Chapter 74

Early in the morning today, Titus was called away in a hurry by other hunters. It sounded like a group of herbivores was on the move near the settlement. Hopefully, they will bring back plenty of prey...

Cloudy lingered in bed for an hour or two before yawning lazily and getting ready to get up. Today's task was to continue optimizing the ventilation of the house and to research how to stabilize charcoal burning. She sat on the edge of the bed, swinging her legs. For some reason, she felt particularly content today, maybe because Titus didn't cling to her like an octopus last night.

Upon getting up, she didn't feel sticky. The refreshing morning breeze flowed into the house through the doorway and windows. The temperature seemed a bit lower today, and the wind was strong, creating a relatively dry climate... This kind of wind made her think of the time she used to live on Green Slope. Being away from the rainforest, the air on Green Slope wasn't as humid, making it very comfortable to nap on the grass in the midday and afternoon while feeling the breeze.

I wonder how Green Slope looks after the rainy season? Cloudy couldn't pinpoint why she was feeling nostalgic about Green Slope. Perhaps it was a bit of a fledgling sentiment. Many things she figured out herself were on that small hill. Her first successful hunt was also on Green Slope, and she first met Titus there... Should she go back and take a look when she has some free time?

Thinking about this, Cloudy realized the reason for her recent bouts of melancholy - a lack of freedom. If she were living in a cave wooden hut now and suddenly wanted to go back to Green Slope, she would pack up and leave immediately. But she had something very important to do in the settlement.

It's strange, why this sudden feeling of... going to work. Cloudy's face turned green at the thought. Since crossing over, she missed everything modern, from fried chicken to pizza, from mattresses to air conditioning, from coffee to cola, except for missing going to work and leaving work. Damn, it's terrifying, why would she have such thoughts!

This thought was so terrifying that Cloudy, who was attempting to spend some morning time sitting on the bed, immediately sprang up. She, who wasn't sweating before, now had beads of sweat forming on her forehead.

Working for newborns in the settlement... is that equivalent to going to work? She looked down at the four red dots drawn on her chest. Oh, right, she was like a cadre in the village now, wasn't she?! That meant she had unconsciously signed a labor contract!

The good mood brought by the dry climate vanished into thin air as Cloudy realized she had been tricked into working by Titus.

She wasn't angry or regretful, just shocked. Indeed, whether thousands of years ago or thousands of years from now, everyone ultimately couldn't escape the curse of work. It's so sad, how could she suddenly understand such a sad thing...

But the convenience brought by the settlement was undeniable. Her living environment had improved a lot; she didn't have to go out every day to gather food or fight giant bugs in the bushes from time to time, only to end up covered in suspicious...
Insect fluid.

Don't complain, keep working. After waking up, Cloudy first went through her routine, using water stored in the house to clean herself. Then she picked up a small square piece of animal hide from the shelf to wrap around her bottom; she was definitely going to be sitting and working with mud bricks today, so she needed to protect her bottom. As for food, there wasn't much left in the house. She casually ate two fruits and prepared to start her work for the day.

Surprisingly, this morning Matriarch was also near the warming hut. Normally, she would be inside the longhouse taking care of the children. She had a general idea of the warming hut's plan.

"Is it ready?" Matriarch looked quite happy. Before Cloudy came, Wahben and other mothers had already introduced the general operation of this small house to her. "That's right, you are really amazing."

"Well, it's not ready yet," Cloudy scratched her head awkwardly. "It still needs some more work, but it will be ready before the next rainy season, no problem."

Matriarch nodded repeatedly. Although the small house in front of her looked unimpressive, her eyes still sparkled with hope. "Cloudy, you will stay in our settlement forever, right?" After circling the house, Matriarch slowly approached Cloudy. Her ears were perked up, a symbol of her excellent mood. Her eyes, nestled among the wrinkles on her face, looked particularly lively under the morning sunlight.

What does this mean? Why is she asking me this... Cloudy herself hadn't thought it through yet. Logically, she should stay in the settlement to ensure her safety, but Matriarch's serious inquiry intensified her sense of unease from the morning. "If I stay in the settlement forever, can I go out freely?"

Matriarch shook her head. "You are an important mother. Although you are an outsider, you have proven your ability to stay in the settlement. Mothers do not leave the settlement."

"But just a few days ago, I went out to watch Titus training the children..."

"Because you had a hunter accompanying you, so it was safe to go out."

So, if she really settled here, she would need someone to accompany her whenever she went out? This rule was definitely normal now. She was a mother who could provide warmth and had even taught the locals how to use or craft pottery... As Cloudy continued to ponder, Matriarch slowly spoke, "Cloudy, your body is very strange, different from ours. Can your people successfully reproduce?"

"No." There was no need to think about it; Cloudy immediately lied, "I cannot reproduce. Reproduction is the responsibility of other people in my settlement." Whatever Matriarch was going to say next, she had to refuse. According to the novels she had read from various sources, once it was known that she could reproduce, things would become complicated.

