edible plants in the tribe were limited, especially in winter when food was scarce. If they didn't store enough meat, dried vegetables, herbs, and furs during the autumn, people would die. In the worst winter on record, half the tribe had perished.

They used to have nearly five hundred people. Ever since that catastrophe, the population had never exceeded three hundred, sitting at just over two hundred now.

The reason A-Yu had brought these three types of fruit back today was that the seasonings Mutong used while cooking had seemed familiar. Later, while hunting wild boar in the forest, he remembered smelling those same aromas in certain inedible wild fruits. He had brought them back to see if Mutong found them useful; if they were, the tribe would have seasonings beyond just salt, allowing them to create even more delicious food.

Upon learning that the three fruits were indeed useful, A-Yu beamed. After setting the items down, he went to the courtyard to process the wild boar.

Mutong grabbed two newly made stone basins, instructing him to collect the pig's blood in one for a blood curd dish, and to put the offal in the other. She planned to make a stir-fry with the pig's blood, kidneys, and liver for dinner.

Dinner, as usual, consisted of purple rice, a cold dish of fish mint, braised pig blood with noodle fruit, stir-fried pig kidneys and liver with spicy and numbing leaves, and stewed pig heart with prickly cucumber.

Naturally, the Chief and the Shaman arrived during meal preparation. While one had someone record the steps and ingredients Mutong used, they both curiously examined the new bowls and basins in the house. They hadn't expected A-Yu's home to be filled with so many new things in less than half a day.

The Chief felt resentful: if not for the Shaman’s interference, all these things would belong to his own household.

The newly found seasonings—spicy leaves and numbing leaves, along with the methods for making them into powder—were recorded. The uses for the Soy Sauce, Vinegar, and Oil fruits were also documented, and the fact that the tender roots of chard and fish mint were edible was added to the tribe's cookbook.

The Shaman and the Chief were all smiles. How could they not be happy with so many new ingredients in the tribe? Of course, what pleased them most was being able to scrounge another delicious meal at A-Yu’s house.

The entire table of food was devoured completely. Mutong wiped the sweat from her brow, thinking, "It's a good thing I prepared so much." The Shaman, the Chief, the scribes, A-Yu, and Duoji—every single one of them was a bottomless pit!

If this many people came to eat every day, how much food would she have to prepare? Looking at the few remaining purple rice fruits in her basket, her expression dimmed. These would likely only last for one more day.

A-Yu seemed to understand what she was thinking and squeezed her hand. "Tomorrow, when I go hunting, I will gather some more purple rice fruit."

After dinner, the Shaman and the Chief did not leave. They were waiting for Mutong to teach them how to press the reed strips, as she had mentioned yesterday that they would be making mats.

Duoji went to wash the dishes while Mutong directed A-Yu to retrieve the soaked reed strips. Using the large, round stones they had collected that afternoon, they pressed back and forth over the reeds. Mutong had them flip the reeds several times until they were as flat and pliable as leather, ready for weaving.

Once the reeds were pressed, Mutong began teaching A-Yu how to weave a mat. When the first reed mat was finished, everyone sighed in admiration. It would certainly be much better to sleep on this, laid over dry grass, than just on the grass itself.

Of course it was better, but it would be even better to build a heated earthen bed (kang) and place the mat on top of that. Sleeping directly on the grass was a recipe for rheumatism. Mutong certainly wouldn't sleep on the ground long-term. Even though she had air mattresses and padding, she couldn't rely on those forever; she needed to make a proper bed.

Well, the bed could wait until tomorrow. For now, she had to get these people to leave. The civilization here was too backward, and there were too many things that needed changing; it was best to take it one step at a time. Mutong rallied her energy and told the tribespeople that the reeds were not only for mats, but could be used for other things as well.

"Oh? What? Not just for sleeping, but for weaving baskets?"

"What is a basket?"

"It's a tool for holding things, like a wicker basket."

Driven by their curiosity, Mutong had A-Yu bring over the remaining reed strips and taught them how to make baskets. She taught them to make large, shallow ones suitable for drying goods, as they didn't have any in the house yet.

Before long, a round basket for drying goods appeared before them, drawing another round of exclamations: the Messenger of the Gods was truly talented; she could make anything.

By the time everyone finally left, night had already fallen. Despite her exhaustion, Mutong insisted on bathing by the river before returning to sleep.

In the middle of the night, Mutong woke up to find that A-Yu had climbed into bed. Not only had he climbed in, but he was holding her so tightly that she had woken up because she couldn't breathe.

"..." Was this guy ever going to stop?! Mutong was furious and slapped A-Yu.

"Don't fuss, sweetheart, it's me." The familiar tone and scent made Mutong’s anger vanish instantly. So, it was Kai...