In her sleep, Li Cunxin hazily felt as if she had returned home. She lay on her side on that tidy, cozy big bed, hugging her soft, light silk quilt with the bluebell pattern. She swung one leg over to rest on top of it, her foot brushing against the large plush bear at the foot of the bed—so soft to step on.
This dream was chaotic in the beginning. The mattress beneath her was too hard, making her bones ache. The four corners of the silk quilt danced like human limbs. The big plush bear was extremely aloof, refusing to let her rest her foot on it with its two stubby little legs. Every time she stretched her foot a bit closer, it would shift away.
She was too tired, and she slept deeply. Eventually, even the dreams disappeared.
Li Cunxin was jolted awake by a scream. The door curtain of the main room was still drawn, but the white light seeping through the cracks told her it was already broad daylight outside. The spot beside her was empty—Yan Baiyu had already gotten up. The clothes Li Cunxin had washed and hung to dry last night were now neatly folded at the foot of the bed.
Waking up after a good sleep, Li Cunxin felt fully refreshed and unusually sharp-minded. She hurriedly got out of bed, grabbed her clothes, and stepped into the small bamboo room.
Yunxiu was already up. Xia Qing was still sleeping—even that scream just now hadn’t woken her.
Li Cunxin quickly changed into her own T-shirt and long pants. Still hopping while slipping on her shoes, she walked outside. She pushed aside the curtain and saw Yunxiu coming out of the kitchen.
“Village Chief.”
“What happened? I just heard screaming.”
“It seemed to come from Jiang Beibei’s room. I’m not sure what’s going on. Baiyu went over to check.”
The two of them walked to the bamboo room next to the storehouse. The room wasn’t too spacious, with only one bed. A layer of straw had been laid on the floor beside it, still bearing the imprints of being slept on. Just as Yan Baiyu had said, Wang Ran had used the straw to make a pallet on the floor.
Yan Baiyu held a flat piece of wood, looking around the room, searching for something. Wang Ran was nowhere to be seen. Jiang Beibei stood awkwardly by the door, looking like she wanted to bolt outside but also felt bad leaving Yan Baiyu inside fighting alone.
Li Cunxin asked, confused, “What are you doing?”
Jiang Beibei looked at Li Cunxin with frightened eyes, her voice trembling. “A cockroach.”
“…” Li Cunxin began to doubt how Jiang Beibei had survived in the wild. But to Jiang Beibei, insects and beasts were one thing, harsh environments another; a cockroach was a cockroach.
Li Cunxin also entered the room. “Where is it? I’ve rarely seen cockroaches since I got to this world. And the wild kind is a different species from the ones that scuttle around houses in our old world.”
Jiang Beibei recounted miserably, “It flew right past me just now. I didn’t dare look closely.”
“Oh.” Li Cunxin responded casually, catching out of the corner of her eye that Yan Baiyu was moving strangely. Before she could look more closely, a black object darted into her field of vision.
It was a large black beetle, flying out from a corner and landing on the bamboo bed. Li Cunxin said, “There it is.”
She walked over, grabbed the insect by its two long antennae, and lifted it up. Turning around, she showed it to Jiang Beibei. “Look.”
Jiang Beibei let out a stifled cry and retreated behind Yunxiu.
Li Cunxin laughed. “Don’t be scared. That’s no cockroach—it’s a longhorn beetle. When have you ever seen a cockroach this big, with tattoos on its antennae and back armor?”
Yunxiu didn’t quite recognize the longhorn beetle, but she could tell it wasn’t a cockroach.
This longhorn beetle had jet-black, glossy armor with white spots. Its three pairs of long legs had no prickly hairs, and its whole body gave an impression of solid sturdiness. It also had two long antennae streaked black and white.
Li Cunxin said, “Normally, they’re active in summer. You shouldn’t see them now. It’s probably because the weather’s been so warm lately.”
Yan Baiyu cautioned, “Be careful it doesn’t bite you with its mandibles.”
“It’s fine.”
From outside came the sound of hurried footsteps, rushing all the way to the bamboo room.
Li Cunxin saw Wang Ran hurrying back, asking Jiang Beibei with concern, “What happened just now? I heard you scream.”
Having gotten up early with nothing to do, Wang Ran had gone to the pond to fetch water to help Yunxiu prepare breakfast. Halfway back, he’d heard Jiang Beibei’s scream and rushed over, still cradling the water jar. Water sloshed from the jar, soaking a large patch of his clothing.
Jiang Beibei was so embarrassed her face flushed bright red. She said in a very small voice, “I’m fine. I thought there was a cockroach in the room earlier. I was wrong. The Village Chief says it’s a longhorn beetle.”
“A longhorn beetle?” Wang Ran was a little surprised.
“You recognize it?” Jiang Beibei asked.
