Chapter 10

Chapter 8: Is Mother a Born Politician?

That night, Yun Chuan slept well, with his mother sleeping right beside him. None of those who brought food to trade for a night with his mother succeeded.

With enough food to eat, his mother became very proud.

The next day, his mother still took Yun Chuan out early, this time carrying a torch.

First, she lit a large bonfire by the river, then continued to catch fish in the water.

This time, Yun Chuan prepared to roast the fish himself. For this, he had already obtained some salt from the tribal leader.

He carefully scaled the fish, removed the innards, and skewered them on branches to roast by the fire.

He roasted them meticulously until each fish was thoroughly cooked, then sprinkled a little salt.

When he wanted to call his mother, he found that she was already squatting by the fire, drooling at the sight of the roasted fish in his hands.

Taking a bite of the roasted fish, Yun Chuan finally believed that true delicacies could make one cry.

Not only was he crying, but his mother was also crying.

This bite of fish made Yun Chuan recall the delicious food he had eaten before, but he didn't know why his mother was crying.

Could it be that the wild people also have emotions?

They caught a lot of fish, even more than yesterday, but there were still only the two of them by the river, with no other tribe members in sight.

Logically, it shouldn't be hard to guess. To catch fish, one must go to the river. Even if they didn't think of this, they could follow his mother to the river and catch fish.

Such a simple logical relationship, could no one in the entire tribe figure it out?

The two of them ate their fill and lay down to sleep under the willow tree. As the sun began to set, his mother hung the string of fish on her and led Yun Chuan back to the tribe.

"We will bring the tribe members here to catch fish tomorrow!"

After understanding Yun Chuan's words, his mother looked very panicked, covering his mouth and babbling a long string of words.

Although Yun Chuan couldn't understand what his mother was saying, through her body language, he understood her thoughts.

"If everyone comes, we won't have enough to eat!"

Yun Chuan pointed to the gradually drying sand and said to his mother, "The fish will die; they can't last a few more days."

After his mother understood Yun Chuan's words, she sat on the ground and cried bitterly, realizing that her food source was about to be lost.

She had to catch fish while also fighting off the birds that tried to steal her food. Each time a bird took a fish, she would be sad for a long time. So, that day, his mother experienced a constant cycle of joy and sorrow.

A new day began.

This time, the riverbank was filled with tribe members.

Everyone was very happy.

Seeing the tribe members jump into the water to catch fish, his mother didn't go into the water but proudly lit another bonfire.

She also picked through the fish thrown ashore by the tribe members, finally selecting the two most satisfactory ones. She then cleaned them, removing the scales, gills, and innards, just like Yun Chuan did the day before.

Seeing his mother rudely snatch the salt bag from the tribal leader's waist, Yun Chuan was very confused, but seeing the leader's submissive demeanor, he seemed to understand something.

This large fish pond was discovered by his mother, and she provided the tribe with enough food, so at this moment, she was in charge.

It was clear that the tribal leader was still somewhat dissatisfied.

However, when his mother roasted the delicious fish, sprinkled a little salt, and handed it to the strong man who had brought Yun Chuan back, Yun Chuan suddenly felt that his mother seemed to be a born politician.

When his mother distributed the fish, she was very particular about the order. The first to taste the delicious roasted fish were usually the strong and powerful, while the tribal leader stood in the water, continuing to catch fish, looking disappointed.

He ate the roasted fish very late, even later than some of the women.

This feast of roasted fish lasted the entire day, but before the sun set, people returned to the cave.

This time, the tribal leader naturally left his solitary cave, and his mother brought Yun Chuan to live there, with the salt bag hanging on her waist.

The tribal leader's cave was not very large, with a little dried meat hanging inside and a small pile of salt on a stone slab.

After putting in a lot of half-dried fish, the place became more abundant.

The smell in the cave was indescribable, and Yun Chuan would rather sleep in the wild than stay in this suffocating cave.

His mother looked very excited, especially when she saw a wolf skin, on which she rolled around.

Yun Chuan sat outside the cave, guarding the fire.

The moon hung high in the sky, illuminating the earth in white. Yun Chuan stared at the moon for a long time.

After carefully observing this planet, Yun Chuan confirmed that he was still on Earth, as the scars on the moon were exactly the same as what he had seen before.

