Miles just caught a fat bighead fish with his wooden fork. He held up the fork and turned around, saying, "No, it's the same wherever I go."
After getting on shore, he saw Tanya still staring at him. He thought she didn't believe him, so he said, "I used to think about going to the tribe center, but now it doesn't matter. Wherever you are, that's where I want to be."
What he meant was very clear.
But Tanya didn't react at all. She acted like she didn't understand, though she slowly started to feel something was strange. Why did they suddenly get so close while talking?
Her ears turned a little hot. She stepped back a few steps without thinking. Even though Miles had distracted her from the topic in a half-joking way, she didn't miss how he froze for a moment.
So this man really does want to go to the tribe center. He just doesn't want to admit it and even used her as an excuse.
Hmph, men.
Tanya shook off her thoughts and began placing the bamboo baskets into the water. This was her first time catching shrimp and fish, and she thought it was actually pretty fun.
She didn't use bait. Instead, she used her wood ability to control the water plants under the water to wrap around the shrimp and crabs and guide them into the baskets.
Miles had used too much force just now, so the head of his wooden fork broke off in the fish's belly. He had to stop fishing for now and helped her place the bamboo baskets in the water.
They had ten baskets in total, but things got strange.
Tanya casually placed three baskets, and all three were filled with shrimp and crabs. But the seven baskets that Miles carefully placed only had a few in each one. The total from all seven didn't even add up to ten.
Miles felt frustrated. Star and Moon, who were watching, felt a little awkward too. Star, who was more observant, tried to comfort him, "Miles, you didn't catch as many shrimp and crabs as Sister Tanya, but you caught more fish!"
Miles: …
That's because your sister didn't even try to catch fish!
He didn't feel comforted at all. In fact, he felt worse.
Tanya gave the three full baskets to Moon to carry. When she turned back and saw Miles looking like that, her mood instantly got better, and she laughed happily.
The awkward feeling she had earlier, when he made her heart race, disappeared completely.
Miles saw that she was back to keeping a normal distance from him and wasn't avoiding him anymore. He felt relieved.
In his heart, he thought, she really is different from the other females in the tribe.
If it were someone else, just a little hint from him would be enough. If the girl liked him, she'd shyly give a response. If she didn't, she'd say so directly. But with his status as the top warrior, there shouldn't be any girl who would say no to him.
But she was the only one who didn't follow that pattern. Miles sighed to himself, thinking the road ahead would be long and hard.
Tanya thought he was still upset about not catching many shrimp or crabs, so she smiled and explained, "Catching shrimp and crabs isn't like catching fish. You need to use bait."
"Here, stuff like fish guts and other smelly things are their favorite. Try putting some in."
Miles looked suspicious. Did she put bait in her baskets earlier?
"Go on, try it." Tanya handed him an empty basket and urged him to give it a try.
Sure enough, not long after, the basket he placed in the water began to sink quickly. He noticed it in time, pulled it up, and saw it was packed full of shrimp and crabs fighting for the bait.
"Wow!"
Star cheered from the side, "Sister is amazing!"
With this method, even if they couldn't catch any wild animals in the future, they could still eat shrimp and crabs. Star didn't know how they tasted yet, but she trusted her sister completely. If her sister said it was good, it had to be delicious.
Miles was also affected by the two kids' happiness and smiled. He quickly put the rest of the fish guts into more baskets and placed them in the water. He didn't want to waste them.
Tanya smiled too. In truth, this was all because no one had ever fished or hunted in this river before, so the wildlife was incredibly rich.
If this were the future, even if you put bait in a basket all day long, you might not catch even a pound of shrimp or crab.
And in the end times, it would be impossible. There weren't even any animals left in the water.
Looking at the baskets full of shrimp and crabs, Tanya suddenly realized a problem. Her space could store lots of dead things, like the twenty fat fish they just cleaned and packed. But it couldn't store these still-alive shrimp and crabs.
Just as Miles brought up another full basket, she quickly stopped him. "Alright, alright, we've got enough for tonight. These shrimp and crabs are hard to keep fresh. If we want to eat more, we can come back another time."
Miles thought it was a shame to waste so much bait. After all, they only used the guts of less than two fish to catch all those shrimp and crabs.
But since Tanya was firm, he didn't insist. The four of them carried six full bamboo baskets back to the bamboo house.
Tonight, they were going to have a shrimp and crab feast.
Tanya broke off a tree branch, used a stone to pound it into fine fibers like a brush, and gave it to Star and Moon. She taught them how to clean the shrimp and crabs.
Miles was in charge of fetching water. Tanya made a fire and started boiling a pot of water to cook the live crabs. She also prepared several branches for skewering the big shrimp to roast them.
Then she washed a few chili peppers. She planned to make a spicy crab dish.
It would be even better if they had vinegar or soy sauce.
She suddenly remembered that she could make chili powder.
But to do that, the small basket of chili in her space wouldn't be enough.
So she needed to plant more herself.
She marked out a plot of land next to the sweet potato field by the bamboo house and scattered some chili seeds there.
Since she had never grown chili before, she worried the seeds wouldn't sprout. So she poured some plant-based spirit water into the soil, hoping it would help the seeds grow better.
By the time she finished all that, the pot of boiled shrimp and crabs was already done. The roasted shrimp that Star and Moon prepared was piled on a plate. Other than the first few that got burned, the rest looked golden, juicy, and smelled amazing after Tanya gave them a few tips.
Tanya washed her hands and made the final spicy crab dish.
Star and Moon were already drooling. Miles kindly handed them some shrimp skewers and said, "You can eat a little first."
But the two kids shook their heads together. "No, we want to wait for Sister to eat with us."
So sweet and well-behaved.
Tanya smiled with satisfaction. "Alright. Take out the spicy crab, let's eat!"
If only they had white rice. The spicy crab sauce poured over rice would be perfect.
Too bad that was just a dream for now.
The smell of fresh shrimp and crab, mixed with the spicy aroma, floated from the bamboo house all the way to the entrance of the small river village. Shaman Leon smelled the delicious scent he had never experienced before. He held back his hunger and looked toward the bamboo house with a deep and unreadable gaze.