And... if she were to live in this era...
She is pregnant, in such a rudimentary birthing environment, coupled with the unknown genetic combination of the fetus, she will definitely die during childbirth.

Matriarch looked a bit regretful, "Well, if Cloudy can give birth to offspring, the offspring won't be very healthy."

Cloudy felt the veins on her forehead pulsating. The simple language of the locals always seemed to provoke her, "I am healthy, at least in my settlement, I am considered healthy." Matriarch smiled, the sound of her laughter and the frequency of her laughter were exactly like Titus when he mocked her. One could say they truly were mother and son...

"I have thought about arranging for you to have offspring with Tuna. You are very intelligent, and Tuna is very strong. If you could have offspring, it would be beneficial for the settlement."

Cloudy was scared and started coughing. Luckily, she had just lied about not being able to have children. Although she wanted to say that being intelligent doesn't guarantee intelligent offspring... but the culture in the settlement is still at this level, and it's hard to understand.

"Should Titus and others also be arranged to have offspring?" Cloudy perked up her ears, waiting for gossip.

"No, Tuna has resisted this arrangement since childhood. Tuna hates seeing newborns die." Talking about this, Matriarch's cheerful expression from earlier disappeared. She seemed to blame Titus, but couldn't be too harsh on her excellent child. "Tuna had many siblings when he was young, they were all born together with me, and they all became hunters. It was because of this that Tuna saw their deaths."

"... " Cloudy had heard Titus talk about this before. Witnessing the deaths of siblings led to many dissatisfactions within the settlement.

"Tuna's offspring will naturally be selected as hunters. That's why he strongly resists." Matriarch sighed deeply. "He has threatened us. If we force him to have children, he will never participate in external hunting again or simply leave the settlement."

"When I see Tuna getting along so well with you, I believe this is the best opportunity to have Tuna's offspring. If it were you, Tuna might be willing to try."

Cloudy was thankful she had lied earlier. "Even if Titus is unwilling to have offspring, there are other strong hunters in the settlement." Speaking of this, she was curious about the birth rate in the settlement; she hadn't seen any pregnant women so far.

"Will there be any newborns in the settlement soon?" Matriarch shook her head. "The rainy season is our birthing time, but no one can have children this rainy season."

Not even one? That's quite grim... no wonder Matriarch is concerned about the warmth in the next rainy season.

While the two were chatting, Waben walked over from the fire room carrying some well-baked bricks. "Last night, I baked a lot, and I piled them all up back there." She happily reported to Cloudy, all the well-baked bricks were stacked behind the warm house, accumulating.
Translate the passage into English:

About 80 of them, although it seems like a lot, is far from enough for a house that requires a double-layered wall.

Cloudy took the opportunity to tell Matriarch about the importance of these adobe bricks and asked if they could spare some hands to make more bricks. Matriarch happily agreed and immediately arranged for people to come and learn brick-making with Cloudy and Waben.

...

"So, this isn't enough?" After Matriarch left, Waben became a bit more lively, almost sticking to Cloudy's side, "How much do we need to build the big house you mentioned, Cloudy?"

"Um..." This question made Cloudy realize she had no idea how much it would take to build a house. Perhaps she needed to estimate in advance, "We need a lot, and what we have now definitely isn't enough."

"Alright. What were Cloudy and Matriarch talking about just now? When Matriarch talks to Cloudy, she seems very patient, we often get scolded."

"Really?" Cloudy felt that she might be treated quite well in the settlement, which made her feel anxious again, "Matriarch asked me if I could have offspring."

But mentioning offspring, Waben also appeared very disappointed, "This rainy season, I couldn't have a child." She touched her belly, "Last rainy season, I finally had a child, but couldn't give birth. Matriarch was very disappointed. I could bring new children to the settlement."

Cloudy didn't know what to say, so she could only reach out and pat Waben's shoulder to express comfort.

Now she understood Titus's meaning a little bit. In this era, the concept of "love" temporarily does not exist. Love between relatives, lovers, siblings. It cannot be said to be completely absent, but in the extremely harsh environment of the ancient times, what everyone valued more was "continuation and survival."

Unlike Titus, who witnessed the death of his compatriots, felt extremely sad and angry about it, and refused to have offspring and watched the descendants die in vain. This is a display of a formless love.

Although Matriarch is Titus's mother, she... more sees Titus as "a being that brings a lot of food to the settlement, an entity that cannot be separated from the settlement." Other hunters look at newborns in the settlement as "this is a new productive force in the settlement, so it is very precious."

Love is selfless, love cannot witness harm. Titus has such feelings, so he hates the settlement, or rather hates this harsh environment.

She also understood why Titus cared so much about her... indeed, what else could it be? In these days of being together day and night, she sees Titus as a companion, as an object that needs to be treated with kindness and love. The sensitive Titus must have felt that she was different from the locals, which is why he was so close to her.