RPS – Chapter 46 The End of Rumors?

The next day, Li and the others went hunting, but Nuo stayed behind, saying he would accompany Li Feng to teach the others how to plant wheat. The two of them, along with Mo and the baby, went to the chief’s house. The chief had already gone out hunting, leaving only Ka behind—he was in charge of communicating with the women in the tribe and directing them, since they were worried the others might not listen to what Li Feng had to say.

Aside from the men who had gone hunting, everyone else from Ka’s tribe had gathered, bringing with them animal-hide pouches of various sizes—no doubt filled with wheat. When Ka saw Li Feng arrive, he immediately gathered everyone together. He had already discussed things with the chief the night before: the wheat seeds would be kept as communal property of the tribe and planted together in the open space near the settlement. Ka had also reminded everyone not to speak carelessly in front of Li Feng—after all, they were newcomers here and it was better not to talk too much about tribal matters.

Although the rumors had started because of the wheat from their tribe, the tribespeople didn’t really feel that Li Feng had done anything wrong. It was only because the chief had pressured them with questions that a storm had been stirred up. Ka didn’t understand what the chief was thinking, but since this could benefit the tribe, he had no reason not to persuade them to contribute their stored grain for planting.

People from Ka’s tribe and the original tribe had all gathered in the square. Seeing the large crowd, Li Feng suddenly felt nervous. He had never spoken in front of so many people before, even if it was just to explain how to plant wheat. And because of the rumors from the previous days, he was especially afraid of hearing all kinds of gossip. Luckily, standing up front with Nuo and the others, he could hear the murmuring but not make out the words, which helped him relax a little.

Those rumors had come out of nowhere—clearly the chief had used him as a stepping stone for pushing reform. But now he didn’t seem in a hurry to actually implement it. Was it so the people could adjust first? Or was he planting the idea so that reform would be smoother later? Li Feng didn’t know—only the chief probably knew the true purpose behind the rumors. Were their guesses part of what the chief had intended?

Still, since he now had a chance to clarify things, of course he would take it. Whether people believed him or not was out of his hands. Most people were already there—even Ju and Hao had come. They looked like they wanted to approach but were still afraid he might be mad at them. The look on their faces made Li Feng laugh, and he waved them over to play with Mo on the side.

Li Feng stepped up to the spot where the chief usually stood. The previously noisy crowd immediately quieted down and looked at him, waiting for him to speak. Li Feng cleared his throat, clenched his fists—his palms were sweaty, and his heartbeat was racing. Damn, he’d never spoken in front of so many people before; it felt like giving a presentation to company leadership—totally nerve-wracking.

“I’m sure you’ve all heard by now—this wheat can be planted. I know there were a lot of rumors the past few days, and some misunderstandings about me. The reason I didn’t propose planting it before was because I don’t actually know how. I just suddenly thought—if we could grow it ourselves, we wouldn’t have to work so hard every day going out to hunt or gather wild fruit.”

He paused and saw how seriously they were listening. Suddenly, he felt amused and his nervousness disappeared. These half-naked people looked just like school kids listening to the principal’s speech. When he was in school, the principal would often give speeches at assembly too. Now, although he wasn’t the principal and this wasn’t a school, the feeling was oddly familiar.

“Everyone knows how dangerous hunting can be. Even though we’ve learned to use traps—” he mentioned his previous contribution first, hoping to remind them of his value—“danger still exists. We need to find better ways to secure food. This wheat is a good food source, since it can be stored for a whole year without spoiling, right?”

He turned to Ka, asking him to confirm this, since it had been discovered by their tribe.

Ka nodded and stepped forward. “That’s true. But since we’ve only ever gathered it from the wild, we didn’t know how to grow it. If what Li Feng says really works and succeeds, I think it could be something that changes our whole tribe for the better.”

Li Feng rolled his eyes inwardly—he just asked Ka to confirm, not to give a speech. He was worried Ka might say too much and lead to more misunderstanding. Luckily, Ka’s words ended on a positive note. As soon as Ka finished, Li Feng quickly continued:

“But one thing I must clarify: wheat can be planted, yes—but I can’t guarantee how good the harvest will be. If things go well, we might get far more than we have now. But if the harvest fails, just preserving the seeds would already be considered a success. I need to be clear about this upfront. I didn’t bring it up before because I wasn’t confident it would work. I just wanted to try a small experiment at first, but for certain reasons, I didn’t succeed. And if we wait any longer to plant, it might hurt the harvest even more. So I decided to tell the chief and let him and all of you decide: do you want to plant it—or not?”

