Chapter 218: The Beauty Trap

Chapter 218 -220: The Beauty Trap

After Su Luoluo gave the letter to a marmot to deliver, she glanced at the females cooking in the square.

Not seeing Hong Shuang among them, she asked, “Where’s Hong Shuang?”

Su Luoluo had been keeping a close eye on her ever since she’d gotten the feeling that something was off about her yesterday.

Qiu Xia replied, “First thing this morning, Su Zhao brought her over to get some salt. Then they left together, saying they were going to make something called Warm Chicken.”

‘Warm Chicken?’

Su Luoluo had never heard of it; it was probably a recipe from Hong Shuang’s tribe.

She wasn’t particularly interested in the matter. Once she knew Hong Shuang and Su Zhao were gone, she headed over to see Su Yang.

Yesterday, she had been so focused on discussing the salt with Su Yang that she hadn’t gotten a chance to tell him about the rice.

So, Su Luoluo had no choice but to make another trip.

“Father, I found a new food that can be a staple. How do you think we should distribute it to the tribe members?”

“A new food? What is it?”

Su Luoluo handed him a Beast Skin Bag she had filled with rice in advance. “It’s rice. I found it recently. If our people eat this, they won’t have to rely so much on hunting.”

Su Yang took the Beast Skin Bag. Seeing the tiny white grains inside, he took a pinch out and stared at it for a long while before asking in disbelief, “These little things can actually fill you up?”

Su Luoluo nodded. “Just like the potatoes and taro I introduced everyone to, it can be eaten as a staple.”

At that, Su Yang fell silent. Su Luoluo had a knack for finding things they’d never eaten before and making them delicious.

He placed the grains back into the Beast Skin Bag. “Are you planning to give all of it to everyone?”

“Yes. Some for the Wolf Clan, and the Ring-tailed Lemur clan needs a share too. I’m just not sure what the best way to divide it is with so many people.”

Having been a leader for many years, Su Yang immediately had a suggestion. “That’s simple. Distribute it by population—each family gets a share based on how many people it has. You aren’t too familiar with the situation in the Wolf Clan, so I’ll help you with the distribution here.”

With Su Yang’s help, the matter became much simpler.

Su Luoluo had come to Su Yang in the first place because she wanted to ensure the distribution was fair.

Even though she was the leader of the Ring-tailed Lemurs, she had to be good to the Wolf Clan. The two tribes would only coexist peacefully if she treated them with equal fairness.

As for the Ring-tailed Lemurs’ share, she planned to hand it over to Si Cheng. He was experienced with such things and far more qualified to handle it than she was.

Just as Su Luoluo finished and turned to leave, Su Yang called out to her. “Wait a second. Help me figure out a good place to purify our second batch of salt.”

“The tribe is almost out of salt, so it’s time we purified some more.”

Hearing this, Su Luoluo looked over at the map Su Yang had constructed from mounds of earth.

On a nearby wooden table, he had used sand to create several mounds, which from a distance resembled a simple topographical map.

“What about Sheep Waist Valley? Few people go there, it’s close to the Salt Well Cave, and it would be convenient for transporting the salt.”

Sheep Waist Valley was shaped like a sheep’s kidney. It had only a single path in and out, and the valley floor was flat—perfect for purifying salt. It was the kind of place that was easy to defend and difficult to attack.

It was an excellent location for their salt purification work.

Su Luoluo nodded. “This place is good. But who should we send to purify the salt this time?”

“The more experienced, the better, of course. The ones who went with you last time will do.”

“Having so many people go out together will attract attention,” Su Luoluo said pointedly.

“Others? You mean that boy, Bai Meng? He’s not a problem. I know him; he won’t talk. Besides, doesn’t he have a crush on you? That makes it even less likely he’d betray us.”

Thinking about how well-liked his daughter was, Su Yang couldn’t help but sound proud.

Su Luoluo: “…”

‘I never thought Father would be such a gossip.’

She watched Su Yang quietly for a moment, waiting until his smile faded before she said, “Father, I wasn’t talking about him. I meant someone else.”

“Someone else? Who?”

…

Su Zhao happily handed over the wild chicken he’d caught. “Hong Shuang, here’s the wild chicken you asked for.”

Hong Shuang accepted it and thanked Su Zhao gently. “Thank you, Brother Ah Zhao. Could I trouble you to dig up a bit of dirt for me as well?”

