CHAPTER 725: 【719】BEAST WORLD FARMING 29 (1 MORE)

During the Cold Season, the Beastmen often had more leisure time; occasionally, people would visit their home, and before they knew it, a relentless stream of visitors would come knocking, all gathering around their warm hearth to check it out.

Actually, they had already seen it when it was first installed; only at that time, the effects weren’t apparent. Now, with the outside cold and frozen, the inside couldn’t be said to be as warm as spring, yet it at least wouldn’t make you feel frantically cold (due to the large cave, the hearth had certain limitations), which made it unbearable to sit.

But if you lay on it, your body felt warm and toasty—it was unspeakably comfortable to sleep.

In an instant, envious glances came one after another; however, upon seeing the fire, some families who had suffered injuries before still hesitated.

Tangtang didn’t say much, after all, even if they wanted to start preparing now, they would need the proper conditions to do so. Not to mention that the ground was buried under heavy snow and frozen, even obtaining a straw curtain for the door would be quite difficult. People are selfish; even though some suggested relocating the females and cubs to their home temporarily, she didn’t engage.

She had already warned them before. Now, they shouldn’t expect her to say more. If they needed food, she could provide, but as for staying at their home, she’d rather not.

Firstly, their home’s hearth wasn’t that large; secondly, are they expecting us to serve them like an old lady? Heating the hearth and cooking too?

There’s a limit to what one can tolerate. Once touched, it shows a lack of tact.

You dare not light a fire at your place, and run to our house to mooch off our warmth; how can this be justified?

Nevertheless, the warmth of their hearth spread by word of mouth throughout the tribe, mainly among those with females, cubs, and elderly, who were particularly envious and resentful, some regretting not having listened to them, others frustrated with themselves for not being able to overcome the obstacle.

Regardless of the reasons, now, it seemed there was little chance for repair.

However, from then on, their house began to see more visitors, often females with their cubs stopping by during the day.

Others could be tolerated, as long as they didn’t constantly occupy their hearth; she could put up with it.

Yet, whenever these females and cubs visited, their two Beastmen simply couldn’t stay in the cave. In this freezing weather, they had to go out.

Once or twice could be accepted, but every day was too much. After enough talking, what more could be said? An awkward silence settled among the group, did they not feel awkward?

Moreover, without these visitors, their family sitting on the hearth, using just a piece of wood, could still ensure their own warmth. But with these visitors, the fire wasn’t hot enough, and they even voluntarily added more firewood. At this rate, how long could their stockpile last?

Originally, the plan was for the wood to last a whole Cold Season. With this situation of continuously adding wood, not to mention six months, it might run out in two.

This wood was not only for heating the hearth but also for cooking!

Gradually, Tangtang grew impatient with these intrusive visitors; every day, the cave was swamped with people, annoyingly loud, without any chance to even take a nap.

Because of these thick-skinned people, they couldn’t eat their three meals on time. They always had to wait until the last person left before they could start cooking the next wave of people who had already arrived. Over time, who could endure that?

Honestly, if it weren’t for seeing them shivering from the cold, she could never have endured it for half a month without blowing up; she was already showing mercy to those cubs.

Had she not explicitly refused to let them rest here at night, they would probably have all moved in. Now, after having enjoyed their day here, they would return to their ice-cold dens at night. How unbearable and painful must those long nights be?

In fact, her perseverance up to this point was also forcing them to use firewood. Although it was difficult to cut wood in the freezing conditions, it was still possible. As long as they could gather firewood and store it in their caves to dry, it could still retain warmth. Sitting around a campfire with family was surely better than having no source of heat at all?

Fortunately, her persistence was not in vain. The longer they stayed during the day, the more the females and cubs would complain when they got home.

Having heard these complaints often, and truly shivering themselves, they began to tentatively start fires. Although fires were manageable, they didn’t have chimneys to vent the smoke outside, resulting in all homes being smoky and fiery.

However, learning to use fire was a significant progress. What else could they do but take it slow?

When the females and cubs stayed too long, and sometimes the cubs were hungry, she would voluntarily make them some grain porridge.

Once they tried it, not only did the cubs like it, but even the females found it miraculous, especially how comfortable it felt to have a warm bowl of porridge in their stomachs.

The reason she didn’t like using stone pots was that they were too heavy and not easy to move, but most other Beastmen households used stoneware.

There were those grooved stone pots, and she would generously give them away if anyone wanted one. First, she had indeed collected many, and secondly, it was also to earn merit.

Saving a life was naturally better than not saving one.

Of course, the quality females would barter their meat for her services, but she didn’t want dried meat—it was too hard and difficult to bite, and her two Beastmen didn’t like it either.

As long as the other party was sincere, she didn’t mind saying so.

"No worries. It’s tough during the Cold Season; food is scarce. If you want to repay me, just wait until the Cold Season is over. But I have a clear rule: for one grain fruit, you have to give me one Gugu Chicken in exchange, or other meat. As long as I don’t suffer a loss, it’s up to you. Here’s your bamboo plank. Take one, and I’ll mark it. What do you think?"

She didn’t demand exorbitant prices. For them, Gugu Chicken was too cheap, and after the Cold Season, hunting would be somewhat easier. Therefore, these females, wanting to survive the Cold Season, readily agreed to her terms.

For this, she specially made many bamboo planks, each with its own scent. They could smell theirs, and she could identify each. After carving, she would let them take it away. Next time they came, they would bring it back; they couldn’t tamper with it since she carved it in front of them and let them take it on the spot, avoiding any disputes.

If anyone tried to cheat intentionally, she wouldn’t mind permanently blocking them.

After implementing this exchange method, nearly all the tribe’s females came to her for exchanges. If a Beastman was single, they also asked Yin Ye for exchanges. In a short time, their supply of grain fruits rapidly decreased, but she wasn’t worried because their storage was sufficient to help the entire tribe survive the Cold Season. However, to avoid wastage, they limited the exchange to one per day.