Chapter 14: Cave Renovation
After a few days, the flat ground in front of Zhuang Yu's cave had been completely replaced with smooth stone slabs.
A group of little radishes, who lived in collective caves, were rolling around on it. "Big Brother Yu, look, this ground is really clean and beautiful, not a speck of mud," shouted the little radishes, who had rolled into a ball on the ground.
This was all made up of stone slabs they had carried and laid themselves. They cherished it more than anyone else. If there was a bit of dust on the stone slabs, they would wet a piece of animal skin with water and wipe it clean.
Their own labor, their own care, these little radishes probably all had this mindset now.
On the stone slabs, a circle of chili peppers was sun-drying. Zhuang Yu had also harvested a batch of chili peppers. In order to store them for a long time, he was currently sun-drying the peppers.
Zhuang Yu's eyes were now fixed on the pear tree by the poolside. In just a few days, this pear tree, which was originally three meters tall, was now close to five meters. The pears on the tree were large and beautiful, growing much faster than his chili peppers.
In Zhuang Yu's understanding, no plant had such strong growth ability. Moreover, this was still his familiar pear tree.
Puzzled and puzzled, it seemed that the plants around him were all exceptionally capable of growth.
Under the mottled shade of the pear tree, a simple beach chair was placed. Zhuang Yu had made it in his spare time these days. Now, a leisurely little mushroom was lying there. The little mushroom was simply too indulgent. It would play in the water later, and when tired, it would come to lie down under the shade. If only the tree could grow a bit bigger, it could completely block the scorching sun.
These past two days, the little mushroom had been acting a bit strange, always shyly running under the pear tree.
Zhuang Yu had secretly followed it over, but there didn't seem to be anything unusual. It seemed that the little mushroom had just chosen this place as its exclusive spot to urinate.
The summer sun, the refreshing swimming pool, the mottled shade, the lush chili field - this place had now become a very nice spot. Even Zhuang Yu had never been so leisurely in his original world. Previously, for the sake of livelihood and work, it seemed like every day was spent in busyness, never stopping to look at the beautiful scenery around.
Coming to this unfamiliar world wasn't entirely a bad thing.
A group of little radishes went back to play in the water. For them, this place was a happiness they had never imagined.
Zhuang Yu was now tidying up his cave. Now that he had some free time, he might as well tidy up his messy cave.
The cave was very large, but it was really messy. All sorts of things like firewood and shells were piled inside.
How to describe it? It was like the firewood shed in the countryside.
A group of little radishes lay by the poolside, "Why did Yu ge take all his things out?"
"I don't know, maybe he wants to let them sunbathe and air out."
Zhuang Yu found that these messy things, except for taking up space, were basically useless. It was time to throw away what needed to be thrown away.
Looking at the empty cave, the cave was actually not bad. It was just that the ground was pitted, and his and Feng Wen's sleeping place was completely in two corners, not well arranged at all.
Zhuang Yu thought for a moment and decided to dig out two more small caves inside the cave, giving it the feeling of two rooms and a hall. This way, the sleeping and activity areas would be separated, which would be much more convenient.
He filled the pitted ground with soil to level it, and then laid wooden planks on top. Just thinking about it made it a very nice living environment. Moreover, there was no shortage of wooden planks here, as the mountains were full of towering trees.
As for the overly spacious area, he made some wooden plank shelves to uniformly place his salt jars and other items, making them neat and tidy.
The image of his renovated cave had already appeared in Zhuang Yu's mind. Clean, simple, and especially comfortable.
Let's do it! Zhuang Yu began to dig new caves inside the cave as bedrooms.
At this time, a group of little radishes who had played in the water for a while also came to help.
After Zhuang Yu explained to them how to dig the caves, he took a stone axe and went to chop wood.
The cave was very sturdy, so there was no need to worry about it collapsing.
In the mountains, there were many trees that several people couldn't embrace. Zhuang Yu chopped one down. With such a large tree trunk, he didn't need to worry about how to piece together wooden planks; a whole piece was a complete wooden plank.
Because the tools weren't particularly sharp, the wooden planks cut out actually had some rough edges.
But it didn't matter. Zhuang Yu began to roast them with fire. One was to dry out the moisture and insect eggs in the wooden planks, making them tightly solid. The other was to burn off these rough edges, and then he would sand the wooden planks. He would polish the surface until it was very smooth. This was a hand-polishing technique, which carpenters and sculptors would probably know.