“Dig up dirt? What do you need dirt for?”

Hong Shuang smiled confidently. “This Warm Chicken of mine needs dirt to be made properly. It might sound a little strange, but I guarantee it will be the most delicious chicken you’ve ever tasted.”

‘It wasn’t that strange, actually.’

Hearing Hong Shuang’s explanation, Su Zhao wasn’t particularly fazed. After all, Su Luoluo had done something similar before.

Seeing how happy Hong Shuang was, Su Zhao swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

‘Maybe the chicken her mother taught her to make is different.’

He just nodded. “Okay, I’ll go get the dirt.”

A short while later, Su Zhao returned with the dirt.

By then, Hong Shuang had already started rubbing the chicken with salt.

When she had helped with the cooking in the square earlier, Cai Xia hadn’t let her touch the salt, so she hadn’t gotten to see what the Wolf Clan’s salt looked like.

Now, seeing the salt Su Zhao had brought, she was astonished to discover that the Wolf Clan’s salt was snow-white and fine-grained—even better than the salt in the city-states.

Although Su Nuannuan had told her the Wolf Clan had a Salt Well, she had always assumed their purified salt was average at best. Seeing this snow-white, fine-grained salt now, she couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath.

‘This Wolf Clan doesn’t seem any worse off than our Black Pig Tribe,’ she thought. ‘In fact, some of their things are even better than ours.’

She glanced at the pottery that was visible everywhere; it wasn’t crude and prone to cracking like the pottery Su Nuannuan had described.

When she saw Su Zhao returning, she quickly knocked over the salt pouch, spilling more than half of it onto the ground. As she pretended to gather it up, she said guiltily, “Brother Ah Zhao, I’m so sorry! I spilled the precious salt.”

Su Zhao glanced down and shook his head. “It’s okay. We have plenty of salt.”

“But salt is so precious. I feel terrible.”

“It’s really fine. Our tribe isn’t short on salt. What’s spilled is spilled.”

“But Brother Ah Zhao, that can’t be right. You have to hunt so much just to trade for it in the city-states.”

“It’s fine. Our tribe’s salt doesn’t…” The words tumbled out of Su Zhao’s mouth before he abruptly stopped, having realized something.

Hong Shuang immediately pressed, “Doesn’t need what?”

“Nothing. I just meant the tribe has plenty of salt, so there’s no need to worry.”

Hong Shuang felt a pang of disappointment. Su Zhao had been on the verge of spilling the secret, but he’d caught himself.

Seeing that Su Zhao was still guarded with her, Hong Shuang didn’t press the issue and instead focused on preparing the chicken.

After rubbing the chicken with salt and seasonings, she wrapped it in a large leaf and coated the whole thing in mud. “Don’t worry that it looks so dirty,” she said. “It’ll be delicious later.”

Watching Hong Shuang’s sequence of actions, Su Zhao’s expression stiffened for a moment. ‘Why is her method for cooking chicken exactly the same as Su Luoluo’s Beggar’s Chicken?’

He couldn’t resist asking, “Hong Shuang, did your mother teach you to make chicken this way?”

Hong Shuang nodded. “Of course. It’s a recipe passed down from my ancestors.”

‘Could it be that Su Luoluo’s adoptive mother also learned this from Hong Shuang’s tribe?’

At this thought, Su Zhao felt that Su Luoluo wasn’t so impressive after all.

After the two of them finished the chicken and returned to the tribe, Su Zhao was summoned by Su Yang.

When Su Zhao came back out, Hong Shuang asked, “Did the leader need you for something?”

Su Zhao nodded. “Hong Shuang, I’m afraid I won’t be able to spend time with you for the next few days. Father has asked me to go out and handle some business.”

Hong Shuang’s heart leaped. ‘Are they going to the Salt Well?’

She suppressed her excitement and kept her expression calm. “It’s alright. The tribe’s business is more important. I’ll be waiting for you to come back.”

After bidding Su Zhao farewell, Hong Shuang immediately wrote a letter on a leaf for Su Nuannuan.

「Black Pig Tribe」

Su Nuannuan roared with laughter after receiving Hong Shuang’s letter. So what if Su Yang tried to hide everything? He still fell for her honey trap in the end.

“Hei Mao, Huang Mao, take a few extra men with you tomorrow. Go and keep an eye on the Wolf Clan.”

“Yes, Leader’s Wife.”