Chapter 91

Over the next two days, the daily routine was quite monotonous. After waking up, Cloudy would first go to the backyard to check on her small plot of land, loosen the soil, and water the plants. It's worth mentioning that there was a set of stone tables and chairs in the backyard, very small, just enough for Cloudy to use.

The stone table was about a square meter in size, elevated with wood and miscellaneous items. Before using it, Cloudy had washed it several times with water, so the surface was very clean. This table was specifically used by Cloudy to grind and make spices. At the moment, the stone table was covered with various dried plants and small clay jars. The dried plants were directly ground into powder on the table using a stone, then stored in the clay jars.

There were too many plants brought back a few days ago. She had divided them into several batches for grinding, but so far, more than half of them were not done. This kind of physical work could actually be entrusted to Titus. With his strength, he could easily crush the plants with a stone on the table. However, Cloudy chose to do it herself to keep busy. As long as her days were fulfilling, she wouldn't have idle thoughts.

Since arriving at the settlement some time ago, the environment had changed rapidly, and more people had gathered around... Whenever she tried to plan things, she was always pushed forward by things like the warm house. Now she wondered why she was in such a hurry to build that big house. There was still at least a year before the next rainy season. She couldn't let other people's plans and matters push her around. Once she became mentally stressed, mistakes would happen. At this stage, she needed to start planning what she wanted to do.

Tools and planting were the "work" she chose at this stage. Raising animals was difficult and required a lot of energy. Planting was relatively easier to carry out. As for tools... she hoped to find suitable tendons from the local people to make bowstrings.

Setting her own plans always motivated Cloudy. She swept away the gloomy mood from before and cheerfully took care of the backyard.

After checking the field this morning, Cloudy went to work vigorously at the spice table. Yesterday she had smashed the stones used for grinding into long oval shapes, which felt more comfortable in her hands. The aroma from the dried plants was also very pleasant. She couldn't describe the taste of each plant powder very well, but most of them became more fragrant after being ground into powder. As long as the powder was finely ground and added to food, it would definitely... definitely become delicious! At least the taste of the food would be more varied.

"Is Cloudy still working on this?" Titus, who had just woken up, came out groggily from the house as Cloudy was busy with the plants on the stone table. These days, he hadn't had much success with hunting and traps, so he didn't rush out early in the morning. He would only go out in the afternoon to check if any animals were caught in the traps. The rest of the time, he patrolled near the settlement or helped the women make clay bricks.

"The aroma is very strong," Titus said as he approached Cloudy from behind, watching her sweat profusely in front of the stone table, working on the plants. "Need any help?" he added, already moving his arms.
"I want to take over the stone in Cloudy's hand."

"No, I'll do this." Cloudy dodged Titus's hand and leaned to the side, "I'll handle these myself." Whenever Titus had nothing to do, or when he felt bored and unable to shine on his own, he would buzz around her like a fly, trying to help her with everything. It was thoughtful, but also distracting.

She pointed to the simple hoe beside her, "Help me poke the ground. Poke the area next to it."

There were still many seeds at home waiting to be planted. If Titus helped her loosen the remaining soil in the backyard today, she could plant all of them. When Titus picked up the stick to help her loosen the soil, he clearly misunderstood the task. After about ten minutes, when Cloudy looked up to check on Titus, there were three large holes in the backyard...

Seeing Cloudy look at him, Titus became even more enthusiastic, forcefully plunging the stick into the soil and lifting up larger chunks of dirt, asking, "Is this enough?"

How should she respond... Titus had a radiant smile on his face, his ears perked up happily. It was clear he was deriving immense joy from digging holes. Cloudy felt if she scolded Titus for his mistake, she would seem too harsh.

Should she let him continue digging, even though there weren't many places left in the backyard for him to dig? In the brief half-minute that Cloudy was conflicted, the hole under Titus's hands expanded even more: "What does Cloudy want to put in here? Should I make it bigger?"

Did she misspeak just now? But she had been fluent in the local language for the past few months...

"Titus." Finally, Cloudy made up her mind to correct Titus's mistake, "It's not like that. Let me show you. Just use the stick..." She stood up and walked over to demonstrate to Titus.

"Just poke the soil, no need to dig!" Titus clearly had his own ideas, "The hole is big and safe. Digging holes is fun."

So, were you just playing with mud on your own earlier? Cloudy raised her hand and patted Titus's arm, "Cover up the hole, I want to plant some plants."

Titus stood next to the pit, looking at Cloudy and then at the hole, "Plants, they are big. We need a bigger hole."

Since you asked, let's practice speaking. Cloudy took Titus to the soil where the seeds had been planted and began to organize her words, "The seeds are very small." She took out the seeds she had saved earlier from her pocket and placed them in Titus's palm.

These were riceberry seeds, extremely tiny, about a millimeter in size, "Put the seeds in the big hole you dug, cover them with soil, they may not... breathe." Cloudy wanted to say 'germinate', but she wasn't sure how to describe it.

"Seeds vary, and they need to be buried at different depths. But..."
"Many just need a little bit of soil." She pulled Titus down and gently dug open a small patch of soil with her fingers, revealing the seeds she had planted earlier.

Titus squinted, trying to understand what Cloudy was saying. "If you plant like Cloudy, will new plants grow?"

Cloudy examined the cracked shells of the seeds she had unearthed, noticing subtle cracks on the outer layer. They seemed to have grown slightly. "Yes, these will sprout." Her voice was noticeably louder; she had some experience with hydroponics from cultivating plants in the cave before. The cracked seed shells indicated they were starting to take root.

"Here, my favorite fruits will grow." Cloudy started to imagine with Titus. Maybe before the rainy season this year, they would be able to harvest the first batch of fruits they had planted themselves!

Seeing Cloudy suddenly so happy, Titus stopped insisting on digging holes. He followed Cloudy's instructions and filled up the soil pit he had "carefully" made. Then, he gently turned over the backyard soil with a wooden stick.

As he turned the soil, Titus occasionally glanced back at Cloudy, who had returned to grinding plants at the stone table. Her face was rosy, her eyes bright and shining.

It had been a long time since he had known Cloudy. Initially, Cloudy was as fragile as a stick that could break at any moment, but now she was different. Even if he were taken away by enemies, she would not hesitate to venture deep into the rainforest to find him...

In reality, Cloudy didn't need his protection or food. Previously, Titus would have been very anxious once he realized this, but now he didn't care at all. He didn't quite understand why his mindset had changed; perhaps it was because Cloudy would always stay by his side no matter what happened.

It's nice.

His long ears twitched slightly amid his messy hair, and he lowered his head to continue turning the soil.