This could be considered the method of making handmade wooden planks. Although it was very tiring, just thinking about renovating his cave for himself made him full of energy.
Zhuang Yu actually felt like he was renovating a new house, and why wouldn't he be excited? These wooden planks were all free. If it were in his original world, such large and intact wooden planks would be considered priceless.
A few days later, the two new caves in the cave were dug out, and the pitted ground was covered with wooden planks.
The wooden planks were the original color of the trees, and you could still see the rings of the tree. Originally plain and unremarkable, but after being laid out smoothly on the ground, everything changed.
A group of little radishes walked barefoot on the wooden planks, feeling ecstatic, stretching out their hands to touch the planks. "So smooth, so clean, so beautiful, not a hint of odor,"
"I didn't expect caves to look so nice."
The cave had nothing except wooden shelves in the corners, with some salt jars, oil jars, and pickle jars on them.
The newly dug caves had animal skins laid on the wooden planks. The animal skins were a bit old, but washed very clean and warm from the sun.
This simple way of decoration was Zhuang Yu's favorite.
From now on, this would be where he and Feng Wen lived.
The little children were still happily touching the wooden planks. "We'd feel embarrassed to step on them if there was mud on our feet."
"Fortunately, we just played in the water and washed them clean."
This was actually a problem. In this world, there were no shoes. Every time they went out, they were barefoot, always with muddy feet.
Fortunately, Zhuang Yu had already dug a swimming pool outside the cave and laid stone slabs. Before entering the cave each time, they could wash the mud off their feet.
Feng Wen lowered his head, fingers intertwined. This was where he and his brother would live in the future. He liked it a lot, and there was even a nest specially dug for him, clean and beautiful.
"Zhuang Yu, your brother is so good to you. You'll be able to live in such a nice cave in the future."
Feng Wen blushed and lowered his head, revealing sweet dimples on his face.
A group of little radishes couldn't bear to leave the wooden planks, rolling around on them like a bunch of little animals, incredibly cute.
Zhuang Yu was also very satisfied. Looking at the group of little radishes who didn't want to leave, he looked at the remaining wooden planks. "I'll also install wooden planks in your collective cave."
As Zhuang Yu's words fell, there was a moment of silence, then excited cries like prairie dogs, "Yu ge, are you going to make our cave look so nice too?"
"Are we going to live in such a nice and clean cave in the future?" They still couldn't believe it. They were children from a collective cave, always living in the worst place. Suddenly, letting them live in such a beautiful place, they couldn't react.
Zhuang Yu could probably understand why these children were so surprised. It was like moving from a thatched hut to a small villa; not everyone could react immediately.
Zhuang Yu smiled. "Of course, I'll make your collective cave just like mine."
It was just roasting a few more wooden planks, which would take some effort, but compared to giving these children a comfortable nest, it was nothing.
A group of little radishes were ecstatic, ignoring the heat outside, excitedly carrying the remaining wooden planks back to the collective cave.
Actually, the collective cave wasn't far from Zhuang Yu's cave. Their caves were all in the most remote area, like neighbors?
It was Zhuang Yu's first time coming to the collective cave, and the little radishes looked a bit shy. Yu ge liked cleanliness so much, would he dislike their dirty cave?
Zhuang Yu was prepared in his heart. A group of parentless children crowded in a cave, the situation could be imagined.
As soon as they approached the cave, Zhuang Yu smelled a faint strange smell. This was the result of these little radishes cleaning up these days, because they thought Zhuang Yu loved cleanliness, they also had to clean up.
The little radishes lowered their heads, feeling guilty. "We...we really love cleanliness, really."
Zhuang Yu smiled, not minding. But the strange smell still needed to be dealt with.
He let a group of little radishes move everything out of the cave, then lit a fire to start fumigating, using smoke to sterilize and remove odors.
The things moved out by the little radishes were even messier than what was in Zhuang Yu's cave. Whatever unknown half-rotten animal bones, broken shells, and slightly useful things they picked up in the cave, it was their life before in the collective cave. They mostly used things that the Golden Centipede Tribe didn't want.
Zhuang Yu frowned. These things were too dirty. Who knows how many bacteria were on them? Even if the cave was renovated to be brand new, if these things were moved back in, it would probably end up the same as before. Zhuang Yu thought for a moment. In the future, he would make some wooden plank shelves and other living utensils for these children, and they didn't need these messy things.