Li Feng had said a lot in one breath, and sure enough, the tribespeople below began discussing again. The ones most worried were the members of Ka’s tribe. After all, they were the ones providing the grain. Li Feng’s tribe didn’t stand to lose anything, so they didn’t really care and mostly supported the idea. Whether the planting succeeded or failed, they wouldn’t suffer any loss. And if it succeeded, they would still get a share, since everything was still distributed equally. That was great!

If things went the way Li Feng previously suggested, and the concept of “exchange” came into play, it would mean the beginning of private ownership. Then, any harvested wheat or other crops wouldn’t belong to everyone anymore—they’d have to plant it themselves to get a share. No one wanted that.

“Ka, did you all discuss it last night?” Li Feng turned and asked Ka. His own tribe didn’t mind, but Ka’s tribe was the key. He had already explained the pros and cons clearly, and with so many people watching, even if the harvest didn’t go well, they couldn’t blame him—he’d given the warning in advance.

Ka looked at the worried faces of his tribespeople, then turned to Li Feng and said, “It’s alright, let’s plant it. Didn’t the chief say we’re all one tribe, one family? No one will go hungry in the future.” Li Feng understood the implication—Ka was saying that even if they suffered losses, it didn’t matter. The chief had said that since they were one family, Ka’s people would naturally get a share of the meat others hunted. As long as they followed the principle of equal distribution, the risk of planting the wheat would be borne by the whole tribe, so there was nothing to worry about.

Since everything was now clarified and confirmed, Li Feng directly explained the steps of planting wheat. It was relatively simple—first, the wheat had to be cleaned and prepared. With so many people helping, it would be done quickly. Another group, led by Ka, went to clear the land.

Li Feng taught them how to handle the rest, including preparing manure. This was the hardest part, since many people were unwilling to do it—it was just too disgusting. Li Feng definitely wasn’t going to do it again himself; the last time had nearly made him throw up. But eventually, someone did take on the task.

With many people working, progress was fast. Since it had rained just a few days ago, the ground was moist and didn’t need extra watering, and they didn’t need to wait a day either. Though the land was large, with few people, everyone wanted to learn how to plant first. If they eventually received their own share of grain, they’d need to know how to grow it themselves. People were already starting to develop a sense of private ownership toward food. It seemed that even the wave of rumors had some benefits—at least the chief had half-succeeded in planting the seed of this idea. Li Feng certainly supported the shift to private ownership; it was much better than equal distribution. They could have more “property”—that is, food—and wouldn’t need to worry about where their next meal would come from, as long as they worked hard.

The feared situation—people openly criticizing Li Feng to his face—didn’t happen. After all, these primitive people were still relatively “honest” and didn’t know how to make veiled insults. If they had something to say, they’d say it directly. Now, because of Li Feng’s “unintentional” reminders of the changes he had made that had improved their lives, even fewer people dared to say anything to his face. The only ones with some dissatisfaction were those opposed to the idea of “exchange,” and even they only whispered in small groups on the side.

Since he couldn’t hear it, Li Feng wasn’t going to stress about it. By afternoon, the wheat was almost all planted. The field chosen was a large open space near the tribe, surrounded by thorny bushes, so they didn’t have to worry about wild animals ruining the crops.

After planting, it was already afternoon, and no one had eaten lunch. So once all the tribespeople finished their work, Li Feng told everyone to go home and rest. He was ready to head back too. The baby had long been hungry—though he had been breastfed once earlier, it had long been digested. Now he was pouting and about to cry. If Li Feng hadn’t been coaxing him, he would’ve cried already.

“Uncle Li Feng, can we come over to your house and play?” Ju and Hao saw that Li Feng was heading home, so they pulled at the edge of his clothes and asked in low voices. Their four puppy-like eyes looked up at him, afraid he was still mad at them. Ever since they apologized last time, they had been afraid he was still angry. Ka had also stopped them from visiting, or else they would’ve gone already. Uncle Li Feng’s food was so delicious—they wanted more! And the baby was fun to play with too!

“Of course you can. Come along now, I’ll cook for you later,” Li Feng said with a smile. These two kids were pretty cute. He’d already told them he wasn’t angry—why were they still so hesitant to come over?

“Ju, Hao, you—” Ka had just finished working and was about to call Ju and Hao to go home when he heard Li Feng invite them over and even offer to cook. He wanted to stop them. How could they bother them again? After all, Ju and Hao had played a role in the recent turmoil.

“Do you want to come too?” Li Feng, seeing Ka’s anxious expression, simply extended the invitation to him as well—consider it a meal of thanks.

“Uh, well… no need. Ju and Hao shouldn’t bother you again,” Ka declined, though he actually really wanted to eat Li Feng’s cooking. It smelled so good. The chief’s food was tasty too, but somehow it just didn’t compare to Li Feng’s.

