Chapter 15: Custom Pottery

“Qiyue, how on earth are we supposed to cook such a huge rhinoceros head?” Bao Xue’er asked anxiously, worried since they didn’t have a ceramic pot big enough at home.

“Let Brother Huyue try to see if he can cut it into smaller pieces. Later, we’ll go order a large ceramic pot,” Qiyue replied thoughtfully.

“Then this afternoon we’ll go order the pot. Ceramics usually take four or five days to make,” Bao Xue’er said, realizing their home pots were indeed too small for this.

“All right. I need to order some ceramics too. Let’s go together this afternoon,” Qiyue said. She had to order ceramic pots, jars, kimchi crocks, wine jars, and some small containers as well.

After finishing the roasted meat, Qiyue picked up the milk fruit that Huyue had gathered and began feeding Chi’er. Chi’er was surprisingly easy to care for; it usually slept nestled in her hair and only needed feeding at mealtimes with milk fruit and meat broth. Occasionally, when Qiyue felt inspired, she’d chew meat into a paste and feed it to Chi’er, who would eat that as well.

In the afternoon, the three of them went to the tribe’s pottery kiln to find the potter, Xiong Shi. Bao Xue’er ordered a ceramic pot half a meter in diameter and a slightly larger jar. Qiyue ordered two pots—one half a meter in diameter and one a full meter—and three kimchi crocks about half a meter tall, ten lidded jars, ten wine jars, and ten small pots. Of course, the shapes of all these ceramics were drawn by Qiyue on torn animal skins with charcoal and handed over to the potter.

Qiyue’s large order stunned everyone present, and the designs differed somewhat from the usual styles, but the tribe’s kiln master was confident he could make them.

“Qiyue, why do you need so many? And how will you carry them all?” Bao Xue’er asked with concern.

“Sister Xue, these are what I’ll need for the next three months. Master Xiong Shi, how many crystal stones will this cost in total?” Qiyue asked, weary of making up excuses. Let them think whatever they want.

“Qiyue, you want to pay in crystal stones?” Xiong Shi asked, surprised. Usually, people paid with game.

“Master Xiong, I’m ordering quite a lot, and right now I can only pay with crystal stones. How long will it take to make?” Qiyue explained.

Xiong Shi knew Qiyue was a single female with a youngling and didn’t want to make things difficult. “Very well. When you pick them up in six days, just pay two crystal stones.”

Xiong Shi’s character was decent; charging only one crystal stone for over thirty ceramics was reasonable. On this beastman continent, one crystal stone could buy five beasts or ten tiger or bear pelts. Ceramics were no longer precious; every tribe made their own. The value had dropped such that a 30-centimeter-high ceramic pot could be exchanged for a hundred pounds of meat.

“All right. Thank you, Master Xiong,” Qiyue said gratefully.

Back at Bao Xue’er’s house, Huyue had already gathered plenty of verdant vines and brown leaves.

Bao Xue’er and Lang Ling’er were busy boiling the ox head and trying to make sausages, while Qiyue guided them and learned from Huyue how to strip the vine fibers and palm fibers.

The vine fibers were easy to strip. After peeling off the outer skin of the verdant vine, inside was a wooden ring tube, and within it were about ten vine fibers wrapped in vine pulp. Using a bone knife, one cut a ring around the wooden tube to sever it. Holding both ends of the wooden tube and pulling outward revealed the vine fibers inside. After sliding the wooden tube off both ends, the vine fibers were soaked in water for a day and night to remove the pulp. Then they were washed and dried. Palm fibers were even simpler—just split along the leaf’s ridges.

After teaching Qiyue, Huyue went hunting. He owed over a hundred pounds of meat to exchange for grass seeds. After Bao Xue’er and Ling’er finished making sausages, they helped Qiyue strip the vines and palm fibers.

When all the fibers were stripped, Qiyue tried twisting the palm fibers into hemp rope. By the time Huyue returned, the three had finished twisting the palm fibers in the courtyard, and the vine fibers were soaking in three large stone basins.

“Qiyue, what will you do tomorrow? Huyue and I plan to go with the salt-gathering team to collect salt,” Bao Xue’er said. She remembered how much salt they used for the sausages and saw there wasn’t much left at home. Tomorrow happened to be the collective salt-gathering day. The Luyu tribe organized three collective salt-gatherings per month. Since the wood-salt trees grew some distance from the tribe, beyond the safe range, beastmen escorts were necessary.

“Salt-gathering day again? I want to go too. Salt is essential if I leave the tribe later. But everyone going tomorrow will be carried by beastmen—how can I go?” Qiyue fretted, unsure whom to ask for help.

“Sister Yue, I’m going to gather herbs with my teacher tomorrow. Let my brother Lang En carry you. As payment, I want Grandpa Xiongjia’s black bear pelt,” Ling’er bluntly took advantage of the situation.

“You little brat, you really dare ask for that!” Bao Xue’er knocked Ling’er lightly on the forehead.

“What’s there to be afraid of? Sister Yue will leave in three months anyway, and she can’t carry such a heavy bear pelt,” Ling’er said boldly.

“Deal! I don’t really need so many pelts. This works out well—otherwise, Lang En would be delayed from hunting and have to look after me on the way. I honestly didn’t know how to compensate him,” Qiyue said calmly. The pelt was left by Grandpa Xiongjia and the chief said it was compensation for her; it was only proper to make good use of it.

Recalling salt-gathering stories told by tribe members, Qiyue asked Brother Huyue to make two bamboo knives about three inches long. She also borrowed some scraps of animal hide, bone needles, and vine thread from Bao Xue’er to make a simple waist pouch.

It was essentially a small leather pouch attached to a leather belt. The belt was about a meter long, just enough to tie a knot around the waist. The pouch measured thirty centimeters wide and forty centimeters long, made by stitching two pieces of leather together. About five centimeters from the top edge, seven or eight holes were punched and threaded with a leather cord.

After finishing, Qiyue tied the belt around her waist to test it. It was quite good and could hold some items conveniently.

Ling’er’s eyes sparkled as she looked at Qiyue’s pouch. “Sister Yue, make one for me too!”

“You’re not going salt-gathering tomorrow. This is for convenience,” Qiyue said, picking up the remaining materials to make one for Bao Xue’er.

“Qiyue, you make one for Ling’er. I’ve learned how to do it too; I can make my own,” Bao Xue’er said, pulling out a bone needle and starting to sew.

Qiyue nodded, putting down the selected leather she held and choosing a piece of more colorful leather from the scraps Bao Xue’er gave her. After finishing, she decorated the front of the pouch with a cute, cartoonish little wolf patch made from scraps.

Ling’er looked at the new creation with delight and adorableness shining in her eyes. She slipped the pouch around her waist, dramatically hugged Qiyue with the large rhinoceros horn inside, and then hopped away.

Seeing that everyone was settled, Qiyue asked Brother Huyue to make wooden spatulas, spoons, and strainers for her. Of course, Bao Xue’er, upon seeing this, also had Huyue make a set for her family.