RPS – Chapter 87 Fetal Movement

To turn flax into linen thread and extract its fibers, the most crucial step is retting. There are generally two methods. One is to leave the flax out in the open, letting it get soaked and washed by rainwater; this natural retting method is simple but results in fibers that are discolored and not very clean. The other method involves soaking the flax in warm water continuously, which is faster and cleaner but much more troublesome.

What Li Feng wanted to do was definitely the natural rain retting method. Although it takes a bit longer—about one to two weeks—it didn’t matter since summer was still long. As for the warm water retting, he didn’t even consider it. There was no place to boil water. Though they could peel the flax stalks first, they didn’t have the proper tools, and maintaining a consistent water temperature was beyond their capabilities.

Retting essentially removes the gummy substance inside the flax stalks, allowing the linen fibers to be extracted.

Since the flax had already been harvested on the first day, the second day’s task was just transporting it. But that wasn’t urgent either. They could take their time. By the time they returned home that evening, it was already dark. Li carried the soundly sleeping baby in one arm and held Li Feng’s hand with the other. Li Feng covered the baby with the thin animal pelt he always carried—he couldn’t let the child catch cold.

Nuo and Bu walked beside them hand in hand, while Ka, being single, had to hold both of his younger brothers’ hands. As for Mo and Lu, the two of them were in a sadder state—neither was holding the other’s hand. They simply ran around behind the others, full of energy despite a whole day of labor.

That night, in order to reward the family for their hard work, Li Feng decided to make a more sumptuous dinner. Although the sky was already darkening, it didn’t stop him from cooking. In hot weather, they needed something cooling and refreshing. Fortunately, they still had plenty of ducks at home, so Li Feng decided to make old duck soup—perfect for clearing heat and dispelling internal fire in the summer.

Of course, he used male ducks. These drakes were raised specifically for eating. They already had a good number of ducks at home, and the ducklings had grown and started laying eggs. The older ducks could now be stewed—especially the drakes, who didn’t lay eggs and made awful noises. Thankfully, they were kept far away; otherwise, they’d keep everyone up at night. No wonder people talk about someone having a “drake’s voice”—it was truly shocking!

Naturally, the duck was killed by Li, while Li Feng started preparing the rest of the dishes. Cold dishes were a must in the summer. Although they didn’t have many ingredients or seasonings, they could still manage. Looking over the ingredients at home, Li Feng decided to make three cold dishes and one old duck soup, served with steamed buns and noodle lump soup. No need for an overly greasy or heavy meal at night.

Right now, edamame pods were just beginning to grow, making them easy to harvest from the backyard. Perfect for making salt-boiled edamame—simple and convenient to shell and eat. Another dish was marinated yellow soybeans, made using mature soybeans. They had just enough at home—not enough for experimenting, but plenty to eat. The third dish was cold spinach mash—though it wasn’t really spinach, it looked similar and grew in the summer. Li Feng had fed it to the rabbits and ducks with no issues, and he’d tasted a little himself. The flavor was decent, so he figured it was edible. Since he didn’t know what it was exactly, he simply called it spinach.

Whenever Li Feng found something edible and cultivable, he would always bring it back and start planting it in a dedicated plot. This was not only convenient but also helped the crops grow better without competing with weeds for nutrients. His family was very diligent about weeding and pest control. The bugs they caught were fed to their wild chickens, which had their wings clipped and couldn’t fly away. Li Feng raised them, and now he had quite a few. The hens had already birthed two batches of chicks. All of them were being fed well by Li Feng. The roosters were raised for meat, while the hens, like the female ducks, were kept for laying eggs. A couple of roosters were also kept for breeding future generations.

Li Feng went to the backyard to pick all the vegetables he needed. The edamame was washed clean by Nuo and placed in a clay pot with salt and spices to boil. Once done, they could be eaten right away. The marinated soybeans were a little more involved, but not much harder. They also needed to be washed and boiled in a pot. The soybeans had to cook for around ten minutes; once they were semi-soft, the heat could be lowered and seasonings like salt, soy sauce, and spices added, allowing the flavors to soak in.

Though he was working alone, Li Feng didn’t appear flustered at all. While the soybeans were cooking, he blanched the spinach-like vegetable in boiling water, squeezed out the excess water, and finely chopped it. Then he squeezed the chopped greens once more to avoid too much moisture ruining the flavor when mixing. This spinach would be seasoned with dried shrimp, which Li Feng and the kids usually caught from the river and dried under the sun—genuine, small freshwater shrimp. He set the shrimp aside to soak.