A group of little radishes were stunned. It seemed like they really weren't useful. They now spent every day mooching off Yu ge. These things were not only unsightly, but also completely useless now.
"We'll listen to Yu ge."
"Yes, we want to live a clean life like Yu ge."
Even children had aspirations for beauty.
After fumigating the cave for a while, Zhuang Yu thought for a moment and decided to dig out another bedroom.
So a group of children began to work again.
Decorating the cave couldn't be completed in a day, but these little radishes were really diligent. In just two days, the entire cave changed completely.
There was an extra cave in the cave, called the "bedroom" by Zhuang Yu, and the pitted ground was replaced with beautiful natural-colored wooden planks, with the rings of the tree looking particularly natural.
The group of little radishes still couldn't believe their eyes.
Looking at the spacious, simple, clean, and beautiful cave.
Smelling every corner with their noses, there was still a faint smoky smell, but there was no more stinky smell from before. Even the smoky smell felt very comfortable to them, and Yu ge said that the smoky smell would dissipate soon.
Touching the smooth wooden planks with their hands, their expressions were dazed. "Is this our messy and smelly home from before?"
Zhuang Yu reached out and rubbed the heads of a few little radishes. "This is where you'll live in the future. Keep it clean, don't mess it up."
A group of little radishes nodded vigorously like woodpeckers. "We'll wash our feet clean like Yu ge before coming in."
"Yes, not a speck of dust can be left. We must wipe it clean all the time, just like Feng Wen has been doing recently, cleaning the wooden planks at home every day."
Feng Wen recently found his hobby, which is cleaning the wooden planks, leaving no speck of dust.
Zhuang Yu smiled and gave some instructions. The wooden planks couldn't be wiped with wet animal skins; the wet skins had to be wrung out completely dry before using.
A group of little radishes nodded vigorously. In such a beautiful place, they would definitely cherish it. This was their most precious possession.
Zhuang Yu chuckled, "Why don't you go try out your new room?"
"Ah!" The group of little radishes suddenly realized that they had dug a new room, also with clean and flat wooden planks covered with washed animal skins.
The new bedroom was dug in a long shape because there were many of them.
The group of little radishes ran over and lay down in a row. "Yu ge, it's so comfortable to sleep here, we can roll around everywhere."
Zhuang Yu looked at the excited children lying in a row, truly a bunch of cute little animals.
Zhuang Yu looked around and realized he needed to make some wooden plank shelves for them to place their stone bowls and stone cups for drinking.
Now these little guys had learned from Zhuang Yu and made some tools themselves, no longer using shells.
After playing in the refreshed collective cave for a while, the group of people came out laughing and joking, lively as ever.
But they encountered a problem. As soon as they stepped out of the cave and into the mud, their feet were covered in mud again.
In Zhuang Yu's place, they could wash their feet in the pool and walk into the cave on the paved stone slabs without any problems.
But here in the collective cave, even if they washed their feet in the pool, by the time they walked back to the collective cave, their feet were covered in mud again.
A group of little radishes looked at Zhuang Yu eagerly. They didn't want to make their new home dirty; they wanted to keep their cave clean.
That was indeed a problem. Zhuang Yu thought for a moment, then said, "Let's build a stone slab road connecting my place to yours. As long as the stone slab road stays clean, when you wash your feet there and walk back to the collective cave, you won't bring mud inside."
The eyes of the group of children lit up. The stone slabs paved by Yu ge were so clean; they would rinse off any dust with water. Even rolling on them wouldn't get them dirty. If they built a stone slab road, they could also wash their feet clean and walk back to the collective cave without bringing in any mud.
With a solution in hand, the group of children were even more proactive than Zhuang Yu. They began to move the stone slabs skillfully, while Zhuang Yu was responsible for laying the road.
So, outside Zhuang Yu's cave, there was now a stone slab road connecting to the collective cave.
A group of little radishes washed their feet clean and ran on the stone slab road, shouting, "Our feet are clean, not a speck of dirt! We won't bring dirt onto the wooden planks anymore."
They were so happy, even using animal skins to wipe the stone slabs bit by bit, even though they were already very clean.
Zhuang Yu was also very happy. Their living environment had undergone significant changes, getting better and better, all done by themselves, bit by bit.
With the improvement of their living environment, their mood became much happier. Outside Zhuang Yu's cave, there were now silver bell-like laughter every day.
