RPS – Chapter 56 I’m Not Wearing Any Clothes Today

This pair of woolen shoes could be considered a rather successful attempt. As soon as the shoes were finished, Nuo hurriedly tried them on. They really were much sturdier than straw sandals. Though noticeably heavier, after just a short while of wearing them, he could already feel the heat…

Of course, it could also be because the current weather wasn’t quite suitable for such shoes. Still, it proved that they were indeed very warm. Making a single pair took an entire afternoon. Nuo had been watching the whole time, so he’d gotten a general grasp of how they were made. He felt that being able to produce such a ‘high-end’ pair of shoes was probably Li Feng’s greatest ‘invention’ so far. The only downside was that the wooden pieces used for the soles might be a bit hard to come by.

But that wasn’t something he needed to worry about right now. After all, their tribesmen would figure something out. With so many people, surely someone would come up with a good solution, right? Although the wood was hard to procure, there was no guarantee others couldn’t figure out a way—some people just have the knack for doing what others can’t, like Li Feng… though even he didn’t quite know where to get the right kind of wood.

“Hey, hurry up and take them off! Aren’t you hot wearing them right now?” Li Feng urged, seeing Nuo still enjoying wearing the shoes.

“Hehe, yeah, they’re hot, but let me enjoy it for a bit longer. I’ll take them off soon…” Nuo was clearly reluctant to part with them. They were a perfect fit.

“Alright, they’re almost back. Let’s hurry and cook. Once they’re back, I’ll teach you how to make another pair. There’s plenty of time—soon you’ll be able to wear them as long as you want.” Li Feng patted Nuo on the shoulder and urged him again. This guy, wearing thick shoes in this heat and still not wanting to take them off—his feet were probably already sweating.

“Got it.” Nuo sat down reluctantly, preparing to take off the shoes. But just as his hands touched them, he turned to Li Feng and said, “Li Feng, give this pair to me, okay? You haven’t given me anything yet. Let this be your first gift to me?”

“No can do. This is the first pair I made, so it has to be kept as a memento—only wearing them myself would make it meaningful. I can always give you a pair later, and they’ll only get better from now on.” Li Feng quickly grabbed the shoes. This guy looked like he was never going to let go—if they stayed in his hands a second longer, there’d be no getting them back.

“Oh… But you said it! Once you make another pair, you have to give them to me, okay? And you have to wear this pair yourself, don’t give them to Li!” Nuo held onto one shoe with the other hand while bargaining. His own craftsmanship wouldn’t match Li Feng’s, so it’d be better if Li Feng made them. That way, the pair Nuo made could go to Bu instead—perfect!

Li Feng was already getting a headache listening to him. Making a pair for him was fine, but saying this pair couldn’t be given to Li? He hadn’t planned to anyway—this first pair wasn’t even that good. He’d give Li a proper one later. Besides, he hadn’t even settled this morning’s incident with him yet—why would he be making him shoes so soon? “Alright, alright, stop nagging. Go cook already.” Nuo was really getting more and more long-winded—maybe life had gotten a little better lately, and now he acted like he didn’t have a care in the world, all cheerful and carefree.

“Alright already! You’re worse than the women in the tribe—so naggy. Careful, or Li might not want you anymore…” Nuo finally let go of the shoes, darting away while teasing him.

Li Feng didn’t even bother getting angry anymore. Arguing with Nuo would just drive him mad—totally not worth it. He packed everything into a basket and carried it inside, placing the shoes on the bedside ‘cabinet’ in their room.

Speaking of this ‘cabinet’, it was Li Feng’s own invention—truly original. He built it using the same method as for tying fence doors: binding wooden sticks into a rectangular frame. The sides were woven with vines and hibiscus branches, leaving just one door. Inside, the shelves were made by binding horizontal wooden rods. There were four layers in total, each woven together with the same basket-weaving technique using wood and vines.

It was basically an oversized version of the traditional book satchel that ancient scholars carried—only much rougher, but also much sturdier.