The three dishes took about the same amount of time to prepare. Meanwhile, Li had already finished processing the old duck. Since it needed long, slow simmering, that wasn’t an issue—it could even be eaten as a late-night snack. By the time they finished the cold dishes and digested a bit, the soup would likely be ready too.

After all the cold dishes were scooped out, it was time to add all sorts of seasonings—oil, salt, chopped scallions, minced ginger and garlic, and of course, soy sauce. Speaking of which, the soy sauce was something Li Feng had come up with when he was bored. Initially, he hadn’t planned to make it. It was just that one day he wanted to eat a cold dish and realized they didn’t even have soy sauce or vinegar. He didn’t know how to make vinegar, but soy sauce? That he could handle. The main process involved fermenting cooked soybeans and then letting them dry under the blazing sun. The current season was just right for it. Wasn’t it always on TV? Sun-dried for 180 days for that deep flavor and umami! Of course, Li Feng didn’t have the patience to wait that long, and this was his first time trying it, so naturally, it wouldn’t be perfect. Still, since he craved it, he had to make do. Even though the color and taste were a bit off, it still counted as soy sauce. At least he had another key seasoning to add from now on.

Without vinegar, wine, or sesame oil, the cold dishes were definitely lacking in flavor. But compared to the bland food others made, Li Feng’s version was still leaps and bounds tastier.

The three massive portions of cold dishes were polished off by the group without a trace left. They even looked like they hadn’t had enough. Only Li Feng didn’t have much of an appetite. He didn’t dare eat too much of that stuff—it wasn’t good for the baby. He was waiting for the old duck stew. It was still stewing over a large wood fire underneath.

Earlier, while they were eating, the baby had been napping. He’d been playing and rolling around outside for most of the day and hadn’t slept much, so this nap had lasted a little longer. Just as Li Feng was wondering whether to wake the baby up to eat something, the baby woke up on his own. At the same time, Li came in holding the fragrant, tender, rich-smelling duck stew. The just-awakened baby was still groggy and instinctively wobbled over to Li Feng, wanting to be picked up. Li Feng scooped him up and gave him a kiss. The baby tugged on his hair, and perhaps because he smelled the duck, he scrunched his little nose without even opening his eyes, just like a little puppy sniffing out a scent.

Seeing this, Li Feng kissed the tip of his little nose. “Baby, you’re hungry, huh? Smell something yummy? How are you so spot-on? Woke up the moment the food came—were you just waiting for this?”

Of course, the baby didn’t understand any of it, but his little mouth sweetly called out, “Papa, papa…” Whether he was awake or still a bit drowsy and just looking for his dad, no one could tell.

The duck stew had been simmering for about three hours. Though it was still on the shorter side, they couldn’t wait any longer. It was fully cooked and smelled amazing—they just couldn’t resist. While preparing it, Li Feng had stuffed some shiitake and other mushrooms along with cured meat into the duck’s belly. Unfortunately, they didn’t have dried bamboo shoots or ham, or it would’ve tasted even better. And yes, the cooking time was still a bit short. But it was fine—next time, when there’s nothing else to do, he could stew it from morning to night.

The old duck tasted great, and the baby had already grown a few teeth, enough to handle some simple food. He still couldn’t chew meat, though, so Li Feng just fed him some of the stewed mushrooms, which had gone soft and tender. As for meat, it was out of the question. Li Feng had set aside a portion of broth for the baby before adding salt. Even though the baby liked the mushrooms, he kept reaching for the duck meat when he saw it. Maybe he wanted to try it too. After all, the others had already torn the duck to shreds, and the table was soon piled with bones. Li had shredded quite a bit for Li Feng too, feeding him while eating himself, making the whole scene of the little family feel incredibly warm and cozy.

The next day, they set off again. Originally, Li had planned for Li Feng to stay home and take care of the baby, since he wasn’t going to let him lift heavy things anyway. But Li Feng thought it was better to go help Mo and the others gather the flax seeds from the ground than to sit around doing nothing. So, the same team set out again.

To make retting the flax easier, Li Feng decided to place it all in the courtyard of his home. They chose a piece of open ground for natural retting. There was a lot of flax, and although Li and the others were strong and could carry large loads each time, it still took many trips back and forth throughout the day to get everything moved. Everyone was exhausted. Watching them run back and forth, Li Feng could only fantasize about all kinds of vehicles. But he couldn’t even make a basic cart yet—didn’t even have rolling logs, since there were no tools to cut trees or shape the wood into perfectly round logs. They had no choice but to use the most primitive method—manual labor. Clenching his fists, Li Feng thought: at least they won’t have to haul it from so far next time. They’d plant it nearby. And he definitely had to go search the nearby mountains for iron ore. With iron, he could forge all kinds of tools. And with tools, everything else would become much easier. Since he was pregnant, Li definitely wouldn’t let him go searching, so that would have to wait until after the baby was born. By then, he’d go with Li and the others to find it—this was something that could benefit all of humanity!