“Yeah, it really is one,” Wang Ran said, looking at the beetle Li Cunxin was holding in the room. His face showed a reminiscent smile of fond memories. “When we were kids, we used to catch these to play with. In summer, you’d stick a bamboo skewer into its mouthparts, and it couldn’t fly away, but it would keep flapping its wings, stirring up a little breeze like a tiny fan.”
Hearing him speak, Li Cunxin knew he was truly familiar with them. She handed the beetle over to him and walked out of the bamboo room with Yan Baiyu.
“Baiyu, are you feeling unwell somewhere?” Li Cunxin asked.
Yan Baiyu’s calm expression stiffened for a moment. “No.”
“No?” Li Cunxin walked on Yan Baiyu’s right side, squinting as she studied her for a bit. Then she suddenly called out, “Yan Baiyu?”
Yan Baiyu turned a little toward her, casting a questioning glance. “What is it?” It had been a long time since Li Cunxin called her by her full name; hearing it now felt a bit novel.
Li Cunxin didn’t answer. She circled around to Yan Baiyu’s left side. “Yan Baiyu?”
Yan Baiyu turned her head slowly, but this time she didn’t look to the left. She just faced forward and closed her eyes in exasperation.
“You’re not being honest. You slept with a stiff neck last night, didn’t you?” Li Cunxin’s eyes sparkled with a small, self-satisfied gleam of understanding, her smiling face dazzling in the sunlight.
Yan Baiyu narrowed her eyes and slanted a look at her, both her teeth and her heart itching.
An impulse surged in her on a whim. Her mind went blank, and her hand broke free from some mental restraint, lifting up to gently pinch Li Cunxin’s ear. “Why don’t you tell me who caused me to get a stiff neck?”
Li Cunxin laughed. “I’m sorry, okay? I meant to go back to the foot of the bed after we finished talking last night, but I was too sleepy. My brain was telling my body to move, but my body had already fallen asleep. Want me to massage it for you?”
She pressed both hands onto Yan Baiyu’s shoulders, her thumbs resting on the protruding bone at the base of her neck.
Yan Baiyu felt an electric current shoot down her spine, making her flinch.
Li Cunxin asked, “Am I pressing too hard?”
Yan Baiyu pulled away from Li Cunxin’s hands and placed her own hand on her shoulder and neck. “Better not massage it. There’s a tendon that’s wrenched. It’s uncomfortable. Luckily it’s not severe; it’ll be fine on its own if I just leave it.”
“Alright. But if it keeps bothering you, don’t hide it. You have to tell me.” Li Cunxin didn’t insist; she was afraid she might fail to control her strength and end up making Yan Baiyu’s neck worse.
The distinctive scent of burning wood and grass drifted around the little house. Yunxiu was lighting the fire to cook. During light farm work days, they usually ate two meals, and at those times they took things slowly.
After washing up, Li Cunxin went to light the beacon fire and came back. Xia Qing had also gotten up and washed. The main room’s curtain had been pushed aside, and bright, clear sunlight streamed into the room.
Li Cunxin called Wang Ran and Jiang Beibei into the main hall to talk. Yesterday, all she knew were their names, how long they’d been here, and how they’d found this place. She had no other information.
The two sat stiffly across from Li Cunxin, and the room’s atmosphere made Li Cunxin feel unnatural too. She smiled. “Don’t be nervous. I just want to get to know you. Yesterday I was too tired to be in the right state of mind, so I didn’t talk with you much.”
Wang Ran said, “We know, we know.”
Li Cunxin said, “In a moment it’ll be time to eat, so I won’t waste time with small talk. I want to ask, what are your plans going forward?”
Normally, Li Cunxin would have been overjoyed, thinking their camp had gained two more compatriots.
But Yan Baiyu’s words from last night had given her a reminder. She’d said Wang Ran and Jiang Beibei might be afraid of them. Li Cunxin suddenly realized that she’d always subconsciously assumed others would be delighted to join them. That was an arrogant assumption.
While compared to those homeless wanderers, Li Cunxin did have reasons to be proud, everyone had different perspectives and plans. Maybe they wouldn’t like this place or these people, or maybe they’d want to keep moving. Not everyone who came here had to stay.
Once she understood this, Li Cunxin stopped assuming the two would stay as she spoke with them.
Wang Ran was stunned by her question. “Plans…”
“If you want to keep moving on, we can provide you with some food. Or if you want to live on your own, if you settle nearby, we can also give you some help.” Li Cunxin looked at them earnestly. “Of course, if you want to stay here and join us, that would be best. We… for us here, I can’t say we feast on meat and fish every day, but we can eat our fill every day, and occasionally we have something extra. About the rooms—yesterday it was too sudden, so you had to squeeze in together. If you stay, we can build you another one. And this is only our temporary residence. See that bare, open lot over there with the stakes planted? That’s where we’ll build the big house later, with blue bricks and blue tiles…”
Li Cunxin grew flustered and a bit tongue-tied as she listed their advantages, telling them the benefits of staying, hoping they’d agree.