The cabinet was quite large and placed at the head of the bed, perfectly filling the empty space there. One end of the bed leaned against the wall, and the other against the ‘cabinet’, giving it a very secure feeling!

Although the weaving took up some space, the cabinet still had decent capacity. Cleaned animal hides were stored on the top shelf to avoid dampness. Li Feng had also woven many small baskets to organize items inside the cabinet. The door was made of sewn animal skin, functioning like a curtain—very convenient.

They’d made quite a few of these at home. Many small items were kept in little baskets or trays, then placed inside the cabinet. This way, they didn’t have to worry about losing things—or Mo and the kids being too mischievous and misplacing stuff.

In reality, Li Feng’s household didn’t own much. The cabinet still looked quite empty, and its contents were pitifully few. Their grains weren’t even stored in this room. As for clothing, they only had a few pieces of animal hide, with more still needing to be made. They’d have to hurry up on that in the coming days.

After putting the items into the cupboard, Li Feng quickly went out to prepare a meal. There was a similar cabinet in the kitchen, which could be considered one of the earliest forms of a “cupboard.” This cupboard was entirely natural in construction, carrying a unique primitive charm.

Perhaps it was because people usually didn’t have enough to eat—let alone any leftovers—there were hardly any rats around. These creatures actually ate better in the wild than in people’s homes. There were many things humans didn’t know that rats did—like sweet potatoes, corn, soybeans… Back when these crops hadn’t yet been discovered by humans, the rats had probably already hoarded plenty of food. In any case, these animals were often fatter than humans.

But things were different now. Every household, including Li Feng’s, had surplus grain stored, especially preserved foods like cured and smoked meat meant to last through the winter. There was a constant fear that rats would steal the food. And rats carried no shortage of diseases. Even though these primitive people were robust, just the thought of contamination gave Li Feng the chills—and a strong sense of disgust. So he hid the food as securely as possible, terrified it would be defiled by rats.

From ancient times, humans had been plagued by four pests that were impossible to eradicate completely: mosquitoes, flies, rats, and cockroaches. Just the sight of them was enough to make someone sick.

Who knew where rats got their incredible sense of smell? The moment there was food, they’d show up, impossible to guard against. Baskets and such were no match for their gnawing instincts. So, Li Feng simply made a bunch of large clay jars. He stored everything that could be stored—cornmeal, soybeans—inside them, then sealed the tops tightly with lids or stone slabs. Let’s see them try to steal anything now. With such airtight defenses, Li Feng finally won the battle. The rats couldn’t chew through it, couldn’t bite into it, and couldn’t find a way in!

Li Feng took some cornmeal, soybeans, and sweet potato mixed flour, preparing to make a thick mixed-grain porridge. There was no rice here, which was truly a tragedy. They drank porridge without rice—it was essentially a soup made from coarse grain flour. He also planned to make some grain cakes. The grain flour was very coarse since there were no proper tools to process it. Eating it for long periods made the throat feel dry and uncomfortable, but there was nothing else to eat. Li Feng had no choice but to get creative with the simplest and roughest ingredients to make them into tasty dishes—anything to prevent food fatigue. Most importantly, he didn’t want to get tired of eating it himself.

Nowadays, he mentally combed through all the recipes he’d seen, heard, or written before, trying to recreate delicious dishes from the most basic ingredients. They had a good number of eggs now, so he could mix egg whites into the dough, and stir-fry the yolks separately. Two uses from one egg—efficient and delicious.

While kneading the dough, Li Feng also ordered Nuo, who was idling nearby, to use the stone mortar to grind flour. They couldn’t just eat without doing any work! Grinding wasn’t easy. These people always ate happily but didn’t realize how exhausting it was at home. There was no way he’d let them just eat without lifting a finger. Anyone who could work had to be put to use—otherwise, it was a waste!

