Chapter 184: Laying the Foundation Stones and Building Houses

Although he hadn't seen those things become reality with his own eyes, after hearing Qinghuan say it, he knew it would be a good method.

Nan Qinghuan felt a bit embarrassed; she had just thought of it herself. Modern house building also fills in stones to raise the foundation—why couldn't they do the same? "I just thought of it, and as long as we dig a Ditch, the Rainy Season water will flow into a pool; when the dry season comes we can draw water from there, so the house won't be flooded and we can store water."

The win‑win method made Ying admire her even more; a possessive gleam gathered in his eyes. No wonder Yao wanted to keep her, and Rongdi also wanted to claim her—Qinghuan was an invaluable treasure.

He couldn't help but step forward, hug her, and suddenly plant a kiss; his joyous expression was just like a child who'd gotten candy.

"Qinghuan, I'm truly delighted to have met you."

Nan Qinghuan felt a bit embarrassed by the kiss, quickly reached out to push him away, "Wait, is Dashan still there?"

"Hehe, Oumu, Ying, you keep going; I didn't see anything, I'm off to work as well."

Dashan left with his men, leaving only the two of them in the Cave. It must be said that the tribe devoted their utmost effort to this house‑building, refusing to leave, dreaming of raising the foundation early and beginning construction so that everything would be finished when the Rainy Season arrived.

Everyone had left, and the house‑building matter was settled. Ying hugged her, panting heavily, his eyes full of desire, his breathing gradually quickening. He swallowed his saliva and said, "Qinghuan, it's been a long time since I've taken you."

Ying was a bit impatient; these days he had been rushing about because of the house. Nan Qinghuan, seeing him about to do that, tried to push him away, "Hey, no, not in broad daylight. You go lead the people to dig the Ditch first; otherwise we can do it at night."

She said that a bit shyly, her face turning red; she used to be very shy, but after staying with Ying for a long time her skin had thickened a lot.

When he heard her mention night, Ying's eyes sparkled, a mischievous grin curling his mouth, "Night, you say? Don't try to trick me."

He reached out and touched Nan Qinghuan's face; she stayed silent, which he took as consent. Ying laughed heartily, "Haha, then I'll be waiting."

Ying, coaxed by her, was delighted and hopped off to organize people to build the Ditch; outside the Cave, Youchao Xuan hurriedly arrived, "Goddess."

"Youchao Xuan, what's the situation? How much have you filled?"

Youchao Xuan rushed forward, panting, "We've filled more than half; these tribe members are truly relentless. When I tell them to rest, they refuse."

"Youchao Xuan, thank you. If it weren't for you being able to start so quickly—"

Youchao Xuan looked a bit shy, smiled, "Goddess, don't say that. Building houses is my specialty; the tribe is now waiting to start as soon as their foundations are ready. What about Ying?"

"He went to organize people to dig the Ditch; what about Axi?"

"Axi?"

Youchao Xuan shook his head, "Haven't seen her. Are you looking for her?"

"Qinghuan."

Just as they mentioned Axi, she arrived, and behind her was ChaoJi.

"Youchao Xuan, I finally caught you!"

When Youchao Xuan saw ChaoJi arrive, he tried to dodge like avoiding the Plague God, but ChaoJi swiftly stepped forward, grabbed his arm, and said, "Don't run. If you run again I'll take the people away and they won't get to build houses."

"Aji, what are you babbling? You can't act recklessly?"

"I'm not, okay? You kept running away, disappeared for so long, then suddenly have me lead people here to build houses. Do you have any conscience?"

Youchao Xuan looked helpless, glancing at Nan Qinghuan with great embarrassment, "Heaven, a deity, please save me."

"Stop fooling around, go out and speak."

"I won't go out. I don't understand why you're here; there's nothing here, the clothing and food are poor. Why are you helping them, you—"

"Shut up."

Youchao Xuan, a bit embarrassed, finally looked at Nan Qinghuan, "Goddess, don't be angry; that female was just babbling."

"I'm not angry, Youchao Xuan. What kind of tribe is yours? I'm actually curious; have you long been wearing Hemp Robes?"

Youchao Xuan, seeing her interest, finally revealed the secret he'd kept, nodding, "Goddess, our place is indeed a bit better than here. Our tribe wears Hemp Robes and can fish; our Tribe lives by the endless sea."

"The Tribe by the sea?"

That made her yearn; she wanted to go see Youchao Xuan's place and how advanced its civilization was, "When I have time I'll definitely go see, to see what kind of world it is."

"Goddess, you needn't be envious; follow me and you'll see an even more wondrous world."

"Follow me?"

Youchao Xuan appeared mysterious, dropped that line and quickly turned and left. As soon as he was gone, ChaoJi chased after him, "Youchao Xuan, Youchao Xuan, stop!"

After seeing them leave, Axi finally turned her head and said, "Qinghuan, why do I feel Youchao Xuan has something on his mind?"

"What's on his mind?"

Nan Qinghuan glanced out deeply, then sat down and poured a cup of tea. The iron‑eating beast was squatting at her feet, sleeping; it looked incredibly cute.

"Yeah, is that female entangling her? Otherwise I'll go…"

"Axi, don't get involved in other people's affairs; Youchao Xuan has his own life and his own choices, understand?"

Axi didn't fully understand, but she knew Qinghuan was forbidding her from intervening; she felt Youchao Xuan was pitiful, being bullied by a female—what a story.

"But he…"

"Alright, have you taken care of the matter you were supposed to handle?"

Axi quickly nodded, then fetched a bunch of Wooden Sticks from beside and placed them on the stone table, "Qinghuan, these Wooden Sticks are all the ones I got from the tribe; take a look."

Right, she had Axi check the population count and which of those people formed families—that was the earliest census. Since Axi was illiterate and couldn't count, she had her use Wooden Sticks as symbols: one stick represented a household, with a few red jam marks on the stick indicating the number of people.

Nan Qinghuan hurriedly began counting the sticks, and only after finishing did she exhale, "Eight hundred fifty tribe members make up over one hundred fifty households, so we'll need to build at least one hundred eighty houses."

It must be said, this is a huge project; fortunately Youchao Xuan can build houses, otherwise, with her abilities, she could only construct the small thatched huts like those of the Rongdi Tribe, and even then they'd be poorly built.

She isn't cut out for that.

Axi blinked, having no real sense of households, "Qinghuan, are there many people? And what about me—who will I live with later?"

Axi is an orphan with no relatives; she counts as a household on her own.

Nan Qinghuan had already thought of it, "You won't live alone; there are other orphans in the tribe—Alle, Abai, Xiaohei—you can all live together, okay?"

"Live together?"

Just as Axi was about to speak, a frantic voice came from outside, "Oumu, several tribe members who were moving stones suddenly collapsed to the ground and scared us half to death."