Zhuang Yu felt the joy brought by the improved environment and looked at the stone platform in front of his cave, then glanced at the smooth stone slab road. He called a group of children over, "From now on, whenever you see wildflowers, bring them back. We'll plant them by the roadside, so the road will become even more beautiful."
He was planning to decorate the platform in front of his cave and the stone slab road with fresh flowers.
The group of little radishes' eyes lit up. They hadn't thought about it before, but their stone slab road would indeed look much prettier.
So, when Zhuang Yu went up the mountain to harvest bamboo shoots, they ran all over the mountain like wild monkeys, digging up beautiful wildflowers and planting them by the roadside.
Zhuang Yu thought that with these clumsy kids, maybe only twenty or thirty percent of the flowers they planted would survive, and only those with particularly vigorous vitality could make it.
But...
Zhuang Yu looked at the exceptionally lush and brilliant wildflowers growing around the stone slab road and platform outside his cave, rubbed his nose, and even just sprinkling water from the pool, without waiting for the next day, these wildflowers grew so well.
If it weren't for the fact that the water in the pool was brought back by these kids from the nearby river, he would have thought it was some kind of holy water.
With the decoration of wildflowers, their remote place was adorned with colors, beautiful and dazzling, making it eye-catching, especially for a group of little radishes.
With the wildflowers, the bees in Feng Wen's beehive danced buzzing around the flowers, full of vitality, creating a beautiful rural landscape.
Every day, the little radishes smiled so much that their mouths couldn't close properly. Their living environment was so beautiful. The first thing they did every morning was to bend down and look at the wildflowers by the roadside, chasing the hardworking bees or being chased by them.
For those who have suffered, happiness is simple, just like now. The group of children even wished that time could stay like this forever.
The little radishes' daily routine was also very regular. They went to fetch water early in the morning and filled the swimming pool. When the sun came out, they went up the mountain with Zhuang Yu to harvest bamboo shoots. By the time they returned from the mountain, the weather was already hot, so they played in the water with the mushroom guys.
In the evening, they used water from the pool to water the ground, the flowers, and the pear tree. The chili field had been harvested several times, and all the chili peppers had been dried by Zhuang Yu.
It had to be said that the pear tree had changed day by day. Now it had grown taller and taller, truly becoming the shade tree Zhuang Yu had envisioned, laden with fruits, which looked very pleasing to the eye.
Everything was moving in a positive direction.
In the evening, a group of little radishes bid farewell to Zhuang Yu, all cleaned up.
Not far from Zhuang Yu's cave, Little Leather Cap Pi Mao was dumbfounded, unable to close his mouth. He had been forced to train these past few days and hadn't had time to come here, but in just a few days, what did he see?
This place had completely changed.
Zhuang Yu's stone platform surrounded by flowers was too beautiful, with a clear pool and a tall tree full of fruits. Next to it was a beautiful stone slab road surrounded by flowers leading to the collective cave.
Pi Mao rubbed his eyes in disbelief. This place had always been disregarded by the Golden Centipede Tribe, too remote and too crude for anyone to pay attention to. But now, calling it crude? He was the first not to believe it. This place was even more beautiful than other places in the Golden Centipede Tribe.
Pi Mao thought for a moment and ran towards the collective cave, because he didn't want to intrude into Zhuang Yu's cave, but he dared to enter the collective cave. Well, he sneaked in.
Covering his nose, Pi Mao sneaked into the collective cave. He had expected to smell a strange stench, but there was none.
Immediately, Pi Mao noticed the difference. The cave was very spacious and tidy, with only a few wooden racks holding some stone bowls and such, neatly arranged.
Then, looking down at the ground, Pi Mao squatted down in amazement, feeling the smooth and beautiful wooden planks under his feet. Lit by the moonlight, he couldn't close his mouth. Could the cave be turned into this? Was this still the messy and smelly collective cave?
Incredible, what had happened during the days he hadn't come here?
Pi Mao was simply infatuated with the smooth and beautiful wooden planks under his feet, swallowing his saliva.
Then he straightened his face and sneakily made his way to the "bedroom" where the kids were lying in a row.
"Ouch, who's stepping on my belly?"
"Ouch, you stepped on my little brother."
"..."
The next day, early in the morning while everyone was still asleep, in the collective cave, a little troublemaker named Pi Mao swaggered out. Hmph, so what if Zhuang Yu didn't let him drink bone broth or play in his pool? He had slept in this newly decorated cave anyway.