Nuo had no choice but to get to it. After all, he couldn’t eat for free. But grinding flour with a stone mortar was truly no easy task. Too much force, and beans or corn kernels would fly everywhere; too little force, and they wouldn’t even crack. And one round of grinding wasn’t enough—they had to grind two or three times to make the flour fine enough.

After grinding just a little, Nuo was already complaining that it wasn’t any easier than hunting. He had always assumed it was a simple task. Watching Li Feng do it made it look easy—but why was it so hard in practice? His arms started aching after a while, and the amount he had ground still wasn’t enough to feed the whole family.

With a bitter expression, Nuo complained to Li Feng, “Ah, can I stop grinding now? Just let me do something else!” It really wasn’t an easy job at all.

Li Feng saw his pitiful expression and almost laughed. That deliberately pitiful look didn’t suit him at all. “No way. This is already the easiest job. Just keep going. You’re not allowed to stop until the others come back for the meal. Otherwise, next time we won’t have any flour to eat—since no one’s willing to grind it. Now you understand how tiring my job is, don’t you?” If I don’t let you try it yourself, you’d all think life at home is easy.

Still, it was true that they needed to make a proper millstone. Regardless of size, they needed at least one—it would be much faster than using a stone mortar. But everyone was busy now, and it would likely have to wait until winter to get done. After all, it wasn’t an urgent need right now. Most families in the tribe still didn’t have grains to store. Maybe next year, once the wheat started growing, it would become more useful. Winter would be a good time to work on it—when everyone had more free time. They could say it was a project they came up with during downtime. After all, winter was long, and they needed something to keep them occupied.

Kneading the grain flour was relatively quick. First, he made a soup from wild vegetables and soybeans, adding some salt—it turned out quite tasty. Then he started making flatbreads. These were filling, perfect for packing up for Li and the others tomorrow. He also stir-fried some salted meat and made a scrambled egg dish—that should be enough. At this point, variety wasn’t a priority; quantity was. The main goal was still just to have enough to eat.

It was just that Li Feng was used to making food that both filled the stomach and satisfied the taste buds. Most of the others in the tribe didn’t want to go to that much trouble for food.

When Li and the others came back, Li Feng was just about done cooking. And poor Nuo was still pitifully sitting to the side, “grinding flour.” He’d already ground a fair bit. When he saw Li and Bu come in, he was so excited and happy he startled them both.

“You’re finally back…”

They saw each other every day—so why was he suddenly so happy? Did something good happen again? Bu was practically bouncing with excitement and directly pounced toward Bo. This was simply too wonderful—they were finally back! He finally didn’t have to grind flour here anymore. It was just too torturous! He’d much rather go hunting with them. Imagine—a grown man like him, sitting there like a woman for ages just grinding flour. It was such a simple yet tedious task, endlessly repetitive. He was exhausted—his arms were sore! He didn’t even feel this tired when he was out hunting! And worst of all, it was so boring. Li Feng didn’t talk to him at all, leaving him there to chatter to himself like a fool.

Li Feng couldn’t help but laugh at the scene. Was it really that dramatic? Sure, it made your arms sore, but wasn’t it better than going out hunting? The way Nuo was carrying on, you’d think he had suffered some great hardship!

“All right, come eat,” Li Feng said as he and Li brought the dishes to the table. Li glanced at Li Feng, who was deliberately ignoring him while walking ahead, and felt that this aloof Li Feng was both awkward and adorable. All he did was steal a kiss in front of Nuo and the others this morning—why was he still acting so stiff even after an entire day?

Nuo slung himself dramatically over Bu’s shoulders, letting Bu half-drag him forward. He kept muttering under his breath, clearly complaining about having to grind flour. That was the only thing that had ruined his mood today. He was practically hanging off Bu like dead weight, too lazy to even walk that short distance himself.

