Chapter 23 A Good Night's Sleep

  At night when it was time to sleep, an awkward situation arose. During the period when Mo Yi'er was not around, the women were no longer sleeping together on a single kang (heated bed platform). Instead, they each slept with their own men in separate quarters. The kang where Mo Yi'er used to sleep was one of the earliest ones built and had already been occupied by Xi Fen Ni and her several men as well as Xiao Hei. What a populous family indeed!

  Mo Yu'er stood at the entrance of the cave with a somewhat depressed expression. It had been a long time since she last returned. She almost forgot about the "harmony" event that occurred every night in the tribe. She secretly made up her mind. The current conditions of the tribe did not permit it, but when they did, she would definitely have her own separate space. Absolutely could not listen to this child-inappropriate sound every day.

  "Mo Yi'er, come over here." Chu Yan sat on a smaller fire pit on the east side of the cave and beckoned to Mo Yi'er. Mo Yi'er nodded and walked over. Chu Yan pointed to the spot beside him and said to Mo Yi'er: "This is your place, just like before, between me and Fan Ge. Your things are all here too."

  "Oh." Mo Yuer's face turned pink. She thought to herself: So the sleeping arrangements have been settled then. Previously, she and the other women had slept on the kang first because the other kang in the cave hadn't been built yet. After they were done, they went back to their original sleeping spots. That makes sense too. You can't separate couples who sleep together, after all. She sat down on her own spot, feeling the warmth of the kang. The rabbit fur mat she had laid out before was still there, clean and tidy. It looked like it had been washed after she left. The pajamas she had worn when she crossed over were also neatly folded and placed in a corner, everything perfectly arranged. She opened her mouth to say thank you, but felt it was too formal. Instead, she just smiled sweetly at Chu He.

  As expected. A smile to Chu Yan was far more than a "thank you". Chu Yan pulled out a thick bear skin for Mo Yi Er: "Go to sleep early."

  "Good." Mo Yi'er lay down, covering herself with the bear skin. The warmth enveloped her, as did the scorching gaze. She closed her eyes contentedly, savoring the first night back.

  She soon fell into a peaceful sleep. Maybe she was tired. Maybe it was because she was back 'home'. She felt safer and more at ease in her heart.

  Chu Yan lay down beside her, too excited to fall asleep. He stared at Mo Yuer, his eyes unwilling to blink even once. His heart kept silently repeating: She's back... she's really back...

  The calm and quiet Chu Ge finally experienced the feeling of being unable to sleep for a whole night, just like Mo Yi'er had been doing previously. He felt that as long as Mo Yi'er was by his side, it was as if he possessed the entire world, and nothing else mattered. Gently lifting his hand, he wanted to touch Mo Yi'er's pink lips, but before he could make contact, he was interrupted.

  The little fur ball that went out to forage has just come back, and suddenly ran to Mo Yi'er's side, lying between Chu Yan and Mo Yi'er, and staring at Chu Yan with a provocative gaze.

  Chu's hand stopped in mid-air, and after a brief moment of stunned silence, she couldn't help but laugh softly. "How did you, little one, end up with Mo Yi'er? Do you know how worried she was when you left her last time? She couldn't eat or sleep well... Don't do that again..."

  Chu Yan's words made Xiao Rong slightly surprised. Mo Yi'er only mentioned that he was worried about him, but didn't say it so specifically. Xiao Rong had no idea. Mo Yi'er also worried that she wouldn't eat or sleep well. In an instant, his beastly heart felt satisfied and moved. The rival in front of him didn't seem so despicable anymore.

  Actually, compared to other men, Xiao Rong is more accepting of Chu Yan being by Mo Ye'er's side. Because since Xiao Rong followed Mo Ye'er, Chu Yan has also been with Mo Ye'er all along. Their contact is the most frequent and intimate. It's hard to stop or separate them.

  "Hehe..." Chu Yan smiled and reached out to touch the little ball of fluff's head. The little ball of fluff, who was lost in thought, didn't dodge for the first time when someone other than Mo Yi'er touched it.

  This contact seems like a good start. It has reconciled many of them.

  Chu Yan didn't ask where Mo Yi'er had gone during the time she was missing. As long as she came back, he was satisfied. Although there was a hint of curiosity in his heart, he didn't ask her about it. He was waiting for Mo Yi'er to tell him when she wanted to.

  Good night's sleep. Mo Yi slept soundly and woke up feeling refreshed. When she got out of bed, the villagers had already started their busy day. Compared to the quiet morning on the mountain top, Mo Yi truly preferred life here.

  "Mo Ye, you're awake. Sleep a bit more, I've left your breakfast in the stone pot to keep it warm for you." Sang Zhen was ladling out meat soup and said hastily as she saw Mo Ye sit up.

  "No need. I've slept enough." Mo Yuer said with a smile, folding the animal hide and putting it aside, then jumping down from the kang.

  As they spoke, the men gathered in one place to eat their breakfast. Chu Yan drank meat soup and said to Mo Yi'er: "Mo Yi'er, we're going hunting later. Do you have anything to do?"

  "Hmm..." Mo Yier raised an eyebrow and thought for a moment. Then shook her head: "Not for the time being. If there's anything, I'll let you know."

  "Good."

  The men of the tribe are always restless, as long as it's not snowing heavily, they will go hunting. If the weather is too cold, they will wear thick animal skin coats and roam around in the nearby caves. As long as they don't return empty-handed, that's all that matters. Now that the grass and trees have sprouted, they are even more diligent. They have basically returned to their summer hunting routine, only returning a bit earlier at night. After all, it gets dark very early and the nighttime temperature is still quite low.

  After the men left, the women also gathered together with the old people and children to have breakfast. Xī Fǎng Nī drank a bowl of meat soup in a few mouthfuls, then asked Mò Yì ér: "At this time, can we go pick wild vegetables? I want to join the picking team, don't want to stay in the cave feeling stifled."

  As soon as she said this, the women couldn't help but burst out laughing. Zhang Ji scolded: "You can't stay still, what will you do if Xiao Hei runs away?"

  "Zhang Ji, Xiao Hei is coming with you, right? I know you like kids the most."

  "Yes. Grandma loves kids." Zhang Ji's son was leaning against her, sipping the meat soup, looking very dependent on his mother.

  "Haha......" Everyone burst out laughing. It was warm and joyful.

  Mo Yu'er looked outside the cave and saw that the grass and trees were just about to sprout, the wild vegetables were still small, and there were no mushrooms this season. "It's really a waste of time and energy to go out and pick them now. The harvest is too little." "We won't go picking for now. What have you all been doing before I came back?"

  "We are boiling sugar with Kasa, but the leader said not to boil too much sugar, or we won't be able to exchange it for that much food. We don't quite understand."