Before she even finished, Wang Ran hurriedly said, “We’re willing to stay! Of course we’re willing to stay.”
Jiang Beibei and Wang Ran exchanged a glance, both visibly relieved. Wang Ran’s face broke into a very open, hearty smile as he told Li Cunxin, “We very much wanted to join you, but we were afraid you wouldn’t want us, that you wouldn’t want two extra mouths draining your grain.”
Li Cunxin smiled. “How could that be?”
Jiang Beibei was so happy she nearly wept. She wiped the tears from the corner of her eye with a finger, then glanced at Wang Ran before saying apologetically to Li Cunxin, “Actually, it was me who worried. When we came yesterday, we saw you had many people, but everyone had clear, orderly tasks, a complete division of labor. I thought your group had already formed a full survival structure with no gaps, that no more ‘positions’ were available. Wang Ran is a strong man, a sturdy laborer, who might be able to fit in and trade his work for food. But I’m too thin and weak—I can’t do much, and the labor value I can produce isn’t high. I was afraid you’d think it wasn’t worth it, that you wouldn’t need to waste food on me, so…”
“How could you think like that? Look at Yunxiu—her build is about the same as yours.”
Jiang Beibei hung her head, her exposed ears bright red. “I’m sorry.”
“Ah, I didn’t mean to blame you.” Li Cunxin stood up, flustered, not knowing what to do. “I’m really glad to have met you, really glad you’re staying. Truly. And I really admire how you’ve managed to hold on for over half a year in this wilderness.”
Wang Ran scratched behind his ear. Jiang Beibei smiled shyly. “You’re the one we admire. Miss Yan said all the grain here was grown by you. Ever since we arrived in this world, we never thought we’d eat rice again.”
“Actually, it’s all thanks to my talent.” Li Cunxin said bashfully. “By the way, what’s your talent?”
Wang Ran asked, “You mean that multiple-choice option that appeared in our heads?”
“Yes. Did you make your choice?”
“I chose Toolmaking. After I selected it, a lot of knowledge about forging appeared in my mind. And when I try to make small tools, my hands-on ability has become surprisingly fast.”
“That’s exactly what I mean by talent.” Li Cunxin was overjoyed. They’d just returned from smelting iron, and here came a Toolmaker? Was their luck really this good? But the man said his talent seemed to be Toolmaking. Li Cunxin wanted to clarify. “What does this ‘Toolmaking’ cover?”
Wang Ran said, “A workman must first sharpen his tools if he is to do his work well: all the tools needed for any craft—a carpenter’s saw, file, plane; a bamboo craftsman’s splitting knife, scraping knife; a stonemason’s chisel, hand hammer, steel drill. If I have the materials, I can make them.” As well as weights and measures—rulers, scales, measuring buckets—and timekeeping devices like sundials and clepsydras, which required coordination with other talents. He didn’t go into those details.
Li Cunxin clenched her fist. This talent meshed perfectly with what they currently needed. She turned to Jiang Beibei. “And you?”
Jiang Beibei bit her lip, seeming hesitant to speak. Wang Ran’s talent was at least somewhat useful in the wild. Hers was far too niche, so niche she was afraid that revealing it would make others look down on her. She said softly, “Weaving/Spinning…”
“Huh?!” Li Cunxin’s eyes went wide, her expression one of utter disbelief.
Seeing this, Wang Ran thought, Oh no. Afraid Li Cunxin might dismiss Jiang Beibei, he quickly added, “Her ability isn’t entirely useless. She can braid straw to make mats, and she can weave slender twigs and straw into clothing. As long as, as long as later…” The more he spoke, the more anxious he grew, swallowing hard.
Xia Qing poked half her body in from outside, a willow twig still in her mouth. “Did I just hear Weaving/Spinning? Who has Weaving? Village Chief, does one of them have the talent for Weaving?”
Li Cunxin snapped back to her senses, her eyes frighteningly bright.
They’d drawn a double-yolk egg!
Li Cunxin’s voice trembled with delight. “Sister Jiang’s talent is Weaving/Spinning.”
Before Wang Ran and Jiang Beibei could grasp the situation, Xia Qing suddenly whipped her head around and dashed outside, shouting into the gap between the kitchen and the main house toward the three men’s rooms on the other side, “YU! MU! YANG!!!”
Yu Muyang, in his short sleeves and with a mess of bed hair, rushed over. “What’s going on? What’s happening?!”
Xia Qing gestured with both hands toward the main room in a welcoming gesture. “Talent. Weaving/Spinning.”
Yu Muyang stood dumbfounded for a long moment before shouting to the heavens, “Oh, merciful heavens!”
He threw himself to his knees on the ground, pounding the earth. “I finally don’t have to cover my ass with tree leaves anymore!”
😂