However, the heavy rain and the sudden appearance of the river made Yun Chuan feel as if he were dead inside.

Such significant geological changes should have been detected by satellites in the sky.

What made Yun Chuan most despairing was that the snow-capped Kunlun Mountains, which he saw on his first day, seemed to have completely disappeared.

As Yun Chuan tried to recall the golden palace he had seen, the strongest wild man came out of the cave. As he passed Yun Chuan, he smelled a strong血腥味, and saw the tribal leader, who was covered in blood, being carried on his shoulder. The tribal leader's head hung limply, his face covered in blood, and blood dripped from his nose and chin, seemingly dead.

The man carried the tribal leader to the cliff and, with a slight effort, threw him off the cliff.

"Ah—" The tribal leader screamed, the sound dragging on, indicating he was not yet completely dead.

The tribal leader's dying scream drew several wolf howls. Yun Chuan lowered his head and continued to stare at the fire.

The strong man laughed "gaga" twice at Yun Chuan and then entered the cave where his mother lived. Soon, Yun Chuan heard their intense breathing.

His mother's coup was completely successful, simple, effective, and seized all available opportunities, mobilizing all available forces, making it almost perfect.

Yun Chuan went to the livestock shed, where the young wild bull lay quietly. When Yun Chuan entered, the bull mooed and continued to chew its cud.

Seeing Yun Chuan open the door, the now larger young bull walked out obediently and sat by the fire with Yun Chuan, waiting for sunrise.

The young wolf also came out of the cave, wary of the fire, and hid in the shadow created by the young bull, looking sadly at the full moon.

Birdsong began at some point, followed by various animal calls from the distant mountains. The monkeys' voices were loud, but they fell silent after a tiger's roar. Only the mournful elephant calls continued to challenge the tiger's dominance.

Yun Chuan stood at the edge of the cliff, looking at the distant mountains and river, and suddenly couldn't help but shout loudly. A surge of indescribable heat flowed through his abdomen, and he needed to shout to vent the frustration in his chest.

Indeed, his shouts were the final king, resonating through the valley and spreading far and wide.

First, his mother ran out of the cave, followed by the man. His mother was very worried about Yun Chuan, thinking he was in danger, while the man was very dissatisfied, seemingly blaming Yun Chuan for interrupting his good time.

The young bull suddenly stood up, and the young wolf barked at the man. Yun Chuan, however, sat quietly by the fire, roasting fish.

When the aroma of the roasted fish spread, everyone, including the young wolf, forgot their previous unhappiness.

On the square in front of the cave, there was only the sound of eating fish.

No one asked where the tribal leader had gone, and no one cared about it; their eyes were only on the food.

When his mother tried to distribute the food, the strong man seemed very dissatisfied, expressing his discontent several times at her giving the best food to Yun Chuan.

Yun Chuan, however, smiled and gave the best food to this man.

His mother tried to take it back but was repeatedly pushed away.

Yun Chuan sighed slightly in his heart.

This was the aftereffect of the coup. Once a coup became a habit, everyone would have the illusion that they could take over.

To eliminate the ambitions of the ambitious, there was no other way but through killing, and each coup was a severe loss to the tribe.

However, since his mother had already launched the coup, she had to bear the consequences.

The delicious roasted fish was the only means his mother had to win the hearts of the people.

As for the strong man, who even a venomous snake couldn't kill, he had to die.

It wasn't that Yun Chuan was cruel; if he didn't do it, this man would certainly kill him first, just as in a lion pride, once a new lion king appears, the cubs are often killed.

Indeed, his mother no longer allowed Yun Chuan to wander around but kept a close eye on him. She not only had to watch over Yun Chuan but also find ways to please the man who helped her succeed in the coup.

The entire tribe went to the river to continue catching fish, and everyone worked hard, except for Yun Chuan, his mother, and the man who now considered himself the tribal leader.

His mother roasted fish by the fire while watching Yun Chuan pick lice from the man's hair.

The man's hair was already matted, and the lice ran around on the matted hair. Under the matted hair, there were layers of white nits, and Yun Chuan could see small lice emerging from the nits.

The man lay comfortably under the willow tree, snoring loudly.

Yun Chuan found a sharp, nail-like wooden stake and kept using it to scratch the man's head, making him very comfortable.