RPS – Chapter 86 Harvesting Flax

“Ah! Right!” Li Feng suddenly exclaimed while rubbing Little Bun’s tummy to help him digest after his meal. His hand brushed against the baby’s cool snakeskin bellyband, and he shouted without warning.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Nuo, who had been mending clothes beside him, was so startled that his hand slipped and he pricked his finger with the bone needle. A small bead of blood surfaced. “You scared me to death!”

Li Feng saw the blood on Nuo’s fingertip and chuckled sheepishly, waving his hand. “I just suddenly remembered! Remember that flax we saw on the mountain? It should be about ready for harvest by now. The weather’s great—let’s go and gather it!” He had been looking forward to this for a long time. Finally, he wouldn’t have to be a “wild man” wrapped in thick animal hides anymore. He wanted real clothes! It was the middle of summer—no matter how light animal hides were, they were still hot and stuffy!

“You’re making such a fuss over some grass? Look at my hand…” Nuo held up his finger with the dried blood, clearly blaming him for the injury.

“Tch, you just don’t know the value of it. Didn’t I already tell you? That stuff can be made into super comfy clothes—way more breathable and comfortable than animal hides!” Li Feng sighed with a look of disappointment, like a teacher whose student just couldn’t grasp the lesson.

“If it’s really as good as you say, then I suppose that’s not bad. But can you actually make it into clothes? How do you even do that?” Nuo lowered his head and continued mending. Since Bu often went hunting, his clothes frequently got torn in the woods—animal hides included.

“Hehe, no rush. Let’s harvest it first. And besides, we’ve got you, don’t we?” Li Feng pinched the baby’s chubby little fingers. The baby loved to yank his hair, always painfully so, so when holding him, Li Feng had gotten used to distracting him by playing with his hands instead.

“Hey, don’t dump it all on me again. I’m not even that good at sewing.” Nuo wasn’t stupid. The flax hadn’t even been harvested yet and Li Feng was already assigning him the task? But even as he said that, the slight lift of his eyes betrayed his pride. His sewing skills were among the best in the tribe. Just look at the hide he was mending—despite the coarseness of the bone needle, Nuo’s stitching was tight and fine, rugged yet with a touch of delicacy. Especially with Li Feng’s verbal “guidance,” he had managed to make well-shaped hide vests for the baby and the kids. They had proper structure and pattern, with barely any flaws where seams met. The stitching was straight and even. When the children wore them, they looked downright dashing—like tiny, stylish little gentlemen.

Li Feng could see right through Nuo’s modesty. “Come on, don’t be so humble. You’re the only one who could pull this off—no one else has the skill for something that precise!”

“Hmph. Even so, we’re not going today. Wait until Li and the others come back and we’ll go together. You think you’re still on your own?” Nuo tied a knot in the thread and used a shell knife to cut it. Then he rubbed the seam with his fingers—yep, smooth and even, no fuzz or misaligned stitching.

“Got it!” Li Feng looked down at his slightly rounder belly. It was about July now, and judging by the size, the baby inside was probably already three months along. He could finally relax a little. Before three months, the fetus was still fragile and prone to miscarriage. But now that they had passed that critical period, the pregnancy was more stable. He had been playing it very safe lately, barely stepping out, staying home to teach the baby to talk and walk, telling stories and singing songs. The baby loved it, calling “Daddy, Daddy” all day long.

In fact, he was doing it again now. “Daddy, Daddy…” The baby grinned, revealing tiny white rice-grain teeth, and tugged on Li Feng’s hair with one hand. Why wasn’t Daddy talking or looking at him? He pouted and yanked a few more times. “Daddy…” I want a story.

The slight pain from his scalp snapped Li Feng back to the present. He cleared his throat—he had been so lost in thoughts about the baby in his belly that he’d completely forgotten the little one in his arms. Seeing the pout, he quickly comforted him, “Alright, alright, don’t pull—Daddy knows you want a story. I’ll tell you one now. Hmm, what should I tell today? What do you want to hear, baby?”

Recently, whenever he had a spare moment, Li Feng would recite poems or tell stories to the baby. But the little one clearly preferred stories. He wasn’t sure the baby understood, but he seemed to enjoy them. One or two short tales a day had become a routine over the past month. If Li Feng forgot, the baby would remind him in his own way.

Sometimes it was tugging on his hair to say “it’s story time,” other times it was planting several wet kisses all over Li Feng’s face until he laughed and dodged. And if that didn’t work, he’d gnaw on Li Feng’s arm with his few tiny teeth… At first, Li Feng thought the baby was hungry and frantically prepared food, only to have it completely ignored. Eventually, it was Mo who figured it out. “Uncle Li Feng, maybe he wants a story?”

