He had checked in and opened the Assistance Package when he woke up this morning, not expecting to get a soft toy. This left him a bit helpless. [I’m not really asking for anything great. Just at least something useful. What can I do with a soft toy? Sleep with it? I’m a grown man for crying out loud. I’ve grown out of such habits.]
“Shaman, what’s that in your hand? It looks so cute!” Yu Ying’s pink eyes could not look away.
Su Bai handed over the soft toy and asked, “Do you like it? If you do, it’s yours.”
He had almost forgotten that girls love these things the most. Fluffy toys can make them swoon. Of course, he was referring to the primitive girls here. Girls back on Earth were not easy enough to be won over with just a soft toy. [For them, it’s always no car, no house, no love…]
Yu Ying shook her head without hesitation and directly said, “Shaman, I can’t take it. It’s yours.”
“It’s okay, take it. I have no use for it. If you don’t want it, I’ll just throw it away.” Su Bai pretended he was about to toss it into the fire pit.
He knew the fox eared girl’s personality. If he did not do this, she would not accept it with a clear conscience.
“Shaman, give it to me. It’d be a shame to throw it away…” Yu Ying said nervously, her pink eyes unable to look away.
Su Bai teased the fox eared girl by moving the soft toy back and forth. Her gaze followed the toy’s movement. It was extremely cute.
“S-sleep with me?” Yu Ying’s face instantly turned red, all the way to her ears.
“Haha… This little bear is very comfortable to sleep with, but it’s been so hot lately. You can just put it next to you instead.” Su Bai heartily laughed.
“Yes… I understand…” Yu Ying had not realised that was what the toy bear was for. She had blamed herself for thinking too superficially, which was why she blushed.
Seeing the fox eared girl’s blushing face, Su Bai found it cute as he smiled and said, “Alright. I need to start working now.”
“Okay, meanwhile, I’ll be sewing linen clothes for you.” Yu Ying happily placed the toy bear next to her hay pile. She even patted its head before leaving.
Su Bai really envied the girl’s innocence, being overjoyed by such small things. He could not remember the last time he was truly happy himself. Of course, his time in the primitive tribe did not count. Becoming a Shaman, inventing this and that, was purely for development.
“Shaman, Shu Feng and the others have returned. They’re at the door wanting to see you.” The Warrior Trainee at the tent entrance suddenly called out.
Su Bai looked up, put his pencil down, and said, “Let them in.”
“Yes.” The Warrior Trainee lifted the door flap.
Shu Feng led Ai’er into the tent. Both placed their hands on their chests to show respect.
“Shaman, Ai’er has found the kind of soil you wanted. Please see if it’s correct.” Shu Feng said, suppressing his excitement.
Su Bai was clearly more excited and expectant than them. He smiled and said. “Let me see.”
“Yes.” Ai’er spread out the soil she was holding onto the table.
When the leaves were opened, a large chunk of yellow soil was revealed, though it had visibly cracked due to dryness.
Su Bai recognized this soil at a glance. It was the clay used to make ceramics. Although it had dried out, it would soften again with some water.
He picked up the wooden cup from the table edge and slowly poured a little water onto the soil, then kneaded it with his hands.
Soon, the cracked yellow soil began to soften and regain its stickiness.
Ai’er got excited and curiously asked, “Shaman, is this soil useful to you?”
Su Bai nodded. He looked up and smiled. “It’s useful, very useful. You’ve been of great help this time.”
“That’s good then.” Ai’er smiled, revealing two cute tiger-like fangs.
“Go find the Chieftain later for some meat as your reward. Also, you’ll get an extra portion of Wolf Tail Grass Noodles today,” Su Bai smiled. He understood the principle of rewards and punishments. As long as he gave them the appropriate reward, he could motivate them.
“Thank you, Shaman.” Ai’er’s purple eyes smiled into slits, her two tiger-like fangs were particularly noticeable.
“Is this soil far from our Tribe? Is there a lot of it? And how far is it from the Ancestral Land?” Su Bai asked three questions in succession.
Ai’er’s purple eyes looked up as she pondered, then said, “It’s not very far. At our flying speed, we can return in a little over half a day. It’s a bit farther from the Ancestral Land, taking about a day.”
“Hmm, by the way, you didn’t find any people, right?” Su Bai remembered their real mission.
Shu Feng immediately stood straight and reported, “Shaman, we discovered the yellow soil by chance. We weren’t specifically looking for it. It didn’t delay our search for people, although we didn’t find any.”
He was afraid of being seen as repeating the Hunting Team Leader’s previous mistake, when he was instructed to prioritise hunting but went to look for linen-making plants instead.
“Haha… Relax, I was just asking.” Su Bai laughed, not expecting them to be so nervous.
“Shaman, what can this yellow soil do?” Shu Feng relaxed a little and asked.
“This yellow soil will be of great help to the Tribe.” Su Bai’s lips curled up.
“That’s really great then.” The gloom on Shu Feng’s face from not finding their lost Tribesmen dissipated by half.
Su Bai washed his hands in the wooden basin brought over by the fox eared girl, and said, “You can go and rest now. You can continue doing the same thing tomorrow and look for them.”
“Yes.” Shu Feng nodded.
“Oh, and when you go looking tomorrow, before you come back, bring back more of this soil. I need it.” Su Bai added.
“Understood.” Shu Feng said, then left the tent with the butterfly girl.
Yu Ying put down the wooden basin, stood in front of the yellow soil, poked it with her finger, and curiously asked, “Shaman, is this soil really helpful for the Tribe?”
The fox eared girl doubted if she had heard correctly earlier. How could this soil be helpful to the Tribe? It was really hard to believe.
“Of course. What we make from it will be our Tribe’s specialty product. We can trade it for lots and lots of dried meat.” Su Bai smiled.
The fox eared girl swished her pink tail and withdrew her hand, asking. “Shaman, how do we use this soil?”
“There’s no rush. I need to have Gu Mu make some tools first. Otherwise, we can’t do anything with it.” Su Bai said.
“En.” Yu Ying responded in her soft and cute voice.
Su Bai took out his pencil and a sheet of Wolf Tail Grass Paper, and began to conceptualise the things in his mind. He was trying hard to recall the tools for making ceramics.
Back on Earth, because he needed to write novels, he had seen plenty of popular scientific videos and read a ton of professional research books. Still, even after having seen so much, he still needed to slowly recall it all.
[noscript][/noscript]