“Hehe, they’re still just kids. Letting them play with Mo is a good thing—Mo likes them too,” Li Feng said, practically lying with his eyes wide open. Mo actually didn’t like them; he only played with them because Li Feng told him to. Otherwise, he wouldn’t pay them any attention.

Ka saw the hopeful look in his two younger brothers’ eyes and hesitated. They had finally found some decent playmates, and it wouldn’t be good to distance them too much. It’s not like they could avoid seeing each other forever. Since they’d have to interact eventually, they might as well go to Li Feng’s home now. After this winter, when they built their own house, they could invite them over in return.

“Alright then, sorry for the trouble.”

“You’re being too polite. Didn’t we agree we’re all part of one tribe? No need to act like strangers,” Nuo said with a smile from the side. This Ka didn’t seem nearly as brash as he had been during the tribal meeting. Besides, they really had no real animosity between them. They’d barely met and had been estranged by rumors. Becoming friends now wouldn’t be a bad thing.

Nuo was a cheerful person by nature, and with just a few words, the atmosphere lightened. Ju and his brother happily skipped along behind them. Even though Mo was younger than them, to Li Feng, it looked like the two boys were acting like little followers, tailing behind Mo wherever he went.

When they got home, Li Feng went to cook—he was starving. Only the baby and Mo had eaten a little at noon; the rest of them hadn’t had a bite. After a full day of work, he was beyond hungry. Since Ka and his brothers were guests, Li Feng planned to make a slightly more elaborate meal.

Judging by the time, Li and the others should be back soon too—perfect for everyone to eat together. Li Feng considered what dishes to make. Although they had plenty of food at home, he didn’t want to show off too much. He decided to stick to ingredients available to the rest of the tribe.

While Li Feng was busy in the kitchen, Ka and the others occasionally helped out, secretly hoping to learn some cooking skills. After all, it was just the three brothers at home, and there were no women to cook for them. If they could learn a few dishes, it would be much better than gnawing on dry rations all the time.

Mo and the others were outside playing with the baby. Mo was still a kid and couldn’t hold the baby the entire time. He wasn’t strong enough. So, when he took care of the baby, he would occasionally set him down nearby to rest while keeping an eye on him.

That’s how it was today. But with Ju and his brother around, Mo, though he claimed not to like them, was happy to have playmates. At first, the three of them kept an eye on the baby, but when they saw he seemed to have fallen asleep, they went off to play nearby. They didn’t go far so Mo could still keep watch.

As the saying goes, “three months to turn, six to sit, seven to crawl”—the baby was now four months old and could already roll over by himself. When he woke up and saw no one around, he didn’t cry. Instead, his eyes darted around, looking for something fun, especially anything brightly colored—his favorite.

And wouldn’t you know it, he must’ve spotted something. The baby was working hard like a flipped turtle trying to roll over and crawl toward it. Luckily, it was still autumn, and the weather was warm during the day. Li Feng hadn’t wrapped him in a thick animal skin like a blanket—that would be too hot and stuffy and might cause a heat rash.

Instead, Li Feng had sewn a small vest out of tanned deer hide for the baby. His sewing skills were average at best—the vest looked decent overall but was a bit loose at the seams. Still, it was cool and comfortable. The baby wore a colorful little deerskin vest on top and open-crotch deerskin pants on the bottom. He looked like a mini Bambi.

When Li Feng and the others came out, this was the scene they saw: the baby struggling to roll over, finally getting from his back to his belly, drooling with excitement. Then he’d rest in a prone position before trying to crawl. His tiny body wiggled as he moved, but his soft little arms and legs weren’t strong enough to support him yet. So, unable to crawl properly, he just rolled and wiggled slowly in one direction. He seemed to see something interesting and kept going, babbling “ah ah” while waving his little hands toward it. Li Feng and the others couldn’t see what it was—he was blocking it.

The once-clean deerskin vest was now dusty yellow, and his fair little hands and feet were covered in dirt. At first, Li Feng and the others thought it was cute, but soon something felt off. The baby seemed to have grabbed something, and his little hands were waving it around. Li Feng saw a flash of bright color and quickly ran over to pick the baby up. He was happy the baby could roll over, but he couldn’t let him play on the ground like that—and who knew what he was holding? It could be dangerous!

Mo and the others had been watching nearby and followed when they saw Li Feng approach. They found the baby’s clumsy rolling attempts adorable, especially his determined little attitude when he failed and tried again. It was heartwarming. And when the baby finally succeeded in flipping over and didn’t even cry when he fell, it was Li Feng and the others who felt more pained than he did. Plus, they still didn’t know what that colorful object was. Better to bring him inside and let him practice rolling on the bed. When Li got back, they had to show him how the baby could roll over!

Li Feng bent down, ready to pick up the baby. But as he got closer, he finally saw what the brightly colored object in the baby’s hand was…