“Ohhh, that must be it! I always tell one around this time. Mo, you little rascal, you’re sharp! I didn’t even catch on, but you did?”

“Hehe…” Mo grinned sheepishly. Truth was, he hadn’t understood the baby either—he and Lu had just gotten used to listening to stories with the baby, and they wanted to hear one today too, so he took a guess!

“Well then, kids, what story do you want to hear today?” Li Feng looked around at the group of children sitting in a circle around him. His own three, Ka’s two, and Nuo—who, while stitching his second garment, was also clearly listening with great interest.

Nuo liked stories too. He was stitching and listening with ears perked.

“I want to hear the story of Nezha wreaking havoc in the sea!”

“I want to hear Snow White!”

“I want to hear The Little Prince!”

“I want to hear Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves!” — that last one was Mo, of course. He loved that kind of “manly” story, which made Li Feng consider whether he should just tell him a wuxia tale next time.

…

The kids were all chirping away, each shouting out what they wanted to hear. Li Feng was getting a headache — he’d already told all these stories several times before, but somehow they never got tired of them and still wanted to hear them again. Only the baby was being well-behaved, saying nothing. Instead, he just sat there watching his older brothers squabble, clapping and laughing cheerfully, his bright laughter like wind chimes. It made the others subconsciously stop arguing and all turn to stare wide-eyed at Li Feng, waiting for him to decide, as if whatever he chose to tell, they’d be happy to listen to.

Li Feng nodded with satisfaction — now this was more like it. He cleared his throat, about to start, when a voice called out from the side, “I want to hear what happened after Sun Wukong wreaked havoc in Heaven!”

Li Feng’s mouth twitched. That voice — calm and self-assured without even looking up — was clearly Nuo. Was this guy seriously lining up with the kids now to make requests?

Well, since the earlier stories had all been told already, he might as well continue with the aftermath of Havoc in Heaven. But where had he left off last time? He couldn’t quite remember…

Seeing the blank look in Li Feng’s eyes as he struggled to recall where to begin, Nuo’s mouth twitched. “Last time, you left off with the Jade Emperor crawling under the table and shouting, ‘Quick, go summon the Buddha from the West!’”

Now Li Feng’s mouth and eyes both twitched — how could he remember it so clearly? Right, he suddenly recalled that the last time he’d told the story, Li and the others had come back right at that part, and he had gone to cook dinner. He’d never finished telling it. The next couple of days, everyone had been busy weeding and fertilizing the cornfields, and only he and the baby had stayed home — even Mo had gone to help. So he’d completely forgotten to continue the story. Yet Nuo still remembered, and remembered that clearly too.

Li Feng really was a journalist — not only could he write and spin stories, but he had an incredible way with words too. His storytelling was vivid and emotional, with expressive gestures that pulled everyone in. The children sat completely still, fully immersed in his tale, tense one moment and relaxed the next. Even the baby, who might not have understood a word, started waving his arms and legs in imitation, wearing his shiny silver snakeskin bellyband that swayed adorably with his little tummy. But the most over-the-top one was Nuo — he’d pretended to be listening casually, but soon got so engrossed he forgot he was mending clothes and pricked his fingers several times. Frustrated, he finally just gave up sewing to listen properly.

When Li and the others returned home, they were greeted by the sight of the whole family, young and old, gathered around Li Feng with sparkling eyes, looking up at him with admiration. They looked like a bunch of baby animals — it was too cute. Li shook his head. Li Feng was telling stories again!

Over dinner, Li Feng brought up the idea of harvesting the flax. He knew Li wouldn’t let him go alone, and if he insisted on going, Li would definitely go with him. Hmph, such strong labor shouldn’t be wasted. If it was just him and Nuo, they might work themselves to death and still not finish. There seemed to be quite a lot of it. Though they could split the work over a few days, Li Feng didn’t want to make too many trips in the scorching heat — it’d be best to finish in one go.

Li had already heard about the flax from Li Feng before and knew it was good stuff. Naturally, he wouldn’t stop him. But he was definitely going along, and so were Bu and Ka, who wouldn’t be out hunting that day. More people meant more strength. They could also share some of the flax with Ka’s family — after all, they were neighbors and friends, and had come to help too.

Flax was one of the oldest cultivated plants recorded in history, used to make fabric. It supposedly dated back to the Stone Age. In ancient Egypt, the mummies of pharaohs were wrapped in linen made from flax or other bast fibers. So Li Feng wasn’t surprised to find flax here — it was perfectly reasonable for it to exist in this era.