Mo came out holding the baby to eat as well. These days, the two of them were basically left to their own devices. Li Feng was insanely busy, cooking and making all kinds of shoes and clothes. Nuo, when he wasn’t out hunting, stayed behind to help. So the baby was mostly left in Mo’s care. After breakfast, they played in the yard. Ever since the baby had grabbed that snake, Mo never let him out of his sight. If he weren’t so exhausted himself, he’d want to carry the baby all the time. Once they tired themselves out, they napped together. After lunch, they played again, or Mo would help Li Feng with other chores if he couldn’t fall asleep while the baby napped.

In the afternoons, Li Feng rarely had anything for Mo to do. If Li Feng had time, he’d hold and soothe the baby himself. If not, Mo would play with him in the yard or with other kids near the doorway. Sometimes, Juhao and Lu would come over to play too. Most of the time, though, the baby was sleeping, so Mo just stayed nearby to keep an eye on him. Or Li Feng would watch him while working, keeping close in case the baby woke up and cried for attention. Changing diapers, pottying—Li Feng had become remarkably skilled at all of it.

Li Feng was swamped this afternoon, so Mo took the baby out to play by the door for a while. Once they got tired, they came back for a nap. After waking up, it was already time to eat again. Mo felt like he was turning into a pig—a chubby, round, well-fed little pig.

Dinner was served, and each person at the table was a character of their own. Li Feng, as usual, held the baby and fed him milk. Mo helped himself to food, occasionally receiving a few dishes from Li Feng’s chopsticks. They were all family now—no need to be polite. Mo had fully integrated into their group and ate happily and freely.

Nuo, meanwhile, clung to Bu, whining about his sore arms and aching hands, practically begging Bu to feed him. The way those two acted so lovey-dovey—especially Nuo—made Li Feng cringe. Even women would find it cheesy, let alone a grown man like Nuo. While he wasn’t effeminate, he was still quite unbearable to watch.

Li Feng, however, didn’t realize that the person sitting next to him wasn’t much better. Though Li didn’t speak sweet words, his actions were meticulous—constantly placing food into Li Feng’s bowl while smiling at him. Though Li Feng pretended not to notice, he couldn’t ignore the way his emotions had quietly begun to shift. He was feeling… a little better than before.

He had still been somewhat angry at Li earlier. After all, what happened that morning had caught him completely off guard and definitely couldn’t be tolerated—otherwise, Li would surely push further. But after this meal, aside from continuing to be gentle, Li didn’t make any further moves, which helped put Li Feng at ease. He had been afraid that Li would get handsy again in front of the others. But then again—what was he even thinking? Was he secretly hoping that Li would make a move? His thoughts were going way off-track…

After dinner, it was Nuo and Bu’s turn to do the dishes. They had started taking turns doing them in the household, since Li Feng didn’t like washing dishes—it was greasy and unpleasant. Now no one could escape, except for Mo and the baby. The rest were paired off into little families, each responsible for a day of dishwashing. Though Li Feng often ended up doing them himself—no one wanted to be paired with Li. Whenever they washed dishes together, Li would take the opportunity to grope him. Li Feng didn’t want to end up spending the whole evening washing dishes and getting taken advantage of. Nuo and Bu, on the other hand, loved it—they happily flirted with each other over suds and dishwater.

Li Feng sat holding the baby, coaxing him to sleep. Once he dozed off, Li Feng planned to teach Nuo how to weave felt shoes. Right now, only the three of them were in the room—Mo and the baby had automatically been left out. Li Feng felt incredibly uncomfortable under Li’s intense gaze. He wanted to quickly come up with a topic to talk about—Li wasn’t saying a word, just smiling at him like that, which made Li Feng deeply uneasy.

So he hurried into the room, grabbed the finished shoes, and handed them to Li to distract him. That look was too unnerving—it made his whole body heat up. How ridiculous, getting flustered just from a man looking at him! Was he really turning gay? He never used to be like this—no matter who looked at him, he never felt anything before.

“I’m not wearing any clothes today,” Li said, taking the shoes from Li Feng without even looking at them, eyes fixed on him as he casually said the words.