Xi brought back so blocks of ice. He placed them by the window vent, and the room quickly beca cool and refreshing.
The ice was heavy and dense, more like stone than anything else. Even in the scorching, dry hot season, it lted very slowly. A single block could last her for several days.
Although the room was much cooler, An Jin didn’t let up on weaving the bamboo mat. After soaking bamboo pieces for a few days to soften them, she carefully and ticulously shaved them into thin strips.
She started by weaving a right-angled triangle, about five inches wide at the base. From there, she wove in a herringbone pattern to the right. After about a ter, An Jin settled in to focus on the main body of the mat.
She used a bamboo plank to hold down the starting section and sat cross-legged on the half-finished mat. Weaving the slender strips over and under each other, she then tapped them tightly and evenly into place.
Weaving a bamboo mat was particularly delicate work, so neither Mi Yin nor Xi could help. An Jin had no choice but to spend the extra ti to finish the main body herself.
The last and most important part was finishing the edges.
She tucked the ends of the strips into the seams of the mat, arranging them in order without overlapping. Then, she carefully trimd away any splinters sticking out from the edges.
And with that, a perfect, two-ter-long, one-ter-wide bamboo mat was complete.
But there was one final step that would be the icing on the cake. Bamboo is rich in fibers and sugars, making it very attractive to pests like woodworms and termites. The best way to prevent this was to treat it with high-temperature sealed steam.
When Mi Yin and Xi saw An Jin place the bamboo mat over the tribe’s large stone cooking pot to steam it, they were both shocked.
Mi Yin lowered his gaze to An Jin without a word. ’Have I been slacking on my hunting lately? Did I let her go hungry?’ He was instantly caught in a cycle of self-reproach.
Xi couldn’t help but step forward, staring at her with wide eyes. "Ah Jin, are you going to eat the bamboo mat?"
’If she was going to eat it, why go through all the trouble of weaving it together? Wait, that’s not the point. Can you even eat bamboo?’
’We’ve caught plenty of prey lately, so it’s not like Ah Jin is starving. Why would she suddenly want to chew on a bamboo mat?’
An Jin couldn’t help but let out a little laugh, covering her mouth. "Why would I eat a bamboo mat? This is a cooling mat to sleep on. There might be bugs in it, so I’m steaming it to make it safe to use."
Understanding finally dawned on the two of them.
An Jin coated the mat with the Tung Oil she had bought from the city last year. This would both prevent pests and make the mat more durable and beautiful.
When the bamboo mat wasn’t in use, she would fold it and store it in a dry, well-ventilated spot by the window to prevent mold and pests.
Thanks to the mat and the ice, An Jin passed the hot season in relative comfort. On cooler days, Xi took her exploring along the local waterways.
An Jin took a charcoal stick and so beast-skin parchnt, marking down each new, unfamiliar place they visited.
While the simple map she drew couldn’t be used for precise asurents, it marked the unique resources of each region and the layout of the forests, creating an early blueprint for the tribe’s future developnt.
The days passed one by one, peaceful and leisurely, yet exceptionally fulfilling. The sweltering hot season gradually moved into its latter half.
The wheat, corn, and sweet potatoes in the fields had ripened. The Beastn toiled under the blazing sun, harvesting all the crops. After An Jin distributed shares to everyone based on their labor, the rest was put in the storehouse as reserves.
"Ah Jin, Hei Xuan picked a bunch of fragrant flowers and herbs for , and I brought so for you!" Gou Ni, holding a bamboo basket, poked her head through the doorway. Seeing that the Snake Beast was out hunting and not at ho, she finally dared to step inside.
"Oh, really?"
An Jin put down what she was doing and took the basket. She leaned in for a sniff. "They sll wonderful! Where did you pick them?"
"They’re everywhere at this ti of year. They’re so common you probably just haven’t noticed them."
An Jin’s interest was piqued. "I want to pick so, too. Let’s go for a walk, we can look for so tasty fruit while we’re at it."
"Okay, let’s go!"
On the way back, both of them carried baskets overflowing with flowers, herbs, and fruit. Gou Ni jutted her chin toward the busy Beastn in the distance. "See, Ah Jin? Lots of the Beastn in our tribe gather these plants. When you dry them and put them in your house, they sll amazing!"
Following her gaze, An Jin saw that as they drew closer to the tribe, groups of Beastn were busy in front of their hos.
They were moving stones, weaving vines, hanging things outside their houses...
Everyone looked happy and content.
Besides the tanned hides and beast teeth that were the signature decorations of the Beast World, the wooden houses were also adorned with all sorts of dried flowers, herbs, and beautiful flowering vines.
The females loved the floral scents, so the males would gather them while they were out on hunts.
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