The next day, Li Feng’s whole family, along with Ka’s three brothers, headed to the flax field in full force. Upon arrival, Li Feng saw that most of the leaves had fallen off, and the stems had turned yellow — just as he had estimated. It was the perfect time to harvest. Harvesting flax was similar to harvesting wheat. Since Li and the others had already harvested wheat before, they were quite skilled and worked efficiently. Meanwhile, Li Feng and the children picked flax seeds. These were valuable — he wanted to collect them carefully from the uncut stalks to avoid damaging them. He planned to plant some next year, and if the fabric-making process succeeded, he’d share seeds with the rest of the tribe so everyone could grow their own — then they’d all have clothes to wear.

Flax seeds were prone to damage. Seeds that were crushed or left in piles on the ground with stalks could fail to sprout. So Li Feng needed to collect as many intact seeds as possible — and quickly. Fortunately, the flax was tall enough for him to pick while standing. If it were as short as wheat, it would’ve been miserable, especially with his pregnant belly.

Li, while cutting flax, kept glancing at Li Feng with concern. Caught under his gaze, Li Feng shot him a glare. “Focus. Don’t hurt yourself. I’ll be careful.” He knew Li was worried, but did he not realize how close his shell knife had come to his own leg a few times?

Unlike wheat, they brought both shell and stone knives for flax, using whichever worked better, or switching between them.

Li just chuckled when glared at and continued cutting, still occasionally looking up to check on Li Feng.

The weather was scorching. Everyone wore straw hats for shade. Li Feng was sweating buckets — working in the fields during the hottest time of day was truly exhausting. He held his waist; standing too long in the heat left him drowsy and sore. Seeing that his basket was already over halfway full, he decided to take a break and called the others to rest too. It wasn’t good to work too long without water, especially under this sun. Seeing everyone’s sunburned faces and endless sweat made Li Feng feel a bit heartache, but what could he do? This harvest would benefit everyone, even humanity in the long run. A little hardship was worth it. Thankfully, they only needed to do this a few times a year — including harvesting other crops.

The group rested under a big tree on the hillside, fanning themselves with their hats. The mountain air was relatively cool — leafy trees and a light breeze — but the flax fields had no trees and were exposed to direct sunlight, making them much hotter. Resting in the shade with some water cooled them down quickly.

Mo had been sitting there under the tree with the baby, who also wore a little straw hat. Li Feng didn’t want him to get sunburned, and since they had no umbrella, he used an adult-sized straw hat with a wide brim to shade the baby. The baby’s own hat was too small. The big hat completely covered his little face, blocking the sunlight — and his view. Upset and uncomfortable, the baby kept poking the hat with his tiny fingers, trying to lift it. Eventually, he managed to tilt it up a little, but when he let go, the hat dropped back down.

Frustrated, the baby, with his chubby white arms like lotus roots, grabbed the brim and yanked it off with a pout, then threw it to the ground. This thing was blocking his eyes, making everything dark — he didn’t like it!

When Li Feng came over, he saw Mo helping the baby stomp on the hat. It had already been flattened. The baby was stomping slowly, watching it carefully — at first, the hat’s top collapsed under his foot but slowly puffed back up again. The baby’s eyes widened in surprise, and he stomped again. When the hat finally stayed flat, he clapped his little hands and laughed, his tiny white teeth sparkling in the sun.

Li Feng picked him up and gently patted his little butt. “You little rascal! That hat took me so long to weave, and now you’ve stomped it flat. Guess you won’t have anything to wear on the way home!”

Mo picked up the hat and reshaped it with his hands. Though it was slightly broken and bent out of shape, it could still block the sun. “It’s okay, Uncle Li Feng. He can still wear it when we go home!”

“You’re such a good boy, Mo. Look, baby, see how well-behaved your brother is? Why are you so naughty?” Though his words were scolding, his tone was full of affection — his baby was just so lively and adorable.

Though there was quite a bit of flax, with everyone’s efforts, they finished harvesting it all by the end of the day. They couldn’t transport it back just yet, but at least they’d collected all the flax seeds, which could be used to press oil. Li Feng planned to test this soon. They didn’t have many soybeans left, so he hadn’t dared waste any for oil before. He’d wait until the next soybean harvest, but in the meantime, flax seeds could be tried.

Li Feng and the others were doing the final cleanup. The flax had been bundled and placed aside, and all the seeds collected. He didn’t dare overwork, not wanting to risk the baby, so most of his time was spent resting with the baby in the shade. The baby loved to roll around, especially when Li Feng wasn’t nearby — tumbling on the animal hides like a little panda, incredibly cute. After rolling around, he would crawl at lightning speed, and when he saw Li Feng and the others in the field, he aimed straight for them — he wanted to find his daddy…

Unfortunately, the grass was too rough, and Mo wouldn’t let him crawl on it. Otherwise, his soft white skin would definitely get scratched. That wouldn’t do — the baby was far too precious to risk getting hurt. It would really hurt!