More than a month later, Tangtang and the Beastn had returned ho with millet, broomcorn millet, sorghum, buckwheat, and soybeans they had discovered. Except for the millet, the other amounts were only enough for seeds for the next year, so she hadn’t even eaten any and stored them in the space.
She brewed rice wine and rice vinegar with a small portion of the millet and then dared not use it anymore, worried there wouldn’t be enough seeds for the next year.
Even with the addition of the soybeans she had grown in her yard, there wasn’t enough to squander on making tofu, so she refrained with great difficulty and saved them as seeds.
As the rainy season was about to end, they found cabbage and radish on a grassland in the south.
They harvested the mature cabbage and radish and stored them in the space, leaving a part for seeds and not bothering with them anymore.
Afterward, the entire family moved to the seaside to continue gathering food for the winter, such as grain fruit and various seafood, while the Beastn in the family hunted outside. She and the children gathered at the seashore, based on last year’s situation, there should be no danger this year either, especially with Lili the rmaid around to help catch the sea ingredients.
After the rainy season ended, both the Xinba Tribe and Nandi Clan began to construct walls. During this rainy season, the people of the Nandi Clan had intermittently built their houses up, and influenced by them, Xinba’s side also built so houses. Seeing the sturdiness of these houses, the rest hurriedly began building vigorously.
This year, part of the tribe went out to hunt, part stayed to build walls, and another part protected the females who went out gathering. In any case, everyone had their role and everyone worked hard, wishing to safely survive the cold winter.
After the Cold Season passed, Tangtang also shared with the Nandi Clan and Xinba Tribe the thod of producing salt from the salt-alkali land.
Thus, everyone this rainy season not only had salt to eat, but they also moved into the houses. Their gratitude towards Tangtang’s family was beyond words.
As for the cultivation of other food ingredients, since Tangtang herself was still exploring this stage, she had not marketed it widely, preferring to wait until she successfully cultivated them herself. This way, she could ensure that these Beastn had food to eat without the need to dangerously hunt anymore.
They stayed at the seaside for about a month, not only producing a considerable amount of sea salt but also gathering grain fruit, kelp, nori, various shellfish and seafood, and even produced an extra jar of oyster sauce. As more and more ingredients were added, the family discovered that the food Tangtang made was getting tastier by the day.
After returning to the tribe, they imdiately went to the lotus pond to dig for lotus roots, not just them, but they also got other tribe mbers involved since the lotus pond was quite large and the roots grew big. Not knowing when they could dig them all up by themselves and since these tribe mbers still owed them food and hadn’t settled the debt, Tangtang had been waiting for this day. Thus, instead of returning at, they returned lotus roots; working one day and giving up at least fifty percent of the yield to them.
Lotus root could be stored for a long ti and could be made into delicious lotus root powder, also making it a very tasty vegetable.
This rainy season, she had stored a lot of lotus seeds, and before the Cold Season arrives, besides lotus roots, there were potatoes and sweet potatoes waiting for them to dig up.
Therefore, Tangtang’s household was extrely busy, which was why they sought help at this ti. After all, the more people there are, the greater the power, and the sooner they could dig up the lotus roots, the earlier they could stock up on food, right?
To dig up the lotus roots, they even stopped hunting. Lang Sen and the others also realized that their at consumption had significantly reduced this year, and that was because of the wide variety of dishes Tangtang made. As long as there was sufficient food, whether they ate at or not didn’t matter.
After working for almost a month and a half, everyone was busy until after the Frost Descent, bringing back all the potatoes and sweet potatoes, and toiling in the lotus pond for over ten days until the snow began, thus ending all their labor. By then, not only had the tribe’s high walls been constructed, but the plants with thorns planted around the walls had also sprouted, and like vines, they tightly secured the tribe’s safety.
However, the traps that had been dug last year were reproduced in great numbers this year, and everyone had finished making them before the Cold Wave arrived. In the months before the Cold Season, they worked from dawn till dusk every day, just so they could safely get through this Cold Season.
Not only were the Beastn strong, but the females were also busy gathering firewood, various mushrooms, wild vegetables, fruits, grain fruits, distilling salt grains—no one was idle. Even the little cubs at ho knew how to nibble on mushrooms that they stumbled upon, so it could be said that with Tangtang’s effort alone, she had motivated two tribes.
Perhaps last year’s Beast Tide had left a profound impression on everyone, hence even the laziest people knew to co out to gather and hunt this year, which showed how seriously everyone took the Beast Tide.
Upon entering the Cold Season, Pan Lin went into hibernation. The females occupied one room, and the males another; heating two kang stoves ensured everyone’s warmth. Essentially, one stove’s Earth Pot was for cooking, while the other stove’s pot was for boiling soup—nothing went to waste, as it provided both food and warmth for the house.
With the arrival of the Cold Season, the windows were sealed with beast skins; thus, even during the day, the room remained pitch dark, similar to the caves they used before—everyone had adapted to this situation, given the current circumstances. In sumr, there was the temporary window paper made from light snake sheddings, but in winter, they couldn’t keep warmth, so they were sealed with bricks, and lined inside and out with beast skins to greatly improve insulation.
Considering the roof’s load-bearing capacity, fearing collapse under heavy snow, they cleaned the snow off the roofs daily in rooms without heated kang stoves. Though it was troubleso, it was better than rebuilding a house. After all, if snow accumulated, it could truly collapse the roof, which wasn’t made of concrete bricks—being cautious was wise.
Of course, this thod was also communicated to the other Beastn, and now everyone listened to Tangtang’s advice; no one dared to slack off.
This winter, she used chili, rice paste, and fruit residues to pickle spicy cabbage, Spicy Radish, and Spicy Vegetables—essentially pickling any vegetable that could be pickled. She also pickled Sour and Spicy Kelp Strips and spicy seaweed. Every day during als, several dishes would be served in small plates, and they were very popular among her family.
She made a lot of cured ats and pickled ats, hanging them in uninhabited rooms. The cellar stored fresh potatoes and sweet potatoes buried in the earth and lotus roots buried in sand; checking periodically or turning them over was necessary to prevent spoilage, which would be a pity.
Her space stored fresh vegetables, fruits, lotus roots, and at, basically anything that couldn’t be preserved. All told, even if they indulged, they wouldn’t be able to finish all the food this Cold Season. Hence, the saying "many hands make light work" wasn’t without reason, as feeding so many mouths was directly proportional to everyone’s efforts.
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