Outside Zhuang Yu's cave.
"Yu gege, there must have been a wild child in our cave. They stepped on my belly last night."
"And they stepped on my little brother."
"There are footprints on the floor, definitely not ours. We wouldn't leave them behind. It must be a wild child who came in."
Zhuang Yu listened to the vivid explanations from the group of little radishes, feeling like he was in a suspense drama. But who could have left footprints? Besides a few stone bowls, there wasn't even any food in the collective cave. Who would sneak in?
After thinking for a while, Zhuang Yu dismissed the issue from his mind. As long as no one was hurt, it was fine. He would just be more careful in the future.
Zhuang Yu had other worries now. Their food was running out.
He had exchanged half of the meat brought by the former Young lord for salt rocks, which had been dried into salt. There wasn't much left to begin with.
Although they cooked bamboo shoot soup with meat every day, mixed together, they couldn't keep up with their large group.
These little radishes might be small, but they had quite an appetite.
These past two days were spent decorating the cave and building the stone slab road, so he hadn't paid attention to this issue. But now that he had some free time, he realized that if they didn't find new food soon, they would have to eat only vegetarian bamboo shoots. Moreover, there probably weren't many bamboo shoots left in that bamboo forest.
But where could they find food?
Being in charge was really not easy, especially when it came to feeding such a large group of children, even though these kids were easy to take care of.
Zhuang Yu looked at a kid named Zhi among the little radishes. This kid was particularly strange, as he always had spider silk wrapped around him.
It was indeed spider silk, sticky, but after soaking in water recently, it became non-sticky, like cotton threads, albeit a bit thicker, like fingers.
Zhuang Yu waved to Zhi, and the little radish immediately ran over. "Yu gege."
Zhuang Yu looked at the spider silk hanging on Zhi's body. It wasn't sticky at all and was quite strong. He asked, "Where does this spider silk come from? Why do you always have it on you?"
Instead of answering directly, Zhi raised his head and screamed towards the sky.
Zhuang Yu was puzzled. What was going on?
Then, Zhuang Yu saw a spider the size of a grinding disc running over and leaning against Zhi's foot. "Yu gege, it's the silk it spits out. It's my giant beast."
Zhuang Yu: "..."
Not all the children in the collective cave lacked giant beasts. For example, there was Feng Wen's bee queen and Zhi's red spider. But compared to those combat-capable giant beasts, theirs were like night and day.
Zhuang Yu looked at the grinding disc-sized spider, his mouth twitching. This was too...
Even the smallest and cutest animals, when enlarged tenfold, would appear terrifying. Moreover, this spider was not only ten times larger than ordinary spiders.
Luckily, Zhuang Yu knew that tamed giant beasts wouldn't attack people indiscriminately.
Zhi asked, "Yu gege, do you want these spider webs? I have a lot more. If I run out, I can let it continue to spit out silk. Its silk spitting ability is especially powerful."
Zhuang Yu picked up the spider silk on Zhi's body again. It was so tough that perhaps he really had a way to acquire food with it.
He remembered that last time he went to the river to fetch water, there were quite a few fish in the river. But because of the ferocious wild beasts in the water, they couldn't catch any. Those wild beasts only felt the aura of the ancestral beast when they came ashore, which meant that those wild beasts couldn't stay on land for too long.
Zhuang Yu thought for a moment. If he made a giant crossbow and tied the tough spider silk, as thick as a little finger, to the arrows, he could shoot fish with arrows. Even if the beasts chased after them, they wouldn't be able to chase too far. Once they came ashore, they would feel the aura of the ancestral beast and be scared back into the water.
As long as he was fast enough, he could drag the fish away from those wild beasts.
At the very least, he could tie the other end of the spider silk to a big tree, so he didn't have to worry about being dragged into the water by the wild beasts.
Moreover, among the meat brought by the former Young lord, there happened to be a long tendon from a dinosaur, which could be used as the string for the crossbow.
As for why he needed to make a giant crossbow, it was because he had discovered last time that although the meat of the fish in the river was very tender, their scales were very hard. Even his bone knife couldn't cut through them. The crossbow needed to provide enough force to penetrate the fish scales.
Zhuang Yu's eyes sparkled. If this method worked, maybe they would have fish to eat in the future, and they would have a source of meat.