"We won't be able to for the next few days. Why?"
"It's nothing. I was just asking."
"Mm."
After finishing a satisfying meal, Hayoon brought the spindle and the processed hemp fibers from yesterday into the grass shelter and prepared to spin thread.
Although her eyesight was good now, compared to the dim cave, she still preferred brighter places.
Eventually, she would need to build a house to live in too.
The materials needed to make a spindle were easy to obtain. Wood, stones, even beast bones could all be used, as long as the shape was correct.
The original owner's spindle had been made from beast bone. Because it had been used frequently and well maintained, it felt smooth and polished in the hand.
Haeun and Minho also had spindles, but since they were beastmen and rarely spun thread, the surfaces of theirs were much rougher.
Since it was raining and there was not much else to do, the three of them spun thread together.
Hayoon understood the principles behind spinning thread, but her hands were still unfamiliar with the process, so she worked rather slowly.
She was patient and able to sit still, but Haeun was at the age where he was playful and restless.
After spinning for only a short while, he became fidgety, glancing around everywhere.
Hayoon smiled and did not make things difficult for him. "Go play if you want. Just come back before dinner."
Haeun pretended to refuse a couple of times.
Hayoon said, "If you don't leave now, I won't let you go later."
This time, he hurriedly left behind a quick, "Sis, Brother Minho, bye!" before running off.
The grass shelter immediately became quiet, filled with only the sounds of rain, thread spinning, and the calm breathing of the two of them.
Hayoon was not very good with words, and Minho was even less talkative. Yet quietly spinning thread together like this somehow created a different kind of harmony.
By afternoon, Haeun returned.
And together with him came quite a few sub-beastman from the tribe!
Hayoon set down her spindle and stood up to stretch her stiff shoulders, wondering what was going on.
Rain was still falling heavily, so Haeun had traveled back in his beast form, trudging through the mud step by step.
When he reached the cave entrance, he did not approach immediately.
Instead, he straightened his body and suddenly shook out all the fur on his body.
The water droplets clinging to his smooth black-and-white fur flew off in every direction.
In the blink of an eye, he became a fluffy giant panda again.
His round head, round body, and thick ears twitched slightly. Beneath the dark circles around his eyes, his clear eyes blinked innocently. He looked unbelievably adorable.
"Roar, Sis, I'm back."
As he spoke, Haeun transformed back into human form and rushed toward her in a few quick strides.
Hayoon nodded at him, while Minho also stood up and looked toward the sub-beastman who had arrived.
Since they could not fully transform into beast forms, all of them wore woven grass raincoats and straw hats.
The sub-beastman leading the group was named Sulyeon.
Aunt Immo who had spoken with Hayoon yesterday was her mother.
Sulyeon was tall with fair skin, and hrr features were strikingly refined and vivid.
Besides the beast-bone necklace hanging around her neck, she also had pierced ears adorned with gemstone earrings.
"Minho, we came to see Hayoon," she said, her voice as clear and smooth as jade.
The moment Hayoon heard that, she became even more confused and glanced toward Haeun, only to see him wiggling his eyebrows at her.
The grass shelter could not fit so many people, so Minho nodded and said, "Come inside the cave and talk."
The sub-beastman removed their straw hats and took off their grass raincoats.
With a wave of their hands, both items disappeared into their storage spaces.
The cave had been dug downward, making the interior rather dark, so everyone gathered near the entrance instead.
Hayoon took the initiative to ask, "Did you need something from me?"
Sulyeon stepped forward and answered, "Yes. Today we heard from Haeun that you made Rockmon's meat especially delicious using Tangroot, so we wanted to ask how you cooked it."
The others quickly added.
"We tried slicing and stir-frying it too, but the meat still had a strong gamey smell."
"And it wasn't as tender as your brother described."
"But the Tangroot tasted surprisingly good once cooked. No wonder you collected so much of it."
The sub-beastman were speaking honestly.
None of them suspected Haeun had lied.
They simply assumed they had missed an important step somewhere, so they came together to ask Hayoon for advice.
Sulyeon asked humbly, "There's a lot of Tangroot growing on the mountain. If we learn too, we'll be able to make our food taste better in the future. Could you teach us?"
As soon as Hayoon heard that, she agreed readily. "So that's what this is about. Of course I can teach you. Let me think... did you blanch the meat first?"
"Blanch?" Everyone looked at each other in confusion.
Clearly, they had never heard the term before.
Hayoon glanced at the weather outside and said, "How about this? I'll take out a piece of meat and cook it once while you all watch."
"That would be wonderful! Thank you!"
Everyone immediately crowded back into their raincoats and headed toward the stove outside.
Without Hayoon even needing to ask, people voluntarily began gathering firewood, starting the fire, and fetching water.
The efficiency instantly became much higher.
Hayoon cut the meat into chunks and carefully demonstrated to the sub-beastman how to blanch it.
"Once the water slowly comes to a boil, it removes the blood from the beast meat and reduces the gamey smell. Remember to start with cold water."
"If you have time, you can also soak the meat in clean water beforehand. That removes some blood too."
"While blanching, add some Tangroot into the pot. Once foam starts appearing on the surface, skim it off. Blanching it for about this long is enough."