Retting flax using dew and sunlight would take at least one to two weeks. Even without rain, the morning and nighttime dew combined with sunlight would ferment the stalks and break down the glue-like substances. After bringing all the flax home, they spread it out on the empty land in the courtyard. Once retted, they’d figure out how to extract the fibers and spin them into thread.

Ever since helping Li Feng gather the flax, Li, Bu, and Ka had been incredibly curious. They eagerly awaited the breathable, soft, and comfortable clothes Li Feng had promised. But limited by their thinking, they couldn’t even begin to imagine how those already rotting plants could turn into anything wearable. So every day, they’d hover around Li Feng, asking questions while watching him work. If it weren’t for Li glaring at them, they’d probably be glued to his side all day.

The baby used to love playing under the willow tree in the courtyard. Li Feng had set up a swing there by tying a simple rope between two trees and attaching a basket-like seat, long and soft like a mini sofa. It was very sturdy. When he had time, Li Feng would sit there with the baby, gently swinging back and forth. The baby’s favorite thing was this rocking cradle-swing.

Every time it started moving, the baby would giggle non-stop, delighted as if it were the most fun thing in the world. He even liked to grab the edges of the basket or the ropes and try to swing it himself. Of course, with Li Feng sitting on it, there was no way the baby could move it. But that didn’t affect his enjoyment at all. He’d clutch the rope, watching it wiggle in his hands, grinning so wide you could see his pink gums.

But ever since they started retting flax, the baby no longer liked coming over. Even though he still wanted to play on the swing, the smell of the retting flax was unpleasant, and it didn’t look good either. The baby liked colorful and pleasant-looking things, especially when he was on the swing, watching the soft, long willow branches swaying in the wind. He’d always stare at the dancing branches and clap his hands while laughing. But the rotting flax? He didn’t want to see it at all. When Li Feng tried to bring him over to the swing, he burst into tears and refused to go. Li Feng just didn’t get it. “You’re still just a nursing baby—how are you already so picky?” The flax wasn’t even that close to the swing!

Helpless, he had to take the baby to play somewhere else. But that swing was never idle—other people came to play on it in shifts. The swing had become a popular item in the tribe. Parents would even build similar ones for their kids, and adults would sit and swing when they had free time. It was quite a hit.

Time passed quickly, and two weeks flew by. It even rained once during that time, which thrilled Li Feng—rain helped the retting process. He checked the flax every day to monitor its progress, and now it was finally ready. But over those two weeks, he still hadn’t figured out how to weave cloth. He was so worried he kept tugging his hair, scaring Li so much that he started holding his hand all the time. Before, it was the baby who tugged his hair—now Li Feng was doing it himself. At this rate, he’d go bald.

Still, worrying wouldn’t help. One step at a time—he’d figure it out slowly. The flax was ready; now it was just a matter of trial and error. If someone like Huang Daopo could revolutionize textile machines and invent weaving techniques thousands of years ago, how could he, a modern man from thousands of years later, feel hopeless? He might not be as great as Huang Daopo, but at the very least, he could try to make a piece of cloth!

Big dreams weren’t enough. First, they had to process the retted flax. Li Feng directed the others—this part was relatively simple. They crushed the woody part of the stalks by hand, removed impurities, and combed the fibers, sorting them by quality. The fine, soft fibers were then dried and bundled into skeins, looking just like bundles of thread.

When Li and the others saw the beautiful, fine flax fibers being extracted from what had been rotting, ugly plants, they were utterly stunned—it was amazing! Now they were even more curious about the cloth Li Feng claimed he could weave. What kind of miracle would he pull off next?

But honestly, Li Feng had absolutely no clue. He really didn’t know how to weave. He wasn’t some textile expert! Now he regretted never learning—anything would’ve helped. Even if he’d been a cross-dresser who knew how to knit sweaters, that would’ve given him something to go on!

Sitting on the swing with the baby in his arms, Li Feng was drowning in worry. And just then, he suddenly felt a movement in his belly. Startled, he stood up. Li saw the look of shock and joy on his face and rushed over.

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

Li Feng didn’t know how to describe what he felt. In the past months, although he knew he was pregnant and could feel some changes, this was the first time it was this distinct—so powerful, so clear. The baby must be around four months along.

“The baby… the baby… moved?” he stammered.

In that moment, he felt like his heartbeat had synced with the baby’s. He could truly feel the life growing inside him—and that stirring feeling was beyond words.