Chapter 105

After the preparations before the rainy season came to an end, Cloudy became more and more idle. She was addicted to teaching other mothers to play chess or other games with her. If the mothers and Titus were busy, she would play by herself, carving mysterious drawings or words on a large stone slab.

Thousands or even tens of thousands of years later, modern archaeologists excavating this stone slab would surely be puzzled. They might even form a research team specifically to study the nonsensical drawings on it. It was a simple prank, but Cloudy still carved Titus' face on it, although it was very ugly.

After carving several large stone slabs in a row, Cloudy realized that she had become the most idle person in the settlement. She no longer went out to check traps recently, just lying at home waiting for people to play chess with her, or wandering in the rainforest alone, searching for fruits in the bushes, digging for bird eggs in tree holes, or fishing by the lake. It felt like she had suddenly retired.

Titus, on the other hand, was extremely busy. He went out hunting five times in total and brought back a lot of food each time. However, on his last hunting trip, he came back with a big wound on his back. Cloudy initially worried that he might die and kept asking the Matriarch for medicine and what to do... but the wild people just applied some mud on Titus' back, fed him a hearty meal of worm meat, and then let Cloudy lead Titus back to sleep.

As it turned out, Cloudy's worries were indeed unnecessary. The wound on Titus' back began to scab and heal within three days, and he was jumping around like nothing had happened, catching bugs in the backyard.

It's worth mentioning that Cloudy has completely overcome her fear of bugs now. The turning point was when Cloudy went to help make "big pot rice" at the longhouse. Since the locals learned how to stew in clay pots from Cloudy, they couldn't stop. The previous big pot was obviously not enough, so they switched to an even larger clay pot, big enough to cook two Titus directly.

Cloudy's bug cultivation journey also started from this huge clay pot... At first, the mothers' cooking process was quite normal, following Cloudy's instructions to first heat the clay pot, then fry the animal fat to extract oil, add some spices to sauté, and finally add the "broth" stewed from dried meat. After these steps, the large clay pot was filled with a fragrant milky soup base, and Cloudy could drink several bowls in a row.

After the soup base was cooked, things took a drastic turn... If it was Cloudy cooking, she would start adding a lot of dried meat and vegetables, and if there were fish, she would put it in too. But the locals preferred to eat dried meat as it is, so what they cooked were insects. Larvae and adult insects were all thrown in and cooked vigorously, and after cooking, they would eat the insects soaked in the soup with dried meat.

Without exception, the locals were crazy about this insect feast, and dried meat had become a side dish... as long as it was nighttime.
Eating insects stew, the atmosphere in the entire settlement becomes very lively. Even those who are not busy will run outside the settlement to catch insects themselves. The insects they bring back are all sorts of strange creatures. Many of the insects Cloudy just glances at seem like they could be poisonous, but the locals dare to throw them into their mouths.

The appearance of the stewed insects varies greatly, depending entirely on what enthusiastic locals brought back from outside that day. Sometimes it's deep brown, other times it's green. In any case, it doesn't look like something she could eat.

Although she can't eat it, she has gotten used to looking at it. She can serve everyone with a blank expression using a wooden spoon and even pick out the big insect legs that Titus loves the most from the pot for him. The wild people love eating insects partly due to their beliefs and partly because their taste buds are different from hers, so insects must indeed be very delicious. Cloudy doesn't have this privilege; she can only "tearfully" eat the worthless pieces of dried meat or fish before the insect stew.

Especially after finishing the communal meal, in the evening if Titus is hungry, the two of them will cook in the backyard. This also means that Cloudy has to observe Titus up close to see how he handles the insects. He used to smash the insects' heads and skewer them on branches to roast over the fire, but now it's different. Titus will shamelessly dismember the insects into small pieces after preparing them, wrap them in leaves, and present them to Cloudy: "Cloudy, stir-fry."

"Stir-fry" is Cloudy's native language. She used to dislike that the locals only stewed their food, so she secretly taught Titus how to stir-fry. After heating the clay pot, adding fat, crushed spices, and pungent fruit peels, frying, then adding chopped dried meat and insect pieces, adding more firewood to make the fire blaze, a few quick stirs, and it's ready to serve.

The taste is nothing special to Cloudy, but the process resembles modern stir-frying, so it makes her feel good. But for Titus, it's like a gift from heaven that dilates his pupils. So, he firmly remembers the word "stir-fry."

It's hard to imagine what Titus would be like if he ate real stir-fry. If only she could take him to try it... Cloudy watches as Titus, sitting across from the fire, happily eats with his hands.

During this time in the settlement, she rarely had thoughts like, "It would be nice if that person were here," or "It would be nice if that person were doing this with me." These were very intimate thoughts, wanting to share life and ideas with the other person, even if it was obligatory.

Living leisurely in the settlement during this time actually confirmed something for her: she didn't feel a special closeness to Titus just because she had to rely on him. After fully integrating into settlement life, she found that the people in the settlement were all easy to get along with, especially the younger locals like Waben. Hunters might not be great at communication due to their roles, but they are not incapable of it. Everyone in the settlement knows...
After studying the importance of Udy, everyone has been very friendly to her.

Now, she can communicate with any local person and have them do things for her. But none of these people make her think, "It would be better if you were here too," except for Titus.

"What's wrong? Cloudy isn't eating." Titus stopped his movements as Cloudy stared at him intently. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Not sure, lately she has been staring at Titus more and for longer periods. "Will Titus always be with me?"

"Of course!"

Titus didn't understand the deeper meaning of this statement, but his response was straightforward and sincere. No matter how much she thinks and asks, the answer she always gets is "of course," leaving no room for doubt. She stood up, crossed over the fire, and sat next to Titus. They leaned against each other, Titus munching on bugs while she gazed at the small sparks dancing at the tip of the flame.

Cloudy simply felt happy upon hearing this response, an emotion that only arises when she is with Titus.